Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is sceptical of authority and rejects all involuntary coercive forms of hierarchy. Anarchism calls for the abolition of the state which it holds to be unnecessary undesirable and harmful. As a historically left-wing movement placed on the farthest left of the political spectrum it is usually described alongside libertarian Marxism as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement and has a strong historical association with anti-capitalism and socialism.Humans lived in societies without formal hierarchies long before the establishment of formal states realms or empires. With the rise of organised hierarchical bodies scepticism toward authority also rose in the 19th century a self-conscious political movement emerged questioning all forms of authority. During the latter half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century the anarchist movement flourished in most parts of the world and had a significant role in workers' struggles for emancipation. Various anarchist schools of thought formed during this period. Anarchists have taken part in several revolutions most notably in the Comune of Paris Russian Civil War and Spanish Civil War whose end marked the end of the classical era of anarchism. In the last decades of the 20th and into the 21st century the anarchist movement has been resurgent once more.Anarchism employs a diversity of tactics in order to meet its ideal ends which can be broadly separated into revolutionary and evolutionary tactics; there is significant overlap between the two, which are merely descriptive. Revolutionary tactics aim to bring down authority and state, having taken a violent turn in the past, while evolutionary tactics aim to prefigure what an anarchist society would be like. Anarchist thought, criticism, and praxis have played a part in diverse areas of human society. Criticism of anarchism include claims that it is internally inconsistent, violent, or utopian.Etymology, terminology, and definition.The etymological origin of "anarchism" is from the Ancient Greek "anarkhia" meaning "without a ruler" composed of the prefix "an-" and the word "arkhos" . The suffix "-ism" denotes the ideological current that favours anarchy. "Anarchism" appears in English from 1642 as "anarchisme" and "anarchy" from 1539 early English usages emphasised a sense of disorder. Various factions within the French Revolution labelled their opponents as "anarchists" although few such accused shared many views with later anarchists. Many revolutionaries of the 19th century such as William Godwin and Wilhelm Weitling would contribute to the anarchist doctrines of the next generation but did not use "anarchist" or "anarchism" in describing themselves or their beliefs.The first political philosopher to call himself an .While the term "libertarian" has been largely synonymous with anarchism, its meaning has more recently diluted with wider adoption from ideologically disparate groups, including both the New Left and libertarian Marxists, who do not associate themselves with authoritarian socialists or a vanguard party, and extreme cultural liberals, who are primarily concerned with civil liberties. Additionally, some anarchists use "libertarian socialist" to avoid anarchism's negative connotations and emphasise its connections with socialism. "Anarchism" is broadly used to describe the anti-authoritarian wing of the socialist movement. Anarchism is contrasted to socialist forms which are state-oriented or from above. Scholars of anarchism generally highlight anarchism's socialist credentials and criticise attempts at creating dichotomies between the two. Some scholars describe anarchism as having many influences from liberalism, and being both liberals and socialists but more so, while most scholars reject anarcho-capitalism as a misunderstanding of anarchist principles.While opposition to the state is central to anarchist thought, defining "anarchism" is not an easy task for scholars, as there is a lot of discussion among scholars and anarchists on the matter, and various currents perceive anarchism slightly differently. Major definitional elements include the will for a non-coercive society, the rejection of the state apparatus, the belief that human nature allows humans to exist in or progress toward such a non-coercive society, and a suggestion on how to act to pursue the ideal of anarchy.Pre-modern era.Before the establishment of towns and cities an established authority did not exist. It was after the creation of institutions of authority that anarchistic ideas espoused as a reaction. The most notable precursors to anarchism in the ancient world were in China and Greece. In China philosophical anarchism was delineated by Taoist philosophers Zhuang Zhou and Laozi. Alongside Stoicism Taoism has been said to have had of anarchism.Anarchic attitudes were also articulated by tragedians and philosophers in Greece. Aeschylus and Sophocles used the myth of Antigone to illustrate the conflict between rules set by the state and personal autonomy. Socrates questioned Athenian authorities constantly and insisted on the right of individual freedom of conscience. Cynics dismissed human law and associated authorities while trying to live according to nature . Stoics were supportive of a society based on unofficial and friendly relations among its citizens without the presence of a state.In medieval Europe there was no anarchistic activity except some ascetic religious movements. These and other Muslim movements later gave birth to religious anarchism. In the Sasanian Empire Mazdak called for an egalitarian society and the abolition of monarchy only to be soon executed by Emperor Kavad I.In Basra, religious sects preached against the state. In Europe, various sects developed anti-state and libertarian tendencies. Libertarian ideas further emerged during the Renaissance with the spread of humanism, rationalism, and reasoning through Europe. Novelists fictionalised ideal societies that were based on voluntarism rather than coercion. The Age of Enlightenment further pushed towards anarchism with the optimism for social progress.Modern era.During the French Revolution partisan groups such as the Enrags and the saw a turning point in the fermentation of anti-state and federalist sentiments. The first anarchist currents developed throughout the 18th century as William Godwin espoused philosophical anarchism in England morally delegitimising the state Max Stirner's thinking paved the way to individualism and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's theory of mutualism found fertile soil in France. By the late 1870s various anarchist schools of thought had become well-defined and a wave of then unprecedented globalisation occurred from 1880 to 1914. This era of classical anarchism lasted until the end of the Spanish Civil War and is considered the golden age of anarchism.Drawing from mutualism, Mikhail Bakunin founded collectivist anarchism and entered the International Workingmens needs.At the turn of the century anarchism had spread all over the world. It was a notable feature of the international syndicalism movement. In China small groups of students imported the humanistic pro-science version of anarcho-communism. Tokyo was a hotspot for rebellious youth from countries of the far east travelling to the Japanese capital to study. In Latin America Argentina was a stronghold for anarcho-syndicalism where it became the most prominent left-wing ideology. During this time a minority of anarchists adopted tactics of revolutionary political violence. This strategy became known as propaganda of the deed. The dismemberment of the French socialist movement into many groups and the execution and exile of many Communards to penal colonies following the suppression of the Paris Commune favoured individualist political expression and acts. Even though many anarchists distanced themselves from these terrorist acts infamy came upon the movement and attempts were made to exclude them from American immigration including the Immigration Act of 1903 also called the Anarchist Exclusion Act. Illegalism was another strategy which some anarchists adopted during this period.Despite concerns anarchists enthusiastically participated in the Russian Revolution in opposition to the White movement however they met harsh suppression after the Bolshevik government was stabilised. Several anarchists from Petrograd and Moscow fled to Ukraine notably leading to the Kronstadt rebellion and Nestor Makhno's struggle in the Free Territory. With the anarchists being crushed in Russia two new antithetical currents emerged namely platformism and synthesis anarchism. The former sought to create a coherent group that would push for revolution while the latter were against anything that would resemble a political party. Seeing the victories of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War many workers and activists turned to communist parties which grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements. In France and the United States members of major syndicalist movements such as the General Confederation of Labour and the Industrial Workers of the World left their organisations and joined the Communist International.In the Spanish Civil War of 1936, anarchists and syndicalists once again allied themselves with various currents of leftists. A long tradition of Spanish anarchism led to anarchists playing a pivotal role in the war. In response to the army rebellion, an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain, where they collectivised the land. The Soviet Union provided some limited assistance at the beginning of the war, but the result was a bitter fight among communists and anarchists at a series of events named May Days as Joseph Stalin tried to seize control of the Republicans.Post-war era.At the end of World War II the anarchist movement was severely weakened. The 1960s witnessed a revival of anarchism likely caused by a perceived failure of Marxism–Leninism and tensions built by the Cold War. During this time anarchism found a presence in other movements critical towards both capitalism and the state such as the anti-nuclear environmental and peace movements the counterculture of the 1960s and the New Left. It also saw a transition from its previous revolutionary nature to provocative anti-capitalist reformism. Anarchism became associated with punk subculture as exemplified by bands such as Crass and the Sex Pistols. The established feminist tendencies of anarcha-feminism returned with vigour during the second wave of feminism. Black anarchism began to take form at this time and influenced anarchism's move from a Eurocentric demographic. This coincided with its failure to gain traction in Northern Europe and its unprecedented height in Latin America.Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity and influence within anti-capitalist, anti-war and anti-globalisation movements. Anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against the World Trade Organization , the Group of Eight and the World Economic Forum. During the protests, "ad hoc" leaderless anonymous cadres known as black blocs engaged in rioting, property destruction and violent confrontations with the police. Other organisational tactics pioneered in this time include affinity groups, security culture and the use of decentralised technologies such as the Internet. A significant event of this period was the confrontations at the 1999 Seattle WTO conference. Anarchist ideas have been influential in the development of the Zapatistas in Mexico and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, more commonly known as Rojava, a "de facto" autonomous region in northern Syria.Anarchist schools of thought have been generally grouped into two main historical traditions, social anarchism and individualist anarchism, owing to their different origins, values and evolution. The individualist current emphasises negative liberty in opposing restraints upon the free individual, while the social current emphasises positive liberty in aiming to achieve the free potential of society through equality and social ownership. In a chronological sense, anarchism can be segmented by the classical currents of the late 19th century and the post-classical currents developed thereafter.Beyond the specific factions of anarchist movements which constitute political anarchism lies philosophical anarchism which holds that the state lacks moral legitimacy, without necessarily accepting the imperative of revolution to eliminate it. A component especially of individualist anarchism, philosophical anarchism may tolerate the existence of a minimal state but claims that citizens have no moral obligation to obey government when it conflicts with individual autonomy. Anarchism pays significant attention to moral arguments since ethics have a central role in anarchist philosophy. Anarchism's emphasis on anti-capitalism, egalitarianism, and for the extension of community and individuality sets it apart from anarcho-capitalism and other types of economic libertarianism.Anarchism is usually placed on the far-left of the political spectrum. Much of its economics and legal philosophy reflect anti-authoritarian, anti-statist, libertarian, and radical interpretations of left-wing and socialist politics such as collectivism, communism, individualism, mutualism, and syndicalism, among other libertarian socialist economic theories. As anarchism does not offer a fixed body of doctrine from a single particular worldview, many anarchist types and traditions exist and varieties of anarchy diverge widely. One reaction against sectarianism within the anarchist milieu was anarchism without adjectives, a call for toleration and unity among anarchists first adopted by Fernando Tarrida del Mrmol in 1889 in response to the bitter debates of anarchist theory at the time. Belief in political nihilism has been espoused by anarchists. Despite separation, the various anarchist schools of thought are not seen as distinct entities but rather as tendencies that intermingle and are connected through a set of uniform principles such as individual and local autonomy, mutual aid, network organisation, communal democracy, justified authority and decentralisation.Inceptive currents among classical anarchist currents were mutualism and individualism. They were followed by the major currents of social anarchism . They differ on organisational and economic aspects of their ideal society.Mutualism is an 18th-century economic theory that was developed into anarchist theory by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Its aims include reciprocity, free association, voluntary contract, federation and monetary reform of both credit and currency that would be regulated by a bank of the people. Mutualism has been retrospectively characterised as ideologically situated between individualist and collectivist forms of anarchism. In Collectivist anarchism is a revolutionary socialist form of anarchism commonly associated with Mikhail Bakunin. Collectivist anarchists advocate collective ownership of the means of production which is theorised to be achieved through violent revolution and that workers be paid according to time worked, rather than goods being distributed according to need as in communism. Collectivist anarchism arose alongside Marxism but rejected the dictatorship of the proletariat despite the stated Marxist goal of a collectivist stateless society.Anarcho-communism is a theory of anarchism that advocates a communist society with common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations, workers' councils and worker cooperatives, with production and consumption based on the guiding principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Anarcho-communism developed from radical socialist currents after the French Revolution but was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International. It was later expanded upon in the theoretical work of Peter Kropotkin, whose specific style would go onto become the dominating view of anarchists by the late 19th century. Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism that views labour syndicates as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society democratically self-managed by workers. The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are direct action, workers' solidarity and workers' self-management.Individualist anarchism is a set of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasise the individual and their will over any kinds of external determinants. Early influences on individualist forms of anarchism include William Godwin, Max Stirner, and Henry David Thoreau. Through many countries, individualist anarchism attracted a small yet diverse following of Bohemian artists and intellectuals as well as young anarchist outlaws in what became known as illegalism and individual reclamation.Post-classical and contemporary.Anarchist principles undergird contemporary radical social movements of the left. Interest in the anarchist movement developed alongside momentum in the anti-globalisation movement whose leading activist networks were anarchist in orientation. As the movement shaped 21st century radicalism wider embrace of anarchist principles signaled a revival of interest. Anarchism has continued to generate many philosophies and movements at times eclectic drawing upon various sources and syncretic combining disparate concepts to create new philosophical approaches.The anti-capitalist tradition of classical anarchism has remained prominent within contemporary currents.Contemporary news coverage which emphasizes black bloc demonstrations has reinforced anarchism's historical association with chaos and violence. Its publicity has also led more scholars in fields such as anthropology and history to engage with the anarchist movement although contemporary anarchism favours actions over academic theory. Various anarchist groups tendencies and schools of thought exist today making it difficult to describe the contemporary anarchist movement. While theorists and activists have established "relatively stable constellations of anarchist principles" there is no consensus on which principles are core and commentators describe multiple "anarchisms" rather than a singular "anarchism" in which common principles are shared between schools of anarchism while each group prioritizes those principles differently. Gender equality can be a common principle although it ranks as a higher priority to anarcha-feminists than anarcho-communists.Anarchists are generally committed against coercive authority in all forms, namely "all centralized and hierarchical forms of government , economic class systems , autocratic religions , patriarchy, heterosexism, white supremacy, and imperialism." Anarchist schools disagree on the methods by which these forms should be opposed. The principle of equal liberty is closer to anarchist political ethics in that it transcends both the liberal and socialist traditions. This entails that liberty and equality cannot be implemented within the state, resulting in the questioning of all forms of domination and hierarchy.Anarchists' tactics take various forms but in general serve two major goals namely to first oppose the Establishment and secondly to promote anarchist ethics and reflect an anarchist vision of society illustrating the unity of means and ends. A broad categorisation can be made between aims to destroy oppressive states and institutions by revolutionary means on one hand and aims to change society through evolutionary means on the other. Evolutionary tactics embrace nonviolence reject violence and take a gradual approach to anarchist aims although there is significant overlap between the two.Anarchist tactics have shifted during the course of the last century. Anarchists during the early 20th century focused more on strikes and militancy while contemporary anarchists use a broader array of approaches.Classical era tactics.During the classical era, anarchists had a militant tendency. Not only did they confront state armed forces, as in Spain and Ukraine, but some of them also employed terrorism as propaganda of the deed. Assassination attempts were carried out against heads of state, some of which were successful. Anarchists also took part in revolutions. Many anarchists, especially the Galleanists, believed that these attempts would be the impetus for a revolution against capitalism and the state. Many of these attacks were done by individual assailants and the majority took place in the late 1870s, the early 1880s and the 1890s, with some still occurring in the early 1900s. Their decrease in prevalence was the result of further judicial power and targeting and cataloging by state institutions.Anarchist perspectives towards violence have always been controversial. On one hand anarcho-pacifists point out the unity of means and ends. On the other hand other anarchist groups advocate direct action a tactic which can include acts of sabotage or even acts of terrorism. This attitude was quite prominent a century ago when seeing the state as a tyrant and some anarchists believing that they had every right to oppose its oppression by any means possible. Emma Goldman and Errico Malatesta who were proponents of limited use of violence stated that violence is merely a reaction to state violence as a necessary evil.Anarchists took an active role in strike actions although they tended to be antipathetic to formal syndicalism seeing it as reformist. They saw it as a part of the movement which sought to overthrow the state and capitalism. Anarchists also reinforced their propaganda within the arts some of whom practiced naturism and nudism. Those anarchists also built communities which were based on friendship and were involved in the news media.Revolutionary tactics.In the current era Italian anarchist Alfredo Bonanno a proponent of insurrectionary anarchism has reinstated the debate on violence by rejecting the nonviolence tactic adopted since the late 19th century by Kropotkin and other prominent anarchists afterwards. Both Bonanno and the French group The Invisible Committee advocate for small informal affiliation groups where each member is responsible for their own actions but works together to bring down oppression utilizing sabotage and other violent means against state capitalism and other enemies. Members of The Invisible Committee were arrested in 2008 on various charges terrorism included.Overall, contemporary anarchists are much less violent and militant than their ideological ancestors. They mostly engage in confronting the police during demonstrations and riots, especially in countries such as Canada, Greece, and Mexico. Militant black bloc protest groups are known for clashing with the police; however, anarchists not only clash with state operators, they also engage in the struggle against fascists and racists, taking anti-fascist action and mobilizing to prevent hate rallies from happening.Evolutionary tactics.Anarchists commonly employ direct action. This can take the form of disrupting and protesting against unjust hierarchy or the form of self-managing their lives through the creation of counter-institutions such as communes and non-hierarchical collectives. Decision-making is often handled in an anti-authoritarian way with everyone having equal say in each decision an approach known as horizontalism. Contemporary-era anarchists have been engaging with various grassroots movements that are more or less based on horizontalism although not explicitly anarchist respecting personal autonomy and participating in mass activism such as strikes and demonstrations. In contrast with the "big-A anarchism" of the classical era the newly coined term "small-a anarchism" signals their tendency not to base their thoughts and actions on classical-era anarchism or to refer to classical anarchists such as Peter Kropotkin and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon to justify their opinions. Those anarchists would rather base their thought and praxis on their own experience which they will later theorize.The decision-making process of small anarchist affinity groups plays a significant tactical role. Anarchists have employed various methods in order to build a rough consensus among members of their group without the need of a leader or a leading group. One way is for an individual from the group to play the role of facilitator to help achieve a consensus without taking part in the discussion themselves or promoting a specific point. Minorities usually accept rough consensus except when they feel the proposal contradicts anarchist ethics goals and values. Anarchists usually form small groups to enhance autonomy and friendships among their members. These kinds of groups more often than not interconnect with each other forming larger networks. Anarchists still support and participate in strikes especially wildcat strikes as these are leaderless strikes not organised centrally by a syndicate.As in the past newspapers and journals are used and anarchists have gone online in the World Wide Web to spread their message. Anarchists have found it easier to create websites because of distributional and other difficulties hosting electronic libraries and other portals. Anarchists were also involved in developing various software that are available for free. The way these hacktivists work to develop and distribute resembles the anarchist ideals especially when it comes to preserving users' privacy from state surveillance.Anarchists organize themselves to squat and reclaim public spaces. During important events such as protests and when spaces are being occupied they are often called Temporary Autonomous Zones spaces where art poetry and surrealism are blended to display the anarchist ideal. As seen by anarchists squatting is a way to regain urban space from the capitalist market serving pragmatical needs and also being an exemplary direct action. Acquiring space enables anarchists to experiment with their ideas and build social bonds. Adding up these tactics while having in mind that not all anarchists share the same attitudes towards them along with various forms of protesting at highly symbolic events make up a carnivalesque atmosphere that is part of contemporary anarchist vividity.Key issues.As anarchism is a philosophy that embodies many diverse attitudes, tendencies, and schools of thought; disagreement over questions of values, ideology, and tactics is common. Its diversity has led to widely different uses of identical terms among different anarchist traditions which has created a number of definitional concerns in anarchist theory. The compatibility of capitalism, nationalism, and religion with anarchism is widely disputed, and anarchism enjoys complex relationships with ideologies such as communism, collectivism, Marxism, and trade unionism. Anarchists may be motivated by humanism, divine authority, enlightened self-interest, veganism, or any number of alternative ethical doctrines. Phenomena such as civilisation, technology (e.g. within anarcho-primitivism), and the democratic process may be sharply criticised within some anarchist tendencies and simultaneously lauded in others.Gender, sexuality, and free love.As gender and sexuality carry along them dynamics of hierarchy many anarchists address analyse and oppose the suppression of one's autonomy imposed by gender roles.Sexuality was not often discussed by classical anarchists but the few that did felt that an anarchist society would lead to sexuality naturally developing. Sexual violence was a concern for anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker, who opposed age of consent laws, believing they would benefit predatory men. A historical current that arose and flourished during 1890 and 1920 within anarchism was free love. In contemporary anarchism, this current survives as a tendency to support polyamory and queer anarchism. Free love advocates were against marriage, which they saw as a way of men imposing authority over women, largely because marriage law greatly favoured the power of men. The notion of free love was much broader and included a critique of the established order that limited women's sexual freedom and pleasure. Those free love movements contributed to the establishment of communal houses, where large groups of travelers, anarchists and other activists slept in beds together. Free love had roots both in Europe and the United States; however, some anarchists struggled with the jealousy that arose from free love. Anarchist feminists were advocates of free love, against marriage, and pro-choice , and had a similar agenda. Anarchist and non-anarchist feminists differed on suffrage but were supportive of one another.During the second half of the 20th century, anarchism intermingled with the second wave of feminism, radicalising some currents of the feminist movement and being influenced as well. By the latest decades of the 20th century, anarchists and feminists were advocating for the rights and autonomy of women, gays, queers and other marginalised groups, with some feminist thinkers suggesting a fusion of the two currents. With the third wave of feminism, sexual identity and compulsory heterosexuality became a subject of study for anarchists, yielding a post-structuralist critique of sexual normality. Some anarchists distanced themselves from this line of thinking, suggesting that it leaned towards an individualism that was dropping the cause of social liberation.Anarchism and education.The interest of anarchists in education stretches back to the first emergence of classical anarchism. Anarchists consider proper education, one which sets the foundations of the future autonomy of the individual and the society, to be an act of mutual aid. Anarchist writers such as William Godwin and Max Stirner attacked both state education and private education as another means by which the ruling class replicate their privileges.In 1901, Catalan anarchist and free thinker Francisco Ferrer established the Escuela Moderna in Barcelona as an opposition to the established education system which was dictated largely by the Catholic Church. Ferrer's approach was secular, rejecting both state and church involvement in the educational process whilst giving pupils large amounts of autonomy in planning their work and attendance. Ferrer aimed to educate the working class and explicitly sought to foster class consciousness among students. The school closed after constant harassment by the state and Ferrer was later arrested. Nonetheless, his ideas formed the inspiration for a series of modern schools around the world. Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy, who published the essay In a similar token, A. S. Neill founded what became the Summerhill School in 1921, also declaring being free from coercion.Anarchist education is based largely on the idea that a child's right to develop freely and without manipulation ought to be respected and that rationality would lead children to morally good conclusions; however, there has been little consensus among anarchist figures as to what constitutes manipulation. Ferrer believed that moral indoctrination was necessary and explicitly taught pupils that equality, liberty and social justice were not possible under capitalism, along with other critiques of government and nationalism.Late 20th century and contemporary anarchist writers intensified and expanded the anarchist critique of state education, largely focusing on the need for a system that focuses on children's creativity rather than on their ability to attain a career or participate in consumerism as part of a consumer society. Contemporary anarchists such as Ward claim that state education serves to perpetuate socioeconomic inequality.While few anarchist education institutions have survived to the modern-day, major tenets of anarchist schools, among them respect for child autonomy and relying on reasoning rather than indoctrination as a teaching method, have spread among mainstream educational institutions. Judith Suissa names three schools as explicitly anarchists schools, namely the Free Skool Santa Cruz in the United States which is part of a wider American-Canadian network of schools, the Self-Managed Learning College in Brighton, England, and the Paideia School in Spain.Anarchism and the state.Objection to the state and its institutions is a "sine qua non" of anarchism. Anarchists consider the state as a tool of domination and believe it to be illegitimate regardless of its political tendencies. Instead of people being able to control the aspects of their life major decisions are taken by a small elite. Authority ultimately rests solely on power regardless of whether that power is open or transparent as it still has the ability to coerce people. Another anarchist argument against states is that the people constituting a government even the most altruistic among officials will unavoidably seek to gain more power leading to corruption. Anarchists consider the idea that the state is the collective will of the people to be an unachievable fiction due to the fact that the ruling class is distinct from the rest of society.Specific anarchist attitudes towards the state vary. Robert Paul Wolff believed that the tension between authority and autonomy would mean the state could never be legitimate. Bakunin saw the state as meaning "coercion, domination by means of coercion, camouflaged if possible but unceremonious and overt if need be." A. John Simmons and Leslie Green, who leaned toward philosophical anarchism, believed that the state could be legitimate if it is governed by consensus, although they saw this as highly unlikely. Beliefs on how to abolish the state also differ.Anarchism and the arts.The connection between anarchism and art was quite profound during the classical era of anarchism, especially among artistic currents that were developing during that era such as futurists, surrealists and others. In literature, anarchism was mostly associated with the New Apocalyptics and the neo-romanticism movement. In music, anarchism has been associated with music scenes such as punk. Anarchists such as Leo Tolstoy and Herbert Read stated that the border between the artist and the non-artist, what separates art from a daily act, is a construct produced by the alienation caused by capitalism and it prevents humans from living a joyful life.Other anarchists advocated for or used art as a means to achieve anarchist ends. In his book "Breaking the Spell: A History of Anarchist Filmmakers, Videotape Guerrillas, and Digital Ninjas", Chris Rob claims that "anarchist-inflected practices have increasingly structured movement-based video activism." Throughout the 20th century, many prominent anarchists and publications such as "Anarchy" wrote about matters pertaining to the arts.Three overlapping properties made art useful to anarchists. It could depict a critique of existing society and hierarchies serve as a prefigurative tool to reflect the anarchist ideal society and even turn into a means of direct action such as in protests. As it appeals to both emotion and reason art could appeal to the whole human and have a powerful effect. The 19th-century neo-impressionist movement had an ecological aesthetic and offered an example of an anarchist perception of the road towards socialism. In by anarchist painter Camille Pissarro the blending of aesthetic and social harmony is prefiguring an ideal anarchistic agrarian community.The most common critique of anarchism is that humans cannot self-govern and so a state is necessary for human survival. Philosopher Bertrand Russell supported this critique stating that Another common criticism of anarchism is that it fits a world of isolation in which only the small enough entities can be self-governing a response would be that major anarchist thinkers advocated anarchist federalism.Philosophy lecturer Andrew G. Fiala composed a list of common arguments against anarchism which includes critiques such as that anarchism is innately related to violence and destruction, not only in the pragmatic world, such as at protests, but in the world of ethics as well. Secondly, anarchism is evaluated as unfeasible or utopian since the state can not be defeated practically. This line of arguments most often calls for political action within the system to reform it. The third argument is that anarchism is self-contradictory. While it advocates for no-one to , if accepted by the many, then anarchism would turn into the ruling political theory. In this line of criticism also comes the self-contradiction that anarchism calls for collective action whilst endorsing the autonomy of the individual, hence no collective action can be taken. Lastly, Fiala mentions a critique towards philosophical anarchism of being ineffective and in the meantime capitalism and bourgeois class remains strong.Philosophical anarchism has met the criticism of members of academia following the release of pro-anarchist books such as A. John Simmons' "Moral Principles and Political Obligations". Law professor William A. Edmundson authored an essay to argue against three major philosophical anarchist principles which he finds fallacious. Edmundson says that while the individual does not owe the state a duty of obedience, this does not imply that anarchism is the inevitable conclusion and the state is still morally legitimate. In "The Problem of Political Authority", Michael Huemer defends philosophical anarchism, claiming that "political authority is a moral illusion."One of the earliest criticisms is that anarchism defies and fails to understand the biological inclination to authority. Joseph Raz states that the acceptance of authority implies the belief that following their instructions will afford more success. Raz believes that this argument is true in following both authorities' successful and mistaken instruction. Anarchists reject this criticism because challenging or disobeying authority does not entail the disappearance of its advantages by acknowledging authority such as doctors or lawyers as reliable, nor does it involve a complete surrender of independent judgment. Anarchist perception of human nature, rejection of the state, and commitment to social revolution has been criticised by academics as naive, overly simplistic, and unrealistic, respectively. Classical anarchism has been criticised for relying too heavily on the belief that the abolition of the state will lead to human cooperation prospering.Friedrich Engels considered to be one of the principal founders of Marxism criticised anarchism's anti-authoritarianism as inherently counter-revolutionary because in his view a revolution is by itself authoritarian. Academic John Molyneux writes in his book believing that it lacks the ability to properly implement its ideas. The Marxist criticism of anarchism is that it has a utopian character because all individuals should have anarchist views and values. According to the Marxist view that a social idea would follow directly from this human ideal and out of the free will of every individual formed its essence. Marxists state that this contradiction was responsible for their inability to act. In the anarchist vision the conflict between liberty and equality was resolved through coexistence and intertwining.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior. Parents often notice signs during the first three years of their child's life. These signs often develop gradually though some autistic children experience regression in their communication and social skills after reaching developmental milestones at a normal pace.Autism is associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Risk factors during pregnancy include certain infections, such as rubella, toxins including valproic acid, alcohol, cocaine, pesticides, lead, and air pollution, fetal growth restriction, and autoimmune diseases. Controversies surround other proposed environmental causes; for example, the vaccine hypothesis, which has been disproven. Autism affects information processing in the brain and how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders combines forms of the condition, including Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified into the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder .Several interventions have been shown to reduce symptoms and improve the ability of autistic people to function and participate independently in the community. Behavioral, psychological, education, and/or skill-building interventions may be used to assist autistic people to learn life skills necessary for living independently, as well as other social, communication, and language skills. Therapy also aims to reduce challenging behaviors and build upon strengths. Some autistic adults are unable to live independently. An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference to be accommodated instead of cured.Globally, autism is estimated to affect 24.8 million people . In the 2000s, the number of autistic people worldwide was estimated at 1–2 per 1,000 people. In the developed countries, about 1.5% of children are diagnosed with ASD , from 0.7% in 2000 in the United States. It is diagnosed four to five times more often in males than females. The number of people diagnosed has increased considerably since the 1990s, which may be partly due to increased recognition of the condition.Characteristics.Autism is a highly variable neurodevelopmental disorder whose symptoms first appear during infancy or childhood and generally follows a steady course without remission. Autistic people may be severely impaired in some respects but average or even superior in others. Overt symptoms gradually begin after the age of six months become established by age two or three years and tend to continue through adulthood although often in more muted form. It is distinguished by a characteristic triad of symptoms impairments in social interaction impairments in communication and repetitive behavior. Other aspects such as atypical eating are also common but are not essential for diagnosis. Individual symptoms of autism occur in the general population and appear not to associate highly without a sharp line separating pathologically severe from common traits.Social development.Social deficits distinguish autism and the related autism spectrum disorders from other developmental disorders. Autistic people have social impairments and often lack the intuition about others that many people take for granted. Noted autistic Temple Grandin described her inability to understand the social communication of neurotypicals or people with typical neural development as leaving her feeling "like an anthropologist on Mars".Unusual social development becomes apparent early in childhood. Autistic infants show less attention to social stimuli smile and look at others less often and respond less to their own name. Autistic toddlers differ more strikingly from social norms for example they have less eye contact and turn-taking and do not have the ability to use simple movements to express themselves such as pointing at things. Three- to five-year-old autistic children are less likely to exhibit social understanding approach others spontaneously imitate and respond to emotions communicate nonverbally and take turns with others. However they do form attachments to their primary caregivers. Most autistic children display moderately less attachment security than neurotypical children although this difference disappears in children with higher mental development or less pronounced autistic traits. Older children and adults with ASD perform worse on tests of face and emotion recognition although this may be partly due to a lower ability to define a person's own emotions.Children with high-functioning autism have more intense and frequent loneliness compared to non-autistic peers, despite the common belief that autistic children prefer to be alone. Making and maintaining friendships often proves to be difficult for autistic people. For them, the quality of friendships, not the number of friends, predicts how lonely they feel. Functional friendships, such as those resulting in invitations to parties, may affect the quality of life more deeply.There are many anecdotal reports, but few systematic studies, of aggression and violence in individuals with ASD. The limited data suggest that, in children with intellectual disability, autism is associated with aggression, destruction of property, and meltdowns.Communication.About one third to half of autistic people do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs. Differences in communication may be present from the first year of life, and may include delayed onset of babbling, unusual gestures, diminished responsiveness, and vocal patterns that are not synchronized with the caregiver. In the second and third years, autistic children have less frequent and less diverse babbling, consonants, words, and word combinations; their gestures are less often integrated with words. Autistic children are less likely to make requests or share experiences, and are more likely to simply repeat others' words or reverse pronouns. Joint attention seems to be necessary for functional speech, and deficits in joint attention seem to distinguish infants with ASD. For example, they may look at a pointing hand instead of the pointed-at object, and they consistently fail to point at objects in order to comment on or share an experience. Autistic children may have difficulty with imaginative play and with developing symbols into language.In a pair of studies, high-functioning autistic children aged 8–15 performed equally well as, and as adults better than, individually matched controls at basic language tasks involving vocabulary and spelling. Both autistic groups performed worse than controls at complex language tasks such as figurative language, comprehension, and inference. As people are often sized up initially from their basic language skills, these studies suggest that people speaking to autistic individuals are more likely to overestimate what their audience comprehends.Repetitive behavior.Autistic individuals can display many forms of repetitive or restricted behavior, which the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised categorizes as follows.No single repetitive or self-injurious behavior seems to be specific to autism, but autism appears to have an elevated pattern of occurrence and severity of these behaviors.Other symptoms.Autistic individuals may have symptoms that are independent of the diagnosis but that can affect the individual or the family.An estimated 0.5% to 10% of individuals with ASD show unusual abilities, ranging from splinter skills such as the memorization of trivia to the extraordinarily rare talents of prodigious autistic savants. Many individuals with ASD show superior skills in perception and attention, relative to the general population. Sensory abnormalities are found in over 90% of autistic people, and are considered core features by some, although there is no good evidence that sensory symptoms differentiate autism from other developmental disorders. Differences are greater for under-responsivity than for over-responsivity or for sensation seeking . An estimated 60–80% of autistic people have motor signs that include poor muscle tone, poor motor planning, and toe walking; deficits in motor coordination are pervasive across ASD and are greater in autism proper. Unusual eating behavior occurs in about three-quarters of children with ASD, to the extent that it was formerly a diagnostic indicator. Selectivity is the most common problem, although eating rituals and food refusal also occur.There is tentative evidence that gender dysphoria occurs more frequently in autistic people (see Autism and LGBT identities). As well as that a 2021 anonymized online survey of 16-90 year-olds revealed that autistic males are more likely to be bisexual while autistic females are more likely to be homosexual.Gastrointestinal problems are one of the most commonly co-occurring medical conditions in autistic people. These are linked to greater social impairment, irritability, behavior and sleep problems, language impairments and mood changes.Parents of children with ASD have higher levels of stress. Siblings of children with ASD report greater admiration of and less conflict with the affected sibling than siblings of unaffected children and were similar to siblings of children with Down syndrome in these aspects of the sibling relationship. However, they reported lower levels of closeness and intimacy than siblings of children with Down syndrome; siblings of individuals with ASD have greater risk of negative well-being and poorer sibling relationships as adults.It has long been presumed that there is a common cause at the genetic, cognitive, and neural levels for autism's characteristic triad of symptoms. However, there is increasing suspicion that autism is instead a complex disorder whose core aspects have distinct causes that often co-occur.Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether ASD is explained more by rare mutations with major effects, or by rare multigene interactions of common genetic variants. Complexity arises due to interactions among multiple genes, the environment, and epigenetic factors which do not change DNA sequencing but are heritable and influence gene expression. Many genes have been associated with autism through sequencing the genomes of affected individuals and their parents. Studies of twins suggest that heritability is 0.7 for autism and as high as 0.9 for ASD, and siblings of those with autism are about 25 times more likely to be autistic than the general population. However, most of the mutations that increase autism risk have not been identified. Typically, autism cannot be traced to a Mendelian mutation or to a single chromosome abnormality, and none of the genetic syndromes associated with ASDs have been shown to selectively cause ASD. Numerous candidate genes have been located, with only small effects attributable to any particular gene. Most loci individually explain less than 1% of cases of autism. The large number of autistic individuals with unaffected family members may result from spontaneous structural variation—such as deletions, duplications or inversions in genetic material during meiosis. Hence, a substantial fraction of autism cases may be traceable to genetic causes that are highly heritable but not inherited: that is, the mutation that causes the autism is not present in the parental genome. Autism may be underdiagnosed in women and girls due to an assumption that it is primarily a male condition, but genetic phenomena such as imprinting and X linkage have the ability to raise the frequency and severity of conditions in males, and theories have been put forward for a genetic reason why males are diagnosed more often, such as the imprinted brain hypothesis and the extreme male brain theory.Maternal nutrition and inflammation during preconception and pregnancy influences fetal neurodevelopment. Intrauterine growth restriction is associated with ASD in both term and preterm infants. Maternal inflammatory and autoimmune diseases may damage fetal tissues aggravating a genetic problem or damaging the nervous system.Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy especially heavy metals and particulates may increase the risk of autism. Environmental factors that have been claimed without evidence to contribute to or exacerbate autism include certain foods infectious diseases solvents PCBs phthalates and phenols used in plastic products pesticides brominated flame retardants alcohol smoking illicit drugs vaccines and prenatal stress. Some such as the MMR vaccine have been completely disproven.Parents may first become aware of autistic symptoms in their child around the time of a routine vaccination. This has led to unsupported theories blaming vaccine "overload", a vaccine preservative, or the MMR vaccine for causing autism. The latter theory was supported by a litigation-funded study that has since been shown to have been "an elaborate fraud". Although these theories lack convincing scientific evidence and are biologically implausible, parental concern about a potential vaccine link with autism has led to lower rates of childhood immunizations, outbreaks of previously controlled childhood diseases in some countries, and the preventable deaths of several children.Autism's symptoms result from maturation-related changes in various systems of the brain. How autism occurs is not well understood. Its mechanism can be divided into two areas the pathophysiology of brain structures and processes associated with autism and the neuropsychological linkages between brain structures and behaviors. The behaviors appear to have multiple pathophysiologies.There is evidence that gut–brain axis abnormalities may be involved. A 2015 review proposed that immune dysregulation, gastrointestinal inflammation, malfunction of the autonomic nervous system, gut flora alterations, and food metabolites may cause brain neuroinflammation and dysfunction. A 2016 review concludes that enteric nervous system abnormalities might play a role in neurological disorders such as autism. Neural connections and the immune system are a pathway that may allow diseases originated in the intestine to spread to the brain.Several lines of evidence point to synaptic dysfunction as a cause of autism. Some rare mutations may lead to autism by disrupting some synaptic pathways, such as those involved with cell adhesion. Gene replacement studies in mice suggest that autistic symptoms are closely related to later developmental steps that depend on activity in synapses and on activity-dependent changes. All known teratogens related to the risk of autism appear to act during the first eight weeks from conception, and though this does not exclude the possibility that autism can be initiated or affected later, there is strong evidence that autism arises very early in development.Diagnosis is based on behavior, not cause or mechanism. Under the DSM-5, autism is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. These deficits are present in early childhood, typically before age three, and lead to clinically significant functional impairment. Sample symptoms include lack of social or emotional reciprocity, stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language, and persistent preoccupation with unusual objects. The disturbance must not be better accounted for by Rett syndrome, intellectual disability or global developmental delay. ICD-10 uses essentially the same definition.Several diagnostic instruments are available. Two are commonly used in autism research: the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised is a semistructured parent interview, and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule uses observation and interaction with the child. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale is used widely in clinical environments to assess severity of autism based on observation of children. The Diagnostic interview for social and communication disorders may also be used.A pediatrician commonly performs a preliminary investigation by taking developmental history and physically examining the child. If warranted, diagnosis and evaluations are conducted with help from ASD specialists, observing and assessing cognitive, communication, family, and other factors using standardized tools, and taking into account any associated medical conditions. A pediatric neuropsychologist is often asked to assess behavior and cognitive skills, both to aid diagnosis and to help recommend educational interventions. A differential diagnosis for ASD at this stage might also consider intellectual disability, hearing impairment, and a specific language impairment such as Landau–Kleffner syndrome. The presence of autism can make it harder to diagnose coexisting psychiatric disorders such as depression.Clinical genetics evaluations are often done once ASD is diagnosed, particularly when other symptoms already suggest a genetic cause. Although genetic technology allows clinical geneticists to link an estimated 40% of cases to genetic causes, consensus guidelines in the US and UK are limited to high-resolution chromosome and fragile X testing. A genotype-first model of diagnosis has been proposed, which would routinely assess the genomes genetics. Metabolic and neuroimaging tests are sometimes helpful, but are not routine.ASD can sometimes be diagnosed by age 14 months, although diagnosis becomes increasingly stable over the first three years of life: for example, a one-year-old who meets diagnostic criteria for ASD is less likely than a three-year-old to continue to do so a few years later. In the UK the National Autism Plan for Children recommends at most 30 weeks from first concern to completed diagnosis and assessment, though few cases are handled that quickly in practice. Although the symptoms of autism and ASD begin early in childhood, they are sometimes missed; years later, adults may seek diagnoses to help them or their friends and family understand themselves, to help their employers make adjustments, or in some locations to claim disability living allowances or other benefits.Signs of autism may be more challenging for clinicians to detect in females. Autistic females have been shown to engage in masking more frequently than autistic males. Masking may include making oneself perform normative facial expressions and eye contact. A notable percentage of autistic females may be misdiagnosed diagnosed after a considerable delay or not diagnosed at all.Conversely the cost of screening and diagnosis and the challenge of obtaining payment can inhibit or delay diagnosis. It is particularly hard to diagnose autism among the visually impaired partly because some of its diagnostic criteria depend on vision and partly because autistic symptoms overlap with those of common blindness syndromes or blindisms.Classification.Autism is one of the five pervasive developmental disorders , which are characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication, severely restricted interests, and highly repetitive behavior. These symptoms do not imply sickness, fragility, or emotional disturbance.Of the five PDD forms Asperger syndrome is closest to autism in signs and likely causes Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder share several signs with autism but may have unrelated causes PDD not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS also called ) is diagnosed when the criteria are not met for a more specific disorder. Unlike with autism people with Asperger syndrome have no substantial delay in language development. The terminology of autism can be bewildering with autism Asperger syndrome and PDD-NOS often called the (ASD) or sometimes the are often used interchangeably. ASD in turn is a subset of the broader autism phenotype which describes individuals who may not have ASD but do have autistic-like traits such as avoiding eye contact.Research into causes has been hampered by the inability to identify biologically meaningful subgroups within the autistic population and by the traditional boundaries between the disciplines of psychiatry, psychology, neurology and pediatrics. Newer technologies such as fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging can help identify biologically relevant phenotypes that can be viewed on brain scans, to help further neurogenetic studies of autism; one example is lowered activity in the fusiform face area of the brain, which is associated with impaired perception of people versus objects. It has been proposed to classify autism using genetics as well as behavior. Autism has long been thought to cover a wide spectrum ranging from individuals with severe impairments—who may be silent developmentally disabled and prone to frequent repetitive behavior such as hand flapping and rocking—to high functioning individuals who may have active but distinctly odd social approaches narrowly focused interests and verbose pedantic communication. Because the behavior spectrum is continuous boundaries between diagnostic categories are necessarily somewhat arbitrary.About half of parents of children with ASD notice their child's unusual behaviors by age 18 months and about four-fifths notice by age 24 months. According to an article failure to meet any of the following milestones "is an absolute indication to proceed with further evaluations. Delay in referral for such testing may delay early diagnosis and treatment and affect the long-term outcome".The United States Preventive Services Task Force in 2016 found it was unclear if screening was beneficial or harmful among children in whom there is no concern. The Japanese practice is to screen all children for ASD at 18 and 24 months using autism-specific formal screening tests. In contrast in the UK children whose families or doctors recognize possible signs of autism are screened. It is not known which approach is more effective. Screening tools include the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers the Early Screening of Autistic Traits Questionnaire and the First Year Inventory initial data on M-CHAT and its predecessor the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers on children aged 18–30 months suggests that it is best used in a clinical setting and that it has low sensitivity but good specificity . It may be more accurate to precede these tests with a broadband screener that does not distinguish ASD from other developmental disorders. Screening tools designed for one culture's norms for behaviors like eye contact may be inappropriate for a different culture. Although genetic screening for autism is generally still impractical it can be considered in some cases such as children with neurological symptoms and dysmorphic features.Prevention.While infection with rubella during pregnancy causes fewer than 1% of cases of autism vaccination against rubella can prevent many of those cases.Management.The main goals when treating autistic children are to lessen associated deficits and family distress and to increase quality of life and functional independence. In general higher IQs are correlated with greater responsiveness to treatment and improved treatment outcomes. No single treatment is best and treatment is typically tailored to the child's needs. Families and the educational system are the main resources for treatment. Services should be carried out by behavior analysts special education teachers speech pathologists and licensed psychologists. Studies of interventions have methodological problems that prevent definitive conclusions about efficacy. However the development of evidence-based interventions has advanced in recent years. Although many psychosocial interventions have some positive evidence suggesting that some form of treatment is preferable to no treatment the methodological quality of systematic reviews of these studies has generally been poor their clinical results are mostly tentative and there is little evidence for the relative effectiveness of treatment options. Intensive sustained special education programs and behavior therapy early in life can help children acquire self-care communication and job skills and often improve functioning and decrease symptom severity and maladaptive behaviors claims that intervention by around age three years is crucial are not substantiated. While medications have not been found to help with core symptoms they may be used for associated symptoms such as irritability inattention or repetitive behavior patterns.Educational interventions often used include applied behavior analysis developmental models structured teaching speech and language therapy social skills therapy and occupational therapy and cognitive behavioral interventions in adults without intellectual disability to reduce depression anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Among these approaches interventions either treat autistic features comprehensively or focalize treatment on a specific area of deficit. The quality of research for early intensive behavioral intervention —a treatment procedure incorporating over thirty hours per week of the structured type of ABA that is carried out with very young children—is currently low and more vigorous research designs with larger sample sizes are needed. Two theoretical frameworks outlined for early childhood intervention include structured and naturalistic ABA interventions and developmental social pragmatic models . One interventional strategy utilizes a parent training model which teaches parents how to implement various ABA and DSP techniques allowing for parents to disseminate interventions themselves. Various DSP programs have been developed to explicitly deliver intervention systems through at-home parent implementation. Despite the recent development of parent training models these interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in numerous studies being evaluated as a probable efficacious mode of treatment.Early intensive ABA therapy has demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing communication and adaptive functioning in preschool children it is also well-established for improving the intellectual performance of that age group. Similarly a teacher-implemented intervention that utilizes a more naturalistic form of ABA combined with a developmental social pragmatic approach has been found to be beneficial in improving social-communication skills in young children although there is less evidence in its treatment of global symptoms. Neuropsychological reports are often poorly communicated to educators resulting in a gap between what a report recommends and what education is provided. It is not known whether treatment programs for children lead to significant improvements after the children grow up and the limited research on the effectiveness of adult residential programs shows mixed results. The appropriateness of including children with varying severity of autism spectrum disorders in the general education population is a subject of current debate among educators and researchers.Medication.Medications may be used to treat ASD symptoms that interfere with integrating a child into home or school when behavioral treatment fails. They may also be used for associated health problems, such as ADHD or anxiety. More than half of US children diagnosed with ASD are prescribed psychoactive drugs or anticonvulsants, with the most common drug classes being antidepressants, stimulants, and antipsychotics. The atypical antipsychotic drugs risperidone and aripiprazole are FDA-approved for treating associated aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. However, their side effects must be weighed against their potential benefits, and autistic people may respond atypically. Side effects, for example, may include weight gain, tiredness, drooling, and aggression. SSRI antidepressants, such as fluoxetine and fluvoxamine, have been shown to be effective in reducing repetitive and ritualistic behaviors, while the stimulant medication methylphenidate is beneficial for some children with co-morbid inattentiveness or hyperactivity. There is scant reliable research about the effectiveness or safety of drug treatments for adolescents and adults with ASD. No known medication relieves autism's core symptoms of social and communication impairments. Experiments in mice have reversed or reduced some symptoms related to autism by replacing or modulating gene function, suggesting the possibility of targeting therapies to specific rare mutations known to cause autism.Alternative medicine.Although many alternative therapies and interventions are available few are supported by scientific studies. Treatment approaches have little empirical support in quality-of-life contexts and many programs focus on success measures that lack predictive validity and real-world relevance. Some alternative treatments may place the child at risk. The preference that autistic children have for unconventional foods can lead to reduction in bone cortical thickness with this being greater in those on casein-free diets as a consequence of the low intake of calcium and vitamin D however suboptimal bone development in ASD has also been associated with lack of exercise and gastrointestinal disorders. In 2005 botched chelation therapy killed a five-year-old child with autism. Chelation is not recommended for autistic people since the associated risks outweigh any potential benefits. Another alternative medicine practice with no evidence is CEASE therapy a mixture of homeopathy supplements and .Although popularly used as an alternative treatment for autistic people as of 2018 there is no good evidence to recommend a gluten- and casein-free diet as a standard treatment. A 2018 review concluded that it may be a therapeutic option for specific groups of children with autism such as those with known food intolerances or allergies or with food intolerance markers. The authors analyzed the prospective trials conducted to date that studied the efficacy of the gluten- and casein-free diet in children with ASD . All of them compared gluten- and casein-free diet versus normal diet with a control group . In two of the studies whose duration was 12 and 24 months a significant improvement in ASD symptoms was identified. In the other two studies whose duration was 3 months no significant effect was observed. The authors concluded that a longer duration of the diet may be necessary to achieve the improvement of the ASD symptoms. Other problems documented in the trials carried out include transgressions of the diet small sample size the heterogeneity of the participants and the possibility of a placebo effect. In the subset of people who have gluten sensitivity there is limited evidence that suggests that a gluten-free diet may improve some autistic behaviors.Results of a systematic review on interventions to address health outcomes among autistic adults found emerging evidence to support mindfulness-based interventions for improving mental health. This includes decreasing stress, anxiety, ruminating thoughts, anger, and aggression. There is tentative evidence that music therapy may improve social interactions, verbal communication, and non-verbal communication skills. There has been early research looking at hyperbaric treatments in children with autism. Studies on pet therapy have shown positive effects.There is no known cure for autism. The degree of symptoms can decrease, occasionally to the extent that people lose their diagnosis of ASD; this occurs sometimes after intensive treatment and sometimes not. It is not known how often this outcome happens; reported rates in unselected samples have ranged from 3% to 25%. Most autistic children acquire language by age five or younger, though a few have developed communication skills in later years. Many autistic children lack social support, future employment opportunities or self-determination. Although core difficulties tend to persist, symptoms often become less severe with age.Few high-quality studies address long-term prognosis. Some adults show modest improvement in communication skills, but a few decline; no study has focused on autism after midlife. Acquiring language before age six, having an IQ above 50, and having a marketable skill all predict better outcomes; independent living is unlikely with severe autism.Many autistic people face significant obstacles in transitioning to adulthood. Compared to the general population autistic people are more likely to be unemployed and to have never had a job. About half of people in their 20s with autism are not employed.Autistic people tend to face increased stress levels related to psychosocial factors such as stigma which may increase the rates of mental health issues in the autistic population.Epidemiology.As of 2007, reviews estimate a prevalence of 1–2 per 1,000 for autism and close to 6 per 1,000 for ASD. A 2016 survey in the United States reported a rate of 25 per 1,000 children for ASD. Globally, autism affects an estimated 24.8 million people , while Asperger syndrome affects a further 37.2 million. In 2012, the NHS estimated that the overall prevalence of autism among adults aged 18 years and over in the UK was 1.1%. Rates of PDD-NOS's has been estimated at 3.7 per 1,000, Asperger syndrome at roughly 0.6 per 1,000, and childhood disintegrative disorder at 0.02 per 1,000. CDC estimates about 1 out of 59 for 2014, an increase from 1 out of every 68 children for 2010.In the UK from 1998 to 2018 the autism diagnoses increased by 787%. This increase is largely attributable to changes in diagnostic practices referral patterns availability of services age at diagnosis and public awareness though unidentified environmental risk factors cannot be ruled out. The available evidence does not rule out the possibility that autism's true prevalence has increased a real increase would suggest directing more attention and funding toward psychosocial factors and changing environmental factors instead of continuing to focus on genetics. It has been established that vaccination is not a risk factor for autism and is not behind any increase in autism prevalence rates if any change in the rate of autism exists at all.Males are at higher risk for ASD than females. The sex ratio averages 4.3:1 and is greatly modified by cognitive impairment: it may be close to 2:1 with intellectual disability and more than 5.5:1 without. Several theories about the higher prevalence in males have been investigated, but the cause of the difference is unconfirmed; one theory is that females are underdiagnosed.Although the evidence does not implicate any single pregnancy-related risk factor as a cause of autism the risk of autism is associated with advanced age in either parent and with diabetes bleeding and use of psychiatric drugs in the mother during pregnancy. The risk is greater with older fathers than with older mothers two potential explanations are the known increase in mutation burden in older sperm and the hypothesis that men marry later if they carry genetic liability and show some signs of autism. Most professionals believe that race ethnicity and socioeconomic background do not affect the occurrence of autism.Several other conditions are common in children with autism. They include:A few examples of autistic symptoms and treatments were described long before autism was named. The "Table Talk" of Martin Luther compiled by his notetaker Mathesius contains the story of a 12-year-old boy who may have been severely autistic. The earliest well-documented case of autism is that of Hugh Blair of Borgue as detailed in a 1747 court case in which his brother successfully petitioned to annul Blair's marriage to gain Blair's inheritance. The Wild Boy of Aveyron a feral child caught in 1798 showed several signs of autism the medical student Jean Itard treated him with a behavioral program designed to help him form social attachments and to induce speech via imitation.The New Latin word "autismus" was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1910 as he was defining symptoms of schizophrenia. He derived it from the Greek word "auts" and used it to mean morbid self-admiration referring to "autistic withdrawal of the patient to his fantasies against which any influence from outside becomes an intolerable disturbance". A Soviet child psychiatrist Grunya Sukhareva described a similar syndrome that was published in Russian in 1925 and in German in 1926.Clinical development and diagnoses.The word , are still regarded as typical of the autistic spectrum of disorders. It is not known whether Kanner derived the term independently of Asperger.Kanner's reuse of . Starting in the late 1960s autism was established as a separate syndrome.Terminology and distinction from schizophrenia.As late as the mid-1970s there was little evidence of a genetic role in autism while in 2007 it was believed to be one of the most heritable psychiatric conditions. Although the rise of parent organizations and the destigmatization of childhood ASD have affected how ASD is viewed parents continue to feel social stigma in situations where their child's autistic behavior is perceived negatively and many primary care physicians and medical specialists express some beliefs consistent with outdated autism research.It took until 1980 for the DSM-III to differentiate autism from childhood schizophrenia. In 1987 the DSM-III-R provided a checklist for diagnosing autism. In May 2013 the DSM-5 was released updating the classification for pervasive developmental disorders. The grouping of disorders including PDD-NOS autism Asperger syndrome Rett syndrome and CDD has been removed and replaced with the general term of Autism Spectrum Disorders. The two categories that exist are impaired social communication and/or interaction and restricted and/or repetitive behaviors.The Internet has helped autistic individuals bypass nonverbal cues and emotional sharing that they find difficult to deal with, and has given them a way to form online communities and work remotely. Societal and cultural aspects of autism have developed: some in the community seek a cure, while others believe that autism is simply another way of being.Society and culture.An autistic culture has emerged, accompanied by the autistic rights and neurodiversity movements. Events include World Autism Awareness Day, Autism Sunday, Autistic Pride Day, Autreat, and others. Social-science scholars study those with autism in hopes to learn more about Many autistic individuals have been successful in their fields.Autism rights movement.The autism rights movement is a social movement within the context of disability rights that emphasizes the concept of neurodiversity, viewing the autism spectrum as a result of natural variations in the human brain rather than a disorder to be cured. The autism rights movement advocates for including greater acceptance of autistic behaviors; therapies that focus on coping skills rather than on imitating the behaviors of those without autism, and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group. Autism rights or neurodiversity advocates believe that the autism spectrum is genetic and should be accepted as a natural expression of the human genome. This perspective is distinct from fringe theories that autism is caused by environmental factors such as vaccines. A common criticism against autistic activists is that the majority of them are "high-functioning" or have Asperger syndrome and do not represent the views of "low-functioning" autistic people.Employment.About half of autistic people are unemployed and one third of those with graduate degrees may be unemployed. Among those who find work most are employed in sheltered settings working for wages below the national minimum. While employers state hiring concerns about productivity and supervision experienced employers of autistic people give positive reports of above average memory and detail orientation as well as a high regard for rules and procedure in autistic employees. A majority of the economic burden of autism is caused by decreased earnings in the job market. Some studies also find decreased earning among parents who care for autistic children.
Albedo is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation.Surface albedo is defined as the ratio of radiosity "J"e to the irradiance "E"e (flux per unit area) received by a surface. The proportion reflected is not only determined by properties of the surface itself, but also by the spectral and angular distribution of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. These factors vary with atmospheric composition, geographic location and time (see position of the Sun). While bi-hemispherical reflectance is calculated for a single angle of incidence (i.e., for a given position of the Sun), albedo is the directional integration of reflectance over all solar angles in a given period. The temporal resolution may range from seconds (as obtained from flux measurements) to daily, monthly, or annual averages.Unless given for a specific wavelength , albedo refers to the entire spectrum of solar radiation. Due to measurement constraints, it is often given for the spectrum in which most solar energy reaches the surface . This spectrum includes visible light , which explains why surfaces with a low albedo appear dark , whereas surfaces with a high albedo appear bright .Albedo is an important concept in climatology, astronomy, and environmental management (e.g., as part of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for sustainable rating of buildings). The average albedo of the Earth from the upper atmosphere, its , is 30–35% because of cloud cover, but widely varies locally across the surface because of different geological and environmental features.The term albedo was introduced into optics by Johann Heinrich Lambert in his 1760 work .Terrestrial albedo.Any albedo in visible light falls within a range of about 0.9 for fresh snow to about 0.04 for charcoal one of the darkest substances. Deeply shadowed cavities can achieve an effective albedo approaching the zero of a black body. When seen from a distance the ocean surface has a low albedo as do most forests whereas desert areas have some of the highest albedos among landforms. Most land areas are in an albedo range of 0.1 to 0.4. The average albedo of Earth is about 0.3. This is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds.Earths MODIS instruments on board the Terra and Aqua satellites, and the CERES instrument on the Suomi NPP and JPSS. As the amount of reflected radiation is only measured for a single direction by satellite, not all directions, a mathematical model is used to translate a sample set of satellite reflectance measurements into estimates of directional-hemispherical reflectance and bi-hemispherical reflectance . These calculations are based on the bidirectional reflectance distribution function , which describes how the reflectance of a given surface depends on the view angle of the observer and the solar angle. BDRF can facilitate translations of observations of reflectance into albedo.Earth's average surface temperature due to its albedo and the greenhouse effect is currently about . If Earth were frozen entirely , the average temperature of the planet would drop below . If only the continental land masses became covered by glaciers, the mean temperature of the planet would drop to about . In contrast, if the entire Earth was covered by water – a so-called ocean planet – the average temperature on the planet would rise to almost .In 2021, scientists reported that Earth dimmed by ~0.5% over two decades as measured by earthshine using modern photometric techniques. This may have both been co-caused by climate change as well as a substantial increase in global warming. However, the link to climate change has not been explored to date and it is unclear whether or not this represents an ongoing trend.White-sky black-sky and blue-sky albedo.For land surfaces, it has been shown that the albedo at a particular solar zenith angle can be approximated by the proportionate sum of two terms:with formula_3 being the proportion of direct radiation from a given solar angle and formula_4 being the proportion of diffuse illumination the actual albedo formula_5 (also called blue-sky albedo) can then be given asThis formula is important because it allows the albedo to be calculated for any given illumination conditions from a knowledge of the intrinsic properties of the surface.Astronomical albedo.The albedos of planets satellites and minor planets such as asteroids can be used to infer much about their properties. The study of albedos their dependence on wavelength lighting angle () and variation in time composes a major part of the astronomical field of photometry. For small and far objects that cannot be resolved by telescopes much of what we know comes from the study of their albedos. For example the absolute albedo can indicate the surface ice content of outer Solar System objects the variation of albedo with phase angle gives information about regolith properties whereas unusually high radar albedo is indicative of high metal content in asteroids.Enceladus a moon of Saturn has one of the highest known albedos of any body in the Solar System with an albedo of 0.99. Another notable high-albedo body is Eris with an albedo of 0.96. Many small objects in the outer Solar System and asteroid belt have low albedos down to about 0.05. A typical comet nucleus has an albedo of 0.04. Such a dark surface is thought to be indicative of a primitive and heavily space weathered surface containing some organic compounds.The overall albedo of the Moon is measured to be around 0.14, but it is strongly directional and non-Lambertian, displaying also a strong opposition effect. Although such reflectance properties are different from those of any terrestrial terrains, they are typical of the regolith surfaces of airless Solar System bodies.Two common albedos that are used in astronomy are the geometric albedo and the Bond albedo . Their values can differ significantly, which is a common source of confusion.In detailed studies, the directional reflectance properties of astronomical bodies are often expressed in terms of the five Hapke parameters which semi-empirically describe the variation of albedo with phase angle, including a characterization of the opposition effect of regolith surfaces.The relation between astronomical (geometric) albedo, absolute magnitude and diameter is:where formula_8 is the astronomical albedo, formula_9 is the diameter in kilometers, and formula_10 is the absolute magnitude.Examples of terrestrial albedo effects.Illumination.Albedo is not directly dependent on illumination because changing the amount of incoming light proportionally changes the amount of reflected light, except in circumstances where a change in illumination induces a change in the Earth's surface at that location . That said, albedo and illumination both vary by latitude. Albedo is highest near the poles and lowest in the subtropics, with a local maximum in the tropics.Insolation effects.The intensity of albedo temperature effects depends on the amount of albedo and the level of local insolation (solar irradiance) high albedo areas in the Arctic and Antarctic regions are cold due to low insolation whereas areas such as the Sahara Desert which also have a relatively high albedo will be hotter due to high insolation. Tropical and sub-tropical rainforest areas have low albedo and are much hotter than their temperate forest counterparts which have lower insolation. Because insolation plays such a big role in the heating and cooling effects of albedo high insolation areas like the tropics will tend to show a more pronounced fluctuation in local temperature when local albedo changes.Arctic regions notably release more heat back into space than what they absorb, effectively cooling the Earth. This has been a concern since arctic ice and snow has been melting at higher rates due to higher temperatures, creating regions in the arctic that are notably darker (being water or ground which is darker color) and reflects less heat back into space. This feedback loop results in a reduced albedo effect.Climate and weather.Albedo affects climate by determining how much radiation a planet absorbs. The uneven heating of Earth from albedo variations between land ice or ocean surfaces can drive weather.Albedo–temperature feedback.When an area's albedo changes due to snowfall, a snow–temperature feedback results. A layer of snowfall increases local albedo, reflecting away sunlight, leading to local cooling. In principle, if no outside temperature change affects this area , the raised albedo and lower temperature would maintain the current snow and invite further snowfall, deepening the snow–temperature feedback. However, because local weather is dynamic due to the change of seasons, eventually warm air masses and a more direct angle of sunlight cause melting. When the melted area reveals surfaces with lower albedo, such as grass, soil, or ocean, the effect is reversed: the darkening surface lowers albedo, increasing local temperatures, which induces more melting and thus reducing the albedo further, resulting in still more heating.Snow albedo is highly variable ranging from as high as 0.9 for freshly fallen snow to about 0.4 for melting snow and as low as 0.2 for dirty snow. Over Antarctica snow albedo averages a little more than 0.8. If a marginally snow-covered area warms snow tends to melt lowering the albedo and hence leading to more snowmelt because more radiation is being absorbed by the snowpack (the ice–albedo positive feedback).Just as fresh snow has a higher albedo than does dirty snow, the albedo of snow-covered sea ice is far higher than that of sea water. Sea water absorbs more solar radiation than would the same surface covered with reflective snow. When sea ice melts, either due to a rise in sea temperature or in response to increased solar radiation from above, the snow-covered surface is reduced, and more surface of sea water is exposed, so the rate of energy absorption increases. The extra absorbed energy heats the sea water, which in turn increases the rate at which sea ice melts. As with the preceding example of snowmelt, the process of melting of sea ice is thus another example of a positive feedback. Both positive feedback loops have long been recognized as important for global warming.Cryoconite powdery windblown dust containing soot sometimes reduces albedo on glaciers and ice sheets.The dynamical nature of albedo in response to positive feedback, together with the effects of small errors in the measurement of albedo, can lead to large errors in energy estimates. Because of this, in order to reduce the error of energy estimates, it is important to measure the albedo of snow-covered areas through remote sensing techniques rather than applying a single value for albedo over broad regions.Small-scale effects.Albedo works on a smaller scale, too. In sunlight, dark clothes absorb more heat and light-coloured clothes reflect it better, thus allowing some control over body temperature by exploiting the albedo effect of the colour of external clothing.Solar photovoltaic effects.Albedo can affect the electrical energy output of solar photovoltaic devices. For example, the effects of a spectrally responsive albedo are illustrated by the differences between the spectrally weighted albedo of solar photovoltaic technology based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based compared to traditional spectral-integrated albedo predictions. Research showed impacts of over 10%. More recently, the analysis was extended to the effects of spectral bias due to the specular reflectivity of 22 commonly occurring surface materials (both human-made and natural) and analyzes the albedo effects on the performance of seven photovoltaic materials covering three common photovoltaic system topologies: industrial (solar farms), commercial flat rooftops and residential pitched-roof applications.Because forests generally have a low albedo, , some scientists have suggested that greater heat absorption by trees could offset some of the carbon benefits of afforestation . In the case of evergreen forests with seasonal snow cover albedo reduction may be great enough for deforestation to cause a net cooling effect. Trees also impact climate in extremely complicated ways through evapotranspiration. The water vapor causes cooling on the land surface, causes heating where it condenses, acts a strong greenhouse gas, and can increase albedo when it condenses into clouds. Scientists generally treat evapotranspiration as a net cooling impact, and the net climate impact of albedo and evapotranspiration changes from deforestation depends greatly on local climate.In seasonally snow-covered zones winter albedos of treeless areas are 10% to 50% higher than nearby forested areas because snow does not cover the trees as readily. Deciduous trees have an albedo value of about 0.15 to 0.18 whereas coniferous trees have a value of about 0.09 to 0.15. Variation in summer albedo across both forest types is associated with maximum rates of photosynthesis because plants with high growth capacity display a greater fraction of their foliage for direct interception of incoming radiation in the upper canopy. The result is that wavelengths of light not used in photosynthesis are more likely to be reflected back to space rather than being absorbed by other surfaces lower in the canopy.Studies by the Hadley Centre have investigated the relative effect of albedo change and effect of carbon sequestration on planting forests. They found that new forests in tropical and midlatitude areas tended to cool new forests in high latitudes were neutral or perhaps warming.Water reflects light very differently from typical terrestrial materials. The reflectivity of a water surface is calculated using the Fresnel equations.At the scale of the wavelength of light even wavy water is always smooth so the light is reflected in a locally specular manner . The glint of light off water is a commonplace effect of this. At small angles of incident light, waviness results in reduced reflectivity because of the steepness of the reflectivity-vs.-incident-angle curve and a locally increased average incident angle.Although the reflectivity of water is very low at low and medium angles of incident light it becomes very high at high angles of incident light such as those that occur on the illuminated side of Earth near the terminator . However as mentioned above waviness causes an appreciable reduction. Because light specularly reflected from water does not usually reach the viewer water is usually considered to have a very low albedo in spite of its high reflectivity at high angles of incident light.Note that white caps on waves look white because the water is foamed up so there are many superimposed bubble surfaces which reflect adding up their reflectivities. Fresh 'black' ice exhibits Fresnel reflection.Snow on top of this sea ice increases the albedo to 0.9.Cloud albedo has substantial influence over atmospheric temperatures. Different types of clouds exhibit different reflectivity theoretically ranging in albedo from a minimum of near 0 to a maximum approaching 0.8. "On any given day about half of Earth is covered by clouds which reflect more sunlight than land and water. Clouds keep Earth cool by reflecting sunlight but they can also serve as blankets to trap warmth."Albedo and climate in some areas are affected by artificial clouds, such as those created by the contrails of heavy commercial airliner traffic. A study following the burning of the Kuwaiti oil fields during Iraqi occupation showed that temperatures under the burning oil fires were as much as colder than temperatures several miles away under clear skies.Aerosol effects.Aerosols have both direct and indirect effects on Earth's radiative balance. The direct effect is generally to cool the planet; the indirect effect is less certain. As per Spracklen et al. the effects are:In extremely polluted cities like Delhi aerosol pollutants influence local weather and induce an urban cool island effect during the day.Black carbon.Another albedo-related effect on the climate is from black carbon particles. The size of this effect is difficult to quantify: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that the global mean radiative forcing for black carbon aerosols from fossil fuels is +0.2 W m−2, with a range +0.1 to +0.4 W m−2. Black carbon is a bigger cause of the melting of the polar ice cap in the Arctic than carbon dioxide due to its effect on the albedo.Human activities.Human activities change the albedo of various areas around the globe. However, quantification of this effect on the global scale is difficult, further study is required to determine anthropogenic effects.Other types of albedo.Single-scattering albedo is used to define scattering of electromagnetic waves on small particles. It depends on properties of the material the size of the particle or particles and the wavelength of the incoming radiation.
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is (pronounced ), plural . It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms: the double-storey a and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type.In the English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", are indefinite articles.The earliest certain ancestor of "A" is aleph , the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, which consisted entirely of consonants . In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in proto-Sinaitic script influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two horns extended.When the ancient Greeks adopted the alphabet they had no use for a letter to represent the glottal stop—the consonant sound that the letter denoted in Phoenician and other Semitic languages and that was the first phoneme of the Phoenician pronunciation of the letter—so they used their version of the sign to represent the vowel and called it by the similar name of alpha. In the earliest Greek inscriptions after the Greek Dark Ages dating to the 8th century BC the letter rests upon its side but in the Greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles the modern capital letter although many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg or by the angle at which the cross line is set.The Etruscans brought the Greek alphabet to their civilization in the Italian Peninsula and left the letter unchanged. The Romans later adopted the Etruscan alphabet to write the Latin language, and the resulting letter was preserved in the Latin alphabet that would come to be used to write many languages, including English.Typographic variants.During Roman times there were many variant forms of the letter "A". First was the monumental or lapidary style which was used when inscribing on stone or other "permanent" media. There was also a cursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing which was done on more perishable surfaces. Due to the "perishable" nature of these surfaces there are not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive such as majuscule cursive minuscule cursive and semicursive minuscule. Variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles. The known variants include the early semi-uncial the uncial and the later semi-uncial.At the end of the Roman Empire (5th century AD) several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through Western Europe. Among these were the semicursive minuscule of Italy the Merovingian script in France the Visigothic script in Spain and the Insular or Anglo-Irish semi-uncial or Anglo-Saxon majuscule of Great Britain. By the 9th century the Caroline script which was very similar to the present-day form was the principal form used in book-making before the advent of the printing press. This form was derived through a combining of prior forms.15th-century Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants the "Italic" and "Roman" forms were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form also called "script a" is used in most current handwriting it consists of a circle and vertical stroke on the right . This slowly developed from the fifth-century form resembling the Greek letter tau in the hands of medieval Irish and English writers. The Roman form is used in most printed material it consists of a small loop with an arc over it . Both derive from the majuscule form. In Greek handwriting it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop as demonstrated by the uncial version shown. Many fonts then made the right leg vertical. In some of these the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc resulting in the printed form while in others it was dropped resulting in the modern handwritten form. Graphic designers refer to the "Italic" and "Roman" forms as "single decker a" and "double decker a" respectively.Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest . There are some other cases aside from italic type where .Use in writing systems.In modern English orthography the letter represents at least seven different vowel soundsThe double sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as . However, occurs in many common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly , , , , and .is the third-most-commonly used letter in English , and the second most common in Spanish and French. In one study, on average, about 3.68% of letters used in English texts tend to be , while the number is 6.22% in Spanish and 3.95% in French.Other languages.In most languages that use the Latin alphabet denotes an open unrounded vowel such as or . An exception is Saanich in which stands for a close-mid front unrounded vowel .Other systems.In phonetic and phonemic notation:Other uses.In algebra the letter and this convention is still often followed especially in elementary algebra.In geometry capital A B C etc. are used to denote segments lines rays etc. A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A."A" is often used to denote something or someone of a better or more prestigious quality or status A- A or A+ the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students' schoolwork "A grade" for clean restaurants A-list celebrities etc. Such associations can have a motivating effect as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance when compared with other letters.In English grammar "a" and its variant "an" is an indefinite article used to introduce noun phrases.Finally, the letter A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe, or a small cup size in a brassiere.
Alabama is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered by Tennessee to the north; Georgia to the east; Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south; and Mississippi to the west. Alabama is the 30th largest by area and the 24th-most populous of the U.S. states. With a total of of inland waterways, Alabama has among the most of any state.Alabama is nicknamed the "Yellowhammer State", after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie" and the "Cotton State". The state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. Alabama's capital is Montgomery, and its largest city by population and area is Huntsville. Its oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. Greater Birmingham is Alabama's largest metropolitan area and its economic center.The state's geography is diverse, with the north dominated by the mountainous Tennessee Valley and the south by Mobile Bay, a historically significant port. Politically, as part of the Deep South, Alabama is now a predominantly conservative state, and it is known for its Southern culture. Today, American football, particularly at the college level at schools like Auburn University, the University of Alabama, Alabama A&amp;M University, Alabama State University, Troy University, the University of South Alabama, and Jacksonville State University is a major part of the state's culture.Originally home to many native tribes present-day Alabama was a Spanish territory beginning in the sixteenth century until the French acquired it in the early eighteenth century. The British won the territory in 1763 until losing it in the American Revolutionary War. Spain held Mobile as part of Spanish West Florida until 1813. In December 1819 Alabama was recognized as a state. During the antebellum period Alabama was a major producer of cotton and widely used African American slave labor. In 1861 the state seceded from the United States to become part of the Confederate States of America with Montgomery acting as its first capital and rejoined the Union in 1868.From the American Civil War until World War II Alabama suffered economic hardship in part because of its continued dependence on few agricultural cash crops. Similar to other former slave states Alabamian legislators employed Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and discriminate against African Americans from the end of the Reconstruction Era up until the 1960s. Despite the growth of major industries and urban centers white rural interests dominated the state legislature from 1901 to the 1960s. During this time urban interests and African Americans were markedly under-represented. High-profile events such as the Selma to Montgomery march made the state a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Following World War II Alabama grew as the states economy in the 21st century is based on management automotive finance manufacturing aerospace mineral extraction healthcare education retail and technology.The European-American naming of the Alabama River and state was derived from the Alabama people, a Muskogean-speaking tribe whose members lived just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the river. In the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is . The suggestion that "Alabama" was borrowed from the Choctaw language is unlikely. The word's spelling varies significantly among historical sources. The first usage appears in three accounts of the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540: Garcilaso de la Vega used , while the Knight of Elvas and Rodrigo Ranjel wrote "Alibamu" and "Limamu", respectively, in transliterations of the term. As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the , with French maps identifying the river as . Other spellings of the name have included "Alibamu", "Alabamo", "Albama", "Alebamon", "Alibama", "Alibamou", "Alabamu", "Allibamou".Sources disagree on the word, referring to clearing land for cultivation or collecting medicinal plants. The state has numerous place names of Native American origin. However, there are no correspondingly similar words in the Alabama language.An 1842 article in the "Jacksonville Republican" proposed it meant 'Here We Rest'. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek. Experts in the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation.Pre-European settlement.Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization. Trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period and continued until European contact.The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 CE with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville Alabama. This is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era after Cahokia in present-day Illinois which was the center of the culture. Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars' formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex . Contrary to popular belief the SECC appears to have no direct links to Mesoamerican culture but developed independently. The Ceremonial Complex represents a major component of the religion of the Mississippian peoples it is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood.Among the historical tribes of Native American people living in present-day Alabama at the time of European contact were the Cherokee an Iroquoian language people and the Muskogean-speaking Alabama Chickasaw Choctaw Creek and Koasati. While part of the same large language family the Muskogee tribes developed distinct cultures and languages.European settlement.The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach Alabama during their exploration of North America in the 16th century. The expedition of Hernando de Soto passed through Mabila and other parts of the state in 1540. More than 160 years later, the French founded the region's first European settlement at Old Mobile in 1702. The city was moved to the current site of Mobile in 1711. This area was claimed by the French from 1702 to 1763 as part of La Louisiane.After the French lost to the British in the Seven Years' War, it became part of British West Florida from 1763 to 1783. After the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War, the territory was divided between the United States and Spain. The latter retained control of this western territory from 1783 until the surrender of the Spanish garrison at Mobile to U.S. forces on April 13, 1813.Thomas Bassett, a loyalist to the British monarchy during the Revolutionary era, was one of the earliest white settlers in the state outside Mobile. He settled in the Tombigbee District during the early 1770s. The district's boundaries were roughly limited to the area within a few miles of the Tombigbee River and included portions of what is today southern Clarke County, northernmost Mobile County, and most of Washington County.What is now the counties of Baldwin and Mobile became part of Spanish West Florida in 1783 part of the independent Republic of West Florida in 1810 and was finally added to the Mississippi Territory in 1812. Most of what is now the northern two-thirds of Alabama was known as the Yazoo lands beginning during the British colonial period. It was claimed by the Province of Georgia from 1767 onwards. Following the Revolutionary War it remained a part of Georgia although heavily disputed.With the exception of the area around Mobile and the Yazoo lands what is now the lower one-third of Alabama was made part of the Mississippi Territory when it was organized in 1798. The Yazoo lands were added to the territory in 1804 following the Yazoo land scandal. Spain kept a claim on its former Spanish West Florida territory in what would become the coastal counties until the Adams–Ons Treaty officially ceded it to the United States in 1819.Early 19th century.Before Mississippi's admission to statehood on December 10 1817 the more sparsely settled eastern half of the territory was separated and named the Alabama Territory. The United States Congress created the Alabama Territory on March 3 1817. St. Stephens now abandoned served as the territorial capital from 1817 to 1819.Alabama was admitted as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819, with Congress selecting Huntsville as the site for the first Constitutional Convention. From July5 to August 2, 1819, delegates met to prepare the new state constitution. Huntsville served as temporary capital from 1819 to 1820, when the seat of government moved to Cahaba in Dallas County.Cahaba, now a ghost town, was the first permanent state capital from 1820 to 1825. The Alabama Fever land rush was underway when the state was admitted to the Union, with settlers and land speculators pouring into the state to take advantage of fertile land suitable for cotton cultivation. Part of the frontier in the 1820s and 1830s, its constitution provided for universal suffrage for white men.Southeastern planters and traders from the Upper South brought slaves with them as the cotton plantations in Alabama expanded. The economy of the central Black Belt was built around large cotton plantations whose owners' wealth grew mainly from slave labor. The area also drew many poor, disenfranchised people who became subsistence farmers. Alabama had an estimated population of under 10,000 people in 1810, but it increased to more than 300,000 people by 1830. Most Native American tribes were completely removed from the state within a few years of the passage of the Indian Removal Act by Congress in 1830.From 1826 to 1846 Tuscaloosa served as Alabama's capital. On January 30 1846 the Alabama legislature announced it had voted to move the capital city from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery. The first legislative session in the new capital met in December 1847. A new capitol building was erected under the direction of Stephen Decatur Button of Philadelphia. The first structure burned down in 1849 but was rebuilt on the same site in 1851. This second capitol building in Montgomery remains to the present day. It was designed by Barachias Holt of Exeter Maine.Civil War and Reconstruction.By 1860, the population had increased to 964,201 people, of which nearly half, 435,080, were enslaved African Americans, and 2,690 were free people of color. On January 11, 1861, Alabama declared its secession from the Union. After remaining an independent republic for a few days, it joined the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy's capital was initially at Montgomery. Alabama was heavily involved in the American Civil War. Although comparatively few battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the war effort.A company of cavalry soldiers from Huntsville Alabama joined Nathan Bedford Forrest's battalion in Hopkinsville Kentucky. The company wore new uniforms with yellow trim on the sleeves collar and coattails. This led to them being greeted with and the name later was applied to all Alabama troops in the Confederate Army.Alabama's slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment in 1865. Alabama was under military rule from the end of the war in May 1865 until its official restoration to the Union in 1868. From 1867 to 1874, with most white citizens barred temporarily from voting and freedmen enfranchised, many African Americans emerged as political leaders in the state. Alabama was represented in Congress during this period by three African-American congressmen: Jeremiah Haralson, Benjamin S. Turner, and James T. Rapier.Following the war, the state remained chiefly agricultural, with an economy tied to cotton. During Reconstruction, state legislators ratified a new state constitution in 1868 which created the state's first public school system and expanded women's rights. Legislators funded numerous public road and railroad projects, although these were plagued with allegations of fraud and misappropriation. Organized insurgent, resistance groups tried to suppress the freedmen and Republicans. Besides the short-lived original Ku Klux Klan, these included the Pale Faces, Knights of the White Camellia, Red Shirts, and the White League.Reconstruction in Alabama ended in 1874 when the Democrats regained control of the legislature and governor's office through an election dominated by fraud and violence. They wrote another constitution in 1875 and the legislature passed the Blaine Amendment prohibiting public money from being used to finance religious-affiliated schools. The same year legislation was approved that called for racially segregated schools. Railroad passenger cars were segregated in 1891.20th century.The new 1901 Constitution of Alabama included provisions for voter registration that effectively disenfranchised large portions of the population including nearly all African Americans and Native Americans and tens of thousands of poor European Americans through making voter registration difficult requiring a poll tax and literacy test. The 1901 constitution required racial segregation of public schools. By 1903 only 2980 African Americans were registered in Alabama although at least 74000 were literate. This compared to more than 181000 African Americans eligible to vote in 1900. The numbers dropped even more in later decades. The state legislature passed additional racial segregation laws related to public facilities into the 1950s jails were segregated in 1911 hospitals in 1915 toilets hotels and restaurants in 1928 and bus stop waiting rooms in 1945.While the planter class had persuaded poor whites to vote for this legislative effort to suppress black voting, the new restrictions resulted in their disenfranchisement as well, due mostly to the imposition of a cumulative poll tax. By 1941, whites constituted a slight majority of those disenfranchised by these laws: 600,000 whites vs. 520,000 African-Americans. Nearly all Blacks had lost the ability to vote. Despite numerous legal challenges which succeeded in overturning certain provisions, the state legislature would create new ones to maintain disenfranchisement. The exclusion of blacks from the political system persisted until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in 1965 to enforce their constitutional rights as citizens.The rural-dominated Alabama legislature consistently underfunded schools and services for the disenfranchised African Americans, but it did not relieve them of paying taxes. Partially as a response to chronic underfunding of education for African Americans in the South, the Rosenwald Fund began funding the construction of what came to be known as Rosenwald Schools. In Alabama these schools were designed and the construction partially financed with Rosenwald funds, which paid one-third of the construction costs. The fund required the local community and state to raise matching funds to pay the rest. Black residents effectively taxed themselves twice, by raising additional monies to supply matching funds for such schools, which were built in many rural areas. They often donated land and labor as well.Beginning in 1913 the first 80 Rosenwald Schools were built in Alabama for African-American children. A total of 387 schools seven teachers' houses and several vocational buildings were completed by 1937 in the state. Several of the surviving school buildings in the state are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Continued racial discrimination and lynchings, agricultural depression, and the failure of the cotton crops due to boll weevil infestation led tens of thousands of African Americans from rural Alabama and other states to seek opportunities in northern and midwestern cities during the early decades of the 20th century as part of the Great Migration out of the South. Reflecting this emigration, the population growth rate in Alabama dropped by nearly half from 1910 to 1920.At the same time, many rural people migrated to the city of Birmingham to work in new industrial jobs. Birmingham experienced such rapid growth it was called the . By 1920, Birmingham was the 36th-largest city in the United States. Heavy industry and mining were the basis of its economy. Its residents were under-represented for decades in the state legislature, which refused to redistrict after each decennial census according to population changes, as it was required by the state constitution. This did not change until the late 1960s following a lawsuit and court order.Industrial development related to the demands of World War II brought a level of prosperity to the state not seen since before the civil war. Rural workers poured into the largest cities in the state for better jobs and a higher standard of living. One example of this massive influx of workers occurred in Mobile. Between 1940 and 1943, more than 89,000 people moved into the city to work for war-related industries. Cotton and other cash crops faded in importance as the state developed a manufacturing and service base.Despite massive population changes in the state from 1901 to 1961, the rural-dominated legislature refused to reapportion House and Senate seats based on population, as required by the state constitution to follow the results of decennial censuses. They held on to old representation to maintain political and economic power in agricultural areas. One result was that Jefferson County, containing Birmingham's industrial and economic powerhouse, contributed more than one-third of all tax revenue to the state, but did not receive a proportional amount in services. Urban interests were consistently underrepresented in the legislature. A 1960 study noted that because of rural domination, "a minority of about 25% of the total state population is in majority control of the Alabama legislature."In the United States Supreme Court cases of "Baker v. Carr" and "Reynolds v. Sims" , the court ruled that the principle of "one man, one vote" needed to be the basis of both houses of state legislatures, and that their districts had to be based on population rather than geographic counties.In 1972 for the first time since 1901 the legislature completed the congressional redistricting based on the decennial census. This benefited the urban areas that had developed as well as all in the population who had been underrepresented for more than sixty years. Other changes were made to implement representative state house and senate districts.African Americans continued to press in the 1950s and 1960s to end disenfranchisement and segregation in the state through the civil rights movement, including legal challenges. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Brown v. Board of Education" that public schools had to be desegregated, but Alabama was slow to comply. During the 1960s, under Governor George Wallace, Alabama resisted compliance with federal demands for desegregation. The civil rights movement had notable events in Alabama, including the Montgomery bus boycott , Freedom Rides in 1961, and 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. These contributed to Congressional passage and enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the U.S. Congress.Legal segregation ended in the states in 1964 but Jim Crow customs often continued until specifically challenged in court. According to Alabama has made some changes since the late 20th century and has used new types of voting to increase representation. In the 1980s an omnibus redistricting case challenged the at-large voting for representative seats of 180 Alabama jurisdictions including counties and school boards. At-large voting had diluted the votes of any minority in a county as the majority tended to take all seats. Despite African Americans making up a significant minority in the state they had been unable to elect any representatives in most of the at-large jurisdictions.As part of settlement of this case, five Alabama cities and counties, including Chilton County, adopted a system of cumulative voting for election of representatives in multi-seat jurisdictions. This has resulted in more proportional representation for voters. In another form of proportional representation, 23 jurisdictions use limited voting, as in Conecuh County. In 1982, limited voting was first tested in Conecuh County. Together use of these systems has increased the number of African Americans and women being elected to local offices, resulting in governments that are more representative of their citizens.Beginning in the 1960s, the states economy and growth lagged behind other states in the area, such as Georgia and Florida.21st century.In 2001 Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore installed a statue of the Ten Commandments in the capitol in Montgomery. In 2002 the 11th US Circuit Court ordered the statue removed but Moore refused to follow the court order which led to protests around the capitol in favor of keeping the monument. The monument was removed in August 2003.A few natural disasters have occurred in the state in the twenty-first century. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan a category 3 storm upon landfall struck the state and caused over $18 billion of damage. It was among the most destructive storms to strike the state in its modern history. A super outbreak of 62 tornadoes hit the state in April 2011 and killed 238 people devastating many communities.Alabama is the thirtieth-largest state in the United States with of total area 3.2% of the area is water making Alabama 23rd in the amount of surface water also giving it the second-largest inland waterway system in the United States. About three-fifths of the land area is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain a gentle plain with a general descent towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The North Alabama region is mostly mountainous with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley and creating numerous creeks streams rivers mountains and lakes.Alabama is bordered by the states of Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama has coastline at the Gulf of Mexico, in the extreme southern edge of the state. The state ranges in elevation from sea level at Mobile Bay to more than in the northeast, to Mount Cheaha at .Alabamas total land area. Suburban Baldwin County, along the Gulf Coast, is the largest county in the state in both land area and water area.Areas in Alabama administered by the National Park Service include Horseshoe Bend National Military Park near Alexander City Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near Tuskegee. Additionally Alabama has four National Forests Conecuh Talladega Tuskegee and William B. Bankhead. Alabama also contains the Natchez Trace Parkway the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.Notable natural wonders include the "Natural Bridge" rock the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies located just south of Haleyville Cathedral Caverns in Marshall County named for its cathedral-like appearance features one of the largest cave entrances and stalagmites in the world Ecor Rouge in Fairhope the highest coastline point between Maine and Mexico DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg the first officially recorded cave in the United States Noccalula Falls in Gadsden features a 90-foot waterfall Dismals Canyon near Phil Campbell home to two waterfalls six natural bridges and allegedly served as a hideout for legendary outlaw Jesse James Stephens Gap Cave in Jackson County boasts a 143-foot pit two waterfalls and is one of the most photographed wild cave scenes in America Little River Canyon near Fort Payne one of the nation's longest mountaintop rivers Rickwood Caverns near Warrior features an underground pool blind cave fish and 260-million-year-old limestone formations and the Walls of Jericho canyon on the Alabama-Tennessee state line.A -wide meteorite impact crater is located in Elmore County, just north of Montgomery. This is the Wetumpka crater, the site of "Alabama's greatest natural disaster". A -wide meteorite hit the area about 80 million years ago. The hills just east of downtown Wetumpka showcase the eroded remains of the impact crater that was blasted into the bedrock, with the area labeled the Wetumpka crater or astrobleme because of the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered rock that can be found beneath the surface. In 2002, Christian Koeberl with the Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna published evidence and established the site as the 157th recognized impact crater on Earth.The state is classified as humid subtropical under the Koppen Climate Classification. The average annual temperature is 64°F . Temperatures tend to be warmer in the southern part of the state with its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, while the northern parts of the state, especially in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, tend to be slightly cooler. Generally, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year. Alabama receives an average of of rainfall annually and enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state.Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the U.S., with high temperatures averaging over throughout the summer in some parts of the state. Alabama is also prone to tropical storms and hurricanes. Areas of the state far away from the Gulf are not immune to the effects of the storms, which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken.South Alabama reports many thunderstorms. The Gulf Coast around Mobile Bay averages between 70 and 80 days per year with thunder reported. This activity decreases somewhat further north in the state but even the far north of the state reports thunder on about 60 days per year. Occasionally thunderstorms are severe with frequent lightning and large hail the central and northern parts of the state are most vulnerable to this type of storm. Alabama ranks ninth in the number of deaths from lightning and tenth in the number of deaths from lightning strikes per capita.Alabama, along with Oklahoma and Iowa, has the most confirmed F5 and EF5 tornadoes of any state, according to statistics from the National Climatic Data Center for the period January 1, 1950, to June 2013. Several long-tracked F5/EF5 tornadoes have contributed to Alabama reporting more tornado fatalities since 1950 than any other state. The state was affected by the 1974 Super Outbreak and was devastated tremendously by the 2011 Super Outbreak. The 2011 Super Outbreak produced a record amount of tornadoes in the state. The tally reached 62.The peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state. Alabama is one of the few places in the world that has a secondary tornado season in November and December besides the typically severe spring. The northern part—along the Tennessee River Valley—is most vulnerable. The area of Alabama and Mississippi most affected by tornadoes is sometimes referred to as Dixie Alley as distinct from the Tornado Alley of the Southern Plains.Winters are generally mild in Alabama as they are throughout most of the Southeastern United States with average January low temperatures around in Mobile and around in Birmingham. Although snow is a rare event in much of Alabama areas of the state north of Montgomery may receive a dusting of snow a few times every winter with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years. Historic snowfall events include New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm and the 1993 Storm of the Century. The annual average snowfall for the Birmingham area is per year. In the southern Gulf coast snowfall is less frequent sometimes going several years without any snowfall.Alabama's highest temperature of was recorded on September 5 1925 in the unincorporated community of Centerville. The record low of occurred on January 30 1966 in New Market.Flora and fauna.Alabama is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna in habitats that range from the Tennessee Valley Appalachian Plateau and Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the north to the Piedmont Canebrake and Black Belt of the central region to the Gulf Coastal Plain and beaches along the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The state is usually ranked among the top in nation for its range of overall biodiversity.Alabama is in the subtropical coniferous forest biome and once boasted huge expanses of pine forest, which still form the largest proportion of forests in the state. It currently ranks fifth in the nation for the diversity of its flora. It is home to nearly 4,000 pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species.Indigenous animal species in the state include 62 mammal species 93 reptile species 73 amphibian species roughly 307 native freshwater fish species and 420 bird species that spend at least part of their year within the state. Invertebrates include 97 crayfish species and 383 mollusk species. 113 of these mollusk species have never been collected outside the state.Demographics.According to the 2020 United States Census the population of Alabama was 5024279 on April 1 2020 which represents an increase of 244543 or 5.12% since the 2010 Census. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 121054 and an increase due to net migration of 104991 into the state.Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 31,180 people, and migration within the country produced a net gain of 73,811 people. The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were undocumented (24,000).The center of population of Alabama is located in Chilton County outside the town of Jemison.Those citing "American" ancestry in Alabama are of overwhelmingly English extraction however most English Americans identify simply as having American ancestry because their roots have been in North America for so long in many cases since the early sixteen hundreds. Demographers estimate that a minimum of 20–23% of people in Alabama are of predominantly English ancestry and state that the figure is probably much higher. In the 1980 census 1139976 people in Alabama cited that they were of English ancestry out of a total state population of 2824719 making them 41% of the state at the time and the largest ethnic group.In 2011 46.6% of Alabama's population younger than age1 were minorities. The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama are American Irish English German and Scots-Irish based on 2006-2008 Census data.The Scots-Irish were the largest non-English immigrant group from the British Isles before the American Revolution and many settled in the South later moving into the Deep South as it was developed.In 1984 under the Davis–Strong Act the state legislature established the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission. Native American groups within the state had increasingly been demanding recognition as ethnic groups and seeking an end to discrimination. Given the long history of slavery and associated racial segregation the Native American peoples who have sometimes been of mixed race have insisted on having their cultural identification respected. In the past their self-identification was often overlooked as the state tried to impose a binary breakdown of society into white and black. The state has officially recognized nine American Indian tribes in the state descended mostly from the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast. These are the following.The state government has promoted recognition of Native American contributions to the state including the designation in 2000 for Columbus Day to be jointly celebrated as American Indian Heritage Day.Most Alabama residents spoke only English at home in 2010 a minor decrease from 96.1% in 2000. Alabama English is predominantly Southern and is related to South Midland speech which was taken across the border from Tennessee. In the major Southern speech region there is the decreasing loss of the final "r" for example the "boyd" pronunciation of "bird". In the northern third of the state there is a South Midland "arm" and "barb" rhyming with "form" and "orb". Unique words in Alabama English include redworm peckerwood snake doctor and snake feeder tow sack plum peach French harp and dog irons .In the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 86% of Alabama respondents reported their religion as Christian, including 6% Catholic, with 11% as having no religion. The composition of other traditions is 0.5% Mormon, 0.5% Jewish, 0.5% Muslim, 0.5% Buddhist, and 0.5% Hindu.Alabama is located in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians. Alabama has been identified as one of the most religious states in the United States, with about 58% of the population attending church regularly. A majority of people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestant. , the three largest denominational groups in Alabama are the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and non-denominational Evangelical Protestant.In Alabama the Southern Baptist Convention has the highest number of adherents with 1380121 this is followed by the United Methodist Church with 327734 adherents non-denominational Evangelical Protestant with 220938 adherents and the Catholic Church with 150647 adherents. Many Baptist and Methodist congregations became established in the Great Awakening of the early 19th century when preachers proselytized across the South. The Assemblies of God had almost 60000 members the Churches of Christ had nearly 120000 members. The Presbyterian churches strongly associated with Scots-Irish immigrants of the 18th century and their descendants had a combined membership around 75000 (PCA—28009 members in 108 congregations PC—26247 members in 147 congregations the Cumberland Presbyterian Church—6000 members in 59 congregations the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America—5000 members and fifty congregations plus the EPC and Associate Reformed Presbyterians with 230 members and nine congregations).In a 2007 survey nearly 70% of respondents could name all four of the Christian Gospels. Of those who indicated a religious preference 59% said they possessed a "full understanding" of their faith and needed no further learning. In a 2007 poll 92% of Alabamians reported having at least some confidence in churches in the state.Although in much smaller numbers, many other religious faiths are represented in the state as well, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, the Bah Faith, and Unitarian Universalism.Jews have been present in what is now Alabama since 1763, during the colonial era of Mobile, when Sephardic Jews immigrated from London. The oldest Jewish congregation in the state is Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in Mobile. It was formally recognized by the state legislature on January 25, 1844. Later immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tended to be Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe. Jewish denominations in the state include two Orthodox, four Conservative, ten Reform, and one Humanistic synagogue.Muslims have been increasing in Alabama, with 31 mosques built by 2011, many by African-American converts.Several Hindu temples and cultural centers in the state have been founded by Indian immigrants and their descendants, the best-known being the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Birmingham, the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Birmingham in Pelham, the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama in Capshaw, and the Hindu Mandir and Cultural Center in Tuscaloosa.There are six Dharma centers and organizations for Theravada Buddhists. Most monastic Buddhist temples are concentrated in southern Mobile County, near Bayou La Batre. This area has attracted an influx of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam during the 1970s and thereafter. The four temples within a ten-mile radius of Bayou La Batre, include Chua Chanh Giac, Wat Buddharaksa, and Wat Lao Phoutthavihan.The first community of adherents of the Bah Faith in Alabama was founded in 1896 by Paul K. Dealy who moved from Chicago to Fairhope. Bah centers in Alabama exist in Birmingham Huntsville and Florence.In 2018 life expectancy in Alabama was 75.1 years below the national average of 78.7 years and is the third lowest life expectancy in the country. Factors that can cause lower life expectancy are maternal mortality suicide and gun crimes.A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2008 showed that obesity in Alabama is a problem, with most counties having more than 29% of adults obese, except for ten which had a rate between 26% and 29%. Residents of the state, along with those in five other states, were least likely in the nation to be physically active during leisure time. Alabama, and the southeastern U.S. in general, has one of the highest incidences of adult onset diabetes in the country, exceeding 10% of adults.On May 14 2019 Alabama passed the Human Life Protection Act banning abortion at any stage of pregnancy unless there is a "serious health risk" with no exceptions for rape and incest. The law if enacted would punish doctors who perform abortions with 10 to 99 years imprisonment and be the most restrictive abortion law in the country. However on October 29 2019 U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson blocked the law from taking effect.The state has invested in aerospace, education, health care, banking, and various heavy industries, including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication. By 2006, crop and animal production in Alabama was valued at $1.5billion. In contrast to the primarily agricultural economy of the previous century, this was only about one percent of the state's gross domestic product. The number of private farms has declined at a steady rate since the 1960s, as land has been sold to developers, timber companies, and large farming conglomerates.Non-agricultural employment in 2008 was 121800 in management occupations 71750 in business and financial operations 36790 in computer-related and mathematical occupation 44200 in architecture and engineering 12410 in life physical and social sciences 32260 in community and social services 12770 in legal occupations 116250 in education training and library services 27840 in art design and media occupations 121110 in healthcare 44750 in fire fighting law enforcement and security 154040 in food preparation and serving 76650 in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 53230 in personal care and services 244510 in sales 338760 in office and administration support 20510 in farming fishing and forestry 120155 in construction and mining gas and oil extraction 106280 in installation maintenance and repair 224110 in production and 167160 in transportation and material moving.According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis the 2008 total gross state product was $170billion or $29411 per capita. Alabama's 2012 GDP increased 1.2% from the previous year. The single largest increase came in the area of information. In 2010 per capita income for the state was $22984.The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.8% in April 2015. This compared to a nationwide seasonally adjusted rate of 5.4%.Alabama has no minimum wage and in February 2016 passed legislation preventing municipalities from setting one. Alabama has the sixth highest poverty rate among states in the U.S. In 2017 United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston toured parts of rural Alabama and observed environmental conditions he said were poorer than anywhere he had seen in the developed world.Largest employers.The five employers that employed the most employees in Alabama in April 2011 were:The next twenty largest employers, , included:Agriculture.Alabama's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs cattle fish plant nursery items peanuts cotton grains such as corn and sorghum vegetables milk soybeans and peaches. Although known as "The Cotton State" Alabama ranks between eighth and tenth in national cotton production according to various reports with Texas Georgia and Mississippi comprising the top three.Aquaculture.Aquaculture is a large part of the economy of Alabama. Alabamians began to practice aquaculture in the early 1960s. U.S. farm-raised catfish is the 8th most popular seafood product in America. By 2008, approximately 4,000 people in Alabama were employed by the catfish industry and Alabama produced 132 million pounds of catfish. In 2020, Alabama produced of the United States' farm-raised catfish. The total 2020 sales of catfish raised in Alabama equaled $307 million but by 2020 the total employment of Alabamians fell to 2,442.From the early 2000s to 2020, the Alabamian catfish industry has declined from 250 farms and 4 processors to 66 farms and 2 processors. Reasons for this decline include increased feed prices, catfish alternatives, COVID-19’s impact on restaurant sales, disease, and fish size.Alabama's industrial outputs include iron and steel products (including cast-iron and steel pipe); paper, lumber, and wood products; mining (mostly coal); plastic products; cars and trucks; and apparel. In addition, Alabama produces aerospace and electronic products, mostly in the Huntsville area, the location of NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Materiel Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal.A great deal of Alabamas expanding automotive manufacturing industry. Located in the state are Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, as well as their various suppliers. Since 1993, the automobile industry has generated more than 67,800 new jobs in the state. Alabama currently ranks 4th in the nation for vehicle exports.Automakers accounted for approximately a third of the industrial expansion in the state in 2012. The eight models produced at the state's auto factories totaled combined sales of 74335 vehicles for 2012. The strongest model sales during this period were the Hyundai Elantra compact car the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class sport utility vehicle and the Honda Ridgeline sport utility truck.Steel producers Outokumpu Nucor SSAB ThyssenKrupp and U.S. Steel have facilities in Alabama and employ more than 10000 people. In May 2007 German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp selected Calvert in Mobile County for a 4.65billion combined stainless and carbon steel processing facility. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division Inoxum including the stainless portion of the Calvert plant was sold to Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012. The remaining portion of the ThyssenKrupp plant had final bids submitted by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel for $1.6billion in March 2013. Companhia Siderrgica Nacional submitted a combined bid for the mill at Calvert plus a majority stake in the ThyssenKrupp mill in Brazil for $3.8billion. In July 2013 the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.The Hunt Refining Company a subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated Inc. is based in Tuscaloosa and operates a refinery there. The company also operates terminals in Mobile Melvin and Moundville. JVC America Inc. operates an optical disc replication and packaging plant in Tuscaloosa.The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company operates a large plant in Gadsden which employs about 1400 people. It has been in operation since 1929.Construction of an Airbus A320 family aircraft assembly plant in Mobile was formally announced by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brgier from the Mobile Convention Center on July 2 2012. The plans include a $600million factory at the Brookley Aeroplex for the assembly of the A319 A320 and A321 aircraft. Construction began in 2013 with plans for it to become operable by 2015 and produce up to 50 aircraft per year by 2017. The assembly plant is the company's first factory to be built within the United States. It was announced on February 1 2013 that Airbus had hired Alabama-based Hoar Construction to oversee construction of the facility.Tourism and entertainment.According to Business Insider Alabama ranked 14th in most popular states to visit in 2014. An estimated 26 million tourists visited the state in 2017 and spent $14.3 billion providing directly or indirectly 186900 jobs in the state which includes 362000 International tourists spending $589 million.The state is home to various attractions natural features parks and events that attract visitors from around the globe notably the annual Hangout Music Festival held on the public beaches of Gulf Shores the Alabama Shakespeare Festival one of the ten largest Shakespeare festivals in the world the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail a collection of championship caliber golf courses distributed across the state casinos such as Victoryland amusement parks such as Alabama Splash Adventure the Riverchase Galleria one of the largest shopping centers in the southeast Guntersville Lake voted the best lake in Alabama by Southern Living Magazine readers and the Alabama Museum of Natural History the oldest museum in the state.Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration in the United States beginning in 1703. It was also host to the first formally organized Mardi Gras parade in the United States in 1830 a tradition that continues to this day. Mardi Gras is an official state holiday in Mobile and Baldwin counties.In 2018 Mobile's Mardi Gras parade was the state's top event producing the most tourists with an attendance of 892811. The top attraction was the U.S. Space &amp Rocket Center in Huntsville with an attendance of 849981 followed by the Birmingham Zoo with 543090. Of the parks and natural destinations Alabama's Gulf Coast topped the list with 6700000 visitors.Alabama has historically been a popular region for film shoots due to its diverse landscapes and contrast of environments. Movies filmed in Alabama include Close Encounters of the Third Kind Get Out 42 Selma Big Fish The Final Destination Due Date Need For Speed and many more.Healthcare.UAB Hospital, USA Health University Hospital, Huntsville Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Alabama are the only LevelI trauma centers in Alabama. UAB is the largest state government employer in Alabama, with a workforce of about 18,000. A 2017 study found that Alabama had the least competitive health insurance market in the country, with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama having a market share of 84% followed by UnitedHealth Group at 7%.Regions Financial Corporation and BBVA USA Bank are the largest banks headquartered in Alabama. Birmingham-based Compass Bancshares was acquired by Spanish-based BBVA in September 2007 with the headquarters of BBVA USA remaining in Birmingham. In November 2006 Regions Financial acquired AmSouth Bancorporation which was also headquartered in Birmingham. SouthTrust Corporation another large bank headquartered in Birmingham was acquired by Wachovia in 2004.Wells Fargo has a regional headquarters, an operations center campus, and a $400million data center in Birmingham. Many smaller banks are also headquartered in the Birmingham area, including ServisFirst and New South Federal Savings Bank. Birmingham also serves as the headquarters for several large investment management companies, including Harbert Management Corporation.Electronics and communications.Telecommunications provider AT&ampT formerly BellSouth has a major presence in Alabama with several large offices in Birmingham.Many commercial technology companies are headquartered in Huntsville such as network access company ADTRAN computer graphics company Intergraph and IT infrastructure company Avocent.Construction.Rust International has grown to include Brasfield &amp Gorrie BE&ampK Hoar Construction and B.L. Harbert International which all routinely are included in the Engineering News-Record lists of top design international construction and engineering firms. Law and government.State government.The foundational document for Alabama's government is the Alabama Constitution which was ratified in 1901. With over 850 amendments and almost 87000 words it is by some accounts the world's longest constitution and is roughly forty times the length of the United States Constitution.There has been a significant movement to rewrite and modernize Alabama's constitution. Critics argue that Alabama's constitution maintains highly centralized power with the state legislature, leaving practically no power in local hands. Most counties do not have home rule. Any policy changes proposed in different areas of the state must be approved by the entire Alabama legislature and, frequently, by state referendum. One criticism of the current constitution claims that its complexity and length intentionally codify segregation and racism.Alabama's government is divided into three coequal branches. The legislative branch is the Alabama Legislature a bicameral assembly composed of the Alabama House of Representatives with 105 members and the Alabama Senate with 35 members. The Legislature is responsible for writing debating passing or defeating state legislation. The Republican Party currently holds a majority in both houses of the Legislature. The Legislature has the power to override a gubernatorial veto by a simple majority .Until 1964, the state elected state senators on a geographic basis by county, with one per county. It had not redistricted congressional districts since passage of its constitution in 1901; as a result, urbanized areas were grossly underrepresented. It had not changed legislative districts to reflect the decennial censuses, either. In "Reynolds v. Sims" , the U.S. Supreme Court implemented the principle of "one man, one vote", ruling that congressional districts had to be reapportioned based on censuses Further, the court ruled that both houses of bicameral state legislatures had to be apportioned by population, as there was no constitutional basis for states to have geographically based systems.At that time, Alabama and many other states had to change their legislative districting, as many across the country had systems that underrepresented urban areas and districts. This had caused decades of underinvestment in such areas. For instance, Birmingham and Jefferson County taxes had supplied one-third of the state budget, but Jefferson County received only 1/67th of state services in funding. Through the legislative delegations, the Alabama legislature kept control of county governments.The executive branch is responsible for the execution and oversight of laws. It is headed by the governor of Alabama. Other members of the executive branch include the cabinet the lieutenant governor of Alabama the Attorney General of Alabama the Alabama Secretary of State the Alabama State Treasurer and the State Auditor of Alabama. The current governor is Republican Kay Ivey.The members of the Legislature take office immediately after the November elections. Statewide officials, such as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and other constitutional officers, take office the following January.The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the states highest court is the Supreme Court of Alabama. Alabama uses partisan elections to select judges. Since the 1980s judicial campaigns have become increasingly politicized. The current chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is Republican Tom Parker. All sitting justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are members of the Republican Party. There are two intermediate appellate courts the Court of Civil Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals and four trial courts the circuit court and the district probate and municipal courts.Some critics believe the election of judges has contributed to an exceedingly high rate of executions. Alabama has the highest per capita death penalty rate in the country. In some years it imposes more death sentences than does Texas a state which has a population five times larger. However executions per capita are significantly higher in Texas. Some of its cases have been highly controversial the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned 24 convictions in death penalty cases. It was the only state to allow judges to override jury decisions in whether or not to use a death sentence in 10 cases judges overturned sentences of life imprisonment without parole that were voted unanimously by juries. This judicial authority was removed in April 2017.Taxes are collected by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Alabama levies a 2, 4, or5 percent personal income tax, depending on the amount earned and filing status. Taxpayers are allowed to deduct their federal income tax from their Alabama state tax, even if taking the standard deduction; those who itemize can also deduct FICA (the Social Security and Medicare tax).The state's general sales tax rate is 4%. Sales tax rates for cities and counties are also added to purchases. For example the total sales tax rate in Mobile is 10% and there is an additional restaurant tax of 1% which means a diner in Mobile would pay an 11% tax on a meal. sales and excise taxes in Alabama account for 51% of all state and local revenue compared with an average of about 36% nationwide. Alabama is one of seven states that levy a tax on food at the same rate as other goods and one of two states (the other being neighboring Mississippi) which fully taxes groceries without any offsetting relief for low-income families. (Most states exempt groceries from sales tax or apply a lower tax rate.)Alabamas threshold is the lowest among the 41 states and the District of Columbia with income taxes.The corporate income tax rate is currently 6.5%. The overall federal state and local tax burden in Alabama ranks the state as the second least tax-burdened state in the country. Property taxes are the lowest in the U.S. The current state constitution requires a voter referendum to raise property taxes.Since Alabama's tax structure largely depends on consumer spending, it is subject to high variable budget structure. For example, in 2003, Alabama had an annual budget deficit as high as $670million.County and local governments.Alabama has 67 counties. Each county has its own elected legislative branch, usually called the county commission. It also has limited executive authority in the county. Because of the constraints of the Alabama Constitution, which centralizes power in the state legislature, only seven counties in the state have limited home rule. Instead, most counties in the state must lobby the Local Legislation Committee of the state legislature to get simple local policies approved, ranging from waste disposal to land use zoning.The state legislature has retained power over local governments by refusing to pass a constitutional amendment establishing home rule for counties, as recommended by the 1973 Alabama Constitutional Commission. Legislative delegations retain certain powers over each county. United States Supreme Court decisions in . Before that, each county was represented by one state senator, leading to under-representation in the state senate for more urbanized, populous counties. The rural bias of the state legislature, which had also failed to redistrict seats in the state house, affected politics well into the 20th century, failing to recognize the rise of industrial cities and urbanized areas."The lack of home rule for counties in Alabama has resulted in the proliferation of local legislation permitting counties to do things not authorized by the state constitution. Alabama's constitution has been amended more than 700 times and almost one-third of the amendments are local in nature applying to only one county or city. A significant part of each legislative session is spent on local legislation taking away time and attention of legislators from issues of statewide importance."Alabama is an alcoholic beverage control state meaning the state government holds a monopoly on the sale of alcohol. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board controls the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the state. A total of 25 of the 67 counties are "dry counties" which ban the sale of alcohol and there are many dry municipalities in counties which permit alcohol sales.During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Alabama was occupied by federal troops of the Third Military District under General John Pope. In 1874, the political coalition of white Democrats known as the Redeemers took control of the state government from the Republicans, in part by suppressing the black vote through violence, fraud, and intimidation.After 1890 a coalition of White Democratic politicians passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise African American residents a process completed in provisions of the 1901 constitution. Provisions which disenfranchised blacks resulted in excluding many poor Whites. By 1941 more Whites than Blacks had been disenfranchised 600000 to 520000. The total effects were greater on the black community as almost all its citizens were disfranchised and relegated to separate and unequal treatment under the law.From 1901 through the 1960s, the state did not redraw election districts as population grew and shifted within the state during urbanization and industrialization of certain areas. As counties were the basis of election districts, the result was a rural minority that dominated state politics through nearly three-quarters of the century, until a series of federal court cases required redistricting in 1972 to meet equal representation.Alabama state politics gained nationwide and international attention in the 1950s and 1960s during the civil rights movement when whites bureaucratically and at times violently resisted protests for electoral and social reform. Governor George Wallace the state's only four-term governor was a controversial figure who vowed to maintain segregation. Only after passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 did African Americans regain the ability to exercise suffrage among other civil rights. In many jurisdictions they continued to be excluded from representation by at-large electoral systems which allowed the majority of the population to dominate elections. Some changes at the county level have occurred following court challenges to establish single-member districts that enable a more diverse representation among county boards.In 2007, the Alabama Legislature passed, and Republican governor Bob Riley signed a resolution expressing "profound regret" over slavery and its lingering impact. In a symbolic ceremony, the bill was signed in the Alabama State Capitol, which housed Congress of the Confederate States of America.In 2010 Republicans won control of both houses of the legislature for the first time in 136 years., there are a total of 3,589,839 registered voters, with 3,518,285 active, and the others inactive in the state.State elections.With the disfranchisement of Blacks in 1901, the state became part of the "Solid South", a system in which the Democratic Party operated as effectively the only viable political party in every Southern state. For nearly a hundred years local and state elections in Alabama were decided in the Democratic Party primary, with generally only token Republican challengers running in the General Election. Since the mid- to late 20th century, however, white conservatives started shifting to the Republican Party. In Alabama, majority-white districts are now expected to regularly elect Republican candidates to federal, state and local office.Members of the nine seats on the Supreme Court of Alabama and all ten seats on the state appellate courts are elected to office. Until 1994 no Republicans held any of the court seats. In that general election the then-incumbent chief justice Ernest C. Hornsby refused to leave office after losing the election by approximately 3000 votes to Republican Perry O. Hooper Sr. Hornsby sued Alabama and defiantly remained in office for nearly a year before finally giving up the seat after losing in court. The Democrats lost the last of the nineteen court seats in August 2011 with the resignation of the last Democrat on the bench.In the early 21st century, Republicans hold all seven of the statewide elected executive branch offices. Republicans hold six of the eight elected seats on the Alabama State Board of Education. In 2010, Republicans took large majorities of both chambers of the state legislature, giving them control of that body for the first time in 136 years. The last remaining statewide Democrat, who served on the Alabama Public Service Commission, was defeated in 2012.Only three Republican lieutenant governors have been elected since the end of Reconstruction, when Republicans generally represented Reconstruction government, including the newly emancipated freedmen who had gained the franchise. The three GOP lieutenant governors are Steve Windom , Kay Ivey , and Will Ainsworth .Local elections.Many local offices (county commissioners, boards of education, tax assessors, tax collectors, etc.) in the state are still held by Democrats. Many rural counties have voters who are majority Democrats, resulting in local elections being decided in the Democratic primary. Similarly many metropolitan and suburban counties are majority-Republican and elections are effectively decided in the Republican Primary, although there are exceptions.Alabama's 67 county sheriffs are elected in partisan at-large races and Democrats still retain the narrow majority of those posts. The current split is 35 Democrats 31 Republicans and one Independent Fayette. However most of the Democratic sheriffs preside over rural and less populated counties. The majority of Republican sheriffs have been elected in the more urban/suburban and heavily populated counties. the state of Alabama has one female sheriff in Morgan County Alabama and ten African-American sheriffs.Federal elections.The state's two U.S. senators are Republican Richard C. Shelby and Republican Tommy Tuberville. Shelby was originally elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 1986 and re-elected in 1992 but switched parties immediately following the November 1994 general election.In the U.S. House of Representatives the state is represented by seven members six of whom are Republicans and one Democrat Terri Sewell who represents the Black Belt as well as most of the predominantly black portions of Birmingham Tuscaloosa and Montgomery.Primary and secondary education.Public primary and secondary education in Alabama is under the purview of the Alabama State Board of Education as well as local oversight by 67 county school boards and 60 city boards of education. Together, 1,496 individual schools provide education for 744,637 elementary and secondary students.Public school funding is appropriated through the Alabama Legislature through the Education Trust Fund. In FY 2006–2007 Alabama appropriated $3775163578 for primary and secondary education. That represented an increase of $444736387 over the previous fiscal year. In 2007 more than 82 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress toward student proficiency under the National No Child Left Behind law using measures determined by the state of Alabama.While Alabamas high school graduation rate is the fourth lowest in the U.S. . The largest educational gains were among people with some college education but without degrees.Generally prohibited in the West at large school corporal punishment is not unusual in Alabama with 27260 public school students paddled at least one time according to government data for the 2011–2012 school year. The rate of school corporal punishment in Alabama is surpassed by only Mississippi and Arkansas.Colleges and universities.Alabama's programs of higher education include 14 four-year public universities two-year community colleges and 17 private undergraduate and graduate universities. In the state are four medical schools two veterinary colleges a dental school an optometry college two pharmacy schools and five law schools . Public post-secondary education in Alabama is overseen by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. Colleges and universities in Alabama offer degree programs from two-year associate degrees to a multitude of doctoral level programs.The largest single campus is the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, with 37,665 enrolled for fall 2016. Troy University was the largest institution in the state in 2010, with an enrollment of 29,689 students across four Alabama campuses , as well as sixty learning sites in seventeen other states and eleven other countries. The oldest institutions are the public University of North Alabama in Florence and the Catholic Church-affiliated Spring Hill College in Mobile, both founded in 1830.Accreditation of academic programs is through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as well as other subject-focused national and international accreditation agencies such as the Association for Biblical Higher Education , the Council on Occupational Education , and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools .According to the 2011 Alabama had three universities ranked in the top 100 Public Schools in America .According to the 2012 "U.S. News &amp World Report" Alabama had four tier one universities .Major newspapers include .Major television network affiliates in Alabama includeCollege sports.College football is extremely popular in Alabama, particularly the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn University Tigers, rivals in the Southeastern Conference. In the 2013 season, Alabama averaged over 100,000 fans per game and Auburn averaged over 80,000—both numbers among the top twenty in the nation. Bryant–Denny Stadium is the home of the Alabama football team, and has a seating capacity of 101,821, and is the fifth largest stadium in America. Jordan-Hare Stadium is the home field of the Auburn football team and seats up to 87,451.Legion Field is home for the UAB Blazers football program and the Birmingham Bowl. It seats 71,594. Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile is the home of the University of South Alabama football team, and serves as the home of the NCAA Senior Bowl, LendingTree Bowl, and Alabama-Mississippi All Star Classic; the stadium seats 40,646. In 2009, Bryant–Denny Stadium and Jordan-Hare Stadium became the homes of the Alabama High School Athletic Association state football championship games, after previously being held at Legion Field in Birmingham.Professional sports.Alabama has several professional and semi-professional sports teams including three minor league baseball teams.The Talladega Superspeedway motorsports complex hosts a series of NASCAR events. It has a seating capacity of 143000 and is the thirteenth largest stadium in the world and sixth largest stadium in America. Also the Barber Motorsports Park has hosted IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series races.The ATP Birmingham was a World Championship Tennis tournament held from 1973 to 1980.Alabama has hosted several professional golf tournaments such as the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek the Barbasol Championship the Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions Airbus LPGA Classic and Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic and The Tradition .Transportation.Major airports with sustained operations in Alabama include Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport Huntsville International Airport Dothan Regional Airport Mobile Regional Airport Montgomery Regional Airport Northwest Alabama Regional Airport and Northeast Alabama Regional Airport .For rail transport, Amtrak schedules the "Crescent", a daily passenger train, running from New York to New Orleans with station stops at Anniston, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa.Alabama has six major interstate routes Interstate 65 travels north–south roughly through the middle of the state I-20/I-59 travel from the central west Mississippi state line to Birmingham where I-59 continues to the north-east corner of the state and I-20 continues east towards Atlanta I-85 originates in Montgomery and travels east-northeast to the Georgia state line providing a main thoroughfare to Atlanta and I-10 traverses the southernmost portion of the state traveling from west to east through Mobile. I-22 enters the state from Mississippi and connects Birmingham with Memphis Tennessee. In addition there are currently five auxiliary interstate routes in the state I-165 in Mobile I-359 in Tuscaloosa I-459 around Birmingham I-565 in Decatur and Huntsville and I-759 in Gadsden. A sixth route I-685 will be formed when I-85 is rerouted along a new southern bypass of Montgomery. A proposed northern bypass of Birmingham will be designated as I-422. Since a direct connection from I-22 to I-422 will not be possible I-222 has been proposed as well.Several U.S. Highways also pass through the state, such as U.S. Route 11 , US-29, US-31, US-43, US-45, US-72, US-78, US-80, US-82, US-84, US-90, US-98, US-231, US-278, US-280, US-331, US-411, and US-431.There are four toll roads in the state: Montgomery Expressway in Montgomery; Northport/Tuscaloosa Western Bypass in Tuscaloosa and Northport; Emerald Mountain Expressway in Wetumpka; and Beach Express in Orange Beach.The Port of Mobile, Alabamas other ports are on rivers with access to the Gulf of Mexico.Water ports of Alabama, listed from north to south:
In Greek mythology, Achilles or Achilleus was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and is the central character of Homer's . He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia.Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the "Iliad", other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for one heel, because when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels. Alluding to these legends, the term "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. The Achilles tendon is also named after him due to these legends.Linear B tablets attest to the personal name .Achilles' name can be analyzed as a combination of , a muster. With this derivation, the name obtains a double meaning in the poem: when the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring distress to the enemy, but when wrongly, his men get the grief of war. The poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership.Another etymology relates the name to a Proto-Indo-European compound "*he-pds" "sharp foot" which first gave an Illyrian "*k̂pedis" evolving through time into "*khpdes" and then "*akhiddes". The shift from "-dd-" to "-ll-" is then ascribed to the passing of the name into Greek via a Pre-Greek source. The first root part "*he-" "sharp pointed" also gave Greek and whereas stems from the root "*heg-" "to be upset afraid". The whole expression would be comparable to the Latin "acupedius" "swift of foot". Compare also the Latin word family of "acis" "sharp edge or point battle line battle engagement" "acus" "needle pin bodkin" and "acu" "to make pointed sharpen whet to exercise to arouse" . Some topical epitheta of Achilles in the "Iliad" point to this "swift-footedness" namely or even more frequently .Some researchers deem the name a loan word possibly from a Pre-Greek language. Achilles' descent from the Nereid Thetis and a similarity of his name with those of river deities such as Acheron and Achelous have led to speculations about his being an old water divinity (see below Worship). Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the name based among other things on the coexistence of "--" and "--" in epic language which may account for a palatalized phoneme /ly/ in the original language.Birth and early years.Achilles was the son of the Thetis a nereid and Peleus the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for Thetis's hand in marriage until Prometheus the fore-thinker warned Zeus of a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason the two gods withdrew their pursuit and had her wed Peleus.There is a tale which offers an alternative version of these events In the "Argonautica" Zeus' sister and wife Hera alludes to Thetis' chaste resistance to the advances of Zeus pointing out that Thetis was so loyal to Hera's marriage bond that she coolly rejected the father of gods. Thetis although a daughter of the sea-god Nereus was also brought up by Hera further explaining her resistance to the advances of Zeus. Zeus was furious and decreed that she would never marry an immortal.According to the "Achilleid", written by Statius in the 1st century AD, and to non-surviving previous sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx; however, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him: his left heel . It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire in order to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage.None of the sources before Statius make any reference to this general invulnerability. To the contrary in the "Iliad" Homer mentions Achilles being wounded in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaeus son of Pelagon challenged Achilles by the river Scamander. He was ambidextrous and cast a spear from each hand one grazed Achilles' elbow "drawing a spurt of blood".In the few fragmentary poems of the Epic Cycle which describe the hero's death there is no trace of any reference to his general invulnerability or his famous weakness at the heel. In the later vase paintings presenting the death of Achilles the arrow hit his torso.Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, who lived on Mount Pelion, to be reared. Thetis foretold that her son's fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long but uneventful life in obscurity. Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan War. According to Homer, Achilles grew up in Phthia with his companion Patroclus.According to Photius, the sixth book of the "New History" by Ptolemy Hephaestion reported that Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus. When she had Achilles, Peleus noticed, tore him from the flames with only a burnt foot, and confided him to the centaur Chiron. Later Chiron exhumed the body of the Damysus, who was the fastest of all the giants, removed the ankle, and incorporated it into Achilles' burnt foot.Other names.Among the appellations under which Achilles is generally known are the following:Hidden on Skyros.Some post-Homeric sources claim that in order to keep Achilles safe from the war Thetis hid the young man at the court of Lycomedes king of Skyros.There Achilles was disguised as a girl and lived among Lycomedes women. While the women fled in panic Achilles prepared to defend the court thus giving his identity away.In the Trojan War.According to the "Iliad" Achilles arrived at Troy with 50 ships each carrying 50 Myrmidons. He appointed five leaders Menesthius Eudorus Peisander Phoenix and Alcimedon.When the Greeks left for the Trojan War they accidentally stopped in Mysia ruled by King Telephus. In the resulting battle Achilles gave Telephus a wound that would not heal Telephus consulted an oracle who stated that "he that wounded shall heal". Guided by the oracle he arrived at Argos where Achilles healed him in order that he might become their guide for the voyage to Troy.According to other reports in Euripides' lost play about Telephus he went to Aulis pretending to be a beggar and asked Achilles to heal his wound. Achilles refused claiming to have no medical knowledge. Alternatively Telephus held Orestes for ransom the ransom being Achilles' aid in healing the wound. Odysseus reasoned that the spear had inflicted the wound therefore the spear must be able to heal it. Pieces of the spear were scraped off onto the wound and Telephus was healed.According to the is a medieval invention.In Dares Phrygius' .Homer's "Iliad" is the most famous narrative of Achilles' deeds in the Trojan War. Achilles' wrath is the central theme of the poem. The first two lines of the "Iliad" read:The Homeric epic only covers a few weeks of the decade-long war and does not narrate Achilles' death. It begins with Achilles' withdrawal from battle after being dishonoured by Agamemnon the commander of the Achaean forces. Agamemnon has taken a woman named Chryseis as his slave. Her father Chryses a priest of Apollo begs Agamemnon to return her to him. Agamemnon refuses and Apollo sends a plague amongst the Greeks. The prophet Calchas correctly determines the source of the troubles but will not speak unless Achilles vows to protect him. Achilles does so and Calchas declares that Chryseis must be returned to her father. Agamemnon consents but then commands that Achilles' battle prize Briseis the daughter of Briseus be brought to him to replace Chryseis. Angry at the dishonour of having his plunder and glory taken away with the urging of his mother Thetis Achilles refuses to fight or lead his troops alongside the other Greek forces. At the same time burning with rage over Agamemnon's theft Achilles prays to Thetis to convince Zeus to help the Trojans gain ground in the war so that he may regain his honour.As the battle turns against the Greeks thanks to the influence of Zeus Nestor declares that the Trojans are winning because Agamemnon has angered Achilles and urges the king to appease the warrior. Agamemnon agrees and sends Odysseus and two other chieftains Ajax and Phoenix. They promise that if Achilles returns to battle Agamemnon will return the captive Briseis and other gifts. Achilles rejects all Agamemnon offers him and simply urges the Greeks to sail home as he was planning to do.The Trojans, led by Hector, subsequently push the Greek army back toward the beaches and assault the Greek ships. With the Greek forces on the verge of absolute destruction, Patroclus leads the Myrmidons into battle, wearing Achilles' armour, though Achilles remains at his camp. Patroclus succeeds in pushing the Trojans back from the beaches, but is killed by Hector before he can lead a proper assault on the city of Troy.After receiving the news of the death of Patroclus from Antilochus, the son of Nestor, Achilles grieves over his beloved companion's death. His mother Thetis comes to comfort the distraught Achilles. She persuades Hephaestus to make new armour for him, in place of the armour that Patroclus had been wearing, which was taken by Hector. The new armour includes the Shield of Achilles, described in great detail in the poem.Enraged over the death of Patroclus Achilles ends his refusal to fight and takes the field killing many men in his rage but always seeking out Hector. Achilles even engages in battle with the river god Scamander who has become angry that Achilles is choking his waters with all the men he has killed. The god tries to drown Achilles but is stopped by Hera and Hephaestus. Zeus himself takes note of Achilles' rage and sends the gods to restrain him so that he will not go on to sack Troy itself before the time allotted for its destruction seeming to show that the unhindered rage of Achilles can defy fate itself. Finally Achilles finds his prey. Achilles chases Hector around the wall of Troy three times before Athena in the form of Hector's favorite and dearest brother Deiphobus persuades Hector to stop running and fight Achilles face to face. After Hector realizes the trick he knows the battle is inevitable. Wanting to go down fighting he charges at Achilles with his only weapon his sword but misses. Accepting his fate Hector begs Achilles not to spare his life but to treat his body with respect after killing him. Achilles tells Hector it is hopeless to expect that of him declaring that "my rage my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw – such agonies you have caused me". Achilles then kills Hector and drags his corpse by its heels behind his chariot. After having a dream where Patroclus begs Achilles to hold his funeral Achilles hosts a series of funeral games in honour of his companion.At the onset of his duel with Hector, Achilles is referred to as the brightest star in the sky, which comes on in the autumn, Orion's dog ; a sign of evil. During the cremation of Patroclus, he is compared to Hesperus, the evening/western star , while the burning of the funeral pyre lasts until Phosphorus, the morning/eastern star has set .With the assistance of the god Hermes Hector's father Priam goes to Achilles' tent to plead with Achilles for the return of Hector's body so that he can be buried. Achilles relents and promises a truce for the duration of the funeral lasting 9 days with a burial on the 10th . The poem ends with a description of Hector's funeral with the doom of Troy and Achilles himself still to come.Later epic accounts: fighting Penthesilea and Memnon.The "Aethiopis" and a work named "Posthomerica", composed by Quintus of Smyrna in the fourth century CE, relate further events from the Trojan War. When Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons and daughter of Ares, arrives in Troy, Priam hopes that she will defeat Achilles. After his temporary truce with Priam, Achilles fights and kills the warrior queen, only to grieve over her death later. At first, he was so distracted by her beauty, he did not fight as intensely as usual. Once he realized that his distraction was endangering his life, he refocused and killed her.Following the death of Patroclus Nestor's son Antilochus becomes Achilles' closest companion. When Memnon son of the Dawn Goddess Eos and king of Ethiopia slays Antilochus Achilles once more obtains revenge on the battlefield killing Memnon. Consequently Eos will not let the sun rise until Zeus persuades her. The fight between Achilles and Memnon over Antilochus echoes that of Achilles and Hector over Patroclus except that Memnon was also the son of a goddess.Many Homeric scholars argued that episode inspired many details in the "Iliad"s description of the death of Patroclus and Achilles' reaction to it. The episode then formed the basis of the cyclic epic "Aethiopis" which was composed after the "Iliad" possibly in the 7th century BC. The "Aethiopis" is now lost except for scattered fragments quoted by later authors.Achilles and Patroclus.The exact nature of Achilles' relationship with Patroclus has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times. In the , the participants in a dialogue about love assume that Achilles and Patroclus were a couple; Phaedrus argues that Achilles was the younger and more beautiful one so he was the beloved and Patroclus was the lover. However, ancient Greek had no words to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual, and it was assumed that a man could both desire handsome young men and have sex with women. Many pairs of men throughout history have been compared to Achilles and Patroclus to imply a homosexual relationship.The death of Achilles even if considered solely as it occurred in the oldest sources is a complex one with many different versions. In the oldest version the "Iliad" and as predicted by Hector with his dying breath the hero's death was brought about by Paris with an arrow . In some versions the god Apollo guided Paris' arrow. Some retellings also state that Achilles was scaling the gates of Troy and was hit with a poisoned arrow. All of these versions deny Paris any sort of valour owing to the common conception that Paris was a coward and not the man his brother Hector was and Achilles remained undefeated on the battlefield.After death Achilles' bones were mingled with those of Patroclus and funeral games were held. He was represented in the as living after his death in the island of Leuke at the mouth of the river Danube.Another version of Achilless greatest warrior. But while Priam is overseeing the private marriage of Polyxena and Achilles Paris who would have to give up Helen if Achilles married his sister hides in the bushes and shoots Achilles with a divine arrow killing him.In the Agamemnon informs Achilles of his pompous burial and the erection of his mound at the Hellespont while they are receiving the dead suitors in Hades. He claims they built a massive burial mound on the beach of Ilion that could be seen by anyone approaching from the ocean. Achilles was cremated and his ashes buried in the same urn as those of Patroclus. Paris was later killed by Philoctetes using the enormous bow of Heracles.In Book 11 of Homer heroic actions, Achilles is filled with satisfaction. This leaves the reader with an ambiguous understanding of how Achilles felt about the heroic life.According to some accounts he had married Medea in life so that after both their deaths they were united in the Elysian Fields of Hades – as Hera promised Thetis in Apollonius' "Argonautica" .Fate of Achilles' armour.Achilless presentations decided Odysseus was more deserving of the armour. Furious Ajax cursed Odysseus which earned him the ire of Athena who temporarily made Ajax so mad with grief and anguish that he began killing sheep thinking them his comrades. After a while when Athena lifted his madness and Ajax realized that he had actually been killing sheep he was so ashamed that he committed suicide. Odysseus eventually gave the armour to Neoptolemus the son of Achilles. When Odysseus encounters the shade of Ajax much later in the House of Hades Ajax is still so angry about the outcome of the competition that he refuses to speak to Odysseus.A relic claimed to be Achilles' bronze-headed spear was preserved for centuries in the temple of Athena on the acropolis of Phaselis, Lycia, a port on the Pamphylian Gulf. The city was visited in 333 BCE by Alexander the Great, who envisioned himself as the new Achilles and carried the with him, but his court biographers do not mention the spear; however, it was shown in the time of Pausanias in the 2nd century CE.Achilles Ajax and a game of .Numerous paintings on pottery have suggested a tale not mentioned in the literary traditions. At some point in the war, Achilles and Ajax were playing a board game . They were absorbed in the game and oblivious to the surrounding battle. The Trojans attacked and reached the heroes, who were saved only by an intervention of Athena.Worship and heroic cult.The tomb of Achilles, extant throughout antiquity in Troad, was venerated by Thessalians, but also by Persian expeditionary forces, as well as by Alexander the Great and the Roman emperor Caracalla. Achilles' cult was also to be found at other places, e. g. on the island of Astypalaea in the Sporades, in Sparta which had a sanctuary, in Elis and in Achilles' homeland Thessaly, as well as in the Magna Graecia cities of Tarentum, Locri and Croton, accounting for an almost Panhellenic cult to the hero.The cult of Achilles is illustrated in the 500 BCE Polyxena sarcophagus, which depicts the sacrifice of Polyxena near the tumulus of Achilles. Strabo also suggested that such a cult of Achilles existed in Troad:The spread and intensity of the hero's veneration among the Greeks that had settled on the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus, today's Black Sea, appears to have been remarkable. An archaic cult is attested for the Milesian colony of Olbia as well as for an island in the middle of the Black Sea, today identified with Snake Island . Early dedicatory inscriptions from the Greek colonies on the Black Sea attest the existence of a heroic cult of Achilles from the sixth century BC onwards. The cult was still thriving in the third century CE, when dedicatory stelae from Olbia refer to an "Achilles Pontrchs" , who was invoked as a protector of the city of Olbia, venerated on par with Olympian gods such as the local Apollo Prostates, Hermes Agoraeus, or Poseidon.Pliny the Elder in his situated between the mouth of the Dnieper and Karkinit Bay but which is hardly 125 Roman miles away from the Dnieper-Bug estuary as Pliny states. In the following chapter of his book, Pliny refers to the same island as In another inscription from the fifth or fourth century BC, a statue is dedicated to Achilles, lord of Leuke, by a citizen of Olbia, while in a further dedication, the city of Olbia confirms its continuous maintenance of the island's cult, again suggesting its quality as a place of a supra-regional hero veneration.The heroic cult dedicated to Achilles on and the opposition of North and South, as evoked by Achilles' fight against the Aethiopian prince Memnon, who in his turn would be removed to his homeland by his mother Eos after his death.The "Periplus of the Euxine Sea" (c. 130 AD) gives the following details:The Greek geographer Dionysius Periegetes, who likely lived during the first century CE, wrote that the island was called "Leuce" "because the wild animals which live there are white. It is said that there, in Leuce island, reside the souls of Achilles and other heroes, and that they wander through the uninhabited valleys of this island; this is how Jove rewarded the men who had distinguished themselves through their virtues, because through virtue they had acquired everlasting honour". Similarly, others relate the island's name to its white cliffs, snakes or birds dwelling there. Pausanias has been told that the island is "covered with forests and full of animals, some wild, some tame. In this island there is also Achilles' temple and his statue". Leuce had also a reputation as a place of healing. Pausanias reports that the Delphic Pythia sent a lord of Croton to be cured of a chest wound. Ammianus Marcellinus attributes the healing to waters ("aquae") on the island.A number of important commercial port cities of the Greek waters were dedicated to Achilles. Herodotus Pliny the Elder and Strabo reported on the existence of a town "Achlleion" built by settlers from Mytilene in the sixth century BC close to the hero's presumed burial mound in the Troad. Later attestations point to an "Achlleion" in Messenia and an "Achlleios" in Laconia. Nicolae Densuianu recognized a connection to Achilles in the names of Aquileia and of the northern arm of the Danube delta called Chilia though his conclusion that Leuce had sovereign rights over the Black Sea evokes modern rather than archaic sea-law.The kings of Epirus claimed to be descended from Achilles through his son Neoptolemus. Alexander the Great son of the Epirote princess Olympias could therefore also claim this descent and in many ways strove to be like his great ancestor. He is said to have visited the tomb of Achilles at Achilleion while passing Troy. In AD 216 the Roman Emperor Caracalla while on his way to war against Parthia emulated Alexander by holding games around Achilles' tumulus.Reception during antiquity.In Greek tragedy.The Greek tragedian Aeschylus wrote a trilogy of plays about Achilles, given the title "Achilleis" by modern scholars. The tragedies relate the deeds of Achilles during the Trojan War, including his defeat of Hector and eventual death when an arrow shot by Paris and guided by Apollo punctures his heel. Extant fragments of the "Achilleis" and other Aeschylean fragments have been assembled to produce a workable modern play. The first part of the "Achilleis" trilogy, "The Myrmidons", focused on the relationship between Achilles and chorus, who represent the Achaean army and try to convince Achilles to give up his quarrel with Agamemnon; only a few lines survive today. In Plato's "Symposium", Phaedrus points out that Aeschylus portrayed Achilles as the lover and Patroclus as the beloved; Phaedrus argues that this is incorrect because Achilles, being the younger and more beautiful of the two, was the beloved, who loved his lover so much that he chose to die to avenge him.The tragedian Sophocles also wrote a play with Achilles as the main character. Only a few fragments survive.Towards the end of the 5th century BCE, a more negative view of Achilles emerges in Greek drama; Euripides refers to Achilles in a bitter or ironic tone in "Hecuba", "Electra", and "Iphigenia in Aulis".In Greek philosophy.The philosopher Zeno of Elea centred one of his paradoxes on an imaginary footrace between Achilles and a tortoise, by which he attempted to show that Achilles could not catch up to a tortoise with a head start, and therefore that motion and change were impossible. As a student of the monist Parmenides and a member of the Eleatic school, Zeno believed time and motion to be illusions.In than a person who is unintentionally false on the basis that someone who lies intentionally must understand the subject about which they are lying. Socrates uses various analogies discussing athletics and the sciences to prove his point.The two also reference Homer extensively. Socrates and Hippias agree that Odysseus, who concocted a number of lies throughout the "Odyssey" and other stories in the Trojan War Cycle, was false intentionally. Achilles, like Odysseus, told numerous falsehoods. Hippias believes that Achilles was a generally honest man, while Socrates believes that Achilles lied for his own benefit. The two argue over whether it's better to lie on purpose or by accident. Socrates eventually abandons Homeric arguments and makes sports analogies to drive home the point: someone who does wrong on purpose is a better person than someone who does wrong unintentionally.In Roman and medieval literature.The Romans who traditionally traced their lineage to Troy took a highly negative view of Achilles. Virgil refers to Achilles as a savage and a merciless butcher of men while Horace portrays Achilles ruthlessly slaying women and children. Other writers such as Catullus Propertius and Ovid represent a second strand of disparagement with an emphasis on Achilles' erotic career. This strand continues in Latin accounts of the Trojan War by writers such as Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius and in Benot de Sainte-Maure's "Roman de Troie" and Guido delle Colonne's "Historia destructionis Troiae" which remained the most widely read and retold versions of the Matter of Troy until the 17th century.Achilles was described by the Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon not as Hellene but as Scythian while according to the Byzantine author John Malalas his army was made up of a tribe previously known as Myrmidons and later as Bulgars.In modern literature and arts.Achilles has been frequently the subject of operas ballets and related genres.Film and television.In films Achilles has been portrayed in the following films and television series
Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War and succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin and was raised on the frontier primarily in Indiana. He was self-educated and became a lawyer Whig Party leader Illinois state legislator and U.S. Congressman from Illinois. In 1849 he returned to his law practice but became vexed by the opening of additional lands to slavery as a result of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. He reentered politics in 1854 becoming a leader in the new Republican Party and he reached a national audience in the 1858 debates against Stephen Douglas. Lincoln ran for President in 1860 sweeping the North in victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South equated his success with the North's rejection of their right to practice slavery and southern states began seceding from the Union. To secure its independence the new Confederate States fired on Fort Sumter a U.S. fort in the South and Lincoln called up forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union.Lincoln, a moderate Republican, had to navigate a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from both the Democratic and Republican parties. His allies, the War Democrats and the Radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Southern Confederates. Anti-war Democrats despised Lincoln, and irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements plotted his assassination. He managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity, carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people. His Gettysburg Address appealed to nationalistic, republican, egalitarian, libertarian, and democratic sentiments. Lincoln scrutinized the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals and the naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended "habeas corpus" in Maryland, and he averted British intervention by defusing the "Trent" Affair. He engineered the end to slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation, including his order that the Army and Navy liberate, protect, and recruit former slaves. He also encouraged border states to outlaw slavery, and promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery across the country.Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just days after the war's end at Appomattox, he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife Mary when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and hero of the United States and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest presidents in American history.Family and childhood.Early life.Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk, to its namesake, Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1638. The family then migrated west, passing through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincoln's paternal grandparents, his namesake Captain Abraham Lincoln and wife Bathsheba moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky. The captain was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, Abraham's father, witnessed the attack. Thomas then worked at odd jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee before the family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the early 1800s.The heritage of Lincoln's mother Nancy remains unclear but it is widely assumed that she was the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Thomas and Nancy married on June 12 1806 in Washington County and moved to Elizabethtown Kentucky. They had three children Sarah Abraham and Thomas who died as infant.Thomas Lincoln bought or leased farms in Kentucky before losing all but of his land in court disputes over property titles. In 1816, the family moved to Indiana where the land surveys and titles were more reliable. Indiana was a "free" territory, and they settled in an "unbroken forest" in Hurricane Township, Perry County, Indiana. In 1860, Lincoln noted that the family's move to Indiana was "partly on account of slavery", but mainly due to land title difficulties.In Kentucky and Indiana, Thomas worked as a farmer, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. At various times, he owned farms, livestock, and town lots, paid taxes, sat on juries, appraised estates, and served on county patrols. Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptists church, which forbade alcohol, dancing, and slavery.Overcoming financial challenges Thomas in 1827 obtained clear title to in Indiana an area which became the Little Pigeon Creek Community.Mother's death.On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln succumbed to milk sickness, leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of a household including her father, 9-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln.On December 2, 1819, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, with three children of her own. Abraham became close to his stepmother and called her "Mother". Lincoln disliked the hard labor associated with farm life. His family even said he was lazy, for all his "reading, scribbling, writing, ciphering, writing Poetry, etc". His stepmother acknowledged he did not enjoy "physical labor", but loved to read.Education and move to Illinois.Lincoln was largely self-educated. His formal schooling was from itinerant teachers. It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read but probably not to write, at age seven, and in Indiana, where he went to school sporadically due to farm chores, for a total of less than 12 months in aggregate by the age of 15. He persisted as an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning. Family, neighbors, and schoolmates recalled that his reading included the King James Bible, Aesop's Fables, John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", and "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin".As a teen Lincoln took responsibility for chores and customarily gave his father all earnings from work outside the home until he was 21. Lincoln was tall strong and athletic and became adept at using an ax. He was an active wrestler during his youth and trained in the rough catch-as-catch-can style . He became county wrestling champion at the age of 21. He gained a reputation for strength and audacity after winning a wrestling match with the renowned leader of ruffians known as "the Clary's Grove Boys".In March 1830 fearing another milk sickness outbreak several members of the extended Lincoln family including Abraham moved west to Illinois a free state and settled in Macon County. Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas in part due to his father's lack of education. In 1831 as Thomas and other family prepared to move to a new homestead in Coles County Illinois Abraham struck out on his own. He made his home in New Salem Illinois for six years. Lincoln and some friends took goods by flatboat to New Orleans Louisiana where he was first exposed to slavery.In 1865, Lincoln was asked how he came to acquire his rhetorical skills. He answered that in the practice of law he frequently came across the word "demonstrate" but had insufficient understanding of the term. So, he left Springfield for his father's home to study until he "could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid at sight."Marriage and children.Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, whom he met when he moved to New Salem. By 1835, they were in a relationship but not formally engaged. She died on August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever. In the early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky.Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Owens if she returned to New Salem. Owens arrived that November and he courted her for a time; however, they both had second thoughts. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied.In 1839 Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield Illinois and the following year they became engaged. She was the daughter of Robert Smith Todd a wealthy lawyer and businessman in Lexington Kentucky. A wedding set for January 1 1841 was canceled at Lincoln's request but they reconciled and married on November 4 1842 in the Springfield mansion of Mary's sister. While anxiously preparing for the nuptials he was asked where he was going and replied "To hell I suppose." In 1844 the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. Mary kept house with the help of a hired servant and a relative.Lincoln was an affectionate husband and father of four sons, though his work regularly kept him away from home. The oldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born in 1843 and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker Lincoln , born in 1846, died February 1, 1850, probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, "Willie" Lincoln was born on December 21, 1850, and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, 1862. The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, 1853, and survived his father but died of heart failure at age 18 on July 16, 1871. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children" and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own. In fact, Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon would grow irritated when Lincoln would bring his children to the law office. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. Herndon recounted, "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks, and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done."The deaths of their sons Eddie and Willie had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from "melancholy" a condition now thought to be clinical depression. Later in life Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons and Robert committed her for a time to an asylum in 1875.Early career and militia service.In 1832, Lincoln joined with a partner, Denton Offutt, in the purchase of a general store on credit in New Salem. Although the economy was booming, the business struggled and Lincoln eventually sold his share. That March he entered politics, running for the Illinois General Assembly, advocating navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. He could draw crowds as a raconteur, but he lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election.Lincoln briefly interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. In his first campaign speech after returning he observed a supporter in the crowd under attack grabbed the assailant by his and tossed him. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct.Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading, and decided to become a lawyer. Rather than studying in the office of an established attorney, as was the custom, Lincoln borrowed legal texts from attorneys John Todd Stuart and Thomas Drummond, purchased books including Blackstone's "Commentaries" and Chitty's "Pleadings", and read law on his own. He later said of his legal education that "I studied with nobody."Illinois state legislature .Lincolns support for the American Colonization Society which advocated a program of abolition in conjunction with settling freed slaves in Liberia.Admitted to the Illinois bar in 1836 he moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart Mary Todd's cousin. Lincoln emerged as a formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan and in 1844 began his practice with William Herndon "a studious young man".U.S. House of Representatives .True to his record, Lincoln professed to friends in 1861 to be . Their party favored economic modernization in banking, tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads, and urbanization.In 1843, Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois' 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; he was defeated by John J. Hardin though he prevailed with the party in limiting Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only pulled off his strategy of gaining the nomination in 1846 but also won the election. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. He was assigned to the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads and the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department. Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for the owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He dropped the bill when it eluded Whig support.Political views.On foreign and military policy, Lincoln spoke against the Mexican–American War, which he imputed to President James K. Polk's desire for "military glory—that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". He supported the Wilmot Proviso, a failed proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico.Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions. The war had begun with a Mexican slaughter of American soldiers in territory disputed by Mexico, and Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil". Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on American soil. The resolution was ignored in both Congress and the national papers, and it cost Lincoln political support in his district. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on presidential war-making powers.Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House. Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, he supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the 1848 presidential election. Taylor won and Lincoln hoped in vain to be appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office. The administration offered to appoint him secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory as consolation. This distant territory was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice.Prairie lawyer.In his Springfield practice, Lincoln handled , a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. In 1849, he received a patent for a flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water. The idea was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent.Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases he was sole counsel in 51 cases of which 31 were decided in his favor. From 1853 to 1860 one of his largest clients was the Illinois Central Railroad. His legal reputation gave rise to the nickname .Lincoln argued in an 1858 criminal trial, defending William showing the moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Armstrong was acquitted.Leading up to his presidential campaign Lincoln elevated his profile in an 1859 murder case with his defense of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison who was a third cousin Harrison was also the grandson of Lincoln's political opponent Rev. Peter Cartwright. Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton who as he lay dying of his wounds confessed to Cartwright that he had provoked Harrison. Lincoln angrily protested the judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's testimony about the confession as inadmissible hearsay. Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and was not subject to the hearsay rule. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected the judge a Democrat reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence resulting in Harrison's acquittal.Republican politics .Emergence as Republican leader.The debate over the status of slavery in the territories failed to alleviate tensions between the slave-holding South and the free North with the failure of the Compromise of 1850 a legislative package designed to address the issue. In his 1852 eulogy for Clay Lincoln highlighted the latters Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May 1854.Lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his "Peoria Speech" in October 1854. Lincoln then declared his opposition to slavery which he repeated en route to the presidency. He said the Kansas Act had a ""declared" indifference, but as I must think, a covert "real" zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world ..." Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life.Nationally the Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party Lincoln wrote in 1855 "I think I am a Whig but others say there are no Whigs and that I am an abolitionist...I do no more than oppose the "extension" of slavery." The new Republican Party was formed as a northern party dedicated to antislavery drawing from the antislavery wing of the Whig Party and combining Free Soil Liberty and antislavery Democratic Party members Lincoln resisted early Republican entreaties fearing that the new party would become a platform for extreme abolitionists. Lincoln held out hope for rejuvenating the Whigs though he lamented his party's growing closeness with the nativist Know Nothing movement.In 1854 Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature but declined to take his seat. The year's elections showed the strong opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act and in the aftermath Lincoln sought election to the United States Senate. At that time senators were elected by the state legislature. After leading in the first six rounds of voting he was unable to obtain a majority. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull. Trumbull was an antislavery Democrat and had received few votes in the earlier ballots his supporters also antislavery Democrats had vowed not to support any Whig. Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream Democratic candidate Joel Aldrich Matteson.1856 campaign.Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the 1856 elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention, which formally established the Illinois Republican Party. The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in the territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention, though Lincoln received support to run as vice president, John C. Frmont and William Dayton comprised the ticket, which Lincoln supported throughout Illinois. The Democrats nominated former Secretary of State James Buchanan and the Know-Nothings nominated former Whig President Millard Fillmore. Buchanan prevailed, while Republican William Henry Bissell won election as Governor of Illinois, and Lincoln became a leading Republican in Illinois."Dred Scott v. Sandford".Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a free territory under the Missouri Compromise. After Scott was returned to the slave state he petitioned a federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in (1857). Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in the decision wrote that blacks were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution. While many Democrats hoped that .Lincoln–Douglas debates and Cooper Union speech.In 1858 Douglas was up for re-election in the U.S. Senate and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in 1858 and Lincoln's 1856 campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor. Some eastern Republicans supported Douglas from his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and admission of Kansas as a slave state. Many Illinois Republicans resented this eastern interference. For the first time Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition.Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech with the biblical reference Mark 325 The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. These were the most famous political debates in American history; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew crowds in the thousands. The principals stood in stark contrast both physically and politically. Lincoln warned that Douglas’ decision.Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas. Lincoln several local papers endorsed his candidacy.Traveling untiringly Lincoln made about fifty speeches. By their quality and simplicity he quickly became the champion of the Republican party. However unlike his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States his support in the east was not as great where he sometimes encountered a lack of appreciation and in some quarters was met with much indifference. Horace Greeley editor of the New York Tribune at that time wrote up an unflattering account of Lincolns Dred-Scott ruling which was promptly used against him by his political rivals.On February 27, 1860, powerful New York Republicans invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union, in which he argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. He insisted that morality required opposition to slavery, and rejected any Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as a 1860 presidential election.On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur. Lincoln's followers organized a campaign team led by David Davis, Norman Judd, Leonard Swett, and Jesse DuBois, and Lincoln received his first endorsement. Exploiting his embellished frontier legend , Lincoln's supporters adopted the label of "The Rail Candidate". In 1860, Lincoln described himself: "I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes." Michael Martinez wrote about the effective imaging of Lincoln by his campaign. At times he was presented as the plain-talking "Rail Splitter" and at other times he was "Honest Abe", unpolished but trustworthy.On May 18, at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot, beating candidates such as Seward and Chase. A former Democrat, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket. Lincoln's success depended on his campaign team, his reputation as a moderate on the slavery issue, and his strong support for internal improvements and the tariff.Pennsylvania put him over the top led by the state's iron interests who were reassured by his tariff support. Lincoln's managers had focused on this delegation while honoring Lincoln's dictate to "Make no contracts that will bind me".As the Slave Power tightened its grip on the national government most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party. Throughout the 1850s Lincoln had doubted the prospects of civil war and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession. When Douglas was selected as the candidate of the Northern Democrats delegates from eleven slave states walked out of the Democratic convention they opposed Douglas's position on popular sovereignty and selected incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge as their candidate. A group of former Whigs and Know Nothings formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee. Lincoln and Douglas competed for votes in the North while Bell and Breckinridge primarily found support in the South.Prior to the Republican convention, the Lincoln campaign began cultivating a nationwide youth organization, the Wide Awakes, which it used to generate popular support throughout the country to spearhead voter registration drives, thinking that new voters and young voters tended to embrace new parties. People of the Northern states knew the Southern states would vote against Lincoln and rallied supporters for Lincoln.As Douglas and the other candidates campaigned Lincoln gave no speeches relying on the enthusiasm of the Republican Party. The party did the leg work that produced majorities across the North and produced an abundance of campaign posters leaflets and newspaper editorials. Republican speakers focused first on the party platform and second on Lincolns life and sold 100000–200000 copies. Though he did not give public appearances many sought to visit him and write him. In the runup to the election he took an office in the Illinois state capitol to deal with the influx of attention. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary who would remain in that role during the presidency.On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th president. He was the first Republican president and his victory was entirely due to his support in the North and West. No ballots were cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states, and he won only two of 996 counties in all the Southern states, an omen of the impending Civil War. Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, or 39.8% of the total in a four-way race, carrying the free Northern states, as well as California and Oregon. His victory in the electoral college was decisive: Lincoln had 180 votes to 123 for his opponents.Presidency .Secession and inauguration.The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina took the lead by adopting an ordinance of secession; by February 1, 1861, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Six of these states declared themselves to be a sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America, and adopted a constitution. The upper South and border states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal. President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy, declaring secession illegal. The Confederacy selected Jefferson Davis as its provisional president on February 9, 1861.Attempts at compromise followed but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise as contrary to the Party's platform of free-soil in the territories. Lincoln said, "I will suffer death before I consent ... to any concession or compromise which looks like buying the privilege to take possession of this government to which we have a constitutional right."Lincoln tacitly supported the Corwin Amendment to the Constitution which passed Congress and was awaiting ratification by the states when Lincoln took office. That doomed amendment would have protected slavery in states where it already existed. A few weeks before the war Lincoln sent a letter to every governor informing them Congress had passed a joint resolution to amend the Constitution.En route to his inauguration Lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures across the North. He gave a particularly emotional farewell address upon leaving Springfield he would never again return to Springfield alive. The president-elect evaded suspected assassins in Baltimore. On February 23 1861 he arrived in disguise in Washington D.C. which was placed under substantial military guard. Lincoln directed his inaugural address to the South proclaiming once again that he had no inclination to abolish slavery in the Southern statesLincoln cited his plans for banning the expansion of slavery as the key source of conflict between North and South stating "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute." The president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the South "We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies ... The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature." The failure of the Peace Conference of 1861 signaled that legislative compromise was impossible. By March 1861 no leaders of the insurrection had proposed rejoining the Union on any terms. Meanwhile Lincoln and the Republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the Union could not be tolerated. In his second inaugural address Lincoln looked back on the situation at the time and said "Both parties deprecated war but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive and the other would accept war rather than let it perish and the war came."Major Robert Anderson commander of the Unions order to meet that request was seen by the secessionists as an act of war. On April 12 1861 Confederate forces fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter and began the fight. Historian Allan Nevins argued that the newly inaugurated Lincoln made three miscalculations underestimating the gravity of the crisis exaggerating the strength of Unionist sentiment in the South and overlooking Southern Unionist opposition to an invasion.William Tecumseh Sherman talked to Lincoln during inauguration week and was "sadly disappointed" at his failure to realize that "the country was sleeping on a volcano" and that the South was preparing for war. Donald concludes that "His repeated efforts to avoid collision in the months between inauguration and the firing on Ft. Sumter showed he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood. But he also vowed not to surrender the forts. The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the confederates to fire the first shot they did just that."On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send a total of 75,000 volunteer troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and , which, in his view, remained intact despite the seceding states. This call forced states to choose sides. Virginia seceded and was rewarded with the designation of Richmond as the Confederate capital, despite its exposure to Union lines. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas followed over the following two months. Secession sentiment was strong in Missouri and Maryland, but did not prevail; Kentucky remained neutral. The Fort Sumter attack rallied Americans north of the Mason-Dixon line to defend the nation.As States sent Union regiments south, on April 19, Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links attacked Union troops who were changing trains. Local leaders' groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital and the Army responded by arresting local Maryland officials. Lincoln suspended the writ of "habeas corpus" where needed for the security of troops trying to reach Washington. John Merryman, one Maryland official hindering the U.S. troop movements, petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney to issue a writ of "habeas corpus." In June Taney, ruling only for the lower circuit court in ex parte Merryman, issued the writ which he felt could only be suspended by Congress. Lincoln persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas.Union military strategy.Lincoln took executive control of the war and shaped the Union military strategy. He responded to the unprecedented political and military crisis as commander-in-chief by exercising unprecedented authority. He expanded his war powers, imposed a blockade on Confederate ports, disbursed funds before appropriation by Congress, suspended "habeas corpus", and arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers. Lincoln gained the support of Congress and the northern public for these actions. Lincoln also had to reinforce Union sympathies in the border slave states and keep the war from becoming an international conflict.It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success and that any compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle such as the appointment of Republicans and Democrats to command positions. Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery. The Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. On August 6 1861 Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act that authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates. The law had little practical effect but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery.In August 1861, General John C. Frmont, the 1856 Republican presidential nominee, without consulting Washington, issued a martial edict freeing slaves of the rebels. Lincoln canceled the illegal proclamation as politically motivated and lacking military necessity. As a result, Union enlistments from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri increased by over 40,000.Internationally Lincoln wanted to forestall foreign military aid to the Confederacy. He relied on his combative Secretary of State William Seward while working closely with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Charles Sumner. In the 1861 Trent Affair which threatened war with Great Britain the U.S. Navy illegally intercepted a British mail ship the on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys Britain protested vehemently while the U.S. cheered. Lincoln ended the crisis by releasing the two diplomats. Biographer James G. Randall dissected Lincoln's successful techniquesLincoln painstakingly monitored the telegraph reports coming into the War Department. He tracked all phases of the effort consulting with governors and selecting generals based on their success their state and their party. In January 1862 after complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department Lincoln replaced War Secretary Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton. Stanton centralized the War Department's activities auditing and canceling contracts saving the federal government $17000000. Stanton was a staunch Unionist pro-business conservative Democrat who gravitated toward the Radical Republican faction. He worked more often and more closely with Lincoln than any other senior official. say Thomas and Hyman.Lincolns army, rather than simply capturing territory.General McClellan.After the Union rout at Bull Run and Winfield Scott's retirement, Lincoln appointed Major General George B. McClellan general-in-chief. McClellan then took months to plan his Virginia Peninsula Campaign. McClellan's slow progress frustrated Lincoln, as did his position that no troops were needed to defend Washington. McClellan, in turn, blamed the failure of the campaign on Lincoln's reservation of troops for the capitol.In 1862 Lincoln removed McClellan for the generals desire to advance on Richmond from the north, thus protecting Washington from counterattack. But Pope was then soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac back to defend Washington.Despite his dissatisfaction with McClellan's failure to reinforce Pope, Lincoln restored him to command of all forces around Washington. Two days after McClellan's return to command, General Robert E. Lee's forces crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, leading to the Battle of Antietam. That battle, a Union victory, was among the bloodiest in American history; it facilitated Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in January.McClellan then resisted the presidents part.Burnside against presidential advice launched an offensive across the Rappahannock River and was defeated by Lee at Fredericksburg in December. Desertions during 1863 came in the thousands and only increased after Fredericksburg so Lincoln replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker.In the 1862 midterm elections the Republicans suffered severe losses due to rising inflation high taxes rumors of corruption suspension of military draft law and fears that freed slaves would come North and undermine the labor market. The Emancipation Proclamation gained votes for Republicans in rural New England and the upper Midwest but cost votes in the Irish and German strongholds and in the lower Midwest where many Southerners had lived for generations.In the spring of 1863 Lincoln was sufficiently optimistic about upcoming military campaigns to think the end of the war could be near; the plans included attacks by Hooker on Lee north of Richmond, Rosecrans on Chattanooga, Grant on Vicksburg, and a naval assault on Charleston.Hooker was routed by Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, then resigned and was replaced by George Meade. Meade followed Lee north into Pennsylvania and beat him in the Gettysburg Campaign, but then failed to follow up despite Lincoln's demands. At the same time, Grant captured Vicksburg and gained control of the Mississippi River, splitting the far western rebel states.Emancipation Proclamation.The Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which before 1865 delegated the issue to the individual states. Lincoln argued that slavery would be rendered obsolete if its expansion into new territories were prevented. He sought to persuade the states to agree to compensation for emancipating their slaves in return for their acceptance of abolition. Lincoln rejected Fremont's two emancipation attempts in August 1861, as well as one by Major General David Hunter in May 1862, on the grounds that it was not within their power, and would upset loyal border states.In June 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, which Lincoln signed. In July, the Confiscation Act of 1862 was enacted, providing court procedures to free the slaves of those convicted of aiding the rebellion; Lincoln approved the bill despite his belief that it was unconstitutional. He felt such action could be taken only within the war powers of the commander-in-chief, which he planned to exercise. Lincoln at this time reviewed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet.Privately, Lincoln concluded that the Confederacy's slave base had to be eliminated. Copperheads argued that emancipation was a stumbling block to peace and reunification; Republican editor Horace Greeley of the "New York Tribune" agreed. In a letter of August 22, 1862, Lincoln said that while he personally wished all men could be free, regardless of that, his first obligation as president was to preserve the Union:The Emancipation Proclamation issued on September 22 1862 and effective January 1 1863 affirmed the freedom of slaves in 10 states not then under Union control with exemptions specified for areas under such control. Lincoln's comment on signing the Proclamation was He spent the next 100 days preparing the army and the nation for emancipation while Democrats rallied their voters by warning of the threat that freed slaves posed to northern whites.With the abolition of slavery in the rebel states now a military objective, Union armies advancing south liberated three million slaves.Enlisting former slaves became official policy. By the spring of 1863, Lincoln was ready to recruit black troops in more than token numbers. In a letter to Tennessee military governor Andrew Johnson encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, . By the end of 1863, at Lincoln's direction, General Lorenzo Thomas had recruited 20 regiments of blacks from the Mississippi Valley.The Proclamation included Lincoln's earlier plans for colonies for newly freed slaves though that undertaking ultimately failed.Gettysburg Address .Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19 1863. In 272 words and three minutes Lincoln asserted that the nation was born not in 1789 but in 1776 .Defying his prediction that "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here" the Address became the most quoted speech in American history.General Grant.Grants army.Lincoln was concerned that Grant might be considering a presidential candidacy in 1864. He arranged for an intermediary to inquire into Grants name to the Senate. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 2 1864.Grant in 1864 waged the bloody Overland Campaign which exacted heavy losses on both sides. When Lincoln asked what Grant's plans were the persistent general replied "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Grant's army moved steadily south. Lincoln traveled to Grant's headquarters at City Point Virginia to confer with Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Lincoln reacted to Union losses by mobilizing support throughout the North. Lincoln authorized Grant to target infrastructure—plantations railroads and bridges—hoping to weaken the South's morale and fighting ability. He emphasized defeat of the Confederate armies over destruction for its own sake. Lincoln's engagement became distinctly personal on one occasion in 1864 when Confederate general Jubal Early raided Washington D.C.. Legend has it that while Lincoln watched from an exposed position Union Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. shouted at him "Get down you damn fool before you get shot!"As Grant continued to weaken Lee's forces efforts to discuss peace began. Confederate Vice President Stephens led a group meeting with Lincoln Seward and others at Hampton Roads. Lincoln refused to negotiate with the Confederacy as a coequal his objective to end the fighting was not realized. On April 1 1865 Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege. The Confederate government evacuated Richmond and Lincoln visited the conquered capital. On April 9 Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox officially ending the war.Re-election.Lincoln ran for reelection in 1864, while uniting the main Republican factions, along with War Democrats Edwin M. Stanton and Andrew Johnson. Lincoln used conversation and his patronage powers—greatly expanded from peacetime—to build support and fend off the Radicals' efforts to replace him. At its convention, the Republicans selected Johnson as his running mate. To broaden his coalition to include War Democrats as well as Republicans, Lincoln ran under the label of the new Union Party.Grant's bloody stalemates damaged Lincoln's re-election prospects, and many Republicans feared defeat. Lincoln confidentially pledged in writing that if he should lose the election, he would still defeat the Confederacy before turning over the White House; Lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet, but asked them to sign the sealed envelope. The pledge read as follows:The Democratic platform followed the ; but their candidate, McClellan, supported the war and repudiated the platform. Meanwhile, Lincoln emboldened Grant with more troops and Republican party support. Shermans support for emancipation. State Republican parties stressed the perfidy of the Copperheads. On November 8, Lincoln carried all but three states, including 78 percent of Union soldiers.On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. In it, he deemed the war casualties to be God's will. Historian Mark Noll places the speech it is inscribed in the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln said:Reconstruction.Reconstruction preceded the war's end, as Lincoln and his associates considered the reintegration of the nation, and the fates of Confederate leaders and freed slaves. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy." Lincoln was determined to find meaning in the war in its aftermath, and did not want to continue to outcast the southern states. His main goal was to keep the union together, so he proceeded by focusing not on whom to blame, but on how to rebuild the nation as one. Lincoln led the moderates in Reconstruction policy and was opposed by the Radicals, under Rep. Thaddeus Stevens, Sen. Charles Sumner and Sen. Benjamin Wade, who otherwise remained Lincoln's allies. Determined to reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held. His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they were willing to sign an oath of allegiance.As Southern states fell they needed leaders while their administrations were restored. In Tennessee and Arkansas Lincoln respectively appointed Johnson and Frederick Steele as military governors. In Louisiana Lincoln ordered General Nathaniel P. Banks to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed and only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. Democratic opponents accused Lincoln of using the military to ensure his and the Republicans' political aspirations. The Radicals denounced his policy as too lenient and passed their own plan the 1864 Wade–Davis Bill which Lincoln vetoed. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana Arkansas and Tennessee.Lincoln choice Salmon P. Chase who Lincoln believed would uphold his emancipation and paper money policies.After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. He declared that such an amendment would "clinch the whole matter" and by December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress. This first attempt fell short of the required two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. Passage became part of Lincoln's reelection platform and after his successful reelection the second attempt in the House passed on January 31 1865. With ratification it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6 1865.Lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen. He signed Senator Charles Sumners Bureau bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The law opened land for a lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen. Lincoln announced a Reconstruction plan that involved short-term military control, pending readmission under the control of southern Unionists.Historians agree that it is impossible to predict exactly how Reconstruction would have proceeded had Lincoln lived. Biographers James G. Randall and Richard Current according to David Lincove argue thatEric Foner argues that:Native American policy.Lincoln's experience with Indians followed the death of his grandfather Abraham at their hands in the presence of his father and uncles. Lincoln claimed Indians were antagonistic toward his father Thomas Lincoln and his young family. Although Lincoln was a veteran of the Black Hawk War which was fought in Wisconsin and Illinois in 1832 he saw no significant action. During his presidency Lincoln's policy toward Indians was driven by politics. He used the Indian Bureau as a source of patronage making appointments to his loyal followers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He faced difficulties guarding Western settlers railroads and telegraphs from Indian attacks.On August 17, 1862, the Dakota uprising in Minnesota, supported by the Yankton Indians, killed hundreds of white settlers, forced 30,000 from their homes, and deeply alarmed the Lincoln administration. Some believed it was a conspiracy by the Confederacy to launch a war on the Northwestern front. Lincoln sent General John Pope, the former head of the Army of Virginia, to Minnesota as commander of the new Department of the Northwest. Lincoln ordered thousands of Confederate prisoners of war sent by railroad to put down the Dakota Uprising. When the Confederates protested forcing Confederate prisoners to fight Indians, Lincoln revoked the policy. Pope fought against the Indians mercilessly, even advocating their extinction. He ordered Indian farms and food supplies be destroyed, and Indian warriors be killed. Aiding Pope, Minnesota Congressman Col. Henry H. Sibley led militiamen and regular troops to defeat the Dakota at Wood Lake. By October 9, Pope considered the uprising to be ended; hostilities ceased on December 26. An unusual military court was set up to prosecute captured natives, with Lincoln effectively acting as the route of appeal.Lincoln personally reviewed each of 303 execution warrants for Santee Dakota convicted of killing innocent farmers he commuted the sentences of all but 39 (one was later reprieved). Lincoln sought to be lenient but still send a message. He also faced significant public pressure including threats of mob justice should any of the Dakota be spared. Former Governor of Minnesota Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln in 1864 that he would have gotten more presidential election support had he executed all 303 of the Indians. Lincoln responded Other enactments.In the selection and use of his cabinet Lincoln employed the strengths of his opponents in a manner that emboldened his presidency. Lincoln commented on his thought process .Lincoln adhered to the Whig theory of a presidency focused on executing laws while deferring to Congress First Transcontinental Railroad which was completed in 1869. The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s.There were two measures passed to raise revenues for the Federal government tariffs and a Federal income tax. In 1861 Lincoln signed the second and third Morrill Tariffs following the first enacted by Buchanan. He also signed the Revenue Act of 1861 creating the first U.S. income tax—a flat tax of 3 percent on incomes above $800 . The Revenue Act of 1862 adopted rates that increased with income.Lincoln presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in other areas. The National Banking Act created the system of national banks. The US issued paper currency for the first time known as greenbacks—printed in green on the reverse side. In 1862 Congress created the Department of Agriculture.In response to rumors of a renewed draft, the editors of the published a false draft proclamation that created an opportunity for the editors and others to corner the gold market. Lincoln attacked the media for such behavior, and ordered a military seizure of the two papers which lasted for two days.Lincoln is largely responsible for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving had become a regional holiday in New England in the 17th century. It had been sporadically proclaimed by the federal government on irregular dates. The prior proclamation had been during James Madison's presidency 50 years earlier. In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November of that year to be a day of Thanksgiving.In June 1864 Lincoln approved the Yosemite Grant enacted by Congress which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as Yosemite National Park.Judicial appointments.Supreme Court appointments.Lincoln's philosophy on court nominations was that "we cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known." Lincoln made five appointments to the Supreme Court. Noah Haynes Swayne was an anti-slavery lawyer who was committed to the Union. Samuel Freeman Miller supported Lincoln in the 1860 election and was an avowed abolitionist. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced. Democrat Stephen Johnson Field, a previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance. Finally, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, became Chief Justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist, would support Reconstruction legislation, and that his appointment united the Republican Party.Other judicial appointments.Lincoln appointed 27 judges to the United States district courts but no judges to the United States circuit courts during his time in office.States admitted to the Union.West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863. Nevada, which became the third state in the far-west of the continent, was admitted as a free state on October 31, 1864.Assassination.John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland though he never joined the Confederate army he had contacts with the Confederate secret service. After attending an April 11 1865 speech in which Lincoln promoted voting rights for blacks Booth hatched a plot to assassinate the President. When Booth learned of the Lincolns' intent to attend a play with General Grant he planned to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln and his wife attended the play "Our American Cousin" on the evening of April 14 just five days after the Union victory at the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse. At the last minute Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play.At 1015 in the evening Booth entered the back of Lincoln's theater box crept up from behind and fired at the back of Lincoln's head mortally wounding him. Lincoln's guest Major Henry Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth but Booth stabbed him and escaped. After being attended by Doctor Charles Leale and two other doctors Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House. After remaining in a coma for eight hours Lincoln died at 722 in the morning on April 15. Stanton saluted and said "Now he belongs to the ages." Lincoln's body was placed in a flag-wrapped coffin which was loaded into a hearse and escorted to the White House by Union soldiers. President Johnson was sworn in the next morning.Two weeks later, Booth, refusing to surrender, was tracked to a farm in Virginia, and was mortally shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett and died on April 26. Secretary of War Stanton had issued orders that Booth be taken alive, so Corbett was initially arrested for court martial. After a brief interview, Stanton declared him a patriot and dismissed the charge.Funeral and burial.The late President lay in state, first in the East Room of the White House, and then in the Capitol Rotunda from April 19 through April 21. The caskets containing Lincolns body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield and now lies within the Lincoln Tomb.Religious and philosophical beliefs.As a young man, Lincoln was a religious skeptic. He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. He was private about his position on organized religion and respected the beliefs of others. He never made a clear profession of Christian beliefs. Through his entire public career, Lincoln had a proneness for quoting Scripture. His three most famous speeches—the House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural—each contain direct allusions to Providence and quotes from Scripture.In the 1840s, Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power. With the death of his son Edward in 1850 he more frequently expressed a dependence on God. He never joined a church, although he frequently attended First Presbyterian Church with his wife beginning in 1852.In the 1850s Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals he regarded the republicanism of the Founding Fathers with an almost religious reverence. The death of son Willie in February 1862 may have caused him to look toward religion for solace. After Willie's death he questioned the divine necessity of the war's severity. He wrote at this time that God "could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."Lincoln did believe in an all-powerful God that shaped events and by 1865 was expressing those beliefs in major speeches. By the end of the war, he increasingly appealed to the Almighty for solace and to explain events, writing on April 4, 1864, to a newspaper editor in Kentucky: I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.This spirituality can best be seen in his second inaugural address, considered by some scholars as the greatest such address in American history, and by Lincoln himself as his own greatest speech, or one of them at the very least. Lincoln explains therein the cause, purpose, and result of the war was God's will. Later in life, Lincoln's frequent use of religious imagery and language might have reflected his own personal beliefs and might have been a device to reach his audiences, who were mostly evangelical Protestants. On the day Lincoln was assassinated, he reportedly told his wife he desired to visit the Holy Land.Lincoln is believed to have had depression, smallpox, and malaria. He took blue mass pills, which contained mercury, to treat constipation. It is unknown to what extent he may have suffered from mercury poisoning.Several claims have been made that Lincoln's health was declining before the assassination. These are often based on photographs of Lincoln appearing to show weight loss and muscle wasting. It is also suspected that he might have had a rare genetic disease such as Marfan syndrome or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B.Republican values.Lincoln's redefinition of "republican values" has been stressed by historians such as John Patrick Diggins Harry V. Jaffa Vernon Burton Eric Foner and Herman J. Belz. Lincoln called the Declaration of Independence—which emphasized freedom and equality for all—the "sheet anchor" of republicanism beginning in the 1850s. He did this at a time when the Constitution which "tolerated slavery" was the focus of most political discourse. Diggins notes "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself" in the 1860 Cooper Union speech. Instead of focusing on the legality of an argument he focused on the moral basis of republicanism.His position on war was founded on a legal argument regarding the Constitution as essentially a contract among the states and all parties must agree to pull out of the contract. Furthermore it was a national duty to ensure the republic stands in every state. Many soldiers and religious leaders from the north though felt the fight for liberty and freedom of slaves was ordained by their moral and religious beliefs.As a Whig activist Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests favoring high tariffs banks infrastructure improvements and railroads in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. William C. Harris found that Lincoln's Reunification of the states.In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he explored the nature of democracy. He denounced secession as anarchy, and explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints. He said The successful reunification of the states had consequences for how people viewed the country. The term has historically been used, sometimes in the plural , and other times in the singular. The Civil War was a significant force in the eventual dominance of the singular usage by the end of the 19th century.Historical reputation.In surveys of U.S. scholars ranking presidents conducted since 1948 the top three presidents are Lincoln Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt although the order varies. Between 1999 and 2011 Lincoln John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan have been the top-ranked presidents in eight surveys according to Gallup. A 2004 study found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked Lincoln number one while legal scholars placed him second after George Washington.Lincolns name to their party. Many though not all in the South considered Lincoln as a man of outstanding ability. Historians have said he was whose portrait Lincoln hung in his White House office.Schwartz argues that Lincoln's American reputation grew slowly from the late 19th century until the Progressive Era when he emerged as one of America's most venerated heroes even among white Southerners. The high point came in 1922 with the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C.Union nationalism as envisioned by Lincoln "helped lead America to the nationalism of Theodore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt." In the New Deal era liberals honored Lincoln not so much as the self-made man or the great war president but as the advocate of the common man who they claimed would have supported the welfare state.Sociologist Barry Schwartz argues that in the 1930s and 1940s the memory of Abraham Lincoln was practically sacred and provided the nation with He suggested that postmodernism and multiculturalism have diluted greatness as a concept.In the Cold War years Lincolns role as the Great Emancipator. Bennett won wide attention when he called Lincoln a white supremacist in 1968. He noted that Lincoln used ethnic slurs and told jokes that ridiculed blacks. Bennett argued that Lincoln opposed social equality and proposed sending freed slaves to another country. Defenders such as authors Dirck and Cashin retorted that he was not as bad as most politicians of his day and that he was a who deftly advanced the abolitionist cause as fast as politically possible. The emphasis shifted away from Lincoln the emancipator to an argument that blacks had freed themselves from slavery or at least were responsible for pressuring the government on emancipation.By the 1970s Lincoln had become a hero to political conservatives apart from neo-Confederates such as Mel Bradford who denounced his treatment of the white South for his intense nationalism support for business his insistence on stopping the spread of human bondage his acting in terms of Lockean and Burkean principles on behalf of both liberty and tradition and his devotion to the principles of the Founding Fathers. Lincoln became a favorite exemplar for liberal intellectuals across the world.Historian Barry Schwartz wrote in 2009 that Lincoln's image suffered .In the 21st century, President Barack Obama named Lincoln his favorite president and insisted on using the Lincoln Bible for his inaugural ceremonies. Lincoln has often been portrayed by Hollywood, almost always in a flattering light.Memory and memorials.Lincolnt grow a beard until 1860 at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell. He was the first of 16 presidents to do so.He has been memorialized in many town city and county names including the capital of Nebraska. The United States Navy is named after Lincoln the second Navy ship to bear his name.Lincoln Memorial is one of the most visited monuments in the nations home as well as his tomb. A portrait carving of Lincoln appears with those of three other presidents on Mount Rushmore which receives about 3 million visitors a year.
Aristotle (; , ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Lyceum, the Peripatetic school of philosophy, and the Aristotelian tradition. His writings cover many subjects including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, meteorology, geology and government. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. It was above all from his teachings that the West inherited its intellectual lexicon, as well as problems and methods of inquiry. As a result, his philosophy has exerted a unique influence on almost every form of knowledge in the West and it continues to be a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.Little is known about his life. Aristotle was born in the city of Stagira in Northern Greece. His father Nicomachus died when Aristotle was a child and he was brought up by a guardian. At seventeen or eighteen years of age he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven . Shortly after Plato died Aristotle left Athens and at the request of Philip II of Macedon tutored Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues for publication only around a third of his original output has survived none of it intended for publication.Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of physical science extended from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance and were not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. Some of Aristotle's zoological observations found in his biology such as on the hectocotyl arm of the octopus were disbelieved until the 19th century. He also influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages as well as Christian theology especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher" and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher" while the poet Dante called him “the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic and were studied by medieval scholars such as Peter Abelard and John Buridan.Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition his ethics though always influential gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.Aristotle has been called "the father of logic", "the father of biology", "the father of political science", "the father of zoology", "the father of embryology", "the father of natural law", "the father of scientific method", "the father of rhetoric", "the father of psychology", "the father of realism", "the father of criticism", "the father of individualism", "the father of teleology", and "the father of meteorology".In general the details of Aristotle's life are not well-established. The biographies written in ancient times are often speculative and historians only agree on a few salient points.Aristotle whose name means "the best purpose" in Ancient Greek was born in 384 BC in Stagira Chalcidice about 55 km east of modern-day Thessaloniki. His father Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. While he was young Aristotle learned about biology and medical information which was taught by his father. Both of Aristotle's parents died when he was about thirteen and Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian. Although little information about Aristotle's childhood has survived he probably spent some time within the Macedonian palace making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy.At the age of seventeen or eighteen Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Platos adoptive daughter or niece. She bore him a daughter whom they also named Pythias. In 343 BC Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander.Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During Aristotle's time in the Macedonian court, he gave lessons not only to Alexander but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and Aristotle's own attitude towards Persia was unabashedly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be "a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants". By 335 BC, Aristotle had returned to Athens, establishing his own school there known as the Lyceum. Aristotle conducted courses at the school for the next twelve years. While in Athens, his wife Pythias died and Aristotle became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira, who bore him a son whom he named after his father, Nicomachus. If the "Suda" an uncritical compilation from the Middle Ages is accurate, he may also have had an "ermenos", Palaephatus of Abydus.This period in Athens between 335 and 323 BC is when Aristotle is believed to have composed many of his works. He wrote many dialogues of which only fragments have survived. Those works that have survived are in treatise form and were not for the most part intended for widespread publication they are generally thought to be lecture aids for his students. His most important treatises include "Physics" "Metaphysics" "Nicomachean Ethics" "Politics" "On the Soul" and "Poetics". Aristotle studied and made significant contributions to "logic metaphysics mathematics physics biology botany ethics politics agriculture medicine dance and theatre."Near the end of his life Alexander and Aristotle became estranged over Alexander's relationship with Persia and Persians. A widespread tradition in antiquity suspected Aristotle of playing a role in Alexander's death but the only evidence of this is an unlikely claim made some six years after the death. Following Alexander's death anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens was rekindled. In 322 BC Demophilus and Eurymedon the Hierophant reportedly denounced Aristotle for impiety prompting him to flee to his mother's family estate in Chalcis on Euboea at which occasion he was said to have stated "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy" – a reference to Athens's trial and execution of Socrates. He died on Euboea of natural causes later that same year having named his student Antipater as his chief executor and leaving a will in which he asked to be buried next to his wife.Speculative philosophy.With the that with Aristotle logic reached its completion.What is today called with its types of syllogism (methods of logical argument) Aristotle himself would have labelled around 40 BC by Andronicus of Rhodes or others among his followers. The books areThe order of the books is not certain but this list was derived from analysis of Aristotle's writings. It goes from the basics the analysis of simple terms in the "Categories" the analysis of propositions and their elementary relations in "On Interpretation" to the study of more complex forms namely syllogisms and dialectics . The first three treatises form the core of the logical theory "stricto sensu" the grammar of the language of logic and the correct rules of reasoning. The "Rhetoric" is not conventionally included but it states that it relies on the "Topics".Metaphysics.The word "metaphysics" appears to have been coined by the first century AD editor who assembled various small selections of Aristotle's works to the treatise we know by the name "Metaphysics". Aristotle called it "first philosophy" and distinguished it from mathematics and natural science as the contemplative philosophy which is "theological" and studies the divine. He wrote in his "Metaphysics" Aristotle examines the concepts of substance and essence in his house, namely or any other differentia that let us define something as a house. The formula that gives the components is the account of the matter, and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form.Immanent realism.Like his teacher Plato Aristotles ontology places the universal in particulars things in the world whereas for Plato the universal is a separately existing form which actual things imitate. For Aristotle in a particular substance.Plato argued that all things have a universal form which could be either a property or a relation to other things. When one looks at an apple for example one sees an apple and one can also analyse a form of an apple. In this distinction there is a particular apple and a universal form of an apple. Moreover one can place an apple next to a book so that one can speak of both the book and apple as being next to each other. Plato argued that there are some universal forms that are not a part of particular things. For example it is possible that there is no particular good in existence but is still a proper universal form. Aristotle disagreed with Plato on this point arguing that all universals are instantiated at some period of time and that there are no universals that are unattached to existing things. In addition Aristotle disagreed with Plato about the location of universals. Where Plato spoke of the world of forms a place where all universal forms subsist Aristotle maintained that universals exist within each thing on which each universal is predicated. So according to Aristotle the form of apple exists within each apple rather than in the world of the forms.Potentiality and actuality.With regard to the change and its causes now, as he defines in his "Physics" and "On Generation and Corruption" 319b–320a, he distinguishes the coming to be from:The coming to be is a change where nothing persists of which the resultant is a property. In that particular change he introduces the concept of potentiality and actuality in association with the matter and the form. Referring to potentiality, this is what a thing is capable of doing or being acted upon if the conditions are right and it is not prevented by something else. For example, the seed of a plant in the soil is potentially a plant, and if it is not prevented by something, it will become a plant. Potentially beings can either 'act' or 'be acted upon' , which can be either innate or learned. For example, the eyes possess the potentiality of sight , while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning . Actuality is the fulfilment of the end of the potentiality. Because the end is the principle of every change, and for the sake of the end exists potentiality, therefore actuality is the end. Referring then to the previous example, it can be said that an actuality is when a plant does one of the activities that plants do.In summary, the matter used to make a house has potentiality to be a house and both the activity of building and the form of the final house are actualities, which is also a final cause or end. Then Aristotle proceeds and concludes that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula, in time and in substantiality. With this definition of the particular substance , Aristotle tries to solve the problem of the unity of the beings, for example, "what is it that makes a man one"? Since, according to Plato there are two Ideas: animal and biped, how then is man a unity? However, according to Aristotle, the potential being and the actual one are one and the same.Epistemology.Aristotle's immanent realism means his epistemology is based on the study of things that exist or happen in the world, and rises to knowledge of the universal, whereas for Plato epistemology begins with knowledge of universal Forms and descends to knowledge of particular imitations of these. Aristotle uses induction from examples alongside deduction, whereas Plato relies on deduction from "a priori" principles.Natural philosophy.Aristotle's "natural philosophy" spans a wide range of natural phenomena including those now covered by physics biology and other natural sciences. In Aristotle's terminology "natural philosophy" is a branch of philosophy examining the phenomena of the natural world and includes fields that would be regarded today as physics biology and other natural sciences. Aristotle's work encompassed virtually all facets of intellectual inquiry. Aristotle makes philosophy in the broad sense coextensive with reasoning which he also would describe as "science". However his use of the term "science" carries a different meaning than that covered by the term "scientific method". For Aristotle "all science is either practical poetical or theoretical" . His practical science includes ethics and politics his poetical science means the study of fine arts including poetry his theoretical science covers physics mathematics and metaphysics.Five elements.In his Aristotle related each of the four elements proposed earlier by Empedocles Earth Water Air and Fire to two of the four sensible qualities hot cold wet and dry. In the Empedoclean scheme all matter was made of the four elements in differing proportions. Aristotle's scheme added the heavenly Aether the divine substance of the heavenly spheres stars and planets.Aristotle describes two kinds of motion: "violent" or "unnatural motion", such as that of a thrown stone, in the "Physics" , and "natural motion", such as of a falling object, in "On the Heavens" . In violent motion, as soon as the agent stops causing it, the motion stops also: in other words, the natural state of an object is to be at rest, since Aristotle does not address friction. With this understanding, it can be observed that, as Aristotle stated, heavy objects require more force to make them move; and objects pushed with greater force move faster. This would imply the equationincorrect in modern physics.Natural motion depends on the element concerned the aether naturally moves in a circle around the heavens while the 4 Empedoclean elements move vertically up or down towards their natural resting places.In the , Aristotle effectively states a quantitative law, that the speed, v, of a falling body is proportional to its weight, W, and inversely proportional to the density, , of the fluid in which it is falling:Aristotle implies that in a vacuum the speed of fall would become infinite, and concludes from this apparent absurdity that a vacuum is not possible. Opinions have varied on whether Aristotle intended to state quantitative laws. Henri Carteron held the "extreme view" that Aristotle's concept of force was basically qualitative, but other authors reject this.Archimedes corrected Aristotle scheme on the mass and volume of the object not as Aristotle thought its elementary composition.Aristotles gravitational field immersed in a fluid such as air. In this system, heavy bodies in steady fall indeed travel faster than light ones , and they do fall more slowly in a denser medium.Newton's "forced" motion corresponds to Aristotle's "violent" motion with its external agent, but Aristotle's assumption that the agent's effect stops immediately it stops acting has awkward consequences: he has to suppose that surrounding fluid helps to push the ball along to make it continue to rise even though the hand is no longer acting on it, resulting in the Medieval theory of impetus.Four causes.Aristotle suggested that the reason for anything coming about can be attributed to four different types of simultaneously active factors. His term , but the traditional rendering will be employed here.Aristotle describes experiments in optics using a camera obscura in "Problems" book 15. The apparatus consisted of a dark chamber with a small aperture that let light in. With it he saw that whatever shape he made the hole the sun's image always remained circular. He also noted that increasing the distance between the aperture and the image surface magnified the image.Chance and spontaneity.According to Aristotle, spontaneity and chance are causes of some things, distinguishable from other types of cause such as simple necessity. Chance as an incidental cause lies in the realm of accidental things, "from what is spontaneous". There is also more a specific kind of chance, which Aristotle names "luck", that only applies to people's moral choices.In astronomy, Aristotle refuted Democritus's claim that the Milky Way was made up of Geology/Natural Sciences.Aristotle was one of the first people to record any geological observations. He stated that geological change was too slow to be observed in one person's lifetime.The geologist Charles Lyell noted that Aristotle described such change including 'Aristotle also made many observations about the hydrologic cycle and meteorology . For example, he made some of the earliest observations about desalination: he observed early – and correctly – that when seawater is heated, freshwater evaporates and that the oceans are then replenished by the cycle of rainfall and river runoff Empirical research.Aristotle was the first person to study biology systematically, and biology forms a large part of his writings. He spent two years observing and describing the zoology of Lesbos and the surrounding seas, including in particular the Pyrrha lagoon in the centre of Lesbos. His data in are assembled from his own observations, statements given by people with specialized knowledge such as beekeepers and fishermen, and less accurate accounts provided by travellers from overseas. His apparent emphasis on animals rather than plants is a historical accident: his works on botany have been lost, but two books on plants by his pupil Theophrastus have survived.Aristotle reports on the sea-life visible from observation on Lesbos and the catches of fishermen. He describes the catfish, electric ray, and frogfish in detail, as well as cephalopods such as the octopus and paper nautilus. His description of the hectocotyl arm of cephalopods, used in sexual reproduction, was widely disbelieved until the 19th century. He gives accurate descriptions of the four-chambered fore-stomachs of ruminants, and of the ovoviviparous embryological development of the hound shark.He notes that an animal's structure is well matched to function so among birds the heron which lives in marshes with soft mud and lives by catching fish has a long neck and long legs and a sharp spear-like beak whereas ducks that swim have short legs and webbed feet. Darwin too noted these sorts of differences between similar kinds of animal but unlike Aristotle used the data to come to the theory of evolution. Aristotle's writings can seem to modern readers close to implying evolution but while Aristotle was aware that new mutations or hybridizations could occur he saw these as rare accidents. For Aristotle accidents like heat waves in winter must be considered distinct from natural causes. He was thus critical of Empedocles's materialist theory of a "survival of the fittest" origin of living things and their organs and ridiculed the idea that accidents could lead to orderly results. To put his views into modern terms he nowhere says that different species can have a common ancestor or that one kind can change into another or that kinds can become extinct.Scientific style.Aristotle did not do experiments in the modern sense. He used the ancient Greek term , he finds a fertilized hens heart beating inside.Instead, he practiced a different style of science: systematically gathering data, discovering patterns common to whole groups of animals, and inferring possible causal explanations from these. This style is common in modern biology when large amounts of data become available in a new field, such as genomics. It does not result in the same certainty as experimental science, but it sets out testable hypotheses and constructs a narrative explanation of what is observed. In this sense, Aristotle's biology is scientific.From the data he collected and documented Aristotle inferred quite a number of rules relating the life-history features of the live-bearing tetrapods that he studied. Among these correct predictions are the following. Brood size decreases with body mass so that an elephant has fewer young per brood than a mouse. Lifespan increases with gestation period and also with body mass so that elephants live longer than mice have a longer period of gestation and are heavier. As a final example fecundity decreases with lifespan so long-lived kinds like elephants have fewer young in total than short-lived kinds like mice.Classification of living things.Aristotle distinguished about 500 species of animals, arranging these in the . Those with blood were divided into the live-bearing , and the egg-laying . Those without blood were insects, crustacea and the hard-shelled molluscs . He recognised that animals did not exactly fit into a linear scale, and noted various exceptions, such as that sharks had a placenta like the tetrapods. To a modern biologist, the explanation, not available to Aristotle, is convergent evolution. He believed that purposive final causes guided all natural processes; this teleological view justified his observed data as an expression of formal design.Psychology.Aristotle's psychology, given in his treatise .For Aristotle the soul is the form of a living being. Because all beings are composites of form and matter the form of living beings is that which endows them with what is specific to living beings e.g. the ability to initiate movement . In contrast to earlier philosophers but in accordance with the Egyptians he placed the rational soul in the heart rather than the brain. Notable is Aristotle's division of sensation and thought which generally differed from the concepts of previous philosophers with the exception of Alcmaeon.According to Aristotle in "On the Soul", memory is the ability to hold a perceived experience in the mind and to distinguish between the internal "appearance" and an occurrence in the past. In other words, a memory is a mental picture that can be recovered. Aristotle believed an impression is left on a semi-fluid bodily organ that undergoes several changes in order to make a memory. A memory occurs when stimuli such as sights or sounds are so complex that the nervous system cannot receive all the impressions at once. These changes are the same as those involved in the operations of sensation, Aristotelian , and thinking.Aristotle uses the term 'memory' for the actual retaining of an experience in the impression that can develop from sensation and for the intellectual anxiety that comes with the impression because it is formed at a particular time and processing specific contents. Memory is of the past prediction is of the future and sensation is of the present. Retrieval of impressions cannot be performed suddenly. A transitional channel is needed and located in past experiences both for previous experience and present experience.Because Aristotle believes people receive all kinds of sense perceptions and perceive them as impressions people are continually weaving together new impressions of experiences. To search for these impressions people search the memory itself. Within the memory if one experience is offered instead of a specific memory that person will reject this experience until they find what they are looking for. Recollection occurs when one retrieved experience naturally follows another. If the chain of "images" is needed one memory will stimulate the next. When people recall experiences they stimulate certain previous experiences until they reach the one that is needed. Recollection is thus the self-directed activity of retrieving the information stored in a memory impression. Only humans can remember impressions of intellectual activity such as numbers and words. Animals that have perception of time can retrieve memories of their past observations. Remembering involves only perception of the things remembered and of the time passed.Aristotle believed the chain of thought which ends in recollection of certain impressions was connected systematically in relationships such as similarity contrast and contiguity described in his laws of association. Aristotle believed that past experiences are hidden within the mind. A force operates to awaken the hidden material to bring up the actual experience. According to Aristotle association is the power innate in a mental state which operates upon the unexpressed remains of former experiences allowing them to rise and be recalled.Aristotle describes sleep in . Sleep takes place as a result of overuse of the senses or of digestion, so it is vital to the body. While a person is asleep, the critical activities, which include thinking, sensing, recalling and remembering, do not function as they do during wakefulness. Since a person cannot sense during sleep they cannot have desire, which is the result of sensation. However, the senses are able to work during sleep, albeit differently, unless they are weary.Dreams do not involve actually sensing a stimulus. In dreams sensation is still involved but in an altered manner. Aristotle explains that when a person stares at a moving stimulus such as the waves in a body of water and then looks away the next thing they look at appears to have a wavelike motion. When a person perceives a stimulus and the stimulus is no longer the focus of their attention it leaves an impression. When the body is awake and the senses are functioning properly a person constantly encounters new stimuli to sense and so the impressions of previously perceived stimuli are ignored. However during sleep the impressions made throughout the day are noticed as there are no new distracting sensory experiences. So dreams result from these lasting impressions. Since impressions are all that are left and not the exact stimuli dreams do not resemble the actual waking experience. During sleep a person is in an altered state of mind. Aristotle compares a sleeping person to a person who is overtaken by strong feelings toward a stimulus. For example a person who has a strong infatuation with someone may begin to think they see that person everywhere because they are so overtaken by their feelings. Since a person sleeping is in a suggestible state and unable to make judgements they become easily deceived by what appears in their dreams like the infatuated person. This leads the person to believe the dream is real even when the dreams are absurd in nature. In "De Anima" iii 3 Aristotle ascribes the ability to create to store and to recall images in the absence of perception to the faculty of imagination "phantasia".One component of Aristotle's theory of dreams disagrees with previously held beliefs. He claimed that dreams are not foretelling and not sent by a divine being. Aristotle reasoned naturalistically that instances in which dreams do resemble future events are simply coincidences. Aristotle claimed that a dream is first established by the fact that the person is asleep when they experience it. If a person had an image appear for a moment after waking up or if they see something in the dark it is not considered a dream because they were awake when it occurred. Secondly, any sensory experience that is perceived while a person is asleep does not qualify as part of a dream. For example, if, while a person is sleeping, a door shuts and in their dream they hear a door is shut, this sensory experience is not part of the dream. Lastly, the images of dreams must be a result of lasting impressions of waking sensory experiences.Practical philosophy.Aristotle's practical philosophy covers areas such as ethics politics economics and rhetoric.Aristotle considered ethics to be a practical rather than theoretical study i.e. one aimed at becoming good and doing good rather than knowing for its own sake. He wrote several treatises on ethics including most notably the "Nicomachean Ethics".Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see, because the proper function of an eye is sight. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an activity of the . To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character , often translated as moral or ethical virtue or excellence.Aristotle taught that to achieve a virtuous and potentially happy character requires a first stage of having the fortune to be habituated not deliberately, but by teachers, and experience, leading to a later stage in which one consciously chooses to do the best things. When the best people come to live life this way their practical wisdom ("phronesis") and their intellect ("nous") can develop with each other towards the highest possible human virtue, the wisdom of an accomplished theoretical or speculative thinker, or in other words, a philosopher.In addition to his works on ethics, which address the individual, Aristotle addressed the city in his work titled and argued that humanitys conception of the city is organic, and he is considered one of the first to conceive of the city in this manner.The common modern understanding of a political community as a modern state is quite different from Aristotle's understanding. Although he was aware of the existence and potential of larger empires the natural community according to Aristotle was the city ("polis") which functions as a political "community" or "partnership" ("koinnia"). The aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or for economic stability but rather to allow at least some citizens the possibility to live a good life and to perform beautiful acts "The political partnership must be regarded therefore as being for the sake of noble actions not for the sake of living together." This is distinguished from modern approaches beginning with social contract theory according to which individuals leave the state of nature because of "fear of violent death" or its "inconveniences."In "Protrepticus" the character 'Aristotle' statesAs Plato's disciple Aristotle was rather skeptical concerning democracy and, following Plato's vague ideas, he developed a coherent theory of integrating various forms of power into a so-called mixed state:To illustrate this approach Aristotle proposed a first-of-its-kind mathematical model of voting albeit textually described where the democratic principle of "one voter–one vote" is combined with the oligarchic "merit-weighted voting" for relevant quotes and their translation into mathematical formulas see.Aristotle made substantial contributions to economic thought especially to thought in the Middle Ages. In Aristotle offers one of the earliest accounts of the origin of money. Money came into use because people became dependent on one another importing what they needed and exporting the surplus. For the sake of convenience people then agreed to deal in something that is intrinsically useful and easily applicable such as iron or silver.Aristotle's discussions on retail and interest was a major influence on economic thought in the Middle Ages. He had a low opinion of retail, believing that contrary to using money to procure things one needs in managing the household, retail trade seeks to make a profit. It thus uses goods as a means to an end, rather than as an end unto itself. He believed that retail trade was in this way unnatural. Similarly, Aristotle considered making a profit through interest unnatural, as it makes a gain out of the money itself, and not from its use.Aristotle gave a summary of the function of money that was perhaps remarkably precocious for his time. He wrote that because it is impossible to determine the value of every good through a count of the number of other goods it is worth, the necessity arises of a single universal standard of measurement. Money thus allows for the association of different goods and makes them .Rhetoric and poetics.Aristotle's "Rhetoric" proposes that a speaker can use three basic kinds of appeals to persuade his audience "ethos" "pathos" and "logos" . He also categorizes rhetoric into three genres epideictic forensic and deliberative . Aristotle also outlines two kinds of rhetorical proofs "enthymeme" and "paradeigma" .Aristotle writes in his For example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy, for instance, is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average; whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly, the forms differ in their manner of imitation – through narrative or character, through change or no change, and through drama or no drama.While it is believed that Aristotle's with a discussion on which, if either, is superior: epic or tragic mimesis. He suggests that because tragedy possesses all the attributes of an epic, possibly possesses additional attributes such as spectacle and music, is more unified, and achieves the aim of its mimesis in shorter scope, it can be considered superior to epic. Aristotle was a keen systematic collector of riddles, folklore, and proverbs; he and his school had a special interest in the riddles of the Delphic Oracle and studied the fables of Aesop.Views on women.Aristotles and commented in his that the things that lead to happiness need to be in women as well as men.More than 2300 years after his death Aristotle remains one of the most influential people who ever lived. He contributed to almost every field of human knowledge then in existence and he was the founder of many new fields. According to the philosopher Bryan Magee "it is doubtful whether any human being has ever known as much as he did". Among countless other achievements Aristotle was the founder of formal logic pioneered the study of zoology and left every future scientist and philosopher in his debt through his contributions to the scientific method. Taneli Kukkonen writing in "The Classical Tradition" observes that his achievement in founding two sciences is unmatched and his reach in influencing "every branch of intellectual enterprise" including Western ethical and political theory theology rhetoric and literary analysis is equally long. As a result Kukkonen argues any analysis of reality today "will almost certainly carry Aristotelian overtones ... evidence of an exceptionally forceful mind." Jonathan Barnes wrote that "an account of Aristotle's intellectual afterlife would be little less than a history of European thought".On his successor Theophrastus.Aristotle's pupil and successor Theophrastus wrote the seed chamber.Theophrastus was much less concerned with formal causes than Aristotle was, instead pragmatically describing how plants functioned.On later Greek philosophers.The immediate influence of Aristotle's work was felt as the Lyceum grew into the Peripatetic school. Aristotle's notable students included Aristoxenus Dicaearchus Demetrius of Phalerum Eudemos of Rhodes Harpalus Hephaestion Mnason of Phocis Nicomachus and Theophrastus. Aristotle's influence over Alexander the Great is seen in the latter's bringing with him on his expedition a host of zoologists botanists and researchers. He had also learned a great deal about Persian customs and traditions from his teacher. Although his respect for Aristotle was diminished as his travels made it clear that much of Aristotle's geography was clearly wrong when the old philosopher released his works to the public Alexander complained "Thou hast not done well to publish thy acroamatic doctrines for in what shall I surpass other men if those doctrines wherein I have been trained are to be all men's common property?"On Hellenistic science.After Theophrastus the Lyceum failed to produce any original work. Though interest in Aristotle's ideas survived they were generally taken unquestioningly. It is not until the age of Alexandria under the Ptolemies that advances in biology can be again found.The first medical teacher at Alexandria Herophilus of Chalcedon corrected Aristotle placing intelligence in the brain and connected the nervous system to motion and sensation. Herophilus also distinguished between veins and arteries noting that the latter pulse while the former do not. Though a few ancient atomists such as Lucretius challenged the teleological viewpoint of Aristotelian ideas about life teleology would remain central to biological thought essentially until the 18th and 19th centuries. Ernst Mayr states that there was On Byzantine scholars.Greek Christian scribes played a crucial role in the preservation of Aristotle by copying all the extant Greek language manuscripts of the corpus. The first Greek Christians to comment extensively on Aristotle were Philoponus Elias and David in the sixth century and Stephen of Alexandria in the early seventh century. John Philoponus stands out for having attempted a fundamental critique of Aristotles teaching of physics noting its flaws and introducing the theory of impetus to explain his observations.After a hiatus of several centuries, formal commentary by Eustratius and Michael of Ephesus reappeared in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, apparently sponsored by Anna Comnena.On the medieval Islamic world.Aristotle was one of the most revered Western thinkers in early Islamic theology. Most of the still extant works of Aristotle as well as a number of the original Greek commentaries were translated into Arabic and studied by Muslim philosophers scientists and scholars. Averroes Avicenna and Alpharabius who wrote on Aristotle in great depth also influenced Thomas Aquinas and other Western Christian scholastic philosophers. Alkindus greatly admired Aristotle's philosophy and Averroes spoke of Aristotle as the "exemplar" for all future philosophers. Medieval Muslim scholars regularly described Aristotle as the "First Teacher". The title "teacher" was first given to Aristotle by Muslim scholars and was later used by Western philosophers (as in the famous poem of Dante) who were influenced by the tradition of Islamic philosophy.On medieval Europe.With the loss of the study of ancient Greek in the early medieval Latin West Aristotle was practically unknown there from c. AD 600 to c. 1100 except through the Latin translation of the the demand for Aristotle's writings grew and the Greek manuscripts returned to the West stimulating a revival of Aristotelianism in Europe that continued into the Renaissance. These thinkers blended Aristotelian philosophy with Christianity bringing the thought of Ancient Greece into the Middle Ages. Scholars such as Boethius Peter Abelard and John Buridan worked on Aristotelian logic.The medieval English poet Chaucer describes his student as being happy by havingA cautionary medieval tale held that Aristotle advised his pupil Alexander to avoid the kings male intellect. Artists such as Hans Baldung produced a series of illustrations of the popular theme.The Italian poet Dante says of Aristotle in "The Divine Comedy":Besides Dante's fellow poets, the classical figure that most influenced the "Comedy" is Aristotle. Dante built up the philosophy of the "Comedy" with the works of Aristotle as a foundation, just as the scholastics used Aristotle as the basis for their thinking. Dante knew Aristotle directly from Latin translations of his works and indirectly quotations in the works of Albert Magnus. Dante even acknowledges Aristotle's influence explicitly in the poem, specifically when Virgil justifies the Inferno's structure by citing the "Nicomachean Ethics".On medieval Judaism.Moses Maimonides adopted Aristotelianism from the Islamic scholars and based his "Guide for the Perplexed" on it and that became the basis of Jewish scholastic philosophy. Maimonides also considered Aristotle to be the greatest philosopher that ever lived, and styled him as the "chief of the philosophers". Also, in his letter to Samuel ibn Tibbon, Maimonides observes that there is no need for Samuel to study the writings of philosophers who preceded Aristotle because the works of the latter are "sufficient by themselves and to all that were written before them. His intellect, Aristotle's is the extreme limit of human intellect, apart from him upon whom the divine emanation has flowed forth to such an extent that they reach the level of prophecy, there being no level higher".On Early Modern scientists.In the Early Modern period, scientists such as William Harvey in England and Galileo Galilei in Italy reacted against the theories of Aristotle and other classical era thinkers like Galen, establishing new theories based to some degree on observation and experiment. Harvey demonstrated the circulation of the blood, establishing that the heart functioned as a pump rather than being the seat of the soul and the controller of the bodys physics, proposing that bodies all fall at the same speed whatever their weight.On 18th/19th-century thinkers.The 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has been said to have taken nearly all of his political philosophy from Aristotle. Aristotle rigidly separated action from production, and argued for the deserved subservience of some people , and the natural superiority of others. It was Martin Heidegger, not Nietzsche, who elaborated a new interpretation of Aristotle, intended to warrant his deconstruction of scholastic and philosophical tradition.The English mathematician George Boole fully accepted Aristotle's logic, but decided . This gives logic a mathematical foundation with equations, enables it to solve equations as well as check validity, and allows it to handle a wider class of problems by expanding propositions of any number of terms, not just two.Charles Darwin regarded Aristotle as the most important contributor to the subject of biology. In an 1882 letter he wrote that "Linnaeus and Cuvier have been my two gods though in very different ways but they were mere schoolboys to old Aristotle". Also in later editions of the book "On the Origin of Species' Darwin traced evolutionary ideas as far back as Aristotle the text he cites is a summary by Aristotle of the ideas of the earlier Greek philosopher Empedocles.James Joyce's favoured philosopher was Aristotle whom he considered to be —Aristotle Aquinas and Ayn Rand. She also regarded Aristotle as the greatest of all philosophers.Karl Marx considered Aristotle to be the .Modern rejection and rehabilitation.During the 20th century, Aristotle's work was widely criticized. The philosopher Bertrand Russellargued that . Russell stated that these errors made it difficult to do historical justice to Aristotle until one remembered what an advance he made upon all of his predecessors.The Dutch historian of science Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis wrote that Aristotle and his predecessors showed the difficulty of science by .. Hobbes rejected one of the most famous theses of Aristotle’s politics namely that human beings are naturally suited to life in a polis and do not fully realize their natures until they exercise the role of citizen.By the start of the 21st century, however, Aristotle was taken more seriously: Kukkonen noted that "In the best 20th-century scholarship Aristotle comes alive as a thinker wrestling with the full weight of the Greek philosophical tradition." Alasdair MacIntyre has attempted to reform what he calls the Aristotelian tradition in a way that is anti-elitist and capable of disputing the claims of both liberals and Nietzscheans. Kukkonen observed, too, that "that most enduring of romantic images, Aristotle tutoring the future conqueror Alexander" remained current, as in the 2004 film "Alexander", while the "firm rules" of Aristotle's theory of drama have ensured a role for the "Poetics" in Hollywood.Biologists continue to be interested in Aristotle's thinking. Armand Marie Leroi has reconstructed Aristotle's biology while Niko Tinbergen's four questions based on Aristotle's four causes are used to analyse animal behaviour they examine function phylogeny mechanism and ontogeny.Surviving works.Corpus Aristotelicum.The works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission are collected in the Corpus Aristotelicum. These texts as opposed to Aristotles Royal Prussian Academy edition which in turn is based on ancient classifications of these works.Loss and preservation.Aristotle wrote his works on papyrus scrolls, the common writing medium of that era. His writings are divisible into two groups: the must have applied to the published works, not the surviving notes. A major question in the history of Aristotles school which existed in the form of smaller, separate works, distinguished them from those of Theophrastus and other Peripatetics, edited them, and finally compiled them into the more cohesive, larger works as they are known today.Depictions.Aristotle has been depicted by major artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder Justus van Gent Raphael Paolo Veronese Jusepe de Ribera Rembrandt and Francesco Hayez over the centuries. Among the best-known depictions is Raphael's fresco "The School of Athens" in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace where the figures of Plato and Aristotle are central to the image at the architectural vanishing point reflecting their importance. Rembrandt's "Aristotle with a Bust of Homer" too is a celebrated work showing the knowing philosopher and the blind Homer from an earlier age as the art critic Jonathan Jones writes "this painting will remain one of the greatest and most mysterious in the world ensnaring us in its musty glowing pitch-black terrible knowledge of time."The Aristotle Mountains in Antarctica are named after Aristotle. He was the first person known to conjecture in his book . Aristoteles is a crater on the Moon bearing the classical form of Aristotle's name.Further reading.The secondary literature on Aristotle is vast. The following is only a small selection.
An American in Paris is a jazz-influenced orchestral piece by American composer George Gershwin first performed in 1928. It was inspired by the time that Gershwin had spent in Paris and evokes the sights and energy of the French capital during the "Annes folles".Gershwin scored the piece for the standard instruments of the symphony orchestra plus celesta saxophones and automobile horns. He brought back four Parisian taxi horns for the New York premiere of the composition which took place on December 13 1928 in Carnegie Hall with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Philharmonic. It was Damrosch who had commissioned Gershwin to write his Concerto in F following the earlier success of "Rhapsody in Blue" . He completed the orchestration on November 18 less than four weeks before the work's premiere. He collaborated on the original program notes with critic and composer Deems Taylor.Background.Although the story is likely apocryphal, Gershwin is said to have been attracted by Maurice Ravel's unusual chords, and Gershwin went on his first trip to Paris in 1926 ready to study with Ravel. After his initial student audition with Ravel turned into a sharing of musical theories, Ravel said he could not teach him, saying, Gershwin strongly encouraged Ravel to come to the United States for a tour. To this end, upon his return to New York, Gershwin joined the efforts of Ravel's friend Robert Schmitz, a pianist Ravel had met during the war, to urge Ravel to tour the U.S. Schmitz was the head of Pro Musica, promoting Franco-American musical relations, and was able to offer Ravel a $10,000 fee for the tour, an enticement Gershwin knew would be important to Ravel.Gershwin greeted Ravel in New York in March 1928 during a party held for Ravel's birthday by va Gauthier. Ravel's tour reignited Gershwin's desire to return to Paris, which he and his brother Ira did after meeting Ravel. Ravel's high praise of Gershwin in an introductory letter to Nadia Boulanger caused Gershwin to seriously consider taking much more time to study abroad in Paris. Yet after he played for her, she told him she could not teach him. Boulanger gave Gershwin basically the same advice she gave all her accomplished master students: "What could I give you that you haven't already got?" This did not set Gershwin back, as his real intent abroad was to complete a new work based on Paris and perhaps a second rhapsody for piano and orchestra to follow his "Rhapsody in Blue". Paris at this time hosted many expatriate writers, among them Ezra Pound, W. B. Yeats, Ernest Hemingway, and artist Pablo Picasso.Composition.Gershwin based it is written freely and in a much more modern idiom than his prior works.Gershwin explained in The piece is structured into five sections, which culminate in a loose ABA format. Gershwin's first A episode introduces the two main "walking" themes in the "Allegretto grazioso" and develops a third theme in the "Subito con brio". The style of this A section is written in the typical French style of composers Claude Debussy and Les Six. This A section featured duple meter, singsong rhythms, and diatonic melodies with the sounds of oboe, English horn, and taxi horns. The B section's "Andante ma con ritmo deciso" introduces the American Blues and spasms of homesickness. The "Allegro" that follows continues to express homesickness in a faster twelve-bar blues. In the B section, Gershwin uses common time, syncopated rhythms, and bluesy melodies with the sounds of trumpet, saxophone, and snare drum. "Moderato con grazia" is the last A section that returns to the themes set in A. After recapitulating the "walking" themes, Gershwin overlays the slow blues theme from section B in the final "Grandioso".Gershwin did not particularly like Walter Damrosch's interpretation at the world premiere of "An American in Paris". He stated that Damrosch's sluggish, dragging tempo caused him to walk out of the hall during a matinee performance of this work. The audience, according to Edward Cushing, responded with "a demonstration of enthusiasm impressively genuine in contrast to the conventional applause which new music, good and bad, ordinarily arouses."Critics believed that was better crafted than Gershwin's Concerto in F. Some did not think it belonged in a program with classical composers Csar Franck, Richard Wagner, or Guillaume Lekeu on its premiere. Gershwin responded to the critics:Instrumentation."An American in Paris" was originally scored for 3 flutes 2 oboes English horn 2 clarinets in B-flat bass clarinet in B-flat 2 bassoons contrabassoon 4 horns in F 3 trumpets in B-flat 3 trombones tuba timpani snare drum bass drum triangle wood block ratchet cymbals low and high tom-toms xylophone glockenspiel celesta 4 taxi horns labeled as A B C and D with circles around them alto saxophone tenor saxophone baritone saxophone and strings. Although most modern audiences have heard the taxi horns using the notes A B C and D it had been Gershwin's intention to use the notes A4 B4 D5 and A4. It is likely that in labeling the taxi horns as A B C and D with circles he was referring to the four horns and not the notes that they played.A major revision of the work by composer and arranger F. Campbell-Watson simplified the instrumentation by reducing the saxophones to only three instruments alto tenor and baritone. The soprano saxophone doublings were eliminated to avoid changing instruments and the contrabassoon was also deleted. This became the standard performing edition until 2000 when Gershwin specialist Jack Gibbons made his own restoration of the original orchestration of was performed at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 9 2000 by the City of Oxford Orchestra conducted by Levon Parikian.William Daly arranged the score for piano solo; this was published by New World Music in 1929.Preservation status.On September 22 2013 it was announced that a musicological critical edition of the full orchestral score would be eventually released. The Gershwin family working in conjunction with the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan were working to make scores available to the public that represent Gershwin's true intent. It was unknown whether the critical score would include the four minutes of material Gershwin later deleted from the work or if the score would document changes in the orchestration during Gershwin's composition process.The score to was planned to be an early volume in the series.Two urtext editions of the work were published by the German publisher B-Note Music in 2015. The changes made by Campbell-Watson were withdrawn in both editions. In the extended urtext 120 bars of music were re-integrated. Conductor Walter Damrosch had cut them shortly before the first performance.On September 9 2017 The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of the long-awaited critical edition of the piece prepared by Mark Clague director of the Gershwin initiative at the University of Michigan. This performance was of the original 1928 orchestration an alteration usually attributed to F. Campbell-Watson.Recordings."An American in Paris" has been frequently recorded. The first recording was made for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929 with Nathaniel Shilkret conducting the Victor Symphony Orchestra, drawn from members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Gershwin was on hand to "supervise" the recording; however, Shilkret was reported to be in charge and eventually asked the composer to leave the recording studio. Then, a little later, Shilkret discovered there was no one to play the brief celesta solo during the slow section, so he hastily asked Gershwin if he might play the solo; Gershwin said he could and so he briefly participated in the actual recording. This recording is believed to use the taxi horns in the way that Gershwin had intended using the notes A-flat, B-flat, a higher D, and a lower A.The radio broadcast of the September 8, 1937, Hollywood Bowl George Gershwin Memorial Concert, in which "An American in Paris," also conducted by Shilkret, was second on the program, was recorded and was released in 1998 in a two-CD set.Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra recorded the work for RCA Victor, including one of the first stereo recordings of the music.In 1945 Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra recorded the piece for RCA Victor one of the few commercial recordings Toscanini made of music by an American composer.The Seattle Symphony also recorded a version in 1990 of Gershwin's original score before he made numerous edits resulting in the score as we hear it today.Harry James released a version of the blues section on his 1953 album "One Night Stand" recorded live at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago .Use in film.In 1951, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the musical film, symphonic poem , costing $500,000.External links.
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted from the Art Director's branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences being renamed the Designer's branch. Since 1947, the award is shared with the set decorator. It is awarded to the best interior design in a film.The films below are listed with their production year . In the lists below the winner of the award for each year is shown first followed by the other nominees in alphabetical order.The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the . The statuette depicts a knight rendered in the Art Deco style.The award was originally sculpted by George Stanley from a design sketch by Cedric Gibbons. AMPAS first presented it in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in what would become known as the 1st Academy Awards. The Academy Awards ceremony was first broadcast by radio in 1930 and was televised for the first time in 1953. It is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and is now televised live worldwide. It is also the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards; its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music – are modeled after the Academy Awards. A total of 3,140 Oscar statuettes have been awarded since its inception in 1929. They are widely cited as the most prestigious and renowned competitive awards in the field of entertainment.The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2020 and early 2021, was held on April 25, 2021, after it was postponed from its original February 28, 2021, schedule due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema. As with the two previous ceremonies, there was no host. The ceremony was broadcast on ABC. It took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California for the 19th consecutive year, along with satellite location taking place at the Union Station also in Los Angeles.The first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner function at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people.The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night's ceremony was $5 ($ at 2020 prices). Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the film-making industry of the time, for their works during the 1927–28 period. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes.Winners were announced to the media three months earlier. That was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then for the rest of the first decade the results were given to newspapers for publication at 1100 pm on the night of the awards. This method was used until 1940 when the "Los Angeles Times" announced the winners before the ceremony began as a result the Academy has since 1941 used a sealed envelope to reveal the names of the winners.Milestones.The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in . He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier; this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. At that time, winners were recognized for the entirety of their work done in a certain category during the qualifying period; for example, Jannings received the award for two movies in which he starred during that period, and Janet Gaynor later won a single Oscar for performances in three films. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, and professionals were honored for a specific performance in a single film. For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years.At the 29th ceremony held in 1957 the Best Foreign Language Film category now known as Best International Feature Film was introduced. Until then foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award.Perhaps the most widely seen streaker in history was 34-year-old Robert Opel, who streaked across the stage of The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles flashing a peace sign on national US television at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974. Bemused host David Niven quipped, Later, evidence arose suggesting that Opels wife to borrow a pen so he could write down the famous line, which was thus not the ad-lib it appeared to be.The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.From 1973 to 2020 all Academy Awards ceremonies have ended with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 2021 this tradition was broken as the ceremony ended with the Academy Award for Best Actor.Traditionally, the previous years winner for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress present the awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. became the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture at the February 9, 2020, award ceremony.Tom Hanks announced at the 2020 Oscar Ceremony the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 14 2020. The museum development started in 2017 under Kerry Brougher but is now led by Bill Kramer. The industry curated exhibits will be geared toward the history of motion picture the art &amp science of film making exhibiting trailblazing directors actors film-makers sound editors and more and will house famous artifacts from acclaimed movies like Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers.Because of COVID-19 Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson announced that for the 2021 Oscar Ceremony streaming movies not shown in theaters would be eligible though at some point the requirement that movies be shown in theaters would return.Oscar statuette.Academy Award of Merit (Oscar statuette).The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. Made of gold-plated bronze on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34.3 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.856 kg), and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.Sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons' design. The statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze. Within a few years, the bronze was abandoned in favor of Britannia metal, a pewter-like alloy which is then plated in copper, nickel silver, and finally, 24-karat gold. Due to a metal shortage during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, the Academy invited recipients to redeem the plaster figures for gold-plated metal ones. The only addition to the Oscar since it was created is a minor streamlining of the base. The original Oscar mold was cast in 1928 at the C.W. Shumway &amp; Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois, which also contributed to casting the molds for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Emmy Award's statuettes. From 1983 to 2015, approximately 50 Oscars in a tin alloy with gold plating were made each year in Chicago by Illinois manufacturer R.S. Owens &amp; Company. It would take between three and four weeks to manufacture 50 statuettes. In 2016, the Academy returned to bronze as the core metal of the statuettes, handing manufacturing duties to Walden, New York-based Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry. While based on a digital scan of an original 1929 Oscar, the statuettes retain their modern-era dimensions and black pedestal. Cast in liquid bronze from 3D-printed ceramic molds and polished, they are then electroplated in 24-karat gold by Brooklyn, New York–based Epner Technology. The time required to produce 50 such statuettes is roughly three months. R.S. Owens is expected to continue producing other awards for the Academy and service existing Oscars that need replating.The Academy officially adopted the name "Oscar" for the trophies in 1939. However the origin of the nickname is disputed.One biography of Bette Davis, who was a president of the Academy in 1941, claims she named the award after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson. A frequently mentioned originator is Margaret Herrick, the Academy executive secretary, who, when she first saw the award in 1931, said the statuette reminded her of , a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce.Columnist Sidney Skolsky, who was present during Herrick's naming in 1931, wrote that "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar.'" The Academy credits Skolsky with "the first confirmed newspaper reference" to "Oscar" in his column on March 16, 1934, which was written about that year's 6th Academy Awards. The 1934 awards appeared again in another early media mention of "Oscar": a "Time" magazine story. In the ceremonies that year, Walt Disney was the first to thank the Academy for his "Oscar" during his acceptance speech.To prevent information identifying the Oscar winners from leaking ahead of the ceremony, Oscar statuettes presented at the ceremony have blank baseplates. Until 2010, winners returned their statuettes to the Academy and had to wait several weeks to have their names inscribed on their respective Oscars. Since 2010, winners have had the option of having engraved nameplates applied to their statuettes at an inscription-processing station at the Governor's Ball, a party held immediately after the Oscar ceremony. The R.S. Owens company has engraved nameplates made before the ceremony, bearing the name of every potential winner. The nameplates for the non-winning nominees are later recycled.Ownership of Oscar statuettes.Prior to 1950 Oscar statuettes were (and remain) the property of the recipient. Since then the statuettes have been legally encumbered by the requirement that the statuette be first offered for sale back to the Academy for US$1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation then the Academy keeps the statuette. Academy Awards predating this agreement have been sold in public auctions and private deals for six-figure sums.In 1989, Michael Todds Best Picture Oscar for his 1956 production of to a movie prop collector. The Academy earned enforcement of its statuette contract by gaining a permanent injunction against the sale.In 1992 Harold Russell consigned his 1946 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for "The Best Years of Our Lives" to auction to raise money for his wife's medical expenses. Though his decision caused controversy the first-ever Oscar to be sold passed to a private collector on August 6 1992 for $60500 . Russell defended his action saying "I don't know why anybody would be critical. My wife's health is much more important than sentimental reasons. The movie will be here even if Oscar isn't."In December 2011, Orson Welles' 1941 Oscar for "Citizen Kane" was put up for auction, after his heirs won a 2004 court decision contending that Welles did not sign any agreement to return the statue to the Academy. On December 20, 2011, it sold in an online auction for US$861,542 .Some buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the Academy, which keeps them in its treasury.Other awards presented by the Academy.In addition to the Academy Award of Merit , there are nine honorary awards presented by the Academy from time to time :The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.Nomination.Since 2004 Academy Award nomination results have been announced to the public in mid-January. Prior to that the results were announced in early February. In 2021 the nominees are announced in March.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) a professional honorary organization maintains a voting membership of over 7000 .Academy membership is divided into different branches with each representing a different discipline in film production. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc numbering 1311 members of the Academy's composition. Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers since the 7th Academy Awards in 1935. The firm mails the ballots of eligible nominees to members of the Academy in December to reflect the previous eligible year with a due date sometime in January of the next year then tabulates the votes in a process that takes thousands of hours.All AMPAS members must be invited to join by the Board of Governors, on behalf of Academy Branch Executive Committees. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contributions to the field of motion pictures.New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its membership, although as recently as 2007 press releases have announced the names of those who have been invited to join. The 2007 release also stated that it has just under 6,000 voting members. While the membership had been growing, stricter policies have kept its size steady since then.In 2012, the results of a study conducted by the "Los Angeles Times" were published describing the demographic breakdown of approximately 88% of AMPAS' voting membership. Of the 5,100+ active voters confirmed, 94% were Caucasian, 77% were male, and 54% were found to be over the age of 60. 33% of voting members are former nominees and winners .In May 2011, the Academy sent a letter advising its 6,000 or so voting members that an online system for Oscar voting would be implemented in 2013.According to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31, in Los Angeles County, California, and play for seven consecutive days, to qualify (except for the Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and awards in short film categories). Additionally, the film must be shown at least three times on each day of its qualifying run, with at least one of the daily showings starting between 6 pm and 10 pm local time.For example the 2009 Best Picture winner "The Hurt Locker" was originally first released in 2008 but did not qualify for the 2008 awards as it did not play its Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009 thus qualifying for the 2009 awards. Foreign films must include English subtitles and each country can submit only one film for consideration in the International Feature Film category per year.Rule 2 states that a film must be feature-length, defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short-subject awards, and it must exist either on a 35 mm or 70 mm film print or in 24 frame/s or 48 frame/s progressive scan digital cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels. Since the 90th Academy Awards, presented in 2018, multi-part and limited series have been ineligible for the Best Documentary Feature award. This followed the win of , an eight-hour presentation that was screened in a limited release before being broadcast in five parts on ABC and ESPN, in that category in 2017. The Academy's announcement of the new rule made no direct mention of that film.The Best International Feature Film award does not require a U.S. release. It requires the film to be submitted as its country's official selection.The Best Documentary Feature award requires either week-long releases in both Los Angeles County and New York City during the previous calendar year, or a qualifying award at a competitive film festival from the Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival list , or submission in the International Feature Film category as its country's official selection. The qualifying theatrical runs must meet the same requirements as those for non-documentary films regarding numbers and times of screenings. Additionally, a film must have been reviewed by a critic from "The New York Times", "Time Out New York", the "Los Angeles Times", or "LA Weekly".Producers must submit an Official Screen Credits online form before the deadline; in case it is not submitted by the defined deadline, the film will be ineligible for Academy Awards in any year. The form includes the production credits for all related categories. Then, each form is checked and put in a Reminder List of Eligible Releases.Awards in short film categories have noticeably different eligibility rules from most other competitive awards. First the qualifying period for release does not coincide with a calendar year instead of covering one year starting on October 1 and ending on September 30 of the calendar year before the ceremony. Second there are multiple methods of qualification. The main method is a week-long theatrical release in "either" Los Angeles County "or" New York City during the eligibility period. Films also can qualify by winning specified awards at one of several competitive film festivals designated by the Academy also without regard to prior public distribution. Finally a film that is selected as a gold silver or bronze medal winner in an appropriate category of the immediately previous Student Academy Awards is also eligible . The requirements for the qualifying theatrical run are also different from those for other awards. Only one screening per day is required. For the Documentary award the screening must start between noon and 10 pm local time for other awards no specific start time is required but the film must appear in regular theater listings with dates and screening times.In late December, ballots, and copies of the Reminder List of Eligible Releases are mailed to around 6,000 active members. For most categories, members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories . In the special case of Best Picture, all voting members are eligible to select the nominees. In all major categories, a variant of the single transferable vote is used, with each member casting a ballot with up to five nominees ranked preferentially. In certain categories, including International Feature Film, Documentary and Animated Feature, nominees are selected by special screening committees made up of members from all branches.In most categories, the winner is selected from among the nominees by plurality voting of all members. Since 2009, the Best Picture winner has been chosen by instant runoff voting. Since 2013, re-weighted range voting has been used to select the nominees for the Best Visual Effects.Film companies will spend as much as several million dollars on marketing to awards voters for a movie in the running for Best Picture, in attempts to improve chances of receiving Oscars and other movie awards conferred in Oscar season. The Academy enforces rules to limit overt campaigning by its members to try to eliminate excesses and prevent the process from becoming undignified. It has an awards czar on staff who advises members on allowed practices and levies penalties on offenders. For example, a producer of the 2009 Best Picture nominee was disqualified as a producer in the category when he contacted associates urging them to vote for his film and not another that was seen as the front-runner .Awards ceremonies.The major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony, commonly in late February or early March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. It is the culmination of the film awards season, which usually begins during November or December of the previous year. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion designers of the day. Black tie dress is the most common outfit for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bow-tie, and musical performers sometimes do not adhere to this. The Academy Awards is the world's longest-running awards show televised live from the U.S. to all-time zones in North America and worldwide and gathers billions of viewers elsewhere throughout the world. The Oscars were first televised in 1953 by NBC which continued to broadcast the event until 1960 when ABC took over televising the festivities (including the first color broadcast of the event in 1966) through 1970. NBC regained the rights for five years then ABC resumed broadcast duties in 1976 and its current contract with the Academy runs through 2028. The Academy has also produced condensed versions of the ceremony for broadcast in international markets (especially those outside of the Americas) in more desirable local timeslots. The ceremony was broadcast live internationally for the first time via satellite since 1970 but only two South American countries Chile and Brazil purchased the rights to air the broadcast. By that time the television rights to the Academy Awards had been sold in 50 countries. A decade later the rights were already being sold to 60 countries and by 1984 the TV rights to the Awards were licensed in 76 countries.The ceremonies were moved up from late March/early April to late February, since 2004, to help disrupt and shorten the intense lobbying and ad campaigns associated with Oscar season in the film industry. Another reason was because of the growing TV ratings success coinciding with the NCAA Basketball Tournament, which would cut into the Academy Awards audience. The earlier date is also to the advantage of ABC, as it now usually occurs during the highly profitable and important February sweeps period. Some years, the ceremony is moved into the first Sunday of March to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympic Games. Another reason for the move to late February and early March is also to avoid the awards ceremony occurring so close to the religious holidays of Passover and Easter, which for decades had been a grievance from members and the general public. Advertising is somewhat restricted, however, as traditionally no movie studios or competitors of official Academy Award sponsors may advertise during the telecast. The production of the Academy Awards telecast currently holds the distinction of winning the most Emmys in history, with 47 wins and 195 nominations overall since that award's own launch in 1949.After many years of being held on Mondays at 900 pm Eastern/600 p.m Pacific since the 1999 ceremonies it was moved to Sundays at 830 pm ET/530 pm PT. The reasons given for the move were that more viewers would tune in on Sundays that Los Angeles rush-hour traffic jams could be avoided and an earlier start time would allow viewers on the East Coast to go to bed earlier. For many years the film industry opposed a Sunday broadcast because it would cut into the weekend box office. In 2010 the Academy contemplated moving the ceremony even further back into January citing TV viewerss long awards season. However such an accelerated schedule would dramatically decrease the voting period for its members to the point where some voters would only have time to view the contending films streamed on their computers . Furthermore a January ceremony on Sunday would clash with National Football League playoff games. In 2018 the Academy announced that the ceremony would be moved from late February to mid February beginning with the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.Originally scheduled for April 8, 1968, the 40th Academy Awards ceremony was postponed for two days, because of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. On March 30, 1981, the 53rd Academy Awards was postponed for one day, after the shooting of President Ronald Reagan and others in Washington, D.C.In 1993, an feel as the audience varied their applause to those who had died by the subject's cultural impact; the applause has since been muted during the telecast, and the audience is discouraged from clapping during the segment and giving silent reflection instead. This segment was later followed by a commercial break.In terms of broadcast length, the ceremony generally averages three and a half hours. The first Oscars, in 1929, lasted 15 minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, the 2002 ceremony lasted four hours and twenty-three minutes. In 2010, the organizers of the Academy Awards announced winners' acceptance speeches must not run past 45 seconds. This, according to organizer Bill Mechanic, was to ensure the elimination of what he termed "the single most hated thing on the show" – overly long and embarrassing displays of emotion. In 2016, in a further effort to streamline speeches, winners' dedications were displayed on an on-screen ticker. During the 2018 ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged how long the ceremony had become, by announcing that he would give a brand-new jet ski to whoever gave the shortest speech of the night . "The Wall Street Journal" analyzed the average minutes spent across the 2014–2018 telecasts as follows: 14 on song performances; 25 on the hosts' speeches; 38 on prerecorded clips; and 78 on the awards themselves, broken into 24 on the introduction and announcement, 24 on winners walking to the stage, and 30 on their acceptance speeches.Although still dominant in ratings the viewership of the Academy Awards has steadily dropped the 88th Academy Awards were the lowest-rated in the past eight years (although with increases in male and 18–49 viewership) while the show itself also faced mixed reception. Following the show reported that ABC was in negotiating an extension to its contract to broadcast the Oscars seeking to have more creative control over the broadcast itself. Currently and nominally AMPAS is responsible for most aspects of the telecast including the choice of production staff and hosting although ABC is allowed to have some input on their decisions. In August 2016 AMPAS extended its contract with ABC through 2028 the contract neither contains any notable changes nor gives ABC any further creative control over the telecast.TV ratings.Historically the telecast's viewership is higher when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture award. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast for the 70th Academy Awards in 1998 the year of "Titanic" which generated a box office haul during its initial 1997–98 run of US$600.8 million in the US a box office record that would remain unsurpassed for years. The 76th Academy Awards ceremony in which "" received 11 Awards including Best Picture drew 43.56 million viewers. The most watched ceremony based on Nielsen ratings to date however was the 42nd Academy Awards which drew a 43.4% household rating on April 7 1970.By contrast ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings despite how much critical acclaim those films have received. The 78th Academy Awards which awarded low-budget independent film "Crash" generated an audience of 38.64 million with a household rating of 22.91%. In 2008 the 80th Academy Awards telecast was watched by 31.76 million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating the lowest-rated and least-watched ceremony at the time in spite of celebrating 80 years of the Academy Awards. The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another independent film .Whereas the 92nd Academy Awards drew an average of 23.6 million viewers, the 93rd Academy Awards drew an even lower viewership of 10.4 million. That is the lowest viewership recorded by Nielsen since it started recording audience totals in 1974.The Academy Film Archive holds copies of every Academy Awards ceremony since the 1949 Oscars and material on many prior ceremonies along with ancillary material related to more recent shows. Copies are held in a variety of film video and digital formats.In 1929 the first Academy Awards were presented at a banquet dinner at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. From 1930 to 1943 the ceremony alternated between two venues the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard and the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.Graumans headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.From 1950 to 1960, the awards were presented at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. With the advent of television, the awards from 1953 to 1957 took place simultaneously in Hollywood and New York, first at the NBC International Theatre and then at the NBC Century Theatre, after which the ceremony took place solely in Los Angeles. The Oscars moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, in 1961. By 1969, the Academy decided to move the ceremonies back to Downtown Los Angeles, this time to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Music Center. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the ceremony returned to the Shrine.In 2002, Hollywoods current venue.Awards of Merit categories.Current categories.In the first year of the awards, the Best Directing award was split into two categories . At times, the Best Original Score award has also been split into separate categories . From the 1930s through the 1960s, the Art Direction , Cinematography, and Costume Design awards were likewise split into two categories . Prior to 2012, the Production Design award was called Art Direction, while the Makeup and Hairstyling award was called Makeup.In August 2018, the Academy announced that several categories would not be televised live, but rather be recorded during commercial breaks and aired later in the ceremony.Following dissent from Academy members, they announced that they would indeed air all 24 categories live. This followed several proposals that the Academy had announced but did not implement.Proposed categories.The Board of Governors meets each year and considers new award categories. To date, the following categories have been proposed:Special categories.The Special Academy Awards are voted on by special committees rather than by the Academy membership as a whole. They are not always presented on an annual basis.Accusations of commercialism.Due to the positive exposure and prestige of the Academy Awards many studios spend millions of dollars and hire publicists specifically to promote their films during what is typically called the "Oscar season". This has generated accusations of the Academy Awards being influenced more by marketing than by quality. William Friedkin an Academy Award-winning film director and former producer of the ceremony expressed this sentiment at a conference in New York in 2009 describing it as "the greatest promotion scheme that any industry ever devised for itself".Tim Dirks editor of AMC's filmsite.org has written of the Academy AwardsA recent technique that has been claimed to be used during the Oscar season is the whisper campaign. These campaigns are intended to spread negative perceptions of other movies nominated and are believed to be perpetrated by those that were involved in creating the movie. Examples of whisper campaigns include the allegations against "Zero Dark Thirty" suggesting that it justifies torture and the claim that "Lincoln" distorts history.Accusations of bias.Typical criticism of the Academy Awards for Best Picture is that among the winners and nominees there is an over-representation of romantic historical epics, biographical dramas, romantic dramedies and family melodramas, most of which are released in the U.S. in the last three months of the calendar year. The Oscars have been infamously known for selecting specific genres of movies to be awarded. The term "Oscar bait" was coined to describe such movies. This has led, at times, to more specific criticisms that the Academy is disconnected from the audience, e.g., by favoring "Oscar bait" over audience favorites or favoring historical melodramas over critically acclaimed movies that depict current life issues.Allegations of a lack of diversity.The Academy Awards have long received criticism over its lack of diversity among the nominees. This criticism is based on the statistics from every Academy Awards since 1929, which shows us that only 6.4% of academy award nominees have been non-white and since 1991, 11.2% of nominees have been non-white, with the rate of winners being even more polarizing. Due to a variety of reasons, including marketability and historical bans on interracial couples, a number of high-profile Oscars have been given to yellowface portrayals, as well as performances of Asian characters rewritten for white characters. The 88th awards ceremony became the target of a boycott, popularized on social media with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, based on critics' perception that its all-white acting nominee list reflected bias. In response, the Academy initiated "historic" changes in membership by the year 2020.Symbolism or sentimentalization.Acting prizes in certain years have been criticized for not recognizing superior performances so much as being awarded for personal popularity to make up for a "snub" for a work that proved in time to be more popular or renowned than the one awarded or presented as a "career honor" to recognize a distinguished nominee's entire body of work.Recognition of streaming media film.Following the 91st Academy Awards in February 2019 in which the Netflix-broadcast film had been nominated for ten awards including the Best Picture category Steven Spielberg and other members of the Academy discussed changing the requirements through the Board of Governors for films as to exclude those from Netflix and other media streaming services. Spielberg had been concerned that Netflix as a movie production and distribution studio could spend much more than typical Oscar-winning films and have much wider and earlier distribution than other Best Picture-nominated films while still being able to meet the minimal theatrical-run status to qualify for an Oscar. The United States Department of Justice having heard of this potential rule change wrote a letter to the Academy in March 2019 cautioning them that placing additional restrictions on films that originate from streaming media services without proper justification could raise anti-trust concerns against the Academy. Following its April 2019 board meeting the Academy Board of Governors agreed to retain the current rules that allow for streaming media films to be eligible for Oscars as long as they enjoy limited theatrical runs.Refusals of the award.Some winners critical of the Academy Awards have boycotted the ceremonies and refused to accept their Oscars. The first to do so was screenwriter Dudley Nichols . Nichols boycotted the 8th Academy Awards ceremony because of conflicts between the Academy and the Writers' Guild. Nichols eventually accepted the 1935 award three years later at the 1938 ceremony. Nichols was nominated for three further Academy Awards during his career.George C. Scott became the second person to refuse his award at the 43rd Academy Awards ceremony. Scott described it as a "meat parade", saying, "I don't want any part of it."The third person to refuse the award was Marlon Brando who refused his award citing the film industry's discrimination and mistreatment of Native Americans. At the 45th Academy Awards ceremony Brando sent actress and civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather to read a 15-page speech detailing his criticisms for which there was booing and cheering by the audience.Disqualifications.Six films have had nominations revoked before the official award ceremony:One film was disqualified after winning the award and had the winner return the OscarOne film had its nomination revoked after the award ceremony when it had not won the OscarGender segregation.Some advocates of gender equality and non-binary people have criticized the separation of male and female acting categories in the Academy Awards, Emmy Awards and Tony Awards. Though some commentators worry that gender discrimination would cause men to dominate unsegregated categories, other categories are unsegregated. The Grammy Awards went gender-neutral in 2012, while the Daytime Emmy Awards introduced a single Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series category in 2019 to replace their two gender-specific younger actor and actress categories.Associated events.The following events are closely associated with the annual Academy AwardsPresenter and performer gifts.It has become a tradition to give out gift bags to the presenters and performers at the Oscars. In recent years, these gifts have also been extended to award nominees and winners. The value of each of these gift bags can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. In 2014, the value was reported to be as high as US$80,000. The value has risen to the point where the U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued a statement regarding the gifts and their taxable status.Oscar gift bags have included vacation packages to Hawaii and Mexico and Japan a private dinner party for the recipient and friends at a restaurant videophones a four-night stay at a hotel watches bracelets spa treatments bottles of vodka maple salad dressing weight-loss gummie candy and up to $25000 worth of cosmetic treatments and rejuvenation procedures such as lip fillers and chemical peels from New York City facial plastic surgeon Konstantin Vasyukevich. Some of the gifts have even had a "risque" element to them in 2014 the adult products retailer Adam &amp Eve had a "Secret Room Gifting Suite". Celebrities visiting the gifting suite included Judith Hoag Carolyn Hennesy Kate Linder Chris Mulkey Jim O'Heir and John Salley.Television ratings and advertisement prices.From 2006 onwards results are Live+SD all previous years are live viewing.The term is a registered trademark of the AMPAS; however, in the Italian language, it is used generically to refer to any award or award ceremony, regardless of which field.
Actresses is a 1997 Catalan language Spanish drama film produced and directed by Ventura Pons and based on the award-winning stage play by Josep Maria Benet i Jornet. The film has no male actors with all roles played by females. The film was produced in 1996.In order to prepare herself to play a role commemorating the life of legendary actress Empar Ribera, young actress interviews three established actresses who had been the Ribera's pupils: the international diva Glria Marc , the television star Assumpta Roca , and dubbing director Maria Caminal .Recognition.Screenings. screened in 2001 at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in an American Cinematheque retrospective of the works of its director. The film had first screened at the same location in 1998. It was also shown at the 1997 Stockholm International Film Festival.In "Movie - Film - Review" Christopher Tookey wrote that though the actresses were "competent in roles that may have some reference to their own careers" the film "is visually unimaginative never escapes its stage origins and is almost totally lacking in revelation or surprising incident". Noting that there were "occasional refreshing moments of intergenerational bitchiness" they did not "justify comparisons to "All About Eve"" and were "insufficiently different to deserve critical parallels with "Rashomon"". He also wrote that "The Guardian" called the film a "slow stuffy chamber-piece" and that "The Evening Standard" stated the film's "best moments exhibit the bitchy tantrums seething beneath the threesome's composed veneers". MRQE wrote "This cinematic adaptation of a theatrical work is true to the original but does not stray far from a theatrical rendering of the story."
Animalia is an illustrated children's book by Graeme Base. It was originally published in 1986, followed by a tenth anniversary edition in 1996, and a 25th anniversary edition in 2012. Over four million copies have been sold worldwide. A special numbered and signed anniversary edition was also published in 1996, with an embossed gold jacket. is an alliterative alphabet book and contains twenty-six illustrations, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each illustration features an animal from the animal kingdom (A is for alligator and armadillo, B is for butterfly, etc.) along with a short poem utilizing the letter of the page for many of the words. The illustrations contain many other objects beginning with that letter that the reader can try to identify (however, there are not necessarily , as the author states). As an additional challenge, the author has hidden a picture of himself as a child in every picture.Here are some of the things in each picture that are truly different :1. Astronaut4. Archdiocese7. Aborigine12. Apricot13. Avocado15. Albatross16. Antelope 17. Anteater18. Aardvark20. Afghan hound21. Affenpinscher22. Airedale terrier23. Aqueduct26. Asparagus27. Artichoke28. Accordion30. Anemone33. Algebra36. Bumblebee37. Bobolink40. Barbed wire41. Brambles42. Bullrushes44. Bassoon45. Brontosaurus46. Budgerigar51. Basketball52. Basketball hoop53. Baseball54. Baseball bat55. Backgammon56. Ballpoint pen57. Bagpipes58. Bicycle63. Blueberries68. Bellows69. Boomerang70. Bathtub76. Binoculars77. Barracuda79. Battery85. Caterpillar87. Computer90. Concertina92. Cheetah94. Cassette95. Crocodile98. Cylinder100. Cucumber101. Celery102. Cabbage103. Cheese105. Carrot107. Calculator108. Candle109. Cherry111. Coconut115. Calendar117. Castle118. Church119. Cemetery120. Cross of Christ121. Caravan122. Circus124. Cricket 125. Convict126. Cannon128. Chimpanzee131. Canary133. Crossword134. Crutch141. Clarinet143. Chieftain144. Cactus146. Chateau147. Concorde148. Chandelier149. Cottage151. Candy cane152. Cauldron153. Centipede154. Dustpan155. Duster156. Dynamite158. Drawers159. Draughts160. Doughnut161. Diamond163. Dutch doll164. Dentures169. Dollar170. Dolphin171. Decagon173. Dormouse174. Diagonal175. Decade176. Doctrine177. Dumbbell178. Dragonfly180. Dachshund181. Doberman pinscher182. Dalmatian184. Diplodocus185. Dimetrodon187. Desperado188. Donkey191. Dinghy192. Drowning193. Drawbridge195. Destroyer196. Dromedary197. Double-decker bus198. Daffodil200. Dirigible201. Dominos202. Dagger207. Deputy208. Eclipse209. Eclair210. Elderberries211. Envelope213. Eleven214. Edison215. Einstein216. Embryo217. Earwig218. Echidna220. Eskimo222. Edelweiss224. Earring225. Emerald226. Flounder229. Foxglove233. Firewood234. Frankenstein236. Forest237. Falcon238. Fungus242. Foghorn244. Glockenspiel245. Gerbil246. Geranium247. Gladiolus248. Gladiator249. Gremlin250. Golf club251. Golf ball252. Gibbon253. Guitar254. Galoshes256. Greyhound258. Gazelle259. Griffin260. Gargoyle261. Graffiti262. Grasshopper264. Galleon265. Gorgon267. Gramophone269. Goggles271. Giraffe272. Gazebo275. Garage276. Garbage277. Garbage can278. Gallows279. Guillotine283. Glider285. Hexagon290. Hammock293. Hunter295. Hang glider296. Herald297. Helicopter298. Hamburger299. Hydrant300. Hourglass301. Hamster302. Hedgehog306. Hand grenade307. Humpty-Dumpty309. Holy Bible311. Haddock312. Hammer313. Hieroglyphics314. Handkerchief315. Handcuffs316. Hatchet317. Hornet318. Island319. Icicle320. Ice cream322. Iceberg323. Icarus325. Javelin326. Jester327. Jack-in-the-box328. Jack-in-the-pulpit331. Jasmine332. Jaguar334. Knapsack335. Knitting338. Kitten339. Knight340. Kipper343. Keychain344. Kitchen345. Kettle347. Knocker350. Ladder352. Lantern353. Lobster355. Lettuce356. Leprechaun357. Lockbox361. Lollipop366. Mammoth367. Mermaid369. Magpie370. Mosque371. Mandolin372. Monkey marionette373. Marble374. Metronome376. Million377. Millimeter378. Millipede379. Mushroom381. Matchbox382. Molecule386. Monocle387. Magnet388. Maggot390. Microphone391. Microscope395. Narwhal396. Neptune397. Newspaper398. Nightingale403. Nutcracker405. Ninety-nine406. Napkin407. Nautilus409. Nonagon410. Orange412. Orangutan413. Observatory414. Octagon416. Obelisk418. Oil drill422. Physician423. Poodle424. Parasol426. Perambulator427. Periwinkle428. Politician430. Philosopher431. Parchment432. Polka dot433. Pigtail434. Pit drum435. Pharaoh436. Pied Piper437. Pajamas439. Police440. Prisoner442. Punch &amp; Judy445. Pirate447. Peg leg448. Prince449. Princess450. Pendant451. Palace452. Pagoda453. Parachute454. Pegasus456. Parthenon457. Palm tree458. Pyramid460. Peninsula461. Penguin463. Pathway464. Procession465. Platypus467. Pumpkin468. Pheasant469. Partridge470. Puffin471. Pelican472. Porcupine474. Parcel475. Pliers477. Pitchfork479. Pine tree481. Poison ivy482. Periscope483. Porpoise485. Popeye486. Phoenix487. Potato489. Painter490. Palette492. Paintbrush495. Pomegranate496. Pineapple497. Pussy-willows498. Pavilion499. Pulley501. Plaque505. Quartz506. Quicksand507. Quarter508. Quoits513. Raspberry514. Raccoon515. Rhododendron516. Roman numerals520. Roller skate521. Reindeer522. Roulette525. Revolver526. Refrigerator527. Rabbit528. Rolling pin529. Register534. Rowboat535. Rooster536. Rattlesnake538. Rocking horse539. Rocking chair540. Radius542. Racket543. Recorder544. Rocket545. Sapphire548. Scorpion550. Sandcastle552. Schooner555. Spider557. Sheriff560. Sickle561. Scythe562. Slippers563. Sandwich564. Sunflower565. Snowshoes567. Stretcher569. Stitch570. Screwdriver572. Wrench 575. Shovel576. Sledgehammer577. Scissors578. Shears580. Scalpel582. Scooter583. Satchel584. Sundae586. Spaghetti587. Strawberry589. Saturn590. See-saw591. Spring592. Sneeze593. Shepherd595. Scarecrow598. Spoonbill601. Skipping rope602. Scroll604. Soccer605. Swimmer606. Snorkel607. Syringe608. Siphon609. Stethoscope610. Starfish613. Sphinx614. Sprocket615. Spinning wheel618. Space shuttle619. Satellite620. Sombrero621. Serape622. Saxophone623. Synthesizer624. Superman625. Shower626. Suitcase627. Shuttlecock628. Bowling pin 629. Stilts630. Stalactite631. Stalagmite632. Steamroller633. Swings636. Sheathe637. Stiletto638. Scimitar641. Sleigh643. St. Nicholas645. Sausage646. Stick figure647. Surfboard648. Surfer652. Shamrock653. Spectacles654. Scapula655. Slingshot657. Swallow658. Sardines661. Stepladder663. Scarab beetle664. Stereo665. Star of David666. Sparrow667. Squirrel668. Sextant670. Seahorse671. Salute672. Top hat674. Tricycle676. Thermos677. Turtle679. Trombone680. Trumpet682. Tractor683. Trailer684. Tunnel686. Totem pole687. Target688. Tuxedo690. Telescope691. Teapot692. Television693. Trophy695. Teddy bear696. Tambourine698. Toy tank699. Tomato700. Thermometer701. Tweezers702. Threader703. Typewriter704. Turntable705. Telephone708. Ursa Major709. Ursa Minor710. United Kingdom711. Uncle Sam712. Ukulele713. Underwear715. Volkswagen719. Violin720. Vacuum cleaner721. Voodoo doll724. Volcano725. Viaduct727. Viking728. Vampire729. Valley730. Weevil731. Wristwatch734. Wizard741. Walrus742. Whirlpool743. Werewolf745. Wishbone747. Washerwoman748. Washhouse749. Washing machine752. Windmill753. Wombat754. Wallaby755. Weeping willow756. Waterfall757. Xylophone758. Xerophytes759. Xmas tree765. Yeoman770. Zodiac771. Zipper772. Zinnia773. ZitherRelated products.Julia MacRae Books published an "Animalia" colouring book in 2008. H. N. Abrams also published a wall calendar colouring book version for children the same year.H. N. Abrams published "The Animalia Wall Frieze" a fold-out over 26 feet in length in which the author created new riddles for each letter.The Great American Puzzle Factory created a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle based on the book's cover.Adaptations.A television series was also created, based on the book, which airs in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway and Venezuela. It also airs on Minimax for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And recently in Greece on the channel ET1. The Australian Children's Television Foundation released a teaching resource DVD-ROM in 2011 to accompany the TV series with teaching aids for classroom use.In 2010 The Base Factory and AppBooks released Animalia as an application for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch."Animalia" won the Young Australian's Best Book Award in 1987 for Best Picture Story Book.The Children's Book Council of Australia designated "Animalia" a 1987 Honour Book.Kid's Own Australian Literature Awards named the 1988 Picture Book Winner.
International Atomic Time is a high-precision atomic coordinate time standard based on the notional passage of proper time on Earths surface. UTC deviates from TAI by a number of whole seconds. when another leap second was put into effect UTC is currently exactly 37 seconds behind TAI. The 37 seconds result from the initial difference of 10 seconds at the start of 1972 plus 27 leap seconds in UTC since 1972.TAI may be reported using traditional means of specifying days carried over from non-uniform time standards based on the rotation of the Earth. Specifically both Julian days and the Gregorian calendar are used. TAI in this form was synchronised with Universal Time at the beginning of 1958 and the two have drifted apart ever since due to the changing motion of the Earth.TAI is a weighted average of the time kept by over 400 atomic clocks in over 50 national laboratories worldwide. The majority of the clocks involved are caesium clocks; the International System of Units definition of the second is based on caesium. The clocks are compared using GPS signals and two-way satellite time and frequency transfer. Due to the signal averaging TAI is an order of magnitude more stable than its best constituent clock.The participating institutions each broadcast in real time a frequency signal with timecodes which is their estimate of TAI. Time codes are usually published in the form of UTC which differs from TAI by a well-known integer number of seconds. These time scales are denoted in the form "UTC" in the UTC form where "NPL" in this case identifies the National Physical Laboratory UK. The TAI form may be denoted "TAI". The latter is not to be confused with "TA" which denotes an independent atomic time scale not synchronised to TAI or to anything else.The clocks at different institutions are regularly compared against each other. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures combines these measurements to retrospectively calculate the weighted average that forms the most stable time scale possible. This combined time scale is published monthly in and is the canonical TAI. This time scale is expressed in the form of tables of differences UTC − UTC (equivalent to TAI − TAI) for each participating institution . The same circular also gives tables of TAI − TA for the various unsynchronised atomic time scales.Errors in publication may be corrected by issuing a revision of the faulty Circular T or by errata in a subsequent Circular T. Aside from this once published in Circular T the TAI scale is not revised. In hindsight it is possible to discover errors in TAI and to make better estimates of the true proper time scale. Since the published circulars are definitive better estimates do not create another version of TAI it is instead considered to be creating a better realisation of Terrestrial Time .Early atomic time scales consisted of quartz clocks with frequencies calibrated by a single atomic clock; the atomic clocks were not operated continuously. Atomic timekeeping services started experimentally in 1955, using the first caesium atomic clock at the National Physical Laboratory, UK (NPL). It was used as a basis for calibrating the quartz clocks at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and to establish a time scale, called Greenwich Atomic (GA). The United States Naval Observatory began the A.1 scale on 13 September 1956, using an Atomichron commercial atomic clock, followed by the NBS-A scale at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado on 9 October 1957.The International Time Bureau began a time scale, Tm or AM, in July 1955, using both local caesium clocks and comparisons to distant clocks using the phase of VLF radio signals. The BIH scale, A.1, and NBS-A were defined by an epoch at the beginning of 1958 The procedures used by the BIH evolved, and the name for the time scale changed: in 1969.The SI second was defined in terms of the caesium atom in 1967. From 1971 to 1975 the General Conference on Weights and Measures and the International Committee for Weights and Measures made a series of decisions which designated the BIPM time scale International Atomic Time .In the 1970s, it became clear that the clocks participating in TAI were ticking at different rates due to gravitational time dilation, and the combined TAI scale, therefore, corresponded to an average of the altitudes of the various clocks. Starting from Julian Date 2443144.5 (1 January 1977 00:00:00), corrections were applied to the output of all participating clocks, so that TAI would correspond to proper time at the geoid (mean sea level). Because the clocks were, on average, well above sea level, this meant that TAI slowed by about one part in a trillion. The former uncorrected time scale continues to be published, under the name ().The instant that the gravitational correction started to be applied serves as the epoch for Barycentric Coordinate Time Geocentric Coordinate Time and Terrestrial Time which represent three fundamental time scales in the solar system. All three of these time scales were defined to read JD 2443144.5003725 exactly at that instant. TAI was henceforth a realisation of TT with the equation TT = TAI + 32.184 s.The continued existence of TAI was questioned in a 2007 letter from the BIPM to the ITU-R which stated, Relation to UTC.UTC is a discontinuous time scale. It is occasionally adjusted by leap seconds. Between these adjustments it is composed of segments that are mapped to atomic time. From its beginning in 1961 through December 1971 the adjustments were made regularly in fractional leap seconds so that UTC approximated UT2. Afterward these adjustments were made only in whole seconds to approximate UT1. This was a compromise arrangement in order to enable a publicly broadcast time scale the less frequent whole-second adjustments meant that the time scale would be more stable and easier to synchronize internationally. The fact that it continues to approximate UT1 means that tasks such as navigation which require a source of Universal Time continue to be well served by the public broadcast of UTC.
Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for happiness of other human beings or other animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core aspect of various religious and secular worldviews. However, the object of concern vary among cultures and religions. In an extreme case, altruism may become a synonym of selflessness, which is the opposite of selfishness.The word "altruism" was popularized by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French as "altruisme" for an antonym of egoism. He derived it from the Italian "altrui" which in turn was derived from Latin "alteri" meaning "other people" or "somebody else".Altruism in biological observations in field populations of the day organisms is an individual performing an action which is at a cost to themselves but benefits either directly or indirectly another individual without the expectation of reciprocity or compensation for that action. Steinberg suggests a definition for altruism in the clinical setting that is "intentional and voluntary actions that aim to enhance the welfare of another person in the absence of any quid pro quo external rewards". In one sense the opposite of altruism is spite a spiteful action harms another with no self-benefit.Altruism can be distinguished from feelings of loyalty or concern for the common good. The latter are predicated upon social relationships whilst altruism does not consider relationships. Much debate exists as to whether "true" altruism is possible in human psychology. The theory of psychological egoism suggests that no act of sharing helping or sacrificing can be described as truly altruistic as the actor may receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification. The validity of this argument depends on whether qualify as "benefits".The term "altruism" may also refer to an ethical doctrine that claims that individuals are morally obliged to benefit others. Used in this sense it is usually contrasted with egoism which claims individuals are morally obligated to serve themselves first. Effective altruism is the use of evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to benefit others.The notion of altruism.The concept has a long history in philosophical and ethical thought. The term was originally coined in the 19th century by the founding sociologist and philosopher of science Auguste Comte and has become a major topic for psychologists evolutionary biologists and ethologists. Whilst ideas about altruism from one field can affect the other fields the different methods and focuses of these fields always lead to different perspectives on altruism. In simple terms altruism is caring about the welfare of other people and acting to help them.Scientific viewpoints.Anthropology.Marcel Mauss's essay "The Gift" contains a passage called "Note on alms". This note describes the evolution of the notion of alms from the notion of sacrifice. In it, he writes:Alms are the fruits of a moral notion of the gift and of fortune on the one hand, and of a notion of sacrifice, on the other. Generosity is an obligation, because Nemesis avenges the poor and the gods for the superabundance of happiness and wealth of certain people who should rid themselves of it. This is the ancient morality of the gift, which has become a principle of justice. The gods and the spirits accept that the share of wealth and happiness that has been offered to them and had been hitherto destroyed in useless sacrifices should serve the poor and children.Evolutionary explanations.In the science of ethology , and more generally in the study of social evolution, altruism refers to behaviour by an individual that increases the fitness of another individual while decreasing the fitness of the actor. In evolutionary psychology this may be applied to a wide range of human behaviors such as charity, emergency aid, help to coalition partners, tipping, courtship gifts, production of public goods, and environmentalism.Theories of apparently altruistic behavior were accelerated by the need to produce theories compatible with evolutionary origins. Two related strands of research on altruism have emerged from traditional evolutionary analyses and from evolutionary game theory a mathematical model and analysis of behavioural strategies.Some of the proposed mechanisms are:Such explanations do not imply that humans are always consciously calculating how to increase their inclusive fitness when they are doing altruistic acts. Instead, evolution has shaped psychological mechanisms, such as emotions, that promote altruistic behaviors.Every single instance of altruistic behavior need not always increase inclusive fitness altruistic behaviors would have been selected for if such behaviors on average increased inclusive fitness in the ancestral environment. This need not imply that on average 50% or more of altruistic acts were beneficial for the altruist in the ancestral environment if the benefits from helping the right person were very high it would be beneficial to err on the side of caution and usually be altruistic even if in most cases there were no benefits.The benefits for the altruist may be increased and the costs reduced by being more altruistic towards certain groups. Research has found that people are more altruistic to kin than to no-kin to friends than to strangers to those attractive than to those unattractive to non-competitors than to competitors and to members ingroups than to members of outgroup.The study of altruism was the initial impetus behind George R. Price's development of the Price equation which is a mathematical equation used to study genetic evolution. An interesting example of altruism is found in the cellular slime moulds such as "Dictyostelium mucoroides". These protists live as individual amoebae until starved at which point they aggregate and form a multicellular fruiting body in which some cells sacrifice themselves to promote the survival of other cells in the fruiting body.Selective investment theory proposes that close social bonds, and associated emotional, cognitive, and neurohormonal mechanisms, evolved in order to facilitate long-term, high-cost altruism between those closely depending on one another for survival and reproductive success.Such cooperative behaviors have sometimes been seen as arguments for left-wing politics such by the Russian zoologist and anarchist Peter Kropotkin in his 1902 book "" and Moral Philosopher Peter Singer in his book "A Darwinian Left".Neurobiology.Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman, neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health and LABS-D'Or Hospital Network (J.M.) provided the first evidence for the neural bases of altruistic giving in normal healthy volunteers, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In their research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA in October 2006, they showed that both pure monetary rewards and charitable donations activated the mesolimbic reward pathway, a primitive part of the brain that usually responds to food and sex. However, when volunteers generously placed the interests of others before their own by making charitable donations, another brain circuit was selectively activated: the subgenual cortex/septal region. These structures are intimately related to social attachment and bonding in other species. Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable. One brain region, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex/basal forebrain, contributes to learning altruistic behavior, especially in those with trait empathy. The same study has shown a connection between giving to charity and the promotion of social bonding.In fact, in an experiment published in March 2007 at the University of Southern California neuroscientist Antonio R. Damasio and his colleagues showed that subjects with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex lack the ability to empathically feel their way to moral answers, and that when confronted with moral dilemmas, these brain-damaged patients coldly came up with "end-justifies-the-means" answers, leading Damasio to conclude that the point was not that they reached immoral conclusions, but that when they were confronted by a difficult issue – in this case as whether to shoot down a passenger plane hijacked by terrorists before it hits a major city – these patients appear to reach decisions without the anguish that afflicts those with normally functioning brains. According to Adrian Raine, a clinical neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California, one of this study's implications is that society may have to rethink how it judges immoral people: "Psychopaths often feel no empathy or remorse. Without that awareness, people relying exclusively on reasoning seem to find it harder to sort their way through moral thickets. Does that mean they should be held to different standards of accountability?"In another study, in the 1990s, Dr. Bill Harbaugh, a University of Oregon economist, concluded people are motivated to give for reasons of personal prestige and in a similar fMRI scanner test in 2007 with his psychologist colleague Dr. Ulrich Mayr, reached the same conclusions of Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman about giving to charity, although they were able to divide the study group into two groups: "egoists" and "altruists". One of their discoveries was that, though rarely, even some of the considered "egoists" sometimes gave more than expected because that would help others, leading to the conclusion that there are other factors in cause in charity, such as a person's environment and values.Psychology.The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences defines "psychological altruism" as "a motivational state with the goal of increasing another's welfare". Psychological altruism is contrasted with "psychological egoism", which refers to the motivation to increase one's own welfare.There has been some debate on whether or not humans are truly capable of psychological altruism. Some definitions specify a self-sacrificial nature to altruism and a lack of external rewards for altruistic behaviors. However, because altruism ultimately benefits the self in many cases, the selflessness of altruistic acts is brought to question. The social exchange theory postulates that altruism only exists when benefits to the self outweigh costs to the self. Daniel Batson is a psychologist who examined this question and argues against the social exchange theory. He identified four major motives: to ultimately benefit the self , to ultimately benefit the other person , to benefit a group , or to uphold a moral principle . Altruism that ultimately serves selfish gains is thus differentiated from selfless altruism, but the general conclusion has been that empathy-induced altruism can be genuinely selfless. The basically states that psychological altruism does exist and is evoked by the empathic desire to help someone who is suffering. Feelings of empathic concern are contrasted with feelings of personal distress, which compel people to reduce their own unpleasant emotions. People with empathic concern help others in distress even when exposure to the situation could be easily avoided, whereas those lacking in empathic concern avoid helping unless it is difficult or impossible to avoid exposure to another's suffering. Helping behavior is seen in humans at about two years old, when a toddler is capable of understanding subtle emotional cues.In psychological research on altruism, studies often observe altruism as demonstrated through prosocial behaviors such as helping, comforting, sharing, cooperation, philanthropy, and community service. Research has found that people are most likely to help if they recognize that a person is in need and feel personal responsibility for reducing the person's distress. Research also suggests that the number of bystanders witnessing distress or suffering affects the likelihood of helping . Greater numbers of bystanders decrease individual feelings of responsibility. However, a witness with a high level of empathic concern is likely to assume personal responsibility entirely regardless of the number of bystanders.Many studies have observed the effects of volunteerism (as a form of altruism) on happiness and health and have consistently found a strong connection between volunteerism and current and future health and well-being. In a study of older adults those who volunteered were higher on life satisfaction and will to live and lower in depression anxiety and somatization. Volunteerism and helping behavior have not only been shown to improve mental health but physical health and longevity as well attributable to the activity and social integration it encourages. One study examined the physical health of mothers who volunteered over a 30-year period and found that 52% of those who did not belong to a volunteer organization experienced a major illness while only 36% of those who did volunteer experienced one. A study on adults ages 55+ found that during the four-year study period people who volunteered for two or more organizations had a 63% lower likelihood of dying. After controlling for prior health status it was determined that volunteerism accounted for a 44% reduction in mortality. Merely being aware of kindness in oneself and others is also associated with greater well-being. A study that asked participants to count each act of kindness they performed for one week significantly enhanced their subjective happiness. It is important to note that while research supports the idea that altruistic acts bring about happiness it has also been found to work in the opposite direction—that happier people are also kinder. The relationship between altruistic behavior and happiness is bidirectional. Studies have found that generosity increases linearly from sad to happy affective states.Studies have also been careful to note that feeling over-taxed by the needs of others has conversely negative effects on health and happiness. For example one study on volunteerism found that feeling overwhelmed by others' demands had an even stronger negative effect on mental health than helping had a positive one . Additionally while generous acts make people feel good about themselves it is also important for people to appreciate the kindness they receive from others. Studies suggest that gratitude goes hand-in-hand with kindness and is also very important for our well-being. A study on the relationship happiness to various character strengths showed that . (. American Sociological Association.). The structure of our societies and how individuals come to exhibit charitable, philanthropic, and other pro-social, altruistic actions for the common good is a largely researched topic within the field. The American Sociology Association (ASA) acknowledges public sociology saying, ( ASA). This type of sociology seeks contributions that aid grassroots and theoretical understandings of what motivates altruism and how it is organized, and promotes an altruistic focus in order to benefit the world and people it studies. How altruism is framed, organized, carried out, and what motivates it at the group level is an area of focus that sociologists seek to investigate in order to contribute back to the groups it studies and . The motivation of altruism is also the focus of study; some publications link the occurrence of moral outrage to the punishment of perpetrators and compensation of victims. Studies have shown that generosity in laboratory and in online experiments is contagious – people imitate observed generosity of others.Pathological altruism.Pathological altruism is when altruism is taken to an unhealthy extreme, and either harms the altruistic person, or well-intentioned actions cause more harm than good.Examples include depression and burnout seen in healthcare professionals an unhealthy focus on others to the detriment of one's own needs hoarding of animals and ineffective philanthropic and social programs that ultimately worsen the situations they are meant to aid.Religious viewpoints.Most, if not all, of the world's religions promote altruism as a very important moral value. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, and Sikhism, etc., place particular emphasis on altruistic morality.Altruism figures prominently in Buddhism. Love and compassion are components of all forms of Buddhism and are focused on all beings equally love is the wish that all beings be happy and compassion is the wish that all beings be free from suffering. "Many illnesses can be cured by the one medicine of love and compassion. These qualities are the ultimate source of human happiness and the need for them lies at the very core of our being" .Still, the notion of altruism is modified in such a world-view, since the belief is that such a practice promotes our own happiness: .In the context of larger ethical discussions on moral action and judgment, Buddhism is characterized by the belief that negative consequences of our actions derive not from punishment or correction based on moral judgment, but from the law of karma, which functions like a natural law of cause and effect. A simple illustration of such cause and effect is the case of experiencing the effects of what one causes: if one causes suffering, then as a natural consequence one would experience suffering; if one causes happiness, then as a natural consequence one would experience happiness.The fundamental principles of Jainism revolve around the concept of altruism, not only for humans but for all sentient beings. Jainism preaches the view of – to live and let live, thereby not harming sentient beings, i.e. uncompromising reverence for all life. It also considers all living things to be equal. The first Tirthankara, Rishabhdev, introduced the concept of altruism for all living beings, from extending knowledge and experience to others to donation, giving oneself up for others, non-violence and compassion for all living things.Jainism prescribes a path of non-violence to progress the soul to this ultimate goal. A major characteristic of Jain belief is the emphasis on the consequences of not only physical but also mental behaviors. One's unconquered mind with anger pride deceit greed and uncontrolled sense organs are the powerful enemies of humans. Anger spoils good relations pride destroys humility deceit destroys peace and greed destroys everything. Jainism recommends conquering anger by forgiveness pride by humility deceit by straightforwardness and greed by contentment.Jains believe that to attain enlightenment and ultimately liberation, one must practice the following ethical principles in thought, speech and action. The degree to which these principles are practiced is different for householders and monks. They are:The are prescribed for householders. The house-holders are encouraged to practice the above-mentioned five vows. The monks have to observe them very strictly. With consistent practice, it will be possible to overcome the limitations gradually, accelerating the spiritual progress.The principle of nonviolence seeks to minimize karmas which limit the capabilities of the soul. Jainism views every soul as worthy of respect because it has the potential to become "Siddha" . Because all living beings possess a soul great care and awareness is essential in one's actions. Jainism emphasizes the equality of all life advocating harmlessness towards all whether the creatures are great or small. This policy extends even to microscopic organisms. Jainism acknowledges that every person has different capabilities and capacities to practice and therefore accepts different levels of compliance for ascetics and householders.Christianity.St Thomas Aquinas interprets as meaning that love for ourselves is the exemplar of love for others. Considering that he concluded that though we are not bound to love others more than ourselves we naturally seek the common good the good of the whole more than any private good the good of a part. However he thinks we should love God more than ourselves and our neighbours and more than our bodily life—since the ultimate purpose of loving our neighbour is to share in eternal beatitude a more desirable thing than bodily well-being. In coining the word Altruism as stated above Comte was probably opposing this Thomistic doctrine which is present in some theological schools within Catholicism.Many biblical authors draw a strong connection between love of others and love of God. 1 John 4 states that for one to love God one must love his fellowman and that hatred of ones demands undermine overall well-being.German philosopher Max Scheler distinguishes two ways in which the strong can help the weak. One way is a sincere expression of Christian love In Islam, the concept as abiding by the highest degree of nobility.This is similar to the notion of chivalry, but unlike that European concept, in attention is focused on everything in existence. A constant concern for Allah results in a careful attitude towards people, animals, and other things in this world.This concept was emphasized by Sufis like Rabia al-Adawiyya who paid attention to the difference between dedication to Allah and dedication to people. Thirteenth-century Turkish Sufi poet Yunus Emre explained this philosophy as is also still an Islamic ideal to which all Muslims should strive to adhere at all times.Judaism defines altruism as the desired goal of creation. The famous Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook stated that love is the most important attribute in humanity. This is defined as bestowal or giving which is the intention of altruism. This can be altruism towards humanity that leads to altruism towards the creator or God. Kabbalah defines God as the force of giving in existence. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in particular focused on the 'purpose of creation' and how the will of God was to bring creation into perfection and adhesion with this upper force.Modern Kabbalah developed by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag in his writings about the future generation focuses on how society could achieve an altruistic social framework. Ashlag proposed that such a framework is the purpose of creation and everything that happens is to raise humanity to the level of altruism love for one another. Ashlag focused on society and its relation to divinity.Altruism is essential to the Sikh religion. The central faith in Sikhism is that the greatest deed any one can do is to imbibe and live the godly qualities like love affection sacrifice patience harmony truthfulness. The concept of "seva" or selfless service to the community for its own sake is an important concept in Sikhism.The fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, sacrificed his life to uphold "22 carats of pure truth, the greatest gift to humanity", the Guru Granth. The ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, sacrificed his head to protect weak and defenseless people against atrocity.In the late seventeenth century, Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Guru in Sikhism), was at war with the Mughal rulers to protect the people of different faiths when a fellow Sikh, Bhai Kanhaiya, attended the troops of the enemy. He gave water to both friends and foes who were wounded on the battlefield. Some of the enemy began to fight again and some Sikh warriors were annoyed by Bhai Kanhaiya as he was helping their enemy. Sikh soldiers brought Bhai Kanhaiya before Guru Gobind Singh, and complained of his action that they considered counterproductive to their struggle on the battlefield. Under the tutelage of the Guru Bhai Kanhaiya subsequently founded a volunteer corps for altruism which is still engaged today in doing good to others and in training new recruits for this service.In Hinduism Selflessness Love Kindness and Forgiveness are considered as the highest acts of humanity or "Manushyattva". Giving alms to the beggers or poor people is considered as a divine act or "Punya" and Hindus believe it will free their souls from guilt or "Paapa" and will led them to heaven or "Swarga" in afterlife. Altruism is also the central act of various Hindu mythology and religious poems and songs.The founder of warkari samprdaya the great saint "Dhnyaneshwar Maharaj" in his "Pasaydan" pray to the supreme lord "Vitthal" for the wellbeing of all living organisms of the universe.Swami Vivekananda the legendary Hindu monk has said - . Mass donation of clothes to poor people or blood donation camp or mass food donation for poor people is common in various Hindu religious ceremonies.Swami Sivananda, an Advaita scholar, reiterates the views in his commentary synthesising Vedanta views on the Brahma Sutras, a Vedantic text. In his commentary on Chapter 3 of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda notes that karma is insentient and short-lived, and ceases to exist as soon as a deed is executed. Hence, karma cannot bestow the fruits of actions at a future date according to one's merit. Furthermore, one cannot argue that karma generates apurva or punya, which gives fruit. Since apurva is non-sentient, it cannot act unless moved by an intelligent being such as a god. It cannot independently bestow reward or punishment.However the very well known and popular text the Bhagavad Gita supports the doctrine of karma yoga &amp or action without expectation / desire for personal gain which can be said to encompass altruism. Altruistic acts are generally celebrated and very well received in Hindu literature and is central to Hindu morality.Philosophy.There exists a wide range of philosophical views on humans' obligations or motivations to act altruistically. Proponents of ethical altruism maintain that individuals are morally obligated to act altruistically. The opposing view is ethical egoism, which maintains that moral agents should always act in their own self-interest. Both ethical altruism and ethical egoism contrast with utilitarianism, which maintains that each agent should act in order to maximise the efficacy of their function and the benefit to both themselves and their co-inhabitants.A related concept in descriptive ethics is psychological egoism, the thesis that humans always act in their own self-interest and that true altruism is impossible. Rational egoism is the view that rationality consists in acting in one's self-interest .Effective altruism.Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement that uses evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. Effective altruism encourages individuals to consider all causes and actions and to act in the way that brings about the greatest positive impact, based upon their values. It is the broad, evidence-based and cause-neutral approach that distinguishes effective altruism from traditional altruism or charity. Effective altruism is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.While a substantial proportion of effective altruists have focused on the nonprofit sector, the philosophy of effective altruism applies more broadly to prioritizing the scientific projects, companies, and policy initiatives which can be estimated to save lives, help people, or otherwise have the biggest benefit. People associated with the movement include philosopher Peter Singer, Facebook co founder Dustin Moskovitz, Cari Tuna, Ben Delo, Oxford-based researchers William MacAskill and Toby Ord, professional poker player Liv Boeree, and writer Jacy Reese.The genes OXTR, CD38, COMT, DRD4, DRD5, IGF2, GABRB2 have been found to be candidate genes for altruism.
Alice O'Connor , better known by her pen name Ayn Rand , was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. She wrote a play that opened on Broadway in 1935. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, "The Fountainhead". In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel "Atlas Shrugged". Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge; she rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and opposed collectivism, statism, and anarchism. Instead, she supported capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including private property rights. Although Rand opposed libertarianism, which she viewed as anarchism, she is often associated with the modern libertarian movement in the United States. In art, Rand promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and classical liberals.Rand's fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics. Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected her philosophy because of her polemical approach and lack of methodological rigor. Her writings have politically influenced some libertarians and conservatives. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas both to the public and in academic settings.Early life.Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum on February 2 1905 to a Russian-Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg. She was the eldest of three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum a pharmacist and Anna Borisovna . Rand later said she found school unchallenging and began writing screenplays at age eight and novels at age ten. At the prestigious her closest friend was Vladimir Nabokov's younger sister Olga the pair shared an intense interest in politics.She was twelve at the time of the February Revolution of 1917 during which Rand favored Alexander Kerensky over Tsar Nicholas II. The subsequent October Revolution and the rule of the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin disrupted the life the family had enjoyed previously. Her father's business was confiscated and the family fled to the Crimean Peninsula which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. While in high school there Rand concluded she was an atheist and valued reason above any other virtue. After graduating in June 1921 she returned with her family to Petrograd where they faced desperate conditions occasionally nearly starving.Following the Russian Revolution universities were opened to women allowing her to be in the first group of women to enroll at Petrograd State University. At 16 she began her studies in the department of social pedagogy majoring in history. At the university she was introduced to the writings of Aristotle and Plato Rand came to see their differing views on reality and knowledge as the primary conflict within philosophy. She also studied the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche.Along with many other bourgeois students, she was purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many of the purged students were allowed to complete their work and graduate, which she did in October 1924. She then studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For an assignment, Rand wrote an essay about the Polish actress Pola Negri, which became her first published work.By this time she had decided her professional surname for writing would be "Rand" possibly because it is graphically similar to a vowelless excerpt of her birth surname in Cyrillic. She adopted the first name "Ayn".Arrival in the United States.In late 1925 Rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago. She departed on January 17 1926. Arriving in New York City on February 19 1926 Rand was so impressed with the Manhattan skyline that she cried what she later called "tears of splendor". Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter she lived for a few months with her relatives. One of them owned a movie theater and allowed her to watch dozens of films free of charge. She then left for Hollywood California.In Hollywood, a chance meeting with famed director Cecil B. DeMille led to work as an extra in his film "The King of Kings" and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter. While working on "The King of Kings", she met an aspiring young actor, ; the two married on April 15, 1929. She became a permanent American resident in July 1929 and an American citizen on March 3, 1931. She made several attempts to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they were unable to obtain permission to emigrate.During these early years of her career, Rand wrote a number of screenplays, plays, and short stories that were not produced or published during her lifetime; some were published later in .Early fiction.Although it was never produced, Rand's first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay "Red Pawn" to Universal Studios in 1932. Her courtroom drama "Night of January 16th", first produced by E. E. Clive in Hollywood in 1934, reopened successfully on Broadway in 1935. Each night, a jury was selected from members of the audience; based on its vote, one of two different endings would be performed.Her first published novel, the semi-autobiographical "We the Living", was published in 1936. Set in Soviet Russia, it focused on the struggle between the individual and the state. Initial sales were slow, and the American publisher let it go out of print, although European editions continued to sell. She adapted the story as a stage play, but producer George Abbott's Broadway production was a failure and closed in less than a week. After the success of her later novels, Rand was able to release a revised version in 1959 that has since sold over three million copies. In a foreword to the 1959 edition, Rand wrote that "We the Living" "is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write. ... The plot is invented, the background is not ...".Rand wrote her novella "Anthem" during a break from writing her next major novel, "The Fountainhead". It presents a vision of a dystopian future world in which totalitarian collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that even the word "I" has been forgotten and replaced with "we". Published in England in 1938, Rand could not find an American publisher initially. As with "We the Living", Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, which has sold over 3.5 million copies."The Fountainhead" and political activism.During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. She and her husband worked as full-time volunteers for Republican Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign. This led to Rand's first public speaking experiences; she enjoyed fielding sometimes hostile questions from New York City audiences who had seen pro-Willkie newsreels. Her work brought her into contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt, who introduced her to the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Despite her philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men throughout her career, and both of them expressed admiration for her. Mises once referred to her as "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman". Rand became friends with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. Rand questioned her about American history and politics long into the night during their many meetings, and gave Paterson ideas for her only non-fiction book, "The God of the Machine".Rand's first major success as a writer came in 1943 with "The Fountainhead" a romantic and philosophical novel that she wrote over seven years. The novel centers on an uncompromising young architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers"—those who attempt to live through others placing others above themselves. Twelve publishers rejected it before the Bobbs-Merrill Company finally accepted it at the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it. While completing the novel Rand was prescribed the amphetamine Benzedrine to fight fatigue. The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the novel but afterwards she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest. Her use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to what some of her later associates described as volatile mood swings."The Fountainhead" became a worldwide success bringing Rand fame and financial security. In 1943 she sold the film rights to Warner Bros. and returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Producer Hal B. Wallis hired her afterwards as a screenwriter and script-doctor. Her work for him included the screenplays for the Oscar-nominated "Love Letters" and "You Came Along". Rand worked on other projects including a never-completed nonfiction treatment of her philosophy to be called "The Moral Basis of Individualism".Rand extended her involvement with free-market and anti-communist activism while working in Hollywood. She became involved with the anti-Communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and wrote articles on the groups California associates led to a falling out between the two when Paterson made comments to valued political allies which Rand considered rude. In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, Rand testified as a .After several delays the film version of and complained about its editing the acting and other elements. and Objectivism.Following the publication of Rand received numerous letters from readers some of whom the book had influenced profoundly. In 1951 Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City where she gathered a group of these admirers around her. This group (jokingly designated ) included a future chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and his wife Barbara and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff. Initially the group was an informal gathering of friends who met with Rand at her apartment on weekends to discuss philosophy. Later Rand began allowing them to read the drafts of her new novel as she wrote the manuscript. In 1954 her close relationship with Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair with the knowledge of their spouses.Published in 1957 "Atlas Shrugged" was considered Rand's "magnum opus". She described the novel's theme as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and as a corollary the demonstration of a new moral philosophy the morality of rational self-interest". It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists scientists and artists respond to a welfare state government by going on strike and retreating to a hidden valley where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike John Galt describes it as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of the individuals contributing most to the nation's wealth and achievements. With this fictional strike Rand intended to illustrate that without the efforts of the rational and productive the economy would collapse and society would fall apart. The novel includes elements of mystery romance and science fiction and contains an extended exposition of Objectivism in a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt.Despite many negative reviews, "Atlas Shrugged" became an international bestseller, however, the reaction of intellectuals to the novel discouraged and depressed Rand. "Atlas Shrugged" was her last completed work of fiction marking the end of her career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher.In 1958, Nathaniel Branden established the Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute , to promote Rands closest followers in New York.Later years.Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through her nonfiction works and by giving talks to students at institutions such as Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She began delivering annual lectures at the Ford Hall Forum, responding to questions from the audience. During these appearances, she often took controversial stances on the political and social issues of the day. These included: supporting abortion rights, opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft , supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 against a coalition of Arab nations as .In 1964, Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept the affair hidden from Rand. When she learned of it in 1968, though her romantic relationship with Branden had already ended, Rand ended her relationship with both Brandens, and the NBI was closed. She published an article in "The Objectivist" repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and other "irrational behavior in his private life". In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company.Rand underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking. In 1976 she retired from writing her newsletter and after her initial objections allowed a social worker employed by her attorney to enroll her in Social Security and Medicare. During the late 1970s her activities within the Objectivist movement declined especially after the death of her husband on November 9 1979. One of her final projects was work on a never-completed television adaptation of "Atlas Shrugged".On March 6, 1982, Rand died of heart failure at her home in New York City. She was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York. At her funeral, a floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket. In her will, Rand named Leonard Peikoff as her beneficiary.Literary method and influences.Rand described her approach to literature as .Rand considered plot a critical element of literature, and her stories typically have what biographer Anne Heller described as . Romantic triangles are a common plot element in Rand's fiction; in most of her novels and plays, the main female character is romantically involved with at least two different men.Influences.In school Rand read works by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, and Friedrich Schiller, who became her favorites. She considered them to be among the "top rank" of Romantic writers because of their focus on moral themes and their skill at constructing plots. Hugo, in particular, was an important influence on her writing, especially her approach to plotting. In the introduction she wrote for an English-language edition of his novel "Ninety-Three", Rand called him "the greatest novelist in world literature".Although Rand disliked most Russian literature her depictions of her heroes show the influence of the Russian Symbolists and other nineteenth-century Russian writing most notably the 1863 novel also reflect it.Rand's descriptive style echoes her early career writing scenarios and scripts for movies; her novels have many narrative descriptions that resemble early Hollywood movie scenarios. They often follow common film editing conventions, such as having a broad establishing shot description of a scene followed by close-up details, and her descriptions of women characters often take a "male gaze" perspective.Philosophy.Rand called her philosophy . She considered Objectivism a systematic philosophy and laid out positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics.In metaphysics Rand supported philosophical realism and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism including all forms of religion. Rand believed in free will as a form of agent causation and rejected determinism.In epistemology, she considered all knowledge to be based on sense perception, the validity of which Rand considered axiomatic, and reason, which she described as , Rand presented a theory of concept formation and rejected the analytic–synthetic dichotomy.In ethics, Rand argued for rational and ethical egoism , as the guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself". Rand referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her book of that title. In it, she presented her solution to the is-ought problem by describing a meta-ethical theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival qua man". She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness, and held the initiation of force was evil and irrational, writing in "Atlas Shrugged" that, "Force and mind are opposites."Rand's political philosophy emphasized individual rights—including property rights. She considered "laissez-faire" capitalism the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on protecting those rights. Rand opposed statism, which she understood included theocracy, absolute monarchy, Nazism, fascism, communism, democratic socialism, and dictatorship. She believed a constitutionally limited government should protect natural rights. Although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian, Rand preferred the term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects, but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics. Rand denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism. She rejected anarchism as a nave theory based in subjectivism that could only lead to collectivism in practice.In aesthetics, Rand defined art as a . According to her, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be grasped easily, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness. As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely was literature. She considered romanticism to be the approach that most accurately reflected the existence of human free will.Rand said her most important contributions to philosophy were her Criticisms.Rand's ethics and politics are the most criticized areas of her philosophy. Numerous authors, including Robert Nozick and William F. O'Neill, in some of the earliest academic critiques of her ideas, said she failed in her attempt to solve the is–ought problem. Critics have called her definitions of "egoism" and "altruism" biased and inconsistent with normal usage. Critics from religious traditions oppose her rejection of altruism in addition to atheism. Essays criticizing Rand's egoistic views are included in a number of anthologies for teaching introductory ethics, often including no essays presenting or defending them.Multiple critics including Nozick have said her attempt to justify individual rights based on egoism fails. Others like Michael Huemer have gone further saying that her support of egoism and her support of individual rights are inconsistent positions. Some critics like Roy Childs have said that her opposition to the initiation of force should lead to support of anarchism rather than limited government.Commentators including Hazel Barnes Albert Ellis and Nathaniel Branden have criticized Rand's focus on the importance of reason. Branden said this emphasis led her to denigrate emotions and create unrealistic expectations of how consistently rational human beings should be.Relationship to other philosophers.Except for Aristotle Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals Rand was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her. Acknowledging Aristotle as her greatest influence Rand remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle Aquinas and Ayn Rand. In a 1959 interview with Mike Wallace when asked where her philosophy came from she responded "Out of my own mind with the sole acknowledgement of a debt to Aristotle the only philosopher who ever influenced me. I devised the rest of my philosophy myself."In an article for the Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years is disputed.Rand considered her philosophical opposite to be Immanuel Kant whom she referred to as she believed his epistemology undermined reason and his ethics opposed self-interest. Philosophers George Walsh and Fred Seddon have argued she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences.Reception and legacy.Critical reception.The first reviews Rand received were for received little review attention, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues.Rand's first bestseller, "The Fountainhead", received far fewer reviews than "We the Living", and reviewers' opinions were mixed. Lorine Pruette's positive review in "The New York Times" was one that Rand greatly appreciated. Pruette called her "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly", and said "you will not be able to read this masterful book without thinking through some of the basic concepts of our time". There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them for either misunderstanding her message or for being in unimportant publications. Some negative reviews focused on the novel's length; one called it "a whale of a book" and another said "anyone who is taken in by it deserves a stern lecture on paper-rationing". Other negative reviews called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian".. He accused Rand of supporting a godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets) claiming .Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book "For the New Intellectual" was similar to that for "Atlas Shrugged". Philosopher Sidney Hook likened her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union" and author Gore Vidal called her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality". Her subsequent books got progressively less review attention.On the 100th anniversary of Rand's birth in 2005, writing for .Popular interest.With over 30 million copies sold Rands influence has been greatest in the United States there has been international interest in her work.Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, like Ira Levin, Kay Nolte Smith and L. Neil Smith; she has influenced later writers like Erika Holzer and Terry Goodkind. Other artists who have cited Rand as an important influence on their lives and thought include comic book artist Steve Ditko and musician Neil Peart of Rush, although he later distanced himself. Rand provided a positive view of business and subsequently many business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work. John Allison of BB&amp;T and Ed Snider of Comcast Spectacor have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas. Mark Cuban as well as John P. Mackey , among others, have said they consider Rand crucial to their success.Television shows including animated sitcoms, live-action comedies, dramas, and game shows, as well as movies and video games have referred to Rand and her works. Throughout her life she was the subject of many articles in popular magazines, as well as book-length critiques by authors such as the psychologist Albert Ellis and Trinity Foundation president John W. Robbins. Rand, or characters based on her, figure prominently (in positive and negative lights) in literary and science fiction novels by prominent American authors. Nick Gillespie, former editor-in- chief of , a 1999 television adaptation of the book of the same name, won several awards. Rand's image also appears on a 1999 U.S. postage stamp illustrated by artist Nick Gaetano.Rand's works have found a foothold in classrooms. Since 2002 the Ayn Rand Institute has provided free copies of Rand's novels to high school teachers who promise to include the books in their curriculum. The Institute had distributed 4.5 million copies in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2020. In 2017 Rand was added to the required reading list for the A Level Politics exam in the United Kingdom.Political influence.Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian", Rand has had a continuing influence on right-wing politics and libertarianism. Rand is often considered one of the three most important women in the early development of modern American libertarianism. David Nolan, one founder of the Libertarian Party, said that "without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist". In his history of that movement, journalist Brian Doherty described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large". Historian Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are usually conservatives despite Rand taking some atypical positions for a conservative like being pro-choice and an atheist. She faced intense opposition from William F. Buckley Jr. and other contributors to the conservative . Republican congressmen and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and have recommended her novels. She has influenced some conservative politicians outside the U.S. such as Sajid Javid in the United Kingdom Siv Jensen in Norway and Ayelet Shaked in Israel.The financial crisis of 2007–2008 spurred renewed interest in her works especially "Atlas Shrugged" which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis. Opinion articles compared real-world events with the novel's plot. Signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at Tea Party protests. There was increased criticism of her ideas especially from the political left. Critics blamed the economic crisis on her support of selfishness and free markets particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan. In 2015 Adam Weiner said that through Greenspan "Rand had effectively chucked a ticking time bomb into the boiler room of the US economy". Lisa Duggan said that Rand's novels had "incalculable impact" in encouraging the spread of neoliberal political ideas. In 2021 Cass Sunstein said Rand's ideas could be seen in the tax and regulatory policies of the Trump administration which he attributed to the "enduring influence" of Rand's fiction.Academic reaction.During Rand's lifetime her work received little attention from academic scholars. Since her death interest in her work has increased gradually. In 2009 historian Jennifer Burns identified her work but he believed more academic critics were engaging with her work in recent years.To her ideas.In 1967 John Hospers discussed Rand's ethical ideas in the second edition of his textbook ."The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand" a 1984 collection of essays about Objectivism edited by Den Uyl and Rasmussen was the first academic book about Rand's ideas published after her death. In one essay political writer Jack Wheeler wrote that despite "the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage" Rand's ethics are "a most immense achievement the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought". In 1987 Allan Gotthelf George Walsh and David Kelley co-founded the Ayn Rand Society a group affiliated with the American Philosophical Association.In a 1995 entry about Rand in a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the study of Rand and her ideas was established in 1999. R. W. Bradford Stephen D. Cox and Chris Matthew Sciabarra were its founding co-editors.In a 2010 essay for the Cato Institute, libertarian philosopher Michael Huemer argued very few people find Rand's ideas convincing, especially her ethics. He attributed the attention she receives to her being a "compelling writer", especially as a novelist, noting that "Atlas Shrugged" outsells Rand's non-fiction works and the works of other philosophers of classical liberalism. In 2012, the Pennsylvania State University Press agreed to take over publication of "The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies", and the University of Pittsburgh Press launched an "Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies" series based on the Society's proceedings. That same year, political scientist Alan Wolfe dismissed Rand as a "nonperson" among academics. The Fall 2012 update to the entry about Rand in the "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" said that "only a few professional philosophers have taken her work seriously".To her fiction.Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was even more limited than the discussion of her philosophy. Mimi Reisel Gladstein could not find any scholarly articles about Rands Masterwork Studies , and Re-reading the Canon , as well as in popular study guides like CliffsNotes and SparkNotes. In .Objectivist movement.After the closure of the Nathaniel Branden Institute, the Objectivist movement continued in other forms. In the 1970s, Leonard Peikoff began delivering courses on Objectivism. In 1979, Objectivist writer Peter Schwartz started a newsletter called "The Intellectual Activist", which Rand endorsed. She also endorsed "The Objectivist Forum", a bimonthly magazine founded by Objectivist philosopher Harry Binswanger, which ran from 1980 to 1987.In 1985, Peikoff worked with businessman Ed Snider to establish the Ayn Rand Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas and works. In 1990, after an ideological disagreement with Peikoff, philosopher David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as The Atlas Society. In 2001, historian John McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.Selected works.Fiction and dramaNon-fiction:
Alain Connes (; born 1 April 1947) is a French mathematician, and a theoretical physicist, known for his contributions to the study of operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. He is a Professor at the Collge de France, IHS, Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982.Connes was an Invited Professor at the Conservatoire national des arts et mtiers .Alain Connes studies operator algebras. In his early work on von Neumann algebras in the 1970s he succeeded in obtaining the almost complete classification of injective factors. He also formulated the Connes embedding problem. Following this he made contributions in operator K-theory and index theory which culminated in the Baum–Connes conjecture. He also introduced cyclic cohomology in the early 1980s as a first step in the study of noncommutative differential geometry. He was a member of Bourbaki.Connes has applied his work in areas of mathematics and theoretical physics including number theory differential geometry and particle physics.Awards and honours.Connes was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982, the Crafoord Prize in 2001 and the gold medal of the CNRS in 2004. He was an invited speaker at the ICM in 1974 at Vancouver and in 1986 at Berkeley and a plenary speaker at the ICM in 1978 at Helsinki. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences and several foreign academies and societies, including the Danish Academy of Sciences, Norwegian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, and US National Academy of Sciences.
Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Early life.Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was the younger son of commercial traveler of woolen clothing Joseph Michael Dwan and his wife Mary Jane Dwan, ne Hunt. The family moved to the United States when he was seven years old on December 4, 1892 by ferry from Windsor to Detroit, according to his naturalization petition of August 1939. His elder brother, Leo Garnet Dwan , became a physician.Allan Dwan studied engineering at the University of Notre Dame and then worked for a lighting company in Chicago. He had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry, and when Essanay Studios offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job. At that time, some of the East Coast movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round, and in 1911, Dwan began working part-time in Hollywood. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors Association.Dwan operated Flying A Studios in La Mesa, California from August 1911 to July 1912. Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On August 12, 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard commemorating Dwan and the Flying A Studios origins in La Mesa, California.After making a series of westerns and comedies Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American Mary Pickford in several very successful movies as well as her husband Douglas Fairbanks notably in the acclaimed 1922 for The Lambs with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club.Following the introduction of the talkies, Dwan directed child-star Shirley Temple in "Heidi" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" .Dwan helped launch the career of two other successful Hollywood directors, Victor Fleming, who went on to direct . He directed his last movie in 1961.He died in Los Angeles at the age of 96 and is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery Mission Hills California.Dwan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Boulevard.Daniel Eagan of "Film Journal International" described Dwan as one of the early pioneers of cinema, stating that his style "is so basic as to seem invisible, but he treats his characters with uncommon sympathy and compassion."Further reading.Print E-book
Algeria, officially the Peoples tenth largest nation by area. With a population of 44 million, and is the ninth-most populous country in Africa. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.Pre-1962 Algeria has seen many empires and dynasties, including ancient Numidians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abbasids, Rustamid, Idrisid, Aghlabids, Fatimids, Zirid, Hammadids, Almoravids, Almohads, Zayyanids, Spaniards, Ottomans and finally, the French Colonial Empire. The vast majority of Algeria's population is Arab-Berber, practicing Islam, and using the official languages of Arabic and Berber. However, French serves as an administrative and education language in some contexts, and Algerian Arabic is the main spoken language.Algeria is a semi-presidential republic with local constituencies consisting of 58 provinces and 1541 communes. Algeria is a regional power in North Africa and a middle power in global affairs. It has the highest Human Development Index of all non-island African countries and one of the largest economies on the continent based largely on energy exports. Algeria has the worlds military is one of the largest in Africa and has the largest defence budget on the continent. It is a member of the African Union the Arab League OPEC the United Nations and the Arab Maghreb Union of which it is a founding member.Other forms of the name are: , ; ; ; ; . It is officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria .The country's name derives from the city of Algiers which in turn derives from the Arabic a truncated form of the older employed by medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi.Prehistory and ancient history.Around ~1.8-million-year-old stone artifacts from Ain Hanech were considered to represent the oldest archaeological materials in North Africa. Stone artifacts and cut-marked bones that were excavated from two nearby deposits at Ain Boucherit are estimated to be ~1.9 million years old and even older stone artifacts to be as old as ~2.4 million years. Hence the Ain Boucherit evidence shows that ancestral hominins inhabited the Mediterranean fringe in northern Africa much earlier than previously thought. The evidence strongly argues for early dispersal of stone tool manufacture and use from East Africa or a possible multiple-origin scenario of stone technology in both East and North Africa.Neanderthal tool makers produced hand axes in the Levalloisian and Mousterian styles similar to those in the Levant. Algeria was the site of the highest state of development of Middle Paleolithic Flake tool techniques. Tools of this era starting about 30000 BC are called Aterian .The earliest blade industries in North Africa are called Iberomaurusian . This industry appears to have spread throughout the coastal regions of the Maghreb between 15000 and 10000 BC. Neolithic civilization developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghreb perhaps as early as 11000 BC or as late as between 6000 and 2000 BC. This life richly depicted in the Tassili n'Ajjer paintings predominated in Algeria until the classical period. The mixture of peoples of North Africa coalesced eventually into a distinct native population that came to be called Berbers who are the indigenous peoples of northern Africa.From their principal center of power at Carthage, the Carthaginians expanded and established small settlements along the North African coast; by 600 BC, a Phoenician presence existed at Tipasa, east of Cherchell, Hippo Regius and Rusicade . These settlements served as market towns as well as anchorages.As Carthaginian power grew, its impact on the indigenous population increased dramatically. Berber civilisation was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organisation supported several states. Trade links between Carthage and the Berbers in the interior grew, but territorial expansion also resulted in the enslavement or military recruitment of some Berbers and in the extraction of tribute from others.By the early 4th century BC Berbers formed the single largest element of the Carthaginian army. In the Revolt of the Mercenaries Berber soldiers rebelled from 241 to 238 BC after being unpaid following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. They succeeded in obtaining control of much of Carthage's North African territory and they minted coins bearing the name Libyan used in Greek to describe natives of North Africa. The Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars.In 146 BC the city of Carthage was destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Berber leaders in the hinterland grew. By the 2nd century BC, several large but loosely administered Berber kingdoms had emerged. Two of them were established in Numidia, behind the coastal areas controlled by Carthage. West of Numidia lay Mauretania, which extended across the Moulouya River in modern-day Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean. The high point of Berber civilisation, unequalled until the coming of the Almohads and Almoravids more than a millennium later, was reached during the reign of Masinissa in the 2nd century BC.After Masinissas line survived until 24 AD, when the remaining Berber territory was annexed to the Roman Empire.For several centuries Algeria was ruled by the Romans, who founded many colonies in the region. Like the rest of North Africa, Algeria was one of the breadbaskets of the empire, exporting cereals and other agricultural products. Saint Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius , located in the Roman province of Africa. The Germanic Vandals of Geiseric moved into North Africa in 429, and by 435 controlled coastal Numidia. They did not make any significant settlement on the land, as they were harassed by local tribes. In fact, by the time the Byzantines arrived Leptis Magna was abandoned and the Msellata region was occupied by the indigenous Laguatan who had been busy facilitating an Amazigh political, military and cultural revival. Furthermore, during the rule of the Romans, Byzantines, Vandals, Carthaginians, and Ottomans the Berber people were the only or one of the few in North Africa who remained independent. The Berber people were incredibly resistible so much so that even during the Muslim conquest of North Africa they still had control and possession over their mountains.The collapse of the Western Roman Empire led to the establishment of a native Kingdom based in Altava (modern day Algeria) known as the Mauro-Roman Kingdom. It was succeeded by another Kingdom based in Altava the Kingdom of Altava. During the reign of Kusaila its territory extended from the region of modern day Fez in the west to the western Aurs and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east.Middle Ages.After negligible resistance from the locals Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate conquered Algeria in the early 8th century. Large numbers of the indigenous Berber people converted to Islam. Christians Berber and Latin speakers remained in the great majority in Tunisia until the end of the 9th century and Muslims only became a vast majority some time in the 10th. After the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate numerous local dynasties emerged including the Rustamids Aghlabids Fatimids Zirids Hammadids Almoravids Almohads and the Abdalwadid. The Christians left in three waves after the initial conquest in the 10th century and the 11th. The last were evacuated to Sicily by the Normans and the few remaining died out in the 14th century.During the Middle Ages North Africa was home to many great scholars saints and sovereigns including Judah Ibn Quraysh the first grammarian to mention Semitic and Berber languages the great Sufi masters Sidi Boumediene and Sidi El Houari and the Emirs Abd Al Mu'min and Yghmrasen. It was during this time that the Fatimids or children of Fatima daughter of Muhammad came to the Maghreb. These went on to found a long lasting dynasty stretching across the Maghreb Hejaz and the Levant boasting a secular inner government as well as a powerful army and navy made up primarily of Arabs and Levantines extending from Algeria to their capital state of Cairo. The Fatimid caliphate began to collapse when its governors the Zirids seceded. In order to punish them the Fatimids sent the Arab Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym against them. The resultant war is recounted in the epic Tghribt. In Al-Tghrbt the Amazigh Zirid Hero Khlf Al-Znat asks daily for duels to defeat the Hilalan hero bu Zayd al-Hilal and many other Arab knights in a string of victories. The Zirids however were ultimately defeated ushering in an adoption of Arab customs and culture. The indigenous Amazigh tribes however remained largely independent and depending on tribe location and time controlled varying parts of the Maghreb at times unifying it . The Fatimid Islamic state also known as Fatimid Caliphate made an Islamic empire that included North Africa Sicily Palestine Jordan Lebanon Syria Egypt the Red Sea coast of Africa Tihamah Hejaz and Yemen. Caliphates from Northern Africa traded with the other empires of their time as well as forming part of a confederated support and trade network with other Islamic states during the Islamic Era.The Amazighs historically consisted of several tribes. The two main branches were the Botr and Barns tribes, who were divided into tribes, and again into sub-tribes. Each region of the Maghreb contained several tribes . All these tribes made independent territorial decisions.Several Amazigh dynasties emerged during the Middle Ages in the Maghreb and other nearby lands. Ibn Khaldun provides a table summarising the Amazigh dynasties of the Maghreb region the Zirid Ifranid Maghrawa Almoravid Hammadid Almohad Merinid Abdalwadid Wattasid Meknassa and Hafsid dynasties. Both of the Hammadid and Zirid empires as well as the Fatimids established their rule in all of the Maghreb countries. The Zirids ruled land in what is now Algeria Tunisia Morocco Libya Spain Malta and Italy. The Hammadids captured and held important regions such as Ouargla Constantine Sfax Susa Algiers Tripoli and Fez establishing their rule in every country in the Maghreb region. The Fatimids which was created and established by the Kutama Berbers conquered all of North Africa as well as Sicily and parts of the Middle East.A few examples of medieval Berber dynasties which originated in Modern AlgeriaFollowing the Berber revolt numerous independent states emerged across the Maghreb. In Algeria the Rustamid Kingdom was established. The Rustamid realm stretched from Tafilalt in Morocco to the Nafusa mountains in Libya including south central and western Tunisia therefore including territory in all of the modern day Maghreb countries in the south the Rustamid realm expanded to the modern borders of Mali and included territory in Mauritania.Once extending their control over all of the Maghreb part of Spain and briefly over Sicily originating from modern Algeria the Zirids only controlled modern Ifriqiya by the 11th century. The Zirids recognized nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid caliphs of Cairo. El Mu'izz the Zirid ruler decided to end this recognition and declared his independence. The Zirids also fought against other Zenata Kingdoms for example the Maghrawa a Berber dynasty originating from Algeria and which at one point was a dominant power in the Maghreb ruling over much of Morocco and western Algeria including Fez Sijilmasa Aghmat Oujda most of the Sous and Draa and reaching as far as M’sila and the Zab in Algeria.As the Fatimid state was at the time too weak to attempt a direct invasion they found another means of revenge. Between the Nile and the Red Sea were living Bedouin nomad tribes expelled from Arabia for their disruption and turbulency. The Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym for example who regularly disrupted farmers in the Nile Valley since the nomads would often loot their farms. The then Fatimid vizier decided to destroy what he couldn't control and broke a deal with the chiefs of these Beduouin tribes. The Fatimids even gave them money to leave.Whole tribes set off with women, children, elders, animals and camping equipment. Some stopped on the way, especially in Cyrenaica, where they are still one of the essential elements of the settlement but most arrived in Ifriqiya by the Gabes region, arriving 1051. The Zirid ruler tried to stop this rising tide, but with each encounter, the last under the walls of Kairouan, his troops were defeated and the Arabs remained masters of the battlefield. They Arabs usually didn't take control over the cities, instead looting them and destroying them.The invasion kept going and in 1057 the Arabs spread on the high plains of Constantine where they encircled the Qalaa of Banu Hammad (capital of the Hammadid Emirate) as they had done in Kairouan a few decades ago. From there they gradually gained the upper Algiers and Oran plains. Some of these territories were forcibly taken back by the Almohads in the second half of the 12th century. The influx of Bedouin tribes was a major factor in the linguistic cultural Arabization of the Maghreb and in the spread of nomadism in areas where agriculture had previously been dominant. Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal tribes had become completely arid desert.The Almohads originating from modern day Morocco although founded by a man originating from Algeria known as Abd al-Mus tribe the Kouma were the main supporters of the throne and the most important body of the empire. Defeating the weakening Almoravid Empire and taking control over Morocco in 1147 they pushed into Algeria in 1152 taking control over Tlemcen Oran and Algiers wrestling control from the Hilian Arabs and by the same year they defeated Hammadids who controlled Eastern Algeria.Following their decisive defeat in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 the Almohads began collapsing and in 1235 the governor of modern-day Western Algeria Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan declared his independence and established the Kingdom of Tlemcen and the Zayyanid dynasty. Warring with the Almohad forces attempting to restore control over Algeria for 13 years they defeated the Almohads in 1248 after killing their Caliph in a successful ambush near Oujda.The Zayyanids retained their control over Algeria for 3 centuries. Much of the eastern territories of Algeria were under the authority of the Hafsid dynasty although the Emirate of Bejaia encompassing the Algerian territories of the Hafsids would occasionally be independent from central Tunisian control. At their peak the Zayyanid kingdom included all of Morocco as its vassal to the west and in the east reached as far as Tunis which they captured during the reign of Abu Tashfin.After several conflicts with local Barbary pirates sponsored by the Zayyanid sultans, Spain decided to invade Algeria and defeat the native Kingdom of Tlemcen. In 1505 they invaded and captured Mers el Kbir, and in 1509 after a bloody siege, they conquered Oran. Following their decisive victories over the Algerians in the western-coastal areas of Algeria, the Spanish decided to get bolder, and invaded more Algerian cities. In 1510 they led a series of sieges and attacks, taking over Bejaia in a large siege, and leading a semi-successful siege against Algiers. They also besieged Tlemcen. In 1511 they took control over Cherchell and Jijel, and attacked Mostaganem where although they weren't able to conquer the city, they were able to force a tribute on them.Ottoman era.In 1516 the Ottoman privateer brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa, who operated successfully under the Hafsids, moved their base of operations to Algiers. They succeeded in conquering Jijel and Algiers from the Spaniards with help from the locals who saw them as liberators from the Christians, but the brothers eventually assassinated the local noble Salim al-Tumi and took control over the city and the surrounding regions. When Aruj was killed in 1518 during his invasion of Tlemcen, Hayreddin succeeded him as military commander of Algiers. The Ottoman sultan gave him the title of beylerbey and a contingent of some 2,000 janissaries. With the aid of this force and native Algerians, Hayreddin conquered the whole area between Constantine and Oran .The next beylerbey was Hayreddin's son Hasan who assumed the position in 1544. He was a Kouloughli or of mixed origins as his mother was an Algerian Mooresse. Until 1587 Beylerbeylik of Algiers was governed by Beylerbeys who served terms with no fixed limits. Subsequently with the institution of a regular administration governors with the title of pasha ruled for three-year terms. The pasha was assisted by an autonomous janissary unit known in Algeria as the Ojaq who were led by an agha. Discontent among the ojaq rose in the mid-1600s because they were not paid regularly and they repeatedly revolted against the pasha. As a result the agha charged the pasha with corruption and incompetence and seized power in 1659.Plague had repeatedly struck the cities of North Africa. Algiers lost from 30,000 to 50,000 inhabitants to the plague in 1620–21, and suffered high fatalities in 1654–57, 1665, 1691 and 1740–42.The Barbary pirates preyed on Christian and other non-Islamic shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea. The pirates often took the passengers and crew on the ships and sold them or used them as slaves. They also did a brisk business in ransoming some of the captives. According to Robert Davis from the 16th to 19th century pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves. They often made raids called Razzias on European coastal towns to capture Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in North Africa and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In 1544 for example Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the island of Ischia taking 4000 prisoners and enslaved some 9000 inhabitants of Lipari almost the entire population. In 1551 the Ottoman governor of Algiers Turgut Reis enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo. Barbary pirates often attacked the Balearic Islands. The threat was so severe that residents abandoned the island of Formentera. The introduction of broad-sail ships from the beginning of the 17th century allowed them to branch out into the Atlantic.In July 1627 two pirate ships from Algiers under the command of Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon sailed as far as Iceland, raiding and capturing slaves. Two weeks earlier another pirate ship from Sal in Morocco had also raided in Iceland. Some of the slaves brought to Algiers were later ransomed back to Iceland, but some chose to stay in Algeria. In 1629 pirate ships from Algeria raided the Faroe Islands.In 1671, the taifa of raises, or the company of corsair captains rebelled, killed the agha, and placed one of its own in power. The new leader received the title of Dey. After 1689, the right to select the dey passed to the divan, a council of some sixty nobles. It was at first dominated by the "ojaq"; but by the 18th century, it had become the dey's instrument. In 1710, the dey persuaded the sultan to recognise him and his successors as regent, replacing the pasha in that role. Although Algiers remained nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, in reality they acted independently from the rest of the Empire, and often had wars with other Ottoman subjects and territories such as the Beylik of Tunis.The dey was in effect a constitutional autocrat. The dey was elected for a life term, but in the 159 years that the system was in place, fourteen of the twenty-nine deys were assassinated. Despite usurpation, military coups and occasional mob rule, the day-to-day operation of the Deylikal government was remarkably orderly. Although the regency patronised the tribal chieftains, it never had the unanimous allegiance of the countryside, where heavy taxation frequently provoked unrest. Autonomous tribal states were tolerated, and the regency's authority was seldom applied in the Kabylia, although in 1730 the Regency was able to take control over the Kingdom of Kuku in western Kabylia. Many cities in the northern parts of the Algerian desert paid taxes to Algiers or one of its Beys, although they otherwise retained complete autonomy from central control, while the deeper parts of the Sahara were completely independent from Algiers.Barbary raids in the Mediterranean continued to attack Spanish merchant shipping, and as a result, the Spanish Navy bombarded Algiers in 1783 and 1784. For the attack in 1784, the Spanish fleet was to be joined by ships from such traditional enemies of Algiers as Naples, Portugal and the Knights of Malta. Over 20,000 cannonballs were fired, much of the city and its fortifications were destroyed and most of the Algerian fleet was sunk.In 1792 Algiers took back Oran and Mers el Kbir, the two last Spanish strongholds in Algeria. In the same year, they conquered the Moroccan Rif and Oujda, which they then abandoned in 1795.In the 19th century, Algerian pirates forged affiliations with Caribbean powers, paying a in exchange for safe harbour of their vessels.Attacks by Algerian pirates on American merchantmen resulted in the First and Second Barbary Wars which ended the attacks on U.S. ships. A year later a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Lord Exmouth bombarded Algiers to stop similar attacks on European fishermen. These efforts proved successful although Algerian piracy would continue until the French conquest in 1830.French colonization .Under the pretext of a slight to their consul the French invaded and captured Algiers in 1830. Historian Ben Kiernan wrote on the French conquest of Algeria During this time, only Kabylia resisted, the Kabylians were not colonized until after the Mokrani revolt in 1871.From 1848 until independence France administered the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria as an integral part and Between 1825 and 1847 50000 French people emigrated to Algeria. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communal land from tribal peoples and the application of modern agricultural techniques that increased the amount of arable land. Many Europeans settled in Oran and Algiers and by the early 20th century they formed a majority of the population in both cities.During the late 19th and early 20th century the European share was almost a fifth of the population. The French government aimed at making Algeria an assimilated part of France and this included substantial educational investments especially after 1900. The indigenous cultural and religious resistance heavily opposed this tendency but in contrast to the other colonised countries' path in central Asia and Caucasus Algeria kept its individual skills and a relatively human-capital intensive agriculture.During the Second World War Algeria came under Vichy control before being liberated by the Allies in Operation Torch which saw the first large-scale deployment of American troops in the North African campaign.Gradually, dissatisfaction among the Muslim population, which lacked political and economic status under the colonial system, gave rise to demands for greater political autonomy and eventually independence from France. In May 1945, the uprising against the occupying French forces was suppressed through what is now known as the Stif and Guelma massacre. Tensions between the two population groups came to a head in 1954, when the first violent events of what was later called the Algerian War began after the publication of the Declaration of 1 November 1954. Historians have estimated that between 30,000 and 150,000 Harkis and their dependants were killed by the Front de Libration Nationale or by lynch mobs in Algeria. The FLN used hit and run attacks in Algeria and France as part of its war, and the French conducted severe reprisals.The war led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Algerians and hundreds of thousands of injuries. Historians, like Alistair Horne and Raymond Aron, state that the actual number of Algerian Muslim war dead was far greater than the original FLN and official French estimates but was less than the 1 million deaths claimed by the Algerian government after independence. Horne estimated Algerian casualties during the span of eight years to be around 700,000. The war uprooted more than 2 million Algerians.The war against French rule concluded in 1962, when Algeria gained complete independence following the March 1962 Evian agreements and the July 1962 self-determination referendum.The first three decades of independence (1962–1991).The number of European "Pied-Noirs" who fled Algeria totaled more than 900,000 between 1962 and 1964. The exodus to mainland France accelerated after the Oran massacre of 1962, in which hundreds of militants entered European sections of the city, and began attacking civilians.Algeria's first president was the Front de Libration Nationale leader Ahmed Ben Bella. Morocco's claim to portions of western Algeria led to the Sand War in 1963. Ben Bella was overthrown in 1965 by Houari Boumdine, his former ally and defence minister. Under Ben Bella, the government had become increasingly socialist and authoritarian; Boumdienne continued this trend. But, he relied much more on the army for his support, and reduced the sole legal party to a symbolic role. He collectivised agriculture and launched a massive industrialisation drive. Oil extraction facilities were nationalised. This was especially beneficial to the leadership after the international 1973 oil crisis.In the 1960s and 1970s under President Houari Boumediene Algeria pursued a program of industrialisation within a state-controlled socialist economy. Boumediene's successor Chadli Bendjedid introduced some liberal economic reforms. He promoted a policy of Arabisation in Algerian society and public life. Teachers of Arabic brought in from other Muslim countries spread conventional Islamic thought in schools and sowed the seeds of a return to Orthodox Islam.The Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil leading to hardship when the price collapsed during the 1980s oil glut. Economic recession caused by the crash in world oil prices resulted in Algerian social unrest during the 1980s by the end of the decade Bendjedid introduced a multi-party system. Political parties developed such as the Islamic Salvation Front a broad coalition of Muslim groups.Civil War and aftermath.In December 1991 the Islamic Salvation Front dominated the first of two rounds of legislative elections. Fearing the election of an Islamist government the authorities intervened on 11 January 1992 cancelling the elections. Bendjedid resigned and a High Council of State was installed to act as the Presidency. It banned the FIS triggering a civil insurgency between the Front's armed wing the Armed Islamic Group and the national armed forces in which more than 100000 people are thought to have died. The Islamist militants conducted a violent campaign of civilian massacres. At several points in the conflict the situation in Algeria became a point of international concern most notably during the crisis surrounding Air France Flight 8969 a hijacking perpetrated by the Armed Islamic Group. The Armed Islamic Group declared a ceasefire in October 1997.Algeria held elections in 1999, considered biased by international observers and most opposition groups which were won by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He worked to restore political stability to the country and announced a "Civil Concord" initiative, approved in a referendum, under which many political prisoners were pardoned, and several thousand members of armed groups were granted exemption from prosecution under a limited amnesty, in force until 13 January 2000. The AIS disbanded and levels of insurgent violence fell rapidly. The Groupe Salafiste pour la Prdication et le Combat , a splinter group of the Armed Islamic Group, continued a terrorist campaign against the Government.Bouteflika was re-elected in the April 2004 presidential election after campaigning on a programme of national reconciliation. The programme comprised economic, institutional, political and social reform to modernise the country, raise living standards, and tackle the causes of alienation. It also included a second amnesty initiative, the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which was approved in a referendum in September 2005. It offered amnesty to most guerrillas and Government security forces.In November 2008, the Algerian Constitution was amended following a vote in Parliament, removing the two-term limit on Presidential incumbents. This change enabled Bouteflika to stand for re-election in the 2009 presidential elections, and he was re-elected in April 2009. During his election campaign and following his re-election, Bouteflika promised to extend the programme of national reconciliation and a $150-billion spending programme to create three million new jobs, the construction of one million new housing units, and to continue public sector and infrastructure modernisation programmes.A continuing series of protests throughout the country started on 28 December 2010, inspired by similar protests across the Middle East and North Africa. On 24 February 2011, the government lifted Algeria's 19-year-old state of emergency. The government enacted legislation dealing with political parties, the electoral code, and the representation of women in elected bodies. In April 2011, Bouteflika promised further constitutional and political reform. However, elections are routinely criticised by opposition groups as unfair and international human rights groups say that media censorship and harassment of political opponents continue.On 2 April 2019, Bouteflika resigned from the presidency after mass protests against his candidacy for a fifth term in office.Since the 2011 breakup of Sudan and the creation of South Sudan Algeria has been the largest country in Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. Its southern part includes a significant portion of the Sahara. To the north the Tell Atlas form with the Saharan Atlas further south two parallel sets of reliefs in approaching eastbound and between which are inserted vast plains and highlands. Both Atlas tend to merge in eastern Algeria. The vast mountain ranges of Aures and Nememcha occupy the entire northeastern Algeria and are delineated by the Tunisian border. The highest point is Mount Tahat .Algeria lies mostly between latitudes 19° and 37°N and longitudes 9°W and 12°E. Most of the coastal area is hilly sometimes even mountainous and there are a few natural harbours. The area from the coast to the Tell Atlas is fertile. South of the Tell Atlas is a steppe landscape ending with the Saharan Atlas farther south there is the Sahara desert.The Hoggar Mountains , also known as the Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, southern Algeria. They are located about south of the capital, Algiers, and just east of Tamanghasset. Algiers, Oran, Constantine, and Annaba are Algeria's main cities.Climate and hydrology.In this region midday desert temperatures can be hot year round. After sunset however the clear dry air permits rapid loss of heat and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.Rainfall is fairly plentiful along the coastal part of the Tell Atlas ranging from annually the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east. Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria where it reaches as much as in some years.Farther inland the rainfall is less plentiful. Algeria also has ergs or sand dunes between mountains. Among these in the summer time when winds are heavy and gusty temperatures can go up to .Fauna and flora.The varied vegetation of Algeria includes coastal mountainous and grassy desert-like regions which all support a wide range of wildlife. Many of the creatures comprising the Algerian wildlife live in close proximity to civilisation. The most commonly seen animals include the wild boars jackals and gazelles although it is not uncommon to spot fennecs and jerboas. Algeria also has a small African leopard and Saharan cheetah population but these are seldom seen. A species of deer the Barbary stag inhabits the dense humid forests in the north-eastern areas.A variety of bird species makes the country an attraction for bird watchers. The forests are inhabited by boars and jackals. Barbary macaques are the sole native monkey. Snakes monitor lizards and numerous other reptiles can be found living among an array of rodents throughout the semi arid regions of Algeria. Many animals are now extinct including the Barbary lions Atlas bears and crocodiles.In the north, some of the native flora includes Macchia scrub, olive trees, oaks, cedars and other conifers. The mountain regions contain large forests of evergreens and some deciduous trees. Fig, eucalyptus, agave, and various palm trees grow in the warmer areas. The grape vine is indigenous to the coast. In the Sahara region, some oases have palm trees. Acacias with wild olives are the predominant flora in the remainder of the Sahara. Algeria had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.22/10, ranking it 106th globally out of 172 countries.Camels are used extensively the desert also abounds with venomous and nonvenomous snakes scorpions and numerous insects.Government and politics.Elected politicians have relatively little sway over Algeria. Instead a group of unelected civilian and military () known as () actually rule the country even deciding who should be president. The most powerful man might have been Mohamed Medine the head of military intelligence before he was brought down during the 2019 protests. In recent years many of these generals have died retired or been imprisoned. After the death of General Larbi Belkheir Previous president Bouteflika put loyalists in key posts notably at Sonatrach and secured constitutional amendments that made him re-electable indefinitely until he was brought down in 2019 during protests.The head of state is the President of Algeria, who is elected for a five-year term. The president was formerly limited to two five-year terms, but a constitutional amendment passed by the Parliament on 11 November 2008 removed this limitation. The most recent presidential election was planned to be in April 2019, but widespread protests erupted on 22 February against the president's decision to participate in the election, which resulted in President Bouteflika announcing his resignation on 3 April. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, an independent candidate, was elected as president after the election eventually took place on 12 December 2019. Protestors refused to recognise Tebboune as president, citing demands for comprehensive reform of the political system. Algeria has universal suffrage at 18 years of age. The President is the head of the army, the Council of Ministers and the High Security Council. He appoints the Prime Minister who is also the head of government.The Algerian parliament is bicameral the lower house the People's National Assembly has 462 members who are directly elected for five-year terms while the upper house the Council of the Nation has 144 members serving six-year terms of which 96 members are chosen by local assemblies and 48 are appointed by the president. According to the constitution no political association may be formed if it is . In addition political campaigns must be exempt from the aforementioned subjects.Parliamentary elections were last held in May 2017. In the elections, the FLN lost 44 of its seats, but remained the largest party with 164 seats, the military-backed National Rally for Democracy won 100, and the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Movement of the Society for Peace won 33.Foreign relations.Algeria is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.Giving incentives and rewarding best performers, as well as offering funds in a faster and more flexible manner, are the two main principles underlying the European Neighbourhood Instrument that came into force in 2014. It has a budget of €15.4 billion and provides the bulk of funding through a number of programmes.In 2009 the French government agreed to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria. Defence Minister Herve Morin stated that when presenting the draft law on the payouts. Algerian officials and activists believe that this is a good first step and hope that this move would encourage broader reparation.Tensions between Algeria and Morocco in relation to the Western Sahara have been an obstacle to tightening the Arab Maghreb Union nominally established in 1989 but which has carried little practical weight. On 24 August 2021 Algeria announced the break of diplomatic relations with Morocco.The military of Algeria consists of the People's National Army the Algerian National Navy and the Algerian Air Force plus the Territorial Air Defence Forces. It is the direct successor of the National Liberation Army the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front which fought French colonial occupation during the Algerian War of Independence .Total military personnel include 147,000 active, 150,000 reserve, and 187,000 paramilitary staff . Service in the military is compulsory for men aged 19–30, for a total of 12 months. The military expenditure was 4.3% of the gross domestic product in 2012. Algeria has the second largest military in North Africa with the largest defence budget in Africa . Most of Algeria's weapons are imported from Russia, with whom they are a close ally.In 2007 the Algerian Air Force signed a deal with Russia to purchase 49 MiG-29SMT and 6 MiG-29UBT at an estimated cost of $1.9 billion. Russia is also building two 636-type diesel submarines for Algeria.Human rights.Algeria has been categorised by Freedom House as "not free" since it began publishing such ratings in 1972 with the exception of 1989 1990 and 1991 when the country was labelled "partly free." In December 2016 the "Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor" issued a report regarding violation of media freedom in Algeria. It clarified that the Algerian government imposed restriction on freedom of the press expression and right to peaceful demonstration protest and assembly as well as intensified censorship of the media and websites. Due to the fact that the journalists and activists criticise the ruling government some media organisations' licenses are cancelled.Independent and autonomous trade unions face routine harassment from the government, with many leaders imprisoned and protests suppressed. In 2016 a number of unions, many of which were involved in the 2010–2012 Algerian Protests, have been deregistered by the government.Homosexuality is illegal in Algeria. Public homosexual behavior is punishable by up to two years in prison. Despite this about 26% of Algerians think that homosexuality should be accepted according to the survey conducted by the BBC News Arabic-Arab Barometer in 2019. Algeria showed largest LGBT acceptance compared to other Arab countries where the survey was conducted.Human Rights Watch has accused the Algerian authorities of using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to prevent pro-democracy movements and protests in the country, leading to the arrest of youths as part of social distancing.Administrative divisions.Algeria is divided into 58 provinces 553 districts and 1541 municipalities . Each province district and municipality is named after its seat which is usually the largest city.The administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. When introducing new provinces, the numbers of old provinces are kept, hence the non-alphabetical order. With their official numbers, currently they areAlgeria's currency is the dinar . The economy remains dominated by the state a legacy of the country's socialist post-independence development model. In recent years the Algerian government has halted the privatization of state-owned industries and imposed restrictions on imports and foreign involvement in its economy. These restrictions are just starting to be lifted off recently although questions about Algeria's slowly-diversifying economy remain.Algeria has struggled to develop industries outside hydrocarbons in part because of high costs and an inert state bureaucracy. The government's efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector have done little to reduce high youth unemployment rates or to address housing shortages. The country is facing a number of short-term and medium-term problems including the need to diversify the economy strengthen political economic and financial reforms improve the business climate and reduce inequalities amongst regions.A wave of economic protests in February and March 2011 prompted the Algerian government to offer more than $23 billion in public grants and retroactive salary and benefit increases. Public spending has increased by 27% annually during the past 5 years. The 2010–14 public-investment programme will cost US$286 billion, 40% of which will go to human development.Thanks to strong hydrocarbon revenues, Algeria has a cushion of $173 billion in foreign currency reserves and a large hydrocarbon stabilisation fund. In addition, Algerias budget more vulnerable to the risk of prolonged lower hydrocarbon revenues.Algeria has not joined the WTO despite several years of negotiations.Oil and natural resources.Algeria, whose economy is reliant on petroleum, has been an OPEC member since 1969. Its crude oil production stands at around 1.1 million barrels/day, but it is also a major gas producer and exporter, with important links to Europe. Hydrocarbons have long been the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the 10th-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the sixth-largest gas exporter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had of proven natural-gas reserves. It also ranks 16th in oil reserves.Non-hydrocarbon growth for 2011 was projected at 5%. To cope with social demands the authorities raised expenditure especially on basic food support employment creation support for SMEs and higher salaries. High hydrocarbon prices have improved the current account and the already large international reserves position.Income from oil and gas rose in 2011 as a result of continuing high oil prices, though the trend in production volume is downwards. Production from the oil and gas sector in terms of volume, continues to decline, dropping from 43.2 million tonnes to 32 million tonnes between 2007 and 2011. Nevertheless, the sector accounted for 98% of the total volume of exports in 2011, against 48% in 1962, and 70% of budgetary receipts, or US$71.4 billion.The Algerian national oil company is Sonatrach which plays a key role in all aspects of the oil and natural gas sectors in Algeria. All foreign operators must work in partnership with Sonatrach which usually has majority ownership in production-sharing agreements.Access to biocapacity in Algeria is lower than world average. In 2016, Algeria had 0.53 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Algeria used 2.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use just under 4.5 times as much biocapacity as Algeria contains. As a result, Algeria is running a biocapacity deficit.Research and alternative energy sources.Algeria has invested an estimated 100 billion dinars towards developing research facilities and paying researchers. This development program is meant to advance alternative energy production, especially solar and wind power. Algeria is estimated to have the largest solar energy potential in the Mediterranean, so the government has funded the creation of a solar science park in Hassi R'Mel. Currently, Algeria has 20,000 research professors at various universities and over 780 research labs, with state-set goals to expand to 1,000. Besides solar energy, areas of research in Algeria include space and satellite telecommunications, nuclear power and medical research.Labour market.Despite a decline in total unemployment, youth and women unemployment is high. Unemployment particularly affects the young, with a jobless rate of 21.5% among the 15–24 age group.The overall rate of unemployment was 10% in 2011 but remained higher among young people with a rate of 21.5% for those aged between 15 and 24. The government strengthened in 2011 the job programmes introduced in 1988 in particular in the framework of the programme to aid those seeking work (Dispositif dInsertion Professionnelle).The development of the tourism sector in Algeria had previously been hampered by a lack of facilities, but since 2004 a broad tourism development strategy has been implemented resulting in many hotels of a high modern standard being built.There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria including Al QalAjjer a mountain range.The Algerian road network is the densest in Africa; its length is estimated at of highways, with more than 3,756 structures and a paving rate of 85%. This network will be complemented by the East-West Highway, a major infrastructure project currently under construction. It is a 3-way, highway, linking Annaba in the extreme east to the Tlemcen in the far west. Algeria is also crossed by the Trans-Sahara Highway, which is now completely paved. This road is supported by the Algerian government to increase trade between the six countries crossed: Algeria, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Tunisia.Demographics.Algeria has a population of an estimated 44 million, of which the vast majority are Arab-Berber ethnically. At the outset of the 20th century, its population was approximately four million. About 90% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the inhabitants of the Sahara desert are mainly concentrated in oases, although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. 28.1% of Algerians are under the age of 15.Between 90,000 and 165,000 Sahrawis from Western Sahara live in the Sahrawi refugee camps, in the western Algerian Sahara desert. There are also more than 4,000 Palestinian refugees, who are well integrated and have not asked for assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 2009, 35,000 Chinese migrant workers lived in Algeria.The largest concentration of Algerian migrants outside Algeria is in France, which has reportedly over 1.7 million Algerians of up to the second generation.Ethnic groups.Indigenous Berbers as well as Phoenicians Romans Vandals Byzantine Greeks Arabs Turks various Sub-Saharan Africans and French have contributed to the history of Algeria. Descendants of Andalusian refugees are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities. Moreover Spanish was spoken by these Aragonese and Castillian Morisco descendants deep into the 18th century and even Catalan was spoken at the same time by Catalan Morisco descendants in the small town of Grish El-Oued.Despite the dominance of the Berber ethnicity in Algeria, the majority of Algerians identify with an Arabic-based identity, especially after the Arab nationalism rising in the 20th century. Berbers and Berber-speaking Algerians are divided into many groups with varying languages. The largest of these are the Kabyles, who live in the Kabylie region east of Algiers, the Chaoui of Northeast Algeria, the Tuaregs in the southern desert and the Shenwa people of North Algeria.During the colonial period, there was a large European population who became known as . They were primarily of French, Spanish and Italian origin. Almost all of this population left during the war of independence or immediately after its end.Modern Standard Arabic and Berber are the official languages. Algerian Arabic is the language used by the majority of the population. Colloquial Algerian Arabic is heavily infused with borrowings from French and Berber.Berber has been recognised as a "national language" by the constitutional amendment of 8 May 2002. Kabyle, the predominant Berber language, is taught and is partially co-official in parts of Kabylie. In February 2016, the Algerian constitution passed a resolution that made Berber an official language alongside Arabic.Although French has no official status in Algeria it has one of the largest Francophone populations in the world and French is widely used in government media and both the education system and academia due to Algeria's colonial history. It can be regarded as a lingua franca of Algeria. In 2008 11.2 million Algerians could read and write in French. An Abassa Institute study in April 2000 found that 60% of households could speak and understand French or 18 million people out of a total of 30 million at the time. Following a period during which the Algerian government tried to phase out French in recent decades the government has changed course and reinforced the study of French and some television programs are broadcast in the language.Algeria emerged as a bilingual state after 1962. Colloquial Algerian Arabic is spoken by about 72% of the population and Berber by 27–30%.Islam is the predominant religion in Algeria, with its adherents, mostly Sunnis, accounting for 99% of the population according to a 2021 CIA "World Factbook" estimate, and 97.9% according to Pew Research in 2020. There are about 290,000 Ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia. Estimates of the Christian population range from 20,000 to 200,000 Algerian citizens who are Christians predominantly belong to Protestant groups, which have seen increased pressure from the government in recent years including many forced closures.There has been an increase in the number of people identifying as non-religious. The June 2019 Arab Barometer-BBC News report found that the percentage of Algerians identifying as non-religious has grown from around 8% in 2013 to around 15% in 2018. The Arab Barometer December 2019, found that the growth in the percentage of Algerians identifying as non-religious is largely driven by young Algerians, with roughly 25% describing themselves as non-religious.Algeria has given the Muslim world a number of prominent thinkers, including Emir Abdelkader, Abdelhamid Ben Badis, Mouloud Kacem Nat Belkacem, Malek Bennabi and Mohamed Arkoun.In 2018, Algeria had the highest numbers of physicians in the Maghreb region , nurses , and dentists . Access to "improved water sources" was around 97.4% of the population in urban areas and 98.7% of the population in the rural areas. Some 99% of Algerians living in urban areas, and around 93.4% of those living in rural areas, had access to "improved sanitation". According to the World Bank, Algeria is making progress toward its goal of "reducing by half the number of people without sustainable access to improved drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015". Given Algeria's young population, policy favours preventive health care and clinics over hospitals. In keeping with this policy, the government maintains an immunisation program. However, poor sanitation and unclean water still cause tuberculosis, hepatitis, measles, typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery. The poor generally receive health care free of charge.Health records have been maintained in Algeria since 1882 and began adding Muslims living in the south to their vital record database in 1905 during French rule.Since the 1970s in a centralised system that was designed to significantly reduce the rate of illiteracy the Algerian government introduced a decree by which school attendance became compulsory for all children aged between 6 and 15 years who have the ability to track their learning through the 20 facilities built since independence now the literacy rate is around 92.6%. Since 1972 Arabic is used as the language of instruction during the first nine years of schooling. From the third year French is taught and it is also the language of instruction for science classes. The students can also learn English Italian Spanish and German. In 2008 new programs at the elementary appeared therefore the compulsory schooling does not start at the age of six anymore but at the age of five. Apart from the 122 private schools the Universities of the State are free of charge. After nine years of primary school students can go to the high school or to an educational institution. The school offers two programs general or technical. At the end of the third year of secondary school students pass the exam of the baccalaureate which allows once it is successful to pursue graduate studies in universities and institutes.Education is officially compulsory for children between the ages of six and 15. In 2008 the illiteracy rate for people over 10 was 22.3% 15.6% for men and 29.0% for women. The province with the lowest rate of illiteracy was Algiers Province at 11.6% while the province with the highest rate was Djelfa Province at 35.5%.Algeria has 26 universities and 67 institutions of higher education which must accommodate a million Algerians and 80000 foreign students in 2008. The University of Algiers founded in 1879 is the oldest it offers education in various disciplines . Twenty-five of these universities and almost all of the institutions of higher education were founded after the independence of the country.Even if some of them offer instruction in Arabic like areas of law and the economy, most of the other sectors as science and medicine continue to be provided in French and English. Among the most important universities, there are the University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, the University of Mentouri Constantine, and University of Oran Es-Senia. The University of Abou Bekr Belkad in Tlemcen and University of Batna Hadj Lakhdar occupy the 26th and 45th row in Africa. Algeria was ranked 121st in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, down from 113rd in 2019.Below is a list of the most populous Algerian citiesModern Algerian literature split between Arabic Tamazight and French has been strongly influenced by the country's recent history. Famous novelists of the 20th century include Mohammed Dib Albert Camus Kateb Yacine and Ahlam Mosteghanemi while Assia Djebar is widely translated. Among the important novelists of the 1980s were Rachid Mimouni later vice-president of Amnesty International and Tahar Djaout murdered by an Islamist group in 1993 for his secularist views.Malek Bennabi and Frantz Fanon are noted for their thoughts on decolonization; Augustine of Hippo was born in Tagaste ; and Ibn Khaldun, though born in Tunis, wrote the Muqaddima while staying in Algeria. The works of the Sanusi family in pre-colonial times, and of Emir Abdelkader and Sheikh Ben Badis in colonial times, are widely noted. The Latin author Apuleius was born in Madaurus , in what later became Algeria.Contemporary Algerian cinema is various in terms of genre, exploring a wider range of themes and issues. There has been a transition from cinema which focused on the war of independence to films more concerned with the everyday lives of Algerians.Algerian painters, like or Baya, attempted to revive the prestigious Algerian past prior to French colonisation, at the same time that they have contributed to the preservation of the authentic values of Algeria. In this line, Mohamed Temam, Abdelkhader Houamel have also returned through this art, scenes from the history of the country, the habits and customs of the past and the country life. Other new artistic currents including the one of Mhamed Issiakhem have been notable in recent years.Literature.The historic roots of Algerian literature go back to the Numidian and Roman African era, when Apuleius wrote , the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. This period had also known Augustine of Hippo, Nonius Marcellus and Martianus Capella, among many others. The Middle Ages have known many Arabic writers who revolutionised the Arab world literature, with authors like Ahmad al-Buni, Ibn Manzur and Ibn Khaldoun, who wrote the Muqaddimah while staying in Algeria, and many others.Albert Camus was an Algerian-born French Pied-Noir author. In 1957 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.Today Algeria contains in its literary landscape big names having not only marked the Algerian literature but also the universal literary heritage in Arabic and French.As a first step, Algerian literature was marked by works whose main concern was the assertion of the Algerian national entity, there is the publication of novels as the of Kateb Yacine novel which is often regarded as a monumental and major work. Other known writers will contribute to the emergence of Algerian literature whom include Mouloud Feraoun, Malek Bennabi, Malek Haddad, Moufdi Zakaria, Abdelhamid Ben Badis, Mohamed Lad Al-Khalifa, Mouloud Mammeri, Frantz Fanon, and Assia Djebar.In the aftermath of the independence several new authors emerged on the Algerian literary scene they will attempt through their works to expose a number of social problems among them there are Rachid Boudjedra Rachid Mimouni Leila Sebbar Tahar Djaout and Tahir Wattar.Currently, a part of Algerian writers tends to be defined in a literature of shocking expression, due to the terrorism that occurred during the 1990s, the other party is defined in a different style of literature who staged an individualistic conception of the human adventure. Among the most noted recent works, there is the writer, .Chabi music is a typically Algerian musical genre characterized by specific rhythms and of Qacidate in Arabic dialect. The undisputed master of this music is El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka. The Constantinois Malouf style is saved by musician from whom Mohamed Tahar Fergani is a performer.Folk music styles include Bedouin music characterized by the poetic songs based on long kacida Kabyle music based on a rich repertoire that is poetry and old tales passed through generations Shawiya music a folklore from diverse areas of the Aurs Mountains. Rahaba music style is unique to the Aures. Souad Massi is a rising Algerian folk singer. Other Algerian singers of the diaspora include Manel Filali in Germany and Kenza Farah in France. Tergui music is sung in Tuareg languages generally Tinariwen had a worldwide success. Finally the stafi music is born in Stif and remains a unique style of its kind.Modern music is available in several facets Ra music is a style typical of western Algeria. Rap a relatively recent style in Algeria is experiencing significant growth.The Algerian state's interest in film-industry activities can be seen in the annual budget of DZD 200 million (EUR 1.3 million) allocated to production specific measures and an ambitious programme plan implemented by the Ministry of Culture in order to promote national production renovate the cinema stock and remedy the weak links in distribution and exploitation.The financial support provided by the state through the Fund for the Development of the Arts Techniques and the Film Industry and the Algerian Agency for Cultural Influence plays a key role in the promotion of national production. Between 2007 and 2013 FDATIC subsidised 98 films . In mid-2013 AARC had already supported a total of 78 films including 42 feature films 6 short films and 30 documentaries.According to the European Audiovisual Observatory's LUMIERE database 41 Algerian films were distributed in Europe between 1996 and 2013 21 films in this repertoire were Algerian-French co-productions. recorded the highest number of admissions in the European Union 3172612 and 474722 respectively.Algeria won the Palme d'Or for .Algerian cuisine is rich and diverse. The country was considered as the . It offers a component of dishes and varied dishes depending on the region and according to the seasons. The cuisine uses cereals as the main products since they are always produced with abundance in the country. There is not a dish where cereals are not present.Algerian cuisine varies from one region to another according to seasonal vegetables. It can be prepared using meat fish and vegetables. Among the dishes known couscous chorba rechta chakhchoukha berkoukes shakshouka mthewem chtitha mderbel dolma brik or bourek garantita lham'hlou etc. Merguez sausage is widely used in Algeria but it differs depending on the region and on the added spices.Cakes are marketed and can be found in cities either in Algeria in Europe or North America. However traditional cakes are also made at home following the habits and customs of each family. Among these cakes there are Tamina Baklawa Chrik Garn logzelles Griouech Kalb el-louz Makroud Mbardja Mchewek Samsa Tcharak Baghrir Khfaf Zlabia Aarayech Ghroubiya and Mghergchette. Algerian pastry also contains Tunisian or French cakes. Marketed and home-made bread products include varieties such as Kessra or Khmira or Harchaya chopsticks and so-called washers Khoubz dar or Matloue. Other traditional meals sold often as street food include mhadjeb or mahjouba karantika doubara chakhchoukha hassouna and t'chicha.Various games have existed in Algeria since antiquity. In the Aures, people played several games such as El Kherba or El khergueba . Playing cards, checkers and chess games are part of Algerian culture. Racing and rifle shooting are part of cultural recreation of the Algerians.The first Algerian and African gold medalist is Boughera El Ouafi in 1928 Olympics of Amsterdam in the Marathon. The second Algerian Medalist was Alain Mimoun in 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Several men and women were champions in athletics in the 1990s including Noureddine Morceli Hassiba Boulmerka Nouria Merah-Benida and Taoufik Makhloufi all specialized in middle-distance running.Football is the most popular sport in Algeria. Several names are engraved in the history of the sport including Lakhdar Belloumi Rachid Mekhloufi Hassen Lalmas Rabah Madjer Riyad Mahrez Salah Assad and Djamel Zidane. The Algeria national football team qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup 1986 FIFA World Cup 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup. In addition several football clubs have won continental and international trophies as the club ES Stif or JS Kabylia. The Algerian Football Federation is an association of Algeria football clubs organizing national competitions and international matches of the selection of Algeria national football team.National animal.The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria. It also serves as the nickname for the Algeria national football team: .
This is a list of characters in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Major characters.The following are major characters from the novel.Protagonists.Dagny Taggart.Dagny Taggart is the protagonist of the novel. She is vice-president in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental under her brother James Taggart. Given James' incompetence Dagny is responsible for all the workings of the railroad.Francisco d'Anconia.Francisco d'Anconia is one of the central characters in .John Galt is the primary male hero of . He initially appears as an unnamed menial worker for Taggart Transcontinental who often dines with Eddie Willers in the employeess true identity.Before working for Taggart Transcontinental Galt worked as an engineer for the Twentieth Century Motor Company where he secretly invented a generator of usable electric energy from ambient static electricity but abandoned his prototype and his employment when dissatisfied by an easily corrupted novel system of payment. This prototype was found by Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden. Galt himself remains concealed throughout much of the novel working a job and living by himself where he unites the most skillful inventors and business leaders under his leadership. Much of the book's third division is given to his broadcast speech which presents the author's philosophy of Objectivism.Henry "Hank" Rearden.Henry Rearden is one of the central characters in "Atlas Shrugged". He owns the most important steel company in the United States, and invents Rearden Metal, an alloy stronger, lighter, cheaper and tougher than steel. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Lillian, his brother Philip, and his elderly mother. Rearden represents a type of self-made man and eventually divorces Lillian, abandons his steel mills following a bloody assault by government-planted workers, and joins John Galt's strike.Eddie Willers.Edwin Willers is the Special Assistant to the Vice-President in Charge of Operations at Taggart Transcontinental. His father and grandfather worked for the Taggarts, and himself likewise. He is completely loyal to Dagny and to Taggart Transcontinental. Willers does not possess the creative ability of Galt's associates, but matches them in moral courage and is capable of appreciating and making use of their creations. After Dagny shifts her attention and loyalty to saving the captive Galt, Willers maintains the railroad until its collapse.Ragnar Danneskjld.One of Galts perspective.According to Barbara Branden, who was closely associated with Rand at the time the book was written, there were sections written describing Danneskjld's adventures at sea, cut from the final published text. In a 1974 comment at a lecture, Ayn Rand admitted that Danneskjld's name was a tribute to Victor Hugo's novel, , wherein the hero becomes the first of the Counts of Danneskjld. In the published book, Danneskjld is always seen through the eyes of others , except for a brief paragraph in the very last chapter.Antagonists.James Taggart.The President of Taggart Transcontinental and the book's most important antagonist. Taggart is an expert influence peddler but incapable of making operational decisions on his own. He relies on his sister, Dagny Taggart, to actually run the railroad, but nonetheless opposes her in almost every endeavor because of his various anti-capitalist moral and political beliefs. In a sense, he is the antithesis of Dagny. This contradiction leads to the recurring absurdity of his life: the desire to overcome those on whom his life depends, and the horror that he will succeed at this. In the final chapters of the novel, he suffers a complete mental breakdown upon realizing that he can no longer deceive himself in this respect.Lillian Rearden.The unsupportive wife of Hank Rearden, who dislikes his habits and seeks to ruin Rearden to prove her own value. Lillian achieves this, when she passes information to James Taggart about her husband's affair with his sister. This information is used to blackmail Rearden to sign a Gift Certificate which delivers all the property rights of Rearden Metal to others. Lillian thereafter uses James Taggart for sexual satisfaction, until Hank abandons her.Dr. Floyd Ferris.Ferris is a biologist who works as "co-ordinator" at the State Science Institute. He uses his position there to deride reason and productive achievement and publishes a book entitled "Why Do You Think You Think?" He clashes on several occasions with Hank Rearden and twice attempts to blackmail Rearden into giving up Rearden Metal. He is also one of the group of looters who tries to get Rearden to agree to the Steel Unification Plan. Ferris hosts the demonstration of the Project X weapon and is the creator of the Ferris Persuader a torture machine. When John Galt is captured by the looters Ferris uses the device on Galt but it breaks down before extracting the information Ferris wants from Galt. Ferris represents the group which uses brute force on the heroes to achieve the ends of the looters.Dr. Robert Stadler.A former professor at Patrick Henry University and along with colleague Hugh Akston mentor to Francisco d'Anconia John Galt and Ragnar Danneskjld. He has since become a sell-out one who had great promise but squandered it for social approval to the detriment of the free. He works at the State Science Institute where all his inventions are perverted for use by the military including a sound-based weapon known as Project X . He is killed when Cuffy Meigs drunkenly overloads the circuits of Project X causing it to destroy itself and every structure and living thing in a 100-mile radius. The character was in part modeled on J. Robert Oppenheimer whom Rand had interviewed for an earlier project and his part in the creation of nuclear weapons.` To his former student Galt Stadler represents the epitome of human evil as the but chose not to act for the good.Wesley Mouch.The incompetent and treacherous lobbyist whom Hank Rearden reluctantly employs in Washington who rises to prominence and authority throughout the novel through trading favours and disloyalty. In return for betraying Hank by helping broker the Equalization of Opportunity Bill he is given a senior position at the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. Later in the novel he becomes its Top Co-ordinator a position that eventually becomes Economic Dictator of the country.Secondary characters.The following secondary characters also appear in the novel.
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity concerned with human behavior human biology cultures societies and linguistics in both the present and past including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour while cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning including norms and values. A portmanteau sociocultural anthropology is commonly used today. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans.Archaeological anthropology often termed as 'anthropology of the past' studies human activity through investigation of physical evidence. It is considered a branch of anthropology in North America and Asia while in Europe archaeology is viewed as a discipline in its own right or grouped under other related disciplines such as history.The abstract noun "anthropology" is first attested in reference to history. Its present use first appeared in Renaissance Germany in the works of Magnus Hundt and Otto Casmann. Their New Latin ' derived from the combining forms of the Greek words "nthrpos" (, "human") and "lgos" (, "study"). (Its adjectival form appeared in the works of Aristotle.) It began to be used in English, possibly via French ', by the early 18th century.Through the 19th century.In 1647, the Bartholins, founders of the University of Copenhagen, defined as follows:Sporadic use of the term for some of the subject matter occurred subsequently such as the use by tienne Serres in 1839 to describe the natural history or paleontology of man based on comparative anatomy and the creation of a chair in anthropology and ethnography in 1850 at the French National Museum of Natural History by Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Brau. Various short-lived organizations of anthropologists had already been formed. The Socit Ethnologique de Paris the first to use the term "ethnology" was formed in 1839. Its members were primarily anti-slavery activists. When slavery was abolished in France in 1848 the "Socit" was abandoned.Meanwhile, the Ethnological Society of New York, currently the American Ethnological Society, was founded on its model in 1842, as well as the Ethnological Society of London in 1843, a break-away group of the Aborigines' Protection Society. These anthropologists of the times were liberal, anti-slavery, and pro-human-rights activists. They maintained international connections.Anthropology and many other current fields are the intellectual results of the comparative methods developed in the earlier 19th century. Theorists in such diverse fields as anatomy linguistics and ethnology making feature-by-feature comparisons of their subject matters were beginning to suspect that similarities between animals languages and folkways were the result of processes or laws unknown to them then. For them the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was the epiphany of everything they had begun to suspect. Darwin himself arrived at his conclusions through comparison of species he had seen in agronomy and in the wild.Darwin and Wallace unveiled evolution in the late 1850s. There was an immediate rush to bring it into the social sciences. Paul Broca in Paris was in the process of breaking away from the Socit de biologie to form the first of the explicitly anthropological societies, the Socit d'Anthropologie de Paris, meeting for the first time in Paris in 1859. When he read Darwin, he became an immediate convert to .Broca being what today would be called a neurosurgeon had taken an interest in the pathology of speech. He wanted to localize the difference between man and the other animals which appeared to reside in speech. He discovered the speech center of the human brain today called Broca's area after him. His interest was mainly in Biological anthropology but a German philosopher specializing in psychology Theodor Waitz took up the theme of general and social anthropology in his six-volume work entitled "Die Anthropologie der Naturvlker" 1859–1864. The title was soon translated as "The Anthropology of Primitive Peoples". The last two volumes were published posthumously.Waitz defined anthropology as "the science of the nature of man". Following Broca's lead, Waitz points out that anthropology is a new field, which would gather material from other fields, but would differ from them in the use of comparative anatomy, physiology, and psychology to differentiate man from "the animals nearest to him". He stresses that the data of comparison must be empirical, gathered by experimentation. The history of civilization, as well as ethnology, are to be brought into the comparison. It is to be presumed fundamentally that the species, man, is a unity, and that "the same laws of thought are applicable to all men".Waitz was influential among British ethnologists. In 1863 the explorer Richard Francis Burton and the speech therapist James Hunt broke away from the Ethnological Society of London to form the Anthropological Society of London which henceforward would follow the path of the new anthropology rather than just ethnology. It was the 2nd society dedicated to general anthropology in existence. Representatives from the French "Socit" were present though not Broca. In his keynote address printed in the first volume of its new publication "The Anthropological Review" Hunt stressed the work of Waitz adopting his definitions as a standard. Among the first associates were the young Edward Burnett Tylor inventor of cultural anthropology and his brother Alfred Tylor a geologist. Previously Edward had referred to himself as an ethnologist subsequently an anthropologist.Similar organizations in other countries followed The Anthropological Society of Madrid the American Anthropological Association in 1902 the Anthropological Society of Vienna the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology and many others subsequently. The majority of these were evolutionists. One notable exception was the Berlin Society for Anthropology Ethnology and Prehistory founded by Rudolph Virchow known for his vituperative attacks on the evolutionists. Not religious himself he insisted that Darwin's conclusions lacked empirical foundation.During the last three decades of the 19th century, a proliferation of anthropological societies and associations occurred, most independent, most publishing their own journals, and all international in membership and association. The major theorists belonged to these organizations. They supported the gradual osmosis of anthropology curricula into the major institutions of higher learning. By 1898, 48 educational institutions in 13 countries had some curriculum in anthropology. None of the 75 faculty members were under a department named anthropology.20th and 21st centuries.This meager statistic expanded in the 20th century to comprise anthropology departments in the majority of the world's higher educational institutions, many thousands in number. Anthropology has diversified from a few major subdivisions to dozens more. Practical anthropology, the use of anthropological knowledge and technique to solve specific problems, has arrived; for example, the presence of buried victims might stimulate the use of a forensic archaeologist to recreate the final scene. The organization has reached a global level. For example, the World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA), "a network of national, regional and international associations that aims to promote worldwide communication and cooperation in anthropology", currently contains members from about three dozen nations.Since the work of Franz Boas and Bronisaw Malinowski in the late 19th and early 20th centuries "social" anthropology in Great Britain and "cultural" anthropology in the US have been distinguished from other social sciences by their emphasis on cross-cultural comparisons long-term in-depth examination of context and the importance they place on participant-observation or experiential immersion in the area of research. Cultural anthropology in particular has emphasized cultural relativism holism and the use of findings to frame cultural critiques. This has been particularly prominent in the United States from Boas' arguments against 19th-century racial ideology through Margaret Mead's advocacy for gender equality and sexual liberation to current criticisms of post-colonial oppression and promotion of multiculturalism. Ethnography is one of its primary research designs as well as the text that is generated from anthropological fieldwork.In Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries, the British tradition of social anthropology tends to dominate. In the United States, anthropology has traditionally been divided into the four field approach developed by Franz Boas in the early 20th century: anthropology; and archaeological anthropology; plus linguistic anthropology. These fields frequently overlap but tend to use different methodologies and techniques.European countries with overseas colonies tended to practice more ethnology . It is sometimes referred to as sociocultural anthropology in the parts of the world that were influenced by the European tradition.Anthropology is a global discipline involving humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Anthropology builds upon knowledge from natural sciences, including the discoveries about the origin and evolution of "Homo sapiens", human physical traits, human behavior, the variations among different groups of humans, how the evolutionary past of "Homo sapiens" has influenced its social organization and culture, and from social sciences, including the organization of human social and cultural relations, institutions, social conflicts, etc. Early anthropology originated in Classical Greece and Persia and studied and tried to understand observable cultural diversity, such as by Al-Biruni of the Islamic Golden Age. As such, anthropology has been central in the development of several new interdisciplinary fields such as cognitive science, global studies, and various ethnic studies.According to Clifford GeertzSociocultural anthropology has been heavily influenced by structuralist and postmodern theories as well as a shift toward the analysis of modern societies. During the 1970s and 1990s there was an epistemological shift away from the positivist traditions that had largely informed the discipline. During this shift enduring questions about the nature and production of knowledge came to occupy a central place in cultural and social anthropology. In contrast archaeology and biological anthropology remained largely positivist. Due to this difference in epistemology the four sub-fields of anthropology have lacked cohesion over the last several decades.Sociocultural.Sociocultural anthropology draws together the principle axes of cultural anthropology and social anthropology. Cultural anthropology is the comparative study of the manifold ways in which people among individuals and groups. Cultural anthropology is more related to philosophy literature and the arts (how ones knowledge customs and institutions) while social anthropology is more related to sociology and history. In that it helps develop an understanding of social structures typically of others and other populations (such as minorities subgroups dissidents etc.). There is no hard-and-fast distinction between them and these categories overlap to a considerable degree.Inquiry in sociocultural anthropology is guided in part by cultural relativism, the attempt to understand other societies in terms of their own cultural symbols and values. Accepting other cultures in their own terms moderates reductionism in cross-cultural comparison. This project is often accommodated in the field of ethnography. Ethnography can refer to both a methodology and the product of ethnographic research, i.e. an ethnographic monograph. As a methodology, ethnography is based upon long-term fieldwork within a community or other research site. Participant observation is one of the foundational methods of social and cultural anthropology. Ethnology involves the systematic comparison of different cultures. The process of participant-observation can be especially helpful to understanding a culture from an emic point of view.The study of kinship and social organization is a central focus of sociocultural anthropology, as kinship is a human universal. Sociocultural anthropology also covers economic and political organization, law and conflict resolution, patterns of consumption and exchange, material culture, technology, infrastructure, gender relations, ethnicity, childrearing and socialization, religion, myth, symbols, values, etiquette, worldview, sports, music, nutrition, recreation, games, food, festivals, and language .Comparison across cultures is a key element of method in sociocultural anthropology including the industrialized West. The Standard Cross-Cultural Sample includes 186 such cultures.Biological.Biological anthropology and physical anthropology are synonymous terms to describe anthropological research focused on the study of humans and non-human primates in their biological, evolutionary, and demographic dimensions. It examines the biological and social factors that have affected the evolution of humans and other primates, and that generate, maintain or change contemporary genetic and physiological variation.Archaeological.Archaeology is the study of the human past through its material remains. Artifacts, faunal remains, and human altered landscapes are evidence of the cultural and material lives of past societies. Archaeologists examine material remains in order to deduce patterns of past human behavior and cultural practices. Ethnoarchaeology is a type of archaeology that studies the practices and material remains of living human groups in order to gain a better understanding of the evidence left behind by past human groups, who are presumed to have lived in similar ways.Linguistic.Linguistic anthropology seeks to understand the processes of human communications, verbal and non-verbal, variation in language across time and space, the social uses of language, and the relationship between language and culture. It is the branch of anthropology that brings linguistic methods to bear on anthropological problems, linking the analysis of linguistic forms and processes to the interpretation of sociocultural processes. Linguistic anthropologists often draw on related fields including sociolinguistics, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, semiotics, discourse analysis, and narrative analysis.Ethnography.Ethnography is a method of analysing social or cultural interaction. It often involves participant observation though an ethnographer may also draw from texts written by participants of in social interactions. Ethnography views first-hand experience and social context as important.Tim Ingold distinguishes ethnography from anthropology arguing that anthropology tries to construct general theories of human experience applicable in general and novel settings while ethnography concerns itself with fidelity. He argues that the anthropologist must make his writing consistent with their understanding of literature and other theory but notes that ethnography may be of use to the anthropologists and the fields inform one another.Key topics by field: sociocultural.Art media music dance and film.One of the central problems in the anthropology of art concerns the universality of .Media anthropology emphasizes ethnographic studies as a means of understanding producers, audiences, and other cultural and social aspects of mass media. The types of ethnographic contexts explored range from contexts of media production to contexts of media reception, following audiences in their everyday responses to media. Other types include cyber anthropology, a relatively new area of internet research, as well as ethnographies of other areas of research which happen to involve media, such as development work, social movements, or health education. This is in addition to many classic ethnographic contexts, where media such as radio, the press, new media, and television have started to make their presences felt since the early 1990s.Ethnomusicology is an academic field encompassing various approaches to the study of music , that emphasize its cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dimensions or contexts instead of or in addition to its isolated sound component or any particular repertoire.Ethnomusicology can be used in a wide variety of fields, such as teaching, politics, cultural anthropology etc. While the origins of ethnomusicology date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, it was formally introduced as “ethnomusicology” by Dutch scholar Jaap Kunst around 1950. Later, the influence of study in this area spawned the creation of the periodical "Ethnomusicology" and the Society of Ethnomusicology.Visual anthropology is concerned in part with the study and production of ethnographic photography film and since the mid-1990s new media. While the term is sometimes used interchangeably with ethnographic film visual anthropology also encompasses the anthropological study of visual representation including areas such as performance museums art and the production and reception of mass media. Visual representations from all cultures such as sandpaintings tattoos sculptures and reliefs cave paintings scrimshaw jewelry hieroglyphics paintings and photographs are included in the focus of visual anthropology.Economic, political economic, applied and development.Economic anthropology attempts to explain human economic behavior in its widest historic geographic and cultural scope. It has a complex relationship with the discipline of economics of which it is highly critical. Its origins as a sub-field of anthropology begin with the Polish-British founder of anthropology Bronisaw Malinowski and his French compatriot Marcel Mauss on the nature of gift-giving exchange (or reciprocity) as an alternative to market exchange. Economic Anthropology remains for the most part focused upon exchange. The school of thought derived from Marx and known as Political Economy focuses on production in contrast. Economic anthropologists have abandoned the primitivist niche they were relegated to by economists and have now turned to examine corporations banks and the global financial system from an anthropological perspective.Political economy.Political economy in anthropology is the application of the theories and methods of historical materialism to the traditional concerns of anthropology, including, but not limited to, non-capitalist societies. Political economy introduced questions of history and colonialism to ahistorical anthropological theories of social structure and culture. Three main areas of interest rapidly developed. The first of these areas was concerned with the "pre-capitalist" societies that were subject to evolutionary "tribal" stereotypes. Sahlin's work on hunter-gatherers as the "original affluent society" did much to dissipate that image. The second area was concerned with the vast majority of the world's population at the time, the peasantry, many of whom were involved in complex revolutionary wars such as in Vietnam. The third area was on colonialism, imperialism, and the creation of the capitalist world-system. More recently, these political economists have more directly addressed issues of industrial capitalism around the world.Applied anthropology refers to the application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems. It is a "complex of related, research-based, instrumental methods which produce change or stability in specific cultural systems through the provision of data, initiation of direct action, and/or the formulation of policy". More simply, applied anthropology is the practical side of anthropological research; it includes researcher involvement and activism within the participating community. It is closely related to development anthropology .Development.Anthropology of development tends to view development from a perspective. The kind of issues addressed and implications for the approach simply involve pondering why, if a key development goal is to alleviate poverty, is poverty increasing? Why is there such a gap between plans and outcomes? Why are those working in development so willing to disregard history and the lessons it might offer? Why is development so externally driven rather than having an internal basis? In short, why does so much planned development fail?Kinship, feminism, gender and sexuality."Kinship" can refer both to "the study of" the patterns of social relationships in one or more human cultures, or it can refer to "the patterns of social relationships" themselves. Over its history, anthropology has developed a number of related concepts and terms, such as "descent", "descent groups", "lineages", "affines", "cognates", and even "fictive kinship". Broadly, kinship patterns may be considered to include people related both by descent , and also relatives by marriage. Within kinship you have two different families. People have their biological families and it is the people they share DNA with. This is called consanguineal relations or "blood ties". People can also have a chosen family Finding Connection Through "Chosen Family" in which they chose who they want to be a part of their family. In some cases people are closer with their chosen family more than with their biological families.Feminist anthropology is a four field approach to anthropology that seeks to reduce male bias in research findings, anthropological hiring practices, and the scholarly production of knowledge. Anthropology engages often with feminists from non-Western traditions, whose perspectives and experiences can differ from those of white feminists of Europe, America, and elsewhere. From the perspective of the Western world, historically such perspectives have been ignored, observed only from an outsider perspective, and regarded as less-valid or less-important than knowledge from the Western world. Exploring and addressing that double bias against women from marginalized racial or ethnic groups is of particular interest in intersectional feminist anthropology.Feminist anthropologists have stated that their publications have contributed to anthropology, along the way correcting against the systemic biases beginning with the "patriarchal origins of anthropology (and " and note that from 1891 to 1930 doctorates in anthropology went to males more than 85%, more than 81% were under 35, and only 7.2% to anyone over 40 years old, thus reflecting an age gap in the pursuit of anthropology by first-wave feminists until later in life. This correction of systemic bias may include mainstream feminist theory, history, linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology. Feminist anthropologists are often concerned with the construction of gender across societies. Gender constructs are of particular interest when studying sexism.According to St. Clair Drake Vera Mae Green was until of voodoo in the Caribbean .Feminist anthropology is inclusive of the anthropology of birth as a specialization which is the anthropological study of pregnancy and childbirth within cultures and societies.Medical nutritional psychological cognitive and transpersonal.Medical anthropology is an interdisciplinary field which studies "human health and disease health care systems and biocultural adaptation". It is believed that William Caudell was the first to discover the field of medical anthropology. Currently research in medical anthropology is one of the main growth areas in the field of anthropology as a whole. It focuses on the following six basic fieldsOther subjects that have become central to medical anthropology worldwide are violence and social suffering as well as other issues that involve physical and psychological harm and suffering that are not a result of illness. On the other hand, there are fields that intersect with medical anthropology in terms of research methodology and theoretical production, such as .Nutritional.Nutritional anthropology is a synthetic concept that deals with the interplay between economic systems, nutritional status and food security, and how changes in the former affect the latter. If economic and environmental changes in a community affect access to food, food security, and dietary health, then this interplay between culture and biology is in turn connected to broader historical and economic trends associated with globalization. Nutritional status affects overall health status, work performance potential, and the overall potential for economic development for any given group of people.Psychological.Psychological anthropology is an interdisciplinary subfield of anthropology that studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes. This subfield tends to focus on ways in which humans' development and enculturation within a particular cultural group – with its own history language practices and conceptual categories – shape processes of human cognition emotion perception motivation and mental health. It also examines how the understanding of cognition emotion motivation and similar psychological processes inform or constrain our models of cultural and social processes.Cognitive anthropology seeks to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission over time and space using the methods and theories of the cognitive sciences often through close collaboration with historians, ethnographers, archaeologists, linguists, musicologists and other specialists engaged in the description and interpretation of cultural forms. Cognitive anthropology is concerned with what people from different groups know and how that implicit knowledge changes the way people perceive and relate to the world around them.Transpersonal.Transpersonal anthropology studies the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture. As with transpersonal psychology the field is much concerned with altered states of consciousness and transpersonal experience. However the field differs from mainstream transpersonal psychology in taking more cognizance of cross-cultural issues – for instance the roles of myth ritual diet and texts in evoking and interpreting extraordinary experiences.Political and legal.Political anthropology concerns the structure of political systems, looked at from the basis of the structure of societies. Political anthropology developed as a discipline concerned primarily with politics in stateless societies, a new development started from the 1960s, and is still unfolding: anthropologists started increasingly to study more , the Balinese state, is an early, famous example.Legal anthropology or anthropology of law specializes in . Earlier legal anthropological research often focused more narrowly on conflict management, crime, sanctions, or formal regulation. More recent applications include issues such as human rights, legal pluralism, and political uprisings.Public anthropology was created by Robert Borofsky a professor at Hawaii Pacific University to .Nature science and technology.Cyborg anthropology originated as a sub-focus group within the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting in 1993. The sub-group was very closely related to STS and the Society for the Social Studies of Science. Donna Haraway's 1985 "Cyborg Manifesto" could be considered the founding document of cyborg anthropology by first exploring the philosophical and sociological ramifications of the term. Cyborg anthropology studies humankind and its relations with the technological systems it has built, specifically modern technological systems that have reflexively shaped notions of what it means to be human beings.Digital anthropology is the study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology, and extends to various areas where anthropology and technology intersect. It is sometimes grouped with sociocultural anthropology, and sometimes considered part of material culture. The field is new, and thus has a variety of names with a variety of emphases. These include techno-anthropology, digital ethnography, cyberanthropology, and virtual anthropology.Ecological.Ecological anthropology is defined as the "study of cultural adaptations to environments". The sub-field is also defined as "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical environment". The focus of its research concerns "how cultural beliefs and practices helped human populations adapt to their environments and how their environments change across space and time. The contemporary perspective of environmental anthropology and arguably at least the backdrop if not the focus of most of the ethnographies and cultural fieldworks of today is political ecology. Many characterize this new perspective as more informed with culture politics and power globalization localized issues century anthropology and more. The focus and data interpretation is often used for arguments for/against or creation of policy and to prevent corporate exploitation and damage of land. Often the observer has become an active part of the struggle either directly or indirectly . Such is the case with environmental justice advocate Melissa Checker and her relationship with the people of Hyde Park.Environment.Social sciences like anthropology can provide interdisciplinary approaches to the environment. Professor Kay Milton Director of the Anthropology research network in the School of History and Anthropology describes anthropology as distinctive with its most distinguishing feature being its interest in non-industrial indigenous and traditional societies. Anthropological theory is distinct because of the consistent presence of the concept of culture not an exclusive topic but a central position in the study and a deep concern with the human condition. Milton describes three trends that are causing a fundamental shift in what characterizes anthropology dissatisfaction with the cultural relativist perspective reaction against cartesian dualisms which obstructs progress in theory (nature culture divide) and finally an increased attention to globalization (transcending the barriers or time/space).Environmental discourse appears to be characterized by a high degree of globalization. Anthropology and environmental discourse now have become a distinct position in anthropology as a discipline. Knowledge about diversities in human culture can be important in addressing environmental problems - anthropology is now a study of human ecology. Human activity is the most important agent in creating environmental change, a study commonly found in human ecology which can claim a central place in how environmental problems are examined and addressed. Other ways anthropology contributes to environmental discourse is by being theorists and analysts, or by refinement of definitions to become more neutral/universal, etc. In exploring environmentalism - the term typically refers to a concern that the environment should be protected, particularly from the harmful effects of human activities. Environmentalism itself can be expressed in many ways. Anthropologists can open the doors of environmentalism by looking beyond industrial society, understanding the opposition between industrial and non industrial relationships, knowing what ecosystem people and biosphere people are and are affected by, dependent and independent variables, “primitive” ecological wisdom, diverse environments, resource management, diverse cultural traditions, and knowing that environmentalism is a part of culture.Historical.Ethnohistory is the study of ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not exist today. Ethnohistory uses both historical and ethnographic data as its foundation. Its historical methods and materials go beyond the standard use of documents and manuscripts. Practitioners recognize the utility of such source material as maps, music, paintings, photography, folklore, oral tradition, site exploration, archaeological materials, museum collections, enduring customs, language, and place names.The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. Modern anthropology assumes that there is complete continuity between magical thinking and religion and that every religion is a cultural product created by the human community that worships it.Urban anthropology is concerned with issues of urbanization poverty and neoliberalism. Ulf Hannerz quotes a 1960s remark that traditional anthropologists were "a notoriously agoraphobic lot anti-urban by definition". Various social processes in the Western World as well as in the "Third World" brought the attention of "specialists in 'other cultures'" closer to their homes. There are two main approaches to urban anthropology examining the types of cities or examining the social issues within the cities. These two methods are overlapping and dependent of each other. By defining different types of cities one would use social factors as well as economic and political factors to categorize the cities. By directly looking at the different social issues one would also be studying how they affect the dynamic of the city.Key topics by field: archaeological and biological.Anthrozoology.Anthrozoology is the study of interaction between living things. It is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with a number of other disciplines including anthropology ethology medicine psychology veterinary medicine and zoology. A major focus of anthrozoologic research is the quantifying of the positive effects of human-animal relationships on either party and the study of their interactions. It includes scholars from a diverse range of fields including anthropology sociology biology and philosophy.Biocultural.Biocultural anthropology is the scientific exploration of the relationships between human biology and culture. Physical anthropologists throughout the first half of the 20th century viewed this relationship from a racial perspective that is from the assumption that typological human biological differences lead to cultural differences. After World War II the emphasis began to shift toward an effort to explore the role culture plays in shaping human biology.Evolutionary.Evolutionary anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of the evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and the relation between hominins and non-hominin primates. Evolutionary anthropology is based in natural science and social science, combining the human development with socioeconomic factors. Evolutionary anthropology is concerned with both biological and cultural evolution of humans, past and present. It is based on a scientific approach, and brings together fields such as archaeology, behavioral ecology, psychology, primatology, and genetics. It is a dynamic and interdisciplinary field, drawing on many lines of evidence to understand the human experience, past and present.Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. The adjective refers to the application of this subfield of science to a court of law.Palaeoanthropology.Paleoanthropology combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology. It is the study of ancient humans, as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints. Genetics and morphology of specimens are crucially important to this field. Markers on specimens, such as enamel fractures and dental decay on teeth, can also give insight into the behaviour and diet of past populations.Organizations.Contemporary anthropology is an established science with academic departments at most universities and colleges. The single largest organization of anthropologists is the American Anthropological Association (AAA) which was founded in 1903. Its members are anthropologists from around the globe.In 1989 a group of European and American scholars in the field of anthropology established the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) which serves as a major professional organization for anthropologists working in Europe. The EASA seeks to advance the status of anthropology in Europe and to increase visibility of marginalized anthropological traditions and thereby contribute to the project of a global anthropology or world anthropology.Hundreds of other organizations exist in the various sub-fields of anthropology, sometimes divided up by nation or region, and many anthropologists work with collaborators in other disciplines, such as geology, physics, zoology, paleontology, anatomy, music theory, art history, sociology and so on, belonging to professional societies in those disciplines as well.As the field has matured it has debated and arrived at ethical principles aimed at protecting both the subjects of anthropological research as well as the researchers themselves, and professional societies have generated codes of ethics.Anthropologists, like other researchers , have over time assisted state policies and projects, especially colonialism.Some commentators have contendedCultural relativism.As part of their quest for scientific objectivity present-day anthropologists typically urge cultural relativism which has an influence on all the sub-fields of anthropology. This is the notion that cultures should not be judged by another's values or viewpoints but be examined dispassionately on their own terms. There should be no notions in good anthropology of one culture being better or worse than another culture.Ethical commitments in anthropology include noticing and documenting genocide, infanticide, racism, sexism, mutilation , and torture. Topics like racism, slavery, and human sacrifice attract anthropological attention and theories ranging from nutritional deficiencies, to genes, to acculturation, to colonialism, have been proposed to explain their origins and continued recurrences.To illustrate the depth of an anthropological approach, one can take just one of these topics, such as and find thousands of anthropological references, stretching across all the major and minor sub-fields.Military involvement.Anthropologists' involvement with the U.S. government in particular has caused bitter controversy within the discipline. Franz Boas publicly objected to US participation in World War I and after the war he published a brief expose and condemnation of the participation of several American archaeologists in espionage in Mexico under their cover as scientists.But by the 1940s, many of Boas' anthropologist contemporaries were active in the allied war effort against the Axis Powers . Many served in the armed forces, while others worked in intelligence . At the same time, David H. Price's work on American anthropology during the Cold War provides detailed accounts of the pursuit and dismissal of several anthropologists from their jobs for communist sympathies.Attempts to accuse anthropologists of complicity with the CIA and government intelligence activities during the Vietnam War years have turned up surprisingly little. Many anthropologists were active in the antiwar movement. Numerous resolutions condemning the war in all its aspects were passed overwhelmingly at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association .Professional anthropological bodies often object to the use of anthropology for the benefit of the state. Their codes of ethics or statements may proscribe anthropologists from giving secret briefings. The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth has called certain scholarship ethically dangerous. The "Principles of Professional Responsibility" issued by the American Anthropological Association and amended through November 1986 stated that "in relation with their own government and with host governments ... no secret research no secret reports or debriefings of any kind should be agreed to or given." The current "Principles of Professional Responsibility" does not make explicit mention of ethics surrounding state interactions.Anthropologists along with other social scientists are working with the US military as part of the US Army's strategy in Afghanistan. "The Christian Science Monitor" reports that "Counterinsurgency efforts focus on better grasping and meeting local needs" in Afghanistan under the "Human Terrain System" (HTS) program in addition HTS teams are working with the US military in Iraq. In 2009 the American Anthropological Association's Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities released its final report concluding in part that "When ethnographic investigation is determined by military missions not subject to external review where data collection occurs in the context of war integrated into the goals of counterinsurgency and in a potentially coercive environment – all characteristic factors of the HTS concept and its application – it can no longer be considered a legitimate professional exercise of anthropology. In summary while we stress that constructive engagement between anthropology and the military is possible CEAUSSIC suggests that the AAA emphasize the incompatibility of HTS with disciplinary ethics and practice for job seekers and that it further recognize the problem of allowing HTS to define the meaning of "anthropology" within DoD."Post–World War II developments.Before WWII British 'social anthropology' and American 'cultural anthropology' were still distinct traditions. After the war, enough British and American anthropologists borrowed ideas and methodological approaches from one another that some began to speak of them collectively as 'sociocultural' anthropology.Basic trends.There are several characteristics that tend to unite anthropological work. One of the central characteristics is that anthropology tends to provide a comparatively more holistic account of phenomena and tends to be highly empirical. The quest for holism leads most anthropologists to study a particular place problem or phenomenon in detail using a variety of methods over a more extensive period than normal in many parts of academia.In the 1990s and 2000s calls for clarification of what constitutes a culture of how an observer knows where his or her own culture ends and another begins and other crucial topics in writing anthropology were heard. These dynamic relationships between what can be observed on the ground as opposed to what can be observed by compiling many local observations remain fundamental in any kind of anthropology whether cultural biological linguistic or archaeological.Biological anthropologists are interested in both human variation and in the possibility of human universals . They use many different methods of study, but modern population genetics, participant observation and other techniques often take anthropologists On the biological or physical side, human measurements, genetic samples, nutritional data may be gathered and published as articles or monographs.Along with dividing up their project by theoretical emphasis anthropologists typically divide the world up into relevant time periods and geographic regions. Human time on Earth is divided up into relevant cultural traditions based on material such as the Paleolithic and the Neolithic of particular use in archaeology. Further cultural subdivisions according to tool types such as Olduwan or Mousterian or Levalloisian help archaeologists and other anthropologists in understanding major trends in the human past. Anthropologists and geographers share approaches to culture regions as well since mapping cultures is central to both sciences. By making comparisons across cultural traditions and cultural regions anthropologists have developed various kinds of comparative method a central part of their science.Commonalities between fields.Because anthropology developed from so many different enterprises including but not limited to fossil-hunting exploring documentary film-making paleontology primatology antiquity dealings and curatorship philology etymology genetics regional analysis ethnology history philosophy and religious studies it is difficult to characterize the entire field in a brief article although attempts to write histories of the entire field have been made.Some authors argue that anthropology originated and developed as the study of "other cultures" both in terms of time and space . For example the classic of urban anthropology Ulf Hannerz in the introduction to his seminal "Exploring the City Inquiries Toward an Urban Anthropology" mentions that the "Third World" had habitually received most of attention anthropologists who traditionally specialized in "other cultures" looked for them far away and started to look "across the tracks" only in late 1960s.Now there exist many works focusing on peoples and topics very close to the author's "home". It is also argued that other fields of study like History and Sociology on the contrary focus disproportionately on the West.In France the study of Western societies has been traditionally left to sociologists but this is increasingly changing starting in the 1970s from scholars like Isac Chiva and journals like "Terrain" ("fieldwork") and developing with the center founded by Marc Aug ("Le Centre d'anthropologie des mondes contemporains" the Anthropological Research Center of Contemporary Societies).Since the 1980s it has become common for social and cultural anthropologists to set ethnographic research in the North Atlantic region frequently examining the connections between locations rather than limiting research to a single locale. There has also been a related shift toward broadening the focus beyond the daily life of ordinary people increasingly research is set in settings such as scientific laboratories social movements governmental and nongovernmental organizations and businesses.
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact natural economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professionals of the agricultural science are called agricultural scientists or agriculturists.In the 18th century Johann Friedrich Mayer conducted experiments on the use of gypsum as a fertilizer.In 1843, John Lawes and Joseph Henry Gilbert began a set of long-term field experiments at Rothamsted Research Station in England, some of which are still running as of 2018.In the United States a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the Hatch Act of 1887 which used the term . The Hatch Act was driven by farmers' interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer. The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots but the scientific foundation had been built. After 1906 public expenditures on agricultural research in the US exceeded private expenditures for the next 44 years.Agriculture, agricultural science, and agronomy are often confused. However, they cover different concepts:Soil forming factors and soil degradation.Agricultural sciences include research and development on:
Alchemy is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries CE.Alchemists attempted to purify mature and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g. lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold) the creation of an elixir of immortality and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical "magnum opus" ("Great Work"). The concept of creating the philosophers' stone was variously connected with all of these projects.Islamic and European alchemists developed a basic set of laboratory techniques, theories, and terms, some of which are still in use today. They did not abandon the Ancient Greek philosophical idea that everything is composed of four elements, and they tended to guard their work in secrecy, often making use of cyphers and cryptic symbolism. In Europe, the 12th-century translations of medieval Islamic works on science and the rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy gave birth to a flourishing tradition of Latin alchemy. This late medieval tradition of alchemy would go on to play a significant role in the development of early modern science (particularly chemistry and medicine).Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its exoteric practical applications and its esoteric spiritual aspects, despite criticisms by scholars such as Eric J. Holmyard and Marie-Louise von Franz that they should be understood as complementary. The former is pursued by historians of the physical sciences, who examine the subject in terms of early chemistry, medicine, and charlatanism, and the philosophical and religious contexts in which these events occurred. The latter interests historians of esotericism, psychologists, and some philosophers and spiritualists. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts.The word alchemy comes from Old French "alquemie" "alkimie" used in Medieval Latin as . This name was itself brought from the Arabic word "al-kmiy" composed of two parts the Late Greek term "khmea" also spelled "khumeia" and "khma" - see below and the Arabic definite article "al-" meaning 'The'. Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of transmutation by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. Several etymologies have been proposed for the Greek term. The first was proposed by Zosimos of Panopolis who derived it from the name of a book the "Khemeu." Hermanm Diels argued in 1914 that it rather derived from used to describe metallic objects formed by casting.Others trace its roots to the Egyptian name "kme" , meaning 'black earth', which refers to the fertile and auriferous soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand. According to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge, the Arabic word "al-kmiya" actually means "the Egyptian ", borrowing from the Coptic word for "Egypt", "kme" . This Coptic word derives from Demotic "km", itself from ancient Egyptian "kmt". The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" ; so this etymology could also explain the nickname "Egyptian black arts".Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and relationships. One can distinguish at least three major strands which appear to be mostly independent at least in their earlier stages Chinese alchemy centered in China and Indian alchemy centered on the Indian subcontinent and Western alchemy which occurred around the Mediterranean and whose center has shifted over the millennia from Greco-Roman Egypt to the Islamic world and finally medieval Europe. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoism and Indian alchemy with the Dharmic faiths. In contrast Western alchemy developed its philosophical system mostly independent of but influenced by various Western religions. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin or to what extent they influenced each other.Hellenistic Egypt.The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to ancient and Hellenistic Egypt where the city of Alexandria was a center of alchemical knowledge and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods. Following the work of Andr-Jean Festugire modern scholars see alchemical practice in the Roman Empire as originating from the Egyptian goldsmith's art Greek philosophy and different religious traditions. Tracing the origins of the alchemical art in Egypt is complicated by the pseudepigraphic nature of texts from the Greek alchemical corpus. The treatises of Zosimos of Panopolis the earliest historically attested author can help in situating the other authors. Zosimus based his work on that of older alchemical authors such as Mary the Jewess Pseudo-Democritus and Agathodaimon but very little is known about any of these authors. The most complete of their works The "Four Books" of Pseudo-Democritus were probably written in the first century AD.Recent scholarship tends to emphasize the testimony of Zosimus, who traced the alchemical arts back to Egyptian metallurgical and ceremonial practices. It has also been argued that early alchemical writers borrowed the vocabulary of Greek philosophical schools but did not implement any of its doctrines in a systematic way. Zosimos of Panopolis wrote in the (also known as the ). Zosimos explains that the ancient practice of (the technical Greek name for the alchemical arts) had been taken over by certain ( ) and those who offered them sacrifices (), it is fairly clear that he was referring to the gods of Egypt and their priests. While critical of the kind of alchemy he associated with the Egyptian priests and their followers, Zosimos nonetheless saw the tradition's recent past as rooted in the rites of the Egyptian temples.Mythology – Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to Pharaonic Egypt where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion. Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation. These included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason, and many others.The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegistus . His name is derived from the god Thoth and his Greek counterpart Hermes. Hermes and his caduceus or serpent-staff were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to Clement of Alexandria he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes" covering all fields of knowledge. The "Hermetica" of Thrice-Great Hermes is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice called the hermetic philosophy by its early practitioners. These writings were collected in the first centuries of the common era.Technology – The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of metallurgy extending back to 3500 BC. Many writings were lost when the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria . Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived most notable among them the Stockholm papyrus and the Leyden papyrus X. Dating from AD 250–300 they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones cleaning and fabricating pearls and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver. These writings lack the mystical philosophical elements of alchemy but do contain the works of Bolus of Mendes which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the classical elements. Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.Philosophy – Alexandria acted as a melting pot for philosophies of Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Stoicism and Gnosticism which formed the origin of alchemy's character. An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by Empedocles and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed. The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are; "...True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form." Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging Christianity. Lactantius believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesied its birth. St Augustine later affirmed this in the 4th &amp 5th centuries but also condemned Trismegistus for idolatry. Examples of Pagan Christian and Jewish alchemists can be found during this period.Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosimos are known only by pseudonyms such as Moses Isis Cleopatra Democritus and Ostanes. Others authors such as Komarios and Chymes we only know through fragments of text. After AD 400 Greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors. By the middle of the 7th century alchemy was almost an entirely mystical discipline. It was at that time that Khalid Ibn Yazid sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world facilitating the translation and preservation of Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.Greek alchemy is preserved in medieval Greek manuscripts, and yet historians have only relatively recently begun to pay attention to the study and development of Greek alchemy in the Byzantine period.The 2nd millennium BC text Vedas describe a connection between eternal life and gold. A considerable knowledge of metallurgy has been exhibited in a third-century CE text called Arthashastra which provides ingredients of explosives and salts extracted from fertile soils and plant remains such as saltpetre/nitre, perfume making , granulated Sugar. Buddhist texts from the 2nd to 5th centuries mention the transmutation of base metals to gold. According to some scholars Greek alchemy may have influenced Indian alchemy but there are no hard evidences to back this claim.The 11th-century Persian chemist and physician Ab Rayhn Brn, who visited Gujarat as part of the court of Mahmud of Ghazni, reported that theyThe goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body and immortality while still embodied . Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god iva and the menstrual blood of the goddess Dev.Some early alchemical writings seem to have their origins in the Kaula tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of Matsyendranath. Other early writings are found in the Jaina medical treatise "Kalyakrakam" of Ugrditya, written in South India in the early 9th century.Two famous early Indian alchemical authors were Ngrjuna Siddha and Nityantha Siddha. Ngrjuna Siddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, , and Ngrjuna Siddha was said to have developed a method of converting mercury into gold.Scholarship on Indian alchemy is in the publication of "The Alchemical Body" by David Gordon White.A modern bibliography on Indian alchemical studies has been written by White.The contents of 39 Sanskrit alchemical treatises have been analysed in detail in G. Jan Meulenbeld's "History of Indian Medical Literature". The discussion of these works in HIML gives a summary of the contents of each work their special features and where possible the evidence concerning their dating. Chapter 13 of HIML "Various works on rasastra and ratnastra" gives brief details of a further 655 treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on the contents and authorship of these works in other cases references are made only to the unpublished manuscripts of these titles.A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian alchemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemical corpus has not yet been adequately integrated into the wider general history of alchemy.Islamic world.After the Fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about Islamic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations. The word "alchemy" itself was derived from the Arabic word "al-kmiy" (). The early Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. Platonic and Aristotelian thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries through Syriac translations and scholarship.In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, the Arabic works attributed to Jbir ibn Hayyn introduced a new approach to alchemy. Paul Kraus, who wrote the standard reference work on Jabir, put it as follows:Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably Jabir. Jabirs physical properties.The elemental system used in medieval alchemy also originated with Jabir. His original system consisted of seven elements, which included the five classical elements in addition to two chemical elements representing the metals: sulphur, , which characterized the principle of combustibility, and mercury, which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties. Shortly thereafter, this evolved into eight elements, with the Arabic concept of the three metallic principles: sulphur giving flammability or combustion, mercury giving volatility and stability, and salt giving solidity. The atomic theory of corpuscularianism, where all physical bodies possess an inner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles, also has its origins in the work of Jabir.From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theories faced criticism from a variety of practical Muslim chemists, including Alkindus, Ab al-Rayhn al-Brn, Avicenna and Ibn Khaldun. In particular, they wrote refutations against the idea of the transmutation of metals.Whereas European alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble metals Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the Grand Elixir of Immortality sought by Chinese alchemists. In the hermetic view these two goals were not unconnected and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the universal panacea therefore the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears.Black powder may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. As previously stated above, Chinese alchemy was more related to medicine. It is said that the Chinese invented gunpowder while trying to find a potion for eternal life. Described in 9th-century texts and used in fireworks in China by the 10th century, it was used in cannons by 1290. From China, the use of gunpowder spread to Japan, the Mongols, the Muslim world, and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century.Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoist forms of traditional Chinese medicine such as Acupuncture and Moxibustion. In the early Song dynasty followers of this Taoist idea would ingest mercuric sulfide which though tolerable in low levels led many to suicide. Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favor of external sources Chinese alchemy was introduced to the West by Obed Simon Johnson.Medieval Europe.The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144 with the completion of Robert of Chester's translation of the Arabic . Although European craftsmen and technicians pre-existed Robert notes in his preface that alchemy was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century Toledo Spain through contributors like Gerard of Cremona and Adelard of Bath. Translations of the time included the Turba Philosophorum and the works of Avicenna and al-Razi. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol carboy elixir and athanor are examples.Meanwhile theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century St Anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century Peter Abelard followed Anselms methods of analysis and added the use of observation experimentation and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms. Albertus Magnus, a Dominican friar, is known to have written works such as the "Book of Minerals" where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like Hermes and Democritus and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist. Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student Thomas Aquinas.Roger Bacon a Franciscan friar who wrote on a wide variety of topics including optics comparative linguistics and medicine composed his "Great Work" for as part of a project towards rebuilding the medieval university curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to soteriology and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality salvation alchemy and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy. Like the Greeks before him Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle the natural philosophers and all Latin writers of his time. The practical confirmed the theoretical and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine. In later European legend he became an archmage. In particular along with Albertus Magnus he was credited with the forging of a brazen head capable of answering its owner's questions.Soon after Bacon the influential work of Pseudo-Geber (sometimes identified as Paul of Taranto) appeared. His remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory and the unusual clarity with which they were described. By the end of the 13th century alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes that is to say they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example if one could learn the secret of purifying gold one could use the technique to purify the human soul). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded jargon set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally the alchemists practiced their art they actively experimented with chemicals and made observations and theories about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that mans soul man could be reunited with God.In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves. Dante, Piers Plowman, and Chaucer all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. Pope John XXII's 1317 edict, forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists. In 1403, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals . These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of Petrus Bonus, John of Rupescissa, and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.Nicolas Flamel is a well-known alchemist, but a good example of pseudepigraphy, the practice of giving your works the name of someone else, usually more famous. Although the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612. Flamel was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the philosopher stone. Bernard Trevisan and George Ripley made similar contributions. Their cryptic allusions and symbolism led to wide variations in interpretation of the art.Renaissance and early modern Europe.During the Renaissance Hermetic and Platonic foundations were restored to European alchemy. The dawn of medical pharmaceutical occult and entrepreneurial branches of alchemy followed.In the late 15th century Marsilo Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum and the works of Plato into Latin. These were previously unavailable to Europeans who for the first time had a full picture of the alchemical theory that Bacon had declared absent. Renaissance Humanism and Renaissance Neoplatonism guided alchemists away from physics to refocus on mankind as the alchemical vessel.Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala. A key figure in this development was German Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa , who received his Hermetic education in Italy in the schools of the humanists. In his , he attempted to merge Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spreading this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders of Italy.Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a new form rejecting some of Agrippa's occultism and moving away from chrysopoeia. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote "Many have said of Alchemy that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines."His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. Paracelsian practical alchemy especially herbal medicine and plant remedies has since been named spagyric (a synonym for alchemy from the Greek words meaning "to separate" and "to join together" based on the Latin alchemic maxim "solve et coagula"). Iatrochemistry also refers to the pharmaceutical applications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus.John Dee (13 July 1527 – December, 1608) followed Agrippa's occult tradition. Although better known for angel summoning, divination, and his role as astrologer, cryptographer, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I, Dee's alchemical "Monas Hieroglyphica", written in 1564 was his most popular and influential work. His writing portrayed alchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line with the Hermetic axiom "As above so below". During the 17th century, a short-lived "supernatural" interpretation of alchemy became popular, including support by fellows of the Royal Society: Robert Boyle and Elias Ashmole. Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemy believed that the philosopher's stone might be used to summon and communicate with angels.Entrepreneurial opportunities were common for the alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists were contracted by the elite for practical purposes related to mining medical services and the production of chemicals medicines metals and gemstones. Rudolf II Holy Roman Emperor in the late 16th century famously received and sponsored various alchemists at his court in Prague including Dee and his associate Edward Kelley. King James IV of Scotland Julius Duke of Brunswick-Lneburg Henry V Duke of Brunswick-Lneburg Augustus Elector of Saxony Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn and Maurice Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel all contracted alchemists. John's son Arthur Dee worked as a court physician to Michael I of Russia and Charles I of England but also compiled the alchemical book "Fasciculus Chemicus".Although most of these appointments were legitimate, the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued through the Renaissance. would use sleight of hand, or claims of secret knowledge to make money or secure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical alchemists such as Michael Maier and Heinrich Khunrath wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguishing themselves from the con artists. False alchemists were sometimes prosecuted for fraud.The terms were used as synonyms in the early modern period and the differences between alchemy chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners and trying to classify them into alchemists chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic. For example Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) an alchemist better known for his astronomical and astrological investigations had a laboratory built at his Uraniborg observatory/research institute. Michael Sendivogius ( 1566–1636) a Polish alchemist philosopher medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited with distilling oxygen in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendivogious taught his technique to Cornelius Drebbel who in 1621 applied this in a submarine. Isaac Newton devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see Isaac Newton's occult studies) than he did to either optics or physics. Other early modern alchemists who were eminent in their other studies include Robert Boyle and Jan Baptist van Helmont. Their Hermeticism complemented rather than precluded their practical achievements in medicine and science.Later modern period.The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for Robert Boyle pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data. Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out the wind characteristics the position of the Sun and Moon and the barometer reading all just in case they proved to be relevant. This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries based on revolutionary discoveries of Lavoisier and John Dalton.Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction began to be drawn for the first time between practices of alchemy. This move was mostly successful, and the consequences of this continued into the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.During the occult revival of the early 19th century alchemy received new attention as an occult science. The esoteric or occultist school which arose during the 19th century held the view that the substances and operations mentioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in a spiritual sense and it downplays the role of the alchemy as a practical tradition or protoscience. This interpretation further forwarded the view that alchemy is an art primarily concerned with spiritual enlightenment or illumination as opposed to the physical manipulation of apparatus and chemicals and claims that the obscure language of the alchemical texts were an allegorical guise for spiritual moral or mystical processes.In the 19th-century revival of alchemy, the two most seminal figures were Mary Anne Atwood and Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who independently published similar works regarding spiritual alchemy. Both forwarded a completely esoteric view of alchemy, as Atwood claimed: attempted to make a case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim that the alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under a materialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blasphemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron Carl Reichenbach, published his studies on Odic force, a concept with some similarities to alchemy, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.In 1946 Louis Cattiaux published the Message Retrouv a work that was at once philosophical mystical and highly influenced by alchemy. In his lineage many researchers including Emmanuel and Charles d'Hooghvorst are updating alchemical studies in France and Belgium.Several women appear in the earliest history of alchemy. Michael Maier names Mary the Jewess Cleopatra the Alchemist Medera and Taphnutia as the four women who knew how to make the philosopher's stone. Zosimos' sister Theosebia and Isis the Prophetess also played a role in early alchemical texts.The first alchemist whose name we know was Mary the Jewess . Early sources claim that Mary devised a number of improvements to alchemical equipment and tools as well as novel techniques in chemistry. Her best known advances were in heating and distillation processes. The laboratory water-bath, known eponymously as the bain-marie, is said to have been invented or at least improved by her. Essentially a double-boiler, it was used in chemistry for processes that require gentle heating. The tribikos and the kerotakis are two other advancements in the process of distillation that are credited to her. Although we have no writing from Mary herself, she is known from the early-fourth-century writings of Zosimos of Panopolis.Due to the proliferation of pseudepigrapha and anonymous works it is difficult to know which of the alchemists were actually women. After the Greco-Roman period women's names appear less frequently in the alchemical literature. Women vacate the history of alchemy during the medieval and renaissance periods aside from the fictitious account of Perenelle Flamel. Mary Anne Atwood's "A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery" marks their return during the nineteenth-century occult revival.Modern historical research.The history of alchemy has become a significant and recognized subject of academic study. As the language of the alchemists is analyzed historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history such as the evolution of science and philosophy the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities kabbalism spiritualism Rosicrucianism and other mystic movements. Institutions involved in this research include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project at Indiana University the University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism and the University of Amsterdam's Sub-department for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam. A recipe found in a mid-19th-century kabbalah based book features step by step instructions on turning copper into gold. The author attributed this recipe to an ancient manuscript he located.Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy include 'Ambix', published by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, and 'Isis', published by The History of Science Society.Core concepts.Western alchemical theory corresponds to the worldview of late antiquity in which it was born. Concepts were imported from Neoplatonism and earlier Greek cosmology. As such the classical elements appear in alchemical writings as do the seven classical planets and the corresponding seven metals of antiquity. Similarly the gods of the Roman pantheon who are associated with these luminaries are discussed in alchemical literature. The concepts of prima materia and anima mundi are central to the theory of the philosopher's stone.Magnum opus.The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages represented by colors.Due to the complexity and obscurity of alchemical literature, and the 18th-century disappearance of remaining alchemical practitioners into the area of chemistry, the general understanding of alchemy has been strongly influenced by several distinct and radically different interpretations. Those focusing on the exoteric, such as historians of science Lawrence M. Principe and William R. Newman, have interpreted the 'decknamen' of alchemy as physical substances. These scholars have reconstructed physicochemical experiments that they say are described in medieval and early modern texts. At the opposite end of the spectrum, focusing on the esoteric, scholars, such as George Calian and Anna Marie Roos, who question the reading of Principe and Newman, interpret these same decknamen as spiritual, religious, or psychological concepts.New interpretations of alchemy are still perpetuated sometimes merging in concepts from New Age or radical environmentalism movements. Groups like the Rosicrucians and Freemasons have a continued interest in alchemy and its symbolism. Since the Victorian revival of alchemy "occultists reinterpreted alchemy as a spiritual practice involving the self-transformation of the practitioner and only incidentally or not at all the transformation of laboratory substances" which has contributed to a merger of magic and alchemy in popular thought.Esoteric interpretations of historical texts.In the eyes of a variety of modern esoteric and Neo-Hermeticist practitioners, alchemy is fundamentally spiritual. In this interpretation, transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection.According to this view early alchemists such as Zosimos of Panopolis highlighted the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul. This approach is held to have continued in the Middle Ages as metaphysical aspects substances physical states and material processes are supposed to have been used as metaphors for spiritual entities spiritual states and ultimately transformation. In this sense the literal meanings of s stone then represented a mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment and the stone represented a hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are held to have been written according to this view the cryptic alchemical symbols diagrams and textual imagery of late alchemical works are supposed to contain multiple layers of meanings allegories and references to other equally cryptic works which must be laboriously decoded to discover their true meaning.In his 1766 "Alchemical Catechism" Thodore Henri de Tschudi denotes that the usage of the metals was merely symbolicTraditional medicine.Traditional medicine can use the concept of the transmutation of natural substances using pharmacological or a combination of pharmacological and spiritual techniques. In Ayurveda the samskaras are claimed to transform heavy metals and toxic herbs in a way that removes their toxicity. These processes are actively used to the present day.Spagyrists of the 20th century, Albert Richard Riedel and Jean Dubuis, merged Paracelsian alchemy with occultism, teaching laboratory pharmaceutical methods. The schools they founded, "Les Philosophes de la Nature" and "The Paracelsus Research Society", popularized modern spagyrics including the manufacture of herbal tinctures and products. The courses, books, organizations, and conferences generated by their students continue to influence popular applications of alchemy as a New Age medicinal practice.Psychology.Alchemical symbolism has been important in depth and analytical psychology and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images after being given a copy of the translation of or divine marriage. His writings are influential in psychology and for people who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams symbols and the unconscious archetypal forces that influence all of life.Both von Franz and Jung have contributed greatly to the subject and work of alchemy and its continued presence in psychology as well as contemporary culture. Jung wrote volumes on alchemy and his magnum opus is Volume 14 of his Collected Works "Mysterium Coniunctionis".Literature.Alchemy has had a long-standing relationship with art seen both in alchemical texts and in mainstream entertainment. "Literary alchemy" appears throughout the history of English literature from Shakespeare to J. K. Rowling and also the popular Japanese manga "Fullmetal Alchemist". Here characters or plot structure follow an alchemical magnum opus. In the 14th century Chaucer began a trend of alchemical satire that can still be seen in recent fantasy works like those of the late Sir Terry Pratchett.Visual artists had a similar relationship with alchemy. While some of them used alchemy as a source of satire others worked with the alchemists themselves or integrated alchemical thought or symbols in their work. Music was also present in the works of alchemists and continues to influence popular performers. In the last hundred years alchemists have been portrayed in a magical and spagyric role in fantasy fiction film television novels comics and video games.One goal of alchemy, the transmutation of base substances into gold, is now known to be impossible by chemical means but possible by physical means. Although not financially worthwhile, Gold was synthesized in particle accelerators as early as 1941.
Alien primarily refers to:Alien or The Alien may also refer toAn astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars planets moons comets and galaxies – in either observational or theoretical astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers study include planetary science solar astronomy the origin or evolution of stars or the formation of galaxies. Related but distinct subjects are like physical cosmology which studies the Universe as a whole.Astronomers usually fall under either of two main types observational and theoretical. Observational astronomers make direct observations of celestial objects and analyze the data. In contrast theoretical astronomers create and investigate models of things that cannot be observed. Because it takes millions to billions of years for a system of stars or a galaxy to complete a life cycle astronomers must observe snapshots of different systems at unique points in their evolution to determine how they form evolve and die. They use these data to create models or simulations to theorize how different celestial objects work.Further subcategories under these two main branches of astronomy include planetary astronomy galactic astronomy or physical cosmology.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws. Today, that distinction has mostly disappeared and the terms are interchangeable. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a PhD in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities. They spend the majority of their time working on research, although they quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments, or aiding in the operation of an observatory.The American Astronomical Society, which is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America, has approximately 7,000 members. This number includes scientists from other fields such as physics, geology, and engineering, whose research interests are closely related to astronomy. The International Astronomical Union comprises almost 10,145 members from 70 different countries who are involved in astronomical research at the PhD level and beyond.Contrary to the classical image of an old astronomer peering through a telescope through the dark hours of the night, it is far more common to use a charge-coupled device camera to record a long, deep exposure, allowing a more sensitive image to be created because the light is added over time. Before CCDs, photographic plates were a common method of observation. Modern astronomers spend relatively little time at telescopes usually just a few weeks per year. Analysis of observed phenomena, along with making predictions as to the causes of what they observe, takes the majority of observational astronomers' time.Astronomers who serve as faculty spend much of their time teaching undergraduate and graduate classes. Most universities also have outreach programs including public telescope time and sometimes planetariums as a public service to encourage interest in the field.Those who become astronomers usually have a broad background in maths, sciences and computing in high school. Taking courses that teach how to research, write and present papers are also invaluable. In college/university most astronomers get a PhD in astronomy or physics.Amateur astronomers.While there is a relatively low number of professional astronomers the field is popular among amateurs. Most cities have amateur astronomy clubs that meet on a regular basis and often host star parties. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is the largest general astronomical society in the world comprising both professional and amateur astronomers as well as educators from 70 different nations. Like any hobby most people who think of themselves as amateur astronomers may devote a few hours a month to stargazing and reading the latest developments in research. However amateurs span the range from so-called "armchair astronomers" to the very ambitious who own science-grade telescopes and instruments with which they are able to make their own discoveries and assist professional astronomers in research.
ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Most modern character-encoding schemes are based on ASCII, although they support many additional characters.The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority prefers the name US-ASCII for this character encoding.ASCII is one of the IEEE milestones.ASCII was developed from telegraph code. Its first commercial use was as a seven-bit teleprinter code promoted by Bell data services. Work on the ASCII standard began in May 1961 with the first meeting of the American Standards Association's X3.2 subcommittee. The first edition of the standard was published in 1963 underwent a major revision during 1967 and experienced its most recent update during 1986. Compared to earlier telegraph codes the proposed Bell code and ASCII were both ordered for more convenient sorting of lists and added features for devices other than teleprinters.The use of ASCII format for Network Interchange was described in 1969. That document was formally elevated to an Internet Standard in 2015.Originally based on the English alphabet, ASCII encodes 128 specified characters into seven-bit integers as shown by the ASCII chart above. Ninety-five of the encoded characters are printable: these include the digits , and punctuation symbols. In addition, the original ASCII specification included 33 non-printing control codes which originated with Teletype machines; most of these are now obsolete, although a few are still commonly used, such as the carriage return, line feed and tab codes.For example lowercase would be represented in the ASCII encoding by binary 1101001 = hexadecimal 69 = decimal 105.The American Standard Code for Information Interchange was developed under the auspices of a committee of the American Standards Association called the X3 committee by its X3.2 subcommittee and later by that subcommittee's X3.2.4 working group . The ASA became the United States of America Standards Institute and ultimately the American National Standards Institute .With the other special characters and control codes filled in ASCII was published as ASA X3.4-1963 leaving 28 code positions without any assigned meaning reserved for future standardization and one unassigned control code. There was some debate at the time whether there should be more control characters rather than the lowercase alphabet. The indecision did not last long during May 1963 the CCITT Working Party on the New Telegraph Alphabet proposed to assign lowercase characters to "sticks" 6 and 7 and International Organization for Standardization TC 97 SC 2 voted during October to incorporate the change into its draft standard. The X3.2.4 task group voted its approval for the change to ASCII at its May 1963 meeting. Locating the lowercase letters in "sticks" 6 and 7 caused the characters to differ in bit pattern from the upper case by a single bit which simplified case-insensitive character matching and the construction of keyboards and printers.The X3 committee made other changes including other new characters renaming some control characters (SOM became start of header ) and moving or removing others . ASCII was subsequently updated as USAS X3.4-1967 then USAS X3.4-1968 ANSI X3.4-1977 and finally ANSI X3.4-1986.Revisions of the ASCII standardIn the X3.15 standard, the X3 committee also addressed how ASCII should be transmitted , and how it should be recorded on perforated tape. They proposed a 9-track standard for magnetic tape, and attempted to deal with some punched card formats.Design considerations.The X3.2 subcommittee designed ASCII based on the earlier teleprinter encoding systems. Like other character encodings, ASCII specifies a correspondence between digital bit patterns and character symbols . This allows digital devices to communicate with each other and to process, store, and communicate character-oriented information such as written language. Before ASCII was developed, the encodings in use included 26 alphabetic characters, 10 numerical digits, and from 11 to 25 special graphic symbols. To include all these, and control characters compatible with the Comit Consultatif International Tlphonique et Tlgraphique International Telegraph Alphabet No. 2 standard of 1924, FIELDATA , and early EBCDIC , more than 64 codes were required for ASCII.ITA2 was in turn based on the 5-bit telegraph code that mile Baudot invented in 1870 and patented in 1874.The committee debated the possibility of a shift function which would allow more than 64 codes to be represented by a six-bit code. In a shifted code some character codes determine choices between options for the following character codes. It allows compact encoding but is less reliable for data transmission as an error in transmitting the shift code typically makes a long part of the transmission unreadable. The standards committee decided against shifting and so ASCII required at least a seven-bit code.The committee considered an eight-bit code since eight bits would allow two four-bit patterns to efficiently encode two digits with binary-coded decimal. However it would require all data transmission to send eight bits when seven could suffice. The committee voted to use a seven-bit code to minimize costs associated with data transmission. Since perforated tape at the time could record eight bits in one position it also allowed for a parity bit for error checking if desired. Eight-bit machines that did not use parity checking typically set the eighth bit to 0.Internal organization.The code itself was patterned so that most control codes were together and all graphic codes were together for ease of identification. The first two so-called "ASCII sticks" were reserved for control characters. The "space" character had to come before graphics to make sorting easier so it became position 20hex for the same reason many special signs commonly used as separators were placed before digits. The committee decided it was important to support uppercase 64-character alphabets and chose to pattern ASCII so it could be reduced easily to a usable 64-character set of graphic codes as was done in the DEC SIXBIT code . Lowercase letters were therefore not interleaved with uppercase. To keep options available for lowercase letters and other graphics the special and numeric codes were arranged before the letters and the letter "A" was placed in position 41hex to match the draft of the corresponding British standard. The digits 0–9 are prefixed with 011 but the remaining 4 bits correspond to their respective values in binary making conversion with binary-coded decimal straightforward.Many of the non-alphanumeric characters were positioned to correspond to their shifted position on typewriters; an important subtlety is that these were based on . This discrepancy from typewriters led to bit-paired keyboards, notably the Teletype Model 33, which used the left-shifted layout corresponding to ASCII, not to traditional mechanical typewriters. Electric typewriters, notably the IBM Selectric , used a somewhat different layout that has become standard on computers following the IBM PC , especially Model M and thus shift values for symbols on modern keyboards do not correspond as closely to the ASCII table as earlier keyboards did. The codice_7 pair also dates to the No. 2, and the codice_8 pairs were used on some keyboards (others, including the No. 2, did not shift codice_9 or codice_10 so they could be used in uppercase without unshifting). However, ASCII split the codice_11 pair , and rearranged mathematical symbols to codice_13.Some common characters were not included notably codice_14 while codice_15 were included as diacritics for international use and codice_16 for mathematical use together with the simple line characters codice_17 . The was placed in position 40hex right before the letter A.The control codes felt essential for data transmission were the start of message (SOM), end of address (EOA), end of message (EOM), end of transmission (EOT), (WRU), (RU), a reserved device control (DC0), synchronous idle (SYNC), and acknowledge (ACK). These were positioned to maximize the Hamming distance between their bit patterns.Character order.ASCII-code order is also called "ASCIIbetical" order. Collation of data is sometimes done in this order rather than "standard" alphabetical order . The main deviations in ASCII order areAn intermediate order converts uppercase letters to lowercase before comparing ASCII values.Character groups.Control characters.ASCII reserves the first 32 codes for control characters: codes originally intended not to represent printable information, but rather to control devices that make use of ASCII, or to provide meta-information about data streams such as those stored on magnetic tape.For example, character 10 represents the . refers to control characters that do not include carriage return, line feed or white space as non-whitespace control characters. Except for the control characters that prescribe elementary line-oriented formatting, ASCII does not define any mechanism for describing the structure or appearance of text within a document. Other schemes, such as markup languages, address page and document layout and formatting.The original ASCII standard used only short descriptive phrases for each control character. The ambiguity this caused was sometimes intentional, for example where a character would be used slightly differently on a terminal link than on a data stream, and sometimes accidental, for example with the meaning of "delete".Probably the most influential single device on the interpretation of these characters was the Teletype Model 33 ASR which was a printing terminal with an available paper tape reader/punch option. Paper tape was a very popular medium for long-term program storage until the 1980s less costly and in some ways less fragile than magnetic tape. In particular the Teletype Model 33 machine assignments for codes 17 19 and 127 became de facto standards. The Model 33 was also notable for taking the description of Control-G literally as the unit contained an actual bell which it rang when it received a BEL character. Because the keytop for the O key also showed a left-arrow symbol a noncompliant use of code 15 interpreted as "delete previous character" was also adopted by many early timesharing systems but eventually became neglected.When a Teletype 33 ASR equipped with the automatic paper tape reader received a Control-S it caused the tape reader to stop receiving Control-Q caused the tape reader to resume. This technique became adopted by several early computer operating systems as a "handshaking" signal warning a sender to stop transmission because of impending overflow it persists to this day in many systems as a manual output control technique. On some systems Control-S retains its meaning but Control-Q is replaced by a second Control-S to resume output. The 33 ASR also could be configured to employ Control-R and Control-T to start and stop the tape punch on some units equipped with this function the corresponding control character lettering on the keycap above the letter was TAPE and TAPE respectively.Delete &amp Backspace.The Teletype could not move the head backwards so it did not put a key on the keyboard to send a BS . Instead there was a key marked that sent code 127 . The purpose of this key was to erase mistakes in a hand-typed paper tape the operator had to push a button on the tape punch to back it up then type the rubout which punched all holes and replaced the mistake with a character that was intended to be ignored. Teletypes were commonly used for the less-expensive computers from Digital Equipment Corporation so these systems had to use the available key and thus the DEL code to erase the previous character. Because of this DEC video terminals sent the DEL code for the key marked prefix command in GNU Emacs.Many more of the control codes have been given meanings quite different from their original ones. The "escape" character (ESC code 27) for example was intended originally to allow sending other control characters as literals instead of invoking their meaning. This is the same meaning of "escape" encountered in URL encodings C language strings and other systems where certain characters have a reserved meaning. Over time this meaning has been co-opted and has eventually been changed. In modern use an ESC sent to the terminal usually indicates the start of a command sequence usually in the form of a so-called "ANSI escape code" (or more properly a "Control Sequence Introducer") from ECMA-48 (1972) and its successors beginning with ESC followed by a "[" (left-bracket) character. An ESC sent from the terminal is most often used as an out-of-band character used to terminate an operation as in the TECO and vi text editors. In graphical user interface (GUI) and windowing systems ESC generally causes an application to abort its current operation or to exit (terminate) altogether.End of Line.The inherent ambiguity of many control characters combined with their historical usage created problems when transferring "plain text" files between systems. The best example of this is the newline problem on various operating systems. Teletype machines required that a line of text be terminated with both "Carriage Return" and "Line Feed" . The name "Carriage Return" comes from the fact that on a manual typewriter the carriage holding the paper moved while the position where the typebars struck the ribbon remained stationary. The entire carriage had to be pushed to the right in order to position the left margin of the paper for the next line.DEC operating systems (OS/8 RT-11 RSX-11 RSTS TOPS-10 etc.) used both characters to mark the end of a line so that the console device (originally Teletype machines) would work. By the time so-called "glass TTYs" (later called CRTs or terminals) came along the convention was so well established that backward compatibility necessitated continuing the convention. When Gary Kildall created CP/M he was inspired by some command line interface conventions used in DEC's RT-11. Until the introduction of PC DOS in 1981 IBM had no hand in this because their 1970s operating systems used EBCDIC instead of ASCII and they were oriented toward punch-card input and line printer output on which the concept of carriage return was meaningless. IBM's PC DOS (also marketed as MS-DOS by Microsoft) inherited the convention by virtue of being loosely based on CP/M and Windows inherited it from MS-DOS.Unfortunately requiring two characters to mark the end of a line introduces unnecessary complexity and questions as to how to interpret each character when encountered alone. To simplify matters plain text data streams including files on Multics used line feed alone as a line terminator. Unix and Unix-like systems and Amiga systems adopted this convention from Multics. The original Macintosh OS Apple DOS and ProDOS on the other hand used carriage return alone as a line terminator however since Apple replaced these operating systems with the Unix-based macOS operating system they now use line feed as well. The Radio Shack TRS-80 also used a lone CR to terminate lines.Computers attached to the ARPANET included machines running operating systems such as TOPS-10 and TENEX using CR-LF line endings, machines running operating systems such as Multics using LF line endings, and machines running operating systems such as OS/360 that represented lines as a character count followed by the characters of the line and that used EBCDIC rather than ASCII. The Telnet protocol defined an ASCII (NVT), so that connections between hosts with different line-ending conventions and character sets could be supported by transmitting a standard text format over the network. Telnet used ASCII along with CR-LF line endings, and software using other conventions would translate between the local conventions and the NVT. The File Transfer Protocol adopted the Telnet protocol, including use of the Network Virtual Terminal, for use when transmitting commands and transferring data in the default ASCII mode. This adds complexity to implementations of those protocols, and to other network protocols, such as those used for E-mail and the World Wide Web, on systems not using the NVT's CR-LF line-ending convention.End of File/Stream.The PDP-6 monitor and its PDP-10 successor TOPS-10 used Control-Z as an end-of-file indication for input from a terminal. Some operating systems such as CP/M tracked file length only in units of disk blocks and used Control-Z to mark the end of the actual text in the file. For these reasons EOF or end-of-file was used colloquially and conventionally as a three-letter acronym for Control-Z instead of SUBstitute. The end-of-text code also known as Control-C was inappropriate for a variety of reasons while using Z as the control code to end a file is analogous to it ending the alphabet and serves as a very convenient mnemonic aid. A historically common and still prevalent convention uses the ETX code convention to interrupt and halt a program via an input data stream usually from a keyboard.In C library and Unix conventions, the null character is used to terminate text strings; such null-terminated strings can be known in abbreviation as ASCIZ or ASCIIZ, where here Z stands for .Control code chart.Other representations might be used by specialist equipment, for example ISO 2047 graphics or hexadecimal numbers.Printable characters.Codes 20hex to 7Ehex known as the printable characters represent letters digits punctuation marks and a few miscellaneous symbols. There are 95 printable characters in total.Code 20hex the "space" character denotes the space between words as produced by the space bar of a keyboard. Since the space character is considered an invisible graphic (rather than a control character) it is listed in the table below instead of in the previous section.Code 7Fhex corresponds to the non-printable control character and is therefore omitted from this chart; it is covered in the previous section's chart. Earlier versions of ASCII used the up arrow instead of the caret and the left arrow instead of the underscore .ASCII was first used commercially during 1963 as a seven-bit teleprinter code for American Telephone &amp; Telegraph's TWX network. TWX originally used the earlier five-bit ITA2, which was also used by the competing Telex teleprinter system. Bob Bemer introduced features such as the escape sequence. His British colleague Hugh McGregor Ross helped to popularize this work according to Bemer, .On March 11 1968 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson mandated that all computers purchased by the United States Federal Government support ASCII statingI have also approved recommendations of the Secretary of Commerce regarding standards for recording the Standard Code for Information Interchange on magnetic tapes and paper tapes when they are used in computer operations.All computers and related equipment configurations brought into the Federal Government inventory on and after July 1 1969 must have the capability to use the Standard Code for Information Interchange and the formats prescribed by the magnetic tape and paper tape standards when these media are used.ASCII was the most common character encoding on the World Wide Web until December 2007, when UTF-8 encoding surpassed it; UTF-8 is backward compatible with ASCII.Variants and derivations.As computer technology spread throughout the world, different standards bodies and corporations developed many variations of ASCII to facilitate the expression of non-English languages that used Roman-based alphabets. One could class some of these variations as , although some misuse that term to represent all variants, including those that do not preserve ASCII's character-map in the 7-bit range. Furthermore, the ASCII extensions have also been mislabelled as ASCII.7-bit codes.From early in its development ASCII was intended to be just one of several national variants of an international character code standard.Other international standards bodies have ratified character encodings such as ISO 646 that are identical or nearly identical to ASCII with extensions for characters outside the English alphabet and symbols used outside the United States such as the symbol for the United Kingdom's pound sterling e.g. with code page 1104. Almost every country needed an adapted version of ASCII since ASCII suited the needs of only the US and a few other countries. For example Canada had its own version that supported French characters.Many other countries developed variants of ASCII to include non-English letters currency symbols etc. See also YUSCII .It would share most characters in common but assign other locally useful characters to several code points reserved for . However the four years that elapsed between the publication of ASCII-1963 and ISOs choices for the national use characters to seem to be de facto standards for the world causing confusion and incompatibility once other countries did begin to make their own assignments to these code points.ISO/IEC 646, like ASCII, is a 7-bit character set. It does not make any additional codes available, so the same code points encoded different characters in different countries. Escape codes were defined to indicate which national variant applied to a piece of text, but they were rarely used, so it was often impossible to know what variant to work with and, therefore, which character a code represented, and in general, text-processing systems could cope with only one variant anyway.Because the bracket and brace characters of ASCII were assigned to "national use" code points that were used for accented letters in other national variants of ISO/IEC 646 a German French or Swedish etc. programmer using their national variant of ISO/IEC 646 rather than ASCII had to write and thus read something such asC trigraphs were created to solve this problem for ANSI C, although their late introduction and inconsistent implementation in compilers limited their use. Many programmers kept their computers on US-ASCII, so plain-text in Swedish, German etc. contained .In Japan and Korea still a variation of ASCII is used in which the backslash is rendered as ¥ or ₩ . This means that for example the file path C\Users\Smith is shown as C¥Users¥Smith or C₩Users₩Smith .8-bit codes.Eventually as 8- 16- and 32-bit computers began to replace 12- 18- and 36-bit computers as the norm it became common to use an 8-bit byte to store each character in memory providing an opportunity for extended 8-bit relatives of ASCII. In most cases these developed as true extensions of ASCII leaving the original character-mapping intact but adding additional character definitions after the first 128 characters.Encodings include ISCII , VISCII . Although these encodings are sometimes referred to as ASCII, true ASCII is defined strictly only by the ANSI standard.Most early home computer systems developed their own 8-bit character sets containing line-drawing and game glyphs and often filled in some or all of the control characters from 0 to 31 with more graphics. Kaypro CP/M computers used the 128 characters for the Greek alphabet.The PETSCII code Commodore International used for their 8-bit systems is probably unique among post-1970 codes in being based on ASCII-1963, instead of the more common ASCII-1967, such as found on the ZX Spectrum computer. Atari 8-bit computers and Galaksija computers also used ASCII variants.The IBM PC defined code page 437, which replaced the control characters with graphic symbols such as smiley faces, and mapped additional graphic characters to the upper 128 positions. Operating systems such as DOS supported these code pages, and manufacturers of IBM PCs supported them in hardware. Digital Equipment Corporation developed the Multinational Character Set (DEC-MCS) for use in the popular VT220 terminal as one of the first extensions designed more for international languages than for block graphics. The Macintosh defined Mac OS Roman and Postscript also defined a set, both of these contained both international letters and typographic punctuation marks instead of graphics, more like modern character sets.The ISO/IEC 8859 standard (derived from the DEC-MCS) finally provided a standard that most systems copied (at least as accurately as they copied ASCII, but with many substitutions). A popular further extension designed by Microsoft, Windows-1252 (often mislabeled as ISO-8859-1), added the typographic punctuation marks needed for traditional text printing. ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, and the original 7-bit ASCII were the most common character encodings until 2008 when UTF-8 became more common.ISO/IEC 4873 introduced 32 additional control codes defined in the 80–9F hexadecimal range, as part of extending the 7-bit ASCII encoding to become an 8-bit system.Unicode and the ISO/IEC 10646 Universal Character Set have a much wider array of characters and their various encoding forms have begun to supplant ISO/IEC 8859 and ASCII rapidly in many environments. While ASCII is limited to 128 characters, Unicode and the UCS support more characters by separating the concepts of unique identification and encoding .ASCII was incorporated into the Unicode character set as the first 128 symbols so the 7-bit ASCII characters have the same numeric codes in both sets. This allows UTF-8 to be backward compatible with 7-bit ASCII as a UTF-8 file containing only ASCII characters is identical to an ASCII file containing the same sequence of characters. Even more importantly forward compatibility is ensured as software that recognizes only 7-bit ASCII characters as special and does not alter bytes with the highest bit set will preserve UTF-8 data unchanged.
Austin is the capital of Texas in the United States.Austin may also refer toAnimation is a method in which figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most animations are made with computer-generated imagery . Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D computer animation can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth, or faster real-time renderings. Other common animation methods apply a stop motion technique to two and three-dimensional objects like paper cutouts, puppets, or clay figures.Commonly animators achieved the effect by a rapid succession of images that minimally differ from each other. The illusion—as in motion pictures in general—is thought to rely on the phi phenomenon and beta movement but the exact causes are still uncertain. Analog mechanical animation media that rely on the rapid display of sequential images include the phnakisticope zoetrope flip book praxinoscope and film. Television and video are popular electronic animation media that originally were analog and now operate digitally. For display on computers technology such as the animated GIF and Flash animation were developed.In addition to short films feature films television series animated GIFs and other media dedicated to the display of moving images animation is also prevalent in video games motion graphics user interfaces and visual effects.The physical movement of image parts through simple mechanics—for instance moving images in magic lantern shows—can also be considered animation. The mechanical manipulation of three-dimensional puppets and objects to emulate living beings has a very long history in automata. Electronic automata were popularized by Disney as animatronics.Before cinematography.Hundreds of years before the introduction of true animation, people all over the world enjoyed shows with moving figures that were created and manipulated manually in puppetry, automata, shadow play, and the magic lantern. The multi-media phantasmagoria shows that were very popular in West-European theatres from the late 18th century through the first half of the 19th century, featured lifelike projections of moving ghosts and other frightful imagery in motion.In 1833 the stroboscopic disc introduced the principle of modern animation with sequential images that were shown one by one in quick succession to form an optical illusion of motion pictures. Series of sequential images had occasionally been made over thousands of years but the stroboscopic disc provided the first method to represent such images in fluent motion and for the first time had artists creating series with a proper systematic breakdown of movements. The stroboscopic animation principle was also applied in the zoetrope the flip book and the praxinoscope . The average 19th-century animation contained about 12 images that were displayed as a continuous loop by spinning a device manually. The flip book often contained more pictures and had a beginning and end but its animation would not last longer than a few seconds. The first to create much longer sequences seem to have been Charles-mile Reynaud who between 1892 and 1900 had much success with his 10- to 15-minute-long .Silent era.When cinematography eventually broke through in 1895 after animated pictures had been known for decades the wonder of the realistic details in the new medium was seen as its biggest accomplishment. Animation on film was not commercialized until a few years later by manufacturers of optical toys with chromolithography film loops for adapted toy magic lanterns intended for kids to use at home. It would take some more years before animation reached movie theaters.After earlier experiments by movie pioneers J. Stuart Blackton Arthur Melbourne-Cooper Segundo de Chomn and Edwin S. Porter Blackton's was the first huge stop motion success baffling audiences by showing objects that apparently moved by themselves in full photographic detail without signs of any known stage trick.mile Cohl's (1908) is the oldest known example of what became known as traditional (hand-drawn) animation. Other great artistic and very influential short films were created by Ladislas Starevich with his puppet animations since 1910 and by Winsor McCay with detailed drawn animation in films such as (1911) and (1914).During the 1910s, the production of animated "cartoons" became an industry in the US. Successful producer John Randolph Bray and animator Earl Hurd, patented the cel animation process that dominated the animation industry for the rest of the century. Felix the Cat, who debuted in 1919, became the first animated superstar.American golden age.In 1928 featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse popularized film with synchronized sound and put Walt Disney's studio at the forefront of the animation industry.The enormous success of Mickey Mouse is seen as the start of the golden age of American animation that would last until the 1960s. The United States dominated the world market of animation with a plethora of cel-animated theatrical shorts. Several studios would introduce characters that would become very popular and would have long-lasting careers, including Maria Butinova Studios Pink Panther .Features before CGI.In 1917, Italian-Argentine director Quirino Cristiani made the first feature-length film in 1918, but one day after its premiere the film was confiscated by the government.After working on it for three years, Lotte Reiniger released the German feature-length silhouette animation "Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" in 1926, the oldest extant animated feature.In 1937 Walt Disney Studios premiered their first animated feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" still one of the highest-grossing traditional animation features . The Fleischer studios followed this example in 1939 with "Gulliver's Travels" with some success. Partly due to foreign markets being cut off by the Second World War Disney's next features "Pinocchio" "Fantasia" and Fleischer Studios' second animated feature "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" failed at the box office. For decades afterward Disney would be the only American studio to regularly produce animated features until Ralph Bakshi became the first to also release more than a handful features. Sullivan-Bluth Studios began to regularly produce animated features starting with "An American Tail" in 1986.Although relatively few titles became as successful as Disney's features, other countries developed their own animation industries that produced both short and feature theatrical animations in a wide variety of styles, relatively often including stop motion and cutout animation techniques. Russia's Soyuzmultfilm animation studio, founded in 1936, produced 20 films (including shorts) per year on average and reached 1,582 titles in 2018. China, Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic, Italy, France, and Belgium were other countries that more than occasionally released feature films, while Japan became a true powerhouse of animation production, with its own recognizable and influential anime style of effective limited animation.Television.Animation became very popular on television since the 1950s, when television sets started to become common in most developed countries. Cartoons were mainly programmed for children, on convenient time slots, and especially US youth spent many hours watching Saturday-morning cartoons. Many classic cartoons found a new life on the small screen and by the end of the 1950s, the production of new animated cartoons started to shift from theatrical releases to TV series. Hanna-Barbera Productions was especially prolific and had huge hit series, such as of American animation.While US animated series also spawned successes internationally, many other countries produced their own child-oriented programming, relatively often preferring stop motion and puppetry over cel animation. Japanese anime TV series became very successful internationally since the 1960s, and European producers looking for affordable cel animators relatively often started co-productions with Japanese studios, resulting in hit series such as "Barbapapa" , "Wickie und die starken Mnner/ " , and "The Jungle Book" .Switch from cels to computers.Computer animation was gradually developed since the 1940s. 3D wireframe animation started popping up in the mainstream in the 1970s, with an early appearance in the sci-fi thriller "Futureworld" . was the first feature film to be completely created digitally without a camera. It was produced in a style that's very similar to traditional cel animation on the Computer Animation Production System developed by The Walt Disney Company in collaboration with Pixar in the late 1980s.The so-called 3D style, more often associated with computer animation, has become extremely popular since Pixar's , the first computer-animated feature in this style.Most of the cel animation studios switched to producing mostly computer animated films around the 1990s, as it proved cheaper and more profitable. Not only the very popular 3D animation style was generated with computers, but also most of the films and series with a more traditional hand-crafted appearance, in which the charming characteristics of cel animation could be emulated with software, while new digital tools helped developing new styles and effects.Economic status.In 2008 the animation market was worth US$68.4 billion. Animated feature-length films returned the highest gross margins of all film genres between 2004 and 2013. Animation as an art and industry continues to thrive as of the early 2020s.Education propaganda and commercials.The clarity of animation makes it a powerful tool for instruction, while its total malleability also allows exaggeration that can be employed to convey strong emotions and to thwart reality. It has therefore been widely used for other purposes than mere entertainment.During World War II, animation was widely exploited for propaganda. Many American studios, including Warner Bros. and Disney, lent their talents and their cartoon characters to convey to the public certain war values. Some countries, including China, Japan and the United Kingdom, produced their first feature-length animation for their war efforts.Animation has been very popular in television commercials, both due to its graphic appeal, and the humour it can provide. Some animated characters in commercials have survived for decades, such as Snap, Crackle and Pop in advertisements for Kellogg's cereals. The legendary animation director Tex Avery was the producer of the first Raid commercials in 1966, which were very successful for the company.Other media, merchandise and theme parks.Apart from their success in movie theaters and television series many cartoon characters would also prove extremely lucrative when licensed for all kinds of merchandise and for other media.Animation has traditionally been very closely related to comic books. While many comic book characters found their way to the screen (which is often the case in Japan where many manga are adapted into anime) original animated characters also commonly appear in comic books and magazines. Somewhat similarly characters and plots for video games (an interactive animation medium) have been derived from films and vice versa.Some of the original content produced for the screen can be used and marketed in other media. Stories and images can easily be adapted into children's books and other printed media. Songs and music have appeared on records and as streaming media.While very many animation companies commercially exploit their creations outside moving image media The Walt Disney Company is the best known and most extreme example. Since first being licensed for a childrens name but licensed Disney products sell well and the so-called Disneyana has many avid collectors and even a dedicated Disneyana fanclub .Disneyland opened in 1955 and features many attractions that were based on Disney's cartoon characters. Its enormous success spawned several other Disney theme parks and resorts. Disney's earnings from the theme parks have relatively often been higher than those from their movies.Criticism of animation has been common in media and cinema since its inception. With its popularity a large amount of criticism has arisen especially animated feature-length films. Many concerns of cultural representation psychological effects on children have been brought up around the animation industry which has remained rather politically unchanged and stagnant since its inception into mainstream culture.Criticism about the Impact of Animated Movies on Girls.Animated movies have been created for the sake of entertainment although there is much more to look at. Subliminal messages are hidden in these animations for all of them portray a piece of reality whether it is gender racial and cultural stereotypes prejudices discrimination values ideologies among others. Indeed “There is a good chance that some of your beliefs have been influenced by decades of animated movies”. The representation of women throughout animated movies has changed gradually and adjusted to contemporary times. According to Juan Sklar “Cartoons can be watched through the lens of ideology.” To start with the “engagement with Disney princesses in young girls around two years old is associated with greater female gender-stereotype behaviour and lower body self-esteem”. As a case in point The Little Mermaid is a Disney movie that tells the story of a princess who sacrifices her voice in order to stay with her beloved man. “The symbolism here is powerful To win the love of the prince Ariel must forfeit her thoughts and intellect her independence and identity”. Historically animated movies have portrayed female characters struggling to gain independence making personal sacrifices and undergoing cultural mandates before freeing themselves from the bonds of society. Besides in the past the image of an ideal correct and rigorous woman was also commonplace. As audiences change over time Disney has adapted their representation of traditional Disney princesses to modern times. For the first time Disney has created the story of a princess that breaks completely with the patterns and stereotypes of typical princesses. For instance Brave is a movie that shows an independent rebellious fearless and unique princess who “does not need to get happiness from a man or through marriage”.As with any other form of media, animation has instituted awards for excellence in the field. The original awards for animation were presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for animated shorts from the year 1932, during the 5th Academy Awards function. The first winner of the Academy Award was the short also received Best Picture nominations after the Academy expanded the number of nominees from five to ten.Several other countries have instituted an award for the best-animated feature film as part of their national film awards: Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Animation , BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film , Csar Award for Best Animated Film , Golden Rooster Award for Best Animation , Goya Award for Best Animated Film , Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year , National Film Award for Best Animated Film . Also since 2007, the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film has been awarded at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Since 2009, the European Film Awards have awarded the European Film Award for Best Animated Film.The Annie Award is another award presented for excellence in the field of animation. Unlike the Academy Awards the Annie Awards are only received for achievements in the field of animation and not for any other field of technical and artistic endeavour. They were re-organized in 1992 to create a new field for Best Animated Feature. The 1990s winners were dominated by Walt Disney however newer studios led by Pixar &amp DreamWorks have now begun to consistently vie for this award. The list of awardees is as followsProduction.The creation of non-trivial animation works (i.e. longer than a few seconds) has developed as a form of filmmaking with certain unique aspects. Traits common to both live-action and animated feature-length films are labor intensity and high production costs.The most important difference is that once a film is in the production phase the marginal cost of one more shot is higher for animated films than live-action films. It is relatively easy for a director to ask for one more take during principal photography of a live-action film but every take on an animated film must be manually rendered by animators . It is pointless for a studio to pay the salaries of dozens of animators to spend weeks creating a visually dazzling five-minute scene if that scene fails to effectively advance the plot of the film. Thus animation studios starting with Disney began the practice in the 1930s of maintaining story departments where storyboard artists develop every single scene through storyboards then handing the film over to the animators only after the production team is satisfied that all the scenes make sense as a whole. While live-action films are now also storyboarded they enjoy more latitude to depart from storyboards .Another problem unique to animation is the requirement to maintain a film's consistency from start to finish even as films have grown longer and teams have grown larger. Animators like all artists necessarily have individual styles but must subordinate their individuality in a consistent way to whatever style is employed on a particular film. Since the early 1980s teams of about 500 to 600 people of whom 50 to 70 are animators typically have created feature-length animated films. It is relatively easy for two or three artists to match their styles synchronizing those of dozens of artists is more difficult.This problem is usually solved by having a separate group of visual development artists develop an overall look and palette for each film before the animation begins. Character designers on the visual development team draw model sheets to show how each character should look like with different facial expressions, posed in different positions, and viewed from different angles. On traditionally animated projects, maquettes were often sculpted to further help the animators see how characters would look from different angles.Unlike live-action films, animated films were traditionally developed beyond the synopsis stage through the storyboard format; the storyboard artists would then receive credit for writing the film. In the early 1960s, animation studios began hiring professional screenwriters to write screenplays and screenplays had become commonplace for animated films by the late 1980s.Techniques.Traditional.Traditional animation (also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation) was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators' drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cels, which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto motion picture film.The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Today animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery media including traditional 35 mm film and newer media with digital video. The "look" of traditional cel animation is still preserved and the character animators' work has remained essentially the same over the past 70 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" to describe cel animation that uses significant computer technology.Examples of traditionally animated feature films include "Pinocchio" "Animal Farm" "Lucky and Zorba" and "The Illusionist" . Traditionally animated films produced with the aid of computer technology include "The Lion King" "The Prince of Egypt" "Akira" "Spirited Away" "The Triplets of Belleville" and "The Secret of Kells" .Full animation refers to the process of producing high-quality traditionally animated films that regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement having a smooth animation. Fully animated films can be made in a variety of styles from more realistically animated works like those produced by the Walt Disney studio to the more 'cartoon' styles of the Warner Bros. animation studio. Many of the Disney animated features are examples of full animation as are non-Disney works "The Secret of NIMH" "The Iron Giant" and "Nocturna" . Fully animated films are animated at 24 frames per second with a combination of animation on ones and twos meaning that drawings can be held for one frame out of 24 or two frames out of 24.Limited animation involves the use of less detailed or more stylized drawings and methods of movement usually a choppy or "skippy" movement animation. Limited animation uses fewer drawings per second, thereby limiting the fluidity of the animation. This is a more economic technique. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United Productions of America, limited animation can be used as a method of stylized artistic expression, as in "Gerald McBoing-Boing" (US, 1951), "Yellow Submarine" (UK, 1968), and certain anime produced in Japan. Its primary use, however, has been in producing cost-effective animated content for media for television (the work of Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and other TV animation studios) and later the Internet (web cartoons).Rotoscoping.Rotoscoping is a technique patented by Max Fleischer in 1917 where animators trace live-action movement frame by frame. The source film can be directly copied from actors' outlines into animated drawings as in .Live-action blending.Live-action/animation is a technique combining hand-drawn characters into live action shots or live-action actors into animated shots. One of the earlier uses was in Koko the Clown when Koko was drawn over live-action footage. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created a series of (1923–1927), in which a live-action girl enters an animated world. Other examples include (Italy, 1976), (US, 1988), (Italy 1991), (US, 1996) and (US, 2001).Stop motion.Stop-motion animation is used to describe animation created by physically manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of film at a time to create the illusion of movement. There are many different types of stop-motion animation, usually named after the medium used to create the animation. Computer software is widely available to create this type of animation; traditional stop-motion animation is usually less expensive but more time-consuming to produce than current computer animation.Computer animation encompasses a variety of techniques the unifying factor being that the animation is created digitally on a computer. 2D animation techniques tend to focus on image manipulation while 3D techniques usually build virtual worlds in which characters and objects move and interact. 3D animation can create images that seem real to the viewer.2D animation figures are created or edited on the computer using 2D bitmap graphics and 2D vector graphics. This includes automated computerized versions of traditional animation techniques, interpolated morphing, onion skinning and interpolated rotoscoping.2D animation has many applications, including analog computer animation, Flash animation, and PowerPoint animation. Cinemagraphs are still photographs in the form of an animated GIF file of which part is animated.Final line advection animation is a technique used in 2D animation to give artists and animators more influence and control over the final product as everything is done within the same department. Speaking about using this approach in 3D animation is digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator. The 3D model maker usually starts by creating a 3D polygon mesh for the animator to manipulate. A mesh typically includes many vertices that are connected by edges and faces, which give the visual appearance of form to a 3D object or 3D environment. Sometimes, the mesh is given an internal digital skeletal structure called an armature that can be used to control the mesh by weighting the vertices. This process is called rigging and can be used in conjunction with key frames to create movement.Other techniques can be applied, mathematical functions (e.g., gravity, particle simulations), simulated fur or hair, and effects, fire and water simulations. These techniques fall under the category of 3D dynamics.
Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Seen as the most beautiful god and the ideal of the "kouros" , Apollo is considered to be the most Greek of all the gods. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as "Apulu".As the patron deity of Delphi ("Apollo Pythios") Apollo is an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Apollo is the god who affords help and wards off evil various epithets call him the "averter of evil". Delphic Apollo is the patron of seafarers foreigners and the protector of fugitives and refugees.Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo delivered people from epidemics yet he is also a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is usually described as carrying a golden bow and a quiver of silver arrows. Apollo's capacity to make youths grow is one of the best attested facets of his panhellenic cult persona. As the protector of young Apollo is concerned with the health and education of children. He presided over their passage into adulthood. Long hair which was the prerogative of boys was cut at the coming of age and dedicated to Apollo.Apollo is an important pastoral deity, and was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary duties. On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged founding new towns and establishment of civil constitution. He is associated with dominion over colonists. He was the giver of laws, and his oracles were consulted before setting laws in a city.As the god of he became identified among Greeks with Helios the personification of the sun. In Latin texts however there was no conflation of Apollo with Sol among the classical Latin poets until 1st century CE. Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 5th century CE.Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: , ; )The name "Apollo"—unlike the related older name "Paean"—is generally not found in the Linear B texts although there is a possible attestation in the lacunose form "]pe-rjo-[" on the KN E 842 tablet.The etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling ( in Classical Attic) had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era but the Doric form () is more archaic as it is derived from an earlier . It probably is a cognate to the Doric month () and the offerings apellaia () at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai ().According to some scholars the words are derived from the Doric word "apella" which originally meant "wall" "fence for animals" and later "assembly within the limits of the square." Apella is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta corresponding to the "ecclesia" . R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun "apellai" and suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *"Apalyun".Several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb , and some toponyms may be derived from this word: and .A number of non-Greek etymologies have been suggested for the name The Hittite form "Apaliunas" is attested in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter. The Hittite testimony reflects an early form "" which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot with Doric . The name of the Lydian god "Qdns" /kns/ may reflect an earlier /kalyn-/ before palatalization syncope and the pre-Lydian sound change *y "&gt" d. Note the labiovelar in place of the labial /p/ found in pre-Doric "j" and Hittite "Apaliunas".A Luwian etymology suggested for .Greco-Roman epithets.Apollo's chief epithet was Phoebus , literally "bright". It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollo's role as the god of light. Like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a great number of appellations in Greek myth, only a few occur in Latin literature.Origin and birth.Apollo's birthplace was Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos.Place of worship.Delphi and Actium were his primary places of worship.Celtic epithets and cult titles.Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands, he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character.The cult centers of Apollo in Greece Delphi and Delos date from the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to Artemis Apollo's twin sister. At Delphi Apollo was venerated as the slayer of the monstrous serpent Python. For the Greeks Apollo was the most Greek of all the gods and through the centuries he acquired different functions. In Archaic Greece he was the prophet the oracular god who in older times was connected with Healer and god-protector from evil.In classical times his major function in popular religion was to keep away evil and he was therefore called ( ) and ( from v. + n. ). Apollo also had many epithets relating to his function as a healer. Some commonly-used examples are ( literally ) ( ) ( ) and ( ). In later writers the word becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing.Apollo in his aspect of "healer" has a connection to the primitive god Paean who did not have a cult of his own. Paean serves as the healer of the gods in the "Iliad" and seems to have originated in a pre-Greek religion. It is suggested though unconfirmed that he is connected to the Mycenaean figure "pa-ja-wo-ne" . Paean was the personification of holy songs sung by "seer-doctors" which were supposed to cure disease.Homer illustrated Paeon the god and the song both of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph. Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo and afterwards to other gods to Dionysus to Apollo Helios to Apollo's son Asclepius the healer. About the 4th century BCE the paean became merely a formula of adulation its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognized as the god of music. Apollo's role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory hence it became the Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle when a fleet left the harbour and also after a victory had been won.In the "Iliad" Apollo is the healer under the gods but he is also the bringer of disease and death with his arrows similar to the function of the Vedic god of disease Rudra. He sends a plague to the Achaeans. Knowing that Apollo can prevent a recurrence of the plague he sent they purify themselves in a ritual and offer him a large sacrifice of cows called a hecatomb.Dorian origin.The in northwest Greek calendars. The family-festival was dedicated to Apollo (Doric: ). (the great Kouros). However it can explain only the Doric type of the name, which is connected with the Ancient Macedonian word (Pella), . Stones played an important part in the cult of the god, especially in the oracular shrine of Delphi (Omphalos).Minoan origin.George Huxley regarded the identification of Apollo with the Minoan deity Paiawon worshipped in Crete to have originated at Delphi. In the "Homeric Hymn" Apollo appeared as a dolphin and carried Cretan priests to Delphi where they evidently transferred their religious practices. "Apollo Delphinios" or "Delphidios" was a sea-god especially worshipped in Crete and in the islands. Apollo's sister Artemis who was the Greek goddess of hunting is identified with Britomartis the Minoan "Mistress of the animals". In her earliest depictions she was accompanied by the "Master of the animals" a bow-wielding god of hunting whose name has been lost aspects of this figure may have been absorbed into the more popular Apollo.Anatolian origin.A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been assumed in scholarship. The name of Apollo's mother Leto has Lydian origin, and she was worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor. The inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced into Greece from Anatolia, which is the origin of Sibyl, and where some of the oldest oracular shrines originated. Omens, symbols, purifications, and exorcisms appear in old Assyro-Babylonian texts. These rituals were spread into the empire of the Hittites, and from there into Greece.Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans, fighting against the Achaeans, during the Trojan War. He is pictured as a terrible god, less trusted by the Greeks than other gods. The god seems to be related to "Appaliunas", a tutelary god of Wilusa (Troy) in Asia Minor, but the word is not complete. The stones found in front of the gates of Homeric Troy were the symbols of Apollo. A western Anatolian origin may also be bolstered by references to the parallel worship of "Artimus" (Artemis) and "Qdns", whose name may be cognate with the Hittite and Doric forms, in surviving Lydian texts"." However, recent scholars have cast doubt on the identification of "Qdns" with Apollo.The Greeks gave to him the name "agyieus" as the protector god of public places and houses who wards off evil and his symbol was a tapered stone or column. However, while usually Greek festivals were celebrated at the full moon, all the feasts of Apollo were celebrated at the seventh day of the month, and the emphasis given to that day indicates a Babylonian origin.The Late Bronze Age (from 1700 to 1200 BCE) Hittite and Hurrian "Aplu" was a god of plague invoked during plague years. Here we have an apotropaic situation where a god originally bringing the plague was invoked to end it. Aplu meaning "the son of" was a title given to the god Nergal who was linked to the Babylonian god of the sun Shamash. Homer interprets Apollo as a terrible god () who brings death and disease with his arrows but who can also heal possessing a magic art that separates him from the other Greek gods. In "Iliad" his priest prays to "Apollo Smintheus" the mouse god who retains an older agricultural function as the protector from field rats. All these functions including the function of the healer-god Paean who seems to have Mycenean origin are fused in the cult of Apollo.Proto-Indo-European.The Vedic Rudra has some similar functions with Apollo. The terrible god is called and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva. Rudra could bring diseases with his arrows but he was able to free people of them and his alternative Shiva is a healer physician god. However the Indo-European component of Apollo does not explain his strong relation with omens exorcisms and with the oracular cult.Oracular cult.Unusually among the Olympic deities Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence Delos and Delphi. In cult practice Delian Apollo and Pythian Apollo were so distinct that they might both have shrines in the same locality. Lycia was sacred to the god for this Apollo was also called Lycian. Apollo's cult was already fully established when written sources commenced about 650 BCE. Apollo became extremely important to the Greek world as an oracular deity in the archaic period and the frequency of theophoric names such as Oracular shrines.Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi and other notable ones in Claros and Didyma. His oracular shrine in Abae in Phocis where he bore the toponymic epithet was important enough to be consulted by Croesus.His oracular shrines includeOracles were also given by sons of Apollo.Temples of Apollo.Many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece and the Greek colonies. They show the spread of the cult of Apollo and the evolution of the Greek architecture which was mostly based on the rightness of form and on mathematical relations. Some of the earliest temples especially in Crete do not belong to any Greek order. It seems that the first peripteral temples were rectangular wooden structures. The different wooden elements were considered divine and their forms were preserved in the marble or stone elements of the temples of Doric order. The Greeks used standard types because they believed that the world of objects was a series of typical forms which could be represented in several instances. The temples should be canonic and the architects were trying to achieve this esthetic perfection. From the earliest times there were certain rules strictly observed in rectangular peripteral and prostyle buildings. The first buildings were built narrowly in order to hold the roof and when the dimensions changed some mathematical relations became necessary in order to keep the original forms. This probably influenced the theory of numbers of Pythagoras who believed that behind the appearance of things there was the permanent principle of mathematics.The Doric order dominated during the 6th and the 5th century BC but there was a mathematical problem regarding the position of the triglyphs which couldn't be solved without changing the original forms. The order was almost abandoned for the Ionic order but the Ionic capital also posed an insoluble problem at the corner of a temple. Both orders were abandoned for the Corinthian order gradually during the Hellenistic age and under Rome.The most important temples are:Apollo appears often in the myths plays and hymns. As Zeus' favorite son Apollo had direct access to the mind of Zeus and was willing to reveal this knowledge to humans. A divinity beyond human comprehension he appears both as a beneficial and a wrathful god.Apollo was the son of Zeus the king of the gods and Leto his previous wife or one of his mistresses. Growing up Apollo was nursed by the nymphs Korythalia and Aletheia the personification of truth.When Zeuss own sister. Since it was neither a mainland nor an island, Leto was readily welcomed there and gave birth to her children under a palm tree. All the goddesses except Hera were present to witness the event. It is also stated that Hera kidnapped Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods tricked Hera into letting her go by offering her a necklace of amber 9 yards long.When Apollo was born clutching a golden sword everything on Delos turned into gold and the island was filled with ambrosial fragrance. Swans circled the island seven times and the nymphs sang in delight. He was washed clean by the goddesses who then covered him in white garment and fastened golden bands around him. Since Leto was unable to feed him Themis the goddess of divine law fed him with nectar or ambrosia. Upon tasting the divine food Apollo broke free of the bands fastened onto him and declared that he would be the master of lyre and archery and interpret the will of Zeus to humankind. Zeus who had calmed Hera by then came and adorned his son with a golden headband.Apollo's birth fixed the floating Delos to the earth. Leto promised that her son would be always favorable towards the Delians. According to some, Apollo secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean after some time. This island became sacred to Apollo and was one of the major cult centres of the god.Apollo was born on the seventh day of the month Thargelion—according to Delian tradition—or of the month Bysios—according to Delphian tradition. The seventh and twentieth the days of the new and full moon were ever afterwards held sacred to him. Mythographers agree that Artemis was born first and subsequently assisted with the birth of Apollo or was born on the island of Ortygia then helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo.Hyperborea.Hyperborea, the mystical land of eternal spring, venerated Apollo above all the gods. The Hyperboreans always sang and danced in his honor and hosted Pythian games. There, a vast forest of beautiful trees was called "the garden of Apollo". Apollo spent the winter months among the Hyperboreans. His absence from the world caused coldness and this was marked as his annual death. No prophecies were issued during this time. He returned to the world during the beginning of the spring. The "Theophania" festival was held in Delphi to celebrate his return.It is said that Leto came to Delos from Hyperborea accompanied by a pack of wolves. Henceforth Hyperborea became Apollo's winter home and wolves became sacred to him. His intimate connection to wolves is evident from his epithet "Lyceus" meaning "wolf-like". But Apollo was also the wolf-slayer in his role as the god who protected flocks from predators. The Hyperborean worship of Apollo bears the strongest marks of Apollo being worshipped as the sun god. Shamanistic elements in Apollo's cult are often liked to his Hyperborean origin and he is likewise speculated to have originated as a solar shaman. Shamans like Abaris and Aristeas were also the followers of Apollo who hailed from Hyperborea.In myths the tears of amber Apollo shed when his son Asclepius died became the waters of the river Eridanos which surrounded Hyperborea. Apollo also buried in Hyperborea the arrow which he had used to kill the Cyclopes. He later gave this arrow to Abaris.Childhood and youth.As a child, Apollo is said to have built a foundation and an altar on Delos using the horns of the goats that his sister Artemis hunted. Since he learnt the art of building when young, he later came to be known as Archegetes, "the founder (of towns)" and god who guided men to build new cities. From his father Zeus, Apollo had also received a golden chariot drawn by swans.In his early years when Apollo spent his time herding cows he was reared by Thriae the bee nymphs who trained him and enhanced his prophetic skills. Apollo is also said to have invented the lyre and along with Artemis the art of archery. He then taught to the humans the art of healing and archery. Phoebe his grandmother gave the oracular shrine of Delphi to Apollo as a birthday gift. Themis inspired him to be the oracular voice of Delphi thereon.Python, a chthonic serpent-dragon, was a child of Gaia and the guardian of the Delphic Oracle, whose death was foretold by Apollo when he was still in Leto's womb. Python was the nurse of the giant Typhon. In most of the traditions, Apollo was still a child when he killed Python.Python was sent by Hera to hunt the pregnant Leto to death and had assaulted her. To avenge the trouble given to his mother Apollo went in search of Python and killed it in the sacred cave at Delphi with the bow and arrows that he had received from Hephaestus. The Delphian nymphs who were present encouraged Apollo during the battle with the cry "Hie Paean". After Apollo was victorious they also brought him gifts and gave the Corycian cave to him. According to Homer Apollo had encountered and killed the Python when he was looking for a place to establish his shrine.According to another version when Leto was in Delphi Python had attacked her. Apollo defended his mother and killed Python. Euripides in his gives an account of his fight with Python and the event's aftermath.You killed him, o Phoebus, while still a baby, still leaping in the arms of your dear mother, and you entered the holy shrine, and sat on the golden tripod, on your truthful throne distributing prophecies from the gods to mortals.A detailed account of Apollo intervention on behalf of his young son is also given.But when Apollo came and sent Themis, the child of Earth, away from the holy oracle of Pytho, Earth gave birth to dream visions of the night; and they told to the cities of men the present, and what will happen in the future, through dark beds of sleep on the ground; and so Earth took the office of prophecy away from Phoebus, in envy, because of her daughter. The lord made his swift way to Olympus and wound his baby hands around Zeus, asking him to take the wrath of the earth goddess from the Pythian home. Zeus smiled, that the child so quickly came to ask for worship that pays in gold. He shook his locks of hair, put an end to the night voices, and took away from mortals the truth that appears in darkness, and gave the privilege back again to Loxias.Apollo also demanded that all other methods of divination be made inferior to his, a wish that Zeus granted him readily. Because of this, Athena, who had been practicing divination by throwing pebbles, cast her pebbles away in displeasure.However Apollo had committed a blood murder and had to be purified. Because Python was a child of Gaia Gaia wanted Apollo to be banished to Tartarus as a punishment. Zeus didns order he travelled to the Vale of Tempe to bath in waters of Peneus. There Zeus himself performed purificatory rites on Apollo. Purified Apollo was escorted by his half sister Athena to Delphi where the oracular shrine was finally handed over to him by Gaia. According to a variation Apollo had also travelled to Crete where Carmanor purified him. Apollo later established the Pythian games to appropriate Gaia. Henceforth Apollo became the god who cleansed himself from the sin of murder and made men aware of their guilt and purified them.Soon after Zeus instructed Apollo to go to Delphi and establish his law. But Apollo disobeying his father went to the land of Hyperborea and stayed there for a year. He returned only after the Delphians sang hymns to him and pleaded him to come back. Zeus pleased with his son's integrity gave Apollo the seat next to him on his right side. He also gave to Apollo various gifts like a golden tripod a golden bow and arrows a golden chariot and the city of Delphi.Soon after his return, Apollo needed to recruit people to Delphi. So, when he spotted a ship sailing from Crete, he sprang aboard in the form of a dolphin. The crew was awed into submission and followed a course that led the ship to Delphi. There Apollo revealed himself as a god. Initiating them to his service, he instructed them to keep righteousness in their hearts. The Pythia was Apollo's high priestess and his mouthpiece through whom he gave prophecies. Pythia is arguably the constant favorite of Apollo among the mortals.Hera once again sent another giant, Tityos to rape Leto. This time Apollo shot him with his arrows and attacked him with his golden sword. According to other version, Artemis also aided him in protecting their mother by attacking Tityos with her arrows. After the battle Zeus finally relented his aid and hurled Tityos down to Tartarus. There, he was pegged to the rock floor, covering an area of , where a pair of vultures feasted daily on his liver.Admetus was the king of Pherae, who was known for his hospitality. When Apollo was exiled from Olympus for killing Python, he served as a herdsman under Admetus, who was then young and unmarried. Apollo is said to have shared a romantic relationship with Admetus during his stay. After completing his years of servitude, Apollo went back to Olympus as a god.Because Admetus had treated Apollo well the god conferred great benefits on him in return. Apollo untimely death he convinced or tricked the Fates into letting Admetus live past his time.According to another version or perhaps some years later when Zeus struck down Apollo's son Asclepius with a lightning bolt for resurrecting the dead Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus. Apollo would have been banished to Tartarus for this but his mother Leto intervened and reminding Zeus of their old love pleaded him not to kill their son. Zeus obliged and sentenced Apollo to one year of hard labor once again under Admetus.The love between Apollo and Admetus was a favored topic of Roman poets like Ovid and Servius.The fate of Niobe was prophesied by Apollo while he was still in Leto's womb. Niobe was the queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion. She displayed hubris when she boasted that she was superior to Leto because she had fourteen children seven male and seven female while Leto had only two. She further mocked Apollo's effeminate appearance and Artemis' manly appearance. Leto insulted by this told her children to punish Niobe. Accordingly Apollo killed Niobe's sons and Artemis her daughters. According to some versions of the myth among the Niobids Chloris and her brother Amyclas were not killed because they prayed to Leto. Amphion at the sight of his dead sons either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge.A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylos in Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept. Her tears formed the river Achelous. Zeus had turned all the people of Thebes to stone and so no one buried the Niobids until the ninth day after their death, when the gods themselves entombed them.When Chloris married and had children Apollo granted her son Nestor the years he had taken away from the Niobids. Hence Nestor was able to live for 3 generations.Building the walls of Troy.Once Apollo and Poseidon served under the Trojan king Laomedon in accordance to Zeuss account Apollo completes his task by playing his tunes on his lyre.In Pindar's odes, the gods took a mortal named Aeacus as their assistant. When the work was completed, three snakes rushed against the wall, and though the two that attacked the sections of the wall built by the gods fell down dead, the third forced its way into the city through the portion of the wall built by Aeacus. Apollo immediately prophesied that Troy would fall at the hands of Aeacus's descendants, the Aeacidae .However, the king not only refused to give the gods the wages he had promised, but also threatened to bind their feet and hands, and sell them as slaves. Angered by the unpaid labour and the insults, Apollo infected the city with a pestilence and Posedion sent the sea monster Cetus. To deliver the city from it, Laomedon had to sacrifice his daughter Hesione .During his stay in Troy, Apollo had a lover named Ourea, who was a nymph and daughter of Poseidon. Together they had a son named Ileus, whom Apollo loved dearly.Trojan War.Apollo sided with the Trojans during the Trojan War waged by the Greeks against the Trojans.During the war the Greek king Agamemnon captured Chryseis the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses and refused to return her. Angered by this Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment. He demanded that they return the girl and the Achaeans complied indirectly causing the .Receiving the aegis from Zeus, Apollo entered the battlefield as per his father's command, causing great terror to the enemy with his war cry. He pushed the Greeks back and destroyed many of the soldiers. He is described as because he rallied the Trojan army when they were falling apart.When Zeus allowed the other gods to get involved in the war, Apollo was provoked by Poseidon to a duel. However, Apollo declined to fight him, saying that he wouldn't fight his uncle for the sake of mortals.When the Greek hero Diomedes injured the Trojan hero Aeneas, Aphrodite tried to rescue him, but Diomedes injured her as well. Apollo then enveloped Aeneas in a cloud to protect him. He repelled the attacks Diomedes made on him and gave the hero a stern warning to abstain himself from attacking a god. Aeneas was then taken to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy, where he was healed.After the death of Sarpedon a son of Zeus Apollo rescued the corpse from the battlefield as per his father's wish and cleaned it. He then gave it to Sleep and Death . Apollo had also once convinced Athena to stop the war for that day so that the warriors can relieve themselves for a while.The Trojan hero Hector was favored by Apollo. When he got severely injured Apollo healed him and encouraged him to take up his arms. During a duel with Achilles when Hector was about to lose Apollo hid Hector in a cloud of mist to save him. When the Greek warrior Patroclus tried to get into the fort of Troy he was stopped by Apollo. Encouraging Hector to attack Patroclus Apollo stripped the armour of the Greek warrior and broke his weapons. Patroclus was eventually killed by Hector. At last after Hector's fated death Apollo protected his corpse from Achilles' attempt to mutilate it by creating a magical cloud over the corpse.Apollo held a grudge against Achilles throughout the war because Achilles had murdered his son Tenes before the war began and brutally assassinated his son Troilus in his own temple. Not only did Apollo save Hector from Achilles, he also tricked Achilles by disguising himself as a Trojan warrior and driving him away from the gates. He foiled Achilless dead body.Finally, Apollo caused Achilles' death by guiding an arrow shot by Paris into Achilles' heel. In some versions, Apollo himself killed Achilles by taking the disguise of Paris.Apollo helped many Trojan warriors including Agenor Polydamas Glaucus in the battlefield. Though he greatly favored the Trojans Apollo was bound to follow the orders of Zeus and served his father loyally during the war.After Heracles was struck with madness and killed his family, he sought to purify himself and consulted the oracle of Apollo. Apollo, through the Pythia, commanded him to serve king Eurystheus for twelve years and complete the ten tasks the king would give him. Only then would Alcides be absolved of his sin. Apollo also renamed him as Heracles.To complete his third task Heracles had to capture the Ceryneian Hind a hind sacred to Artemis and bring it alive. He chased the hind for one year. When the animal eventually got tired and tried crossing the river Ladon he captured it. While he was taking it back he was confronted by Apollo and Artemis who were angered at Heracles for this act. However Heracles soothed the goddess and explained his situation to her. After much pleading Artemis permitted him to take the hind and told him to return it later.After he was freed from his servitude to Eurystheus, Heracles fell in conflict with Iphytus, a prince of Oechalia, and murdered him. Soon after, he contracted a terrible disease. He consulted the oracle of Apollo once again, in hope of ridding himself of the disease. The Pythia, however, denied to give any prophesy. In anger, Heracles snatched the sacred tripod and started walking away, intending to start his own oracle. However, Apollo did not tolerate this and stopped Heracles; a duel ensued between them. Artemis rushed to support Apollo, while Athena supported Heracles. Soon, Zeus threw his thunderbolt between the fighting brothers and separated them. He reprimanded Heracles for this act of violation and asked Apollo to give a solution to Heracles. Apollo then ordered the hero to serve under Omphale, queen of Lydia for one year in order to purify himself.Periphas was an Attican king and a priest of Apollo. He was noble, just and rich. He did all his duties justly. Because of this people were very fond of him and started honouring him to the same extent as Zeus. At one point, they worshipped Periphas in place of Zeus and set up shrines and temples for him. This annoyed Zeus, who decided to annihilate the entire family of Periphas. But because he was a just king and a good devotee, Apollo intervened and requested his father to spare Periphas. Zeus considered Apollo's words and agreed to let him live. But he metamorphosed Periphas into an eagle and made the eagle the king of birds. When Periphas' wife requested Zeus to let her stay with her husband, Zeus turned her into a vulture and fulfilled her wish.Plato's concept of soulmates.A long time ago there were three kinds of human beings male descended from the sun female descended from the earth and androgynous descended from the moon. Each human being was completely round with four arms and fours legs two identical faces on opposite sides of a head with four ears and all else to match. They were powerful and unruly. Otis and Ephialtes even dared to scale Mount Olympus.To check their insolence Zeus devised a plan to humble them and improve their manners instead of completely destroying them. He cut them all in two and asked Apollo to make necessary repairs giving humans the individual shape they still have now. Apollo turned their heads and necks around towards their wounds he pulled together their skin at the abdomen and sewed the skin together at the middle of it. This is what we call navel today. He smoothened the wrinkles and shaped the chest. But he made sure to leave a few wrinkles on the abdomen and around the navel so that they might be reminded of their punishment."As he which he fastened in a knot he also moulded the breast and took out most of the wrinkles much as a shoemaker might smooth leather upon a last he left a few wrinkles however in the region of the belly and navel as a memorial of the primeval state.Nurturer of the young.Apollo "Kourotrophos" is the god who nurtures and protects children and the young especially boys. He oversees their education and their passage into adulthood. Education is said to have originated from Apollo and the Muses. Many myths have him train his children. It was a custom for boys to cut and dedicate their long hair to Apollo after reaching adulthood.Chiron the abandoned centaur was fostered by Apollo who instructed him in medicine prophecy archery and more. Chiron would later become a great teacher himself.Asclepius in his childhood gained much knowledge pertaining to medicinal arts by his father. However, he was later entrusted to Chiron for further education.Anius, Apollo's son by Rhoeo, was abandoned by his mother soon after his birth. Apollo brought him up and educated him in mantic arts. Anius later became the priest of Apollo and the king of Delos.Iamus was the son of Apollo and Evadne. When Evadne went into labour, Apollo sent the Moirai to assist his lover. After the child was born, Apollo sent snakes to feed the child some honey. When Iamus reached the age of education, Apollo took him to Olympia and taught him many arts, including the ability to understand and explain the languages of birds.Idmon was educated by Apollo to be a seer. Even though he foresaw his death that would happen in his journey with the Argonauts he embraced his destiny and died a brave death. To commemorate his son's bravery Apollo commanded Boeotians to build a town around the tomb of the hero and to honor him.Apollo adopted Carnus the abandoned son of Zeus and Europa. He reared the child with the help of his mother Leto and educated him to be a seer.When his son Melaneus reached the age of marriage Apollo asked the princess Stratonice to be his son's bride and carried her away from her home when she agreed.Apollo saved a shepherd boy from death in a large deep cave by the means of vultures. To thank him the shepherd built Apollo a temple under the name Vulturius.God of music.Immediately after his birth Apollo demanded a lyre and invented the paean thus becoming the god of music. As the divine singer he is the patron of poets singers and musicians. The invention of string music is attributed to him. Plato said that the innate ability of humans to take delight in music rhythm and harmony is the gift of Apollo and the Muses. According to Socrates ancient Greeks believed that Apollo is the god who directs the harmony and makes all things move together both for the gods and the humans. For this reason he was called . They are Apollo's sacred birds and acted as his vehicle during his travel to Hyperborea. Aelian says that when the singers would sing hymns to Apollo the swans would join the chant in unison.Among the Pythagoreans the study of mathematics and music were connected to the worship of Apollo their principal deity. Their belief was that the music purifies the soul just as medicine purifies the body. They also believed that music was delegated to the same mathematical laws of harmony as the mechanics of the cosmos evolving into an idea known as the music of the spheres.Apollo appears as the companion of the Muses and as Musagetes he leads them in dance. They spend their time on Parnassus which is one of their sacred places. Apollo is also the lover of the Muses and by them he became the father of famous musicians like Orpheus and Linus.Apollo is often found delighting the immortal gods with his songs and music on the lyre. In his role as the god of banquets, he was always present to play music in weddings of the gods, like the marriage of Eros and Psyche, Peleus and Thetis. He is a frequent guest of the Bacchanalia, and many ancient ceramics depict him being at ease amidst the maenads and satyrs. Apollo also participated in musical contests when challenged by others. He was the victor in all those contests, but he tended to punish his opponents severely for their hubris.Apollo's lyre.The invention of lyre is attributed either to Hermes or to Apollo himself. Distinctions have been made that Hermes invented lyre made of tortoise shell, whereas the lyre Apollo invented was a regular lyre.Myths tell that the infant Hermes stole a number of Apollos intestines and the tortoise shell and made his lyre.Upon discovering the theft Apollo confronted Hermes and asked him to return his cattle. When Hermes acted innocent Apollo took the matter to Zeus. Zeus having seen the events sided with Apollo and ordered Hermes to return the cattle. Hermes then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo fell in love with the instrument and offered to exchange the cattle for the lyre. Hence Apollo then became the master of the lyre.According to other versions, Apollo had invented the lyre himself, whose strings he tore in repenting of the excess punishment he had given to Marsyas. Hermes' lyre, therefore, would be a reinvention.Contest with Pan.Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo and to challenge the god of music to a contest. The mountain-god Tmolus was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then, Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. It was so beautiful that Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and everyone was pleased with the judgement. Only Midas dissented and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo did not want to suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.Contest with Marsyas.Marsyas was a satyr who was punished by Apollo for his hubris. He had found an aulos on the ground tossed away after being invented by Athena because it made her cheeks puffy. Athena had also placed a curse upon the instrument that whoever would pick it up would be severely punished. When Marsyas played the flute everyone became frenzied with joy. This led Marsyas to think that he was better than Apollo and he challenged the god to a musical contest. The contest was judged by the Muses or the nymphs of Nysa. Athena was also present to witness the contest.Marsyas taunted Apollo for "wearing his hair long, for having a fair face and smooth body, for his skill in so many arts". He also further said,
The Muses and Athena sniggered at this comment. The contestants agreed to take turns displaying their skills and the rule was that the victor could to the loser.According to one account after the first round they both were deemed equal by the Nysiads. But in the next round Apollo decided to play on his lyre and add his melodious voice to his performance. Marsyas argued against this saying that Apollo would have an advantage and accused Apollo of cheating. But Apollo replied that since Marsyas played the flute which needed air blown from the throat it was similar to singing and that either they both should get an equal chance to combine their skills or none of them should use their mouths at all. The nymphs decided that Apollo's argument was just. Apollo then played his lyre and sang at the same time mesmerising the audience. Marsyas could not do this. Apollo was declared the winner and angered with Marsyas' haughtiness and his accusations decided to flay the satyr.According to another account, Marsyas played his flute out of tune at one point and accepted his defeat. Out of shame, he assigned to himself the punishment of being skinned for a wine sack. Another variation is that Apollo played his instrument upside down. Marsyas could not do this with his instrument. So the Muses who were the judges declared Apollo the winner. Apollo hung Marsyas from a tree to flay him.Apollo flayed the limbs of Marsyas alive in a cave near Celaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge a god. He then gave the rest of his body for proper burial and nailed Marsyas' flayed skin to a nearby pine-tree as a lesson to the others. Marsyas' blood turned into the river Marsyas. But Apollo soon repented and being distressed at what he had done, he tore the strings of his lyre and threw it away. The lyre was later discovered by the Muses and Apollo's sons Linus and Orpheus. The Muses fixed the middle string, Linus the string struck with the forefinger, and Orpheus the lowest string and the one next to it. They took it back to Apollo, but the god, who had decided to stay away from music for a while, laid away both the lyre and the pipes at Delphi and joined Cybele in her wanderings to as far as Hyperborea.Contest with Cinyras.Cinyras was a ruler of Cyprus, who was a friend of Agamemnon. Cinyras promised to assist Agamemnon in the Trojan war, but did not keep his promise. Agamemnon cursed Cinyras. He invoked Apollo and asked the god to avenge the broken promise. Apollo then had a lyre-playing contest with Cinyras, and defeated him. Either Cinyras committed suicide when he lost, or was killed by Apollo.Patron of sailors.Apollo functions as the patron and protector of sailors one of the duties he shares with Poseidon. In the myths he is seen helping heroes who pray to him for safe journey.When Apollo spotted a ship of Cretan sailors that was caught in a storm, he quickly assumed the shape of a dolphin and guided their ship safely to Delphi.When the Argonauts faced a terrible storm, Jason prayed to his patron, Apollo, to help them. Apollo used his bow and golden arrow to shed light upon an island, where the Argonauts soon took shelter. This island was renamed "Anaphe", which means "He revealed it".Apollo helped the Greek hero Diomedes, to escape from a great tempest during his journey homeward. As a token of gratitude, Diomedes built a temple in honor of Apollo under the epithet Epibaterius .During the Trojan War Odysseus came to the Trojan camp to return Chriseis the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses and brought many offerings to Apollo. Pleased with this Apollo sent gentle breezes that helped Odysseus return safely to the Greek camp.Arion was a poet who was kidnapped by some sailors for the rich prizes he possessed. Arion requested them to let him sing for the last time to which the sailors consented. Arion began singing a song in praise of Apollo seeking the god's help. Consequently numerous dolphins surrounded the ship and when Arion jumped into the water the dolphins carried him away safely.Titanomachy.Once Hera out of spite aroused the Titans to war against Zeus and take away his throne. Accordingly when the Titans tried to climb Mount Olympus Zeus with the help of Apollo Artemis and Athena defeated them and cast them into tartarus.Trojan War.Apollo played a pivotal role in the entire Trojan War. He sided with the Trojans, and sent a terrible plague to the Greek camp, which indirectly led to the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon. He killed the Greek heroes Patroclus, Achilles, and numerous Greek soldiers. He also helped many Trojan heroes, the most important one being Hector. After the end of the war, Apollo and Poseidon together cleaned the remains of the city and the camps.Telegony war.A war broke out between the Brygoi and the Thesprotians, who had the support of Odysseus. The gods Athena and Ares came to the battlefield and took sides. Athena helped the hero Odysseus while Ares fought alongside of the Brygoi. When Odysseus lost, Athena and Ares came into a direct duel. To stop the battling gods and the terror created by their battle, Apollo intervened and stopped the duel between them .Indian war.When Zeus suggested that Dionysus defeat the Indians in order to earn a place among the gods, Dionysus declared war against the Indians and travelled to India along with his army of Bacchantes and satyrs. Among the warriors was Aristaeus, Apollo's son. Apollo armed his son with his own hands and gave him a bow and arrows and fitted a strong shield to his arm. After Zeus urged Apollo to join the war, he went to the battlefield. Seeing several of his nymphs and Aristaeus drowning in a river, he took them to safety and healed them. He taught Aristaeus more useful healing arts and sent him back to help the army of Dionysus.Theban war.During the war between the sons of Oedipus Apollo favored Amphiaraus a seer and one of the leaders in the war. Though saddened that the seer was fated to be doomed in the war Apollo made Amphiaraus' last hours glorious by . When Hypseus tried to kill the hero by a spear Apollo directed the spear towards the charioteer of Amphiaraus instead. Then Apollo himself replaced the charioteer and took the reins in his hands. He deflected many spears and arrows away them. He also killed many of the enemy warriors like Melaneus Antiphus Aetion Polites and Lampus. At last when the moment of departure came Apollo expressed his grief with tears in his eyes and bid farewell to Amphiaraus who was soon engulfed by the Earth.Slaying of giants.Apollo killed the giants Python and Tityos, who had assaulted his mother Leto.Gigantomachy.During the gigantomachy, Apollo killed the giant Ephialtes by shooting him in his eyes. He also killed Porphyrion, the king of giants, using his bow and arrows.Otis and Ephialtes the twin giants were together called the Aloadae. These giants are said to have grown every year by one cubit in breadth and three cubits in height. They once threatened to wage a war on gods and attempted to storm Mt. Olympus by piling up mountains. They also threatened to change land into sea and sea into land. Some say they even dared to seek the hand of Hera and Artemis in marriage. Angered by this Apollo killed them by shooting arrows at them. According to another tale Apollo killed them with a trick. He sent a deer between them. As they tried to kill it with their javelins they accidentally stabbed each other and died.Phorbas was a savage giant king of Phlegyas who was described as having swine like features. He wished to plunder Delphi for its wealth. He seized the roads to Delphi and started harassing the pilgrims. He captured the old people and children and sent them to his army to hold them for ransom. And he challenged the young and sturdy men to a match of boxing, only to cut their heads off when they would get defeated by him. He hung the chopped off heads to an oak tree. Finally, Apollo came to put an end to this cruelty. He entered a boxing contest with Phorbas and killed him with a single blow.Other stories.In the first Olympic games Apollo defeated Ares and became the victor in wrestling. He outran Hermes in the race and won first place.Apollo divides months into summer and winter. He rides on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans during the winter months, and the absence of warmth in winters is due to his departure. During his absence, Delphi was under the care of Dionysus, and no prophecies were given during winters.Molpadia and Parthenos.Molpadia and Parthenos were the sisters of Rhoeo, a former lover of Apollo. One day, they were put in charge of watching their father's ancestral wine jar but they fell asleep while performing this duty. While they were asleep, the wine jar was broken by the swines their family kept. When the sisters woke up and saw what had happened, they threw themselves off a cliff in fear of their father's wrath. Apollo, who was passing by, caught them and carried them to two different cities in Chersonesus, Molpadia to Castabus and Parthenos to Bubastus. He turned them into goddesses and they both received divine honors. Molpadia's name was changed to Hemithea upon her deification.Prometheus.Prometheus was the titan who was punished by Zeus for stealing fire. He was bound to a rock where each day an eagle was sent to eat Prometheuss words and the tears of the goddesses finally sent Heracles to free Prometheus.The rock of Leukas.Leukatas was believed to be a white colored rock jutting out from the island of Leukas into the sea. It was present in the sanctuary of Apollo Leukates. A leap from this rock was believed to have put an end to the longings of love.Once Aphrodite fell deeply in love with Adonis a young man of great beauty who was later accidentally killed by a boar. Heartbroken Aphrodite wandered looking for the rock of Leukas. When she reached the sanctuary of Apollo in Argos she confided in him her love and sorrow. Apollo then brought her to the rock of Leukas and asked her to throw herself from the top of the rock. She did so and was freed from her love. When she sought for the reason behind this Apollo told her that Zeus before taking another lover would sit on this rock to free himself from his love to Hera.Another tale relates that a man named Nireus, who fell in love with the cult statue of Athena, came to the rock and jumped in order relieve himself. After jumping, he fell into the net of a fisherman in which, when he was pulled out, he found a box filled with gold. He fought with the fisherman and took the gold, but Apollo appeared to him in the night in a dream and warned him not to appropriate gold which belonged to others.It was an ancestral custom among the Leukadians to fling a criminal from this rock every year at the sacrifice performed in honor of Apollo for the sake of averting evil. However a number of men would be stationed all around below rock to catch the criminal and take him out of the borders in order to exile him from the island. This was the same rock from which according to a legend Sappho took her suicidal leap.Female lovers.Love affairs ascribed to Apollo are a late development in Greek mythology. Their vivid anecdotal qualities have made some of them favorites of painters since the Renaissance, the result being that they stand out more prominently in the modern imagination.Daphne was a nymph who scorned Apollo's advances and ran away from him. When Apollo chased her in order to persuade her she changed herself into a laurel tree. According to other versions she cried for help during the chase and Gaia helped her by taking her in and placing a laurel tree in her place. According to Roman poet Ovid the chase was brought about by Cupid who hit Apollo with golden arrow of love and Daphne with leaden arrow of hatred. The myth explains the origin of the laurel and connection of Apollo with the laurel and its leaves which his priestess employed at Delphi. The leaves became the symbol of victory and laurel wreaths were given to the victors of the Pythian games.Apollo is said to have been the lover of all nine Muses and not being able to choose one of them decided to remain unwed. He fathered the Corybantes by the Muse Thalia Orpheus by Calliope Linus of Thrace by Calliope or Urania and Hymenaios by one of the Muses.Cyrene, was a Thessalian princess whom Apollo loved. In her honor, he built the city Cyrene and made her its ruler. She was later granted longevity by Apollo who turned her into a nymph. The couple had two sons, Aristaeus, and Idmon.Evadne was a nymph daughter of Poseidon and a lover of Apollo. She bore him a son Iamos. During the time of the childbirth Apollo sent Eileithyia the goddess of childbirth to assist her.Rhoeo, a princess of the island of Naxos was loved by Apollo. Out of affection for her, Apollo turned her sisters into goddesses. On the island Delos she bore Apollo a son named Anius. Not wanting to have the child, she entrusted the infant to Apollo and left. Apollo raised and educated the child on his own.Ourea, a daughter of Poseidon, fell in love with Apollo when he and Poseidon were serving the Trojan king Laomedon. They both united on the day the walls of Troy were built. She bore to Apollo a son, whom Apollo named Ileus, after the city of his birth, Ilion . Ileus was very dear to Apollo.Thero, daughter of Phylas, a maiden as beautiful as the moonbeams, was loved by the radiant Apollo, and she loved him in return. By their union, she became mother of Chaeron, who was famed as "the tamer of horses". He later built the city Chaeronea.Hyrie or Thyrie was the mother of Cycnus. Apollo turned both the mother and son into swans when they jumped into a lake and tried to kill themselves.Hecuba was the wife of King Priam of Troy, and Apollo had a son with her named Troilus. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilus reached the age of twenty alive. He was ambushed and killed by Achilleus, and Apollo avenged his death by killing Achilles. After the sack of Troy, Hecuba was taken to Lycia by Apollo.Coronis was daughter of Phlegyas, King of the Lapiths. While pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus and slept with him. When Apollo found out about her infidelity through his prophetic powers, he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. Apollo rescued the baby by cutting open Koronis' belly and gave it to the centaur Chiron to raise.Dryope, the daughter of Dryops, was impregnated by Apollo in the form of a snake. She gave birth to a son named Amphissus.In Euripides' play , Apollo fathered Ion by Creusa, wife of Xuthus. He used his powers to conceal her pregnancy from her father. Later, when Creusa left Ion to die in the wild, Apollo asked Hermes to save the child and bring him to the oracle at Delphi, where he was raised by a priestess.Male lovers.Hyacinth , a beautiful and athletic Spartan prince, was one of Apollo's favourite lovers. The pair was practicing throwing the discus when a discus thrown by Apollo was blown off course by the jealous Zephyrus and struck Hyacinthus in the head, killing him instantly. Apollo is said to be filled with grief. Out of Hyacinthus' blood, Apollo created a flower named after him as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with the interjection , meaning "alas". He was later resurrected and taken to heaven. The festival Hyacinthia was a national celebration of Sparta, which commemorated the death and rebirth of Hyacinthus.Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Apollo gave him a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus was so saddened by its death that he asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo granted the request by turning him into the Cypress named after him, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.Admetus the king of Pherae was also Apollo's lover. During his exile which lasted either for one year or nine years Apollo served Admetus as a herdsman. The romantic nature of their relationship was first described by Callimachus of Alexandria who wrote that Apollo was and asserts that Apollo became his servant not by force but by choice. He would also make cheese and serve it to Admetus. His domestic actions caused embarrassment to his family.When Admetus wanted to marry princess Alcestis Apollo provided a chariot pulled by a lion and a boar he had tamed. This satisfied Alcestis' father and he let Admetus marry his daughter. Further Apollo saved the king from Artemis' wrath and also convinced the Moirai to postpone Admetus' death once.Branchus, a shepherd, one day came across Apollo in the woods. Captivated by the god's beauty, he kissed Apollo. Apollo requited his affections and wanting to reward him, bestowed prophetic skills on him. His descendants, the Branchides, were an influential clan of prophets.Other male lovers of Apollo includeApollo sired many children, from mortal women and nymphs as well as the goddesses. His children grew up to be physicians, musicians, poets, seers or archers. Many of his sons founded new cities and became kings. They were all usually very beautiful.Asclepius is the most famous son of Apollo. His skills as a physician surpassed that of Apollos request, he was resurrected as a god.Aristaeus was placed under the care of Chiron after his birth. He became the god of beekeeping cheese making animal husbandry and more. He was ultimately given immortality for the benefits he bestowed upon the humanity. The Corybantes were spear-clashing dancing demigods.The sons of Apollo who participated in the Trojan War include the Trojan princes Hector and Troilus, as well as Tenes, the king of Tenedos, all three of whom were killed by Achilles over the course of the war.Apollo's children who became musicians and bards include Orpheus Linus Ialemus Hymenaeus Philammon Eumolpus and Eleuther. Apollo fathered 3 daughters Apollonis Borysthenis and Cephisso who formed a group of minor Muses the . They were nicknamed Nete Mese and Hypate after the highest middle and lowest strings of his lyre. Phemonoe was a seer and a poetess who was the inventor of Hexameter.Apis Idmon Iamus Tenerus Mopsus Galeus Telmessus and others were gifted seers. Anius Pythaeus and Ismenus lived as high priests. Most of them were trained by Apollo himself.Arabus Delphos Dryops Miletos Tenes Epidaurus Ceos Lycoras Syrus Pisus Marathus Megarus Patarus Acraepheus Cicon Chaeron and many other sons of Apollo under the guidance of his words founded eponymous cities.He also had a son named Chrysorrhoas who was a mechanic artist. His other daughters include Eurynome, Chariclo wife of Chiron, Eurydice the wife of Orpheus, Eriopis, famous for her beautiful hair, Melite the heroine, Pamphile the silk weaver, Parthenos, and by some accounts, Phoebe, Hilyra and Scylla. Apollo turned Parthenos into a constellation after her early death.Additionally, Apollo fostered and educated Chiron, the centaur who later became the greatest teacher and educated many demigods, including Apollo's sons. Apollo also fostered Carnus, the son of Zeus and Europa.Failed love attempts.Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between them and she chose Idas on the grounds that Apollo being immortal would tire of her when she grew old.Sinope, a nymph, was approached by the amorous Apollo. She made him promise that he would grant to her whatever she would ask for, and then cleverly asked him to let her stay a virgin. Apollo kept his promise and went back.Bolina was admired by Apollo but she refused him and jumped into the sea. To avoid her death Apollo turned her into a nymph and let her go.Castalia was a nymph whom Apollo loved. She fled from him and dove into the spring at Delphi at the base of Mt. Parnassos which was then named after her. Water from this spring was sacred it was used to clean the Delphian temples and inspire the priestesses.Cassandra was a daughter of Hecuba and Priam. Apollo wished to court her. Cassandra promised to return his love on one condition - he should give her the power to see the future. Apollo fulfilled her wish but she went back on her word and rejected him soon after. Angered that she broke her promise Apollo cursed her that even though she would see the future no one would ever believe her prophecies.Hestia the goddess of the hearth rejected both Apollo's and Poseidon's marriage proposals and swore that she would always stay unmarried.Female counterparts.Artemis as the sister of Apollo is "thea apollousa" that is she as a female divinity represented the same idea that Apollo did as a male divinity. In the pre-Hellenic period their relationship was described as the one between husband and wife and there seems to have been a tradition which actually described Artemis as the wife of Apollo. However this relationship was never sexual but spiritual which is why they both are seen being unmarried in the Hellenic period.Artemis like her brother is armed with a bow and arrows. She is the cause of sudden deaths of women. She also is the protector of the young especially girls. Though she has nothing to do with oracles music or poetry she sometimes led the female chorus on Olympus while Apollo sang. The laurel () was sacred to both. had her temple among the Lacedemonians at a place called Hypsoi."Apollo Daphnephoros" had a temple in Eretria, a "place where the citizens are to take the oaths". In later times when Apollo was regarded as identical with the sun or Helios, Artemis was naturally regarded as Selene or the moon.Hecate the goddess of witchcraft and magic is the chthonic counterpart of Apollo. They both are cousins since their mothers - Leto and Asteria - are sisters. One of Apollo's epithets "Hecatos" is the masculine form of Hecate and both the names mean "working from afar". While Apollo presided over the prophetic powers and magic of light and heaven Hecate presided over the prophetic powers and magic of night and chthonian darkness. If Hecate is the "gate-keeper" Apollo "Agyieus" is the "door-keeper". Hecate is the goddess of crossroads and Apollo is the god and protector of streets.The oldest evidence found for Hecate's worship is at Apollo's temple in Miletos. There, Hecate was taken to be Apollo's sister counterpart in the absence of Artemis. Hecate's lunar nature makes her the goddess of the waning moon and contrasts and complements, at the same time, Apollo's solar nature.As a deity of knowledge and great power Apollo was seen being the male counterpart of Athena. Being Zeus' favorite children they were given more powers and duties. Apollo and Athena often took up the role as protectors of cities and were patrons of some of the important cities. Athena was the principle goddess of Athens Apollo was the principle god of Sparta.As patrons of arts, Apollo and Athena were companions of the Muses, the former a much more frequent companion than the latter. Apollo was sometimes called the son of Athena and Hephaestus.In the Trojan war, as Zeuss decisions were usually approved by his sister Athena, and they both worked to establish the law and order set forth by Zeus.Apollo in the "Oresteia".In Aeschyluss son Orestes is to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus her lover. Orestes and Pylades carry out the revenge and consequently Orestes is pursued by the Erinyes or Furies .Apollo and the Furies argue about whether the matricide was justified; Apollo holds that the bond of marriage is sacred and Orestes was avenging his father, whereas the Erinyes say that the bond of blood between mother and son is more meaningful than the bond of marriage. They invade his temple, and he drives them away. He says that the matter should be brought before Athena. Apollo promises to protect Orestes, as Orestes has become Apollo's supplicant. Apollo advocates Orestes at the trial, and ultimately Athena rules in favor of Apollo.Roman Apollo.The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. As a quintessentially Greek god, Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus. There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus.On the occasion of a pestilence in the 430s BCE, Apollo's first temple at Rome was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing an older cult site there known as the "Apollinare". During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the "Ludi Apollinares" were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius. In the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.After the battle of Actium which was fought near a sanctuary of Apollo Augustus enlarged Apollo's temple dedicated a portion of the spoils to him and instituted quinquennial games in his honour. He also erected a new temple to the god on the Palatine hill. Sacrifices and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and Diana formed the culmination of the Secular Games held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn of a new era.The chief Apollonian festival was the Pythian Games held every four years at Delphi and was one of the four great Panhellenic Games. Also of major importance was the Delia held every four years on Delos.Athenian annual festivals included the Boedromia, Metageitnia, Pyanepsia, and Thargelia.Spartan annual festivals were the Carneia and the Hyacinthia.Thebes every nine years held the Daphnephoria.Attributes and symbols.Apollo's most common attributes were the bow and arrow. Other attributes of his included the kithara (an advanced version of the common lyre) the plectrum and the sword. Another common emblem was the sacrificial tripod representing his prophetic powers. The Pythian Games were held in Apollo's honor every four years at Delphi. The bay laurel plant was used in expiatory sacrifices and in making the crown of victory at these games.The palm tree was also sacred to Apollo because he had been born under one in Delos. Animals sacred to Apollo included wolves dolphins roe deer swans cicadas ravens hawks crows snakes mice and griffins mythical eagle–lion hybrids of Eastern origin.Homer and Porphyry wrote that Apollo had a hawk as his messenger. In many myths Apollo is transformed into a hawk. In addition Claudius Aelianus wrote that in Ancient Egypt people believed that hawks were sacred to the god and that according to the ministers of Apollo in Egypt there were certain men called who fed and tended the hawks belonging to the god. Eusebius wrote that the second appearance of the moon is held sacred in the city of Apollo in Egypt and that the city's symbol is a man with a hawklike face . Claudius Aelianus wrote that Egyptians called Apollo Horus in their own language.As god of colonization Apollo gave oracular guidance on colonies especially during the height of colonization 750–550 BCE. According to Greek tradition he helped Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city of Troy. However this story may reflect a cultural influence which had the reverse direction Hittite cuneiform texts mention an Asia Minor god called "Appaliunas" or "Apalunas" in connection with the city of Wilusa attested in Hittite inscriptions which is now generally regarded as being identical with the Greek Ilion by most scholars. In this interpretation Apollo's title of "Lykegenes" can simply be read as "born in Lycia" which effectively severs the god's supposed link with wolves .In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reason—characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder. The contrast between the roles of these gods is reflected in the adjectives Apollonian and Dionysian. However, the Greeks thought of the two qualities as complementary: the two gods are brothers, and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea, he would leave the Delphic oracle to Dionysus. This contrast appears to be shown on the two sides of the Borghese Vase.Apollo is often associated with the Golden Mean. This is the Greek ideal of moderation and a virtue that opposes gluttony.Apollo in the arts.Apollo is a common theme in Greek and Roman art and also in the art of the Renaissance. The earliest Greek word for a statue is "delight" , and the sculptors tried to create forms which would inspire such guiding vision. Greek art puts into Apollo the highest degree of power and beauty that can be imagined. The sculptors derived this from observations on human beings, but they also embodied in concrete form, issues beyond the reach of ordinary thought.The naked bodies of the statues are associated with the cult of the body that was essentially a religious activity. The muscular frames and limbs combined with slim waists indicate the Greek desire for health and the physical capacity which was necessary in the hard Greek environment. The statues of Apollo embody beauty balance and inspire awe before the beauty of the world.Archaic sculpture.Numerous free-standing statues of male youths from Archaic Greece exist and were once thought to be representations of Apollo though later discoveries indicated that many represented mortals. In 1895 V. I. Leonardos proposed the term to refer to those from Keratea this usage was later expanded by Henri Lechat in 1904 to cover all statues of this format.The earliest examples of life-sized statues of Apollo may be two figures from the Ionic sanctuary on the island of Delos. Such statues were found across the Greek speaking world the preponderance of these were found at the sanctuaries of Apollo with more than one hundred from the sanctuary of . It was found in Piraeus a port city close to Athens and is believed to have come from north-eastern Peloponnesus. It is the only surviving large-scale Peloponnesian statue.Classical sculpture.The famous Apollo of Mantua and its variants are early forms of the Apollo Citharoedus statue type, in which the god holds the cithara, a sophisticated seven-stringed variant of the lyre, in his left arm. While none of the Greek originals have survived, several Roman copies from approximately the late 1st or early 2nd century exist.Other notable forms are the Apollo Citharoedus and the Apollo Barberini.Hellenistic Greece-Rome.Apollo as a handsome beardless young man is often depicted with a cithara or bow in his hand or reclining on a tree . The Apollo Belvedere is a marble sculpture that was rediscovered in the late 15th century for centuries it epitomized the ideals of Classical Antiquity for Europeans from the Renaissance through the 19th century. The marble is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of a bronze original by the Greek sculptor Leochares made between 350 and 325 BCE.The life-size so-called , he is identifiable as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though now even a god's divine nakedness is concealed by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions of modesty in the later Empire.Another haloed Apollo in mosaic from Hadrumentum is in the museum at Sousse. The conventions of this representation head tilted lips slightly parted large-eyed curling hair cut in locks grazing the neck were developed in the 3rd century BCE to depict Alexander the Great. Some time after this mosaic was executed the earliest depictions of Christ would also be beardless and haloed.Modern reception.Apollo often appears in modern and popular culture due to his status as the god of music, dance and poetry.Postclassical art and literature.Dance and music.Apollo has featured in dance and music in modern culture. Percy Bysshe Shelley composed a "Hymn of Apollo" , and the god's instruction of the Muses formed the subject of Igor Stravinsky's "Apollon musagte" . In 1978, the Canadian band Rush released an album with songs "Apollo: Bringer of Wisdom"/"Dionysus: Bringer of Love".Apollo been portrayed in modern literature such as when Charles Handy in uses Greek gods as a metaphor to portray various types of organizational culture. Apollo represents a culture where order reason and bureaucracy prevail. In 2016 author Rick Riordan published the first book in the Trials of Apollo series publishing four other books in the series in 2017 2018 2019 and 2020.Apollo has been depicted in modern films, such as by Keith David in Disney's 1997 animated feature film, "Hercules." Apollo has also been depicted by Luke Evans in the 2010 action film "Clash of the Titans".Video games.Apollo has appeared in many modern video games. Apollo appears as a minor character in Santa Monica Studio's 2010 action-adventure game God of War III with his bow being used by Peirithous. He also appears in the 2014 Hi-Rez Studios Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game Smite as a playable character.Psychology and philosophy.In philosophical discussion of the arts a distinction is sometimes made between the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses where the former is concerned with imposing intellectual order and the latter with chaotic creativity. Friedrich Nietzsche argued that a fusion of the two was most desirable. Psychologist Carl Jung's Apollo archetype represents what he saw as the disposition in people to over-intellectualise and maintain emotional distanceSpaceflight.In spaceflight, the 1960s and 1970s NASA program for orbiting and landing astronauts on the Moon was named after Apollo.
Andre Kirk Agassi is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist as well as a runner-up in seven other Grand Slam tournaments.Agassi was the first man to win four Australian Open singles titles in the Open Era (though later surpassed by Novak Djokovic, who won his fifth title in 2015). Agassi is the second of five men to achieve the career Grand Slam in the Open Era and the fifth of eight overall to make the achievement. He is also the first of two men to achieve the career Golden Slam (career Grand Slam and Olympic gold medal), and the only man to win a career Super Slam (career Grand Slam, plus the Olympic gold medal and the year-end championships).Agassi was the first man to win all four singles majors on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (in 1999) and the Australian Open (in 2003). He also won 17 ATP Masters Series titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1990, 1992 and 1995. Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995 but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to No. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career was over. Agassi returned to No. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname .After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children. He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001.1970–1985 Early life.Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas Nevada to Emmanuel . Andre Agassi's mother Betty is a breast cancer survivor. He has three older siblings – Rita Philip and Tami. Andre was given the middle name Kirk after Kirk Kerkorian an Armenian American billionaire. Emmanuel Agassi then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegas had met Kerkorian in 1963.At the age of 12 Agassi and his good friend and doubles partner Roddy Parks won the 1982 National Indoor Boys 14s Doubles Championship in Chicago. Agassi describes memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with Roddy in his book .When he was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. He was meant to stay for only three months, because that was all his father could afford. After thirty minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri, deeply impressed by his talent, called Mike and said: "Take your check back. He's here for free." Agassi then dropped out of school in the ninth grade to pursue a full-time tennis career.1986–2006 Professional career.1986–1993: Breakthrough and the first major title.Agassi turned professional at the age of 16 and competed in his first tournament at La Quinta California. He won his first match against John Austin but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander. By the end of 1986 Agassi was ranked No. 91. He won his first top-level singles title in 1987 at the Sul American Open in Itaparica and ended the year ranked No. 25. He won six additional tournaments in 1988 and by December of that year he had surpassed US$1 million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments—the fastest anyone in history had reached that level. During 1988 he also set the open-era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager . His year-end ranking was No. 3 behind second-ranked Ivan Lendl and top-ranked Mats Wilander. Both the Association of Tennis Professionals and "Tennis" magazine named Agassi the Most Improved Player of the Year for 1988.In addition to not playing the Australian Open for the first eight years of his career Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism particularly its dress code to which players at the event are required to conform.Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. While still a teenager, he reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and the US Open in 1988 and made the US Open semi-finals in 1989. He began the 1990s with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in 1990 at the French Open, where he was favored before losing in four sets to Andrs Gmez, which he later attributed in his book to worrying about his wig falling off during the match. He reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, defeating defending champion Boris Becker in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras; a year earlier, Agassi had crushed Sampras, after which time he told his coach that he felt bad for Sampras because he was never going to make it as a pro. Agassi lost the US Open final to Sampras in three sets. The rivalry between these two American players became the biggest one in tennis over the rest of the decade. Agassi ended 1990 on a high note as he helped the United States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years and won his only Tennis Masters Cup, beating reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg in the final.In 1991 Agassi reached his second consecutive French Open final where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier. Courier emerged the victor in a five-set final. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in 1991 leading to weeks of speculation in the media about the clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit. He reached the quarterfinals on that occasion losing in five sets to David Wheaton.Agassi Davis Cup winning team in 1992. It was their second Davis cup title in three years. Agassi famously played the game wearing Oakley brand sunglasses, and a photo of him from the day appeared on the cover of magazine. In his memoir, he wrote that he was covering up bloodshot eyes from a hangover and claimed that the founder of Oakley, Jim Jannard, had sent him a Dodge Viper to thank him for the inadvertent publicity.In 1993 Agassi won the only doubles title of his career at the Cincinnati Masters partnered with Petr Korda. He missed much of the early part of that year due to injuries. Although he made the quarterfinals in his Wimbledon title defense he lost to eventual champion and No. 1 Pete Sampras in five sets. Agassi lost in the first round at the US Open to Thomas Enqvist and required wrist surgery late in the year.1994–1997: Rise to the top, Olympic Gold and the fall.With new coach Brad Gilbert on board Agassi began to employ more of a tactical consistent approach which fueled his resurgence. He started slowly in 1994 losing in the first week at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nevertheless he emerged during the hard-court season winning the Canadian Open. His comeback culminated at the 1994 US Open with a five-set fourth-round victory against Michael Chang. He then became the first man to capture the US Open as an unseeded player beating Michael Stich in the final. Along the way he beat 5 seeded players.In 1995, Agassi shaved his balding head, breaking with his old style. He competed in the 1995 Australian Open (his first appearance at the event) and won, beating Sampras in a four-set final. Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in 1995, all on hardcourt, with Agassi winning three. Agassi won three Masters Series events in 1995 (Cincinnati, Key Biscayne, and the Canadian Open) and seven titles total. He compiled a career-best 26-match winning streak during the summer hard-court circuit, with the last victory being in an intense late-night four-set semi-final of the US Open against Boris Becker. The streak ended the next day when Agassi lost the final to Sampras.Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in April 1995. He held that ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. Agassi skipped most of the fall indoor season which allowed Sampras to surpass him and finish ranked No. 1 at the year-end ranking. In terms of win/loss record, 1995 was Agassi's best year. He won 73 and lost 9 matches, and was also once again a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team—the third and final Davis Cup title of his career.1996 was a less successful year for Agassi as he failed to reach any Grand Slam final. He suffered two early-round losses to Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively and lost to Chang in straight sets in the Australian and US Open semi-finals. At the time Agassi blamed the Australian Open loss on the windy conditions but later said in his biography that he had lost the match on purpose as he did not want to play Boris Becker whom he would have faced in that final. The high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final. Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles in Cincinnati and Key Biscayne.1997 was the low point of Agassis premier competitors was over and he would never again win any significant championships.1998–2003: Return to glory and Career Super Slam.In 1998 Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments a circuit for pro players ranked outside the world's top 50. After returning to top physical and mental shape Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter.In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. 110 to No. 6, the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a calendar year. At Wimbledon, he had an early loss in the second round to Tommy Haas. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, losing to Marcelo Ros, who became No. 1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career .Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final becoming at the time only the fifth male player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Only Laver Agassi Federer Nadal and Djokovic have achieved this feat during the Open Era. This win also made him the first male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces . Agassi also became the only male player to win the Career Super Slam consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal in singles and a Year-end championship.Agassi followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets. He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the US Open, beating Todd Martin in five sets in the final. Overall during the year Agassi won 5 titles including two majors and the ATP Masters Series in Paris, where he beat Marat Safin. Agassi ended 1999 as the No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings . This was the only time Agassi ended the year at No. 1. Agassi was runner-up to Sampras at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup losing 1–6, 5–7, 4-6 despite beating Sampras in the round-robin 6–2, 6–2.He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969. At the time Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events missing only the Wimbledon title.. 2000 also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the final allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1.Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clment. En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33 minute epic match with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7, with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades.2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his Key Biscayne title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final. The last duel between Agassi and Sampras came in the final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Samprass US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome and Madrid, helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.In 2003 Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open where he beat Rainer Schttler in straight sets in the final.On April 28 2003 he recaptured the No. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in 2018. He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12 2003. Agassi then recaptured the No. 1 ranking once again on June 16 2003 which he held for 12 weeks until September 7 2003. There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career Agassi held the ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup Agassi lost in the final to Federer his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in 1999 and 2000 and finished the year ranked No. 4. At age 33 he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors at age 35 was No. 4 in 1987.2004–2006: Final years.In 2004, Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Marat Safin; the loss ended Agassi's 26-match winning streak at the event. He won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history , tied with Roger Federer and surpassed only by Ken Rosewall, who won the title in 1970 at age 35. He finished the year ranked No. 8, one of the oldest players to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was No. 7 in 1988. At the time, Agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach 800 career wins with his first-round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at the Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup before falling to No. 2 Rafael Nadal.Agassis end.Agassi had a poor start to 2006, as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay-court season including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time. Agassi returned for the grass-court season, playing a tune-up, and then Wimbledon. He was defeated in the third round by world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the US Open. Agassi played only two events during the summer hard-court season with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando Gonzlez of Chile, which resulted in him being unseeded at the US Open.Agassi had a short but dramatic run in his final US Open. Because of extreme back pain Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a tough four-set win against Andrei Pavel Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals. Agassi won in five tough sets as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set. In his last match Agassi fell to 112th-ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a retirement speech.Agassi vs. Sampras.The rivalry has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the 90's, as Sampras and Agassi were the most successful players of that decade. They also had very contrasting playing styles, with Sampras being considered the greatest server and Agassi the greatest serve returner at the time. Agassi and Sampras met 34 times on the tour level with Agassi trailing 14–20.The 1990 US Open was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament final. Agassi was favored as he was ranked No. 4 at the time, compared to the No. 12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had defeated Sampras in their only previously completed match. Agassi, however, lost the final to Sampras in straight sets. Their next meeting in a Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals. Although Sampras was ranked higher, Agassi came out winning in straight sets. They met again on a Grand Slam level at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1993, where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted world No. 1. Agassi dug himself out from a two-sets-to-love hole, levelling the match at 2 sets apiece; however, Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship.With both Sampras and Agassi participating the US won the Davis Cup in 1995. The year should be considered the peak of the rivalry as together they won 3 out of 4 major titles meeting each other twice in the finals and were occupying the top two spots in the rankings for the whole year. They met 5 times during the year all in the title matches including the Australian Open the Newsweek Champions Cup the Lipton International Players Championships the Canadian Open and the US Open. Agassi won three of the finals including the Australian Open however Sampras took the US Open title ending Agassi's 26-match winning streak. After Agassi had taken most of the fall season off Sampras took over the No. 1 ranking for the end of the season.In the following 3 years while Sampras continued winning Grand Slam titles every season Agassi slumped in the rankings and struggled in major competitions. The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999 where Sampras won in straight sets. For both it was considered a career rejuvenation as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the previous year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Open which Agassi went on to win. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships with Sampras losing the round-robin match but winning the final.In the 2000s, they met three more times on the Grand Slam level offering three memorable contests. In 2000, the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. 3 Sampras in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in five sets, which was an important win for Agassi who had lost 4 of the previous 5 matches against Sampras. In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals in four sets. There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays, and the match is considered one of the best in history because of the level of play presented by both players.Their last meeting was the final of the 2002 US Open which was their third meeting in a US Open final but the first since 1995. The match was also notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the final. Sampras had defeated No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals while Agassi had defeated No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Sampras defeated Agassi in four sets. This was the final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career.Agassi vs. Chang.Michael Chang was the opponent Agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than Sampras. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7. Chang, unlike most of Agassi's big rivals, had a playing style similar to his. Both players preferred to stay at the baseline with Chang being more defensive-minded. The outcome was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies. The rivalry began late in the 1980s with both players being considered the prodigies of the next great generation of American tennis players and both having foreign descent.Agassi won the first four matches including a straight-set victory in round 16 of the 1988 US Open and defeating Chang, the defending champion, in the 1990 French Open in a four-set quarterfinal. Arguably their best match took place in the round of 16 of the 1994 US Open. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to set with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title. Their next two Grand Slam meetings came in 1996, with Chang recording easy straight-set victories in the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Years after, Agassi shockingly admitted in his book that he had lost the first of the matches on purpose as he did not want to face Boris Becker, who was awaiting the winner in the final. Agassi won the last four of their matches, with the last being in 2003 at the Miami Open with Chang being clearly past his prime.Agassi vs. Becker.Boris Becker and Agassi played 14 times with Agassi leading 10–4. Becker won their first three matches in 1988 and 1989 before Agassi reversed the rivalry in 1990, and won 10 of their last 11 matches. They first played at Indian Wells in 1988, with Becker prevailing. Their most notable match was the 1989 Davis Cup semi-final match, which Becker won in five sets after losing the first two in tiebreaks. Agassi, considered a baseliner with a playing style not suiting grass, shocked Becker, a three-time champion, in a five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 1992 on his way to his first Grand Slam title. The intensity of the rivalry peaked in 1995. Becker won that year's Wimbledon semi-final after being down a set and two breaks, to eventually win in four sets. In a highly anticipated rematch in the US Open semi-final, this time it was Agassi who came out victorious in four tight sets. Their final match was played at Hong Kong in 1999, which Agassi won in three sets.Agassi vs. Rafter.Agassi and Pat Rafter played fifteen times with Agassi leading 10–5. The rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters because of the players' contrasting styles of play with Rafter using traditional serve-&amp-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons. Agassi led 8–2 on hard courts but Rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at the 1999 Rome Masters. They played four matches at Wimbledon with both winning two matches each. Agassi won the first two in 1993 and 1999 while Rafter took their 2000 and 2001 encounters both of the gruelling 5-setters often being presented on the lists of best matches ever played. Agassi also won both their meetings at the Australian Open in 1995 and 2001 on his way to the title on both occasions. Rafter however took their only US Open encounter in 1997 and went on to win the title.Agassi vs. Federer.Agassi and Roger Federer played 11 times and Federer led their head-to-head series 8–3. With the retirement of Sampras the rivalry against the 11-years-younger Federer who was another great server like Sampras became Agassis hometown with Agassi prevailing over the 17-year-old. Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Open in 2002. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003 when he defeated Agassi in both the round-robin and the final. They played a memorable quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two windy days with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. At the 2005 Dubai Championships Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final duel took place in the final of the 2005 US Open. In the historic clash of generations Federer was victorious in four sets in front of a pro-Agassi crowd. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in any tournament final.Agassi vs. Lendl.Agassi and Ivan Lendl played 8 times, and Lendl led their head-to-head series 6–2.Agassi vs. Edberg.Agassi and Stefan Edberg played 9 times, and Agassi led their head-to-head series 6–3.Agassi earned more than $30 million in prize-money during his career sixth only to Djokovic Federer Nadal Sampras and Murray to date . He also earned more than $25 million a year through endorsements during his career which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time.Post-retirement.Since retiring after the 2006 US Open Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5 2007 he was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer US Open quarterfinal. He played an exhibition match at Wimbledon teaming with his wife Steffi Graf to play with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters. He played World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of 2009. At the 2009 French Open Agassi was on hand to present Roger Federer who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam with the trophy.Also in 2009 Agassi played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time. He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise Arizona where he reached the final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin. Agassi returned to the tour renamed for the PowerShares Series in 2011 and participated in a total of seven events while winning two. Agassi beat Courier in the final of the Staples Champions Cup in Boston and later defeated Sampras at the CTCA Championships at his hometown Las Vegas.In 2012, Agassi took part in five tournaments, winning three of those. In November, at first he won BILT Champions Showdown in San Jose, beating John McEnroe in the final. The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match. In the series season finale, he beat Michael Chang for the Acura Champions Cup. The series and Agassi came back to action in 2014. Agassi won both tournaments he participated in. At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's final in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their 2005 US Open quarterfinal. He defeated Blake again in Portland to win the title of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships. In 2015, Agassi took part in just one event of the PowerShares Series, losing to Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Shootout. The following year he took part in two events, at first losing to Blake in Chicago, and the next day defeating Mardy Fish, but losing to Roddick in Charleston.In 2009, in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for the first time on court since the 2002 US Open final. Sampras won the exhibition in three sets. The rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in March 2010 after the two participated in the charity event organized to raise money for the victims of the earthquake. Partnered with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the old rivals began making jokes at each others body. After the event, Agassi admitted that he had crossed the line with his jokes and publicly apologized to Sampras. Agassi and Sampras met again one year later for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of 19 000 spectators as Sampras defeated Agassi in two sets. On March 3, 2014, Agassi and Sampras squared off for an exhibition in London for the annual World Tennis Day. This time, it was Agassi who came out on top in two straight sets.He returned to the tour in May 2017 in the position of coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open. Agassi announced the end of the partnership on March 31 2018 stating that there were too many disagreements in the relationship.Playing style.Early in his career, Agassi would look to end points quickly by playing first-strike tennis, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle. On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for a winner. His favored groundstroke was his flat, accurate two-handed backhand, hit well cross-court but especially down the line. His forehand was nearly as strong, especially his inside-out to the ad court.Agassi's strength was in dictating play from the baseline and he was able to consistently take the ball on the rise. While he was growing up his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way. When in control of a point Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors and to make his opponent run more. This change to more methodical less aggressive baseline play was largely initiated by his longtime coach Brad Gilbert in their first year together in 1994. Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to win attrition wars and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot. A signature play later in his career was a change-up drop shot to the deuce court after deep penetrating groundstrokes. This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it.Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career. Despite grass being his worst surface, his first major win was at the slick grass of Wimbledon in 1992, a tournament that he professed to hating at the time. His strongest surface over the course of his career, was indeed hardcourt, where he won six of his eight majors.Business ventures.Agassi established a limited liability company named Andre Agassi Ventures . Agassi along with five athlete partners opened a chain of sports-themed restaurant named Official All Star Caf in April 1996. The restaurant closed down in 2001.In 1999 he paid $1 million for a 10 percent stake in Nevada First Bank and made a $10 million profit when it was sold to Western Alliance Bancorp in 2006.In 2002 he joined the Tennis Channel to promote the channel to consumers and cable and satellite industry and made an equity investment in the network. After meeting chef Michael Mina at one of his restaurants in San Francisco Agassi partnered with him in 2002 to start Mina Group Inc. and opened 18 concept restaurants in San Francisco San Jose Dana Point Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Agassi was an equity investor of a group that acquired Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Golden Nugget Laughlin from MGM Mirage for $215 million in 2004. One year later the group sold the hotel-casino to Landry's Inc. for $163 million in cash and $182 million in assumed debt. In 2007 he sat on the board of Meadows Bank an independent bank in Nevada. He has invested in start-up companies backed by Allen &amp Company.Agassi and Graf formed a company called Agassi Graf Holdings. They invested in PURE a nightclub at Caesars Palace which opened in 2004 and sold it to Angel Management Group in 2010. In August 2006 Agassi and Graf developed a joint venture with high-end furniture maker Kreiss Enterprises. They launched a furniture line called Agassi Graf Collection. In September Agassi and Graf through their company Agassi Graf Development LLC along with Bayview Financial LP finalized an agreement to develop a condominium hotel Fairmont Tamarack at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly Idaho. Owing to difficult market conditions and delays they withdrew from the project in 2009. The group still owns three small chunks of land. In September they collaborated with Steve Case's Exclusive Resorts to co-develop luxury resorts and design Agassi-Graf Tennis and Fitness Centers.They also invested in online ticket reseller viagogo in 2009 and both serve as board members and advisors of the company.In October 2012, Village Roadshow and investors including Agassi and Graf announced plans to build a new water park called WetWild Las Vegas in Las Vegas. Village Roadshow has a 51% stake in the park while Agassi, Graf, and other private investors hold the remaining 49%. The park opened in May 2013.IMG managed Agassi from the time he turned pro in 1986 through January 2000 before switching to SFX Sports Group. His business manager, lawyer and agent was childhood friend Perry Rogers, but they have been estranged since 2008. In 2009, he and Graf signed with CAA.Equipment and endorsements.Agassi used Prince Graphite rackets early in his career. He signed a $7 million endorsement contract with Belgian tennis racquet makers Donnay. He later switched to Head Ti Radical racket and Heads charities, and Adidas was more than happy to do so. On May 13, 2013, Agassi rejoined Nike.Agassi was sponsored by DuPont, Ebel, Mountain Dew in 1993, Mazda in 1997, Kia Motors in 2002, American Express and Deutsche Bank in 2003. In 1990, he appeared in a television commercial for Canon Inc., promoting the Canon EOS Rebel camera. Between 1999 and 2000, he signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear endorsement deal with Schick and became the worldwide spokesman for the company. Agassi signed a multiyear contract with Twinlab and promoted the company's nutritional supplements. In mid-2003, he was named the spokesman of Aramis Life, a fragrance by Aramis, and signed a five-year deal with the company. In March 2004, he signed a ten-year agreement worth $1.5 million a year with 24 Hour Fitness, which will open five Andre Agassi fitness centers by year-end. Prior to the 2012 Australian Open, Agassi and Australian winemaker Jacobs Creek announced a three-year partnership and created the Open Film Series to " personal stories about the life defining moments that shaped his character on and off the court." In 2007, watchmaker Longines named Agassi as their brand ambassador.Agassi and his mother appeared in a Got Milk? advertisement in 2002.Agassi has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Graf. They both endorsed Deutsche Telekom in 2002 Genworth Financial and Canon Inc. in 2004 LVMH in 2007 and Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit U and Longines in 2013.Personal life.Relationships and family.In the early 1990s, after dating Wendi Stewart, Agassi dated American singer and entertainer Barbra Streisand. He wrote about the relationship in his 2009 autobiography, He was married to Brooke Shields from 1997 to 1999.He married Steffi Graf on October 22 2001 at their Las Vegas home the only witnesses were their mothers. They have two children son Jaden Gil and daughter Jaz Elle . Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. The Graf-Agassi family resides in Summerlin a community in the Las Vegas Valley. Graf's mother and brother Michael with his four children also live there.Long-time trainer Gil Reyes has been called one of Agassi's closest friends some have described him as being a "father figure" to Agassi. In 2012 Agassi and Reyes introduced their own line of fitness equipment BILT By Agassi and Reyes. In December 2008 Agassi's childhood friend and former business manager Perry Rogers sued Graf for $50000 in management fees he claimed that she owed him.Autobiography.Agassi's autobiography, "", , was published in November 2009. In it, Agassi talks about his childhood and his unconventional Armenian father, who came to the United States from Iran where he was a professional boxer. Overly demanding and emotionally abusive to the whole family, his father groomed young Agassi for tennis greatness by building a tennis court in their backyard and sending Agassi to tennis boarding school under the supervision of Nick Bollettieri, who later coached and managed part of Agassi's professional career.There is also mention in the book of using and testing positive for methamphetamine in 1997. In response to this revelation, Roger Federer declared himself shocked and disappointed, while Marat Safin argued that Agassi should return his prize money and be stripped of his titles. In an interview with CBS, Agassi justified himself and asked for understanding, saying that "It was a period in my life where I needed help."Agassi said that he had always hated tennis during his career because of the constant pressure it exerted on him. He also said he wore a hairpiece earlier in his career and thought Pete Sampras was "robotic".The book reached No. 1 on the .In 2017, Agassi appeared in the documentary film , which highlighted the troubled relationship between his coach Nick Bollettieri and him.Agassi has donated more than $100000 to Democratic candidates and $2000 to Republicans. On September 1 2010 when he appeared on daily WNYC public radio program "The Brian Lehrer Show" he stated that he is registered as Independent.Philanthropy.Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994 which assists Las Vegas' young people. He was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his efforts to help disadvantaged youth. He has been cited as the most charitable and socially involved player in professional tennis. It has also been claimed that he may be the most charitable athlete of his generation.Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential. His Boys &amp; Girls Club sees 2,000 children throughout the year and boasts a world-class junior tennis team. It also has a basketball program and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics.In 2001 Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area. He personally donated $35 million to the school. In 2009 the graduating class had a 100 percent graduation rate and expected a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Among other child-related programs that Agassi supports through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation is Clark County's only residential facility for abused and neglected children Child Haven. In 1997 Agassi donated funding to Child Haven for a six-room classroom building now named the Agassi Center for Education. His foundation also provided $720000 to assist in the building of the Andre Agassi Cottage for Medically Fragile Children. This 20-bed facility opened in December 2001 and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases.In 2007 along with several other athletes Agassi founded the charity Athletes for Hope which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities. He created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund now known as the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. The Fund is an investment initiative for social change focusing on the "nationwide effort to move charters from stopgap buildings into permanent campuses."In September 2013 the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education formed a partnership with V20 Foods to launch Box Budd!es a line of kids' healthy snacks. All proceeds go to the Foundation.In February 2014 Agassi remodeled the vacant University of Phoenix building in Las Vegas as a new school called the Doral Academy West through the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. Doral Academy opened in August 2014. The Fund purchased a 4.6-acre plot in Henderson Nevada to house the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas which will relocate from its campus inside a church.Career statistics.Grand Slam finals .By winning the 1999 French Open Agassi completed a men's singles Career Grand Slam. He is the 5th of 8 male players in history to achieve this.Considered by numerous sources to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time Agassi has also been called one of the greatest service returners ever to play the game and was described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history". As a result he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s.
The Austroasiatic languages also known as Mon–Khmer are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand India Bangladesh Nepal and southern China. There are around 117 million speakers of Austroasiatic languages. Of these languages only Vietnamese Khmer and Mon have a long-established recorded history. Only two have official status as modern national languages Vietnamese in Vietnam and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand. In Myanmar the Wa language is the de facto official language of Wa State. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The rest of the languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status."Ethnologue" identifies 168 Austroasiatic languages. These form thirteen established families which have traditionally been grouped into two as Mon–Khmer and Munda. However one recent classification posits three groups while another has abandoned Mon–Khmer as a taxon altogether making it synonymous with the larger family.Austroasiatic languages have a disjunct distribution across Southeast Asia and parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and East Asia, separated by regions where other languages are spoken. They appear to be the extant original languages of Mainland Southeast Asia , with the neighboring, and sometimes surrounding, Kra–Dai, Hmong-Mien, Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan languages being the result of later migrations.The name "Austroasiatic" comes from a combination of the Latin words for "South" and "Asia", hence "South Asia".Regarding word structure Austroasiatic languages are well known for having an iambic "sesquisyllabic" pattern with basic nouns and verbs consisting of an initial unstressed reduced minor syllable followed by a stressed full syllable. This reduction of presyllables has led to a variety among modern languages of phonological shapes of the same original Proto-Austroasiatic prefixes such as the causative prefix ranging from CVC syllables to consonant clusters to single consonants. As for word formation most Austroasiatic languages have a variety of derivational prefixes many have infixes but suffixes are almost completely non-existent in most branches except Munda and a few specialized exceptions in other Austroasiatic branches.The Austroasiatic languages are further characterized as having unusually large vowel inventories and employing some sort of register contrast either between modal voice and breathy voice or between modal voice and creaky voice. Languages in the Pearic branch and some in the Vietic branch can have a three- or even four-way voicing contrast.However some Austroasiatic languages have lost the register contrast by evolving more diphthongs or in a few cases such as Vietnamese tonogenesis. Vietnamese has been so heavily influenced by Chinese that its original Austroasiatic phonological quality is obscured and now resembles that of South Chinese languages whereas Khmer which had more influence from Sanskrit has retained a more typically Austroasiatic structure.Proto-language.Much work has been done on the reconstruction of Proto-Mon–Khmer in Harry L. Shorto's "Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary". Little work has been done on the Munda languages which are not well documented. With their demotion from a primary branch Proto-Mon–Khmer becomes synonymous with Proto-Austroasiatic. Paul Sidwell (2005) reconstructs the consonant inventory of Proto-Mon–Khmer as followsThis is identical to earlier reconstructions except for . is better preserved in the Katuic languages which Sidwell has specialized in.Internal classification.Linguists traditionally recognize two primary divisions of Austroasiatic: the Mon–Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, Northeast India and the Nicobar Islands, and the Munda languages of East and Central India and parts of Bangladesh, parts of Nepal. However, no evidence for this classification has ever been published.Each of the families that is written in boldface type below is accepted as a valid clade. By contrast, the relationships as a valid unit. However, little of the data used for competing classifications has ever been published, and therefore cannot be evaluated by peer review.In addition, there are suggestions that additional branches of Austroasiatic might be preserved in substrata of Acehnese in Sumatra , the Chamic languages of Vietnam, and the Land Dayak languages of Borneo .Diffloth (1974).Diffloth's widely cited original classification, now abandoned by Diffloth himself, is used in "Encyclopdia Britannica" and—except for the breakup of Southern Mon–Khmer—in "Ethnologue."Peiros is a lexicostatistic classification, based on percentages of shared vocabulary. This means that languages can appear to be more distantly related than they actually are due to language contact. Indeed, when Sidwell replicated Peiros's study with languages known well enough to account for loans, he did not find the internal structure below.Diffloth (2005).Diffloth compares reconstructions of various clades, and attempts to classify them based on shared innovations, though like other classifications the evidence has not been published. As a schematic, we have:Or in more detailPaul Sidwell in a lexicostatistical comparison of 36 languages which are well known enough to exclude loanwords finds little evidence for internal branching though he did find an area of increased contact between the Bahnaric and Katuic languages such that languages of all branches apart from the geographically distant Munda and Nicobarese show greater similarity to Bahnaric and Katuic the closer they are to those branches without any noticeable innovations common to Bahnaric and Katuic.He therefore takes the conservative view that the thirteen branches of Austroasiatic should be treated as equidistant on current evidence. Sidwell &amp; Blench discuss this proposal in more detail, and note that there is good evidence for a Khasi–Palaungic node, which could also possibly be closely related to Khmuic.If this would the case, Sidwell &amp; Blench suggest that Khasic may have been an early offshoot of Palaungic that had spread westward. Sidwell &amp; Blench (2011) suggest Shompen as an additional branch, and believe that a Vieto-Katuic connection is worth investigating. In general, however, the family is thought to have diversified too quickly for a deeply nested structure to have developed, since Proto-Austroasiatic speakers are believed by Sidwell to have radiated out from the central Mekong river valley relatively quickly.Subsequently Sidwell proposed that Nicobarese subgroups with Aslian just as how Khasian and Palaungic subgroup with each other.A subsequent computational phylogenetic analysis (Sidwell 2015b) suggests that Austroasiatic branches may have a loosely nested structure rather than a completely rake-like structure, with an east–west division (consisting of Munda, Khasic, Palaungic, and Khmuic forming a western group as opposed to all of the other branches) occurring possibly as early as 7,000 years before present. However, he still considers the subbranching dubious.Integrating computational phylogenetic linguistics with recent archaeological findings, Paul Sidwell further expanded his Mekong riverine hypothesis by proposing that Austroasiatic had ultimately expanded into Indochina from the Lingnan area of southern China, with the subsequent Mekong riverine dispersal taking place after the initial arrival of Neolithic farmers from southern China.Sidwell tentatively suggests that Austroasiatic may have begun to split up 5000 years B.P. during the Neolithic transition era of mainland Southeast Asia with all the major branches of Austroasiatic formed by 4000 B.P. Austroasiatic would have had two possible dispersal routes from the western periphery of the Pearl River watershed of Lingnan which would have been either a coastal route down the coast of Vietnam or downstream through the Mekong River via Yunnan. Both the reconstructed lexicon of Proto-Austroasiatic and the archaeological record clearly show that early Austroasiatic speakers around 4000 B.P. cultivated rice and millet kept livestock such as dogs pigs and chickens and thrived mostly in estuarine rather than coastal environments.At 4500 B.P. this suddenly arrived in Indochina from the Lingnan area without cereal grains and displaced the earlier pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherer cultures with grain husks found in northern Indochina by 4100 B.P. and in southern Indochina by 3800 B.P. However Sidwell found that iron is not reconstructable in Proto-Austroasiatic since each Austroasiatic branch has different terms for iron that had been borrowed relatively lately from Tai Chinese Tibetan Malay and other languages.During the Iron Age about 2500 B.P. relatively young Austroasiatic branches in Indochina such as Vietic Katuic Pearic and Khmer were formed while the more internally diverse Bahnaric branch underwent more extensive internal diversification. By the Iron Age all of the Austroasiatic branches were more or less in their present-day locations with most of the diversification within Austroasiatic taking place during the Iron Age.Paul Sidwell considers the Austroasiatic language family to have rapidly diversified around 4,000 years B.P. during the arrival of rice agriculture in Indochina, but notes that the origin of Proto-Austroasiatic itself is older than that date. The lexicon of Proto-Austroasiatic can be divided into an early and late stratum. The early stratum consists of basic lexicon including body parts, animal names, natural features, and pronouns, while the names of cultural items form part of the later stratum.Roger Blench suggests that vocabulary related to aquatic subsistence strategies can be reconstructed for Proto-Austroasiatic. Blench finds widespread Austroasiatic roots for 'river valley' 'boat' 'fish' 'catfish sp.' 'eel' 'prawn' 'shrimp' 'crab' 'tortoise' 'turtle' 'otter' 'crocodile' 'heron fishing bird' and 'fish trap'. Archaeological evidence for the presence of agriculture in northern Indochina dates back to only about 4000 years ago with agriculture ultimately being introduced from further up to the north in the Yangtze valley where it has been dated to 6000 B.P.Sidwell proposes that the locus of Proto-Austroasiatic was in the Red River Delta area about 4000-4500 years before present. Austroasiatic dispersed coastal maritime routes and also upstream through river valleys. Khmuic Palaungic and Khasic resulted from a westward dispersal that ultimately came from the Red Valley valley. Based on their current distributions about half of all Austroasiatic branches can be traced to coastal maritime dispersals.Hence this points to a relatively late riverine dispersal of Austroasiatic as compared to Sino-Tibetan whose speakers had a distinct non-riverine culture. In addition to living an aquatic-based lifestyle early Austroasiatic speakers would have also had access to livestock crops and newer types of watercraft. As early Austroasiatic speakers dispersed rapidly via waterways they would have encountered speakers of older language families who were already settled in the area such as Sino-Tibetan.Sidwell (2018).Sidwell (2018) (quoted in Sidwell 2021) gives a more nested classification of Austroasiatic branches as suggested by his computational phylogenetic analysis of Austroasiatic languages using a 200-word list. Many of the tentative groupings are likely linkages. Pakanic and Shompen were not included.Possible extinct branches.Roger Blench also proposes that there might have been other primary branches of Austroasiatic that are now extinct, based on substrate evidence in modern-day languages.Other languages with proposed Austroasiatic substrata are:John Peterson suggests that "pre-Munda" languages may have once dominated the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain and were then absorbed by Indo-Aryan languages at an early date as Indo-Aryan spread east. Peterson notes that eastern Indo-Aryan languages display many morphosyntactic features similar to those of Munda languages while western Indo-Aryan languages do not.Writing systems.Other than Latin-based alphabets many Austroasiatic languages are written with the Khmer Thai Lao and Burmese alphabets. Vietnamese divergently had an indigenous script based on Chinese logographic writing. This has since been supplanted by the Latin alphabet in the 20th century. The following are examples of past-used alphabets or current alphabets of Austroasiatic languages.External relations.Austric languages.Austroasiatic is an integral part of the controversial Austric hypothesis which also includes the Austronesian languages and in some proposals also the Kra–Dai languages and the Hmong–Mien languages.Hmong-Mien.Several lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic language families some of which had earlier been proposed by Haudricourt . This could imply a relation or early language contact along the Yangtze.According to Cai Hmong–Mien is at least partially related to Austroasiatic but was heavily influenced by Sino-Tibetan especially Tibeto-Burman languages.Indo-Aryan languages.It is suggested that the Austroasiatic languages have some influence on Indo-Aryan languages including Sanskrit and middle Indo-Aryan languages. Indian linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji pointed that a specific number of substantives in languages such as Hindi Punjabi and Bengali were borrowed from Munda languages. Additionally French linguist Jean Przyluski suggested a similarity between the tales from the Austroasiatic realm and the Indian mythological stories of Matsyagandha and the Ngas.Austroasiatic migrations.suggests that Haplogroup O1b1 which is common in Austroasiatic people and some other ethnic groups in southern China and haplogroup O1b2 which is common in today Japanese Koreans and some Manchu are the carriers of Yangtze civilization . Another study suggests that the haplogroup O1b1 is the major Austroasiatic paternal lineage and O1b2 the "para-Austroasiatic" lineage of the Yayoi people.A 2021 study by Tagore et al. found that proto-Austroasiatic-speakers originated from an Basal-East Asian source population, native to Mainland Southeast Asia and Northeast India, which also gave rise to other East Asian-related lineages, including Northeast Asians and Native Americans. From Mainland Southeast Asia, the Austroasiatic-speakers expanded into the Indian-subcontinent and Maritime Southeast Asia. There is evidence that continuing migration of agriculturalists from more northerly East Asia merged with "southern East Asians", forming modern day Southeast Asians, and contributed to the fragmentation observed among modern day Austroasiatic-speakers. Similarly, Austroasiatic-speakers in India intermixed with local tribals. The authors also found that the ancient Hoabinhian people likely spoke a variant of Proto-Austroasiatic, and had largely "southern East Asian ancestry". They concluded that their new genetic evidence does not support a partial relationship between Hoabinhians and Andamanese (Onge)/Papuans, as suggested by Mc.Coll 2018 and Chuan-Chao Wang, but in contrary, points to genetic influence (geneflow) from "East Asian-related" groups towards the Onge/Andamanese (previous studies estimated about 32% East Asian-related ancestry in Andamanese people). Additionally, it was found that East Asian-like ancestry (East-Eurasians) originated in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China, and expanded from this region towards the South and North respectively in several waves. The authors finally concluded that genetics do not necessarily correspond with linguistic identity, pointing to the fragmentation of modern Austroasiatic-speakers.Larena et al. 2021 confirmed the origin of Basal-East Asians in Mainland Southeast Asia. Distinctive Basal-East Asian ancestry is estimated to have formed more than 50000 years ago and expanded through multiple migration waves southwards and northwards. This sets back the time period for the origin of East Asian-like groups from 40000 BC to 50000 BC. Early Austroasiatic-speakers are estimated to have originated from an lineage which splitted from these Basal-East Asians between 25000 to 15000 years ago and were among the first wave to largely replace the distinct Australasian-related groups of Insular Southeast Asia. Evidence for Austroasiatic substratum among Austronesian languages in Western Indonesia noteworthy among the Dayak languages is strengthened by genetic data. According to a recent genetic study Sundanese Javanese and Balinese has almost an equal ratio of genetic marker shared between Austronesian and Austroasiatic heritages.Migration into India.According to Chaubey et al. According to Riccio et al. the Munda people are likely descended from Austroasiatic migrants from Southeast Asia.According to Zhang et al., Austroasiatic migrations from Southeast Asia into India took place after the last Glacial maximum, circa 10,000 years ago. Arunkumar et al, suggest Austroasiatic migrations from Southeast Asia occurred into Northeast India 5.2 ± 0.6 kya and into East India 4.3 ± 0.2 kya.
Afroasiatic also known as Afrasian or Hamito-Semitic Semito-Hamitic or Erythraean is a large language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in Western Asia North Africa the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel. With the exception of Semitic all branches of the Afrosiatic family are spoken exclusively on the African continent.Afroasiatic languages have over 500 million native speakers, which is the fourth largest number of native speakers of any language family . The phylum has six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Semitic, and Omotic, however the inclusion of Omotic remains controversial, and several linguists see it as independent language family, which stood in long-term contact with Afroasiatic languages. By far the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language or dialect continuum is Arabic. A "de facto" group of distinct language varieties within the Semitic branch, the languages that evolved from Proto-Arabic have around 313 million native speakers, concentrated primarily in the Middle East and North Africa.In addition to languages spoken today, Afroasiatic includes several important ancient languages, such as Ancient Egyptian, which forms a distinct branch of the family, and within the Semitic family, Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew and Old Aramaic. There is no consensus among historical linguists concerning the original homeland of the Afroasiatic family, or the period when the parent language was spoken. Proposed locations include the Horn of Africa, North Africa, the Eastern Sahara and the Levant.In the early 19th century, linguists grouped the Berber, Cushitic and Egyptian languages within a were etymologically derived from the Book of Genesis, which describes various Biblical tribes descended from Ham and Shem, two sons of Noah. By the 1860s, the main constituent elements within the broader Afroasiatic family had been worked out.Friedrich Mller introduced the name "Hamito-Semitic" for the entire language family in his "Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft" . Maurice Delafosse later coined the term "Afroasiatic" . However, it did not come into general use until Joseph Greenberg formally proposed its adoption. In doing so, Greenberg sought to emphasize the fact that 'Hamitic' was not a valid group and that language cladistics did not reflect race.Individual scholars have also called the family "Erythraean" and "Lisramic" . In lieu of "Hamito-Semitic" the Russian linguist Igor Diakonoff later suggested the term "Afrasian" meaning "half African half Asiatic" in reference to the geographic distribution of the family's constituent languages.The term "Hamito-Semitic" remains in use in the academic traditions of some European countries, as well as in the official census of the government of India.Distribution and branches.Scholars generally treat the Afroasiatic language family as including the following five branches whereas Omotic is disputedAlthough there is general agreement on these six families, linguists who study Afroasiatic raise some points of disagreement, in particular:Demographics.In descending order of the number of speakers, widely-spoken Afroasiatic languages include:Classification history.In the 9th century the Hebrew grammarian Judah ibn Quraysh of Tiaret in Algeria became the first to link two branches of Afroasiatic together he perceived a relationship between Berber and Semitic. He knew of Semitic through his study of Arabic Hebrew and Aramaic. In the course of the 19th century Europeans also began suggesting such relationships. In 1844 Theodor Benfey proposed a language family consisting of Semitic Berber and Cushitic . In the same year T.N. Newman suggested a relationship between Semitic and Hausa but this would long remain a topic of dispute and uncertainty.Friedrich Mller named the traditional Hamito-Semitic family in 1876 in his "Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft" , and defined it as consisting of a Semitic group plus a "Hamitic" group containing Egyptian, Berber, and Cushitic; he excluded the Chadic group. It was the Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius who restricted Hamitic to the non-Semitic languages in Africa, which are characterized by a grammatical gender system. This "Hamitic language group" was proposed to unite various, mainly North-African, languages, including the Ancient Egyptian language, the Berber languages, the Cushitic languages, the Beja language, and the Chadic languages. Unlike Mller, Lepsius saw Hausa and Nama as part of the Hamitic group. These classifications relied in part on non-linguistic anthropological and racial arguments. Both authors used the skin-color, mode of subsistence, and other characteristics of native speakers as part of their arguments for grouping particular languages together.In 1912 Carl Meinhof published "Die Sprachen der Hamiten" in which he expanded Lepsius's model adding the Fula Maasai Bari Nandi Sandawe and Hadza languages to the Hamitic group. Meinhof's model was widely supported in the 1940s. Meinhof's system of classification of the Hamitic languages was based on a belief that "speakers of Hamitic became largely coterminous with cattle herding peoples with essentially Caucasian origins intrinsically different from and superior to the 'Negroes of Africa'." However in the case of the so-called Nilo-Hamitic languages it was based on the typological feature of gender and a "fallacious theory of language mixture". Meinhof did this although earlier work by scholars such as Lepsius and Johnston had substantiated that the languages which he would later dub "Nilo-Hamitic" were in fact Nilotic languages with numerous similarities in vocabulary to other Nilotic languages.Leo Reinisch had already proposed linking Cushitic and Chadic while urging their more distant affinity with Egyptian and Semitic. However his suggestion found little acceptance. Marcel Cohen rejected the idea of a distinct for the family. Almost all scholars have accepted this classification as the new and continued consensus.Greenberg developed his model fully in his book , in which he reassigned most of Meinhofs classification remains a starting point for modern work on many languages spoken in Africa, and the Hamitic category has no part in this.Since the three traditional branches of the Hamitic languages have not been shown to form an exclusive phylogenetic unit of their own, separate from other Afroasiatic languages, linguists no longer use the term in this sense. Each of these branches is instead now regarded as an independent subgroup of the larger Afroasiatic family.In 1969 Harold Fleming proposed that what had previously been known as Western Cushitic is an independent branch of Afroasiatic suggesting for it the new name "Omotic". This proposal and name have met with widespread acceptance.Based on typological differences with the other Cushitic languages, Robert Hetzron proposed that Beja has to be removed from Cushitic, thus forming an independent branch of Afroasiatic. Most scholars, however, reject this proposal, and continue to group Beja as the sole member of a Northern branch within Cushitic. does not accept that the inclusion or even unity of Omotic has been established nor that of Ongota or the unclassified Kujarge. It therefore splits off the following groups as small families South Omotic Mao Dizoid Gonga–Gimojan Ongota and Kujarge.Subgrouping.Little agreement exists on the subgrouping of the five or six branches of Afroasiatic Semitic Egyptian Berber Chadic Cushitic and Omotic. However Christopher Ehret Harold Fleming and Joseph Greenberg all agree that the Omotic branch split from the rest first.Position among the world's languages.Afroasiatic is one of the four major language families spoken in Africa identified by Joseph Greenberg in his book . It is one of the few whose speech area is transcontinental with languages from Afroasiatic's Semitic branch also spoken in the Middle East and Europe.There are no generally accepted relations between Afroasiatic and any other language family. However, several proposals grouping Afroasiatic with one or more other language families have been made. The best-known of these are the following:Date of Afroasiatic.The earliest written evidence of an Afroasiatic language is an Ancient Egyptian inscription dated to c. 3400 BC . Symbols on Gerzean pottery resembling Egyptian hieroglyphs date back to c. 4000 BC suggesting an earlier possible dating. This gives us a minimum date for the age of Afroasiatic. However Ancient Egyptian is highly divergent from Proto-Afroasiatic and considerable time must have elapsed in between them. Estimates of the date at which the Proto-Afroasiatic language was spoken vary widely. They fall within a range between approximately 7500 BC and approximately 16000 BC . According to Igor M. Diakonoff Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken c. 10000 BC. Christopher Ehret asserts that Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken c. 11000 BC at the latest and possibly as early as c. 16000 BC. These dates are older than those associated with other proto-languages.Afroasiatic Urheimat.The Afroasiatic "urheimat" the hypothetical place where Proto-Afroasiatic language speakers lived in a single linguistic community or complex of communities before this original language dispersed geographically and divided into distinct languages is unknown. Afroasiatic languages are today primarily spoken in West Asia North Africa the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel. Their distribution seems to have been influenced by the Sahara pump operating over the last 10000 years.While there is no definitive agreement on when or where the original homeland of this language family existed, many link the first speakers to the first farmers in the Levant who would later spread to North and East Africa. Others argue the first speakers were pre-agricultural and based in North East Africa.Similarities in grammar and syntax.Widespread (though not universal) features of the Afroasiatic languages include:One of the most remarkable shared features among the Afroasiatic languages is the prefixing verb conjugation , with a distinctive pattern of prefixes beginning with / t n y/, and in particular a pattern whereby third-singular masculine /y-/ is opposed to third-singular feminine and second-singular /t-/.According to Ehret tonal languages appear in the Omotic and Chadic branches of Afroasiatic as well as in certain Cushitic languages. The Semitic Berber and Egyptian branches generally do not use tones phonemically.The Berber and Semitic branches share certain grammatical features which can be reconstructed for a higher-order proto-language (provisionally called by Kossmann &amp; Suchard and Putten ). Whether this proto-language is ancestral to Berber and Semitic only, or also to other branches of Afroasiatic, still remains to be established.Shared vocabulary.The following are some examples of Afroasiatic cognates including ten pronouns three nouns and three verbs.There are two etymological dictionaries of Afroasiatic one by Christopher Ehret and one by Vladimir Orel and Olga Stolbova. The two dictionaries disagree on almost everything. The following table contains the thirty roots or so that represent a fragile consensus of present researchEtymological bibliography.Some of the main sources for Afroasiatic etymologies include:
Andorra officially the Principality of Andorra is a sovereign landlocked microstate on the Iberian Peninsula in the eastern Pyrenees bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988 when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is headed by two co-princes the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia Spain and the President of France. Its capital and also its largest city is Andorra la Vella.Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, having an area of and a population of approximately . The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. Andorra is the 16th-smallest country in the world by land and the 11th-smallest by population. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of above sea level. The official language is Catalan, but Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.Tourism in Andorra sees an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually. Andorra is not a member state of the European Union, but the euro is its official currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993. In 2013, Andorra had the highest life expectancy in the world at 81 years, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study.The origin of the word Andorra is unknown, although several hypotheses have been formulated. The oldest derivation of the word Andorra is from the Greek historian Polybius who describes the Andosins, an Iberian Pre-Roman tribe, as historically located in the valleys of Andorra and facing the Carthaginian army in its passage through the Pyrenees during the Punic Wars. The word Andosini or Andosins may derive from the Basque ' whose meaning is "big" or "giant". The Andorran toponymy shows evidence of Basque language in the area. Another theory suggests that the word Andorra may derive from the old word Anorra that contains the Basque word ' .Another theory suggests that Andorra may derive from , meaning . When the Arabs and Moors conquered the Iberian Peninsula, the valleys of the High Pyrenees were covered by large tracts of forest. These regions were not administered by Muslims, because of the geographic difficulty of direct rule.Other theories suggest that the term derives from the Navarro-Aragonese andurrial, which means .The folk etymology holds that Charlemagne had named the region as a reference to the Biblical Canaanite valley of Endor or Andor , a name bestowed by his heir and son Louis the Pious after defeating the Moors in the "wild valleys of Hell".Prehistory.La Balma de la Margineda found by archaeologists at Sant Juli de Lria was settled in 9500 BC as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was perfectly located for hunting and fishing by the groups of hunter-gatherers from Ariege and Segre.During the Neolithic Age, a group of people moved to the Valley of Madriu as a permanent camp in 6640 BC. The population of the valley grew cereals, raised domestic livestock, and developed a commercial trade with people from the Segre and Occitania.Other archaeological deposits include the Tombs of Segudet and Feixa del Moro both dated in 4900–4300 BC as an example of the Urn culture in Andorra. The model of small settlements began to evolve to a complex urbanism during the Bronze Age. Metallurgical items of iron, ancient coins, and relicaries can be found in the ancient sanctuaries scattered around the country.The sanctuary of Roc de les Bruixes is perhaps the most important archeological complex of this age in Andorra, located in the parish of Canillo, about the rituals of funerals, ancient scripture and engraved stone murals.Iberian and Roman Andorra.The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini () during the 7th and 2nd centuries BC. Influenced by the Aquitanian Basque and Iberian languages the locals developed some current toponyms. Early writings and documents relating to this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer Polybius in his during the Punic Wars.Some of the most significant remains of this era are the Castle of the Roc dOral in Encamp.The presence of Roman influence is recorded from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The places found with more Roman presence are in Camp Vermell (Red Field) in Sant Juli de Lria, and in some places in Encamp, as well as in the Roc d'Enclar. People continued trading, mainly with wine and cereals, with the Roman cities of Urgellet (the present-day La Seu d'Urgell) and all across Segre through the Strata Ceretana (also known as Strata Confluetana).Visigoths and Carolingians: the legend of Charlemagne.After the fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the Visigoths, the Kingdom of Toledo, and the Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which time Christianity spread. When the Muslim Empire of Al-Andalus replaced the ruling Visigoths in most of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra was sheltered from these invaders by the Franks.Tradition holds that Charles the Great granted a charter to the Andorran people for a contingent of five thousand soldiers under the command of Marc Almugaver in return for fighting against the Moors near Port-Puymorens .Andorra remained part of the Frankish or a local municipal charter circa 805.In 988 Borrell II Count of Urgell gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya. Since then the Bishop of Urgell based in Seu d'Urgell has been Co-prince of Andorra.The first document that mentions Andorra as a territory is the . The old document dated from 839 depicts the six old parishes of the Andorran valleys and therefore the administrative division of the country.Medieval Age The Parages and the founding of the Co-Principality.Before 1095, Andorra did not have any type of military protection and the Bishop of Urgell, who knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, asked the lord of Caboet for help and protection. In 1095, the Lord of Caboet and the bishop of Urgell signed under oath a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the viscount of Castellb. Their daughter, Ermessenda, married the count of Foix, Roger-Bernard II. Roger-Bernard II and Ermessenda shared rule over Andorra with the bishop of Urgell.In the 13th century a military dispute arose between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix as aftermath of the Cathar Crusade. The conflict was resolved in 1278 with the mediation of the king of Aragon Peter III between the bishop and the count by the signing of the first parage which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count of Foix and the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia. This gave the principality its territory and political form.A second parage was signed in 1288 after a dispute when the count of Foix ordered the construction of a castle in Roc d'Enclar. The document was ratified by the noble notary Jaume Orig of Puigcerd and the construction of military structures in the country was prohibited.In 1364 the political organization of the country named the figure of the syndic as representative of the Andorrans to their co-princes making possible the creation of local departments . After being ratified by Bishop Francesc Tovia and Count John I, the Consell de la Terra or Consell General de les Valls was founded in 1419, the second oldest parliament in Europe. The syndic Andreu d'Als and the General Council organized the creation of the Justice Courts in 1433 with the co-Princes and the collection of taxes like foc i lloc .Although there are remains of ecclesiastical works dating before the 9th century Andorra developed exquisite Romanesque Art during the 9th through 14th centuries particularly in the construction of churches bridges religious murals and statues of the Virgin and Child . Nowadays the Romanesque buildings that form part of AndorraEngolasters Sant Mart de la Cortinada and the medieval bridges of Margineda and Escalls among many others.The Catalan Pyrenees were embryonic of the Catalan language at the end of the 11th century. Andorra was influenced by this language, which was adopted locally decades before it expanded to the rest of the Crown of Aragon.The local population based its economy during the Middle Ages in livestock and agriculture as well as in furs and weavers. Later at the end of the 11th century the first iron foundries began to appear in Northern Parishes like Ordino much appreciated by the master artisans who developed the art of the forges an important economic activity in the country from the 15th century.16th to 18th centuries.In 1601 the Tribunal de Corts was created as a result of Huguenot rebellions in France, Inquisition courts coming from Spain and witchcraft-related beliefs native to the area, in the context of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.With the passage of time the co-title to Andorra passed to the kings of Navarre. After Henry III of Navarre became king of France he issued an edict in 1607 that established the head of the French state and the bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra a political arrangement that continues up to the present time.During 1617 communal councils form the sometent to deal with the rise of bandolerisme and the Consell de la Terra was defined and structured in terms of its composition organization and competences current today.Andorra continued with the same economic system that it had during the 12th–14th centuries with a large production of metallurgy and with the introduction of tobacco circa 1692 and import trade. The fair of Andorra la Vella was ratified by the co-princes in 1371 and 1448 being the most important annual national festival commercially ever since.The country had a unique and experienced guild of weavers Confraria de Paraires i Teixidors located in Escaldes-Engordany founded in 1604 taking advantage of the thermal waters of the area. By this time the country was characterized by the social system of prohoms (wealthy society) and casalers (rest of the population with smaller economic acquisition) deriving from the tradition of pubilla and hereu.Three centuries after its foundation the Consell de la Terra located its headquarters and the Tribunal de Corts in Casa de la Vall in 1702. The manor house built in 1580 served as a noble fortress of the Busquets family. Inside the parliament was placed the Closet of the six keys representative of each Andorran parish and where the Andorran constitution and other documents and laws were kept later on.In both the Reapers' War and the War of the Spanish Succession the Andorran people supported the Catalans who saw their rights reduced in 1716. The reaction was the promotion of Catalan writings in Andorra with cultural works such as the "Book of Privileges" "Manual Digest" by Antoni Fiter i Rossell or the "Polit andorr" by Antoni Puig.19th century: the New Reform and the Andorran Question.After the French Revolution Napoleon I reestablished the Co-Principate in 1809 and removed the French medieval title. In 1812–1813 the First French Empire annexed Catalonia during the Peninsular War and divided the region into four dpartements with Andorra as a part of the district of Puigcerd. In 1814 an imperial decree reestablished the independence and economy of Andorra.During this period AndorraAreny-Plandolit led the reformist group in a Council General of 24 members elected by suffrage limited to heads of families. The Council General replaced the aristocratic oligarchy that previously ruled the state.The New Reform () began after ratification by both Co-Princes and established the basis of the constitution and symbolssuch as the tricolour flagof Andorra. A new service economy arose as a demand of the valley inhabitants and began to build infrastructure such as hotels, spa resorts, roads and telegraph lines.The authorities of the Co-Princes banned casinos and betting houses throughout the country. The ban resulted in an economic conflict for the Andorran people. The conflict led to the so-called revolution of 1881, when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on 8 December 1880, and established the Provisional Revolutionary Council led by Joan Pla i Calvo and Pere Bar i Mas. The Provisional Revolutionary Council allowed for the construction of casinos and spas by foreign companies.From 7 to 9 June 1881, the loyalists of Canillo and Encamp reconquered the parishes of Ordino and La Massana by establishing contact with the revolutionary forces in Escaldes-Engordany. After a day of combat the Treaty of the Bridge of Escalls was signed on 10 June. The council was replaced and new elections were held. The economic situation worsened, as the populace was divided over the – the "Andorran Question" in relation to the Eastern Question. The struggles continued between pro-bishops, pro-French, and nationalists based on the troubles of Canillo in 1882 and 1885.Andorra participated in the cultural movement of the Catalan Renaixena. Between 1882 and 1887 the first academic schools were formed where trilingualism coexisted with the official language Catalan. Romantic authors from France and Spain reported the awakening of the national consciousness of the country. Jacint Verdaguer lived in Ordino during the 1880s where he wrote and shared works related to the Renaixena with writer and photographer Joaquim de Riba.In 1848, Fromental Halvy had premiered the opera to great success in Europe, where the national consciousness of the valleys was exposed in the romantic work during the Peninsular War.20th and 21st century: Modernisation of the country and the Constitutional Andorra.In 1933 France occupied Andorra following social unrest which occurred before elections due to the Revolution of 1933 and the FHASA strikes ; the revolt led by Joves Andorrans called for political reforms, the universal suffrage vote of all Andorrans and acted in defense of the rights of local and foreign workers during the construction of FHASA's hydroelectric power station in Encamp. On 5 April 1933 Joves Andorrans seized the Andorran Parliament. These actions were preceded by the arrival of Colonel Ren-Jules Baulard with 50 gendarmes and the mobilization of 200 local militias or sometent led by the Sndic Francesc Cairat.On 6 July 1934 adventurer and nobleman Boris Skossyreff with his promise of freedoms and modernization of the country and wealth through the establishment of a tax haven and foreign investments received the support of the members of the General Council to proclaim himself the sovereign of Andorra. On 8 July 1934 Boris issued a proclamation in Urgell declaring himself Boris I King of Andorra simultaneously declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell and approving the King's constitution on 10 July. He was arrested by the Co-Prince and Bishop Just Guitart i Vilardeb and their authorities on 20 July and ultimately expelled from Spain. From 1936 until 1940 a French military detachment of Garde Mobile led by well-known Colonel Ren-Jules Baulard was garrisoned in Andorra to secure the principality against disruption from the Spanish Civil War and Francoist Spain and also face the rise of Republicanism in the aftermath of the 1933 Revolution. During the Spanish Civil War the inhabitants of Andorra welcomed refugees from both sides and many of them settled permanently in the country thus contributing to the subsequent economic boom and the entry into the capitalist era of Andorra. Francoist troops reached the Andorran border in the later stages of the war.During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Francoist Spain, two fascist states. Many Andorrans criticized the passivity of the General Council for impeding both the entry and expulsion of foreigners and refugees, committing economic crimes, reducing the rights of citizens and being sympathetic to Francoism. General Council members justified the councils survival and the protection of its sovereignty. Andorra was relatively unscathed by the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War. Certain groups organized themselves to help victims of oppression in Nazi-occupied countries, while participating in smuggling to help Andorra survive. Among the groups that were most prominent there was the Hostal Palanques Evasion Network Command. The Evasion Network Command, in contact with the British Mi6, helped almost 400 fugitives, among whom were Allied military personnel. The Command remained active between 1941 and 1944, although there were struggles with pro-Axis informers and Gestapo agents within Andorra.In the capital city there was a smuggling black market network of propaganda culture and cinematic art not prone to totalitarian regimes promulgated in some places as the Hotel Mirador or the Casino Hotel as a meeting place for people of ideologies close to Andorran and Spanish Republicanism and Free France. The network was maintained after the war when film societies were formed where movies music and books censored in Franco's Spain were imported thus becoming an anti-censorship attraction for the Catalan or foreign public even within Andorra. Andorran Group (Agrupament Andorr) an anti-fascist organization linked to the Occitanie's French Resistance accused the French representative (veguer) of collaboration with Nazism.The Andorran opening to the capitalist economy resulted in two axes: mass tourism and the country's tax exemption. The first steps toward the capitalist boom date from the 1930s, with the construction of FHASA and the creation of professional banking with Banc Agrcol and Crdit Andorr , later with Banca Mora , Banca Cassany and SOBANCA . Shortly after activities such as skiing and shopping become a tourist attraction, with the inauguration of ski resorts and cultural entities in the late 1930s. All in all, a renovated hotel industry has developed. In April 1968 a social health insurance system was created .The Andorran Government necessarily involved planning, projection and forecasts for the future: with the official visit of the French co-prince Charles de Gaulle in 1967 and 1969, it was given approval for the economic boom and national demands within the framework of human rights and international openness.Andorra lived an era commonly known as along with the Trente Glorieuses: the mass culture rooted the country experiencing radical changes in the economy and culture. Proof of this event was Rdio Andorra, number one transmitter musical radio station in Europe in this period, with guests and speakers of great importance promoting musical hits of chanson franaise, swing, rhythm &amp; blues, jazz, rock and roll or American country music. During this period Andorra achieved a GDP per capita and a life expectancy higher than the most standard countries of the current economy.Given its relative isolation Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history with few ties to countries other than France Spain and Portugal. In recent times however its thriving tourist industry along with developments in transport and communications have removed the country from its isolation. Since 1976 the country sees the need to reform Andorran institutions due to the anachronisms in the field of sovereignty human rights and the balance of powers as well as the need to adapt legislation to modern demands. In 1982 a first separation of powers took place when instituting the Govern d'Andorra under the name of Executive Board chaired by the first prime minister scar Ribas Reig with the approval of the Co-Princes. In 1989 the Principality signed an agreement with the European Economic Community to regularize trade relations.Its political system was modernized in 1993 after the Andorran constitutional referendum, when the constitution was drafted by the Co-Princes and the General Council and approved on 14 March by 74.2% of voters, with a 76% turnout. The first elections under the new constitution were held later in the year. The same year Andorra became a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe.Andorra formalized diplomatic relations with the United States in 1996 participating in the 51st UN General Assembly a very important fact in view of the normalization that the country aspired to. First General Syndic Marc Forn took part on a speech in Catalan in the General Assembly to defend the reform of the organization and after three days Forn took part in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe to defend the linguistic rights and the economy of Andorra. In mid-2006 the monetary agreement with the European Union is formalized which allows Andorra to use the euro in an official way as well as coin its own Euro currency.Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the president of France and the Catholic bishop of Urgell as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the president of France, in his capacity as prince of Andorra, an elected monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy with a unicameral legislature, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The head of government is the chief executive.The current head of government is Xavier Espot Zamora of the Democrats for Andorra . Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both government and parliament.The Parliament of Andorra is known as the General Council. The General Council consists of between 28 and 42 councillors. The councillors serve for four-year terms, and elections are held between the 30th and 40th days following the dissolution of the previous Council.Half are elected in equal numbers by each of the seven administrative parishes and the other half of the councillors are elected in a single national constituency. Fifteen days after the election the councillors hold their inauguration. During this session the Syndic General who is the head of the General Council and the Subsyndic General his assistant are elected. Eight days later the Council convenes once more. During this session the head of government is chosen from among the councillors.Candidates can be proposed by a minimum of one-fifth of the councillors. The Council then elects the candidate with the absolute majority of votes to be head of government. The Syndic General then notifies the co-princes, who in turn appoint the elected candidate as the head of government of Andorra. The General Council is also responsible for proposing and passing laws. Bills may be presented to the council as Private Members' Bills by three of the local Parish Councils jointly or by at least one tenth of the citizens of Andorra.The council also approves the annual budget of the principality. The government must submit the proposed budget for parliamentary approval at least two months before the previous budget expires. If the budget is not approved by the first day of the next year, the previous budget is extended until a new one is approved. Once any bill is approved, the Syndic General is responsible for presenting it to the Co-Princes so that they may sign and enact it.If the head of government is not satisfied with the council he may request that the co-princes dissolve the council and order new elections. In turn the councillors have the power to remove the head of government from office. After a motion of censure is approved by at least one-fifth of the councillors the council will vote and if it receives the absolute majority of votes the head of government is removed.Law and criminal justice.The judiciary is composed of the Magistrates Court, the Criminal Law Court, the High Court of Andorra, and the Constitutional Court. The High Court of Justice is composed of five judges: one appointed by the head of government, one each by the co-princes, one by the Syndic General, and one by the judges and magistrates. It is presided over by the member appointed by the Syndic General and the judges hold office for six-year terms.The magistrates and judges are appointed by the High Court as is the president of the Criminal Law Court. The High Court also appoints members of the Office of the Attorney General. The Constitutional Court is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and reviewing all appeals of unconstitutionality against laws and treaties. It is composed of four judges one appointed by each of the co-princes and two by the General Council. They serve eight-year terms. The Court is presided over by one of the judges on a two-year rotation so that each judge at one point will preside over the Court.Foreign relations defence and security.Andorra does not have its own armed forces although there is a small ceremonial army. Responsibility for defending the nation rests primarily with France and Spain. However in case of emergencies or natural disasters the Sometent is called and all able-bodied men between 21 and 60 of Andorran nationality must serve. This is why all Andorrans and especially the head of each house should by law keep a rifle even though the law also states that the police will offer a firearm in case of need. Andorra is a full member of the United Nations the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and has a special agreement with the European Union it also has observer status at the World Trade Organization . On 16 October 2020 Andorra became the 190th member of the International Monetary Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.Andorra has a small army, which has historically been raised or reconstituted at various dates, but has never in modern times amounted to a standing army. The basic principle of Andorran defence is that all able-bodied men are available to fight if called upon by the sounding of the Sometent. Being a landlocked country, Andorra has no navy.Before World War I, Andorra maintained an armed force of about 600 part-time militiamen under the supervision of a Captain (Capit or Cap de Sometent) and a Lieutenant (Desener or Lloctinent del Capit). This body was not liable for service outside the principality and was commanded by two officials (veguers) appointed by France and the Bishop of Urgell.In the modern era the army has consisted of a very small body of volunteers willing to undertake ceremonial duties. Uniforms and weaponry were handed down from generation to generation within families and communities.The army's role in internal security was largely taken over by the formation of the Police Corps of Andorra in 1931. Brief civil disorder associated with the elections of 1933 led to assistance being sought from the French National Gendarmerie, with a detachment resident in Andorra for two months under the command of Ren-Jules Baulard. The Andorran Police was reformed in the following year, with eleven soldiers appointed to supervisory roles. The force consisted of six Corporals, one for each parish (although there are currently seven parishes, there were only six until 1978), plus four junior staff officers to co-ordinate action, and a commander with the rank of major. It was the responsibility of the six corporals, each in his own parish, to be able to raise a fighting force from among the able-bodied men of the parish.Today a small twelve-man ceremonial unit remains the only permanent section of the Sometent but all able-bodied men remain technically available for military service with a requirement for each family to have access to a firearm. A shotgun per household is unregulated. Rifles and pistols require a license. The army has not fought for more than 700 years and its main responsibility is to present the flag of Andorra at official ceremonial functions. According to Marc Forn Moln Andorra's military budget is strictly from voluntary donations and the availability of full-time volunteers.In more recent times there has only been a general emergency call to the popular army of Sometent during the floods of 1982 in the Catalan Pyrenees, where 12 citizens perished in Andorra, to help the population and establish a public order along with the Local Police units.Police Corps.Andorra maintains a small but modern and well-equipped internal police force with around 240 police officers supported by civilian assistants. The principal services supplied by the corps are uniformed community policing criminal detection border control and traffic policing. There are also small specialist units including police dogs mountain rescue and a bomb disposal team.The "Grup d'Intervenci Policia d'Andorra" (GIPA) is a small special forces unit trained in counter-terrorism, and hostage recovery tasks. Although it is the closest in style to an active military force, it is part of the Police Corps, and not the army. As terrorist and hostage situations are a rare threat to the country, the GIPA is commonly assigned to prisoner escort duties, and at other times to routine policing.Fire brigade.The Andorran Fire Brigade with headquarters at Santa Coloma operates from four modern fire stations and has a staff of around 120 firefighters. The service is equipped with 16 heavy appliances four light support vehicles and four ambulances.Historically the families of the six ancient parishes of Andorra maintained local arrangements to assist each other in fighting fires. The first fire pump purchased by the government was acquired in 1943. Serious fires which lasted for two days in December 1959 led to calls for a permanent fire service and the Andorran Fire Brigade was formed on 21 April 1961.The fire service maintains full-time cover with five fire crews on duty at any time two at the brigade's headquarters in Santa Coloma and one crew at each of the other three fire stations.Andorra consists of seven parishesPhysical geography.Due to its location in the eastern Pyrenees mountain range Andorra consists predominantly of rugged mountains the highest being the Coma Pedrosa at and the average elevation of Andorra is . These are dissected by three narrow valleys in a Y shape that combine into one as the main stream the Gran Valira river leaves the country for Spain . Andorra's land area is .Environment.Phytogeographically, Andorra belongs to the Atlantic European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Andorra belongs to the ecoregion of Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests. Andorra had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.45/10, ranking it 127th globally out of 172 countries.Important Bird Area.The whole country has been recognised as a single Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, because it is important for forest and mountain birds and supports populations of red-billed choughs, citril finches and rock buntings.Andorra has alpine, continental and oceanic climates, depending on altitude. Its higher elevation means there is, on average, more snow in winter and it is slightly cooler in summer. The diversity of landmarks, the different orientation of the valleys and the irregularity relief typical of the Mediterranean climates make the country have a great diversity of microclimates that hinder the general dominance of the high mountain climate. The great differences of altitude in the minimum and maximum points, together with the influence of a Mediterranean climate, develop the climate of the Andorran Pyrenees.When in precipitation a global model characterized by convective and abundant rains can be defined during spring and summer which can last until autumn . In winter however it is less rainy except in the highlands subject to the influence of fronts from the Atlantic which explains the great amount of snowfall in the Andorran mountains. The temperature regime is characterized broadly by a temperate summer and a long and cold winter in accordance with the mountainous condition of the Principality.Tourism the mainstay of Andorras duty-free status and by its summer and winter resorts.One of the main sources of income in Andorra is tourism from ski resorts which total over of ski ground. The sport brings in over 7 million visitors annually and an estimated 340 million euros per year sustaining 2000 direct and 10000 indirect jobs at present since 2007.The banking sector, with its tax haven status, also contributes substantially to the economy with revenues raised exclusively through import tariffs . However, during the European sovereign-debt crisis of the 21st century, the tourist industry suffered a decline, partly caused by a drop in the prices of goods in Spain, undercutting duty-free shopping and increasing unemployment. On 1 January 2012, a business tax of 10% was introduced, followed by a sales tax of 2% a year later, which raised just over 14 million euros in its first quarter.Agricultural production is limited; only 1.7% of the land is arable, and most food has to be imported. Some tobacco is grown locally. The principal livestock activity is domestic sheep raising. Manufacturing output consists mainly of cigarettes, cigars, and furniture. Andorra's natural resources include hydroelectric power, mineral water, timber, iron ore, and lead.Andorra is not a member of the European Union, but enjoys a special relationship with it, such as being treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods and as a non-EU member for agricultural products. Andorra lacked a currency of its own and used both the French franc and the Spanish peseta in banking transactions until 31 December 1999, when both currencies were replaced by the EU's single currency, the euro. Coins and notes of both the franc and the peseta remained legal tender in Andorra until 31 December 2002. Andorra negotiated to issue its own euro coins, beginning in 2014.Andorra has historically had one of the world's lowest unemployment rates. In 2019 it stood at 2%.On 31 May 2013 it was announced that Andorra intended to legislate for the introduction of an income tax by the end of June against a background of increasing dissatisfaction with the existence of tax havens among EU members. The announcement was made following a meeting in Paris between the Head of Government Antoni Mart and the French President and Prince of Andorra Franois Hollande. Hollande welcomed the move as part of a process of Andorra .By the mid-2010s, the financial system comprised five banking groups, one specialised credit entity, eight investment undertaking management entities, three asset management companies, and 29 insurance companies, 14 of which are branches of foreign insurance companies authorised to operate in the principality.Demographics.Population.The population of Andorra is estimated at (). The Andorrans are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. The population has grown from 5,000 in 1900.Two-thirds of residents lack Andorran nationality and do not have the right to vote in communal elections. Moreover, they are not allowed to be elected as prime minister or to own more than 33% of the capital stock of a privately held company.The historic and official language is Catalan a Romance language. The Andorran government encourages the use of Catalan. It funds a Commission for Catalan Toponymy in Andorra and provides free Catalan classes to assist immigrants. Andorran television and radio stations use Catalan.Because of immigration, historical links, and close geographic proximity, Spanish, Portuguese and French are commonly spoken. Most Andorran residents can speak one or more of these, in addition to Catalan. English is less commonly spoken among the general population, though it is understood to varying degrees in the major tourist resorts. Andorra is one of only four European countries that have never signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on National Minorities.According to mother tongue percentage statistics by the Andorran Government released in 2018 the principality has the following:The population of Andorra is predominantly (88.2%) Catholic. Their patron saint is Our Lady of Meritxell. There are also members of various Protestant denominations. There are also small numbers of Muslims Hindus and Bah's and roughly 100 Jews. (See History of the Jews in Andorra.)Children between the ages of 6 and 16 are required by law to have full-time education. Education up to secondary level is provided free of charge by the government.There are three systems of school Andorran French and Spanish which use Catalan French and Spanish languages respectively as the main language of instruction. Parents may choose which system their children attend. All schools are built and maintained by Andorran authorities but teachers in the French and Spanish schools are paid for the most part by France and Spain. 39% of Andorran children attend Andorran schools 33% attend French schools and 28% Spanish schools.University of Andorra.The Universitat d'Andorra is the state public university and is the only university in Andorra. It was established in 1997. The university provides first-level degrees in nursing computer science business administration and educational sciences in addition to higher professional education courses. The only two graduate schools in Andorra are the Nursing School and the School of Computer Science the latter having a PhD programme.Virtual Studies Centre.The geographical complexity of the country as well as the small number of students prevents the University of Andorra from developing a full academic programme and it serves principally as a centre for virtual studies connected to Spanish and French universities. The Virtual Studies Centre at the university runs approximately 20 different academic degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in fields including tourism law Catalan philology humanities psychology political sciences audiovisual communication telecommunications engineering and East Asia studies. The centre also runs various postgraduate programmes and continuing-education courses for professionals.Until the 20th century Andorra had very limited transport links to the outside world and development of the country was affected by its physical isolation. Even now the nearest major airports at Toulouse and Barcelona are both three hours' drive from Andorra.Andorra has a road network of , of which is unpaved. The two main roads out of Andorra la Vella are the CG-1 to the Spanish border near Sant Juli de Lria, and the CG-2 to the French border via the Envalira Tunnel near El Pas de la Casa. Bus services cover all metropolitan areas and many rural communities, with services on most major routes running half-hourly or more frequently during peak travel times. There are frequent long-distance bus services from Andorra to Barcelona and Toulouse, plus a daily tour from the former city. Bus services mostly are run by private companies, but some local ones are operated by the government.There are no airports for fixed-wing aircraft within AndorraUrgell Airport has operated commercial flights to Madrid and Palma de Mallorca, and is the main hub for Air Andorra and Andorra Airlines. As of 11 July 2018, there are no regular commercial flights at the airport.Nearby airports located in Spain and France provide access to international flights for the principality. The nearest airports are at Perpignan France and Lleida Spain . The largest nearby airports are at Toulouse France and Barcelona Spain . There are hourly bus services from both Barcelona and Toulouse airports to Andorra.The nearest railway station is Andorre-LAndorre and Paris on certain dates.Media and telecommunications.In Andorra, mobile and fixed telephone and internet services are operated exclusively by the Andorran national telecommunications company, SOM, also known as Andorra Telecom . The same company also manages the technical infrastructure for national broadcasting of digital television and radio. In 2010 Andorra became the first country to provide a direct optical fiber link to all homes and businesses.The first commercial radio station to broadcast was Radio Andorra which was active from 1939 to 1981. On 12 October 1989 the General Council established radio and television as essential public services creating and managing the entity ORTA becoming on 13 April 2000 in the public company Rdio i Televisi dAndorra. As an autochthonous television channel there is only the national public television network Andorra Televisi created in 1995. Additional TV and radio stations from Spain and France are available via digital terrestrial television and IPTV.There are three national newspapers (1917) (1932) and (1933). In 1974 the became the first regular newspaper in Andorra. There is also an amateur radio society and news agency ANA with independent management.Andorra is home to folk dances like the contraps and marratxa, which survive in Sant Juli de Lria especially. Andorran folk music has similarities to the music of its neighbours, but is especially Catalan in character, especially in the presence of dances such as the sardana. Other Andorran folk dances include contraps in Andorra la Vella and Saint Annes national holiday is Our Lady of Meritxell Day, 8 September.Among the more important festivals and traditions are the Canlich Gathering in May the Roser d'Ordino in July the Meritxell Day the Andorra la Vella Fair the Sant Jordi Day the Santa Llcia Fair the Festivity from La Candelera to Canillo the Carnival of Encamp the sung of caramelles the Festivity of Sant Esteve and the Festa del Poble.Andorra participated regularly in the Eurovision Song Contest between 2004 and 2009, being the only participating country presenting songs in Catalan.In popular folklore, the best-known Andorran legends are the legend of Charlemagne, according to which this Frankish King would have founded the country, the White Lady of Auviny, the Buner d'Ordino, the legend of Engolasters Lake and the legend of Our Lady of Meritxell.Andorran gastronomy is mainly Catalan although it has also adopted other elements of French and Italian cuisines. The cuisine of the country has similar characteristics with the neighbours of the Cerdanya and the Alt Urgell with whom it has a strong cultural ties. Andorra's cuisine is marked by its nature as mountain valleys. Typical dishes of the country are the quince all-i-oli the duck with winter pear the lamb in the oven with nuts pork civet the massegada cake the escarole with pear trees confited duck and mushrooms escudella spinach with raisins and pine nuts jelly marmalade stuffed murgues with pork dandelion salad and the Andorran trout of river. To drink the mulled wine and beer are also popular. Some of the dishes are very common in the mountainous regions of Catalonia such as trinxat embotits cooked snails rice with mushrooms mountain rice and mat.Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art are one of the most important artistic manifestations and characteristics of the Principality. The Romanesque one allows to know the formation of the parochial communities, the relations of power and the national culture. There are a total of forty Romanesque churches that stand out as being small austere ornamentation constructions, as well as bridges, fortresses and manor houses of the same period.Summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees was included as UNESCO Intangible cultural heritage in 2015. Also the Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley became Andorra's first, and to date its only, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, with a small extension in 2006.Andorra is famous for the practice of winter sports. Andorra has the largest territory of ski slopes in the Pyrenees and two ski resorts. Grandvalira is the largest and most popular resort. Other popular sports played in Andorra include football rugby union basketball and roller hockey.For roller hockey, Andorra usually plays in CERH Euro Cup and in FIRS Roller Hockey World Cup. In 2011, Andorra was the host country to the 2011 European League Final Eight.The country is represented in association football by the Andorra national football team. The team gained its first competitive win in a European Championship qualifier on 11 October 2019 against Moldova. Football is governed in Andorra by the Andorran Football Federation – founded in 1994 it organizes the national competitions of association football and futsal. Andorra was admitted to UEFA and FIFA in the same year 1996. FC Andorra a club based in Andorra la Vella founded in 1942 compete in the Spanish football league system.Rugby is a traditional sport in Andorra, mainly influenced by the popularity in southern France. The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards, plays on the international stage in rugby union and rugby sevens. VPC Andorra XV is a rugby team based in Andorra la Vella actually playing in the French championship.Basketball popularity has increased in the country since the 1990s when the Andorran team BC Andorra played in the top league of Spain . After 18 years the club returned to the top league in 2014.Other sports practised in Andorra include cycling, volleyball, judo, Australian Rules football, handball, swimming, gymnastics, tennis, and motorsports. In 2012, Andorra raised its first national cricket team and played a home match against the Dutch Fellowship of Fairly Odd Places Cricket Club, the first match played in the history of Andorra at an altitude of .Andorra first participated at the Olympic Games in 1976. The country has appeared in every Winter Olympic Games since 1976. Andorra competes in the Games of the Small States of Europe being twice the host country in 1991 and 2005.As one of the Catalan Countries Andorra is home to a team of castellers or Catalan human tower builders. The based in the town of Santa Coloma d'Andorra are recognized by the the governing body of castells.
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean , or simply the "mean" or the "average" , is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The collection is often a set of results of an experiment or an observational study, or frequently a set of results from a survey. The term "arithmetic mean" is preferred in some contexts in mathematics and statistics, because it helps distinguish it from other means, such as the geometric mean and the harmonic mean.In addition to mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean is used frequently in many diverse fields such as economics, anthropology and history, and it is used in almost every academic field to some extent. For example, per capita income is the arithmetic average income of a nation's population.While the arithmetic mean is often used to report central tendencies it is not a robust statistic meaning that it is greatly influenced by outliers . For skewed distributions such as the distribution of income for which a few peoples notion of and robust statistics such as the median may provide better description of central tendency.Definition.Given a data set formula_1 the arithmetic mean denoted formula_2 is the mean of the formula_4 values formula_5.The arithmetic mean is the most commonly used and readily understood measure of central tendency in a data set. In statistics, the term average refers to any of the measures of central tendency. The arithmetic mean of a set of observed data is defined as being equal to the sum of the numerical values of each and every observation, divided by the total number of observations. Symbolically, if we have a data set consisting of the values formula_6, then the arithmetic mean formula_7 is defined by the formula:For example, consider the monthly salary of 10 employees of a firm: 2500, 2700, 2400, 2300, 2550, 2650, 2750, 2450, 2600, 2400. The arithmetic mean isIf the data set is a statistical population then the mean of that population is called the .The arithmetic mean can be similarly defined for vectors in multiple dimension not only scalar values this is often referred to as a centroid. More generally because the arithmetic mean is a convex combination it can be defined on a convex space not only a vector space.Motivating properties.The arithmetic mean has several properties that make it useful especially as a measure of central tendency. These includeContrast with median.The arithmetic mean may be contrasted with the median. The median is defined such that no more than half the values are larger than, and no more than half are smaller than, the median. If elements in the data increase arithmetically, when placed in some order, then the median and arithmetic average are equal. For example, consider the data sample formula_19. The average is formula_20, as is the median. However, when we consider a sample that cannot be arranged so as to increase arithmetically, such as formula_21, the median and arithmetic average can differ significantly. In this case, the arithmetic average is 6.2, while the median is 4. In general, the average value can vary significantly from most values in the sample, and can be larger or smaller than most of them.There are applications of this phenomenon in many fields. For example since the 1980s the median income in the United States has increased more slowly than the arithmetic average of income.Generalizations.Weighted average.A weighted average, or weighted mean, is an average in which some data points count more heavily than others, in that they are given more weight in the calculation.&lt;ref&gt;
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League , the highest professional level of American football in the United States. This conference currently contains 16 teams organized into 4 divisions, as does its counterpart, the National Football Conference . Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League . All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Buffalo Bills in the 2020 AFC Championship Game for their second consecutive conference championship.Like the NFC the conference has 16 teams organized into four divisions each with four teams East North South and West.Season structure.This chart of the 2020 season standings displays an application of the NFL scheduling formula. The Chiefs in 2020 finished in first place in the AFC West. Thus in 2021 the Chiefs are scheduled to play two games against each of its division rivals one game against each team in the AFC North and NFC East and one game each against the first-place finishers in the AFC East AFC South and NFC North .Currently, the fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a pre-determined formula:Each AFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice during the regular season, in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL: three games are assigned on the basis of a particular teams prior-season divisional standing.At the end of each season, the four division winners and three wild cards in the AFC qualify for the playoffs. The AFC playoffs culminate in the AFC Championship Game, with the winner receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC champion then plays the NFC champion in the Super Bowl.Both the AFC and the NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970. The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams and added two more expansion clubs (the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968) before the merger. In order to equalize the number of teams in each conference three NFL teams that predated the AFL's launch (the Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers and the then-Baltimore Colts) joined the ten former AFL teams to form the AFC. The two AFL divisions AFL East and AFL West were more or less intact while the NFL's Century Division in which the Browns and the Steelers had played since 1967 was moved from the NFL to become the new AFC Central. Upon the completion of the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970 the newly minted American Football Conference had already agreed upon their divisional setup along mostly geographical lines for the 1970 season the National Football Conference however could not agree upon their setup and one was chosen from a fishbowl on January 16 1970.Since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively. This arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment. The expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995. There have been five teams that have relocated at least once. In 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns had attempted to move to Baltimore; the resulting dispute between Cleveland and the team led to Modell establishing the Baltimore Ravens with the players and personnel from the Browns, while the Browns were placed in suspended operations before they were reinstated by the NFL. The Ravens were treated as an expansion team.In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego.The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers. The team would change its name again, two years later, to the Tennessee Titans.The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans to the AFC. With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, the divisional setup has remained static ever since.Between 1995 and 2020 the AFC has sent only half of its 16 teams to the Super Bowl New England Patriots Denver Broncos Pittsburgh Steelers Baltimore Ravens Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans . By contrast the NFC has sent 13 of the 16 NFC teams during that same time frame with only the Detroit Lions Minnesota Vikings and Washington Football Team missing out on an appearance in the Super Bowl. 16 of the last 19 AFC champions have started one of just three quarterbacks - Tom Brady Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger - in the Super Bowl. The AFC has started 6 quarterbacks in the last 19 Super Bowls while the NFC has started 16.The merged league created a new logo for the AFC that took elements of the old AFL logo specifically the "A" and the six stars surrounding it. The AFC logo basically remained unchanged from 1970 to 2009. The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars and moving the stars inside the letter similar to the NFC logo.Television.NBC aired the AFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games from 1970 through the 1997 season. From 1998 to 2013, CBS was the primary broadcast rightsholder to the AFC; in those years, all interconference games in which the AFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either NBC or CBS. Since 2014, the cross-flex policy allows select AFC games (that involve them playing an NFC team at home or intraconference games) to be moved from CBS to Fox. Since 1990, select AFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN.
Animal Farm is a satirical allegorical novella by George Orwell first published in England on 17 August 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal free and happy. Ultimately the rebellion is betrayed and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.According to Orwell, the fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the May Days conflicts between the POUM and Stalinist forces during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union had become a totalitarian autocracy built upon a cult of personality while engaging in the practice of mass incarcerations and secret summary trials and executions. In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described "Animal Farm" as a satirical tale against Stalin , and in his essay "Why I Write" , wrote that "Animal Farm" was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole".The original title was a symbol of Russia. It also played on the French name of the Soviet Union '.Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, when the United Kingdom was in its wartime alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany, and the British intelligentsia held Stalin in high esteem, a phenomenon Orwell hated. The manuscript was initially rejected by a number of British and American publishers, including one of Orwell's own, Victor Gollancz, which delayed its publication. It became a great commercial success when it did appear partly because international relations were transformed as the wartime alliance gave way to the Cold War."Time" magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels it also featured at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels and number 46 on the BBC's The Big Read poll. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 and is included in the Great Books of the Western World selection.Plot summary.The poorly-run Manor Farm near Willingdon England is ripened for rebellion from its animal populace by neglect at the hands of the irresponsible and alcoholic farmer Mr. Jones. One night the exalted boar Old Major holds a conference at which he calls for the overthrow of humans and teaches the animals a revolutionary song called "Beasts of England". When Old Major dies two young pigs Snowball and Napoleon assume command and stage a revolt driving Mr. Jones off the farm and renaming the property "Animal Farm". They adopt the Seven Commandments of Animalism the most important of which is "All animals are equal". The decree is painted in large letters on one side of the barn. Snowball teaches the animals to read and write while Napoleon educates young puppies on the principles of Animalism. To commemorate the start of Animal Farm Snowball raises a green flag with a white hoof and horn. Food is plentiful and the farm runs smoothly. The pigs elevate themselves to positions of leadership and set aside special food items ostensibly for their personal health. Following an unsuccessful attempt by Mr. Jones and his associates to retake the farm Snowball announces his plans to modernise the farm by building a windmill. Napoleon disputes this idea and matters come to head which culminate in Napoleon's dogs chasing Snowball away and Napoleon declaring himself supreme commander.Napoleon enacts changes to the governance structure of the farm, replacing meetings with a committee of pigs who will run the farm. Through a young porker named Squealer, Napoleon claims credit for the windmill idea, claiming that Snowball was only trying to win animals to his side. The animals work harder with the promise of easier lives with the windmill. When the animals find the windmill collapsed after a violent storm, Napoleon and Squealer persuade the animals that Snowball is trying to sabotage their project, and begin to purge the farm of animals accused by Napoleon of consorting with his old rival. When some animals recall the Battle of the Cowshed, Napoleon (who was nowhere to be found during the battle) gradually smears Snowball to the point of saying he is a collaborator of Mr. Jones, even dismissing the fact that Snowball was given an award of courage while falsely representing himself as the main hero of the battle. "Beasts of England" is replaced with "Animal Farm", while an anthem glorifying Napoleon, who appears to be adopting the lifestyle of a man ("Comrade Napoleon"), is composed and sung. Napoleon then conducts a second purge, during which many animals who are alleged to be helping Snowball in plots are executed by Napoleon's dogs, which troubles the rest of the animals. Despite their hardships, the animals are easily placated by Napoleon's retort that they are better off than they were under Mr. Jones, as well as by the sheep's continual bleating of “four legs good, two legs bad”.Mr. Frederick, a neighbouring farmer, attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up the restored windmill. Although the animals win the battle, they do so at great cost, as many, including Boxer the workhorse, are wounded. Although he recovers from this, Boxer eventually collapses while working on the windmill (being almost 12 years old at that point). He is taken away in a knacker's van, and a donkey called Benjamin alerts the animals of this, but Squealer quickly waves off their alarm by persuading the animals that the van had been purchased from the knacker by an animal hospital and that the previous owner's signboard had not been repainted. Squealer subsequently reports Boxer's death and honours him with a festival the following day. (However, Napoleon had in fact engineered the sale of Boxer to the knacker, allowing him and his inner circle to acquire money to buy whisky for themselves.)Years pass the windmill is rebuilt and another windmill is constructed which makes the farm a good amount of income. However the ideals that Snowball discussed including stalls with electric lighting heating and running water are forgotten with Napoleon advocating that the happiest animals live simple lives. Snowball has been forgotten alongside Boxer with "the exception of the few who knew him". Many of the animals who participated in the rebellion are dead or old. Mr. Jones is also dead saying he "died in an inebriates' home in another part of the country". The pigs start to resemble humans as they walk upright carry whips drink alcohol and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are abridged to just one phrase "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." The maxim "Four legs good two legs bad" is similarly changed to "Four legs good two legs better." Other changes include the Hoof and Horn flag being replaced with a plain green banner and Old Major's skull which was previously put on display being reburied.Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and local farmers, with whom he celebrates a new alliance. He abolishes the practice of the revolutionary traditions and restores the name "The Manor Farm". The men and pigs start playing cards, flattering and praising each other while cheating at the game. Both Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington, one of the farmers, play the Ace of Spades at the same time and both sides begin fighting loudly over who cheated first. When the animals outside look at the pigs and men, they can no longer distinguish between the two.Genre and style.George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is an example of a political satire that was intended to have a "wider application", according to Orwell himself, in terms of its relevance. Stylistically, the work shares many similarities with some of Orwell's other works, most notably "1984", as both have been considered works of Swiftian Satire. Furthermore, these two prominent works seem to suggest Orwell's bleak view of the future for humanity; he seems to stress the potential/current threat of dystopias similar to those in "Animal Farm" and "1984". In these kinds of works, Orwell distinctly references the disarray and traumatic conditions of Europe following the Second World War. Orwell's style and writing philosophy as a whole were very concerned with the pursuit of truth in writing. Orwell was committed to communicating in a way that was straightforward, given the way that he felt words were commonly used in politics to deceive and confuse. For this reason, he is careful, in "Animal Farm", to make sure the narrator speaks in an unbiased and uncomplicated fashion. The difference is seen in the way that the animals speak and interact, as the generally moral animals seem to speak their minds clearly, while the wicked animals on the farm, such as Napoleon, twist language in such a way that it meets their own insidious desires. This style reflects Orwell's close proximation to the issues facing Europe at the time and his determination to comment critically on Stalin's Soviet Russia.Background.Origin and writing.George Orwell wrote the manuscript between November 1943 and February 1944 after his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, which he described in "Homage to Catalonia" . In the preface of a 1947 Ukrainian edition of "Animal Farm", he explained how escaping the communist purges in Spain taught him "how easily totalitarian propaganda can control the opinion of enlightened people in democratic countries." This motivated Orwell to expose and strongly condemn what he saw as the Stalinist corruption of the original socialist ideals. "Homage to Catalonia" sold poorly; after seeing Arthur Koestler's best-selling, "Darkness at Noon", about the Moscow Trials, Orwell decided that fiction was the best way to describe totalitarianism.Immediately prior to writing the book Orwell had quit the BBC. He was also upset about a booklet for propagandists the Ministry of Information had put out. The booklet included instructions on how to quell ideological fears of the Soviet Union such as directions to claim that the Red Terror was a figment of Nazi imagination.In the preface, Orwell described the source of the idea of setting the book on a farm:In 1944 the manuscript was almost lost when a German V-1 flying bomb destroyed his London home. Orwell spent hours sifting through the rubble to find the pages intact.Publication.Publishing.Orwell initially encountered difficulty getting the manuscript published largely due to fears that the book might upset the alliance between Britain the United States and the Soviet Union. Four publishers refused to publish "Animal Farm" yet one had initially accepted the work but declined it after consulting the Ministry of Information. Eventually Secker and Warburg published the first edition in 1945.During the Second World War it became clear to Orwell that anti-Soviet literature was not something which most major publishing houses would touch – including his regular publisher Gollancz. He also submitted the manuscript to Faber and Faber where the poet T. S. Eliot rejected it Eliot wrote back to Orwell praising the book's "good writing" and "fundamental integrity" but declared that they would only accept it for publication if they had some sympathy for the viewpoint "which I take to be generally Trotskyite". Eliot said he found the view "not convincing" and contended that the pigs were made out to be the best to run the farm he posited that someone might argue "what was needed ... was not more communism but more public-spirited pigs". Orwell let Andr Deutsch who was working for Nicholson &amp Watson in 1944 read the typescript and Deutsch was convinced that Nicholson &amp Watson would want to publish it however they did not and "lectured Orwell on what they perceived to be errors in "Animal Farm"." In his "London Letter" on 17 April 1944 for "Partisan Review" Orwell wrote that it was "now next door to impossible to get anything overtly anti-Russian printed. Anti-Russian books do appear but mostly from Catholic publishing firms and always from a religious or frankly reactionary angle."The publisher Jonathan Cape, who had initially accepted "Animal Farm", subsequently rejected the book after an official at the British Ministry of Information warned him off – although the civil servant who it is assumed gave the order was later found to be a Soviet spy. Writing to Leonard Moore, a partner in the literary agency of Christy &amp; Moore, publisher Jonathan Cape explained that the decision had been taken on the advice of a senior official in the Ministry of Information. Such flagrant anti-Soviet bias was unacceptable, and the choice of pigs as the dominant class was thought to be especially offensive. It may reasonably be assumed that the "important official" was a man named Peter Smollett, who was later unmasked as a Soviet agent. Orwell was suspicious of Smollett/Smolka, and he would be one of the names Orwell included in his list of Crypto-Communists and Fellow-Travellers sent to the Information Research Department in 1949. The publisher wrote to Orwell, saying:Frederic Warburg also faced pressures against publication, even from people in his own office and from his wife Pamela, who felt that it was not the moment for ingratitude towards Stalin and the heroic Red Army, which had played a major part in defeating Adolf Hitler. A Russian translation was printed in the paper "Posev", and in giving permission for a Russian translation of "Animal Farm", Orwell refused in advance all royalties. A translation in Ukrainian, which was produced in Germany, was confiscated in large part by the American wartime authorities and handed over to the Soviet repatriation commission.In October 1945, Orwell wrote to Frederic Warburg expressing interest in pursuing the possibility that the political cartoonist David Low might illustrate "Animal Farm". Low had written a letter saying that he had had "a good time with "Animal Farm" – an excellent bit of satire – it would illustrate perfectly." Nothing came of this, and a trial issue produced by Secker &amp; Warburg in 1956 illustrated by John Driver was abandoned, but the Folio Society published an edition in 1984 illustrated by Quentin Blake and an edition illustrated by the cartoonist Ralph Steadman was published by Secker &amp; Warburg in 1995 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first edition of "Animal Farm".Orwell originally wrote a preface complaining about British self-censorship and how the British people were suppressing criticism of the USSR, their World War II ally:Although the first edition allowed space for the preface it was not included and as of June 2009 most editions of the book have not included it.Secker and Warburg published the first edition of in 1945 without an introduction. However the publisher had provided space for a preface in the author's proof composited from the manuscript. For reasons unknown no preface was supplied and the page numbers had to be renumbered at the last minute.In 1972 Ian Angus found the original typescript titled "The Freedom of the Press" and Bernard Crick published it together with his own introduction in "The Times Literary Supplement" on 15 September 1972 as "How the essay came to be written". Orwell's essay criticised British self-censorship by the press specifically the suppression of unflattering descriptions of Stalin and the Soviet government. The same essay also appeared in the Italian 1976 edition of "Animal Farm" with another introduction by Crick claiming to be the first edition with the preface. Other publishers were still declining to publish it.Contemporary reviews of the work were not universally positive. Writing in the American ."The Guardian" on 24 August 1945 called "Animal Farm" "a delightfully humorous and caustic satire on the rule of the many by the few". Tosco Fyvel writing in "Tribune" on the same day called the book "a gentle satire on a certain State and on the illusions of an age which may already be behind us." Julian Symons responded on 7 September "Should we not expect in "Tribune" at least acknowledgement of the fact that it is a satire not at all gentle upon a particular State – Soviet Russia? It seems to me that a reviewer should have the courage to identify Napoleon with Stalin and Snowball with Trotsky and express an opinion favourable or unfavourable to the author upon a political ground. In a hundred years time perhaps "Animal Farm" may be simply a fairy story today it is a political satire with a good deal of point." "Animal Farm" has been subject to much comment in the decades since these early remarks.The CIA, from 1952 to 1957 in Operation Aedinosaur, sent millions of balloons carrying copies of the novel into Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, whose air forces tried to shoot the balloons down."Time" magazine chose "Animal Farm" as one of the 100 best English-language novels it also featured at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 and is included in the Great Books of the Western World selection.Popular reading in schools "Animal Farm" was ranked the UK's favourite book from school in a 2016 poll."Animal Farm" has also faced an array of challenges in school settings around the US. The following are examples of this controversy that has existed around Orwell's work:"Animal Farm" has also faced similar forms of resistance in other countries. The ALA also mentions the way that the book was prevented from being featured at the International Book Fair in Moscow, Russia, in 1977 and banned from schools in the United Arab Emirates for references to practices or actions that defy Arab or Islamic beliefs, such as pigs or alcohol.In the same manner, "Animal Farm" has also faced relatively recent issues in China. In 2018, the government made the decision to censor all online posts about or referring to "Animal Farm". However the book itself, as of 2019, remains sold in stores. Amy Hawkins and Jeffrey Wasserstrom of "The Atlantic" stated in 2019 that the book is widely available in Mainland China for several reasons: the general public by and large no longer reads books, because the elites who do read books feel connected to the ruling party anyway, and because the Communist Party sees being too aggressive in blocking cultural products as a liability. The authors stated "It was—and remains—as easy to buy "1984" and "Animal Farm" in Shenzhen or Shanghai as it is in London or Los Angeles."An enhanced version of the book launched in India in 2017 was widely praised for capturing the author's intent by republishing the proposed preface of the First Edition and the preface he wrote for the Ukrainian edition.The pigs Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer adapt Old Major's ideas into "a complete system of thought", which they formally name Animalism, an allegoric reference to Communism, not to be confused with the philosophy Animalism. Soon after, Napoleon and Squealer partake in activities associated with the humans , which were explicitly prohibited by the Seven Commandments. Squealer is employed to alter the Seven Commandments to account for this humanisation, an allusion to the Soviet government's revising of history in order to exercise control of the people's beliefs about themselves and their society.The original commandments are:These commandments are also distilled into the maxim which is primarily used by the sheep on the farm, often to disrupt discussions and disagreements between animals on the nature of Animalism.Later Napoleon and his pigs secretly revise some commandments to clear themselves of accusations of law-breaking. The changed commandments are as follows with the changes boldedEventually, these are replaced with the maxims, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others", and "Four legs good, two legs better" as the pigs become more human. This is an ironic twist to the original purpose of the Seven Commandments, which were supposed to keep order within Animal Farm by uniting the animals together against the humans and preventing animals from following the humans' evil habits. Through the revision of the commandments, Orwell demonstrates how simply political dogma can be turned into malleable propaganda.Significance and allegory.Orwell biographer Jeffrey Meyers has written, "virtually every detail has political significance in this allegory." Orwell himself wrote in 1946, "Of course I intended it primarily as a satire on the Russian revolution ... I thought of exposing the Soviet myth in a story that could be easily understood by almost anyone and which could be easily translated into other languages."The revolt of the animals against Farmer Jones is Orwells conviction that the Bolshevik revolution had been corrupted and the Soviet system become rotten.Peter Edgerly Firchow and Peter Davison contend that the "Battle of the Windmill", specifically referencing the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Moscow, represents World War II. During the battle, Orwell first wrote, "All the animals, including Napoleon" took cover. Orwell had the publisher alter this to "All the animals except Napoleon" in recognition of Stalin's decision to remain in Moscow during the German advance. Orwell requested the change after he met Jzef Czapski in Paris in March 1945. Czapski, a survivor of the Katyn Massacre and an opponent of the Soviet regime, told Orwell, as Orwell wrote to Arthur Koestler, that it had been "the character [and] greatness of Stalin" that saved Russia from the German invasion.Other connections that writers have suggested illustrate Orwell's telescoping of Russian history from 1917 to 1943 include the wave of rebelliousness that ran through the countryside after the Rebellion which stands for the abortive revolutions in Hungary and in Germany the conflict between Napoleon and Snowball parallelling "the two rival and quasi-Messianic beliefs that seemed pitted against one another Trotskyism with its faith in the revolutionary vocation of the proletariat of the West and Stalinism with its glorification of Russia's socialist destiny" Napoleon's dealings with Whymper and the Willingdon markets paralleling the Treaty of Rapallo and Frederick's forged bank notes parallelling the Hitler-Stalin pact of August 1939 after which Frederick attacks Animal Farm without warning and destroys the windmill.The book's close, with the pigs and men in a kind of rapprochement, reflected Orwell's view of the 1943 Tehran Conference that seemed to display the establishment of "the best possible relations between the USSR and the West" – but in reality were destined, as Orwell presciently predicted, to continue to unravel. The disagreement between the allies and the start of the Cold War is suggested when Napoleon and Pilkington, both suspicious, each "played an ace of spades simultaneously".Similarly, the music in the novel, starting with "Beasts of England" and the later anthems, parallels "The Internationale" and its adoption and repudiation by the Soviet authorities as the anthem of the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s.Adaptations.Stage productions.In 2021, the National Youth Theatre toured a stage version of "Animal Farm".A solo version, adapted and performed by Guy Masterson, premired at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh in January 1995 and has toured worldwide since.A theatrical version with music by Richard Peaslee and lyrics by Adrian Mitchell was staged at the National Theatre London on 25 April 1984 directed by Peter Hall. It toured nine cities in 1985. has been adapted to film twice. Both differ from the novel and have been accused of taking significant liberties including sanitising some aspects.Andy Serkis is directing a film adaptation for Netflix with Matt Reeves producing. Serkis began work on the film after finishing directing duties for "".Radio dramatisations.A BBC radio version produced by Rayner Heppenstall was broadcast in January 1947. Orwell listened to the production at his home in Canonbury Square London with Hugh Gordon Porteous amongst others. Orwell later wrote to Heppenstall that Porteous A further radio production again using Orwell's own dramatisation of the book was broadcast in January 2013 on BBC Radio 4. Tamsin Greig narrated and the cast included Nicky Henson as Napoleon Toby Jones as the propagandist Squealer and Ralph Ineson as Boxer.Comic strip.In 1950 Norman Pett and his writing partner Don Freeman were secretly hired by the Information Research Department , a secret wing of the British Foreign Office, to adapt into a comic strip. This comic was not published in the U.K. but ran in Brazilian and Burmese newspapers.
Amphibians are ectothermic tetrapod vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats with most species living within terrestrial fossorial arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to lizards but along with mammals and birds reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins amphibians are often ecological indicators in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline in amphibian populations for many species around the globe.The earliest amphibians evolved in the Devonian period from sarcopterygian fish with lungs and bony-limbed fins features that were helpful in adapting to dry land. They diversified and became dominant during the Carboniferous and Permian periods but were later displaced by reptiles and other vertebrates. Over time amphibians shrank in size and decreased in diversity leaving only the modern subclass Lissamphibia.The three modern orders of amphibians are Anura , Urodela , and Apoda . The number of known amphibian species is approximately 8,000, of which nearly 90% are frogs. The smallest amphibian in the world is a frog from New Guinea with a length of just . The largest living amphibian is the South China giant salamander , but this is dwarfed by the extinct from the middle Permian of Brazil. The study of amphibians is called batrachology, while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology.Classification.The word is derived from the Ancient Greek term , which means . The term was initially used as a general adjective for animals that could live on land or in water, including seals and otters. Traditionally, the class Amphibia includes all tetrapod vertebrates that are not amniotes. Amphibia in its widest sense was divided into three subclasses, two of which are extinct:The actual number of species in each group depends on the taxonomic classification followed. The two most common systems are the classification adopted by the website AmphibiaWeb University of California Berkeley and the classification by herpetologist Darrel Frost and the American Museum of Natural History available as the online reference database . The numbers of species cited above follows Frost and the total number of known amphibian species as of March 31 2019 is exactly 8000 of which nearly 90% are frogs.With the phylogenetic classification, the taxon Labyrinthodontia has been discarded as it is a polyparaphyletic group without unique defining features apart from shared primitive characteristics. Classification varies according to the preferred phylogeny of the author and whether they use a stem-based or a node-based classification. Traditionally, amphibians as a class are defined as all tetrapods with a larval stage, while the group that includes the common ancestors of all living amphibians (frogs, salamanders and caecilians) and all their descendants is called Lissamphibia. The phylogeny of Paleozoic amphibians is uncertain, and Lissamphibia may possibly fall within extinct groups, like the Temnospondyli (traditionally placed in the subclass Labyrinthodontia) or the Lepospondyli, and in some analyses even in the amniotes. This means that advocates of phylogenetic nomenclature have removed a large number of basal Devonian and Carboniferous amphibian-type tetrapod groups that were formerly placed in Amphibia in Linnaean taxonomy, and included them elsewhere under cladistic taxonomy. If the common ancestor of amphibians and amniotes is included in Amphibia, it becomes a paraphyletic group.All modern amphibians are included in the subclass Lissamphibia which is usually considered a clade a group of species that have evolved from a common ancestor. The three modern orders are Anura Caudata and Gymnophiona . It has been suggested that salamanders arose separately from a Temnospondyl-like ancestor and even that caecilians are the sister group of the advanced reptiliomorph amphibians and thus of amniotes. Although the fossils of several older proto-frogs with primitive characteristics are known the oldest "true frog" is "Prosalirus bitis" from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona. It is anatomically very similar to modern frogs. The oldest known caecilian is another Early Jurassic species "Eocaecilia micropodia" also from Arizona. The earliest salamander is "Beiyanerpeton jianpingensis" from the Late Jurassic of northeastern China.Authorities disagree as to whether Salientia is a superorder that includes the order Anura, or whether Anura is a sub-order of the order Salientia. The Lissamphibia are traditionally divided into three orders, but an extinct salamander-like family, the Albanerpetontidae, is now considered part of Lissamphibia alongside the superorder Salientia. Furthermore, Salientia includes all three recent orders plus the Triassic proto-frog, "Triadobatrachus".Evolutionary history.The first major groups of amphibians developed in the Devonian period around 370 million years ago from lobe-finned fish which were similar to the modern coelacanth and lungfish. These ancient lobe-finned fish had evolved multi-jointed leg-like fins with digits that enabled them to crawl along the sea bottom. Some fish had developed primitive lungs that help them breathe air when the stagnant pools of the Devonian swamps were low in oxygen. They could also use their strong fins to hoist themselves out of the water and onto dry land if circumstances so required. Eventually their bony fins would evolve into limbs and they would become the ancestors to all tetrapods including modern amphibians reptiles birds and mammals. Despite being able to crawl on land many of these prehistoric tetrapodomorph fish still spent most of their time in the water. They had started to develop lungs but still breathed predominantly with gills.Many examples of species showing transitional features have been discovered. with five or more digits the skin became more capable of retaining body fluids and resisting desiccation. The fish's hyomandibula bone in the hyoid region behind the gills diminished in size and became the stapes of the amphibian ear an adaptation necessary for hearing on dry land. An affinity between the amphibians and the teleost fish is the multi-folded structure of the teeth and the paired supra-occipital bones at the back of the head neither of these features being found elsewhere in the animal kingdom.At the end of the Devonian period the seas rivers and lakes were teeming with life while the land was the realm of early plants and devoid of vertebrates though some such as may have sometimes hauled themselves out of the water. It is thought they may have propelled themselves with their forelimbs dragging their hindquarters in a similar manner to that used by the elephant seal. In the early Carboniferous the climate became wet and warm. Extensive swamps developed with mosses ferns horsetails and calamites. Air-breathing arthropods evolved and invaded the land where they provided food for the carnivorous amphibians that began to adapt to the terrestrial environment. There were no other tetrapods on the land and the amphibians were at the top of the food chain occupying the ecological position currently held by the crocodile. Though equipped with limbs and the ability to breathe air most still had a long tapering body and strong tail. They were the top land predators sometimes reaching several metres in length preying on the large insects of the period and the many types of fish in the water. They still needed to return to water to lay their shell-less eggs and even most modern amphibians have a fully aquatic larval stage with gills like their fish ancestors. It was the development of the amniotic egg which prevents the developing embryo from drying out that enabled the reptiles to reproduce on land and which led to their dominance in the period that followed.After the Carboniferous rainforest collapse amphibian dominance gave way to reptiles and amphibians were further devastated by the Permian–Triassic extinction event. During the Triassic Period the reptiles continued to out-compete the amphibians leading to a reduction in both the amphibians' size and their importance in the biosphere. According to the fossil record Lissamphibia which includes all modern amphibians and is the only surviving lineage may have branched off from the extinct groups Temnospondyli and Lepospondyli at some period between the Late Carboniferous and the Early Triassic. The relative scarcity of fossil evidence precludes precise dating but the most recent molecular study based on multilocus sequence typing suggests a Late Carboniferous/Early Permian origin for extant amphibians.The origins and evolutionary relationships between the three main groups of amphibians is a matter of debate. A 2005 molecular phylogeny based on rDNA analysis suggests that salamanders and caecilians are more closely related to each other than they are to frogs. It also appears that the divergence of the three groups took place in the Paleozoic or early Mesozoic (around 250 million years ago) before the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea and soon after their divergence from the lobe-finned fish. The briefness of this period and the swiftness with which radiation took place would help account for the relative scarcity of primitive amphibian fossils. There are large gaps in the fossil record but the discovery of a Gerobatrachus hottoni from the Early Permian in Texas in 2008 provided a missing link with many of the characteristics of modern frogs. Molecular analysis suggests that the frog–salamander divergence took place considerably earlier than the palaeontological evidence indicates. Newer research indicates that the common ancestor of all Lissamphibians lived about 315 million years ago and that stereospondyls are the closest relatives to the caecilians.As they evolved from lunged fish, amphibians had to make certain adaptations for living on land, including the need to develop new means of locomotion. In the water, the sideways thrusts of their tails had propelled them forward, but on land, quite different mechanisms were required. Their vertebral columns, limbs, limb girdles and musculature needed to be strong enough to raise them off the ground for locomotion and feeding. Terrestrial adults discarded their lateral line systems and adapted their sensory systems to receive stimuli via the medium of the air. They needed to develop new methods to regulate their body heat to cope with fluctuations in ambient temperature. They developed behaviours suitable for reproduction in a terrestrial environment. Their skins were exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays that had previously been absorbed by the water. The skin changed to become more protective and prevent excessive water loss.Characteristics.The superclass Tetrapoda is divided into four classes of vertebrate animals with four limbs. Reptiles, birds and mammals are amniotes, the eggs of which are either laid or carried by the female and are surrounded by several membranes, some of which are impervious. Lacking these membranes, amphibians require water bodies for reproduction, although some species have developed various strategies for protecting or bypassing the vulnerable aquatic larval stage. They are not found in the sea with the exception of one or two frogs that live in brackish water in mangrove swamps; the Anderson's salamander meanwhile occurs in brackish or salt water lakes. On land, amphibians are restricted to moist habitats because of the need to keep their skin damp.Modern amphibians have a simplified anatomy compared to their ancestors due to paedomorphosis, caused by two evolutionary trends: miniaturization and an unusually large genome, which result in a slower growth and development rate compared to other vertebrates. Another reason for their size is associated with their rapid metamorphosis, which seems to have evolved only in the ancestors of lissamphibia; in all other known lines the development was much more gradual. Because a remodeling of the feeding apparatus means they don't eat during the metamorphosis, the metamorphosis has to go faster the smaller the individual is, so it happens at an early stage when the larvae are still small. Amphibians that lay eggs on land often go through the whole metamorphosis inside the egg. An anamniotic terrestrial egg is less than 1 cm in diameter due to diffusion problems, a size which puts a limit on the amount of posthatching growth.The smallest amphibian (and vertebrate) in the world is a microhylid frog from New Guinea ("Paedophryne amauensis") first discovered in 2012. It has an average length of and is part of a genus that contains four of the world's ten smallest frog species. The largest living amphibian is the Chinese giant salamander ("Andrias davidianus") but this is a great deal smaller than the largest amphibian that ever existed—the extinct "Prionosuchus", a crocodile-like temnospondyl dating to 270 million years ago from the middle Permian of Brazil. The largest frog is the African Goliath frog ("Conraua goliath"), which can reach and weigh .Amphibians are ectothermic vertebrates that do not maintain their body temperature through internal physiological processes. Their metabolic rate is low and as a result their food and energy requirements are limited. In the adult state they have tear ducts and movable eyelids and most species have ears that can detect airborne or ground vibrations. They have muscular tongues which in many species can be protruded. Modern amphibians have fully ossified vertebrae with articular processes. Their ribs are usually short and may be fused to the vertebrae. Their skulls are mostly broad and short and are often incompletely ossified. Their skin contains little keratin and lacks scales apart from a few fish-like scales in certain caecilians. The skin contains many mucous glands and in some species poison glands . The hearts of amphibians have three chambers two atria and one ventricle. They have a urinary bladder and nitrogenous waste products are excreted primarily as urea. Most amphibians lay their eggs in water and have aquatic larvae that undergo metamorphosis to become terrestrial adults. Amphibians breathe by means of a pump action in which air is first drawn into the buccopharyngeal region through the nostrils. These are then closed and the air is forced into the lungs by contraction of the throat. They supplement this with gas exchange through the skin.The order Anura (from the Ancient Greek "a-" meaning "without" and "oura" meaning "tail") comprises the frogs and toads. They usually have long hind limbs that fold underneath them, shorter forelimbs, webbed toes with no claws, no tails, large eyes and glandular moist skin. Members of this order with smooth skins are commonly referred to as frogs, while those with warty skins are known as toads. The difference is not a formal one taxonomically and there are numerous exceptions to this rule. Members of the family Bufonidae are known as the "true toads". Frogs range in size from the Goliath frog of West Africa to the "Paedophryne amauensis", first described in Papua New Guinea in 2012, which is also the smallest known vertebrate. Although most species are associated with water and damp habitats, some are specialised to live in trees or in deserts. They are found worldwide except for polar areas.Anura is divided into three suborders that are broadly accepted by the scientific community but the relationships between some families remain unclear. Future molecular studies should provide further insights into their evolutionary relationships. The suborder Archaeobatrachia contains four families of primitive frogs. These are Ascaphidae Bombinatoridae Discoglossidae and Leiopelmatidae which have few derived features and are probably paraphyletic with regard to other frog lineages. The six families in the more evolutionarily advanced suborder Mesobatrachia are the fossorial Megophryidae Pelobatidae Pelodytidae Scaphiopodidae and Rhinophrynidae and the obligatorily aquatic Pipidae. These have certain characteristics that are intermediate between the two other suborders. Neobatrachia is by far the largest suborder and includes the remaining families of modern frogs including most common species. Ninety-six percent of the over 5000 extant species of frog are neobatrachians.The order Caudata consists of the salamanders—elongated, low-slung animals that mostly resemble lizards in form. This is a symplesiomorphic trait and they are no more closely related to lizards than they are to mammals. Salamanders lack claws, have scale-free skins, either smooth or covered with tubercles, and tails that are usually flattened from side to side and often finned. They range in size from the Chinese giant salamander , which has been reported to grow to a length of , to the diminutive "Thorius pennatulus" from Mexico which seldom exceeds in length. Salamanders have a mostly Laurasian distribution, being present in much of the Holarctic region of the northern hemisphere. The family Plethodontidae is also found in Central America and South America north of the Amazon basin; South America was apparently invaded from Central America by about the start of the Miocene, 23 million years ago. Urodela is a name sometimes used for all the extant species of salamanders. Members of several salamander families have become paedomorphic and either fail to complete their metamorphosis or retain some larval characteristics as adults. Most salamanders are under long. They may be terrestrial or aquatic and many spend part of the year in each habitat. When on land, they mostly spend the day hidden under stones or logs or in dense vegetation, emerging in the evening and night to forage for worms, insects and other invertebrates.The suborder Cryptobranchoidea contains the primitive salamanders. A number of fossil cryptobranchids have been found, but there are only three living species, the Chinese giant salamander ("Andrias davidianus"), the Japanese giant salamander ("Andrias japonicus") and the hellbender ("Cryptobranchus alleganiensis") from North America. These large amphibians retain several larval characteristics in their adult state; gills slits are present and the eyes are unlidded. A unique feature is their ability to feed by suction, depressing either the left side of their lower jaw or the right. The males excavate nests, persuade females to lay their egg strings inside them, and guard them. As well as breathing with lungs, they respire through the many folds in their thin skin, which has capillaries close to the surface.The suborder Salamandroidea contains the advanced salamanders. They differ from the cryptobranchids by having fused prearticular bones in the lower jaw and by using internal fertilisation. In salamandrids the male deposits a bundle of sperm the spermatophore and the female picks it up and inserts it into her cloaca where the sperm is stored until the eggs are laid. The largest family in this group is Plethodontidae the lungless salamanders which includes 60% of all salamander species. The family Salamandridae includes the true salamanders and the name is given to members of its subfamily Pleurodelinae.The third suborder Sirenoidea contains the four species of sirens which are in a single family Sirenidae. Members of this order are eel-like aquatic salamanders with much reduced forelimbs and no hind limbs. Some of their features are primitive while others are derived. Fertilisation is likely to be external as sirenids lack the cloacal glands used by male salamandrids to produce spermatophores and the females lack spermathecae for sperm storage. Despite this the eggs are laid singly a behaviour not conducive for external fertilisation.Gymnophiona.The order Gymnophiona or Apoda comprises the caecilians. These are long, cylindrical, limbless animals with a snake- or worm-like form. The adults vary in length from 8 to 75 centimetres with the exception of Thomsons skin has a large number of transverse folds and in some species contains tiny embedded dermal scales. It has rudimentary eyes covered in skin, which are probably limited to discerning differences in light intensity. It also has a pair of short tentacles near the eye that can be extended and which have tactile and olfactory functions. Most caecilians live underground in burrows in damp soil, in rotten wood and under plant debris, but some are aquatic. Most species lay their eggs underground and when the larvae hatch, they make their way to adjacent bodies of water. Others brood their eggs and the larvae undergo metamorphosis before the eggs hatch. A few species give birth to live young, nourishing them with glandular secretions while they are in the oviduct. Caecilians have a mostly Gondwanan distribution, being found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Central and South America.Anatomy and physiology.The structure contains some typical characteristics common to terrestrial vertebrates such as the presence of highly cornified outer layers renewed periodically through a moulting process controlled by the pituitary and thyroid glands. Local thickenings are common such as those found on toads. The outside of the skin is shed periodically mostly in one piece in contrast to mammals and birds where it is shed in flakes. Amphibians often eat the sloughed skin. Caecilians are unique among amphibians in having mineralized dermal scales embedded in the dermis between the furrows in the skin. The similarity of these to the scales of bony fish is largely superficial. Lizards and some frogs have somewhat similar osteoderms forming bony deposits in the dermis but this is an example of convergent evolution with similar structures having arisen independently in diverse vertebrate lineages.Amphibian skin is permeable to water. Gas exchange can take place through the skin and this allows adult amphibians to respire without rising to the surface of water and to hibernate at the bottom of ponds. To compensate for their thin and delicate skin amphibians have evolved mucous glands principally on their heads backs and tails. The secretions produced by these help keep the skin moist. In addition most species of amphibian have granular glands that secrete distasteful or poisonous substances. Some amphibian toxins can be lethal to humans while others have little effect. The main poison-producing glands the parotoids produce the neurotoxin bufotoxin and are located behind the ears of toads along the backs of frogs behind the eyes of salamanders and on the upper surface of caecilians.The skin colour of amphibians is produced by three layers of pigment cells called chromatophores. These three cell layers consist of the melanophores , the guanophores and the lipophores . The colour change displayed by many species is initiated by hormones secreted by the pituitary gland. Unlike bony fish, there is no direct control of the pigment cells by the nervous system, and this results in the colour change taking place more slowly than happens in fish. A vividly coloured skin usually indicates that the species is toxic and is a warning sign to predators.Skeletal system and locomotion.Amphibians have a skeletal system that is structurally homologous to other tetrapods though with a number of variations. They all have four limbs except for the legless caecilians and a few species of salamander with reduced or no limbs. The bones are hollow and lightweight. The musculoskeletal system is strong to enable it to support the head and body. The bones are fully ossified and the vertebrae interlock with each other by means of overlapping processes. The pectoral girdle is supported by muscle and the well-developed pelvic girdle is attached to the backbone by a pair of sacral ribs. The ilium slopes forward and the body is held closer to the ground than is the case in mammals.In most amphibians there are four digits on the fore foot and five on the hind foot but no claws on either. Some salamanders have fewer digits and the amphiumas are eel-like in appearance with tiny stubby legs. The sirens are aquatic salamanders with stumpy forelimbs and no hind limbs. The caecilians are limbless. They burrow in the manner of earthworms with zones of muscle contractions moving along the body. On the surface of the ground or in water they move by undulating their body from side to side.In frogs, the hind legs are larger than the fore legs, especially so in those species that principally move by jumping or swimming. In the walkers and runners the hind limbs are not so large, and the burrowers mostly have short limbs and broad bodies. The feet have adaptations for the way of life, with webbing between the toes for swimming, broad adhesive toe pads for climbing, and keratinised tubercles on the hind feet for digging . In most salamanders, the limbs are short and more or less the same length and project at right angles from the body. Locomotion on land is by walking and the tail often swings from side to side or is used as a prop, particularly when climbing. In their normal gait, only one leg is advanced at a time in the manner adopted by their ancestors, the lobe-finned fish. Some salamanders in the genus "Aneides" and certain plethodontids climb trees and have long limbs, large toepads and prehensile tails. In aquatic salamanders and in frog tadpoles, the tail has dorsal and ventral fins and is moved from side to side as a means of propulsion. Adult frogs do not have tails and caecilians have only very short ones.Salamanders use their tails in defence and some are prepared to jettison them to save their lives in a process known as autotomy. Certain species in the Plethodontidae have a weak zone at the base of the tail and use this strategy readily. The tail often continues to twitch after separation which may distract the attacker and allow the salamander to escape. Both tails and limbs can be regenerated. Adult frogs are unable to regrow limbs but tadpoles can do so.Circulatory system.Amphibians have a juvenile stage and an adult stage, and the circulatory systems of the two are distinct. In the juvenile (or tadpole) stage, the circulation is similar to that of a fish; the two-chambered heart pumps the blood through the gills where it is oxygenated, and is spread around the body and back to the heart in a single loop. In the adult stage, amphibians (especially frogs) lose their gills and develop lungs. They have a heart that consists of a single ventricle and two atria. When the ventricle starts contracting, deoxygenated blood is pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Continued contraction then pumps oxygenated blood around the rest of the body. Mixing of the two bloodstreams is minimized by the anatomy of the chambers.Nervous and sensory systems.The nervous system is basically the same as in other vertebrates, with a central brain, a spinal cord, and nerves throughout the body. The amphibian brain is less well developed than that of reptiles, birds and mammals but is similar in morphology and function to that of a fish. It is believed amphibians are capable of perceiving pain. The brain consists of equal parts, cerebrum, midbrain and cerebellum. Various parts of the cerebrum process sensory input, such as smell in the olfactory lobe and sight in the optic lobe, and it is additionally the centre of behaviour and learning. The cerebellum is the center of muscular coordination and the medulla oblongata controls some organ functions including heartbeat and respiration. The brain sends signals through the spinal cord and nerves to regulate activity in the rest of the body. The pineal body, known to regulate sleep patterns in humans, is thought to produce the hormones involved in hibernation and aestivation in amphibians.Tadpoles retain the lateral line system of their ancestral fishes, but this is lost in terrestrial adult amphibians. Some caecilians possess electroreceptors that allow them to locate objects around them when submerged in water. The ears are well developed in frogs. There is no external ear, but the large circular eardrum lies on the surface of the head just behind the eye. This vibrates and sound is transmitted through a single bone, the stapes, to the inner ear. Only high-frequency sounds like mating calls are heard in this way, but low-frequency noises can be detected through another mechanism. There is a patch of specialized haircells, called , in the inner ear capable of detecting deeper sounds. Another feature, unique to frogs and salamanders, is the columella-operculum complex adjoining the auditory capsule which is involved in the transmission of both airborne and seismic signals. The ears of salamanders and caecilians are less highly developed than those of frogs as they do not normally communicate with each other through the medium of sound.The eyes of tadpoles lack lids, but at metamorphosis, the cornea becomes more dome-shaped, the lens becomes flatter, and eyelids and associated glands and ducts develop. The adult eyes are an improvement on invertebrate eyes and were a first step in the development of more advanced vertebrate eyes. They allow colour vision and depth of focus. In the retinas are green rods, which are receptive to a wide range of wavelengths.Digestive and excretory systems.Many amphibians catch their prey by flicking out an elongated tongue with a sticky tip and drawing it back into the mouth before seizing the item with their jaws. Some use inertial feeding to help them swallow the prey repeatedly thrusting their head forward sharply causing the food to move backwards in their mouth by inertia. Most amphibians swallow their prey whole without much chewing so they possess voluminous stomachs. The short oesophagus is lined with cilia that help to move the food to the stomach and mucus produced by glands in the mouth and pharynx eases its passage. The enzyme chitinase produced in the stomach helps digest the chitinous cuticle of arthropod prey.Amphibians possess a pancreas liver and gall bladder. The liver is usually large with two lobes. Its size is determined by its function as a glycogen and fat storage unit and may change with the seasons as these reserves are built or used up. Adipose tissue is another important means of storing energy and this occurs in the abdomen under the skin and in some salamanders in the tail.There are two kidneys located dorsally near the roof of the body cavity. Their job is to filter the blood of metabolic waste and transport the urine via ureters to the urinary bladder where it is stored before being passed out periodically through the cloacal vent. Larvae and most aquatic adult amphibians excrete the nitrogen as ammonia in large quantities of dilute urine while terrestrial species with a greater need to conserve water excrete the less toxic product urea. Some tree frogs with limited access to water excrete most of their metabolic waste as uric acid.Respiratory system.The lungs in amphibians are primitive compared to those of amniotes possessing few internal septa and large alveoli and consequently having a comparatively slow diffusion rate for oxygen entering the blood. Ventilation is accomplished by buccal pumping. Most amphibians however are able to exchange gases with the water or air via their skin. To enable sufficient cutaneous respiration the surface of their highly vascularised skin must remain moist to allow the oxygen to diffuse at a sufficiently high rate. Because oxygen concentration in the water increases at both low temperatures and high flow rates aquatic amphibians in these situations can rely primarily on cutaneous respiration as in the Titicaca water frog and the hellbender salamander. In air where oxygen is more concentrated some small species can rely solely on cutaneous gas exchange most famously the plethodontid salamanders which have neither lungs nor gills. Many aquatic salamanders and all tadpoles have gills in their larval stage with some retaining gills as aquatic adults.Reproduction.For the purpose of reproduction most amphibians require fresh water although some lay their eggs on land and have developed various means of keeping them moist. A few (e.g. ) can inhabit brackish water, but there are no true marine amphibians. There are reports, however, of particular amphibian populations unexpectedly invading marine waters. Such was the case with the Black Sea invasion of the natural hybrid reported in 2010.Several hundred frog species in adaptive radiations (e.g., "Eleutherodactylus", the Pacific "Platymantis", the Australo-Papuan microhylids, and many other tropical frogs), however, do not need any water for breeding in the wild. They reproduce via direct development, an ecological and evolutionary adaptation that has allowed them to be completely independent from free-standing water. Almost all of these frogs live in wet tropical rainforests and their eggs hatch directly into miniature versions of the adult, passing through the tadpole stage within the egg. Reproductive success of many amphibians is dependent not only on the quantity of rainfall, but the seasonal timing.In the tropics, many amphibians breed continuously or at any time of year. In temperate regions, breeding is mostly seasonal, usually in the spring, and is triggered by increasing day length, rising temperatures or rainfall. Experiments have shown the importance of temperature, but the trigger event, especially in arid regions, is often a storm. In anurans, males usually arrive at the breeding sites before females and the vocal chorus they produce may stimulate ovulation in females and the endocrine activity of males that are not yet reproductively active.In caecilians fertilisation is internal the male extruding an intromittent organ the and inserting it into the female cloaca. The paired Mllerian glands inside the male cloaca secrete a fluid which resembles that produced by mammalian prostate glands and which may transport and nourish the sperm. Fertilisation probably takes place in the oviduct.The majority of salamanders also engage in internal fertilisation. In most of these the male deposits a spermatophore a small packet of sperm on top of a gelatinous cone on the substrate either on land or in the water. The female takes up the sperm packet by grasping it with the lips of the cloaca and pushing it into the vent. The spermatozoa move to the spermatheca in the roof of the cloaca where they remain until ovulation which may be many months later. Courtship rituals and methods of transfer of the spermatophore vary between species. In some the spermatophore may be placed directly into the female cloaca while in others the female may be guided to the spermatophore or restrained with an embrace called amplexus. Certain primitive salamanders in the families Sirenidae Hynobiidae and Cryptobranchidae practice external fertilisation in a similar manner to frogs with the female laying the eggs in water and the male releasing sperm onto the egg mass.With a few exceptions frogs use external fertilisation. The male grasps the female tightly with his forelimbs either behind the arms or in front of the back legs or in the case of is only possessed by the male and is an extension of the cloaca and used to inseminate the female. This frog lives in fast-flowing streams and internal fertilisation prevents the sperm from being washed away before fertilisation occurs. The sperm may be retained in storage tubes attached to the oviduct until the following spring.Most frogs can be classified as either prolonged or explosive breeders. Typically prolonged breeders congregate at a breeding site the males usually arriving first calling and setting up territories. Other satellite males remain quietly nearby waiting for their opportunity to take over a territory. The females arrive sporadically mate selection takes place and eggs are laid. The females depart and territories may change hands. More females appear and in due course the breeding season comes to an end. Explosive breeders on the other hand are found where temporary pools appear in dry regions after rainfall. These frogs are typically fossorial species that emerge after heavy rains and congregate at a breeding site. They are attracted there by the calling of the first male to find a suitable place perhaps a pool that forms in the same place each rainy season. The assembled frogs may call in unison and frenzied activity ensues the males scrambling to mate with the usually smaller number of females.There is a direct competition between males to win the attention of the females in salamanders and newts, with elaborate courtship displays to keep the female's attention long enough to get her interested in choosing him to mate with. Some species store sperm through long breeding seasons, as the extra time may allow for interactions with rival sperm.Life cycle.Most amphibians go through metamorphosis, a process of significant morphological change after birth. In typical amphibian development, eggs are laid in water and larvae are adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. Frogs, toads and salamanders all hatch from the egg as larvae with external gills. Metamorphosis in amphibians is regulated by thyroxine concentration in the blood, which stimulates metamorphosis, and prolactin, which counteracts thyroxine's effect. Specific events are dependent on threshold values for different tissues. Because most embryonic development is outside the parental body, it is subject to many adaptations due to specific environmental circumstances. For this reason tadpoles can have horny ridges instead of teeth, whisker-like skin extensions or fins. They also make use of a sensory lateral line organ similar to that of fish. After metamorphosis, these organs become redundant and will be reabsorbed by controlled cell death, called apoptosis. The variety of adaptations to specific environmental circumstances among amphibians is wide, with many discoveries still being made.The egg of an amphibian is typically surrounded by a transparent gelatinous covering secreted by the oviducts and containing mucoproteins and mucopolysaccharides. This capsule is permeable to water and gases and swells considerably as it absorbs water. The ovum is at first rigidly held but in fertilised eggs the innermost layer liquefies and allows the embryo to move freely. This also happens in salamander eggs even when they are unfertilised. Eggs of some salamanders and frogs contain unicellular green algae. These penetrate the jelly envelope after the eggs are laid and may increase the supply of oxygen to the embryo through photosynthesis. They seem to both speed up the development of the larvae and reduce mortality. Most eggs contain the pigment melanin which raises their temperature through the absorption of light and also protects them against ultraviolet radiation. Caecilians some plethodontid salamanders and certain frogs lay eggs underground that are unpigmented. In the wood frog () the interior of the globular egg cluster has been found to be up to warmer than its surroundings which is an advantage in its cool northern habitat.The eggs may be deposited singly or in small groups, or may take the form of spherical egg masses, rafts or long strings. In terrestrial caecilians, the eggs are laid in grape-like clusters in burrows near streams. The amphibious salamander attaches its similar clusters by stalks to underwater stems and roots. The greenhouse frog lays eggs in small groups in the soil where they develop in about two weeks directly into juvenile frogs without an intervening larval stage. The tungara frog builds a floating nest from foam to protect its eggs. First a raft is built, then eggs are laid in the centre, and finally a foam cap is overlaid. The foam has anti-microbial properties. It contains no detergents but is created by whipping up proteins and lectins secreted by the female.The eggs of amphibians are typically laid in water and hatch into free-living larvae that complete their development in water and later transform into either aquatic or terrestrial adults. In many species of frog and in most lungless salamanders direct development takes place the larvae growing within the eggs and emerging as miniature adults. Many caecilians and some other amphibians lay their eggs on land and the newly hatched larvae wriggle or are transported to water bodies. Some caecilians the alpine salamander and some of the African live-bearing toads are viviparous. Their larvae feed on glandular secretions and develop within the female's oviduct often for long periods. Other amphibians but not caecilians are ovoviviparous. The eggs are retained in or on the parent's body but the larvae subsist on the yolks of their eggs and receive no nourishment from the adult. The larvae emerge at varying stages of their growth either before or after metamorphosis according to their species. The toad genus "Nectophrynoides" exhibits all of these developmental patterns among its dozen or so members.Frog larvae are known as tadpoles and typically have oval bodies and long, vertically flattened tails with fins. The free-living larvae are normally fully aquatic, but the tadpoles of some species are semi-terrestrial and live among wet rocks. Tadpoles have cartilaginous skeletons, gills for respiration , lateral line systems and large tails that they use for swimming. Newly hatched tadpoles soon develop gill pouches that cover the gills. The lungs develop early and are used as accessory breathing organs, the tadpoles rising to the water surface to gulp air. Some species complete their development inside the egg and hatch directly into small frogs. These larvae do not have gills but instead have specialised areas of skin through which respiration takes place. While tadpoles do not have true teeth, in most species, the jaws have long, parallel rows of small keratinized structures called keradonts surrounded by a horny beak. Front legs are formed under the gill sac and hind legs become visible a few days later.Iodine and T4 also stimulate the evolution of nervous systems transforming the aquatic, vegetarian tadpole into the terrestrial, carnivorous frog with better neurological, visuospatial, olfactory and cognitive abilities for hunting.In fact, tadpoles developing in ponds and streams are typically herbivorous. Pond tadpoles tend to have deep bodies, large caudal fins and small mouths; they swim in the quiet waters feeding on growing or loose fragments of vegetation. Stream dwellers mostly have larger mouths, shallow bodies and caudal fins; they attach themselves to plants and stones and feed on the surface films of algae and bacteria. They also feed on diatoms, filtered from the water through the gills, and stir up the sediment at bottom of the pond, ingesting edible fragments. They have a relatively long, spiral-shaped gut to enable them to digest this diet. Some species are carnivorous at the tadpole stage, eating insects, smaller tadpoles and fish. Young of the Cuban tree frog () can occasionally be cannibalistic, the younger tadpoles attacking a larger, more developed tadpole when it is undergoing metamorphosis.At metamorphosis, rapid changes in the body take place as the lifestyle of the frog changes completely. The spiral‐shaped mouth with horny tooth ridges is reabsorbed together with the spiral gut. The animal develops a large jaw, and its gills disappear along with its gill sac. Eyes and legs grow quickly, and a tongue is formed. There are associated changes in the neural networks such as development of stereoscopic vision and loss of the lateral line system. All this can happen in about a day. A few days later, the tail is reabsorbed, due to the higher thyroxine concentration required for this to take place.Salamanders.At hatching, a typical salamander larva has eyes without lids, teeth in both upper and lower jaws, three pairs of feathery external gills, a somewhat laterally flattened body and a long tail with dorsal and ventral fins. The forelimbs may be partially developed and the hind limbs are rudimentary in pond-living species but may be rather more developed in species that reproduce in moving water. Pond-type larvae often have a pair of balancers, rod-like structures on either side of the head that may prevent the gills from becoming clogged up with sediment. Some members of the genera "Ambystoma" and "Dicamptodon" have larvae that never fully develop into the adult form, but this varies with species and with populations. The northwestern salamander is one of these and, depending on environmental factors, either remains permanently in the larval state, a condition known as neoteny, or transforms into an adult. Both of these are able to breed. Neoteny occurs when the animal's growth rate is very low and is usually linked to adverse conditions such as low water temperatures that may change the response of the tissues to the hormone thyroxine. Other factors that may inhibit metamorphosis include lack of food, lack of trace elements and competition from conspecifics. The tiger salamander also sometimes behaves in this way and may grow particularly large in the process. The adult tiger salamander is terrestrial, but the larva is aquatic and able to breed while still in the larval state. When conditions are particularly inhospitable on land, larval breeding may allow continuation of a population that would otherwise die out. There are fifteen species of obligate neotenic salamanders, including species of "Necturus", "Proteus" and "Amphiuma", and many examples of facultative ones that adopt this strategy under appropriate environmental circumstances.Lungless salamanders in the family Plethodontidae are terrestrial and lay a small number of unpigmented eggs in a cluster among damp leaf litter. Each egg has a large yolk sac and the larva feeds on this while it develops inside the egg, emerging fully formed as a juvenile salamander. The female salamander often broods the eggs. In the genus , the female has been observed to coil around them and press her throat area against them, effectively massaging them with a mucous secretion.In newts and salamanders, metamorphosis is less dramatic than in frogs. This is because the larvae are already carnivorous and continue to feed as predators when they are adults so few changes are needed to their digestive systems. Their lungs are functional early, but the larvae do not make as much use of them as do tadpoles. Their gills are never covered by gill sacs and are reabsorbed just before the animals leave the water. Other changes include the reduction in size or loss of tail fins, the closure of gill slits, thickening of the skin, the development of eyelids, and certain changes in dentition and tongue structure. Salamanders are at their most vulnerable at metamorphosis as swimming speeds are reduced and transforming tails are encumbrances on land. Adult salamanders often have an aquatic phase in spring and summer, and a land phase in winter. For adaptation to a water phase, prolactin is the required hormone, and for adaptation to the land phase, thyroxine. External gills do not return in subsequent aquatic phases because these are completely absorbed upon leaving the water for the first time.Caecilians.Most terrestrial caecilians that lay eggs do so in burrows or moist places on land near bodies of water. The development of the young of "Ichthyophis glutinosus", a species from Sri Lanka, has been much studied. The eel-like larvae hatch out of the eggs and make their way to water. They have three pairs of external red feathery gills, a blunt head with two rudimentary eyes, a lateral line system and a short tail with fins. They swim by undulating their body from side to side. They are mostly active at night, soon lose their gills and make sorties onto land. Metamorphosis is gradual. By the age of about ten months they have developed a pointed head with sensory tentacles near the mouth and lost their eyes, lateral line systems and tails. The skin thickens, embedded scales develop and the body divides into segments. By this time, the caecilian has constructed a burrow and is living on land.In the majority of species of caecilians the young are produced by viviparity. "Typhlonectes compressicauda" a species from South America is typical of these. Up to nine larvae can develop in the oviduct at any one time. They are elongated and have paired sac-like gills small eyes and specialised scraping teeth. At first they feed on the yolks of the eggs but as this source of nourishment declines they begin to rasp at the ciliated epithelial cells that line the oviduct. This stimulates the secretion of fluids rich in lipids and mucoproteins on which they feed along with scrapings from the oviduct wall. They may increase their length sixfold and be two-fifths as long as their mother before being born. By this time they have undergone metamorphosis lost their eyes and gills developed a thicker skin and mouth tentacles and reabsorbed their teeth. A permanent set of teeth grow through soon after birth.The ringed caecilian has developed a unique adaptation for the purposes of reproduction. The progeny feed on a skin layer that is specially developed by the adult in a phenomenon known as maternal dermatophagy. The brood feed as a batch for about seven minutes at intervals of approximately three days which gives the skin an opportunity to regenerate. Meanwhile, they have been observed to ingest fluid exuded from the maternal cloaca.Parental care.The care of offspring among amphibians has been little studied but in general the larger the number of eggs in a batch the less likely it is that any degree of parental care takes place. Nevertheless it is estimated that in up to 20% of amphibian species one or both adults play some role in the care of the young. Those species that breed in smaller water bodies or other specialised habitats tend to have complex patterns of behaviour in the care of their young.Many woodland salamanders lay clutches of eggs under dead logs or stones on land. The black mountain salamander ("Desmognathus welteri") does this the mother brooding the eggs and guarding them from predation as the embryos feed on the yolks of their eggs. When fully developed they break their way out of the egg capsules and disperse as juvenile salamanders. The male hellbender a primitive salamander excavates an underwater nest and encourages females to lay there. The male then guards the site for the two or three months before the eggs hatch using body undulations to fan the eggs and increase their supply of oxygen.The male a tiny frog protects the egg cluster which is hidden under a stone or log. When the eggs hatch the male transports the tadpoles on his back stuck there by a mucous secretion to a temporary pool where he dips himself into the water and the tadpoles drop off. The male midwife toad winds egg strings round his thighs and carries the eggs around for up to eight weeks. He keeps them moist and when they are ready to hatch he visits a pond or ditch and releases the tadpoles. The female gastric-brooding frog reared larvae in her stomach after swallowing either the eggs or hatchlings however this stage was never observed before the species became extinct. The tadpoles secrete a hormone that inhibits digestion in the mother whilst they develop by consuming their very large yolk supply. The pouched frog lays eggs on the ground. When they hatch the male carries the tadpoles around in brood pouches on his hind legs. The aquatic Surinam toad raises its young in pores on its back where they remain until metamorphosis. The granular poison frog is typical of a number of tree frogs in the poison dart frog family Dendrobatidae. Its eggs are laid on the forest floor and when they hatch the tadpoles are carried one by one on the back of an adult to a suitable water-filled crevice such as the axil of a leaf or the rosette of a bromeliad. The female visits the nursery sites regularly and deposits unfertilised eggs in the water and these are consumed by the tadpoles.Genetics and genomics.Amphibians are notable among vertebrates for their diversity of chromosomes and genomes. The karyotypes have been determined for at least 1,193 of the ~8,200 known species, including 963 anurans, 209 salamanders, and 21 caecilians. Generally, the karyotypes of diploid amphibians are characterized by 20–26 bi-armed chromosomes. Amphibians have also very large genomes compared to other taxa of vertebrates and corresponding variation in genome size . The genome sizes range from 0.95 to 11.5 pg in frogs, from 13.89 to 120.56 pg in salamanders, and from 2.94 to 11.78 pg in caecilians.The large genome sizes have prevented whole-genome sequencing of amphibians although a number of genomes have been published recently. The 1.7GB draft genome of was the first to be reported for amphibians in 2010. Compared to some salamanders this frog genome is tiny. For instance the genome of the Mexican axolotl turned out to be 32 Gb which is more than 10 times larger than the human genome .Feeding and diet.With a few exceptions adult amphibians are predators feeding on virtually anything that moves that they can swallow. The diet mostly consists of small prey that do not move too fast such as beetles caterpillars earthworms and spiders. The sirens () often ingest aquatic plant material with the invertebrates on which they feed and a Brazilian tree frog () includes a large quantity of fruit in its diet. The Mexican burrowing toad () has a specially adapted tongue for picking up ants and termites. It projects it with the tip foremost whereas other frogs flick out the rear part first their tongues being hinged at the front.Food is mostly selected by sight even in conditions of dim light. Movement of the prey triggers a feeding response. Frogs have been caught on fish hooks baited with red flannel and green frogs have been found with stomachs full of elm seeds that they had seen floating past. Toads salamanders and caecilians also use smell to detect prey. This response is mostly secondary because salamanders have been observed to remain stationary near odoriferous prey but only feed if it moves. Cave-dwelling amphibians normally hunt by smell. Some salamanders seem to have learned to recognize immobile prey when it has no smell even in complete darkness.Amphibians usually swallow food whole but may chew it lightly first to subdue it. They typically have small hinged pedicellate teeth, a feature unique to amphibians. The base and crown of these are composed of dentine separated by an uncalcified layer and they are replaced at intervals. Salamanders, caecilians and some frogs have one or two rows of teeth in both jaws, but some frogs ("Rana spp.") lack teeth in the lower jaw, and toads ("Bufo spp.") have no teeth. In many amphibians there are also vomerine teeth attached to a facial bone in the roof of the mouth.The tiger salamander () is typical of the frogs and salamanders that hide under cover ready to ambush unwary invertebrates. Others amphibians such as the toads actively search for prey while the Argentine horned frog () lures inquisitive prey closer by raising its hind feet over its back and vibrating its yellow toes. Among leaf litter frogs in Panama frogs that actively hunt prey have narrow mouths and are slim often brightly coloured and toxic while ambushers have wide mouths and are broad and well-camouflaged. Caecilians do not flick their tongues but catch their prey by grabbing it with their slightly backward-pointing teeth. The struggles of the prey and further jaw movements work it inwards and the caecilian usually retreats into its burrow. The subdued prey is gulped down whole.When they are newly hatched, frog larvae feed on the yolk of the egg. When this is exhausted some move on to feed on bacteria, algal crusts, detritus and raspings from submerged plants. Water is drawn in through their mouths, which are usually at the bottom of their heads, and passes through branchial food traps between their mouths and their gills where fine particles are trapped in mucus and filtered out. Others have specialised mouthparts consisting of a horny beak edged by several rows of labial teeth. They scrape and bite food of many kinds as well as stirring up the bottom sediment, filtering out larger particles with the papillae around their mouths. Some, such as the spadefoot toads, have strong biting jaws and are carnivorous or even cannibalistic.Vocalization.The calls made by caecilians and salamanders are limited to occasional soft squeaks, grunts or hisses and have not been much studied. A clicking sound sometimes produced by caecilians may be a means of orientation, as in bats, or a form of communication. Most salamanders are considered voiceless, but the California giant salamander has vocal cords and can produce a rattling or barking sound. Some species of salamander emit a quiet squeak or yelp if attacked.Frogs are much more vocal, especially during the breeding season when they use their voices to attract mates. The presence of a particular species in an area may be more easily discerned by its characteristic call than by a fleeting glimpse of the animal itself. In most species, the sound is produced by expelling air from the lungs over the vocal cords into an air sac or sacs in the throat or at the corner of the mouth. This may distend like a balloon and acts as a resonator, helping to transfer the sound to the atmosphere, or the water at times when the animal is submerged. The main vocalisation is the male's loud advertisement call which seeks to both encourage a female to approach and discourage other males from intruding on its territory. This call is modified to a quieter courtship call on the approach of a female or to a more aggressive version if a male intruder draws near. Calling carries the risk of attracting predators and involves the expenditure of much energy. Other calls include those given by a female in response to the advertisement call and a release call given by a male or female during unwanted attempts at amplexus. When a frog is attacked, a distress or fright call is emitted, often resembling a scream. The usually nocturnal Cuban tree frog produces a rain call when there is rainfall during daylight hours.Territorial behaviour.Little is known of the territorial behaviour of caecilians but some frogs and salamanders defend home ranges. These are usually feeding breeding or sheltering sites. Males normally exhibit such behaviour though in some species females and even juveniles are also involved. Although in many frog species females are larger than males this is not the case in most species where males are actively involved in territorial defence. Some of these have specific adaptations such as enlarged teeth for biting or spines on the chest arms or thumbs.In salamanders defence of a territory involves adopting an aggressive posture and if necessary attacking the intruder. This may involve snapping chasing and sometimes biting occasionally causing the loss of a tail. The behaviour of red back salamanders has been much studied. 91% of marked individuals that were later recaptured were within a metre of their original daytime retreat under a log or rock. A similar proportion when moved experimentally a distance of found their way back to their home base. The salamanders left odour marks around their territories which averaged in size and were sometimes inhabited by a male and female pair. These deterred the intrusion of others and delineated the boundaries between neighbouring areas. Much of their behaviour seemed stereotyped and did not involve any actual contact between individuals. An aggressive posture involved raising the body off the ground and glaring at the opponent who often turned away submissively. If the intruder persisted a biting lunge was usually launched at either the tail region or the naso-labial grooves. Damage to either of these areas can reduce the fitness of the rival either because of the need to regenerate tissue or because it impairs its ability to detect food.In frogs male territorial behaviour is often observed at breeding locations calling is both an announcement of ownership of part of this resource and an advertisement call to potential mates. In general a deeper voice represents a heavier and more powerful individual and this may be sufficient to prevent intrusion by smaller males. Much energy is used in the vocalization and it takes a toll on the territory holder who may be displaced by a fitter rival if he tires. There is a tendency for males to tolerate the holders of neighbouring territories while vigorously attacking unknown intruders. Holders of territories have a "home advantage" and usually come off better in an encounter between two similar-sized frogs. If threats are insufficient chest to chest tussles may take place. Fighting methods include pushing and shoving deflating the opponent's vocal sac seizing him by the head jumping on his back biting chasing splashing and ducking him under the water.Defence mechanisms.Amphibians have soft bodies with thin skins, and lack claws, defensive armour, or spines. Nevertheless, they have evolved various defence mechanisms to keep themselves alive. The first line of defence in salamanders and frogs is the mucous secretion that they produce. This keeps their skin moist and makes them slippery and difficult to grip. The secretion is often sticky and distasteful or toxic. Snakes have been observed yawning and gaping when trying to swallow African clawed frogs , which gives the frogs an opportunity to escape. Caecilians have been little studied in this respect, but the Cayenne caecilian produces toxic mucus that has killed predatory fish in a feeding experiment in Brazil. In some salamanders, the skin is poisonous. The rough-skinned newt from North America and other members of its genus contain the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin , the most toxic non-protein substance known and almost identical to that produced by pufferfish. Handling the newts does not cause harm, but ingestion of even the most minute amounts of the skin is deadly. In feeding trials, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals were all found to be susceptible. The only predators with some tolerance to the poison are certain populations of common garter snake .In locations where both snake and salamander co-exist the snakes have developed immunity through genetic changes and they feed on the amphibians with impunity. Coevolution occurs with the newt increasing its toxic capabilities at the same rate as the snake further develops its immunity. Some frogs and toads are toxic the main poison glands being at the side of the neck and under the warts on the back. These regions are presented to the attacking animal and their secretions may be foul-tasting or cause various physical or neurological symptoms. Altogether over 200 toxins have been isolated from the limited number of amphibian species that have been investigated.Poisonous species often use bright colouring to warn potential predators of their toxicity. These warning colours tend to be red or yellow combined with black, with the fire salamander being an example. Once a predator has sampled one of these, it is likely to remember the colouration next time it encounters a similar animal. In some species, such as the fire-bellied toad , the warning colouration is on the belly and these animals adopt a defensive pose when attacked, exhibiting their bright colours to the predator. The frog is not poisonous, but mimics the appearance of other toxic species in its locality, a strategy that may deceive predators.Many amphibians are nocturnal and hide during the day, thereby avoiding diurnal predators that hunt by sight. Other amphibians use camouflage to avoid being detected. They have various colourings such as mottled browns, greys and olives to blend into the background. Some salamanders adopt defensive poses when faced by a potential predator such as the North American northern short-tailed shrew . Their bodies writhe and they raise and lash their tails which makes it difficult for the predator to avoid contact with their poison-producing granular glands. A few salamanders will autotomise their tails when attacked, sacrificing this part of their anatomy to enable them to escape. The tail may have a constriction at its base to allow it to be easily detached. The tail is regenerated later, but the energy cost to the animal of replacing it is significant.Some frogs and toads inflate themselves to make themselves look large and fierce, and some spadefoot toads ("Pelobates spp") scream and leap towards the attacker. Giant salamanders of the genus "Andrias", as well as Ceratophrine and "Pyxicephalus" frogs possess sharp teeth and are capable of drawing blood with a defensive bite. The blackbelly salamander ("Desmognathus quadramaculatus") can bite an attacking common garter snake ("Thamnophis sirtalis") two or three times its size on the head and often manages to escape.In amphibians there is evidence of habituation associative learning through both classical and instrumental learning and discrimination abilities.In one experiment, when offered live fruit flies , salamanders chose the larger of 1 vs 2 and 2 vs 3. Frogs can distinguish between low numbers and large numbers of prey. This is irrespective of other characteristics, i.e. surface area, volume, weight and movement, although discrimination among large numbers may be based on surface area.Conservation.Dramatic declines in amphibian populations including population crashes and mass localized extinction have been noted since the late 1980s from locations all over the world and amphibian declines are thus perceived to be one of the most critical threats to global biodiversity. In 2004 the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported stating that currently birds mammals and amphibians extinction rates were at minimum 48 times greater than natural extinction rates—possibly 1024 times higher.In 2006 there were believed to be 4,035 species of amphibians that depended on water at some stage during their life cycle. Of these, 1,356 were considered to be threatened and this figure is likely to be an underestimate because it excludes 1,427 species for which there was insufficient data to assess their status. A number of causes are believed to be involved, including habitat destruction and modification, over-exploitation, pollution, introduced species, global warming, endocrine-disrupting pollutants, destruction of the ozone layer , and diseases like chytridiomycosis. However, many of the causes of amphibian declines are still poorly understood, and are a topic of ongoing discussion.With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins amphibians are often considered to be ecological indicators. In many terrestrial ecosystems they constitute one of the largest parts of the vertebrate biomass. Any decline in amphibian numbers will affect the patterns of predation. The loss of carnivorous species near the top of the food chain will upset the delicate ecosystem balance and may cause dramatic increases in opportunistic species. In the Middle East a growing appetite for eating frog legs and the consequent gathering of them for food was linked to an increase in mosquitoes. Predators that feed on amphibians are affected by their decline. The western terrestrial garter snake in California is largely aquatic and depends heavily on two species of frog that are decreasing in numbers the Yosemite toad and the mountain yellow-legged frog putting the snake's future at risk. If the snake were to become scarce this would affect birds of prey and other predators that feed on it. Meanwhile in the ponds and lakes fewer frogs means fewer tadpoles. These normally play an important role in controlling the growth of algae and also forage on detritus that accumulates as sediment on the bottom. A reduction in the number of tadpoles may lead to an overgrowth of algae resulting in depletion of oxygen in the water when the algae later die and decompose. Aquatic invertebrates and fish might then die and there would be unpredictable ecological consequences.A global strategy to stem the crisis was released in 2005 in the form of the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan. Developed by over eighty leading experts in the field this call to action details what would be required to curtail amphibian declines and extinctions over the following five years and how much this would cost. The Amphibian Specialist Group of the IUCN is spearheading efforts to implement a comprehensive global strategy for amphibian conservation. Amphibian Ark is an organization that was formed to implement the ex-situ conservation recommendations of this plan and they have been working with zoos and aquaria around the world encouraging them to create assurance colonies of threatened amphibians. One such project is the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project that built on existing conservation efforts in Panama to create a country-wide response to the threat of chytridiomycosis.
Alaska is a state in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., it borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon to the east and has a maritime border with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug to the west, just across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of the Arctic Ocean, while the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest.Alaska is by far the largest U.S. state by area comprising more total area than the next three largest states combined. It represents the seventh largest subnational division in the world. It is the third-least populous and the most sparsely populated state but by far the continent's most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel with a population of 736081 as of 2020—more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. The state capital of Juneau is the second-largest city in the United States by area comprising more territory than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware. The former capital of Alaska Sitka is the largest U.S. city by area.Alaska was occupied by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The state is considered the entry point for the settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. The Russians were the first Europeans to settle the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America, which spanned most of the current state. The expense and difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$7.2 million , or approximately two cents per acre . The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.While it has one of the smallest state economies in the country Alaska's per capita income is among the highest owing to a diversified economy dominated by fishing natural gas and oil all of which it has in abundance. United States armed forces bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy more than half the state is federally owned public land including a multitude of national forests national parks and wildlife refuges.The indigenous population of Alaska is proportionally the highest of any U.S. state at over 15 percent. Close to two dozen native languages are spoken and Alaskan Natives exercise considerable influence in local and state politics.The name "Alaska" was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the Alaska Peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut-language idiom "alaxsxaq" meaning "the mainland" or more literally "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". It is also known as "Alyeska" the "great land" an Aleut word derived from the same root.Pre-colonization.Numerous indigenous peoples occupied Alaska for thousands of years before the arrival of European peoples to the area. Linguistic and DNA studies done here have provided evidence for the settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. At the Upward Sun River site in the Tanana Valley in Alaska, remains of a six-week-old infant were found. The baby's DNA showed that she belonged to a population that was genetically separate from other native groups present elsewhere in the New World at the end of the Pleistocene. Ben Potter, the University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist who unearthed the remains at the Upward Sun River site in 2013, named this new group Ancient Beringians.The Tlingit people developed a society with a matrilineal kinship system of property inheritance and descent in what is today Southeast Alaska, along with parts of British Columbia and the Yukon. Also in Southeast were the Haida, now well known for their unique arts. The Tsimshian people came to Alaska from British Columbia in 1887, when President Grover Cleveland, and later the U.S. Congress, granted them permission to settle on Annette Island and found the town of Metlakatla. All three of these peoples, as well as other indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, experienced smallpox outbreaks from the late 18th through the mid-19th century, with the most devastating epidemics occurring in the 1830s and 1860s, resulting in high fatalities and social disruption.The Aleutian Islands are still home to the Aleut peoplein people of the northern Interior region are Athabaskan and primarily known today for their dependence on the caribou within the much-contested Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The North Slope and Little Diomede Island are occupied by the widespread Inupiat people.Colonization.Some researchers believe the first Russian settlement in Alaska was established in the 17th century. According to this hypothesis in 1648 several koches of Semyon Dezhnyov's expedition came ashore in Alaska by storm and founded this settlement. This hypothesis is based on the testimony of Chukchi geographer Nikolai Daurkin who had visited Alaska in 1764–1765 and who had reported on a village on the Kheuveren River populated by "bearded men" who "pray to the icons". Some modern researchers associate Kheuveren with Koyuk River.The first European vessel to reach Alaska is generally held to be the . After his crew returned to Russia with sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia toward the Aleutian Islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784.Between 1774 and 1800 Spain sent several expeditions to Alaska to assert its claim over the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 a Spanish settlement and fort were built in Nootka Sound. These expeditions gave names to places such as Valdez Bucareli Sound and Cordova. Later the Russian-American Company carried out an expanded colonization program during the early-to-mid-19th century. Sitka renamed New Archangel from 1804 to 1867 on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in what is now Southeast Alaska became the capital of Russian America. It remained the capital after the colony was transferred to the United States. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska and the colony was never very profitable. Evidence of Russian settlement in names and churches survive throughout southeastern Alaska.William H. Seward the 24th United States Secretary of State negotiated the Alaska Purchase with the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million. Russias house at where the Russian troops lowered the Russian flag and the U.S. flag was raised. This event is celebrated as Alaska Day a legal holiday on October 18.Alaska was loosely governed by the military initially and was administered as a district starting in 1884 with a governor appointed by the United States president. A federal district court was headquartered in Sitka. For most of Alaskas first municipal government but not in a legal sense. Legislation allowing Alaskan communities to legally incorporate as cities did not come about until 1900 and home rule for cities was extremely limited or unavailable until statehood took effect in 1959.Alaska as an incorporated U.S. territory.Starting in the 1890s and stretching in some places to the early 1910s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was officially incorporated as an organized territory in 1912. Alaska's capital, which had been in Sitka until 1906, was moved north to Juneau. Construction of the Alaska Governor's Mansion began that same year. European immigrants from Norway and Sweden also settled in southeast Alaska, where they entered the fishing and logging industries.During World War II the Aleutian Islands Campaign focused on Attu Agattu and Kiska all which were occupied by the Empire of Japan. During the Japanese occupation a white American civilian and two United States Navy personnel were killed at Attu and Kiska respectively and nearly a total of 50 Aleut civilians and eight sailors were interned in Japan. About half of the Aleuts died during the period of internment. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor and Adak became significant bases for the United States Army United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy. The United States Lend-Lease program involved flying American warplanes through Canada to Fairbanks and then Nome Soviet pilots took possession of these aircraft ferrying them to fight the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities.Statehood for Alaska was an important cause of James Wickersham early in his tenure as a congressional delegate. Decades later, the statehood movement gained its first real momentum following a territorial referendum in 1946. The Alaska Statehood Committee and Alaska's Constitutional Convention would soon follow. Statehood supporters also found themselves fighting major battles against political foes, mostly in the U.S. Congress but also within Alaska. Statehood was approved by the U.S. Congress on July 7, 1958; Alaska was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959.Good Friday earthquake.On March 27 1964 the massive Good Friday earthquake killed 133 people and destroyed several villages and portions of large coastal communities mainly by the resultant tsunamis and landslides. It was the second-most-powerful earthquake in recorded history with a moment magnitude of 9.2 (more than a thousand times as powerful as the 1989 San Francisco earthquake). The time of day (536 pm) time of year (spring) and location of the epicenter were all cited as factors in potentially sparing thousands of lives particularly in Anchorage.Alaska oil boom.The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System led to an oil boom. Royalty revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from 1980 onward.That same year not coincidentally Alaska repealed its state income tax.In 1989 the "Exxon Valdez" hit a reef in the Prince William Sound spilling more than of crude oil over of coastline. Today the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed Pebble Mine.Located at the northwest corner of North America Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States but also has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental North America about of British Columbia separates Alaska from Washington. It is technically part of the continental U.S. but is sometimes not included in colloquial use Alaska is not part of the contiguous U.S. often called "the Lower 48". The capital city Juneau is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system.The state is bordered by Canada's Yukon and British Columbia to the east ; the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south and southwest; the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west; and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska's territorial waters touch Russia's territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island and Alaskan Little Diomede Island are only apart. Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined.At in area, Alaska is by far the largest state in the United States, and is more than twice the size of the second-largest U.S. state, Texas. Alaska is the seventh largest subnational division in the world, and if it was an independent nation would be the 16th largest country in the world, as it is larger than Iran.With its myriad islands, Alaska has nearly of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island, for example, is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to above the North Pacific. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. Geologists have identified Alaska as part of Wrangellia, a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest, which is actively undergoing continent building.One of the world's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage, where tidal differences can be more than .Alaska has more than three million lakes. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover . Glacier ice covers about of Alaska. The Bering Glacier is the largest glacier in North America covering alone.There are no officially defined borders demarcating the various regions of Alaska but there are six widely accepted regionsSouth Central.The most populous region of Alaska containing Anchorage the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula. Rural mostly unpopulated areas south of the Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of South Central as do the Prince William Sound area and the communities of Cordova and Valdez.Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the contiguous states. As such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States. It contains the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaska's largest city. The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital surface transportation link throughout the area and country, as only three communities enjoy direct connections to the contiguous North American road system.The Interior is the largest region of Alaska much of it is uninhabited wilderness. Fairbanks is the only large city in the region. Denali National Park and Preserve is located here. Denali formerly Mount McKinley is the highest mountain in North America and is also located here.Southwest Alaska is a sparsely inhabited region stretching some inland from the Bering Sea. Most of the population lives along the coast. Kodiak Island is also located in Southwest. The massive Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta one of the largest river deltas in the world is here. Portions of the Alaska Peninsula are considered part of Southwest with the remaining portions included with the Aleutian Islands .North Slope.The North Slope is mostly tundra peppered with small villages. The area is known for its massive reserves of crude oil and contains both the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. The city of Utqiavik, formerly known as Barrow, is the northernmost city in the United States and is located here. The Northwest Arctic area, anchored by Kotzebue and also containing the Kobuk River valley, is often regarded as being part of this region. However, the respective Inupiat of the North Slope and of the Northwest Arctic seldom consider themselves to be one people.Aleutian Islands.More than 300 small volcanic islands make up this chain which stretches more than into the Pacific Ocean. Some of these islands fall in the Eastern Hemisphere but the International Date Line was drawn west of 180° to keep the whole state and thus the entire North American continent within the same legal day. Two of the islands Attu and Kiska were occupied by Japanese forces during World War II.Land ownership.According to an October 1998 report by the United States Bureau of Land Management, approximately 65% of Alaska is owned and managed by the U.S. federal government as public lands, including a multitude of national forests, national parks, and national wildlife refuges. Of these, the Bureau of Land Management manages , or 23.8% of the state. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising .Of the remaining land area, the state of Alaska owns , its entitlement under the Alaska Statehood Act. A portion of that acreage is occasionally ceded to the organized boroughs presented above, under the statutory provisions pertaining to newly formed boroughs. Smaller portions are set aside for rural subdivisions and other homesteading-related opportunities. These are not very popular due to the often remote and roadless locations. The University of Alaska, as a land grant university, also owns substantial acreage which it manages independently.Another are owned by 12 regional, and scores of local, Native corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Regional Native corporation Doyon, Limited often promotes itself as the largest private landowner in Alaska in advertisements and other communications. Provisions of ANCSA allowing the corporations' land holdings to be sold on the open market starting in 1991 were repealed before they could take effect. Effectively, the corporations hold title but cannot sell the land. Individual Native allotments can be and are sold on the open market, however.Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling about one percent of the state. Alaska is, by a large margin, the state with the smallest percentage of private land ownership when Native corporation holdings are excluded.Alaska Heritage Resources Survey.The Alaska Heritage Resources Survey is a restricted inventory of all reported historic and prehistoric sites within the U.S. state of Alaska it is maintained by the Office of History and Archaeology. The survey's inventory of cultural resources includes objects structures buildings sites districts and travel ways with a general provision that they are more than fifty years old. more than 35000 sites have been reported.Cities towns and boroughs.Alaska is not divided into counties as most of the other U.S. states but it is divided into . Delegates to the Alaska Constitutional Convention wanted to avoid the pitfalls of the traditional county system and adopted their own unique model. Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's 16 boroughs which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states the boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough.The Unorganized Borough has no government of its own but the U.S. Census Bureau in cooperation with the state divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation. A is a mechanism for management of the public record in Alaska. The state is divided into 34 recording districts which are centrally administered under a state recorder. All recording districts use the same acceptance criteria fee schedule etc. for accepting documents into the public record.Whereas many U.S. states use a three-tiered system of decentralization—state/county/township—most of Alaska uses only two tiers—state/borough. Owing to the low population density, most of the land is located in the Unorganized Borough. As the name implies, it has no intermediate borough government but is administered directly by the state government. In 2000, 57.71% of Alaska's area has this status, with 13.05% of the population.Anchorage merged the city government with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough in 1975 to form the Municipality of Anchorage, containing the city proper and the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek, Girdwood, Bird, and Indian. Fairbanks has a separate borough and municipality .The state's most populous city is Anchorage home to 291247 people in 2020. The richest location in Alaska by per capita income is Denali . Yakutat City Sitka Juneau and Anchorage are the four largest cities in the U.S. by area.Cities and census-designated places (by population).As reflected in the 2020 United States census Alaska has a total of 355 incorporated cities and census-designated places . The tally of cities includes four unified municipalities essentially the equivalent of a consolidated city–county. The majority of these communities are located in the rural expanse of Alaska known as and are unconnected to the contiguous North American road network. The table at the bottom of this section lists the 100 largest cities and census-designated places in Alaska in population order.Of Alaska's 2020 U.S. census population figure of 733,391, 16,655 people, or 2.27% of the population, did not live in an incorporated city or census-designated place. Approximately three-quarters of that figure were people who live in urban and suburban neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city limits of Ketchikan, Kodiak, Palmer and Wasilla. CDPs have not been established for these areas by the United States Census Bureau, except that seven CDPs were established for the Ketchikan-area neighborhoods in the 1980 Census , but have not been used since. The remaining population was scattered throughout Alaska, both within organized boroughs and in the Unorganized Borough, in largely remote areas.The climate in south and southeastern Alaska is a mid-latitude oceanic climate and a subarctic oceanic climate in the northern parts. On an annual basis the southeast is both the wettest and warmest part of Alaska with milder temperatures in the winter and high precipitation throughout the year. Juneau averages over of precipitation a year and Ketchikan averages over . This is also the only region in Alaska in which the average daytime high temperature is above freezing during the winter months.The climate of Anchorage and south central Alaska is mild by Alaskan standards due to the region's proximity to the seacoast. While the area gets less rain than southeast Alaska it gets more snow and days tend to be clearer. On average Anchorage receives of precipitation a year with around of snow although there are areas in the south central which receive far more snow. It is a subarctic climate due to its brief cool summers.The climate of western Alaska is determined in large part by the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. It is a subarctic oceanic climate in the southwest and a continental subarctic climate farther north. The temperature is somewhat moderate considering how far north the area is. This region has a tremendous amount of variety in precipitation. An area stretching from the northern side of the Seward Peninsula to the Kobuk River valley is technically a desert with portions receiving less than of precipitation annually. On the other extreme some locations between Dillingham and Bethel average around of precipitation.The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s °F (the low-to-mid 30s °C), while in the winter, the temperature can fall below . Precipitation is sparse in the Interior, often less than a year, but what precipitation falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter.The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska are both in the Interior. The highest is in Fort Yukon (which is just inside the arctic circle) on June 27 1915 making Alaska tied with Hawaii as the state with the lowest high temperature in the United States. The lowest official Alaska temperature is in Prospect Creek on January 23 1971 one degree above the lowest temperature recorded in continental North America (in Snag Yukon Canada).The climate in the extreme north of Alaska is Arctic () with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers. Even in July, the average low temperature in Utqiavik is . Precipitation is light in this part of Alaska, with many places averaging less than per year, mostly as snow which stays on the ground almost the entire year.Demographics.The United States Census Bureau found in the 2020 United States census that the population of Alaska was 736081 on April 1 2020 a 3.6% increase since the 2010 United States census. According to the 2010 United States census the U.S. state of Alaska had a population of 710231 increasing from 626932 at the 2000 U.S. census.In 2010, Alaska ranked as the 47th state by population, ahead of North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming . Estimates show North Dakota ahead . Alaska is the least densely populated state, and one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world, at , with the next state, Wyoming, at . Alaska is by far the largest U.S. state by area, and the tenth wealthiest . due to its population size, it is one of 14 U.S. states that still have only one telephone area code.Race and ethnicity.The 2019 American Community Survey estimated 60.2% of the population was non-Hispanic white 3.7% Black or African American 15.6% American Indian or Alaska Native 6.5% Asian 1.4% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 7.5% two or more races and 7.3% Hispanic or Latin American of any race. At the survey estimates 7.8% of the total population was foreign-born from 2015 to 2019. In 2015 61.3% was non-Hispanic white 3.4% Black or African American 13.3% American Indian or Alaska Native 6.2% Asian 0.9% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 0.3% some other race and 7.7% multiracial. Hispanics and Latin Americans were 7% of the state population in 2015. From 2015 to 2019 the largest Hispanic and Latin American groups were Mexican Americans Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans. The largest Asian groups living in the state were Filipinos Korean Americans and Japanese and Chinese Americans.The state was 66.7% White , 14.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.4% Asian, 3.3% Black or African American, 1.0% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 1.6% from some other race, and 7.3% from two or more races in 2010. Hispanics or Latin Americans of any race made up 5.5% of the population in 2010. , 50.7% of Alaskas population as 77.2% White, 3% Black, and 18.8% American Indian and Alaska Native.According to the 2011 American Community Survey 83.4% of people over the age of five spoke only English at home. About 3.5% spoke Spanish at home 2.2% spoke another Indo-European language about 4.3% spoke an Asian language and about 5.3% spoke other languages at home. In 2019 the American Community Survey determined 83.7% spoke only English and 16.3% spoke another language other than English. The most spoken European language after English was Spanish spoken by approximately 4.0% of the state population. Collectively Asian and Pacific Islander languages were spoken by 5.6% of Alaskans. Since 2010 a total of 5.2% of Alaskans speak one of the state's 20 indigenous languages known locally as .The Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks claims that at least 20 Alaskan native languages exist and there are also some languages with different dialects. Most of Alaska's native languages belong to either the Eskimo–Aleut or Na-Dene language families however some languages are thought to be isolates or have not yet been classified . nearly all of Alaska's native languages were classified as either threatened shifting moribund nearly extinct or dormant languages.In October 2014, the governor of Alaska signed a bill declaring the state's 20 indigenous languages to have official status. This bill gave them symbolic recognition as official languages, though they have not been adopted for official use within the government. The 20 languages that were included in the bill are:According to statistics collected by the Association of Religion Data Archives from 2010 about 34% of Alaska residents were members of religious congregations. Of the religious population 100960 people identified as evangelical Protestants 50866 as Roman Catholic and 32550 as mainline Protestants. Roughly 4% were Mormon 0.5% Jewish 1% Muslim 0.5% Buddhist 0.2% Bah and 0.5% Hindu. The largest religious denominations in Alaska was the Catholic Church with 50866 adherents non-denominational Evangelicals with 38070 adherents The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 32170 adherents and the Southern Baptist Convention with 19891 adherents. Alaska has been identified along with Pacific Northwest states Washington and Oregon as being the least religious states of the USA in terms of church membership.The Pew Research Center in 2014 determined 62% of the adult population practiced Christianity. Protestantism was the largest Christian tradition dominated by Evangelicalism. Mainline Protestants were the second largest Protestant Christian group followed by predominantly African American churches. The Catholic Church remained the largest single Christian tradition practiced in Alaska. Of the unaffiliated population they made up the largest non-Christian religious affiliation. Atheists made up 5% of the population and the largest non-Christian religion was Buddhism.In 1795, the first Russian Orthodox Church was established in Kodiak. Intermarriage with Alaskan Natives helped the Russian immigrants integrate into society. As a result, an increasing number of Russian Orthodox churches gradually became established within Alaska. Alaska also has the largest Quaker population of any state. In 2009 there were 6,000 Jews in Alaska . Alaskan Hindus often share venues and celebrations with members of other Asian religious communities, including Sikhs and Jains. In 2010, Alaskan Hindus established the Sri Ganesha Temple of Alaska, making it the first Hindu Temple in Alaska and the northernmost Hindu Temple in the world. There are an estimated 2,000–3,000 Hindus in Alaska. The vast majority of Hindus live in Anchorage or Fairbanks.Estimates for the number of Muslims in Alaska range from 2000 to 5000. The Islamic Community Center of Anchorage began efforts in the late 1990s to construct a mosque in Anchorage. They broke ground on a building in south Anchorage in 2010 and were nearing completion in late 2014. When completed the mosque will be the first in the state and one of the northernmost mosques in the world. There's also a Bah center.As of 2016, Alaska had a total employment of 266,072. The number of employer establishments was 21,077.The 2018 gross state product was $55 billion, 48th in the U.S.. Its per capita personal income for 2018 was $73,000, ranking 7th in the nation. According to a 2013 study by Phoenix Marketing International, Alaska had the fifth-largest number of millionaires per capita in the United States, with a ratio of 6.75 percent. The oil and gas industry dominates the Alaskan economy, with more than 80% of the states main export product is seafood, primarily salmon, cod, Pollock and crab.Agriculture represents a very small fraction of the Alaskan economy. Agricultural production is primarily for consumption within the state and includes nursery stock, dairy products, vegetables, and livestock. Manufacturing is limited, with most foodstuffs and general goods imported from elsewhere.Employment is primarily in government and industries such as natural resource extraction shipping and transportation. Military bases are a significant component of the economy in the Fairbanks North Star Anchorage and Kodiak Island boroughs as well as Kodiak. Federal subsidies are also an important part of the economy allowing the state to keep taxes low. Its industrial outputs are crude petroleum natural gas coal gold precious metals zinc and other mining seafood processing timber and wood products. There is also a growing service and tourism sector. Tourists have contributed to the economy by supporting local lodging.Alaska has vast energy resources although its oil reserves have been largely depleted. Major oil and gas reserves were found in the Alaska North Slope and Cook Inlet basins but according to the Energy Information Administration by February 2014 Alaska had fallen to fourth place in the nation in crude oil production after Texas North Dakota and California. Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope is still the second highest-yielding oil field in the United States typically producing about although by early 2014 North Dakota's Bakken Formation was producing over . Prudhoe Bay was the largest conventional oil field ever discovered in North America but was much smaller than Canada's enormous Athabasca oil sands field which by 2014 was producing about of unconventional oil and had hundreds of years of producible reserves at that rate.The Trans-Alaska Pipeline can transport and pump up to of crude oil per day, more than any other crude oil pipeline in the United States. Additionally, substantial coal deposits are found in Alaska's bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite coal basins. The United States Geological Survey estimates that there are of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas from natural gas hydrates on the Alaskan North Slope. Alaska also offers some of the highest hydroelectric power potential in the country from its numerous rivers. Large swaths of the Alaskan coastline offer wind and geothermal energy potential as well.Alaska's economy depends heavily on increasingly expensive diesel fuel for heating, transportation, electric power and light. Although wind and hydroelectric power are abundant and underdeveloped, proposals for statewide energy systems were judged uneconomical due to low fuel prices, long distances and low population. The cost of a gallon of gas in urban Alaska today is usually thirty to sixty cents higher than the national average; prices in rural areas are generally significantly higher but vary widely depending on transportation costs, seasonal usage peaks, nearby petroleum development infrastructure and many other factors.Permanent Fund.The Alaska Permanent Fund is a constitutionally authorized appropriation of oil revenues established by voters in 1976 to manage a surplus in state petroleum revenues from oil largely in anticipation of the then recently constructed Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. The fund was originally proposed by Governor Keith Miller on the eve of the 1969 Prudhoe Bay lease sale out of fear that the legislature would spend the entire proceeds of the sale (which amounted to $900 million) at once. It was later championed by Governor Jay Hammond and Kenai state representative Hugh Malone. It has served as an attractive political prospect ever since diverting revenues which would normally be deposited into the general fund.The Alaska Constitution was written so as to discourage dedicating state funds for a particular purpose. The Permanent Fund has become the rare exception to this, mostly due to the political climate of distrust existing during the time of its creation. From its initial principal of $734,000, the fund has grown to $50 billion as a result of oil royalties and capital investment programs. Most if not all the principal is invested conservatively outside Alaska. This has led to frequent calls by Alaskan politicians for the Fund to make investments within Alaska, though such a stance has never gained momentum.Starting in 1982 dividends from the fund's annual growth have been paid out each year to eligible Alaskans ranging from an initial $1000 in 1982 to $3269 in 2008 . Every year the state legislature takes out 8% from the earnings puts 3% back into the principal for inflation proofing and the remaining 5% is distributed to all qualifying Alaskans. To qualify for the Permanent Fund Dividend one must have lived in the state for a minimum of 12 months maintain constant residency subject to allowable absences and not be subject to court judgments or criminal convictions which fall under various disqualifying classifications or may subject the payment amount to civil garnishment.The Permanent Fund is often considered to be one of the leading examples of a "Basic income" policy in the world.Cost of living.The cost of goods in Alaska has long been higher than in the contiguous 48 states. Federal government employees particularly United States Postal Service workers and active-duty military members receive a Cost of Living Allowance usually set at 25% of base pay because while the cost of living has gone down it is still one of the highest in the country.Rural Alaska suffers from extremely high prices for food and consumer goods compared to the rest of the country due to the relatively limited transportation infrastructure.Agriculture and fishing.Due to the northern climate and short growing season, relatively little farming occurs in Alaska. Most farms are in either the Matanuska Valley, about northeast of Anchorage, or on the Kenai Peninsula, about southwest of Anchorage. The short 100-day growing season limits the crops that can be grown, but the long sunny summer days make for productive growing seasons. The primary crops are potatoes, carrots, lettuce, and cabbage.The Tanana Valley is another notable agricultural locus especially the Delta Junction area about southeast of Fairbanks with a sizable concentration of farms growing agronomic crops these farms mostly lie north and east of Fort Greely. This area was largely set aside and developed under a state program spearheaded by Hammond during his second term as governor. Delta-area crops consist predominantly of barley and hay. West of Fairbanks lies another concentration of small farms catering to restaurants the hotel and tourist industry and community-supported agriculture.Alaskan agriculture has experienced a surge in growth of market gardeners, small farms and farmers markets in 2011, compared to 17% nationwide. The peony industry has also taken off, as the growing season allows farmers to harvest during a gap in supply elsewhere in the world, thereby filling a niche in the flower market.Alaska with no counties lacks county fairs. However a small assortment of state and local fairs are held mostly in the late summer. The fairs are mostly located in communities with historic or current agricultural activity and feature local farmers exhibiting produce in addition to more high-profile commercial activities such as carnival rides concerts and food. "Alaska Grown" is used as an agricultural slogan.Alaska has an abundance of seafood, with the primary fisheries in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific. Seafood is one of the few food items that is often cheaper within the state than outside it. Many Alaskans take advantage of salmon seasons to harvest portions of their household diet while fishing for subsistence, as well as sport. This includes fish taken by hook, net or wheel.Hunting for subsistence, primarily caribou, moose, and Dall sheep is still common in the state, particularly in remote Bush communities. An example of a traditional native food is Akutaq, the Eskimo ice cream, which can consist of reindeer fat, seal oil, dried fish meat and local berries.Alaska's reindeer herding is concentrated on Seward Peninsula, where wild caribou can be prevented from mingling and migrating with the domesticated reindeer.Most food in Alaska is transported into the state from and shipping costs make food in the cities relatively expensive. In rural areas subsistence hunting and gathering is an essential activity because imported food is prohibitively expensive. Although most small towns and villages in Alaska lie along the coastline the cost of importing food to remote villages can be high because of the terrain and difficult road conditions which change dramatically due to varying climate and precipitation changes. The cost of transport can reach as high as 50¢ per pound or more in some remote areas during the most difficult times if these locations can be reached at all during such inclement weather and terrain conditions. The cost of delivering a of milk is about $3.50 in many villages where per capita income can be $20000 or less. Fuel cost per gallon is routinely twenty to thirty cents higher than the contiguous United States average with only Hawaii having higher prices.Some of Alaska's popular annual events are the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, the Blueberry Festival and Alaska Hummingbird Festival in Ketchikan, the Sitka Whale Fest, and the Stikine River Garnet Fest in Wrangell. The Stikine River attracts the largest springtime concentration of American bald eagles in the world.The Alaska Native Heritage Center celebrates the rich heritage of Alaska's 11 cultural groups. Their purpose is to encourage cross-cultural exchanges among all people and enhance self-esteem among Native people. The Alaska Native Arts Foundation promotes and markets Native art from all regions and cultures in the State, using the internet.Influences on music in Alaska include the traditional music of Alaska Natives as well as folk music brought by later immigrants from Russia and Europe. Prominent musicians from Alaska include singer Jewel traditional Aleut flautist Mary Youngblood folk singer-songwriter Libby Roderick Christian music singer-songwriter Lincoln Brewster metal/post hardcore band 36 Crazyfists and the groups Pamyua and Portugal. The Man.There are many established music festivals in Alaska, including the Alaska Folk Festival, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival the Anchorage Folk Festival, the Athabascan Old-Time Fiddling Festival, the Sitka Jazz Festival, and the Sitka Summer Music Festival. The most prominent orchestra in Alaska is the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, though the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and Juneau Symphony are also notable. The Anchorage Opera is currently the state's only professional opera company, though there are several volunteer and semi-professional organizations in the state as well.The official state song of Alaska is "Alaska's Flag", which was adopted in 1955; it celebrates the flag of Alaska.Alaska in film and on television.Alaska's first independent picture entirely made in Alaska was "The Chechahcos", produced by Alaskan businessman Austin E. Lathrop and filmed in and around Anchorage. Released in 1924 by the Alaska Moving Picture Corporation, it was the only film the company made.One of the most prominent movies filmed in Alaska is MGM's "Eskimo/Mala The Magnificent", starring Alaska Native Ray Mala. In 1932 an expedition set out from MGM's studios in Hollywood to Alaska to film what was then billed as "The Biggest Picture Ever Made". Upon arriving in Alaska, they set up "Camp Hollywood" in Northwest Alaska, where they lived during the duration of the filming. Louis B. Mayer spared no expense in spite of the remote location, going so far as to hire the chef from the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to prepare meals.When "Eskimo" premiered at the Astor Theatre in New York City the studio received the largest amount of feedback in its history. "Eskimo" was critically acclaimed and released worldwide as a result Mala became an international movie star. "Eskimo" won the first Oscar for Best Film Editing at the Academy Awards and showcased and preserved aspects of Inupiat culture on film.The 1983 Disney movie "Never Cry Wolf" was at least partially shot in Alaska. The 1991 film "White Fang" based on Jack London's 1906 novel and starring Ethan Hawke was filmed in and around Haines. Steven Seagal's 1994 "On Deadly Ground" starring Michael Caine was filmed in part at the Worthington Glacier near Valdez. The 1999 John Sayles film "Limbo" starring David Strathairn Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Kris Kristofferson was filmed in Juneau.The psychological thriller was partially filmed and set in Alaska. The film which is based on the novel of the same name follows the adventures of Christopher McCandless who died in a remote abandoned bus along the Stampede Trail west of Healy in 1992.Many films and television shows set in Alaska are not filmed there for example is set in Barrow Alaska but was filmed in New Zealand.Many reality television shows are filmed in Alaska. In 2011 the found ten set in the state.Public health and public safety.The Alaska State Troopers are Alaska's statewide police force. They have a long and storied history but were not an official organization until 1941. Before the force was officially organized law enforcement in Alaska was handled by various federal agencies. Larger towns usually have their own local police and some villages rely on "Public Safety Officers" who have police training but do not carry firearms. In much of the state the troopers serve as the only police force available. In addition to enforcing traffic and criminal law wildlife Troopers enforce hunting and fishing regulations. Due to the varied terrain and wide scope of the Troopers' duties they employ a wide variety of land air and water patrol vehicles.Many rural communities in Alaska are considered "dry" having outlawed the importation of alcoholic beverages. Suicide rates for rural residents are higher than urban.Domestic abuse and other violent crimes are also at high levels in the state this is in part linked to alcohol abuse. Alaska has the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation especially in rural areas. The average age of sexually assaulted victims is 16 years old. In four out of five cases the suspects were relatives friends or acquaintances.The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development administers many school districts in Alaska. In addition the state operates a boarding school Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka and provides partial funding for other boarding schools including Nenana Student Living Center in Nenana and The Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena.There are more than a dozen colleges and universities in Alaska. Accredited universities in Alaska include the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and Alaska Pacific University. Alaska is the only state that has no institutions that are part of NCAA Division I.The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development operates AVTEC Alaska's Institute of Technology. Campuses in Seward and Anchorage offer one-week to 11-month training programs in areas as diverse as Information Technology Welding Nursing and Mechanics.Alaska has had a problem with a . Many of its young people, including most of the highest academic achievers, leave the state after high school graduation and do not return. , Alaska did not have a law school or medical school. The University of Alaska has attempted to combat this by offering partial four-year scholarships to the top 10% of Alaska high school graduates, via the Alaska Scholars Program.Beginning in 1998, schools in rural Alaska must have at least 10 students to retain funding from the state, and campuses not meeting the number close. This was due to the loss in oil revenues that previously propped up smaller rural schools. In 2015 there was a proposal to raise that minimum to 25, but legislators in the state largely did not agree.Transportation.Alaska has few road connections compared to the rest of the U.S. The state's road system, covering a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Alaska Highway, the principal route out of the state through Canada. The state capital, Juneau, is not accessible by road, only a car ferry; this has spurred debate over decades about moving the capital to a city on the road system, or building a road connection from Haines. The western part of Alaska has no road system connecting the communities with the rest of Alaska.The Interstate Highways in Alaska consists of a total of . One unique feature of the Alaska Highway system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, an active Alaska Railroad tunnel recently upgraded to provide a paved roadway link with the isolated community of Whittier on Prince William Sound to the Seward Highway about southeast of Anchorage at Portage. At , the tunnel was the longest road tunnel in North America until 2007. The tunnel is the longest combination road and rail tunnel in North America.Built around 1915 the Alaska Railroad played a key role in the development of Alaska through the 20th century. It links north Pacific shipping through providing critical infrastructure with tracks that run from Seward to Interior Alaska by way of South Central Alaska passing through Anchorage Eklutna Wasilla Talkeetna Denali and Fairbanks with spurs to Whittier Palmer and North Pole. The cities towns villages and region served by ARR tracks are known statewide as . In recent years the ever-improving paved highway system began to eclipse the railroads economy.The railroad played a vital role in Alaska's development, moving freight into Alaska while transporting natural resources southward, such as coal from the Usibelli coal mine near Healy to Seward and gravel from the Matanuska Valley to Anchorage. It is well known for its summertime tour passenger service.The Alaska Railroad was one of the last railroads in North America to use cabooses in regular service and still uses them on some gravel trains. It continues to offer one of the last flag stop routes in the country. A stretch of about of track along an area north of Talkeetna remains inaccessible by road the railroad provides the only transportation to rural homes and cabins in the area. Until construction of the Parks Highway in the 1970s the railroad provided the only land access to most of the region along its entire route.In northern Southeast Alaska, the White Pass and Yukon Route also partly runs through the state from Skagway northwards into Canada , crossing the border at White Pass Summit. This line is now mainly used by tourists, often arriving by cruise liner at Skagway. It was featured in the 1983 BBC television series The Alaska Rail network is not connected to Outside. In 2000 the U.S. Congress authorized $6 million to study the feasibility of a rail link between Alaska Canada and the lower 48.Some private companies provides car float service between Whittier and Seattle.Marine transport.Many cities, towns and villages in the state do not have road or highway access; the only modes of access involve travel by air, river, or the sea.Alaska's well-developed state-owned ferry system serves the cities of southeast, the Gulf Coast and the Alaska Peninsula. The ferries transport vehicles as well as passengers. The system also operates a ferry service from Bellingham, Washington and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in Canada through the Inside Passage to Skagway. The Inter-Island Ferry Authority also serves as an important marine link for many communities in the Prince of Wales Island region of Southeast and works in concert with the Alaska Marine Highway.In recent years, cruise lines have created a summertime tourism market, mainly connecting the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Alaska and, to a lesser degree, towns along Alaska's gulf coast. The population of Ketchikan for example fluctuates dramatically on many days—up to four large cruise ships can dock there at the same time.Air transport.Cities not served by road, sea, or river can be reached only by air, foot, dogsled, or snowmachine, accounting for Alaska's extremely well developed bush air services—an Alaskan novelty. Anchorage and, to a lesser extent Fairbanks, is served by many major airlines. Because of limited highway access, air travel remains the most efficient form of transportation in and out of the state. Anchorage recently completed extensive remodeling and construction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to help accommodate the upsurge in tourism .Regular flights to most villages and towns within the state that are commercially viable are challenging to provide so they are heavily subsidized by the federal government through the Essential Air Service program. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline offering in-state travel with jet service from Anchorage and Fairbanks to regional hubs like Bethel Nome Kotzebue Dillingham Kodiak and other larger communities as well as to major Southeast and Alaska Peninsula communities.The bulk of remaining commercial flight offerings come from small regional commuter airlines such as Ravn Alaska, PenAir, and Frontier Flying Service. The smallest towns and villages must rely on scheduled or chartered bush flying services using general aviation aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan, the most popular aircraft in use in the state. Much of this service can be attributed to the Alaska bypass mail program which subsidizes bulk mail delivery to Alaskan rural communities. The program requires 70% of that subsidy to go to carriers who offer passenger service to the communities.Many communities have small air taxi services. These operations originated from the demand for customized transport to remote areas. Perhaps the most quintessentially Alaskan plane is the bush seaplane. The world's busiest seaplane base is Lake Hood, located next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where flights bound for remote villages without an airstrip carry passengers, cargo, and many items from stores and warehouse clubs.In 2006 Alaska had the highest number of pilots per capita of any U.S. state. In Alaska there are 8795 active pilot certificates as of 2020.Of these there are 2507 Private 1496 Commercial 2180 Airline Transport and 2239 Student. There are also 3987 pilots with a Instrument rating and 1511 Flight Instructors.Other transport.Another Alaskan transportation method is the dogsled. In modern times (that is, any time after the mid-late 1920s), dog mushing is more of a sport than a true means of transportation. Various races are held around the state, but the best known is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a trail from Anchorage to Nome (although the distance varies from year to year, the official distance is set at ). The race commemorates the famous 1925 serum run to Nome in which mushers and dogs like Togo and Balto took much-needed medicine to the diphtheria-stricken community of Nome when all other means of transportation had failed. Mushers from all over the world come to Anchorage each March to compete for cash, prizes, and prestige. The "Serum Run" is another sled dog race that more accurately follows the route of the famous 1925 relay, leaving from the community of Nenana (southwest of Fairbanks) to Nome.In areas not served by road or rail, primary transportation in summer is by all-terrain vehicle and in winter by snowmobile or , as it is commonly referred to in Alaska.Data transport.Alaska's internet and other data transport systems are provided largely through the two major telecommunications companies: GCI and Alaska Communications. GCI owns and operates what it calls the Alaska United Fiber Optic system and, as of late 2011, Alaska Communications advertised that it has "two fiber optic paths to the lower 48 and two more across Alaska. In January 2011, it was reported that a $1 billion project to connect Asia and rural Alaska was being planned, aided in part by $350 million in stimulus from the federal government.Law and government.State government.Like all other U.S. states, Alaska is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: an executive branch consisting of the governor of Alaska and his or her appointees which head executive departments; a legislative branch consisting of the Alaska House of Representatives and Alaska Senate; and a judicial branch consisting of the Alaska Supreme Court and lower courts.The state of Alaska employs approximately 16000 people statewide.The Alaska Legislature consists of a 40-member House of Representatives and a 20-member Senate. Senators serve four-year terms and House members two. The governor of Alaska serves four-year terms. The lieutenant governor runs separately from the governor in the primaries, but during the general election, the nominee for governor and nominee for lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket.Alaska's court system has four levels: the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Court of Appeals, the superior courts and the district courts. The superior and district courts are trial courts. Superior courts are courts of general jurisdiction, while district courts hear only certain types of cases, including misdemeanor criminal cases and civil cases valued up to $100,000.The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are appellate courts. The Court of Appeals is required to hear appeals from certain lower-court decisions, including those regarding criminal prosecutions, juvenile delinquency, and habeas corpus. The Supreme Court hears civil appeals and may in its discretion hear criminal appeals.State politics.Although in its early years of statehood Alaska was a Democratic state, since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights. Alaska Natives, while organized in and around their communities, have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land, which require stewardship.Alaska was formerly the only state in which possession of one ounce or less of marijuana in one's home was completely legal under state law though the federal law remains in force.The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States with the Alaskan Independence Party.Six Republicans and four Democrats have served as governor of Alaska. In addition, Republican governor Wally Hickel was elected to the office for a second term in 1990 after leaving the Republican party and briefly joining the Alaskan Independence Party ticket just long enough to be reelected. He officially rejoined the Republican party in 1994.Alaska's voter initiative making marijuana legal took effect on February 24 2015 placing Alaska alongside Colorado and Washington as the first three U.S. states where recreational marijuana is legal. The new law means people over 21 can consume small amounts of cannabis. The first legal marijuana store opened in Valdez in October 2016.To finance state government operations Alaska depends primarily on petroleum revenues and federal subsidies. This allows it to have the lowest individual tax burden in the United States. It is one of five states with no sales tax one of seven states with no individual income tax and—along with New Hampshire—one of two that has neither. The Department of Revenue Tax Division reports regularly on the state's revenue sources. The Department also issues an annual summary of its operations including new state laws that directly affect the tax division. In 2014 the Tax Foundation ranked Alaska as having the fourth most "business friendly" tax policy behind only Wyoming South Dakota and Nevada.While Alaska has no state sales tax 89 municipalities collect a local sales tax from 1.0 to 7.5% typically 3–5%. Other local taxes levied include raw fish taxes hotel motel and bed-and-breakfast 'bed' taxes severance taxes liquor and tobacco taxes gaming taxes tire taxes and fuel transfer taxes. A part of the revenue collected from certain state taxes and license fees is shared with municipalities in Alaska.The fall in oil prices after the fracking boom in the early 2010s has decimated Alaska's state treasury which has historically received about 85 percent of its revenue from taxes and fees imposed on oil and gas companies. The state government has had to drastically reduce its budget and has brought its budget shortfall from over $2 billion in 2016 to under $500 million by 2018. In 2020 Alaska's state government budget was $4.8 billion while projected government revenues were only $4.5 billion.Federal politics.Alaska regularly supports Republicans in presidential elections and has done so since statehood. Republicans have won the state's electoral college votes in all but one election that it has participated in . No state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. Alaska was carried by Democratic nominee Lyndon B. Johnson during his landslide election in 1964, while the 1960 and 1968 elections were close. Since 1972, however, Republicans have carried the state by large margins. In 2008, Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama in Alaska, 59.49% to 37.83%. McCain's running mate was Sarah Palin, the state's governor and the first Alaskan on a major party ticket. Obama lost Alaska again in 2012, but he captured 40% of the state's vote in that election, making him the first Democrat to do so since 1968.The Alaska Bush, central Juneau, midtown and downtown Anchorage, and the areas surrounding the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and Ester have been strongholds of the Democratic Party. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the majority of Fairbanks (including North Pole and the military base), and South Anchorage typically have the strongest Republican showing.In the 2020 election cycle, Alaskan voters approved Ballot Measure 2. The measure passed by a margin of 1.1%, or about 4,000 votes. The measure requires campaigns to disclose the original source and any intermediaries for campaign contributions over $2,000. The measure establishes non-partisan blanket primaries for statewide elections and ranked-choice voting . Alaska is the third state with jungle primaries for all statewide races, the second state with ranked voting, and the only state with both.The first race to use the new system of elections will be the 2022 Senate election in which Lisa Murkowski will run for re-election.
Agriculture is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105000 years ago nascent farmers began to plant them around 11500 years ago. Pigs sheep and cattle were domesticated over 10000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture.The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods fibers fuels and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals (grains) vegetables fruits oils meat milk eggs and fungi. Over one-third of the world's workers are employed in agriculture second only to the service sector although in recent decades the global trend of a decreasing number of agricultural workers continues especially in developing countries where smallholding is being overtaken by industrial agriculture and mechanization that brings a enormous crop yield increase.Modern agronomy plant breeding agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers and technological developments have sharply increased crop yields but causing ecological and environmental damage. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include contributions to global warming depletion of aquifers deforestation antibiotic resistance and growth hormones in industrial meat production. Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation such as biodiversity loss desertification soil degradation and global warming all of which can cause decreases in crop yield. Genetically modified organisms are widely used although some are banned in certain countries.Etymology and scope.The word "agriculture" is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin from 'field' and 'cultivation' or 'growing'. While agriculture usually refers to human activities certain species of ant termite and beetle have been cultivating crops for up to 60 million years. Agriculture is defined with varying scopes in its broadest sense using natural resources to "produce commodities which maintain life including food fiber forest products horticultural crops and their related services". Thus defined it includes arable farming horticulture animal husbandry and forestry but horticulture and forestry are in practice often excluded.The development of agriculture enabled the human population to grow many times larger than could be sustained by hunting and gathering. Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa, in at least 11 separate centres of origin. Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. From around 11,500 years ago, the eight Neolithic founder crops, emmer and einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax were cultivated in the Levant. Rice was domesticated in China between 11,500 and 6,200 BC with the earliest known cultivation from 5,700 BC, followed by mung, soy and azuki beans. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan some 10,500 years ago. Pig production emerged in Eurasia, including Europe, East Asia and Southwest Asia, where wild boar were first domesticated about 10,500 years ago. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, along with beans, coca, llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs. Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 9,000 years ago. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 7,000 years ago. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 5,600 years ago, and was independently domesticated in Eurasia. In Mesoamerica, wild teosinte was bred into maize by 6,000 years ago.Scholars have offered multiple hypotheses to explain the historical origins of agriculture. Studies of the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies indicate an initial period of intensification and increasing sedentism examples are the Natufian culture in the Levant and the Early Chinese Neolithic in China. Then wild stands that had previously been harvested started to be planted and gradually came to be domesticated.Civilizations.In Eurasia, the Sumerians started to live in villages from about 8,000 BC, relying on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a canal system for irrigation. Ploughs appear in pictographs around 3,000 BC; seed-ploughs around 2,300 BC. Farmers grew wheat, barley, vegetables such as lentils and onions, and fruits including dates, grapes, and figs. Ancient Egyptian agriculture relied on the Nile River and its seasonal flooding. Farming started in the predynastic period at the end of the Paleolithic, after 10,000 BC. Staple food crops were grains such as wheat and barley, alongside industrial crops such as flax and papyrus. In India, wheat, barley and jujube were domesticated by 9,000 BC, soon followed by sheep and goats. Cattle, sheep and goats were domesticated in Mehrgarh culture by 8,000–6,000 BC. Cotton was cultivated by the 5th–4th millennium BC. Archeological evidence indicates an animal-drawn plough from 2,500 BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation.In China from the 5th century BC there was a nationwide granary system and widespread silk farming. Water-powered grain mills were in use by the 1st century BC followed by irrigation. By the late 2nd century heavy ploughs had been developed with iron ploughshares and mouldboards. These spread westwards across Eurasia. Asian rice was domesticated 8200–13500 years ago – depending on the molecular clock estimate that is used – on the Pearl River in southern China with a single genetic origin from the wild rice . In Greece and Rome the major cereals were wheat emmer and barley alongside vegetables including peas beans and olives. Sheep and goats were kept mainly for dairy products.In the Americas, crops domesticated in Mesoamerica include squash, beans, and cacao. Cocoa was being domesticated by the Mayo Chinchipe of the upper Amazon around 3,000 BC.The turkey was probably domesticated in Mexico or the American Southwest. The Aztecs developed irrigation systems, formed terraced hillsides, fertilized their soil, and developed chinampas or artificial islands. The Mayas used extensive canal and raised field systems to farm swampland from 400 BC. Coca was domesticated in the Andes, as were the peanut, tomato, tobacco, and pineapple. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 3,600 BC. Animals including llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs were domesticated there. In North America, the indigenous people of the East domesticated crops such as sunflower, tobacco, squash and permaculture. A system of companion planting called the Three Sisters was developed in North America. The three crops were winter squash, maize, and climbing beans.Indigenous Australians long supposed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers practised systematic burning possibly to enhance natural productivity in fire-stick farming. The Gunditjmara and other groups developed eel farming and fish trapping systems from some 5000 years ago. There is evidence of across the whole continent over that period. In two regions of Australia the central west coast and eastern central early farmers cultivated yams native millet and bush onions possibly in permanent settlements.Revolution.In the Middle Ages both in Europe and in the Islamic world agriculture transformed with improved techniques and the diffusion of crop plants including the introduction of sugar rice cotton and fruit trees to Europe by way of Al-Andalus.After 1492 the Columbian exchange brought New World crops such as maize potatoes tomatoes sweet potatoes and manioc to Europe and Old World crops such as wheat barley rice and turnips and livestock to the Americas.Irrigation crop rotation and fertilizers advanced from the 17th century with the British Agricultural Revolution allowing global population to rise significantly. Since 1900 agriculture in developed nations and to a lesser extent in the developing world has seen large rises in productivity as mechanization replaces human labor and assisted by synthetic fertilizers pesticides and selective breeding. The Haber-Bosch method allowed the synthesis of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on an industrial scale greatly increasing crop yields and sustaining a further increase in global population. Modern agriculture has raised or encountered ecological political and economic issues including water pollution biofuels genetically modified organisms tariffs and farm subsidies leading to alternative approaches such as the organic movement.Pastoralism involves managing domesticated animals. In nomadic pastoralism herds of livestock are moved from place to place in search of pasture fodder and water. This type of farming is practised in arid and semi-arid regions of Sahara Central Asia and some parts of India.In shifting cultivation, a small area of forest is cleared by cutting and burning the trees. The cleared land is used for growing crops for a few years until the soil becomes too infertile, and the area is abandoned. Another patch of land is selected and the process is repeated. This type of farming is practiced mainly in areas with abundant rainfall where the forest regenerates quickly. This practice is used in Northeast India, Southeast Asia, and the Amazon Basin.Subsistence farming is practiced to satisfy family or local needs alone with little left over for transport elsewhere. It is intensively practiced in Monsoon Asia and South-East Asia. An estimated 2.5 billion subsistence farmers worked in 2018 cultivating about 60% of the earth's arable land.Intensive farming is cultivation to maximise productivity with a low fallow ratio and a high use of inputs . It is practiced mainly in developed countries.Contemporary agriculture.From the twentieth century intensive agriculture increased productivity. It substituted synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for labour but caused increased water pollution and often involved farm subsidies. In recent years there has been a backlash against the environmental effects of conventional agriculture resulting in the organic regenerative and sustainable agriculture movements. One of the major forces behind this movement has been the European Union which first certified organic food in 1991 and began reform of its Common Agricultural Policy in 2005 to phase out commodity-linked farm subsidies also known as decoupling. The growth of organic farming has renewed research in alternative technologies such as integrated pest management selective breeding and controlled-environment agriculture. Recent mainstream technological developments include genetically modified food. Demand for non-food biofuel crops development of former farm lands rising transportation costs climate change growing consumer demand in China and India and population growth are threatening food security in many parts of the world. The International Fund for Agricultural Development posits that an increase in smallholder agriculture may be part of the solution to concerns about food prices and overall food security given the favorable experience of Vietnam. Soil degradation and diseases such as stem rust are major concerns globally approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. By 2015 the agricultural output of China was the largest in the world followed by the European Union India and the United States. Economists measure the total factor productivity of agriculture and by this measure agriculture in the United States is roughly 1.7 times more productive than it was in 1948.Following the three-sector theory the number of people employed in agriculture and other primary activities can be more than 80% in the least developed countries and less than 2% in the most highly developed countries. Since the Industrial Revolution many countries have made the transition to developed economies and the proportion of people working in agriculture has steadily fallen. During the 16th century in Europe for example between 55 and 75% of the population was engaged in agriculture by the 19th century this had dropped to between 35 and 65%. In the same countries today the figure is less than 10%.At the start of the 21st century some one billion people or over 1/3 of the available work force were employed in agriculture. It constitutes approximately 70% of the global employment of children and in many countries employs the largest percentage of women of any industry. The service sector overtook the agricultural sector as the largest global employer in 2007.Agriculture specifically farming remains a hazardous industry and farmers worldwide remain at high risk of work-related injuries lung disease noise-induced hearing loss skin diseases as well as certain cancers related to chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. On industrialized farms injuries frequently involve the use of agricultural machinery and a common cause of fatal agricultural injuries in developed countries is tractor rollovers. Pesticides and other chemicals used in farming can be hazardous to worker health and workers exposed to pesticides may experience illness or have children with birth defects. As an industry in which families commonly share in work and live on the farm itself entire families can be at risk for injuries illness and death. Ages 0–6 May be an especially vulnerable population in agriculture common causes of fatal injuries among young farm workers include drowning machinery and motor accidents including with all-terrain vehicles.The International Labour Organization considers agriculture "one of the most hazardous of all economic sectors". It estimates that the annual work-related death toll among agricultural employees is at least 170,000, twice the average rate of other jobs. In addition, incidences of death, injury and illness related to agricultural activities often go unreported. The organization has developed the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001, which covers the range of risks in the agriculture occupation, the prevention of these risks and the role that individuals and organizations engaged in agriculture should play.In the United States agriculture has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda to identify and provide intervention strategies for occupational health and safety issues.In the European Union, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has issued guidelines on implementing health and safety directives in agriculture, livestock farming, horticulture, and forestry. The Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America also holds a yearly summit to discuss safety.Production.Overall production varies by country as listed.Crop cultivation systems.Cropping systems vary among farms depending on the available resources and constraints geography and climate of the farm government policy economic social and political pressures and the philosophy and culture of the farmer.Shifting cultivation is a system in which forests are burnt releasing nutrients to support cultivation of annual and then perennial crops for a period of several years. Then the plot is left fallow to regrow forest and the farmer moves to a new plot returning after many more years . This fallow period is shortened if population density grows requiring the input of nutrients and some manual pest control. Annual cultivation is the next phase of intensity in which there is no fallow period. This requires even greater nutrient and pest control inputs.Further industrialization led to the use of monocultures, when one cultivar is planted on a large acreage. Because of the low biodiversity, nutrient use is uniform and pests tend to build up, necessitating the greater use of pesticides and fertilizers. Multiple cropping, in which several crops are grown sequentially in one year, and intercropping, when several crops are grown at the same time, are other kinds of annual cropping systems known as polycultures.In subtropical and arid environments the timing and extent of agriculture may be limited by rainfall either not allowing multiple annual crops in a year or requiring irrigation. In all of these environments perennial crops are grown and systems are practiced such as agroforestry. In temperate environments where ecosystems were predominantly grassland or prairie highly productive annual farming is the dominant agricultural system.Important categories of food crops include cereals legumes forage fruits and vegetables. Natural fibers include cotton wool hemp silk and flax. Specific crops are cultivated in distinct growing regions throughout the world. Production is listed in millions of metric tons based on FAO estimates.Livestock production systems.Animal husbandry is the breeding and raising of animals for meat, milk, eggs, or wool, and for work and transport. Working animals, including horses, mules, oxen, water buffalo, camels, llamas, alpacas, donkeys, and dogs, have for centuries been used to help cultivate fields, harvest crops, wrangle other animals, and transport farm products to buyers.Livestock production systems can be defined based on feed source as grassland-based mixed and landless. 30% of Earth's ice- and water-free area was used for producing livestock with the sector employing approximately 1.3 billion people. Between the 1960s and the 2000s there was a significant increase in livestock production both by numbers and by carcass weight especially among beef pigs and chickens the latter of which had production increased by almost a factor of 10. Non-meat animals such as milk cows and egg-producing chickens also showed significant production increases. Global cattle sheep and goat populations are expected to continue to increase sharply through 2050. Aquaculture or fish farming the production of fish for human consumption in confined operations is one of the fastest growing sectors of food production growing at an average of 9% a year between 1975 and 2007.During the second half of the 20th century, producers using selective breeding focused on creating livestock breeds and crossbreeds that increased production, while mostly disregarding the need to preserve genetic diversity. This trend has led to a significant decrease in genetic diversity and resources among livestock breeds, leading to a corresponding decrease in disease resistance and local adaptations previously found among traditional breeds.Grassland based livestock production relies upon plant material such as shrubland rangeland and pastures for feeding ruminant animals. Outside nutrient inputs may be used however manure is returned directly to the grassland as a major nutrient source. This system is particularly important in areas where crop production is not feasible because of climate or soil representing 30–40 million pastoralists. Mixed production systems use grassland fodder crops and grain feed crops as feed for ruminant and monogastric livestock. Manure is typically recycled in mixed systems as a fertilizer for crops.Landless systems rely upon feed from outside the farm, representing the de-linking of crop and livestock production found more prevalently in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries. Synthetic fertilizers are more heavily relied upon for crop production and manure use becomes a challenge as well as a source for pollution. Industrialized countries use these operations to produce much of the global supplies of poultry and pork. Scientists estimate that 75% of the growth in livestock production between 2003 and 2030 will be in confined animal feeding operations, sometimes called factory farming. Much of this growth is happening in developing countries in Asia, with much smaller amounts of growth in Africa. Some of the practices used in commercial livestock production, including the usage of growth hormones, are controversial.Production practices.Tillage is the practice of breaking up the soil with tools such as the plow or harrow to prepare for planting, for nutrient incorporation, or for pest control. Tillage varies in intensity from conventional to no-till. It may improve productivity by warming the soil, incorporating fertilizer and controlling weeds, but also renders soil more prone to erosion, triggers the decomposition of organic matter releasing CO2, and reduces the abundance and diversity of soil organisms.Pest control includes the management of weeds insects mites and diseases. Chemical biological mechanical and cultural practices are used. Cultural practices include crop rotation culling cover crops intercropping composting avoidance and resistance. Integrated pest management attempts to use all of these methods to keep pest populations below the number which would cause economic loss and recommends pesticides as a last resort.Nutrient management includes both the source of nutrient inputs for crop and livestock production, and the method of use of manure produced by livestock. Nutrient inputs can be chemical inorganic fertilizers, manure, green manure, compost and minerals. Crop nutrient use may also be managed using cultural techniques such as crop rotation or a fallow period. Manure is used either by holding livestock where the feed crop is growing, such as in managed intensive rotational grazing, or by spreading either dry or liquid formulations of manure on cropland or pastures.Water management is needed where rainfall is insufficient or variable which occurs to some degree in most regions of the world. Some farmers use irrigation to supplement rainfall. In other areas such as the Great Plains in the U.S. and Canada farmers use a fallow year to conserve soil moisture to use for growing a crop in the following year. Agriculture represents 70% of freshwater use worldwide.According to a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute agricultural technologies will have the greatest impact on food production if adopted in combination with each other using a model that assessed how eleven technologies could impact agricultural productivity food security and trade by 2050 the International Food Policy Research Institute found that the number of people at risk from hunger could be reduced by as much as 40% and food prices could be reduced by almost half.Payment for ecosystem services is a method of providing additional incentives to encourage farmers to conserve some aspects of the environment. Measures might include paying for reforestation upstream of a city, to improve the supply of fresh water.Crop alteration and biotechnology.Plant breeding.Crop alteration has been practiced by humankind for thousands of years since the beginning of civilization. Altering crops through breeding practices changes the genetic make-up of a plant to develop crops with more beneficial characteristics for humans for example larger fruits or seeds drought-tolerance or resistance to pests. Significant advances in plant breeding ensued after the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel. His work on dominant and recessive alleles although initially largely ignored for almost 50 years gave plant breeders a better understanding of genetics and breeding techniques. Crop breeding includes techniques such as plant selection with desirable traits self-pollination and cross-pollination and molecular techniques that genetically modify the organism.Domestication of plants has, over the centuries increased yield, improved disease resistance and drought tolerance, eased harvest and improved the taste and nutritional value of crop plants. Careful selection and breeding have had enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant selection and breeding in the 1920s and 1930s improved pasture (grasses and clover) in New Zealand. Extensive X-ray and ultraviolet induced mutagenesis efforts (i.e. primitive genetic engineering) during the 1950s produced the modern commercial varieties of grains such as wheat, corn (maize) and barley.The Green Revolution popularized the use of conventional hybridization to sharply increase yield by creating "high-yielding varieties". For example, average yields of corn in the US have increased from around 2.5 tons per hectare in 1900 to about 9.4 t/ha in 2001. Similarly, worldwide average wheat yields have increased from less than 1 t/ha in 1900 to more than 2.5 t/ha in 1990. South American average wheat yields are around 2 t/ha, African under 1 t/ha, and Egypt and Arabia up to 3.5 to 4 t/ha with irrigation. In contrast, the average wheat yield in countries such as France is over 8 t/ha. Variations in yields are due mainly to variation in climate, genetics, and the level of intensive farming techniques .Genetic engineering.Genetically modified organisms are organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to use in creating desired germlines for new crops. Increased durability, nutritional content, insect and virus resistance and herbicide tolerance are a few of the attributes bred into crops through genetic engineering. For some, GMO crops cause food safety and food labeling concerns. Numerous countries have placed restrictions on the production, import or use of GMO foods and crops. Currently a global treaty, the Biosafety Protocol, regulates the trade of GMOs. There is ongoing discussion regarding the labeling of foods made from GMOs, and while the EU currently requires all GMO foods to be labeled, the US does not.Herbicide-resistant seed has a gene implanted into its genome that allows the plants to tolerate exposure to herbicides, including glyphosate. These seeds allow the farmer to grow a crop that can be sprayed with herbicides to control weeds without harming the resistant crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops are used by farmers worldwide. With the increasing use of herbicide-tolerant crops, comes an increase in the use of glyphosate-based herbicide sprays. In some areas glyphosate resistant weeds have developed, causing farmers to switch to other herbicides. Some studies also link widespread glyphosate usage to iron deficiencies in some crops, which is both a crop production and a nutritional quality concern, with potential economic and health implications.Other GMO crops used by growers include insect-resistant crops which have a gene from the soil bacterium which produces a toxin specific to insects. These crops resist damage by insects. Some believe that similar or better pest-resistance traits can be acquired through traditional breeding practices and resistance to various pests can be gained through hybridization or cross-pollination with wild species. In some cases wild species are the primary source of resistance traits some tomato cultivars that have gained resistance to at least 19 diseases did so through crossing with wild populations of tomatoes.Environmental impact.Effects and costs.Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss, desertification, soil degradation and global warming, which cause decrease in crop yield. Agriculture is one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, particularly habitat change, climate change, water use and toxic emissions. Agriculture is the main source of toxins released into the environment, including insecticides, especially those used on cotton. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy report stated that agricultural operations produced some 13 per cent of anthropogenic global greenhouse gas emissions. This includes gases from the use of inorganic fertilizers, agro-chemical pesticides, and herbicides, as well as fossil fuel-energy inputs.Agriculture imposes multiple external costs upon society through effects such as pesticide damage to nature (especially herbicides and insecticides) nutrient runoff excessive water usage and loss of natural environment. A 2000 assessment of agriculture in the UK determined total external costs for 1996 of £2343 million or £208 per hectare. A 2005 analysis of these costs in the US concluded that cropland imposes approximately $5 to $16 billion ($30 to $96 per hectare) while livestock production imposes $714 million. Both studies which focused solely on the fiscal impacts concluded that more should be done to internalize external costs. Neither included subsidies in their analysis but they noted that subsidies also influence the cost of agriculture to society.Agriculture seeks to increase yield and to reduce costs. Yield increases with inputs such as fertilisers and removal of pathogens predators and competitors (such as weeds). Costs decrease with increasing scale of farm units such as making fields larger this means removing hedges ditches and other areas of habitat. Pesticides kill insects plants and fungi. These and other measures have cut biodiversity to very low levels on intensively farmed land. Effective yields fall with on-farm losses which may be caused by poor production practices during harvesting handling and storage.Livestock issues.A senior UN official Henning Steinfeld said that Land and water issues.Land transformation the use of land to yield goods and services is the most substantial way humans alter the Earth's ecosystems and is the driving force causing biodiversity loss. Estimates of the amount of land transformed by humans vary from 39 to 50%. Land degradation the long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity is estimated to be occurring on 24% of land worldwide with cropland overrepresented. Land management is the driving factor behind degradation 1.5 billion people rely upon the degrading land. Degradation can be through deforestation desertification soil erosion mineral depletion acidification or salinization.Eutrophication, excessive nutrient enrichment in aquatic ecosystems resulting in algal blooms and anoxia, leads to fish kills, loss of biodiversity, and renders water unfit for drinking and other industrial uses. Excessive fertilization and manure application to cropland, as well as high livestock stocking densities cause nutrient runoff and leaching from agricultural land. These nutrients are major nonpoint pollutants contributing to eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems and pollution of groundwater, with harmful effects on human populations. Fertilisers also reduce terrestrial biodiversity by increasing competition for light, favouring those species that are able to benefit from the added nutrients.Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of withdrawals of freshwater resources. Agriculture is a major draw on water from aquifers and currently draws from those underground water sources at an unsustainable rate. It is long known that aquifers in areas as diverse as northern China the Upper Ganges and the western US are being depleted and new research extends these problems to aquifers in Iran Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Increasing pressure is being placed on water resources by industry and urban areas meaning that water scarcity is increasing and agriculture is facing the challenge of producing more food for the world's growing population with reduced water resources. Agricultural water usage can also cause major environmental problems including the destruction of natural wetlands the spread of water-borne diseases and land degradation through salinization and waterlogging when irrigation is performed incorrectly.Pesticides.Pesticide use has increased since 1950 to 2.5million short tons annually worldwide, yet crop loss from pests has remained relatively constant. The World Health Organization estimated in 1992 that three million pesticide poisonings occur annually, causing 220,000 deaths. Pesticides select for pesticide resistance in the pest population, leading to a condition termed the in which pest resistance warrants the development of a new pesticide.An alternative argument is that the way to "save the environment" and prevent famine is by using pesticides and intensive high yield farming a view exemplified by a quote heading the Center for Global Food Issues website 'Growing more per acre leaves more land for nature'. However critics argue that a trade-off between the environment and a need for food is not inevitable and that pesticides simply replace good agronomic practices such as crop rotation. The Push–pull agricultural pest management technique involves intercropping using plant aromas to repel pests from crops and to lure them to a place from which they can then be removed .Climate change.Climate change and agriculture are interrelated on a global scale. Global warming affects agriculture through changes in average temperatures rainfall and weather extremes (like storms and heat waves) changes in pests and diseases changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground-level ozone concentrations changes in the nutritional quality of some foods and changes in sea level. Global warming is already affecting agriculture with effects unevenly distributed across the world. Future climate change will probably negatively affect crop production in low latitude countries while effects in northern latitudes may be positive or negative. Global warming will probably increase the risk of food insecurity for some vulnerable groups such as the poor.Animal husbandry is also responsible for greenhouse gas production of CO2 and a percentage of the world's methane and future land infertility and the displacement of wildlife. Agriculture contributes to climate change by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and by the conversion of non-agricultural land such as forest for agricultural use. Agriculture forestry and land-use change contributed around 20 to 25% to global annual emissions in 2010. A range of policies can reduce the risk of negative climate change impacts on agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector.Sustainability.Current farming methods have resulted in over-stretched water resources, high levels of erosion and reduced soil fertility. There is not enough water to continue farming using current practices; therefore how critical water, land, and ecosystem resources are used to boost crop yields must be reconsidered. A solution would be to give value to ecosystems, recognizing environmental and livelihood tradeoffs, and balancing the rights of a variety of users and interests. Inequities that result when such measures are adopted would need to be addressed, such as the reallocation of water from poor to rich, the clearing of land to make way for more productive farmland, or the preservation of a wetland system that limits fishing rights.Technological advancements help provide farmers with tools and resources to make farming more sustainable. Technology permits innovations like conservation tillage a farming process which helps prevent land loss to erosion reduces water pollution and enhances carbon sequestration. Other potential practices include conservation agriculture agroforestry improved grazing avoided grassland conversion and biochar. Current mono-crop farming practices in the United States preclude widespread adoption of sustainable practices such as 2-3 crop rotations that incorporate grass or hay with annual crops unless negative emission goals such as soil carbon sequestration become policy.The International Food Policy Research Institute states that agricultural technologies will have the greatest impact on food production if adopted in combination with each other; using a model that assessed how eleven technologies could impact agricultural productivity, food security and trade by 2050, it found that the number of people at risk from hunger could be reduced by as much as 40% and food prices could be reduced by almost half. The food demand of Earth's projected population, with current climate change predictions, could be satisfied by improvement of agricultural methods, expansion of agricultural areas, and a sustainability-oriented consumer mindset.Energy dependence.Since the 1940s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, due largely to the increased use of energy-intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides. The vast majority of this energy input comes from fossil fuel sources. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, with world grain production increasing significantly as world population doubled. Heavy reliance on petrochemicals has raised concerns that oil shortages could increase costs and reduce agricultural output.Industrialized agriculture depends on fossil fuels in two fundamental ways: direct consumption on the farm and manufacture of inputs used on the farm. Direct consumption includes the use of lubricants and fuels to operate farm vehicles and machinery.Indirect consumption includes the manufacture of fertilizers pesticides and farm machinery. In particular the production of nitrogen fertilizer can account for over half of agricultural energy usage. Together direct and indirect consumption by US farms accounts for about 2% of the nation's energy use. Direct and indirect energy consumption by U.S. farms peaked in 1979 and has since gradually declined. Food systems encompass not just agriculture but off-farm processing packaging transporting marketing consumption and disposal of food and food-related items. Agriculture accounts for less than one-fifth of food system energy use in the US.Disciplines.Agricultural economics.Agricultural economics is economics as it relates to the "production, distribution and consumption of goods and services". Combining agricultural production with general theories of marketing and business as a discipline of study began in the late 1800s, and grew significantly through the 20th century. Although the study of agricultural economics is relatively recent, major trends in agriculture have significantly affected national and international economies throughout history, ranging from tenant farmers and sharecropping in the post-American Civil War Southern United States to the European feudal system of manorialism. In the United States, and elsewhere, food costs attributed to food processing, distribution, and agricultural marketing, sometimes referred to as the value chain, have risen while the costs attributed to farming have declined. This is related to the greater efficiency of farming, combined with the increased level of value addition provided by the supply chain. Market concentration has increased in the sector as well, and although the total effect of the increased market concentration is likely increased efficiency, the changes redistribute economic surplus from producers and consumers, and may have negative implications for rural communities.National government policies can significantly change the economic marketplace for agricultural products, in the form of taxation, subsidies, tariffs and other measures. Since at least the 1960s, a combination of trade restrictions, exchange rate policies and subsidies have affected farmers in both the developing and the developed world. In the 1980s, non-subsidized farmers in developing countries experienced adverse effects from national policies that created artificially low global prices for farm products. Between the mid-1980s and the early 2000s, several international agreements limited agricultural tariffs, subsidies and other trade restrictions.However there was still a significant amount of policy-driven distortion in global agricultural product prices. The three agricultural products with the most trade distortion were sugar milk and rice mainly due to taxation. Among the oilseeds sesame had the most taxation but overall feed grains and oilseeds had much lower levels of taxation than livestock products. Since the 1980s policy-driven distortions have seen a greater decrease among livestock products than crops during the worldwide reforms in agricultural policy. Despite this progress certain crops such as cotton still see subsidies in developed countries artificially deflating global prices causing hardship in developing countries with non-subsidized farmers. Unprocessed commodities such as corn soybeans and cattle are generally graded to indicate quality affecting the price the producer receives. Commodities are generally reported by production quantities such as volume number or weight.Agricultural science.Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact natural economic and social sciences used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. It covers topics such as agronomy plant breeding and genetics plant pathology crop modelling soil science entomology production techniques and improvement study of pests and their management and study of adverse environmental effects such as soil degradation waste management and bioremediation.The scientific study of agriculture began in the 18th century, when Johann Friedrich Mayer conducted experiments on the use of gypsum as a fertilizer. Research became more systematic when in 1843, John Lawes and Henry Gilbert began a set of long-term agronomy field experiments at Rothamsted Research Station in England; some of them, such as the Park Grass Experiment, are still running. In America, the Hatch Act of 1887 provided funding for what it was the first to call "agricultural science", driven by farmers' interest in fertilizers. In agricultural entomology, the USDA began to research biological control in 1881; it instituted its first large program in 1905, searching Europe and Japan for natural enemies of the gypsy moth and brown-tail moth, establishing parasitoids and predators of both pests in the USA.Agricultural policy is the set of government decisions and actions relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Some overarching themes include risk management and adjustment , economic stability , natural resources and environmental sustainability , research and development, and market access for domestic commodities . Agricultural policy can also touch on food quality, ensuring that the food supply is of a consistent and known quality, food security, ensuring that the food supply meets the population's needs, and conservation. Policy programs can range from financial programs, such as subsidies, to encouraging producers to enroll in voluntary quality assurance programs.There are many influences on the creation of agricultural policy including consumers agribusiness trade lobbies and other groups. Agribusiness interests hold a large amount of influence over policy making in the form of lobbying and campaign contributions. Political action groups including those interested in environmental issues and labor unions also provide influence as do lobbying organizations representing individual agricultural commodities. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads international efforts to defeat hunger and provides a forum for the negotiation of global agricultural regulations and agreements. Samuel Jutzi director of FAO's animal production and health division states that lobbying by large corporations has stopped reforms that would improve human health and the environment. For example proposals in 2010 for a voluntary code of conduct for the livestock industry that would have provided incentives for improving standards for health and environmental regulations such as the number of animals an area of land can support without long-term damage were successfully defeated due to large food company pressure.
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books—both novels and non-fiction works—as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.Born into the prominent Huxley family he graduated from Balliol College Oxford with an undergraduate degree in English literature. Early in his career he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine before going on to publish travel writing satire and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism and universalism, addressing these subjects with works such as , he presented his vision of dystopia and utopia, respectively.Early life.Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, England, in 1894. He was the third son of the writer and schoolmaster Leonard Huxley, who edited "The Cornhill Magazine", and his first wife, Julia Arnold, who founded Prior's Field School. Julia was the niece of poet and critic Matthew Arnold and the sister of Mrs. Humphry Ward. Julia named him Aldous after a character in one of her sister's novels. Aldous was the grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley, the zoologist, agnostic, and controversialist . His brother Julian Huxley and half-brother Andrew Huxley also became outstanding biologists. Aldous had another brother, Noel Trevenen Huxley , who took his own life after a period of clinical depression.As a child, Huxley's nickname was "Ogie", short for "Ogre". He was described by his brother, Julian, as someone who frequently " the strangeness of things". According to his cousin and contemporary, Gervas Huxley, he had an early interest in drawing.Huxleys well-equipped botanical laboratory, after which he enrolled at Hillside School near Godalming. He was taught there by his own mother for several years until she became terminally ill. After Hillside he went on to Eton College. His mother died in 1908, when he was 14 . He contracted the eye disease Keratitis punctata in 1911; this in 1916, and in June of that year graduated BA with first class honours. His brother Julian wrote:Following his years at Balliol, Huxley, being financially indebted to his father, decided to find employment. He taught French for a year at Eton College, where Eric Blair and Steven Runciman were among his pupils. He was mainly remembered as being an incompetent schoolmaster unable to keep order in class. Nevertheless, Blair and others spoke highly of his excellent command of language.Huxley also worked for a time during the 1920s at Brunner and Mond, an advanced chemical plant in Billingham in County Durham, northeast England. According to the introduction to the latest edition of his science fiction novel "Brave New World" (1932), the experience he had there of "an ordered universe in a world of planless incoherence" was an important source for the novel.Huxley completed his first novel at the age of 17 and began writing seriously in his early twenties establishing himself as a successful writer and social satirist. His first published novels were social satires "Crome Yellow" "Antic Hay" "Those Barren Leaves" and "Point Counter Point" . "Brave New World" was his fifth novel and first dystopian work. In the 1920s he was also a contributor to "Vanity Fair" and British "Vogue" magazines.Contact with the Bloomsbury Set.During the First World War, Huxley spent much of his time at Garsington Manor near Oxford, home of Lady Ottoline Morrell, working as a farm labourer. There he met several Bloomsbury Group figures, including Bertrand Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, and Clive Bell. Later, in "Crome Yellow" he caricatured the Garsington lifestyle. Jobs were very scarce, but in 1919 John Middleton Murry was reorganising the "Athenaeum" and invited Huxley to join the staff. He accepted immediately, and quickly married the Belgian refugee Maria Nys, also at Garsington. They lived with their young son in Italy part of the time during the 1920s, where Huxley would visit his friend D. H. Lawrence. Following Lawrence's death in 1930, Huxley edited Lawrence's letters . Very early in 1929, in London, Huxley met Gerald Heard, a brilliant writer and broadcaster, philosopher and interpreter of contemporary science.Works of this period included important novels on the dehumanising aspects of scientific progress most famously and on pacifist themes (for example ). In .Beginning in this period Huxley began to write and edit non-fiction works on pacifist issues including and was an active member of the Peace Pledge Union.Life in the United States.In 1937 Huxley moved to Hollywood with his wife Maria, son Matthew Huxley, and friend Gerald Heard. He lived in the U.S., mainly in southern California, until his death, and also for a time in Taos, New Mexico, where he wrote . The book contains tracts on war, religion, nationalism and ethics.Heard introduced Huxley to Vedanta , meditation, and vegetarianism through the principle of ahimsa. In 1938, Huxley befriended Jiddu Krishnamurti, whose teachings he greatly admired. Huxley and Krishnamurti entered into an enduring exchange over many years, with Krishnamurti representing the more rarefied, detached, ivory-tower perspective and Huxley, with his pragmatic concerns, the more socially and historically informed position. Huxley provided an introduction to Krishnamurti's quintessential statement, .Huxley also became a Vedantist in the circle of Hindu Swami Prabhavananda, and introduced Christopher Isherwood to this circle. Not long afterwards, Huxley wrote his book on widely held spiritual values and ideas, "The Perennial Philosophy", which discussed the teachings of renowned mystics of the world. Huxley's book affirmed a sensibility that insists there are realities beyond the generally accepted "five senses" and that there is genuine meaning for humans beyond both sensual satisfactions and sentimentalities.Huxley became a close friend of Remsen Bird president of Occidental College. He spent much time at the college which is in the Eagle Rock neighbourhood of Los Angeles. The college appears as "Tarzana College" in his satirical novel "After Many a Summer" (1939). The novel won Huxley a British literary award the 1939 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Huxley also incorporated Bird into the novel.During this period, Huxley earned a substantial income as a Hollywood screenwriter; Christopher Isherwood, in his autobiography "My Guru and His Disciple", states that Huxley earned more than $3,000 per week as a screenwriter, and that he used much of it to transport Jewish and left-wing writer and artist refugees from Hitler's Germany to the US. In March 1938, Huxley's friend Anita Loos, a novelist and screenwriter, put him in touch with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , which hired him for "Madame Curie" which was originally to star Greta Garbo and be directed by George Cukor. Huxley received screen credit for "Pride and Prejudice" and was paid for his work on a number of other films, including "Jane Eyre" . He was commissioned by Walt Disney in 1945 to write a script based on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the biography of the story's author, Lewis Carroll. The script was not used, however.Huxley wrote an introduction to the posthumous publication of J. D. Unwin's 1940 book .On 21 October 1949 Huxley wrote to George Orwell, author of . In his letter to Orwell, he predicted:In 1953 Huxley and Maria applied for United States citizenship and presented themselves for examination. When Huxley refused to bear arms for the U.S. and would not state that his objections were based on religious ideals, the only excuse allowed under the McCarran Act, the judge had to adjourn the proceedings. He withdrew his application. Nevertheless, he remained in the U.S. In 1959 Huxley turned down an offer to be made a Knight Bachelor by the Macmillan government without putting forward a reason; his brother Julian had been knighted in 1958, while another brother Andrew would be knighted in 1974.In the fall semester of 1960 Huxley was invited by Professor Huston Smith to be the Carnegie Visiting Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . As part of the MIT centennial program of events organised by the Department of Humanities, Huxley presented a series of lectures titled, which concerned history, language, and art.Late-in-life perspectives.Biographer Harold H. Watts wrote that Huxley's writings in the Huxley's engagement with Eastern wisdom traditions was entirely compatible with a strong appreciation of modern science. Biographer Milton Birnbaum wrote that Huxley Association with Vedanta.Beginning in 1939 and continuing until his death in 1963, Huxley had an extensive association with the Vedanta Society of Southern California, founded and headed by Swami Prabhavananda. Together with Gerald Heard, Christopher Isherwood and other followers, he was initiated by the Swami and was taught meditation and spiritual practices.In 1944 Huxley wrote the introduction to the translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood which was published by the Vedanta Society of Southern California.From 1941 until 1960, Huxley contributed 48 articles to , published by the society. He also served on the editorial board with Isherwood, Heard, and playwright John Van Druten from 1951 through 1962.Huxley also occasionally lectured at the Hollywood and Santa Barbara Vedanta temples. Two of those lectures have been released on CD: "Knowledge and Understanding" and "Who Are We?" from 1955. Nonetheless, Huxley's agnosticism, together with his speculative propensity, made it difficult for him to fully embrace any form of institutionalised religion.Psychedelic drug use and mystical experiences.In the spring of 1953 Huxley had his first experience with the psychedelic drug mescaline. Huxley had initiated a correspondence with Doctor Humphry Osmond a British psychiatrist then employed in a Canadian institution and eventually asked him to supply a dose of mescaline Osmond obliged and supervised Huxley's session in southern California. After the publication of "The Doors of Perception" in which he recounted this experience Huxley and Swami Prabhavananda disagreed about the meaning and importance of the psychedelic drug experience which may have caused the relationship to cool but Huxley continued to write articles for the society's journal lecture at the temple and attend social functions. Huxley later had an experience on mescaline that he considered more profound than those detailed in "The Doors of Perception".Huxley wrote that "The mystical experience is doubly valuable it is valuable because it gives the experiencer a better understanding of himself and the world and because it may help him to lead a less self-centered and more creative life."Differing accounts exist about the details of the quality of Huxley's eyesight at specific points in his life. Circa 1939 Huxley encountered the Bates method in which he was instructed by Margaret Darst Corbett. In 1940 Huxley relocated from Hollywood to a "ranchito" in the high desert hamlet of Llano California in northern Los Angeles County. Huxley then said that his sight improved dramatically with the Bates Method and the extreme and pure natural lighting of the southwestern American desert. He reported that for the first time in more than 25 years he was able to read without glasses and without strain. He even tried driving a car along the dirt road beside the ranch. He wrote a book about his experiences with the Bates Method "The Art of Seeing" which was published in 1942 1943 . The book contained some generally disputed theories and its publication created a growing degree of popular controversy about Huxley's eyesight.It was, and is, widely believed that Huxley was nearly blind since the illness in his teens, despite the partial recovery that had enabled him to study at Oxford. For example, some ten years after publication of "The Art of Seeing", in 1952, Bennett Cerf was present when Huxley spoke at a Hollywood banquet, wearing no glasses and apparently reading his paper from the lectern without difficulty: "Then suddenly he faltered—and the disturbing truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his address at all. He had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory he brought the paper closer and closer to his eyes. When it was only an inch or so away he still couldn't read it, and had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible to him. It was an agonising moment".Brazilian author Joo Ubaldo Ribeiro, who as a young journalist spent several evenings in the Huxleys' company in the late 1950s, wrote that Huxley had said to him, with a wry smile, "I can hardly see at all. And I don't give a damn, really".On the other hand Huxleys eyesight continues to endure similar significant controversy.American popular science author Steven Johnson, in his book "Mind Wide Open", quotes Huxley about his difficulties with visual encoding: "I am and, for as long as I can remember, I have always been a poor visualizer. Words, even the pregnant words of poets, do not evoke pictures in my mind. No hypnagogic visions greet me on the verge of sleep. When I recall something, the memory does not present itself to me as a vividly seen event or object. By an effort of the will, I can evoke a not very vivid image of what happened yesterday afternoon ...".Personal life.Huxley married on 10 July 1919 Maria Nys , a Belgian epidemiologist from Bellem, a village near Aalter, he met at Garsington, Oxfordshire, in 1919. They had one child, Matthew Huxley , who had a career as an author, anthropologist, and prominent epidemiologist. In 1955, Maria Huxley died of cancer.In 1956 Huxley married Laura Archera , also an author, as well as a violinist and psychotherapist. She wrote "This Timeless Moment", a biography of Huxley. She told the story of their marriage through Mary Ann Braubach's 2010 documentary, "Huxley on Huxley".Huxley was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 1960; in the years that followed, with his health deteriorating, he wrote the Utopian novel both at the UCSF Medical Center and at the Esalen Institute. These lectures were fundamental to the beginning of the Human Potential Movement.Huxley was a close friend of Jiddu Krishnamurti and Rosalind Rajagopal and was involved in the creation of the Happy Valley School, now Besant Hill School of Happy Valley, in Ojai, California.The most substantial collection of Huxley's few remaining papers, following the destruction of most in the 1961 Bel Air Fire, is at the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles. Some are also at the Stanford University Libraries.On 9 April 1962 Huxley was informed he was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature the senior literary organisation in Britain and he accepted the title via letter on 28 April 1962. The correspondence between Huxley and the society is kept at the Cambridge University Library. The society invited Huxley to appear at a banquet and give a lecture at Somerset House London in June 1963. Huxley wrote a draft of the speech he intended to give at the society however his deteriorating health meant he was not able to attend.On his deathbed, unable to speak owing to advanced laryngeal cancer, Huxley made a written request to his wife Laura for , she obliged with an injection at 11:20 a.m. and a second dose an hour later; Huxley died aged 69, at 5:20 p.m. (Los Angeles time), on 22 November 1963.Media coverage of Huxley's death along with that of fellow British author C. S. Lewis was overshadowed by the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy on the same day less than seven hours before Huxley's death. In a 2009 article for "New York" magazine titled "The Eclipsed Celebrity Death Club" Christopher Bonanos wroteThis coincidence served as the basis for Peter Kreeft's book , which imagines a conversation among the three men taking place in Purgatory following their deaths.Huxley's memorial service took place in London in December 1963; it was led by his elder brother Julian. On 27 October 1971, his ashes were interred in the family grave at the Watts Cemetery, home of the Watts Mortuary Chapel in Compton, Guildford, Surrey, England.Huxley had been a long-time friend of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who dedicated his last orchestral composition to Huxley. What became "" was begun in July 1963, completed in October 1964, and premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 17 April 1965.
Ada may refer to:Aberdeen is a city in Scotland, United Kingdom.Aberdeen may also refer to:Algae is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular microalgae, such as "Chlorella," Prototheca and the diatoms, to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp, a large brown alga which may grow up to in length. Most are aquatic and autotrophic and lack many of the distinct cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem and phloem, which are found in land plants. The largest and most complex marine algae are called seaweeds, while the most complex freshwater forms are the Charophyta, a division of green algae which includes, for example, "Spirogyra" and stoneworts.No definition of algae is generally accepted. One definition is that algae most authorities exclude all prokaryotes from the definition of algae. Algae constitute a polyphyletic group since they do not include a common ancestor and although their plastids seem to have a single origin from cyanobacteria they were acquired in different ways. Green algae are examples of algae that have primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Diatoms and brown algae are examples of algae with secondary chloroplasts derived from an endosymbiotic red alga. Algae exhibit a wide range of reproductive strategies from simple asexual cell division to complex forms of sexual reproduction.Algae lack the various structures that characterize land plants, such as the phyllids of bryophytes, rhizoids in nonvascular plants, and the roots, leaves, and other organs found in tracheophytes . Most are phototrophic, although some are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some unicellular species of green algae, many golden algae, euglenids, dinoflagellates, and other algae have become heterotrophs , sometimes parasitic, relying entirely on external energy sources and have limited or no photosynthetic apparatus. Some other heterotrophic organisms, such as the apicomplexans, are also derived from cells whose ancestors possessed plastids, but are not traditionally considered as algae. Algae have photosynthetic machinery ultimately derived from cyanobacteria that produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, unlike other photosynthetic bacteria such as purple and green sulfur bacteria. Fossilized filamentous algae from the Vindhya basin have been dated back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago.Because of the wide range of types of algae, they have increasing different industrial and traditional applications in human society. Traditional seaweed farming practices have existed for thousands of years and have strong traditions in East Asia food cultures. More modern algaculture applications extend the food traditions for other applications include cattle feed, using algae for bioremediation or pollution control, transforming sunlight into algae fuels or other chemicals used in industrial processes, and in medical and scientific applications. A 2020 review, found that these applications of algae could play an important role in carbon sequestration in order to mitigate climate change while providing valuable value-add products for global economies.Etymology and study.The singular is the Latin word for .The Ancient Greek word for , a cosmetic eye-shadow used by the ancient Egyptians and other inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean. It could be any color: black, red, green, or blue.Accordingly the modern study of marine and freshwater algae is called either phycology or algology depending on whether the Greek or Latin root is used. The name appears in a number of taxa.Classifications.The committee on the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has recommended certain suffixes for use in the classification of algae. These are -phyta for division, for subfamily, a Greek-based name for genus, and a Latin-based name for species.Algal characteristics basic to primary classification.The primary classification of algae is based on certain morphological features. The chief among these are pigment constitution of the cell, chemical nature of stored food materials, kind, number, point of insertion and relative length of the flagella on the motile cell, chemical composition of cell wall and presence or absence of a definitely organized nucleus in the cell or any other significant details of cell structure.History of classification of algae.Although Carolus Linnaeus included algae along with lichens in his 25th class Cryptogamia he did not elaborate further on the classification of algae.Jean Pierre tienne Vaucher was perhaps the first to propose a system of classification of algae and he recognized three groups Conferves Ulves and Tremelles. While Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link classified algae on the basis of the colour of the pigment and structure William Henry Harvey proposed a system of classification on the basis of the habitat and the pigment. J. G. Agardh divided algae into six orders Diatomaceae Nostochineae Confervoideae Ulvaceae Floriadeae and Fucoideae. Around 1880 algae along with fungi were grouped under Thallophyta a division created by Eichler . Encouraged by this Adolf Engler and Karl A. E. Prantl proposed a revised scheme of classification of algae and included fungi in algae as they were of opinion that fungi have been derived from algae. The scheme proposed by Engler and Prantl is summarised as followsThe algae contain chloroplasts that are similar in structure to cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts contain circular DNA like that in cyanobacteria and are interpreted as representing reduced endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. However, the exact origin of the chloroplasts is different among separate lineages of algae, reflecting their acquisition during different endosymbiotic events. The table below describes the composition of the three major groups of algae. Their lineage relationships are shown in the figure in the upper right. Many of these groups contain some members that are no longer photosynthetic. Some retain plastids, but not chloroplasts, while others have lost plastids entirely.Phylogeny based on plastid not nucleocytoplasmic genealogy:Linnaeus, in (1753), the starting point for modern botanical nomenclature, recognized 14 genera of algae, of which only four are currently considered among algae. In (as ), among the animals.In 1768, Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin published the , the first work dedicated to marine algae and the first book on marine biology to use the then new binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus. It included elaborate illustrations of seaweed and marine algae on folded leaves.W. H. Harvey and Lamouroux were the first to divide macroscopic algae into four divisions based on their pigmentation. This is the first use of a biochemical criterion in plant systematics. Harvey's four divisions are: red algae , brown algae , green algae , and Diatomaceae.At this time, microscopic algae were discovered and reported by a different group of workers studying the Infusoria . Unlike macroalgae, which were clearly viewed as plants, microalgae were frequently considered animals because they are often motile. Even the nonmotile microalgae were sometimes merely seen as stages of the lifecycle of plants, macroalgae, or animals.Although used as a taxonomic category in some pre-Darwinian classifications, e.g., Linnaeus , de Jussieu , Horaninow , Agassiz , Wilson &amp; Cassin , in further classifications, the are seen as an artificial, polyphyletic group.Throughout the 20th century most classifications treated the following groups as divisions or classes of algae cyanophytes rhodophytes chrysophytes xanthophytes bacillariophytes phaeophytes pyrrhophytes euglenophytes and chlorophytes. Later many new groups were discovered and others were splintered from older groups charophytes and glaucophytes many heterokontophytes haptophytes and chlorarachniophytes .With the abandonment of plant-animal dichotomous classification, most groups of algae were included in Protista, later also abandoned in favour of Eukaryota. However, as a legacy of the older plant life scheme, some groups that were also treated as protozoans in the past still have duplicated classifications .Some parasitic algae were originally classified as fungi sporozoans or protistans of "incertae sedis" while others had their relationship with algae conjectured early. In other cases some groups were originally characterized as parasitic algae but later were seen as endophytic algae. Some filamentous bacteria were originally seen as algae. Furthermore groups like the apicomplexans are also parasites derived from ancestors that possessed plastids but are not included in any group traditionally seen as algae.Relationship to land plants.The first land plants probably evolved from shallow freshwater charophyte algae much like "Chara" almost 500 million years ago. These probably had an isomorphic alternation of generations and were probably filamentous. Fossils of isolated land plant spores suggest land plants may have been around as long as 475 million years ago.Morphology.A range of algal morphologies is exhibited, and convergence of features in unrelated groups is common. The only groups to exhibit three-dimensional multicellular thalli are the reds and browns, and some chlorophytes. Apical growth is constrained to subsets of these groups: the florideophyte reds, various browns, and the charophytes. The form of charophytes is quite different from those of reds and browns, because they have distinct nodes, separated by internode 'stems'; whorls of branches reminiscent of the horsetails occur at the nodes. Conceptacles are another polyphyletic trait; they appear in the coralline algae and the Hildenbrandiales, as well as the browns.Most of the simpler algae are unicellular flagellates or amoeboids, but colonial and nonmotile forms have developed independently among several of the groups. Some of the more common organizational levels, more than one of which may occur in the lifecycle of a species, areIn three lines even higher levels of organization have been reached with full tissue differentiation. These are the brown algae—some of which may reach 50 m in length —the red algae and the green algae. The most complex forms are found among the charophyte algae in a lineage that eventually led to the higher land plants. The innovation that defines these nonalgal plants is the presence of female reproductive organs with protective cell layers that protect the zygote and developing embryo. Hence the land plants are referred to as the Embryophytes.The term algal turf is commonly used but poorly defined. Algal turfs are thick carpet-like beds of seaweed that retain sediment and compete with foundation species like corals and kelps and they are usually less than 15 cm tall. Such a turf may consist of one or more species and will generally cover an area in the order of a square metre or more. Some common characteristics are listedPhysiology.Many algae particularly members of the Characeae species have served as model experimental organisms to understand the mechanisms of the water permeability of membranes osmoregulation turgor regulation salt tolerance cytoplasmic streaming and the generation of action potentials.Phytohormones are found not only in higher plants, but in algae, too.Symbiotic algae.Some species of algae form symbiotic relationships with other organisms. In these symbioses, the algae supply photosynthates to the host organism providing protection to the algal cells. The host organism derives some or all of its energy requirements from the algae. Examples are:Lichens are defined by the International Association for Lichenology to be . The fungi or mycobionts are mainly from the Ascomycota with a few from the Basidiomycota. In nature they do not occur separate from lichens. It is unknown when they began to associate. One mycobiont associates with the same phycobiont species rarely two from the green algae except that alternatively the mycobiont may associate with a species of cyanobacteria . A photobiont may be associated with many different mycobionts or may live independently accordingly lichens are named and classified as fungal species. The association is termed a morphogenesis because the lichen has a form and capabilities not possessed by the symbiont species alone . The photobiont possibly triggers otherwise latent genes in the mycobiont.Trentepohlia is an example of a common green alga genus worldwide that can grow on its own or be lichenised. Lichen thus share some of the habitat and often similar appearance with specialized species of algae growing on exposed surfaces such as tree trunks and rocks and sometimes discoloring them.Coral reefs.Coral reefs are accumulated from the calcareous exoskeletons of marine invertebrates of the order Scleractinia . These animals metabolize sugar and oxygen to obtain energy for their cell-building processes, including secretion of the exoskeleton, with water and carbon dioxide as byproducts. Dinoflagellates are often endosymbionts in the cells of the coral-forming marine invertebrates, where they accelerate host-cell metabolism by generating sugar and oxygen immediately available through photosynthesis using incident light and the carbon dioxide produced by the host. Reef-building stony corals require endosymbiotic algae from the genus from the host is known as coral bleaching, a condition which leads to the deterioration of a reef.Sea sponges.Endosymbiontic green algae live close to the surface of some sponges, for example, breadcrumb sponges . The alga is thus protected from predators; the sponge is provided with oxygen and sugars which can account for 50 to 80% of sponge growth in some species.Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta, and Heterokontophyta, the three main algal divisions, have lifecycles which show considerable variation and complexity. In general, an asexual phase exists where the seaweed's cells are diploid, a sexual phase where the cells are haploid, followed by fusion of the male and female gametes. Asexual reproduction permits efficient population increases, but less variation is possible. Commonly, in sexual reproduction of unicellular and colonial algae, two specialized, sexually compatible, haploid gametes make physical contact and fuse to form a zygote. To ensure a successful mating, the development and release of gametes is highly synchronized and regulated; pheromones may play a key role in these processes. Sexual reproduction allows for more variation and provides the benefit of efficient recombinational repair of DNA damages during meiosis, a key stage of the sexual cycle. However, sexual reproduction is more costly than asexual reproduction. Meiosis has been shown to occur in many different species of algae.The "Algal Collection of the US National Herbarium" consists of approximately 320,500 dried specimens, which, although not exhaustive , gives an idea of the order of magnitude of the number of algal species . Estimates vary widely. For example, according to one standard textbook, in the British Isles the "UK Biodiversity Steering Group Report" estimated there to be 20,000 algal species in the UK. Another checklist reports only about 5,000 species. Regarding the difference of about 15,000 species, the text concludes: "It will require many detailed field surveys before it is possible to provide a reliable estimate of the total number of species ..."Regional and group estimates have been made as welland so on, but lacking any scientific basis or reliable sources, these numbers have no more credibility than the British ones mentioned above. Most estimates also omit microscopic algae, such as phytoplankton.The most recent estimate suggests 72500 algal species worldwide.Distribution.The distribution of algal species has been fairly well studied since the founding of phytogeography in the mid-19th century. Algae spread mainly by the dispersal of spores analogously to the dispersal of Plantae by seeds and spores. This dispersal can be accomplished by air, water, or other organisms. Due to this, spores can be found in a variety of environments: fresh and marine waters, air, soil, and in or on other organisms. Whether a spore is to grow into an organism depends on the combination of the species and the environmental conditions where the spore lands.The spores of freshwater algae are dispersed mainly by running water and wind as well as by living carriers. However not all bodies of water can carry all species of algae as the chemical composition of certain water bodies limits the algae that can survive within them. Marine spores are often spread by ocean currents. Ocean water presents many vastly different habitats based on temperature and nutrient availability resulting in phytogeographic zones regions and provinces.To some degree, the distribution of algae is subject to floristic discontinuities caused by geographical features, such as Antarctica, long distances of ocean or general land masses. It is, therefore, possible to identify species occurring by locality, such as "Pacific algae" or "North Sea algae". When they occur out of their localities, hypothesizing a transport mechanism is usually possible, such as the hulls of ships. For example, "Ulva reticulata" and "U. fasciata" travelled from the mainland to Hawaii in this manner.Mapping is possible for select species only: "there are many valid examples of confined distribution patterns." For example, "Clathromorphum" is an arctic genus and is not mapped far south of there. However, scientists regard the overall data as insufficient due to the "difficulties of undertaking such studies."Algae are prominent in bodies of water common in terrestrial environments and are found in unusual environments such as on snow and ice. Seaweeds grow mostly in shallow marine waters under deep however some such as "Navicula pennata" have been recorded to a depth of . A type of algae "Ancylonema nordenskioeldii" was found in Greenland in areas known as the 'Dark Zone' which caused an increase in the rate of melting ice sheet. Same algae was found in the Italian Alps after pink ice appeared on parts of the Presena glacier.The various sorts of algae play significant roles in aquatic ecology. Microscopic forms that live suspended in the water column (phytoplankton) provide the food base for most marine food chains. In very high densities (algal blooms) these algae may discolor the water and outcompete poison or asphyxiate other life forms.Algae can be used as indicator organisms to monitor pollution in various aquatic systems. In many cases, algal metabolism is sensitive to various pollutants. Due to this, the species composition of algal populations may shift in the presence of chemical pollutants. To detect these changes, algae can be sampled from the environment and maintained in laboratories with relative ease.On the basis of their habitat algae can be categorized as aquatic terrestrial aerial lithophytic halophytic psammon thermophilic cryophilic epibiont endosymbiont parasitic calcifilic or lichenic .Cultural associations.In classical Chinese the word is used both for .Agar, a gelatinous substance derived from red algae, has a number of commercial uses. It is a good medium on which to grow bacteria and fungi, as most microorganisms cannot digest agar.Alginic acid or alginate is extracted from brown algae. Its uses range from gelling agents in food to medical dressings. Alginic acid also has been used in the field of biotechnology as a biocompatible medium for cell encapsulation and cell immobilization. Molecular cuisine is also a user of the substance for its gelling properties by which it becomes a delivery vehicle for flavours.Between 100000 and 170000 wet tons of are harvested annually in New Mexico for alginate extraction and abalone feed.Energy source.To be competitive and independent from fluctuating support from policy on the long run, biofuels should equal or beat the cost level of fossil fuels. Here, algae-based fuels hold great promise, directly related to the potential to produce more biomass per unit area in a year than any other form of biomass. The break-even point for algae-based biofuels is estimated to occur by 2025.Fertilizer.For centuries seaweed has been used as a fertilizer George Owen of Henllys writing in the 16th century referring to drift weed in South WalesToday, algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners, and livestock feed. Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are either harvested or used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of aquaculture in some places. Maerl is commonly used as a soil conditioner.Naturally growing seaweeds are an important source of food, especially in Asia, leading some to label them as superfoods. They provide many vitamins including: A, B1, B2, B6, niacin, and C, and are rich in iodine, potassium, iron, magnesium, and calcium. In addition, commercially cultivated microalgae, including both algae and cyanobacteria, are marketed as nutritional supplements, such as spirulina, , high in beta-carotene.Algae are national foods of many nations: China consumes more than 70 species, including ; Ireland, dulse; Chile, cochayuyo. Laver is used to make laver bread in Wales, where it is known as ; in Korea, . It is also used along the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia, in Hawaii and by the Mori of New Zealand. Sea lettuce and badderlocks are salad ingredients in Scotland, Ireland, Greenland, and Iceland. Algae is being considered a potential solution for world hunger problem.Two popular forms of algae are used in cuisineFurthermore it contains all nine of the essential amino acids the body does not produce on its ownThe oils from some algae have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. For example, is very high in arachidonic acid, where it reaches up to 47% of the triglyceride pool. Some varieties of algae favored by vegetarianism and veganism contain the long-chain, essential omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid . Fish oil contains the omega-3 fatty acids, but the original source is algae , which are eaten by marine life such as copepods and are passed up the food chain. Algae have emerged in recent years as a popular source of omega-3 fatty acids for vegetarians who cannot get long-chain EPA and DHA from other vegetarian sources such as flaxseed oil, which only contains the short-chain alpha-linolenic acid .Pollution control.Agricultural Research Service scientists found that 60–90% of nitrogen runoff and 70–100% of phosphorus runoff can be captured from manure effluents using a horizontal algae scrubber also called an algal turf scrubber . Scientists developed the ATS which consists of shallow 100-foot raceways of nylon netting where algae colonies can form and studied its efficacy for three years. They found that algae can readily be used to reduce the nutrient runoff from agricultural fields and increase the quality of water flowing into rivers streams and oceans. Researchers collected and dried the nutrient-rich algae from the ATS and studied its potential as an organic fertilizer. They found that cucumber and corn seedlings grew just as well using ATS organic fertilizer as they did with commercial fertilizers. Algae scrubbers using bubbling upflow or vertical waterfall versions are now also being used to filter aquaria and ponds.Various polymers can be created from algae, which can be especially useful in the creation of bioplastics. These include hybrid plastics, cellulose-based plastics, poly-lactic acid, and bio-polyethylene. Several companies have begun to produce algae polymers commercially, including for use in flip-flops and in surf boards.Bioremediation.The alga has been seen to colonize silicone resins used at archaeological sites biodegrading the synthetic substance.The natural pigments (carotenoids and chlorophylls) produced by algae can be used as alternatives to chemical dyes and coloring agents.The presence of some individual algal pigments together with specific pigment concentration ratios are taxon-specific analysis of their concentrations with various analytical methods particularly high-performance liquid chromatography can therefore offer deep insight into the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of natural algae populations in sea water samples.Stabilizing substances.Carrageenan, from the red alga , is used as a stabilizer in milk products.
Analysis of variance is a collection of statistical models and their associated estimation procedures used to analyze the differences among means. ANOVA was developed by the statistician Ronald Fisher. ANOVA is based on the law of total variance, where the observed variance in a particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. In its simplest form, ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether two or more population means are equal, and therefore generalizes the "t"-test beyond two means.While the analysis of variance reached fruition in the 20th century, antecedents extend centuries into the past according to Stigler. These include hypothesis testing, the partitioning of sums of squares, experimental techniques and the additive model. Laplace was performing hypothesis testing in the 1770s. Around 1800, Laplace and Gauss developed the least-squares method for combining observations, which improved upon methods then used in astronomy and geodesy. It also initiated much study of the contributions to sums of squares. Laplace knew how to estimate a variance from a residual sum of squares. By 1827, Laplace was using least squares methods to address ANOVA problems regarding measurements of atmospheric tides. Before 1800, astronomers had isolated observational errors resultingfrom reaction times and had developed methods of reducing the errors. The experimental methods used in the study of the personal equation were later accepted by the emerging field of psychology which developed strong experimental methods to which randomization and blinding were soon added. An eloquent non-mathematical explanation of the additive effects model wasavailable in 1885.Ronald Fisher introduced the term variance and proposed its formal analysis in a 1918 article .Randomization models were developed by several researchers. The first was published in Polish by Jerzy Neyman in 1923.The analysis of variance can be used to describe otherwise complex relations among variables. A dog show provides an example. A dog show is not a random sampling of the breed it is typically limited to dogs that are adult pure-bred and exemplary. A histogram of dog weights from a show might plausibly be rather complex like the yellow-orange distribution shown in the illustrations. Suppose we wanted to predict the weight of a dog based on a certain set of characteristics of each dog. One way to do that is to the distribution of weights by dividing the dog population into groups based on those characteristics. A successful grouping will split dogs such that each group has a low variance of dog weights and the mean of each group is distinct .In the illustrations to the right, groups are identified as "X"1, "X"2, etc. In the first illustration, the dogs are divided according to the product of two binary groupings: young vs old, and short-haired vs long-haired . Since the distributions of dog weight within each of the groups has a relatively large variance, and since the means are very similar across groups, grouping dogs by these characteristics does not produce an effective way to explain the variation in dog weights: knowing which group a dog is in doesn't allow us to predict its weight much better than simply knowing the dog is in a dog show. Thus, this grouping fails to explain the variation in the overall distribution .An attempt to explain the weight distribution by grouping dogs as "pet vs working breed" and "less athletic vs more athletic" would probably be somewhat more successful . The heaviest show dogs are likely to be big strong working breeds while breeds kept as pets tend to be smaller and thus lighter. As shown by the second illustration the distributions have variances that are considerably smaller than in the first case and the means are more distinguishable. However the significant overlap of distributions for example means that we cannot distinguish "X"1 and "X"2 reliably. Grouping dogs according to a coin flip might produce distributions that look similar.An attempt to explain weight by breed is likely to produce a very good fit. All Chihuahuas are light and all St Bernards are heavy. The difference in weights between Setters and Pointers does not justify separate breeds. The analysis of variance provides the formal tools to justify these intuitive judgments. A common use of the method is the analysis of experimental data or the development of models. The method has some advantages over correlation not all of the data must be numeric and one result of the method is a judgment in the confidence in an explanatory relationship.Classes of models.There are three classes of models used in the analysis of variance and these are outlined here.Fixed-effects models.The fixed-effects model (class I) of analysis of variance applies to situations in which the experimenter applies one or more treatments to the subjects of the experiment to see whether the response variable values change. This allows the experimenter to estimate the ranges of response variable values that the treatment would generate in the population as a whole.Random-effects models.Random-effects model is used when the treatments are not fixed. This occurs when the various factor levels are sampled from a larger population. Because the levels themselves are random variables, some assumptions and the method of contrasting the treatments differ from the fixed-effects model.Mixed-effects models.A mixed-effects model contains experimental factors of both fixed and random-effects types, with appropriately different interpretations and analysis for the two types.Teaching experiments could be performed by a college or university departmentto find a good introductory textbook, with each text considered atreatment. The fixed-effects model would compare a list of candidatetexts. The random-effects model would determine whether importantdifferences exist among a list of randomly selected texts. Themixed-effects model would compare the incumbent texts torandomly selected alternatives.Defining fixed and random effects has proven elusive, with competingdefinitions arguably leading toward a linguistic quagmire.Assumptions.The analysis of variance has been studied from several approaches, the most common of which uses a linear model that relates the response to the treatments and blocks. Note that the model is linear in parameters but may be nonlinear across factor levels. Interpretation is easy when data is balanced across factors but much deeper understanding is needed for unbalanced data.Textbook analysis using a normal distribution.The analysis of variance can be presented in terms of a linear model which makes the following assumptions about the probability distribution of the responsesThe separate assumptions of the textbook model imply that the errors are independently identically and normally distributed for fixed effects models that is that the errors are independent andRandomization-based analysis.In a randomized controlled experiment, the treatments are randomly assigned to experimental units, following the experimental protocol. This randomization is objective and declared before the experiment is carried out. The objective random-assignment is used to test the significance of the null hypothesis, following the ideas of C. S. Peirce and Ronald Fisher. This design-based analysis was discussed and developed by Francis J. Anscombe at Rothamsted Experimental Station and by Oscar Kempthorne at Iowa State University. Kempthorne and his students make an assumption of "unit treatment additivity", which is discussed in the books of Kempthorne and David R. Cox.Unit-treatment additivity.In its simplest form the assumption of unit-treatment additivity states that the observed response formula_3 from experimental unit formula_4 when receiving treatment formula_5 can be written as the sum of the unit's response formula_6 and the treatment-effect formula_7 that isThe assumption of unit-treatment additivity implies that, for every treatment formula_5, the formula_5th treatment has exactly the same effect formula_11 on every experiment unit.The assumption of unit treatment additivity usually cannot be directly falsified, according to Cox and Kempthorne. However, many "consequences" of treatment-unit additivity can be falsified. For a randomized experiment, the assumption of unit-treatment additivity "implies" that the variance is constant for all treatments. Therefore, by contraposition, a necessary condition for unit-treatment additivity is that the variance is constant.The use of unit treatment additivity and randomization is similar to the design-based inference that is standard in finite-population survey sampling.Derived linear model.Kempthorne uses the randomization-distribution and the assumption of !The randomization-based analysis has the disadvantage that its exposition involves tedious algebra and extensive time. Since the randomization-based analysis is complicated and is closely approximated by the approach using a normal linear model most teachers emphasize the normal linear model approach. Few statisticians object to model-based analysis of balanced randomized experiments.Statistical models for observational data.However, when applied to data from non-randomized experiments or observational studies, model-based analysis lacks the warrant of randomization. For observational data, the derivation of confidence intervals must use and observational data are useful for suggesting hypotheses that should be treated very cautiously by the public.Summary of assumptions.The normal-model based ANOVA analysis assumes the independence normality andhomogeneity of variances of the residuals. Therandomization-based analysis assumes only the homogeneity of thevariances of the residuals (as a consequence of unit-treatmentadditivity) and uses the randomization procedure of the experiment.Both these analyses require homoscedasticity as an assumption for the normal-model analysis and as a consequence of randomization and additivity for the randomization-based analysis.However, studies of processes thatchange variances rather than means havebeen successfully conducted using ANOVA. There are"no" necessary assumptions for ANOVA in its full generality but the-test used for ANOVA hypothesis testing has assumptions and practicallimitations which are of continuing interest.Problems which do not satisfy the assumptions of ANOVA can often be transformed to satisfy the assumptions.The property of unit-treatment additivity is not invariant under a "change of scale" so statisticians often use transformations to achieve unit-treatment additivity. If the response variable is expected to follow a parametric family of probability distributions then the statistician may specify (in the protocol for the experiment or observational study) that the responses be transformed to stabilize the variance. Also a statistician may specify that logarithmic transforms be applied to the responses which are believed to follow a multiplicative model.According to Cauchy's functional equation theorem the logarithm is the only continuous transformation that transforms real multiplication to addition.Characteristics.ANOVA is used in the analysis of comparative experiments, those inwhich only the difference in outcomes is of interest. The statisticalsignificance of the experiment is determined by a ratio of twovariances. This ratio is independent of several possible alterationsto the experimental observations Adding a constant to allobservations does not alter significance. Multiplying allobservations by a constant does not alter significance. So ANOVAstatistical significance result is independent of constant bias andscaling errors as well as the units used in expressing observations.In the era of mechanical calculation it was common tosubtract a constant from all observations (when equivalent todropping leading digits) to simplify data entry. This is an example of dataThe calculations of ANOVA can be characterized as computing a numberof means and variances dividing two variances and comparing the ratioto a handbook value to determine statistical significance. Calculatinga treatment effect is then trivial "the effect of any treatment isestimated by taking the difference between the mean of theobservations which receive the treatment and the general mean".Partitioning of the sum of squares.ANOVA uses traditional standardized terminology. The definitionalequation of sample variance isformula_12, where thedivisor is called the degrees of freedom (DF) the summation is calledthe sum of squares , the result is called the mean square andthe squared terms are deviations from the sample mean. ANOVAestimates 3 sample variances: a total variance based on all theobservation deviations from the grand mean an error variance based onall the observation deviations from their appropriatetreatment means, and a treatment variance. The treatment variance isbased on the deviations of treatment means from the grand mean, theresult being multiplied by the number of observations in eachtreatment to account for the difference between the variance ofobservations and the variance of means.The fundamental technique is a partitioning of the total sum of squares into components related to the effects used in the model. For example, the model for a simplified ANOVA with one type of treatment at different levels.The number of degrees of freedom if there is no treatment effect.See also Lack-of-fit sum of squares.The "F"-test is used for comparing the factors of the total deviation. For example in one-way or single-factor ANOVA statistical significance is tested for by comparing the F test statisticwhere is mean square formula_17 = number of treatments andformula_18 = total number of casesto the -distribution is a natural candidate because the test statistic is the ratio of two scaled sums of squares each of which follows a scaled chi-squared distribution.The expected value of F is formula_21 (where formula_22 is the treatment sample size)which is 1 for no treatment effect. As values of F increase above 1, the evidence is increasingly inconsistent with the null hypothesis. Two apparent experimental methods of increasing F are increasing the sample size and reducing the error variance by tight experimental controls.There are two methods of concluding the ANOVA hypothesis test both of which produce the same resultThe ANOVA -test is recommended as a practical test because of its robustness against many alternative distributions.Extended logic.ANOVA consists of separable parts; partitioning sources of varianceand hypothesis testing can be used individually. ANOVA is used tosupport other statistical tools. Regression is first used to fit morecomplex models to data then ANOVA is used to compare models with theobjective of selecting simple models that adequately describe thedata. "Such models could be fit without any reference to ANOVA butANOVA tools could then be used to make some sense of the fitted models,and to test hypotheses about batches of coefficients.""e think of the analysis of variance as a way of understanding and structuringmultilevel models—not as an alternative to regression but as a toolfor summarizing complex high-dimensional inferences ..."For a single factor.The simplest experiment suitable for ANOVA analysis is the completelyrandomized experiment with a single factor. More complex experimentswith a single factor involve constraints on randomization and includecompletely randomized blocks and Latin squares (and variants:Graeco-Latin squares, etc.). The more complex experiments share manyof the complexities of multiple factors. A relatively completediscussion of the analysis ofthe completely randomized experiment isThere are some alternatives to conventional one-way analysis of variance e.g. Welchs heteroscedastic F test with trimmed means and Winsorized variances Brown-Forsythe test Alexander-Govern test James second order test and Kruskal-Wallis test available in onewaytests RIt is useful to represent each data point in the following form called a statistical modelYij = + j + iji = 1 2 3 . . . Rj = 1, 2, 3, . . ., C = overall average j = differential effect associated with the j level of Xthis assumes that overall the values of j add to zero (that is, ∑j = 0, summed over j from 1 to C)ij = noise or error associated with the particular ij data valueThat is we envision an additive model that says every data point can be represented by summing three quantities the true mean averaged over all factor levels being investigated plus an incremental component associated with the particular column plus a final component associated with everything else affecting that specific data value.For multiple factors.ANOVA generalizes to the study of the effects of multiple factors.When the experiment includes observations at all combinations oflevels of each factor, it is termed factorial.Factorial experimentsare more efficient than a series of single factor experiments and theefficiency grows as the number of factors increases. Consequently, factorial designs are heavily used.The use of ANOVA to study the effects of multiple factors has a complication. In a 3-way ANOVA with factors x, y and z, the ANOVA model includes terms for the main effects and terms for interactions .All terms require hypothesis tests. The proliferation of interaction terms increases the risk that some hypothesis test will produce a false positive by chance. Fortunately, experience says that high order interactions are rare.The ability to detect interactions is a major advantage of multiplefactor ANOVA. Testing one factor at a time hides interactions, butproduces apparently inconsistent experimental results.Caution is advised when encountering interactions; Testinteraction terms first and expand the analysis beyond ANOVA ifinteractions are found. Texts vary in their recommendations regardingthe continuation of the ANOVA procedure after encountering aninteraction. Interactions complicate the interpretation ofexperimental data. Neither the calculations of significance nor theestimated treatment effects can be taken at face value. "Asignificant interaction will often mask the significance of main effects." Graphical methods are recommendedto enhance understanding. Regression is often useful. A lengthy discussion of interactions is available in Cox . Some interactions can be removed while others cannot.A variety of techniques are used with multiple factor ANOVA to reduce expense. One technique used in factorial designs is to minimize replication and to combine groups when effects are found to be statistically insignificant. An experiment with many insignificant factors may collapse into one with a few factors supported by many replications.Associated analysis.Some analysis is required in support of the of the experiment while other analysis is performed after changes in the factors are formally found to produce statistically significant changes in the responses. Because experimentation is iterative the results of one experiment alter plans for following experiments.Preparatory analysis.The number of experimental units.In the design of an experiment the number of experimental units is planned to satisfy the goals of the experiment. Experimentation is often sequential.Early experiments are often designed to provide mean-unbiased estimates of treatment effects and of experimental error. Later experiments are often designed to test a hypothesis that a treatment effect has an important magnitude; in this case, the number of experimental units is chosen so that the experiment is within budget and has adequate power, among other goals.Reporting sample size analysis is generally required in psychology. The analysis which is written in the experimental protocol before the experiment is conducted is examined in grant applications and administrative review boards.Besides the power analysis, there are less formal methods for selecting the number of experimental units. These include graphical methods based on limitingthe probability of false negative errors, graphical methods based on an expected variation increase and methods based on achieving a desired confidence interval.Power analysis.Power analysis is often applied in the context of ANOVA in order to assess the probability of successfully rejecting the null hypothesis if we assume a certain ANOVA design, effect size in the population, sample size and significance level. Power analysis can assist in study design by determining what sample size would be required in order to have a reasonable chance of rejecting the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.Effect size.Several standardized measures of effect have been proposed for ANOVA to summarize the strength of the association between a predictor and the dependent variable or the overall standardized difference of the complete model. Standardized effect-size estimates facilitate comparison of findings across studies and disciplines. However, while standardized effect sizes are commonly used in much of the professional literature, a non-standardized measure of effect size that has immediately "meaningful" units may be preferable for reporting purposes.Model confirmation.Sometimes tests are conducted to determine whether the assumptions of ANOVA appear to be violated. Residuals are examined or analyzed to confirm homoscedasticity and gross normality. Residuals should have the appearance of noise when plotted as a function of anything including time andmodeled data values. Trends hint at interactions among factors or among observations.Follow-up tests.A statistically significant effect in ANOVA is often followed by additional tests. This can be done in order to assess which groups are different from which other groups or to test various other focused hypotheses. Follow-up tests are often distinguished in terms of whether they are "planned" or "post hoc." Planned tests are determined before looking at the data and post hoc tests are conceived only after looking at the data .The follow-up tests may be "simple" pairwise comparisons of individual group means or may be "compound" comparisons . Comparisons can also look at tests of trend, such as linear and quadratic relationships, when the independent variable involves ordered levels. Often the follow-up tests incorporate a method of adjusting for the multiple comparisons problem.Study designs.There are several types of ANOVA. Many statisticians base ANOVA on the design of the experiment especially on the protocol that specifies the random assignment of treatments to subjects the protocol's description of the assignment mechanism should include a specification of the structure of the treatments and of any blocking. It is also common to apply ANOVA to observational data using an appropriate statistical model.Some popular designs use the following types of ANOVA:Balanced experiments are relatively easy to interpret unbalanced experiments offer more complexity. For single-factor ANOVA the adjustment for unbalanced data is easy but the unbalanced analysis lacks both robustness and power. For more complex designs the lack of balance leads to further complications. ANOVA is a test of statistical significance. The American Psychological Association holds the view that simply reporting statistical significance is insufficient and that reporting confidence bounds is preferred.Generalizations.ANOVA is considered to be a special case of linear regression which in turn is a special case of the general linear model. All consider the observations to be the sum of a model (fit) and a residual (error) to be minimized.The Kruskal–Wallis test and the Friedman test are nonparametric tests which do not rely on an assumption of normality.Connection to linear regression.Below we make clear the connection between multi-way ANOVA and linear regression.Linearly re-order the data so that formula_23 observation is associated with a response formula_24 and factors formula_25 where formula_26 denotes the different factors and formula_27 is the total number of factors. In one-way ANOVA formula_28 and in two-way ANOVA formula_29. Furthermore, we assume the formula_30 factor has formula_31 levels, namely formula_32. Now, we can one-hot encode the factors into the formula_33 dimensional vector formula_34.The one-hot encoding function formula_35 is defined such that the formula_36 entry of formula_37 isThe vector formula_34 is the concatenation of all of the above vectors for all formula_40. Thus, formula_41. In order to obtain a fully general formula_27-way interaction ANOVA we must also concatenate every additional interaction term in the vector formula_34 and then add an intercept term. Let that vector be formula_44.With this notation in place, we now have the exact connection with linear regression. We simply regress response formula_24 against the vector formula_44. However, there is a concern about identifiability. In order to overcome such issues we assume that the sum of the parameters within each set of interactions is equal to zero. From here, one can use "F"-statistics or other methods to determine the relevance of the individual factors.We can consider the 2-way interaction example where we assume that the first factor has 2 levels and the second factor has 3 levels.Define formula_47 if formula_48 and formula_49 if formula_50 i.e. formula_51 is the one-hot encoding of the first factor and formula_40 is the one-hot encoding of the second factor.where the last term is an intercept term. For a more concrete example suppose that
In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin (a historical trivial name that also has other meanings), is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in which all the carbon–carbon bonds are single. Alkanes have the general chemical formula . The alkanes range in complexity from the simplest case of methane (), where = 1 (sometimes called the parent molecule), to arbitrarily large and complex molecules, like pentacontane () or 6-ethyl-2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl) octane, an isomer of tetradecane ().The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry defines alkanes as saturated hydrocarbon including those that are either monocyclic or polycyclic despite their having a distinct general formula .In an alkane each carbon atom is sp3-hybridized with 4 sigma bonds and each hydrogen atom is joined to one of the carbon atoms . The longest series of linked carbon atoms in a molecule is known as its carbon skeleton or carbon backbone. The number of carbon atoms may be considered as the size of the alkane.One group of the higher alkanes are waxes, solids at standard ambient temperature and pressure , for which the number of carbon atoms in the carbon backbone is greater than about 17.With their repeated – units, the alkanes constitute a homologous series of organic compounds in which the members differ in molecular mass by multiples of 14.03 u .Methane is produced by methanogenic bacteria and some long-chain alkanes function as pheromones in certain animal species or as protective waxes in plants and fungi. Nevertheless, most alkanes do not have much biological activity. They can be viewed as molecular trees upon which can be hung the more active/reactive functional groups of biological molecules.The alkanes have two main commercial sources: petroleum (crude oil) and natural gas.An alkyl group is an alkane-based molecular fragment that bears one open valence for bonding. They are generally abbreviated with the symbol for any organyl group, R, although Alk is sometimes used to specifically symbolize an alkyl group (as opposed to an alkenyl group or aryl group).Structure and classification.Ordinarily the C-C single bond distance is 1.53 (1m=10^-10Angstorm).Saturated hydrocarbons can be linear, branched, or cyclic. The third group is sometimes called cycloalkanes. Very complicated structures are possible by combining linear, branch, cyclic alkanes.Alkanes with more than three carbon atoms can be arranged in various ways forming structural isomers. The simplest isomer of an alkane is the one in which the carbon atoms are arranged in a single chain with no branches. This isomer is sometimes called the "n"-isomer . However the chain of carbon atoms may also be branched at one or more points. The number of possible isomers increases rapidly with the number of carbon atoms. For example for acyclic alkanesBranched alkanes can be chiral. For example, 3-methylhexane and its higher homologues are chiral due to their stereogenic center at carbon atom number 3. The above list only includes differences of connectivity, not stereochemistry. In addition to the alkane isomers, the chain of carbon atoms may form one or more rings. Such compounds are called cycloalkanes, and are also excluded from the above list because changing the number of rings changes the molecular formula. For example, cyclobutane and methylcyclopropane are isomers of each other , but are not isomers of butane .Nomenclature.The IUPAC nomenclature for alkanes is based on identifying hydrocarbon chains. Unbranched, saturated hydrocarbon chains are named systematically with a Greek numerical prefix denoting the number of carbons and the suffix "-ane".In 1866, August Wilhelm von Hofmann suggested systematizing nomenclature by using the whole sequence of vowels a, e, i, o and u to create suffixes -ane, -ene, -ine , -one, -une, for the hydrocarbons C"n"H2"n"+2, C"n"H2"n", C"n"H2"n"−2, C"n"H2"n"−4, C"n"H2"n"−6. In modern nomenclature, the first three specifically name hydrocarbons with single, double and triple bonds; while "-one" now represents a ketone.Linear alkanes.Straight-chain alkanes are sometimes indicated by the prefix (for ) where a non-linear isomer exists. Although this is not strictly necessary and is not part of the IUPAC naming system the usage is still common in cases where one wishes to emphasize or distinguish between the straight-chain and branched-chain isomers e.g. -paraffins.The first six members of the series are named as followsThe first four names were derived from methanol, ether, propionic acid and butyric acid. Alkanes with five or more carbon atoms are named by adding the suffix -ane to the appropriate numerical multiplier prefix with elision of any terminal vowel from the basic numerical term. Hence, pentane, C5H12; hexane, C6H14; heptane, C7H16; octane, C8H18; etc. The numeral prefix is generally Greek, however alkanes with a carbon atom count ending in nine, for example nonane, use the Latin prefix non-. For a more complete list, see list of straight-chain alkanes.Branched alkanes.Simple branched alkanes often have a common name using a prefix to distinguish them from linear alkanes for example -pentane isopentane and neopentane.IUPAC naming conventions can be used to produce a systematic name.The key steps in the naming of more complicated branched alkanes are as follows:Saturated cyclic hydrocarbons.Though technically distinct from the alkanes, this class of hydrocarbons is referred to by some as the As their description implies, they contain one or more rings.Simple cycloalkanes have a prefix "cyclo-" to distinguish them from alkanes. Cycloalkanes are named as per their acyclic counterparts with respect to the number of carbon atoms in their backbones e.g. cyclopentane is a cycloalkane with 5 carbon atoms just like pentane but they are joined up in a five-membered ring. In a similar manner propane and cyclopropane butane and cyclobutane etc.Substituted cycloalkanes are named similarly to substituted alkanes – the cycloalkane ring is stated, and the substituents are according to their position on the ring, with the numbering decided by the Cahn–Ingold–Prelog priority rules.Trivial/common names.The trivial name for alkanes is . Trivial names for compounds are usually historical artifacts. They were coined before the development of systematic names and have been retained due to familiar usage in industry. Cycloalkanes are also called naphthenes.Branched-chain alkanes are called isoparaffins. "Paraffin" is a general term and often does not distinguish between pure compounds and mixtures of isomers, i.e., compounds of the same chemical formula, e.g., pentane and isopentane.The following trivial names are retained in the IUPAC systemSome non-IUPAC trivial names are occasionally used:Physical properties.All alkanes are colorless. Alkanes with the lowest molecular weights are gasses those of intermediate molecular weight are liquids and the heaviest are waxy solids.Boiling point.Alkanes experience intermolecular van der Waals forces. Stronger intermolecular van der Waals forces give rise to greater boiling points of alkanes.There are two determinants for the strength of the van der Waals forcesUnder standard conditions, from CH4 to C4H10 alkanes are gaseous; from C5H12 to C17H36 they are liquids; and after C18H38 they are solids. As the boiling point of alkanes is primarily determined by weight, it should not be a surprise that the boiling point has almost a linear relationship with the size of the molecule. As a rule of thumb, the boiling point rises 20–30 °C for each carbon added to the chain; this rule applies to other homologous series.A straight-chain alkane will have a boiling point higher than a branched-chain alkane due to the greater surface area in contact thus the greater van der Waals forces between adjacent molecules. For example compare isobutane and n-butane which boil at −12 and 0 °C and 22-dimethylbutane and 23-dimethylbutane which boil at 50 and 58 °C respectively.On the other hand cycloalkanes tend to have higher boiling points than their linear counterparts due to the locked conformations of the molecules which give a plane of intermolecular contact.Melting points.The melting points of the alkanes follow a similar trend to boiling points for the same reason as outlined above. That is the larger the molecule the higher the melting point. There is one significant difference between boiling points and melting points. Solids have more rigid and fixed structure than liquids. This rigid structure requires energy to break down. Thus the better put together solid structures will require more energy to break apart. For alkanes this can be seen from the graph above . The odd-numbered alkanes have a lower trend in melting points than even numbered alkanes. This is because even numbered alkanes pack well in the solid phase forming a well-organized structure which requires more energy to break apart. The odd-numbered alkanes pack less well and so the organized solid packing structure requires less energy to break apart. For a visualization of the crystal structures see.The melting points of branched-chain alkanes can be either higher or lower than those of the corresponding straight-chain alkanes again depending on the ability of the alkane in question to pack well in the solid phase.Conductivity and solubility.Alkanes do not conduct electricity in any way, nor are they substantially polarized by an electric field. For this reason, they do not form hydrogen bonds and are insoluble in polar solvents such as water. Since the hydrogen bonds between individual water molecules are aligned away from an alkane molecule, the coexistence of an alkane and water leads to an increase in molecular order (a reduction in entropy). As there is no significant bonding between water molecules and alkane molecules, the second law of thermodynamics suggests that this reduction in entropy should be minimized by minimizing the contact between alkane and water: Alkanes are said to be hydrophobic as they are insoluble in water.Their solubility in nonpolar solvents is relatively high a property that is called lipophilicity. Alkanes are for example miscible in all proportions among themselves.The density of the alkanes usually increases with the number of carbon atoms but remains less than that of water. Hence, alkanes form the upper layer in an alkane–water mixture.Molecular geometry.The molecular structure of the alkanes directly affects their physical and chemical characteristics. It is derived from the electron configuration of carbon, which has four valence electrons. The carbon atoms in alkanes are described as sp3 hybrids, that is to say that, to a good approximation, the valence electrons are in orbitals directed towards the corners of a tetrahedron which are derived from the combination of the 2s orbital and the three 2p orbitals. Geometrically, the angle between the bonds are cos−1 ≈ 109.47°. This is exact for the case of methane, while larger alkanes containing a combination of C–H and C–C bonds generally have bonds that are within several degrees of this idealized value.Bond lengths and bond angles.An alkane has only C–H and C–C single bonds. The former result from the overlap of an sp3 orbital of carbon with the 1s orbital of a hydrogen; the latter by the overlap of two sp3 orbitals on adjacent carbon atoms. The bond lengths amount to 1.09 × 10−10 m for a C–H bond and 1.54 × 10−10 m for a C–C bond.The spatial arrangement of the bonds is similar to that of the four sp3 orbitals—they are tetrahedrally arranged with an angle of 109.47° between them. Structural formulae that represent the bonds as being at right angles to one another while both common and useful do not accurately depict the geometry.Conformation.The structural formula and the bond angles are not usually sufficient to completely describe the geometry of a molecule. There is a further degree of freedom for each carbon–carbon bond: the torsion angle between the atoms or groups bound to the atoms at each end of the bond. The spatial arrangement described by the torsion angles of the molecule is known as its conformation.Ethane forms the simplest case for studying the conformation of alkanes, as there is only one C–C bond. If one looks down the axis of the C–C bond, one will see the so-called Newman projection. The hydrogen atoms on both the front and rear carbon atoms have an angle of 120° between them, resulting from the projection of the base of the tetrahedron onto a flat plane. However, the torsion angle between a given hydrogen atom attached to the front carbon and a given hydrogen atom attached to the rear carbon can vary freely between 0° and 360°. This is a consequence of the free rotation about a carbon–carbon single bond. Despite this apparent freedom, only two limiting conformations are important: eclipsed conformation and staggered conformation.The two conformations differ in energy the staggered conformation is 12.6 kJ/mol lower in energy than the eclipsed conformation .This difference in energy between the two conformations, known as the torsion energy, is low compared to the thermal energy of an ethane molecule at ambient temperature. There is constant rotation about the C–C bond. The time taken for an ethane molecule to pass from one staggered conformation to the next, equivalent to the rotation of one CH3 group by 120° relative to the other, is of the order of 10−11 seconds.The case of higher alkanes is more complex but based on similar principles with the antiperiplanar conformation always being the most favored around each carbon–carbon bond. For this reason alkanes are usually shown in a zigzag arrangement in diagrams or in models. The actual structure will always differ somewhat from these idealized forms as the differences in energy between the conformations are small compared to the thermal energy of the molecules Alkane molecules have no fixed structural form whatever the models may suggest.Spectroscopic properties.Virtually all organic compounds contain carbon–carbon and carbon–hydrogen bonds and so show some of the features of alkanes in their spectra. Alkanes are notable for having no other groups and therefore for the "absence" of other characteristic spectroscopic features of a functional group like –OH –CHO –COOH etc.Infrared spectroscopy.The carbon–hydrogen stretching mode gives a strong absorption between 2850 and 2960 cm−1, while the carbon–carbon stretching mode absorbs between 800 and 1300 cm−1. The carbon–hydrogen bending modes depend on the nature of the group: methyl groups show bands at 1450 cm−1 and 1375 cm−1, while methylene groups show bands at 1465 cm−1 and 1450 cm−1. Carbon chains with more than four carbon atoms show a weak absorption at around 725 cm−1.NMR spectroscopy.The proton resonances of alkanes are usually found at ""H = 0.5–1.5. The carbon-13 resonances depend on the number of hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon ""C = 8–30 15–55 20–60 and quaternary. The carbon-13 resonance of quaternary carbon atoms is characteristically weak due to the lack of nuclear Overhauser effect and the long relaxation time and can be missed in weak samples or samples that have not been run for a sufficiently long time.Mass spectrometry.Alkanes have a high ionization energy, and the molecular ion is usually weak. The fragmentation pattern can be difficult to interpret, but, in the case of branched chain alkanes, the carbon chain is preferentially cleaved at tertiary or quaternary carbons due to the relative stability of the resulting free radicals. The fragment resulting from the loss of a single methyl group is often absent, and other fragments are often spaced by intervals of fourteen mass units, corresponding to sequential loss of CH2 groups.Chemical properties.Alkanes are only weakly reactive with most chemical compounds. The acid dissociation constant values of all alkanes are estimated to range from 50 to 70 depending on the extrapolation method hence they are extremely weak acids that are practically inert to bases . They are also extremely weak bases undergoing no observable protonation in pure sulfuric acid although superacids that are at least millions of times stronger have been known to protonate them to give hypercoordinate alkanium ions . Similarly they only show reactivity with the strongest of electrophilic reagents . By virtue of their strongly C–H bonds and C–C bonds they are also relatively unreactive toward free radicals although many electron-deficient radicals will react with alkanes in the absence of other electron-rich bonds . This inertness is the source of the term . In crude oil the alkane molecules have remained chemically unchanged for millions of years.Free radicals molecules with unpaired electrons play a large role in most reactions of alkanes such as cracking and reformation where long-chain alkanes are converted into shorter-chain alkanes and straight-chain alkanes into branched-chain isomers. Moreover redox reactions of alkanes involving free radical intermediates in particular with oxygen and the halogens are possible as the carbon atoms are in a strongly reduced state in the case of methane carbon is in its lowest possible oxidation state . Reaction with oxygen leads to combustion without any smoke producing carbon dioxide and water. Free radical halogenation reactions occur with halogens leading to the production of haloalkanes. In addition alkanes have been shown to interact with and bind to certain transition metal complexes in C–H bond activation reactions.In highly branched alkanes the bond angle may differ significantly from the optimal value to accommodate bulky groups. Such distortions introduce a tension in the molecule known as steric hindrance or strain. Strain substantially increases reactivity.However in general and perhaps surprisingly when branching is not extensive enough to make highly disfavorable 12- and 13-alkyl–alkyl steric interactions (worth ~3.1 kcal/mol and ~3.7 kcal/mol in the case of the eclipsing conformations of butane and pentane respectively) unavoidable the branched alkanes are actually more thermodynamically stable than their linear (or less branched) isomers. For example the highly branched 2233-tetramethylbutane is about 1.9 kcal/mol more stable than its linear isomer "n"-octane. Due to the subtlety of this effect the exact reasons for this rule have been vigorously debated in the chemical literature and is yet unsettled. Several explanations including stabilization of branched alkanes by electron correlation destabilization of linear alkanes by steric repulsion stabilization by neutral hyperconjugation and/or electrostatic effects have been advanced as possibilities. The controversy is related to the question of whether the traditional explanation of hyperconjugation is the primary factor governing the stability of alkyl radicals.Reactions with oxygen .All alkanes react with oxygen in a combustion reaction although they become increasingly difficult to ignite as the number of carbon atoms increases. The general equation for complete combustion isIn the absence of sufficient oxygen carbon monoxide or even soot can be formed as shown belowFor example, methane:See the alkane heat of formation table for detailed data.The standard enthalpy change of combustion, c⊖ than straight-chain alkanes of the same number of carbon atoms, and so can be seen to be somewhat more stable.Reactions with halogens.Alkanes react with halogens in a so-called reaction. The hydrogen atoms of the alkane are progressively replaced by halogen atoms. Free radicals are the reactive species that participate in the reaction, which usually leads to a mixture of products. The reaction is highly exothermic with halogen fluorine and can lead to an explosion.These reactions are an important industrial route to halogenated hydrocarbons. There are three stepsExperiments have shown that all halogenation produces a mixture of all possible isomers, indicating that all hydrogen atoms are susceptible to reaction. The mixture produced, however, is not a statistical mixture: Secondary and tertiary hydrogen atoms are preferentially replaced due to the greater stability of secondary and tertiary free-radicals. An example can be seen in the monobromination of propane:Cracking breaks larger molecules into smaller ones. This can be done with a thermal or catalytic method. The thermal cracking process follows a homolytic mechanism with formation of free-radicals. The catalytic cracking process involves the presence of acid catalysts , which promote a heterolytic breakage of bonds yielding pairs of ions of opposite charges, usually a carbocation and the very unstable hydride anion. Carbon-localized free radicals and cations are both highly unstable and undergo processes of chain rearrangement, C–C scission in position beta and intra- and intermolecular hydrogen transfer or hydride transfer. In both types of processes, the corresponding reactive intermediates are permanently regenerated, and thus they proceed by a self-propagating chain mechanism. The chain of reactions is eventually terminated by radical or ion recombination.Isomerization and reformation.Dragan and his colleague were the first to report about isomerization in alkanes. Isomerization and reformation are processes in which straight-chain alkanes are heated in the presence of a platinum catalyst. In isomerization the alkanes become branched-chain isomers. In other words it does not lose any carbons or hydrogens keeping the same molecular weight. In reformation the alkanes become cycloalkanes or aromatic hydrocarbons giving off hydrogen as a by-product. Both of these processes raise the octane number of the substance. Butane is the most common alkane that is put under the process of isomerization as it makes many branched alkanes with high octane numbers.Other reactions.Alkanes will react with steam in the presence of a nickel catalyst to give hydrogen. Alkanes can be chlorosulfonated and nitrated, although both reactions require special conditions. The fermentation of alkanes to carboxylic acids is of some technical importance. In the Reed reaction, sulfur dioxide, chlorine and light convert hydrocarbons to sulfonyl chlorides. Nucleophilic Abstraction can be used to separate an alkane from a metal. Alkyl groups can be transferred from one compound to another by transmetalation reactions. A mixture of antimony pentafluoride and fluorosulfonic acid , called magic acid, can protonate alkanes.Occurrence.Occurrence of alkanes in the Universe.Alkanes form a small portion of the atmospheres of the outer gas planets such as Jupiter Saturn Uranus and Neptune . Titan a satellite of Saturn was examined by the probe which indicated that Titans surface. Also on Titan the Cassini mission has imaged seasonal methane/ethane lakes near the polar regions of Titan. Methane and ethane have also been detected in the tail of the comet Hyakutake. Chemical analysis showed that the abundances of ethane and methane were roughly equal which is thought to imply that its ices formed in interstellar space away from the Sun which would have evaporated these volatile molecules. Alkanes have also been detected in meteorites such as carbonaceous chondrites.Occurrence of alkanes on Earth.Traces of methane gas occur in the Earth's atmosphere produced primarily by methanogenic microorganisms such as Archaea in the gut of ruminants.The most important commercial sources for alkanes are natural gas and oil. Natural gas contains primarily methane and ethane, with some propane and butane: oil is a mixture of liquid alkanes and other hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons were formed when marine animals and plants died and sank to the bottom of ancient seas and were covered with sediments in an anoxic environment and converted over many millions of years at high temperatures and high pressure to their current form. Natural gas resulted thereby for example from the following reaction:These hydrocarbon deposits, collected in porous rocks trapped beneath impermeable cap rocks, comprise commercial oil fields. They have formed over millions of years and once exhausted cannot be readily replaced. The depletion of these hydrocarbons reserves is the basis for what is known as the energy crisis.Methane is also present in what is called biogas produced by animals and decaying matter which is a possible renewable energy source.Alkanes have a low solubility in water, so the content in the oceans is negligible; however, at high pressures and low temperatures (such as at the bottom of the oceans), methane can co-crystallize with water to form a solid methane clathrate (methane hydrate). Although this cannot be commercially exploited at the present time, the amount of combustible energy of the known methane clathrate fields exceeds the energy content of all the natural gas and oil deposits put together. Methane extracted from methane clathrate is, therefore, a candidate for future fuels.Biological occurrence.Acyclic alkanes occur in nature in various ways.Certain types of bacteria can metabolize alkanes: they prefer even-numbered carbon chains as they are easier to degrade than odd-numbered chains.On the other hand, certain archaea, the methanogens, produce large quantities of methane by the metabolism of carbon dioxide or other oxidized organic compounds. The energy is released by the oxidation of hydrogen:Methanogens are also the producers of marsh gas in wetlands. The methane output of cattle and other herbivores which can release 30 to 50 gallons per day and of termites is also due to methanogens. They also produce this simplest of all alkanes in the intestines of humans. Methanogenic archaea are hence at the end of the carbon cycle with carbon being released back into the atmosphere after having been fixed by photosynthesis. It is probable that our current deposits of natural gas were formed in a similar way.Alkanes also play a role if a minor role in the biology of the three eukaryotic groups of organisms fungi plants and animals. Some specialized yeasts e.g. "Candida tropicale" "Pichia" sp. "Rhodotorula" sp. can use alkanes as a source of carbon or energy. The fungus "Amorphotheca resinae" prefers the longer-chain alkanes in aviation fuel and can cause serious problems for aircraft in tropical regions.In plants the solid long-chain alkanes are found in the plant cuticle and epicuticular wax of many species but are only rarely major constituents. They protect the plant against water loss prevent the leaching of important minerals by the rain and protect against bacteria fungi and harmful insects. The carbon chains in plant alkanes are usually odd-numbered between 27 and 33 carbon atoms in length and are made by the plants by decarboxylation of even-numbered fatty acids. The exact composition of the layer of wax is not only species-dependent but changes also with the season and such environmental factors as lighting conditions temperature or humidity.More volatile short-chain alkanes are also produced by and found in plant tissues. The Jeffrey pine is noted for producing exceptionally high levels of "n"-heptane in its resin for which reason its distillate was designated as the zero point for one octane rating. Floral scents have also long been known to contain volatile alkane components and "n"-nonane is a significant component in the scent of some roses. Emission of gaseous and volatile alkanes such as ethane pentane and hexane by plants has also been documented at low levels though they are not generally considered to be a major component of biogenic air pollution.Edible vegetable oils also typically contain small fractions of biogenic alkanes with a wide spectrum of carbon numbers mainly 8 to 35 usually peaking in the low to upper 20s with concentrations up to dozens of milligrams per kilogram (parts per million by weight) and sometimes over a hundred for the total alkane fraction.Alkanes are found in animal products although they are less important than unsaturated hydrocarbons. One example is the shark liver oil which is approximately 14% pristane . They are important as pheromones chemical messenger materials on which insects depend for communication. In some species e.g. the support beetle the pheromone contains the four alkanes 2-methylheptadecane 1721-dimethylheptatriacontane 1519-dimethylheptatriacontane and 151923-trimethylheptatriacontane and acts by smell over longer distances. Waggle-dancing honey bees produce and release two alkanes tricosane and pentacosane.Ecological relations.One example in which both plant and animal alkanes play a role is the ecological relationship between the sand bee and the early spider orchid the latter is dependent for pollination on the former. Sand bees use pheromones in order to identify a mate in the case of the females emit a mixture of tricosane pentacosane and heptacosane in the ratio 331 and males are attracted by specifically this odor. The orchid takes advantage of this mating arrangement to get the male bee to collect and disseminate its pollen parts of its flower not only resemble the appearance of sand bees but also produce large quantities of the three alkanes in the same ratio as female sand bees. As a result numerous males are lured to the blooms and attempt to copulate with their imaginary partner although this endeavor is not crowned with success for the bee it allows the orchid to transfer its pollenwhich will be dispersed after the departure of the frustrated male to other blooms.Production.Petroleum refining.As stated earlier the most important source of alkanes is natural gas and crude oil. Alkanes are separated in an oil refinery by fractional distillation and processed into many products.Fischer–Tropsch.The Fischer–Tropsch process is a method to synthesize liquid hydrocarbons including alkanes from carbon monoxide and hydrogen. This method is used to produce substitutes for petroleum distillates.Laboratory preparation.There is usually little need for alkanes to be synthesized in the laboratory, since they are usually commercially available. Also, alkanes are generally unreactive chemically or biologically, and do not undergo functional group interconversions cleanly. When alkanes are produced in the laboratory, it is often a side-product of a reaction. For example, the use of -butane as a side-product:However, at times it may be desirable to make a section of a molecule into an alkane-like functionality using the above or similar methods. For example, an ethyl group is an alkyl group; when this is attached to a hydroxy group, it gives ethanol, which is not an alkane. To do so, the best-known methods are hydrogenation of alkenes:Alkanes or alkyl groups can also be prepared directly from alkyl halides in the Corey–House–Posner–Whitesides reaction. The Barton–McCombie deoxygenation removes hydroxyl groups from alcohols e.g.and the Clemmensen reduction removes carbonyl groups from aldehydes and ketones to form alkanes or alkyl-substituted compounds e.g.Preparation of alkanes from other organic compounds.Alkanes can be prepared from a variety of organic compounds.These include alkenes alkynes haloalkanes alcohols aldehydes and ketones and carboxylic acids.From alkenes and alkynes.When alkenes and alkynes are subjected to hydrogenation reaction by treating them with hydrogen in the presence of palladium or platinum or nickel catalyst, they produce alkanes. In this reaction powdered catalyst is preferred to increase the surface area so that adsorption of hydrogen on the catalyst increases. In this reaction the hydrogen gets attached on the catalyst to form a hydrogen-catalyst bond which leads to weakening of H-H bond, thereby leading to the addition of hydrogen on alkenes and alkynes. The reaction is exothermic because the product alkane is stable as it has more sigma bonds than the reactant alkenes and alkynes due to conversion of pi bond to sigma bonds.From haloalkanes.Alkanes can be produced from haloalkanes using different methods.Wurtz reaction.When haloalkane is treated with sodium in dry ether, alkane with double the number of carbon atoms is obtained. This reaction proceeds through free radical intermediate and has possibility of alkene formation in case of tertiary haloalkanes and vicinal dihalides.e.g2 R−X + 2 Na → R−R + 2 Na+X.(in presence of dry etherCorey-House-Synthesis.When haloalkane is treated with dialkyl lithium cuprite, which is otherwise known as Gilman's reagent, any higher alkane is obtained.egLi+[R–Cu–R]– + R'–X → R–R' + "RCu" + Li+XReaction with metal hydride.When haloalkanes are treated with metal hydride, e.g., sodium hydride and lithium aluminium hydride.Frankland reaction.When haloalkane is treated with zinc in ester alkane is obtained.Fittig reaction.When aryl halide is treated with sodium in dry ether it forms biphenyl.Ullmann biaryl synthesis.When aryl halide is treated with copper it forms biphenyl.Wurtz-Fittig reaction.When aryl halide is treated with haloalkane, we get alkyl benzene.Applications.The applications of alkanes depend on the number of carbon atoms. The first four alkanes are used mainly for heating and cooking purposes, and in some countries for electricity generation. Methane and ethane are the main components of natural gas; they are normally stored as gases under pressure. It is, however, easier to transport them as liquids: This requires both compression and cooling of the gas.Propane and butane are gases at atmospheric pressure that can be liquefied at fairly low pressures and are commonly known as liquified petroleum gas . Propane is used in propane gas burners and as a fuel for road vehicles, butane in space heaters and disposable cigarette lighters. Both are used as propellants in aerosol sprays.From pentane to octane the alkanes are highly volatile liquids. They are used as fuels in internal combustion engines, as they vaporize easily on entry into the combustion chamber without forming droplets, which would impair the uniformity of the combustion. Branched-chain alkanes are preferred as they are much less prone to premature ignition, which causes knocking, than their straight-chain homologues. This propensity to premature ignition is measured by the octane rating of the fuel, where 2,2,4-trimethylpentane has an arbitrary value of 100, and heptane has a value of zero. Apart from their use as fuels, the middle alkanes are also good solvents for nonpolar substances.Alkanes from nonane to, for instance, hexadecane are liquids of higher viscosity, less and less suitable for use in gasoline. They form instead the major part of diesel and aviation fuel. Diesel fuels are characterized by their cetane number, cetane being an old name for hexadecane. However, the higher melting points of these alkanes can cause problems at low temperatures and in polar regions, where the fuel becomes too thick to flow correctly.Alkanes from hexadecane upwards form the most important components of fuel oil and lubricating oil. In the latter function, they work at the same time as anti-corrosive agents, as their hydrophobic nature means that water cannot reach the metal surface. Many solid alkanes find use as paraffin wax, for example, in candles. This should not be confused however with true wax, which consists primarily of esters.Alkanes with a chain length of approximately 35 or more carbon atoms are found in bitumen used for example in road surfacing. However the higher alkanes have little value and are usually split into lower alkanes by cracking.Some synthetic polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene are alkanes with chains containing hundreds or thousands of carbon atoms. These materials are used in innumerable applications and billions of kilograms of these materials are made and used each year.Environmental transformations.Alkanes are chemically very inert apolar molecules which are not very reactive as organic compounds. This inertness yields serious ecological issues if they are released into the environment. Due to their lack of functional groups and low water solubility alkanes show poor bioavailability for microorganisms.There are, however, some microorganisms possessing the metabolic capacity to utilize -alkanes as both carbon and energy sources. Some bacterial species are highly specialised in degrading alkanes; these are referred to as hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria.Methane is flammable, explosive and dangerous to inhale; because it is a colorless, odorless gas, special caution must be taken around methane. Ethane is also extremely flammable, explosive, and dangerous to inhale. Both of them may cause suffocation. Propane, too, is flammable and explosive, and may cause drowsiness or unconsciousness if inhaled. Butane presents the same hazards as propane.Alkanes also pose a threat to the environment. Branched alkanes have a lower biodegradability than unbranched alkanes. Methane is considered to be the greenhouse gas that is most dangerous to the environment, although the amount of methane in the atmosphere is relatively low.
United States appellate procedure involves the rules and regulations for filing appeals in state courts and federal courts. The nature of an appeal can vary greatly depending on the type of case and the rules of the court in the jurisdiction where the case was prosecuted. There are many types of standard of review for appeals such as and abuse of discretion. However most appeals begin when a party files a petition for review to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision.An appellate court is a court that hears cases on appeal from another court. Depending on the particular legal rules that apply to each circumstance, a party to a court case who is unhappy with the result might be able to challenge that result in an appellate court on specific grounds. These grounds typically could include errors of law, fact, procedure or due process. In different jurisdictions, appellate courts are also called appeals courts, courts of appeals, superior courts, or supreme courts.The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from state to state. The right to file an appeal can also vary from state to state; for example, the New Jersey Constitution vests judicial power in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, and other courts of limited jurisdiction, with an appellate court being part of the Superior Court.Access to appellant status.A party who files an appeal is called an "appellant" "plaintiff in error" "petitioner" or "pursuer" and a party on the other side is called an "appellee". A "cross-appeal" is an appeal brought by the respondent. For example suppose at trial the judge found for the plaintiff and ordered the defendant to pay $50000. If the defendant files an appeal arguing that he should not have to pay any money then the plaintiff might file a cross-appeal arguing that the defendant should have to pay $200000 instead of $50000.The appellant is the party who, having lost part or all their claim in a lower court decision, is appealing to a higher court to have their case reconsidered. This is usually done on the basis that the lower court judge erred in the application of law, but it may also be possible to appeal on the basis of court misconduct, or that a finding of fact was entirely unreasonable to make on the evidence.The appellant in the new case can be either the plaintiff , defendant, third-party intervenor, or respondent from the lower case, depending on who was the losing party. The winning party from the lower court, however, is now the respondent. In unusual cases the appellant can be the victor in the court below, but still appeal.An appellee is the party to an appeal in which the lower court judgment was in its favor. The appellee is required to respond to the petition oral arguments and legal briefs of the appellant. In general the appellee takes the procedural posture that the lower court's decision should be affirmed.Ability to appeal.An appeal requires the appellant to obtain leave to appeal in such a situation either or both of the lower court and the court may have the discretion to grant or refuse the appellants decision. In the Supreme Court review in most cases is available only if the Court exercises its discretion and grants a writ of certiorari.In tort equity or other civil matters either party to a previous case may file an appeal. In criminal matters however the state or prosecution generally has no appeal from the trial court or the appellate court. The ability of the prosecution to appeal a decision in favor of a defendant varies significantly internationally. All parties must present grounds to appeal or it will not be heard.By convention in some law reports, the appellant is named first. This can mean that where it is the defendant who appeals, the name of the case in the law reports reverses as the appeals work their way up the court hierarchy. This is not always true, however. In the federal courts, the parties' names always stay in the same order as the lower court when an appeal is taken to the circuit courts of appeals, and are re-ordered only if the appeal reaches the Supreme Court.Direct or collateral: Appealing criminal convictions.Many jurisdictions recognize two types of appeals, particularly in the criminal context. The first is the traditional appeal in which the appellant files an appeal with the next higher court of review. The second is the collateral appeal or post-conviction petition, in which the petitioner-appellant files the appeal in a court of first instance—usually the court that tried the case.The key distinguishing factor between direct and collateral appeals is that the former occurs in state courts, and the latter in federal courts.Relief in post-conviction is rare and is most often found in capital or violent felony cases. The typical scenario involves an incarcerated defendant locating DNA evidence demonstrating the defendant's actual innocence.Appellate review."Appellate review" is the general term for the process by which courts with appellate jurisdiction take jurisdiction of matters decided by lower courts. It is distinguished from judicial review which refers to the court's overriding constitutional or statutory right to determine if a legislative act or administrative decision is defective for jurisdictional or other reasons .In most jurisdictions the normal and preferred way of seeking appellate review is by filing an appeal of the final judgment. Generally an appeal of the judgment will also allow appeal of all other orders or rulings made by the trial court in the course of the case. This is because such orders cannot be appealed . However certain critical interlocutory court orders such as the denial of a request for an interim injunction or an order holding a person in contempt of court can be appealed immediately although the case may otherwise not have been fully disposed of.There are two distinct forms of appellate review, , 483 F 3d. 475 .In Anglo-American common law courts, appellate review of lower court decisions may also be obtained by filing a petition for review by prerogative writ in certain cases. There is no corresponding right to a writ in any pure or continental civil law legal systems, though some mixed systems such as Quebec recognize these prerogative writs.Direct appeal.After exhausting the first appeal as of right, defendants usually petition the highest state court to review the decision. This appeal is known as a direct appeal. The highest state court, generally known as the Supreme Court, exercises discretion over whether it will review the case. On direct appeal, a prisoner challenges the grounds of the conviction based on an error that occurred at trial or some other stage in the adjudicative process.Preservation issues.An appellant's claim must usually be preserved at trial. This means that the defendant had to object to the error when it occurred in the trial. Because constitutional claims are of great magnitude appellate courts might be more lenient to review the claim even if it was not preserved. For example Connecticut applies the following standard to review unpreserved claims 1.the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error 2. the claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fundamental right 3. the alleged constitutional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the defendant of a fair trial 4. if subject to harmless error analysis the state has failed to demonstrate harmlessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond a reasonable doubt.State post-conviction relief collateral appeal.All States have a post-conviction relief process. Similar to federal post-conviction relief an appellant can petition the court to correct alleged fundamental errors that were not corrected on direct review. Typical claims might include ineffective assistance of counsel and actual innocence based on new evidence. These proceedings are normally separate from the direct appeal however some states allow for collateral relief to be sought on direct appeal. After direct appeal the conviction is considered final. An appeal from the post conviction court proceeds just as a direct appeal. That is it goes to the intermediate appellate court followed by the highest court. If the petition is granted the appellant could be released from incarceration the sentence could be modified or a new trial could be ordered.Notice of appeal.A is a form or document that in many cases is required to begin an appeal. The form is completed by the appellant or by the appellant's legal representative. The nature of this form can vary greatly from country to country and from court to court within a country.The specific rules of the legal system will dictate exactly how the appeal is officially begun. For example, the appellant might have to file the notice of appeal with the appellate court, or with the court from which the appeal is taken, or both.Some courts have samples of a notice of appeal on the court's own web site. In New Jersey for example the Administrative Office of the Court has promulgated a form of notice of appeal for use by appellants though using this exact form is not mandatory and the failure to use it is not a jurisdictional defect provided that all pertinent information is set forth in whatever form of notice of appeal is used.The deadline for beginning an appeal can often be very short: traditionally, it is measured in days, not months. This can vary from country to country, as well as within a country, depending on the specific rules in force. In the U.S. federal court system, criminal defendants must file a notice of appeal within 10 days of the entry of either the judgment or the order being appealed, or the right to appeal is forfeited.Appellate procedure.Generally speaking the appellate court examines the record of evidence presented in the trial court and the law that the lower court applied and decides whether that decision was legally sound or not. The appellate court will typically be deferential to the lower court's findings of fact unless clearly erroneous and so will focus on the court's application of the law to those facts .If the appellate court finds no defect it the ruling to correct the defect or it may nullify the whole decision or any part of it. It may in addition send the case back to the lower court for further proceedings to remedy the defect.In some cases, an appellate court may review a lower court decision , challenging even the lower court's findings of fact. This might be the proper standard of review, for example, if the lower court resolved the case by granting a pre-trial motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment which is usually based only upon written submissions to the trial court and not on any trial testimony.Another situation is where appeal is by way of "re-hearing". Certain jurisdictions permit certain appeals to cause the trial to be heard afresh in the appellate court.Sometimes, the appellate court finds a defect in the procedure the parties used in filing the appeal and dismisses the appeal without considering its merits, which has the same effect as affirming the judgment below. (This would happen, for example, if the appellant waited too long, under the appellate court's rules, to file the appeal.)Generally, there is no trial in an appellate court, only consideration of the record of the evidence presented to the trial court and all the pre-trial and trial court proceedings are reviewed—unless the appeal is by way of re-hearing, new evidence will usually only be considered on appeal in rare instances, for example if that material evidence was unavailable to a party for some very significant reason such as prosecutorial misconduct.In some systems an appellate court will only consider the written decision of the lower court together with any written evidence that was before that court and is relevant to the appeal. In other systems the appellate court will normally consider the record of the lower court. In those cases the record will first be certified by the lower court.The appellant has the opportunity to present arguments for the granting of the appeal and the appellee can present arguments against it. Arguments of the parties to the appeal are presented through their appellate lawyers, if represented, or "pro se" if the party has not engaged legal representation. Those arguments are presented in written briefs and sometimes in oral argument to the court at a hearing. At such hearings each party is allowed a brief presentation at which the appellate judges ask questions based on their review of the record below and the submitted briefs.In an adversarial system, appellate courts do not have the power to review lower court decisions unless a party appeals it. Therefore, if a lower court has ruled in an improper manner, or against legal precedent, that judgment will stand if not appealed – even if it might have been overturned on appeal.The United States legal system generally recognizes two types of appeals a trial or an appeal on the record.A trial de novo is usually available for review of informal proceedings conducted by some minor judicial tribunals in proceedings that do not provide all the procedural attributes of a formal judicial trial. If unchallenged, these decisions have the power to settle more minor legal disputes once and for all. If a party is dissatisfied with the finding of such a tribunal, one generally has the power to request a trial "de novo" by a court of record. In such a proceeding, all issues and evidence may be developed newly, as though never heard before, and one is not restricted to the evidence heard in the lower proceeding. Sometimes, however, the decision of the lower proceeding is itself admissible as evidence, thus helping to curb frivolous appeals.In some cases an application for district court for an offense lesser included in the one charged constitutes an acquittal of the greater offensepermitting trial de novo in the circuit court only for the lesser-included offense."In an appeal on the record from a decision in a judicial proceeding both appellant and respondent are bound to base their arguments wholly on the proceedings and body of evidence as they were presented in the lower tribunal. Each seeks to prove to the higher court that the result they desired was the just result. Precedent and case law figure prominently in the arguments. In order for the appeal to succeed the appellant must prove that the lower court committed reversible error that is an impermissible action by the court acted to cause a result that was unjust and which would not have resulted had the court acted properly. Some examples of reversible error would be erroneously instructing the jury on the law applicable to the case permitting seriously improper argument by an attorney admitting or excluding evidence improperly acting outside the courts judgment on the grounds that one did not by objecting.In cases where a judge rather than a jury decided issues of fact an appellate court will apply an "abuse of discretion" standard of review. Under this standard the appellate court gives deference to the lower court's view of the evidence and reverses its decision only if it were a clear abuse of discretion. This is usually defined as a decision outside the bounds of reasonableness. On the other hand the appellate court normally gives less deference to a lower court's decision on issues of law and may reverse if it finds that the lower court applied the wrong legal standard.In some cases an appellant may successfully argue that the law under which the lower decision was rendered was unconstitutional or otherwise invalid or may convince the higher court to order a new trial on the basis that evidence earlier sought was concealed or only recently discovered. In the case of new evidence there must be a high probability that its presence or absence would have made a material difference in the trial. Another issue suitable for appeal in criminal cases is effective assistance of counsel. If a defendant has been convicted and can prove that his lawyer did not adequately handle his case and that there is a reasonable probability that the result of the trial would have been different had the lawyer given competent representation he is entitled to a new trial.A lawyer traditionally starts an oral argument to any appellate court with the words "May it please the court."After an appeal is heard, the "mandate" is a formal notice of a decision by a court of appeal; this notice is transmitted to the trial court and, when filed by the clerk of the trial court, constitutes the final judgment on the case, unless the appeal court has directed further proceedings in the trial court. The mandate is distinguished from the appeal court's opinion, which sets out the legal reasoning for its decision. In some jurisdictions the mandate is known as the "remittitur".The result of an appeal can be:There can be multiple outcomes so that the reviewing court can affirm some rulings reverse others and remand the case all at the same time. Remand is not required where there is nothing left to do in the case. .Some reviewing courts who have discretionary review may send a case back without comment other than is effectively the same as affirmed, but without that extra higher court stamp of approval.
In law, an answer was originally a solemn assertion in opposition to someone or something, and thus generally any counter-statement or defense, a reply to a question or response, or objection, or a correct solution of a problem.In the common law an answer is the first pleading by a defendant usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. It may have been preceded by an file an answer to the complaint or risk an adverse default judgment.In a criminal case there is usually an arraignment or some other kind of appearance before the defendant comes to court. The pleading in the criminal case which is entered on the record in open court is usually either guilty or not guilty. Generally speaking in private civil cases there is no plea entered of guilt or innocence. There is only a judgment that grants money damages or some other kind of equitable remedy such as restitution or a permanent injunction. Criminal cases may lead to fines or other punishment such as imprisonment.The famous Latin were the accumulated views of many successive generations of Roman lawyers, a body of legal opinion which gradually became authoritative.During debates of a contentious nature, deflection, colloquially known as , has been widely observed, and is often seen as a failure to answer a question.
An appellate court commonly called a court of appeals appeal court court of appeal court of second instance or second instance court is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In most jurisdictions the court system is divided into at least three levels the trial court which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case at least one intermediate appellate court and a supreme court which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts often on a discretionary basis. A jurisdictions highest appellate court. Appellate courts nationwide can operate under varying rules.The authority of appellate courts to review the decisions of lower courts varies widely from one jurisdiction to another. In some areas the appellate court has limited powers of review. Generally an appellate courts determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed reversed remanded or modified.Bifurcation of civil and criminal appeals.While many appellate courts have jurisdiction over all cases decided by lower courts, some systems have appellate courts divided by the type of jurisdiction they exercise. Some jurisdictions have specialized appellate courts, such as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which only hears appeals raised in criminal cases, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has general jurisdiction but derives most of its caseload from patent cases, on one hand, and appeals from the Court of Federal Claims on the other. In the United States, Alabama, Tennessee, and Oklahoma also have separate courts of criminal appeals. Texas and Oklahoma have the final determination of criminal cases vested in their respective courts of criminal appeals, while Alabama and Tennessee allow decisions of its court of criminal appeals to be finally appealed to the state supreme court.Courts of criminal appeals.Court of Criminal Appeals include:Appellate courts by country.New Zealand.The Court of Appeal of New Zealand located in Wellington is New Zealand's principal intermediate appellate court. In practice most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level rather than in the Supreme Court.The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka located in Colombo is the second senior court in the Sri Lankan legal system.United States.In the United States both state and federal appellate courts are usually restricted to examining whether the lower court made the correct legal determinations rather than hearing direct evidence and determining what the facts of the case were. Furthermore U.S. appellate courts are usually restricted to hearing appeals based on matters that were originally brought up before the trial court. Hence such an appellate court will not consider an appellant's argument if it is based on a theory that is raised for the first time in the appeal.In most U.S. states and in U.S. federal courts parties before the court are allowed one appeal as of right. This means that a party who is unsatisfied with the outcome of a trial may bring an appeal to contest that outcome. However appeals may be costly and the appellate court must find an error on the part of the court below that justifies upsetting the verdict. Therefore only a small proportion of trial court decisions result in appeals. Some appellate courts particularly supreme courts have the power of discretionary review meaning that they can decide whether they will hear an appeal brought in a particular case.Institutional titles.Many U.S. jurisdictions title their appellate court a court of appeal or court of appeals. Historically, others have titled their appellate court a court of errors , on the premise that it was intended to correct errors made by lower courts. Examples of such courts include the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals , the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors , the Kentucky Court of Errors , and the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals . In some jurisdictions, a court able to hear appeals is known as an appellate division.The phrase "court of appeals" most often refers to intermediate appellate courts. However, the Maryland and New York systems are different. The Maryland Court of Appeals and the New York Court of Appeals are the highest appellate courts in those states. The New York Supreme Court is a trial court of general jurisdiction. Depending on the system, certain courts may serve as both trial courts and appellate courts, hearing appeals of decisions made by courts with more limited jurisdiction.
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include are allowed in some circumstances.In Australia arraignment is the first of 11 stages in a criminal trial and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment. The judge will testify during the indictment process.In every province in Canada except British Columbia defendants are arraigned on the day of their trial. In British Columbia arraignment takes place in one of the first few court appearances by the defendant or their lawyer. The defendant is asked whether he or she pleads guilty or not guilty to each charge.In France the general rule is that one cannot remain in police custody for more than 24 hours from the time of the arrest. However police custody can last another 24 hours in specific circumstances especially if the offence is punishable by at least one year's imprisonment or if the investigation is deemed to require the extra time and can last up to 96 hours in certain cases involving terrorism drug trafficking or organised crime. The police need to have the consent of the prosecutor the . In the vast majority of cases the prosecutor will consent.In Germany, if one has been arrested and taken into custody by the police one must be brought before a judge as soon as possible and at the latest on the day after the arrest.New Zealand.In New Zealand law, at the first appearance of the accused, they are read the charges and asked for a plea. The available pleas are: guilty, not guilty, and no plea. No plea allows the defendant to get legal advice on the plea, which must be made on the second appearance.South Africa.In South Africa, arraignment is defined as the calling upon the accused to appear, the informing of the accused of the crime charged against them, the demanding of the accused whether they plead guilty or not guilty, and the entering of their plea. Their plea having been entered, they are said to stand arraigned.United Kingdom.In England Wales and Northern Ireland arraignment is the first of 11 stages in a criminal trial and involves the clerk of the court reading out the indictment.In England and Wales the police cannot legally detain anyone for more than 24 hours without charging them unless an officer with the rank of superintendent authorises detention for a further 12 hours or a judge authorises detention by the police before charge for up to a maximum of 96 hours but for terrorism-related offences people can be held by the police for up to 28 days before charge. If they are not released after being charged they should be brought before a court as soon as practicable.United States.Under the United States Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, In federal courts, arraignment takes place in two stages. The first is called the and must take place within 48 hours of an individual's arrest, 72 hours if the individual was arrested on the weekend and not able to go before a judge until Monday. During this stage, the defendant is informed of the pending legal charges and is informed of his or her right to retain counsel. The presiding judge also decides at what amount, if any, to set bail. During the second stage, a post-indictment arraignment , the defendant is allowed to enter a plea.In New York, most people arrested must be released if they are not arraigned within 24 hours.In California, arraignments must be conducted without unnecessary delay and, in any event, within 48 hours of arrest, excluding weekends and holidays.Form of the arraignment.The wording of the arraignment varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However it generally conforms with the following principlesVideo arraignment.Video arraignment is the act of conducting the arraignment process using some form of videoconferencing technology. Use of video arraignment system allows the court to conduct the requisite arraignment process without the need to transport the defendant to the courtroom by using an audio-visual link between the location where the defendant is being held and the courtroom.Use of the video arraignment process addresses the problems associated with having to transport defendants. The transportation of defendants requires time, puts additional demands on the public safety organizations to provide for the safety of the public, court personnel and for the security of the population held in detention. It also addresses the rising costs of transportation.Guilty and not-guilty pleas.If the defendant pleads guilty an evidentiary hearing usually follows. The court is not required to accept a guilty plea. During the hearing the judge assesses the offense the mitigating factors and the defendant's character and passes sentence.If the defendant pleads not guilty, a date is set for a preliminary hearing or a trial.In the past a defendant who refused to plead was subject to "peine forte et dure" . Today in common law jurisdictions the court enters a plea of not guilty for a defendant who refuses to enter a plea. The rationale for this is the defendant's right to silence.Pre-trial release.This is also often the stage at which arguments for or against pre-trial release and bail may be made, depending on the alleged crime and jurisdiction.
"America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark New Jersey. The two never met.Bates wrote the words as a poem originally entitled .Ward had initially composed the song's melody in 1882 to accompany lyrics to "Materna" basis of the hymn "O Mother dear Jerusalem" though the hymn was not first published until 1892. The combination of Ward's melody and Bates's poem was first entitled "America the Beautiful" in 1910. The song is one of the most popular of the many U.S. patriotic songs.In 1893, at the age of 33, Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach at Colorado College. Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem, including the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the "White City" with its promise of the future contained within its gleaming white buildings; the wheat fields of America's heartland Kansas, through which her train was riding on July 16; and the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Pikes Peak.On the pinnacle of that mountain, the words of the poem started to come to her, and she wrote them down upon returning to her hotel room at the original Antlers Hotel. The poem was initially published two years later in to commemorate the Fourth of July. It quickly caught the public's fancy. An amended version was published in 1904.The first known melody written for the song was sent in by Silas Pratt when the poem was published in .Ward died in 1903 not knowing the national stature his music would attain. Bates was more fortunate since the song's popularity was well established by the time of her death in 1929. It is included in songbooks in many religious congregations in the United States.At various times in the more than one hundred years that have elapsed since the song was written particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration there have been efforts to give continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of Americans and was even being considered before 1931 as a candidate to become the national anthem of the United States.Notable performances.Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album .Frank Sinatra recorded the song with Nelson Riddle during the sessions for "The Concert Sinatra" in February 1963, for a projected 45 single release. The 45 was not commercially issued however, but the song was later added as a bonus track to the enhanced 2012 CD release of "The Concert Sinatra".In 1976 while the United States celebrated its bicentennial a soulful version popularized by Ray Charles peaked at number 98 on the US R&ampB chart. His version was traditionally played on New Year's Eve in Times Square following the ball drop.Three different renditions of the song have entered the Hot Country Songs charts. The first was by Charlie Rich, which went to number 22 in 1976. A second, by Mickey Newbury, peaked at number 82 in 1980. An all-star version of "America the Beautiful" performed by country singers Trace Adkins, Sherri Austin, Billy Dean, Vince Gill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Toby Keith, Brenda Lee, Lonestar, Lyle Lovett, Lila McCann, Lorrie Morgan, Jamie O'Neal, The Oak Ridge Boys, Collin Raye, Kenny Rogers, Keith Urban and Phil Vassar reached number 58 in July 2001. The song re-entered the chart following the September 11 attacks.Popularity of the song increased greatly following the September 11 attacks at some sporting events it was sung in addition to the traditional singing of the national anthem. During the first taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman" following the attacks CBS newsman Dan Rather cried briefly as he quoted the fourth verse.For Super Bowl XLVIII The Coca-Cola Company aired a multilingual version of the song sung in several different languages. The commercial received some criticism on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and from some conservatives such as Glenn Beck. Despite the controversies Coca-Cola later reused the Super Bowl ad during Super Bowl LI the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics and for patriotic holidays.On January 20, 2017, Jackie Evancho released Classical Digital Song sales chart.Jennifer Lopez performed the song at President Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20 2021 as the second half of a medley with "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie."From sea to shining sea", originally used in the charters of some of the English Colonies in North America, is an American idiom meaning "from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean" . Other songs that have used this phrase include the American patriotic song "God Bless the U.S.A." and Schoolhouse Rock's "Elbow Room". The phrase and the song are also the namesake of the Shining Sea Bikeway, a bike path in Bates's hometown of Falmouth, Massachusetts. The phrase is similar to the Latin phrase "" , which is the official motto of Canada. refers to the shade of the Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs Colorado which inspired Bates to write the poem.In 2003 Tori Amos appropriated the phrase "for amber waves of grain" to create a personification for her song "Amber Waves". Amos imagines Amber Waves as an exotic dancer like the character of the same name portrayed by Julianne Moore in "Boogie Nights".Lynn Sherr's 2001 book "America the Beautiful" discusses the origins of the song and the backgrounds of its authors in depth. The book points out that the poem has the same meter as that of "Auld Lang Syne"; the songs can be sung interchangeably. Additionally, Sherr discusses the evolution of the lyrics, for instance, changes to the original third verse written by Bates.Melinda M. Ponder, in her 2017 biography , draws heavily on Bates's diaries and letters to trace the history of the poem and its place in American culture.
Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive adaptive and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities or the elderly population. People with disabilities often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently or even with assistance. ADLs are self-care activities that include toileting mobility (ambulation) eating bathing dressing grooming and personal device care. Assistive technology can ameliorate the effects of disabilities that limit the ability to perform ADLs. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish or had great difficulty accomplishing by providing enhancements to or changing methods of interacting with the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. For example wheelchairs provide independent mobility for those who cannot walk while assistive eating devices can enable people who cannot feed themselves to do so. Due to assistive technology people with disability have an opportunity of a more positive and easygoing lifestyle with an increase in Adaptive technology.Adaptive technology and assistive technology are different. covers items that are specifically designed for disabled people and would seldom be used by a non-disabled person. In other words, assistive technology is any object or system that helps people with disabilities, while adaptive technology is specifically designed for disabled people. Consequently, adaptive technology is a subset of assistive technology. Adaptive technology often refers specifically to electronic and information technology access.Occupational therapy.Occupational therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that specializes in maintaining or improving the quality of life for individuals that experience challenges when independently performing life's occupations. According to the "Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process" (3rd ed.; AOTA, 2014), occupations include areas related to all basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs), rest and sleep, education, work, play, leisure and social participation. Occupational therapists have the specialized skill of employing assistive technology (AT) in the improvement and maintenance of optimal, functional participation in occupations. The application of AT enables an individual to adapt aspects of the environment, that may otherwise be challenging, to the user in order to optimize functional participation in those occupations. As a result, occupational therapists may educate, recommend, and promote the use of AT to improve the quality of life for their clients.Mobility impairments.Wheelchairs.Wheelchairs are devices that can be manually propelled or electrically propelled, and that include a seating system and are designed to be a substitute for the normal mobility that most people have. Wheelchairs and other mobility devices allow people to perform mobility-related activities of daily living which include feeding, toileting, dressing, grooming, and bathing. The devices come in a number of variations where they can be propelled either by hand or by motors where the occupant uses electrical controls to manage motors and seating control actuators through a joystick, sip-and-puff control, head switches or other input devices. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing or input devices for caregivers. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, or disability. People with both sitting and walking disability often need to use a wheelchair or walker.Newer advancements in wheelchair design enable wheelchairs to climb stairs go off-road or propel using segway technology or additional add-ons like handbikes or power assists.Transfer devices.Patient transfer devices generally allow patients with impaired mobility to be moved by caregivers between beds, wheelchairs, commodes, toilets, chairs, stretchers, shower benches, automobiles, swimming pools, and other patient support systems (i.e., radiology, surgical, or examining tables). The most common devices are Patient lifts (for vertical transfer), Transfer benches, stretcher or convertible chairs (for lateral, supine transfer), sit-to-stand lifts (for moving patients from one seated position to another i.e., from wheelchairs to commodes), air bearing inflatable mattresses (for supine transfer i.e., transfer from a gurney to an operating room table), and sliding boards (usually used for transfer from a bed to a wheelchair). Highly dependent patients who cannot assist their caregiver in moving them often require a Patient lift (a floor or ceiling-suspended sling lift) which though invented in 1955 and in common use since the early 1960s is still considered the state-of-the-art transfer device by OSHA and the American Nursing Association.A walker or walking frame or Rollator is a tool for disabled people who need additional support to maintain balance or stability while walking. It consists of a frame that is about waist high, approximately twelve inches deep and slightly wider than the user. Walkers are also available in other sizes, such as for children, or for heavy people. Modern walkers are height-adjustable. The front two legs of the walker may or may not have wheels attached depending on the strength and abilities of the person using it. It is also common to see caster wheels or glides on the back legs of a walker with wheels on the front.Prosthesis.A prosthesis prosthetic or prosthetic limb is a device that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics the science of using mechanical devices with human muscular musculoskeletal and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control lost by trauma disease or defect. Prostheses are typically used to replace parts lost by injury or missing from birth or to supplement defective body parts. Inside the body artificial heart valves are in common use with artificial hearts and lungs seeing less common use but under active technology development. Other medical devices and aids that can be considered prosthetics include hearing aids artificial eyes palatal obturator gastric bands and dentures.Prostheses are specifically not orthoses although given certain circumstances a prosthesis might end up performing some or all of the same functionary benefits as an orthosis. Prostheses are technically the complete finished item. For instance a C-Leg knee alone is not a prosthesis but only a prosthetic component. The complete prosthesis would consist of the attachment system to the residual limb — usually a "socket" and all the attachment hardware components all the way down to and including the terminal device. Despite the technical difference the terms are often used interchangeably.The terms are used to describe the respective allied health fields.An Occupational Therapist's role in prosthetics include therapy, training and evaluations. Prosthetic training includes orientation to prosthetics components and terminology, donning and doffing, wearing schedule, and how to care for residual limb and the prosthesis.Exoskeletons.A powered exoskeleton is a wearable mobile machine that is powered by a system of electric motors pneumatics levers hydraulics or a combination of technologies that allow for limb movement with increased strength and endurance. Its design aims to provide back support sense the user's motion and send a signal to motors which manage the gears. The exoskeleton supports the shoulder waist and thigh and assists movement for lifting and holding heavy items while lowering back stress.Adaptive seating and positioning.People with balance and motor function challenges often need specialized equipment to sit or stand safely and securely. This equipment is frequently specialized for specific settings such as in a classroom or nursing home. Positioning is often important in seating arrangements to ensure that user's body pressure is distributed equally without inhibiting movement in a desired way.Positioning devices have been developed to aid in allowing people to stand and bear weight on their legs without risk of a fall. These standers are generally grouped into two categories based on the position of the occupant. Prone standers distribute the body weight to the front of the individual and usually have a tray in front of them. This makes them good for users who are actively trying to carry out some task. Supine standers distribute the body weight to the back and are good for cases where the user has more limited mobility or is recovering from injury.Visual impairments.Many people with serious visual impairments live independently, using a wide range of tools and techniques. Examples of assistive technology for visually impairment include screen readers, screen magnifiers, Braille embossers, desktop video magnifiers, and voice recorders.Screen readers.Screen readers are used to help the visually impaired to easily access electronic information. These software programs run on a computer in order to convey the displayed information through voice or braille in combination with magnification for low vision users in some cases. There are a variety of platforms and applications available for a variety of costs with differing feature sets.Some example of screen readers are Apple VoiceOver Google TalkBack and Microsoft Narrator. This software is provided free of charge on all Apple devices. Apple VoiceOver includes the option to magnify the screen control the keyboard and provide verbal descriptions to describe what is happening on the screen. There are thirty languages to select from. It also has the capacity to read aloud file content as well as web pages E-mail messages and word processing files.As mentioned above screen readers may rely on the assistance of text-to-speech tools. To use the text-to-speech tools the documents must in an electronic form that is uploaded as the digital format. However people usually will use the hard copy documents scanned into the computer which cannot be recognized by the text-to-speech software. To solve this issue people always use Optical Character Recognition technology accompanied with text-to-speech software.Braille and braille embossers.Braille is a system of raised dots formed into units called braille cells. A full braille cell is made up of six dots with two parallel rows of three dots but other combinations and quantities of dots represent other letters numbers punctuation marks or words. People can then use their fingers to read the code of raised dots.A braille embosser is, simply put, a printer for braille. Instead of a standard printer adding ink onto a page, the braille embosser imprints the raised dots of braille onto a page. Some braille embossers combine both braille and ink so the documents can be read with either sight or touch.Refreshable braille display.A refreshable braille display or braille terminal is an electro-mechanical device for displaying braille characters, usually by means of round-tipped pins raised through holes in a flat surface. Computer users who cannot use a computer monitor use it to read a braille output version of the displayed text.Desktop video magnifier.Desktop video magnifiers are electronic devices that use a camera and a display screen to perform digital magnification of printed materials. They enlarge printed pages for those with low vision. A camera connects to a monitor that displays real-time images, and the user can control settings such as magnification, focus, contrast, underlining, highlighting, and other screen preferences. They come in a variety of sizes and styles; some are small and portable with handheld cameras, while others are much larger and mounted on a fixed stand.Screen magnification software.A screen magnifier is software that interfaces with a computer's graphical output to present enlarged screen content. It allows users to enlarge the texts and graphics on their computer screens for easier viewing. Similar to desktop video magnifiers this technology assists people with low vision. After the user loads the software into their computer's memory it serves as a kind of "computer magnifying glass." Wherever the computer cursor moves it enlarges the area around it. This allows greater computer accessibility for a wide range of visual abilities.Large-print and tactile keyboards.A large-print keyboard has large letters printed on the keys. On the keyboard shown the round buttons at the top control software which can magnify the screen change the background color of the screen or make the mouse cursor on the screen larger. The "bump dots" on the keys installed in this case by the organization using the keyboards help the user find the right keys in a tactile way.Navigation assistance.Assistive technology for navigation has exploded on the IEEE Xplore database since 2000 with over 7500 engineering articles written on assistive technologies and visual impairment in the past 25 years and over 1300 articles on solving the problem of navigation for people who are blind or visually impaired. As well over 600 articles on augmented reality and visual impairment have appeared in the engineering literature since 2000. Most of these articles were published within the past 5 years and the number of articles in this area is increasing every year. GPS accelerometers gyroscopes and cameras can pinpoint the exact location of the user and provide information on what is in the immediate vicinity and assistance in getting to a destination.Wearable technology.Wearable technology are smart electronic devices that can be worn on the body as an implant or an accessory. New technologies are exploring how the visually impaired can receive visual information through wearable devices.Some wearable devices for visual impairment includePersonal emergency response systems.Personal emergency response systems , or Telecare , are a particular sort of assistive technology that use electronic sensors connected to an alarm system to help caregivers manage risk and help vulnerable people stay independent at home longer. An example would be the systems being put in place for senior people such as fall detectors, thermometers , flooding and unlit gas sensors . Notably, these alerts can be customized to the particular person's risks. When the alert is triggered, a message is sent to a caregiver or contact center who can respond appropriately.Accessibility software.In human–computer interaction computer accessibility refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people regardless of disability or severity of impairment examples include web accessibility guidelines. Another approach is for the user to present a token to the computer terminal such as a smart card that has configuration information to adjust the computer speed text size etc. to their particular needs. This is useful where users want to access public computer based terminals in Libraries ATM Information kiosks etc. The concept is encompassed by the CEN EN 1332-4 Identification Card Systems – Man-Machine Interface. This development of this standard has been supported in Europe by SNAPI and has been successfully incorporated into the Lasseo specifications but with limited success due to the lack of interest from public computer terminal suppliers.Hearing impairments.People in the d/Deaf and hard of hearing community have a more difficult time receiving auditory information as compared to hearing individuals. These individuals often rely on visual and tactile mediums for receiving and communicating information. The use of assistive technology and devices provides this community with various solutions to auditory communication needs by providing higher sound (for those who are hard of hearing) tactile feedback visual cues and improved technology access. Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing utilize a variety of assistive technologies that provide them with different access to information in numerous environments. Most devices either provide amplified sound or alternate ways to access information through vision and/or vibration. These technologies can be grouped into three general categories Hearing Technology alerting devices and communication support.Hearing aids.A hearing aid or deaf aid is an electro-acoustic device which is designed to amplify sound for the wearer, usually with the aim of making speech more intelligible, and to correct impaired hearing as measured by audiometry. This type of assistive technology helps people with hearing loss participate more fully in their hearing communities by allowing them to hear more clearly. They amplify any and all sound waves through use of a microphone, amplifier, and speaker. There is a wide variety of hearing aids available, including digital, in-the-ear, in-the-canal, behind-the-ear, and on-the-body aids.Assistive listening devices.Assistive listening devices include FM, infrared, and loop assistive listening devices. This type of technology allows people with hearing difficulties to focus on a speaker or subject by getting rid of extra background noises and distractions, making places like auditoriums, classrooms, and meetings much easier to participate in. The assistive listening device usually uses a microphone to capture an audio source near to its origin and broadcast it wirelessly over an FM transmission, IR transmission, IL transmission, or other transmission methods. The person who is listening may use an FM/IR/IL Receiver to tune into the signal and listen at his/her preferred volume.Amplified telephone equipment.This type of assistive technology allows users to amplify the volume and clarity of their phone calls so that they can easily partake in this medium of communication. There are also options to adjust the frequency and tone of a call to suit their individual hearing needs. Additionally there is a wide variety of amplified telephones to choose from with different degrees of amplification. For example a phone with 26 to 40 decibel is generally sufficient for mild hearing loss while a phone with 71 to 90 decibel is better for more severe hearing loss.Augmentative and alternative communication.Augmentative and alternative communication is an umbrella term that encompasses methods of communication for those with impairments or restrictions on the production or comprehension of spoken or written language. AAC systems are extremely diverse and depend on the capabilities of the user. They may be as basic as pictures on a board that are used to request food drink or other care or they can be advanced speech generating devices based on speech synthesis that are capable of storing hundreds of phrases and words.Cognitive impairments.Assistive Technology for Cognition (ATC) is the use of technology (usually high tech) to augment and assist cognitive processes such as attention memory self-regulation navigation emotion recognition and management planning and sequencing activity. Systematic reviews of the field have found that the number of ATC are growing rapidly but have focused on memory and planning that there is emerging evidence for efficacy that a lot of scope exists to develop new ATC. Examples of ATC include NeuroPage which prompts users about meetings Wakamaru which provides companionship and reminds users to take medicine and calls for help if something is wrong and telephone Reassurance systems.Memory aids.Memory aids are any type of assistive technology that helps a user learn and remember certain information. Many memory aids are used for cognitive impairments such as reading, writing, or organizational difficulties. For example, a Smartpen records handwritten notes by creating both a digital copy and an audio recording of the text. Users simply tap certain parts of their notes, the pen saves it, and reads it back to them. From there, the user can also download their notes onto a computer for increased accessibility. Digital voice recorders are also used to record information for fast and easy recall at a later time.Educational software.Educational software is software that assists people with reading, learning, comprehension, and organizational difficulties. Any accommodation software such as text readers, notetakers, text enlargers, organization tools, word predictions, and talking word processors falls under the category of educational software.Eating impairments.Adaptive eating devices include items commonly used by the general population like spoons and forks and plates. However they become assistive technology when they are modified to accommodate the needs of people who have difficulty using standard cutlery due to a disabling condition. Common modifications include increasing the size of the utensil handle to make it easier to grasp. Plates and bowls may have a guard on the edge that stops food being pushed off of the dish when it is being scooped. More sophisticated equipment for eating includes manual and powered feeding devices. These devices support those who have little or no hand and arm function and enable them to eat independently.Assistive technology in sports is an area of technology design that is growing. Assistive technology is the array of new devices created to enable sports enthusiasts who have disabilities to play. Assistive technology may be used in adaptive sports, where an existing sport is modified to enable players with a disability to participate; or, assistive technology may be used to invent completely new sports with athletes with disabilities exclusively in mind.An increasing number of people with disabilities are participating in sports, leading to the development of new assistive technology. Assistive technology devices can be simple, or "low-technology", or they may use highly advanced technology. "Low-tech" devices can include velcro gloves and adaptive bands and tubes. "High-tech" devices can include all-terrain wheelchairs and adaptive bicycles. Accordingly, assistive technology can be found in sports ranging from local community recreation to the elite Paralympic Games. More complex assistive technology devices have been developed over time, and as a result, sports for people with disabilities "have changed from being a clinical therapeutic tool to an increasingly competition-oriented activity".In education.In the United States there are two major pieces of legislation that govern the use of assistive technology within the school system. The first is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the second being the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which was first enacted in 1975 under the name The Education for All Handicapped Children Act. In 2004, during the reauthorization period for IDEA, the National Instructional Material Access Center (NIMAC) was created which provided a repository of accessible text including publisher's textbooks to students with a qualifying disability. Files provided are in XML format and used as a starting platform for braille readers, screen readers, and other digital text software. IDEA defines assistive technology as follows: "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability. (B) Exception.The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device."Assistive technology listed is a student's IEP is not only recommended, it is required . These devices help students both with and without disabilities access the curriculum in a way they were previously unable to . Occupational therapists play an important role in educating students, parents and teachers about the assistive technology they may interact with .Assistive technology in this area is broken down into low, mid, and high tech categories. Low tech encompasses equipment that is often low cost and does not include batteries or requires charging. Examples include adapted paper and pencil grips for writing or masks and color overlays for reading. Mid tech supports used in the school setting include the use of handheld spelling dictionaries and portable word processors used to keyboard writing. High tech supports involve the use of tablet devices and computers with accompanying software. Software supports for writing include the use of auditory feedback while keyboarding, word prediction for spelling, and speech to text. Supports for reading include the use of text to speech software and font modification via access to digital text. Limited supports are available for math instruction and mostly consist of grid based software to allow younger students to keyboard equations and auditory feedback of more complex equations using MathML and Daisy.Dementia care.Assistive technology for memory support.A 2017 Cochrane Review highlighted the current lack of high-quality evidence to determine whether assistive technology effectively supports people with dementia to manage memory issues. Thus, it is not presently sure whether or not assistive technology is beneficial for memory problems.Computer accessibility.One of the largest problems that affect disabled people is discomfort with prostheses. An experiment performed in Massachusetts utilized 20 people with various sensors attached to their arms. The subjects tried different arm exercises and the sensors recorded their movements. All of the data helped engineers develop new engineering concepts for prosthetics.Assistive technology may attempt to improve the ergonomics of the devices themselves such as Dvorak and other alternative keyboard layouts, which offer more ergonomic layouts of the keys.Assistive technology devices have been created to enable disabled people to use modern touch screen mobile computers such as the iPad iPhone and iPod touch. The Pererro is a plug and play adapter for iOS devices which uses the built in Apple VoiceOver feature in combination with a basic switch. This brings touch screen technology to those who were previously unable to use it. Apple with the release of iOS 7 had introduced the ability to navigate apps using switch control. Switch access could be activated either through an external bluetooth connected switch single touch of the screen or use of right and left head turns using the device's camera. Additional accessibility features include the use of Assistive Touch which allows a user to access multi-touch gestures through pre-programmed onscreen buttons.For users with physical disabilities a large variety of switches are available and customizable to the user's needs varying in size, shape, or amount of pressure required for activation. Switch access may be placed near any area of the body which has consistent and reliable mobility and less subject to fatigue. Common sites include the hands, head, and feet. Eye gaze and head mouse systems can also be used as an alternative mouse navigation. A user may utilize single or multiple switch sites and the process often involves a scanning through items on a screen and activating the switch once the desired object is highlighted.Home automation.The form of home automation called assistive domotics focuses on making it possible for elderly and disabled people to live independently. Home automation is becoming a viable option for the elderly and disabled who would prefer to stay in their own homes rather than move to a healthcare facility. This field uses much of the same technology and equipment as home automation for security entertainment and energy conservation but tailors it towards elderly and disabled users. For example automated prompts and reminders utilize motion sensors and pre-recorded audio messages an automated prompt in the kitchen may remind the resident to turn off the oven and one by the front door may remind the resident to lock the door.Overall, assistive technology aims to allow disabled people to "participate more fully in all aspects of life " and increases their opportunities for "education, social interactions, and potential for meaningful employment". It creates greater independence and control for disabled individuals. For example, in one study of 1,342 infants, toddlers and preschoolers, all with some kind of developmental, physical, sensory, or cognitive disability, the use of assistive technology created improvements in child development. These included improvements in "cognitive, social, communication, literacy, motor, adaptive, and increases in engagement in learning activities". Additionally, it has been found to lighten caregiver load. Both family and professional caregivers benefit from assistive technology. Through its use, the time that a family member or friend would need to care for a patient significantly decreases. However, studies show that care time for a professional caregiver increases when assistive technology is used. Nonetheless, their work load is significantly easier as the assistive technology frees them of having to perform certain tasks. There are several platforms that use machine learning to identify the appropriate assistive device to suggest to patients, making assistive devices more accessible.
The abacus , also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Arabic numeral system. The exact origin of the abacus has not yet emerged. It consists of rows of movable beads, or similar objects, strung on a wire. They represent digits. One of the two numbers is set up, and the beads are manipulated to perform an operation such as addition, or even a square or cubic root.In their earliest designs the rows of beads could be loose on a flat surface or sliding in grooves. Later the beads were made to slide on rods and built into a frame allowing faster manipulation. Abacuses are still made often as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires. In the ancient world particularly before the introduction of positional notation abacuses were a practical calculating tool. The abacus is still used to teach the fundamentals of mathematics to some children e.g. in post-Soviet states.Designs such as the Japanese soroban have been used for practical calculations of up to multi-digit numbers. Any particular abacus design supports multiple methods to perform calculations, including the four basic operations and square and cube roots. Some of these methods work with non-natural numbers .Although calculators and computers are commonly used today instead of abacuses abacuses remain in everyday use in some countries. Merchants traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe Russia China and Africa use abacuses. The abacus remains in common useas a scoring system in non-electronic table games. Others may use an abacus due to visual impairment that prevents the use of a calculator.The word "abacus" dates to at least AD 1387 when a Middle English work borrowed the word from Latin that described a sandboard abacus. The Latin word is derived from ancient Greek which means something without a base, and colloquially, any piece of rectangular material. Alternatively, without reference to ancient texts on etymology, it has been suggested that it means "a square tablet strewn with dust", or "drawing-board covered with dust " (the exact shape of the Latin perhaps reflects the genitive form of the Greek word, . While the table strewn with dust definition is popular, some argue evidence is insufficient for that conclusion. Greek probably borrowed from a Northwest Semitic language like Phoenician, evidenced by a cognate with the Hebrew word "bq" , or “dust” .Mesopotamia.The Sumerian abacus appeared between 2700–2300 BC. It held a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their sexagesimal (base 60) number system.Some scholars point to a character in Babylonian cuneiform that may have been derived from a representation of the abacus. It is the belief of Old Babylonian scholars, such as Ettore Carruccio, that Old Babylonians "may have used the abacus for the operations of addition and subtraction; however, this primitive device proved difficult to use for more complex calculations".Greek historian Herodotus mentioned the abacus in Ancient Egypt. He wrote that the Egyptians manipulated the pebbles from right to left, opposite in direction to the Greek left-to-right method. Archaeologists have found ancient disks of various sizes that are thought to have been used as counters. However, wall depictions of this instrument are yet to be discovered.At around 600 BC, Persians first began to use the abacus, during the Achaemenid Empire. Under the Parthian, Sassanian, and Iranian empires, scholars concentrated on exchanging knowledge and inventions with the countries around them – India, China, and the Roman Empire- which is how the abacus may have been exported to other countries.The earliest archaeological evidence for the use of the Greek abacus dates to the 5th century BC. Demosthenes (384 BC–322 BC) complained that the need to use pebbles for calculations was too difficult. A play by Alexis from the 4th century BC mentions an abacus and pebbles for accounting and both Diogenes and Polybius use the abacus as a metaphor for human behavior stating "that men that sometimes stood for more and sometimes for less" like the pebbles on an abacus. The Greek abacus was a table of wood or marble pre-set with small counters in wood or metal for mathematical calculations. This Greek abacus saw use in Achaemenid Persia the Etruscan civilization Ancient Rome and the Western Christian world until the French Revolution.A tablet found on the Greek island Salamis in 1846 AD dates to 300 BC making it the oldest counting board discovered so far. It is a slab of white marble in length wide and thick on which are 5 groups of markings. In the tablet's center is a set of 5 parallel lines equally divided by a vertical line capped with a semicircle at the intersection of the bottom-most horizontal line and the single vertical line. Below these lines is a wide space with a horizontal crack dividing it. Below this crack is another group of eleven parallel lines again divided into two sections by a line perpendicular to them but with the semicircle at the top of the intersection the third sixth and ninth of these lines are marked with a cross where they intersect with the vertical line. Also from this time frame the Darius Vase was unearthed in 1851. It was covered with pictures including a holding a wax tablet in one hand while manipulating counters on a table with the other.The earliest known written documentation of the Chinese abacus dates to the 2nd century BC.The Chinese abacus, also known as the can be reset to the starting position instantly by a quick movement along the horizontal axis to spin all the beads away from the horizontal beam at the center.The prototype of the Chinese abacus appeared during the Han Dynasty, and the beads are oval. The Song Dynasty and earlier used the 1:4 type or four-beads abacus similar to the modern abacus including the shape of the beads commonly known as Japanese-style abacus.In the early Ming Dynasty, the abacus began to appear in a 1:5 ratio. The upper deck had one bead and the bottom had five beads. In the late Ming Dynasty, the abacus styles appeared in a 2:5 ratio. The upper deck had two beads, and the bottom had five.Various calculation techniques were devised for "Suanpan" enabling efficient calculations. Some schools teach students how to use it.In the long scroll "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painted by Zhang Zeduan during the Song dynasty , a "suanpan" is clearly visible beside an account book and doctor's prescriptions on the counter of an apothecary's .The similarity of the Roman abacus to the Chinese one suggests that one could have inspired the other given evidence of a trade relationship between the Roman Empire and China. However no direct connection has been demonstrated and the similarity of the abacuses may be coincidental both ultimately arising from counting with five fingers per hand. Where the Roman model has 4 plus 1 bead per decimal place the standard has 5 plus 2. Incidentally this allows use with a hexadecimal numeral system which may have been used for traditional Chinese measures of weight. Another possible source of the "suanpan" is Chinese counting rods which operated with a decimal system but lacked the concept of zero as a placeholder. The zero was probably introduced to the Chinese in the Tang dynasty when travel in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East would have provided direct contact with India allowing them to acquire the concept of zero and the decimal point from Indian merchants and mathematicians.The normal method of calculation in ancient Rome as in Greece was by moving counters on a smooth table. Originally pebbles ("calculi") were used. Later and in medieval Europe jetons were manufactured. Marked lines indicated units fives tens etc. as in the Roman numeral system. This system of 'counter casting' continued into the late Roman empire and in medieval Europe and persisted in limited use into the nineteenth century. Due to Pope Sylvester II's reintroduction of the abacus with modifications it became widely used in Europe again during the 11th century This abacus used beads on wires unlike the traditional Roman counting boards which meant the abacus could be used much faster and was more easily moved.Writing in the 1st century BC Horace refers to the wax abacus a board covered with a thin layer of black wax on which columns and figures were inscribed using a stylus.One example of archaeological evidence of the Roman abacus, shown nearby in reconstruction, dates to the 1st century AD. It has eight long grooves containing up to five beads in each and eight shorter grooves having either one or no beads in each. The groove marked I indicates units, X tens, and so on up to millions. The beads in the shorter grooves denote fives –five units, five tens, etc., essentially in a bi-quinary coded decimal system, related to the Roman numerals. The short grooves on the right may have been used for marking Roman "ounces" .The to indicate the empty column on the abacus.In Japan, the abacus is called "soroban" (, lit. "counting tray"). It was imported from China in the 14th century. It was probably in use by the working class a century or more before the ruling class adopted it, as the class structure obstructed such changes. The 1:4 abacus, which removes the seldom-used second and fifth bead became popular in the 1940s.Today's Japanese abacus is a 1:4 type, four-bead abacus, introduced from China in the Muromachi era. It adopts the form of the upper deck one bead and the bottom four beads. The top bead on the upper deck was equal to five and the bottom one is similar to the Chinese or Korean abacus, and the decimal number can be expressed, so the abacus is designed as a one:four device. The beads are always in the shape of a diamond. The quotient division is generally used instead of the division method; at the same time, in order to make the multiplication and division digits consistently use the division multiplication. Later, Japan had a 3:5 abacus called , which is now in the Ize Rongji collection of Shansi Village in Yamagata City. Japan also used a 2:5 type abacus.The four-bead abacus spread and became common around the world. Improvements to the Japanese abacus arose in various places. In China an aluminium frame plastic bead abacus was used. The file is next to the four beads and pressing the "clearing" button put the upper bead in the upper position and the lower bead in the lower position.The abacus is still manufactured in Japan even with the proliferation practicality and affordability of pocket electronic calculators. The use of the soroban is still taught in Japanese primary schools as part of mathematics primarily as an aid to faster mental calculation. Using visual imagery can complete a calculation as quickly as a physical instrument.The Chinese abacus migrated from China to Korea around 1400 AD. Koreans call it . The four-beads abacus was introduced during the Goryeo Dynasty. The 5:1 abacus was introduced to Korea from China during the Ming Dynasty.Native America.Some sources mention the use of an abacus called a "nepohualtzintzin" in ancient Aztec culture. This Mesoamerican abacus used a 5-digit base-20 system. The word Nephualtzintzin comes from Nahuatl, formed by the roots; "Ne" – personal -; "phual" or "phualli" – the account -; and "tzintzin" – small similar elements. Its complete meaning was taken as: counting with small similar elements. Its use was taught in the Calmecac to the "temalpouhqueh" , who were students dedicated to taking the accounts of skies, from childhood.The Nephualtzintzin was divided into two main parts separated by a bar or intermediate cord. In the left part were four beads. Beads in the first row have unitary values and on the right side three beads had values of 5 10 and 15 respectively. In order to know the value of the respective beads of the upper rows it is enough to multiply by 20 the value of the corresponding count in the first row.The device featured 13 rows with 7 beads, 91 in total. This was a basic number for this culture. It had a close relation to natural phenomena, the underworld, and the cycles of the heavens. One Nephualtzintzin represented the number of days that a season of the year lasts, two Nephualtzitzin is the number of days of the corn's cycle, from its sowing to its harvest, three Nephualtzintzin is the number of days of a baby's gestation, and four Nephualtzintzin completed a cycle and approximated one year. When translated into modern computer arithmetic, the Nephualtzintzin amounted to the rank from 10 to 18 in floating point, which precisely calculated large and small amounts, although round off was not allowed.The rediscovery of the Nephualtzintzin was due to the Mexican engineer David Esparza Hidalgo, who in his travels throughout Mexico found diverse engravings and paintings of this instrument and reconstructed several of them in gold, jade, encrustations of shell, etc. Very old Nephualtzintzin are attributed to the Olmec culture, and some bracelets of Mayan origin, as well as a diversity of forms and materials in other cultures.Sanchez wrote in "Arithmetic in Maya" that another base 5, base 4 abacus had been found in the Yucatn Peninsula that also computed calendar data. This was a finger abacus, on one hand, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 were used; and on the other hand 0, 1, 2, and 3 were used. Note the use of zero at the beginning and end of the two cycles.The quipu of the Incas was a system of colored knotted cords used to record numerical data, like advanced tally sticks – but not used to perform calculations. Calculations were carried out using a yupana which was still in use after the conquest of Peru. The working principle of a yupana is unknown, but in 2001 Italian mathematician De Pasquale proposed an explanation. By comparing the form of several yupanas, researchers found that calculations were based using the Fibonacci sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 and powers of 10, 20, and 40 as place values for the different fields in the instrument. Using the Fibonacci sequence would keep the number of grains within any one field at a minimum.The Russian abacus, the "schoty" , usually has a single slanted deck, with ten beads on each wire . Older models have another 4-bead wire for quarter-kopeks, which were minted until 1916. The Russian abacus is often used vertically, with each wire running horizontally. The wires are usually bowed upward in the center, to keep the beads pinned to either side. It is cleared when all the beads are moved to the right. During manipulation, beads are moved to the left. For easy viewing, the middle 2 beads on each wire usually are of a different color from the other eight. Likewise, the left bead of the thousands wire may have a different color.The Russian abacus was in use in shops and markets throughout the former Soviet Union, and its usage was taught in most schools until the 1990s. Even the 1874 invention of mechanical calculator, Odhner arithmometer, had not replaced them in Russia; according to Yakov Perelman. Some businessmen attempting to import calculators into the Russian Empire were known to leave in despair after watching a skilled abacus operator. Likewise, the mass production of Felix arithmometers since 1924 did not significantly reduce abacus use in the Soviet Union. The Russian abacus began to lose popularity only after the mass production of domestic microcalculators in 1974.The Russian abacus was brought to France around 1820 by mathematician Jean-Victor Poncelet, who had served in Napoleons French contemporaries, it was something new. Poncelet used it, not for any applied purpose, but as a teaching and demonstration aid. The Turks and the Armenian people used abacuses similar to the Russian schoty. It was named a by the Armenians.School abacus.Around the world abacuses have been used in pre-schools and elementary schools as an aid in teaching the numeral system and arithmetic.In Western countries a bead frame similar to the Russian abacus but with straight wires and a vertical frame is common .The wireframe may be used either with positional notation like other abacuses or each bead may represent one unit . In the bead frame shown the gap between the 5th and 6th wire corresponding to the color change between the 5th and the 6th bead on each wire suggests the latter use. Teaching multiplication e.g. 6 times 7 may be represented by shifting 7 beads on 6 wires.The red-and-white abacus is used in contemporary primary schools for a wide range of number-related lessons. The twenty bead version referred to by its Dutch name is often used either on a string of beads or on a rigid framework.Feynman vs the abacus.Physicist Richard Feynman was noted for facility in mathematical calculations. He wrote about an encounter in Brazil with a Japanese abacus expert, who challenged him to speed contests between Feynman's pen and paper, and the abacus. The abacus was much faster for addition, somewhat faster for multiplication, but Feynman was faster at division. When the abacus was used for a really difficult challenge, i.e. cube roots, Feynman won easily. However, the number chosen at random was close to a number Feynman happened to know was an exact cube, allowing him to use approximate methods.Neurological analysis.Learning how to calculate with the abacus may improve capacity for mental calculation. Abacus-based mental calculation which was derived from the abacus is the act of performing calculations including addition subtraction multiplication and division in the mind by manipulating an imagined abacus. It is a high-level cognitive skill that runs calculations with an effective algorithm. People doing long-term AMC training show higher numerical memory capacity and experience more effectively connected neural pathways. They are able to retrieve memory to deal with complex processes. AMC involves both visuospatial and visuomotor processing that generate the visual abacus and move the imaginary beads. Since it only requires that the final position of beads be remembered it takes less memory and less computation time.Binary abacus.The binary abacus is used to explain how computers manipulate numbers. The abacus shows how numbers, letters, and signs can be stored in a binary system on a computer, or via ASCII. The device consists of a series of beads on parallel wires arranged in three separate rows. The beads represent a switch on the computer in either an "on" or "off" position.Visually impaired users.An adapted abacus invented by Tim Cranmer and called a Cranmer abacus is commonly used by visually impaired users. A piece of soft fabric or rubber is placed behind the beads keeping them in place while the users manipulate them. The device is then used to perform the mathematical functions of multiplication division addition subtraction square root and cube root.Although blind students have benefited from talking calculators the abacus is often taught to these students in early grades. Blind students can also complete mathematical assignments using a braille-writer and Nemeth code but large multiplication and long division problems are tedious. The abacus gives these students a tool to compute mathematical problems that equals the speed and mathematical knowledge required by their sighted peers using pencil and paper. Many blind people find this number machine a useful tool throughout life.
An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton known as a Brnsted–Lowry acid or capable of forming a covalent bond with an electron pair known as a Lewis acid.The first category of acids are the proton donors or Brnsted–Lowry acids. In the special case of aqueous solutions proton donors form the hydronium ion H3O+ and are known as Arrhenius acids. Brnsted and Lowry generalized the Arrhenius theory to include non-aqueous solvents. A Brnsted or Arrhenius acid usually contains a hydrogen atom bonded to a chemical structure that is still energetically favorable after loss of H+.Aqueous Arrhenius acids have characteristic properties which provide a practical description of an acid. Acids form aqueous solutions with a sour taste can turn blue litmus red and react with bases and certain metals (like calcium) to form salts. The word (as in ) while the strict definition refers only to the solute. A lower pH means a higher acidity and thus a higher concentration of positive hydrogen ions in the solution. Chemicals or substances having the property of an acid are said to be acidic.Common aqueous acids include hydrochloric acid (a solution of hydrogen chloride which is found in gastric acid in the stomach and activates digestive enzymes), acetic acid (vinegar is a dilute aqueous solution of this liquid), sulfuric acid (used in car batteries), and citric acid (found in citrus fruits). As these examples show, acids (in the colloquial sense) can be solutions or pure substances, and can be derived from acids (in the strict sense) that are solids, liquids, or gases. Strong acids and some concentrated weak acids are corrosive, but there are exceptions such as carboranes and boric acid.The second category of acids are Lewis acids, which form a covalent bond with an electron pair. An example is boron trifluoride , whose boron atom has a vacant orbital which can form a covalent bond by sharing a lone pair of electrons on an atom in a base, for example the nitrogen atom in ammonia . Lewis considered this as a generalization of the Brnsted definition, so that an acid is a chemical species that accepts electron pairs either directly .Definitions and concepts.Modern definitions are concerned with the fundamental chemical reactions common to all acids.Most acids encountered in everyday life are aqueous solutions or can be dissolved in water so the Arrhenius and Brnsted–Lowry definitions are the most relevant.The Brnsted–Lowry definition is the most widely used definition unless otherwise specified acid–base reactions are assumed to involve the transfer of a proton from an acid to a base.Hydronium ions are acids according to all three definitions. Although alcohols and amines can be Brnsted–Lowry acids they can also function as Lewis bases due to the lone pairs of electrons on their oxygen and nitrogen atoms.Arrhenius acids.In 1884, Svante Arrhenius attributed the properties of acidity to hydrogen ions , later described as protons or hydrons. An Arrhenius acid is a substance that, when added to water, increases the concentration of H+ ions in the water. Note that chemists often write H+ and refer to the hydrogen ion when describing acid–base reactions but the free hydrogen nucleus, a proton, does not exist alone in water, it exists as the hydronium ion or other forms . Thus, an Arrhenius acid can also be described as a substance that increases the concentration of hydronium ions when added to water. Examples include molecular substances such as hydrogen chloride and acetic acid.An Arrhenius base on the other hand is a substance which increases the concentration of hydroxide (OH−) ions when dissolved in water. This decreases the concentration of hydronium because the ions react to form H2O moleculesH3O + OH ⇌ H2O + H2ODue to this equilibrium, any increase in the concentration of hydronium is accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of hydroxide. Thus, an Arrhenius acid could also be said to be one that decreases hydroxide concentration, while an Arrhenius base increases it.In an acidic solution the concentration of hydronium ions is greater than 10−7 moles per liter. Since pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydronium ions acidic solutions thus have a pH of less than 7.Brnsted–Lowry acids.While the Arrhenius concept is useful for describing many reactions it is also quite limited in its scope. In 1923 chemists Johannes Nicolaus Brnsted and Thomas Martin Lowry independently recognized that acid–base reactions involve the transfer of a proton. A Brnsted–Lowry acid is a species that donates a proton to a Brnsted–Lowry base. Brnsted–Lowry acid–base theory has several advantages over Arrhenius theory. Consider the following reactions of acetic acid the organic acid that gives vinegar its characteristic tasteBoth theories easily describe the first reaction: CH3COOH acts as an Arrhenius acid because it acts as a source of H3O+ when dissolved in water, and it acts as a Brnsted acid by donating a proton to water. In the second example CH3COOH undergoes the same transformation, in this case donating a proton to ammonia , but does not relate to the Arrhenius definition of an acid because the reaction does not produce hydronium. Nevertheless, CH3COOH is both an Arrhenius and a Brnsted–Lowry acid.Brnsted–Lowry theory can be used to describe reactions of molecular compounds in nonaqueous solution or the gas phase. Hydrogen chloride and ammonia combine under several different conditions to form ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. In aqueous solution HCl behaves as hydrochloric acid and exists as hydronium and chloride ions. The following reactions illustrate the limitations of Arrhenius's definition:As with the acetic acid reactions both definitions work for the first example where water is the solvent and hydronium ion is formed by the HCl solute. The next two reactions do not involve the formation of ions but are still proton-transfer reactions. In the second reaction hydrogen chloride and ammonia react to form solid ammonium chloride in a benzene solvent and in the third gaseous HCl and NH3 combine to form the solid.Lewis acids.A third, only marginally related concept was proposed in 1923 by Gilbert N. Lewis, which includes reactions with acid–base characteristics that do not involve a proton transfer. A Lewis acid is a species that accepts a pair of electrons from another species; in other words, it is an electron pair acceptor. Brnsted acid–base reactions are proton transfer reactions while Lewis acid–base reactions are electron pair transfers. Many Lewis acids are not Brnsted–Lowry acids. Contrast how the following reactions are described in terms of acid–base chemistry:In the first reaction a fluoride ion F− gives up an electron pair to boron trifluoride to form the product tetrafluoroborate. Fluoride a pair of valence electrons because the electrons shared in the B—F bond are located in the region of space between the two atomic nuclei and are therefore more distant from the fluoride nucleus than they are in the lone fluoride ion. BF3 is a Lewis acid because it accepts the electron pair from fluoride. This reaction cannot be described in terms of Brnsted theory because there is no proton transfer. The second reaction can be described using either theory. A proton is transferred from an unspecified Brnsted acid to ammonia a Brnsted base alternatively ammonia acts as a Lewis base and transfers a lone pair of electrons to form a bond with a hydrogen ion. The species that gains the electron pair is the Lewis acid for example the oxygen atom in H3O+ gains a pair of electrons when one of the H—O bonds is broken and the electrons shared in the bond become localized on oxygen. Depending on the context a Lewis acid may also be described as an oxidizer or an electrophile. Organic Brnsted acids such as acetic citric or oxalic acid are not Lewis acids. They dissociate in water to produce a Lewis acid H+ but at the same time also yield an equal amount of a Lewis base . This article deals mostly with Brnsted acids rather than Lewis acids.Dissociation and equilibrium.Reactions of acids are often generalized in the form HA H+ + A− where HA represents the acid and A− is the conjugate base. This reaction is referred to as protolysis. The protonated form of an acid is also sometimes referred to as the free acid.Acid–base conjugate pairs differ by one proton and can be interconverted by the addition or removal of a proton . Note that the acid can be the charged species and the conjugate base can be neutral in which case the generalized reaction scheme could be written as HA+ H+ + A. In solution there exists an equilibrium between the acid and its conjugate base. The equilibrium constant "K" is an expression of the equilibrium concentrations of the molecules or the ions in solution. Brackets indicate concentration such that means "the concentration of H2O". The acid dissociation constant "K"a is generally used in the context of acid–base reactions. The numerical value of "K"a is equal to the product of the concentrations of the products divided by the concentration of the reactants where the reactant is the acid and the products are the conjugate base and H+.The stronger of two acids will have a higher a at 25 °C in aqueous solution are often quoted in textbooks and reference material.Nomenclature.Arrhenius acids are named according to their anions. In the classical naming system, the ionic suffix is dropped and replaced with a new suffix, according to the table following. The prefix "hydro-" is used when the acid is made up of just hydrogen and one other element. For example, HCl has chloride as its anion, so the hydro- prefix is used, and the -ide suffix makes the name take the form hydrochloric acid."Classical naming system"In the IUPAC naming system is simply added to the name of the ionic compound. Thus for hydrogen chloride as an acid solution the IUPAC name is aqueous hydrogen chloride.Acid strength.The strength of an acid refers to its ability or tendency to lose a proton. A strong acid is one that completely dissociates in water; in other words, one mole of a strong acid HA dissolves in water yielding one mole of H+ and one mole of the conjugate base, A−, and none of the protonated acid HA. In contrast, a weak acid only partially dissociates and at equilibrium both the acid and the conjugate base are in solution. Examples of strong acids are hydrochloric acid , hydroiodic acid , hydrobromic acid , perchloric acid , nitric acid and sulfuric acid . In water each of these essentially ionizes 100%. The stronger an acid is, the more easily it loses a proton, H+. Two key factors that contribute to the ease of deprotonation are the polarity of the H—A bond and the size of atom A, which determines the strength of the H—A bond. Acid strengths are also often discussed in terms of the stability of the conjugate base.Stronger acids have a larger acid dissociation constant "K"a and a more negative p"K"a than weaker acids.Sulfonic acids, which are organic oxyacids, are a class of strong acids. A common example is toluenesulfonic acid . Unlike sulfuric acid itself, sulfonic acids can be solids. In fact, polystyrene functionalized into polystyrene sulfonate is a solid strongly acidic plastic that is filterable.Superacids are acids stronger than 100% sulfuric acid. Examples of superacids are fluoroantimonic acid, magic acid and perchloric acid. Superacids can permanently protonate water to give ionic, crystalline hydronium "salts". They can also quantitatively stabilize carbocations.Lewis acid strength in non-aqueous solutions.Lewis acids have been classified in the ECW model and it has been shown that there is no one order of acid strengths. The relative acceptor strength of Lewis acids toward a series of bases, versus other Lewis acids, can be illustrated by C-B plots. It has been shown that to define the order of Lewis acid strength at least two properties must be considered. For Pearsons quantitative ECW model the two properties are electrostatic and covalent.Chemical characteristics.Monoprotic acids.Monoprotic acids also known as monobasic acids are those acids that are able to donate one proton per molecule during the process of dissociation (sometimes called ionization) as shown below (symbolized by HA)Common examples of monoprotic acids in mineral acids include hydrochloric acid and nitric acid . On the other hand, for organic acids the term mainly indicates the presence of one carboxylic acid group and sometimes these acids are known as monocarboxylic acid. Examples in organic acids include formic acid , acetic acid and benzoic acid .Polyprotic acids.Polyprotic acids also known as polybasic acids are able to donate more than one proton per acid molecule in contrast to monoprotic acids that only donate one proton per molecule. Specific types of polyprotic acids have more specific names such as diprotic acid and triprotic acid . Some macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids can have a very large number of acidic protons.A diprotic acid can undergo one or two dissociations depending on the pH. Each dissociation has its own dissociation constant, Ka1 and Ka2.The first dissociation constant is typically greater than the second . For example, sulfuric acid can donate one proton to form the bisulfate anion , for which "K"a1 is very large; then it can donate a second proton to form the sulfate anion , wherein the "K"a2 is intermediate strength. The large "K"a1 for the first dissociation makes sulfuric a strong acid. In a similar manner, the weak unstable carbonic acid can lose one proton to form bicarbonate anion and lose a second to form carbonate anion . Both "K"a values are small, but "K"a1 &gt; "K"a2 .A triprotic acid can undergo one two or three dissociations and has three dissociation constants where "K"a1 &gt "K"a2 &gt "K"a3.An inorganic example of a triprotic acid is orthophosphoric acid usually just called phosphoric acid. All three protons can be successively lost to yield H2PO then HPO and finally PO the orthophosphate ion usually just called phosphate. Even though the positions of the three protons on the original phosphoric acid molecule are equivalent the successive "K"a values differ since it is energetically less favorable to lose a proton if the conjugate base is more negatively charged. An organic example of a triprotic acid is citric acid which can successively lose three protons to finally form the citrate ion.Although the subsequent loss of each hydrogen ion is less favorable all of the conjugate bases are present in solution. The fractional concentration for each species can be calculated. For example a generic diprotic acid will generate 3 species in solution H2A HA− and A2−. The fractional concentrations can be calculated as below when given either the pH or the concentrations of the acid with all its conjugate basesA plot of these fractional concentrations against pH, for given -times:\alpha_{\ce H_{n-i} A^{i-} }=
Asphalt, also known as bitumen , is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek . The largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons, is the Pitch Lake located in La Brea in southwest Trinidad , within the Siparia Regional Corporation.The primary use of asphalt is in road construction where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.In material sciences and engineering, the terms "asphalt" and "bitumen" are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance, although there is regional variation as to which term is most common. Worldwide, geologists tend to favor the term "bitumen" for the naturally occurring material. For the manufactured material, which is a refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils, "bitumen" is the prevalent term in much of the world; however, in American English, "asphalt" is more commonly used. To help avoid confusion, the phrases "liquid asphalt", "asphalt binder", or "asphalt cement" are used in the U.S. Colloquially, various forms of asphalt are sometimes referred to as "tar", as in the name of the La Brea Tar Pits, although tar is a different material.Naturally occurring asphalt is sometimes specified by the term . The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves of natural asphalt in the Athabasca oil sands, which cover , an area larger than England.Asphalt properties change with temperature which means that there is a specific range where viscosity permits adequate compaction by providing lubrication between particles during the compaction process. Low temperature prevents aggregate particles from moving and the required density is not possible to achieve. Computer simulations of simplified model systems are able to reproduce some of asphalt's characteristic properties.Terminology.The word "asphalt" is derived from the late Middle English, in turn from French "asphalte", based on Late Latin "asphalton", "asphaltum", which is the latinisation of the Greek , a word meaning "asphalt/bitumen/pitch", which perhaps derives from , "not, without", i.e. the alpha privative, and , "to cause to fall, baffle, err, be balked of". The first use of asphalt by the ancients was in the nature of a cement for securing or joining together various objects, and it thus seems likely that the name itself was expressive of this application. Specifically, Herodotus mentioned that bitumen was brought to Babylon to build its gigantic fortification wall. From the Greek, the word passed into late Latin, and thence into French and English . In French, the term "asphalte" is used for naturally occurring asphalt-soaked limestone deposits, and for specialised manufactured products with fewer voids or greater bitumen content than the "asphaltic concrete" used to pave roads.The Latin source of the word .Modern terminology.In British English, "bitumen" is used instead of "asphalt". The word "asphalt" is instead used to refer to asphalt concrete, a mixture of construction aggregate and asphalt itself . Bitumen mixed with clay was usually called "asphaltum", but the term is less commonly used today.In Australian English the word refers to the liquid derived from the heavy-residues from crude oil distillation.In American English, "asphalt" is equivalent to the British "bitumen". However, "asphalt" is also commonly used as a shortened form of "asphalt concrete" .In Canadian English, the word "bitumen" is used to refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil, while "asphalt" is used for the oil refinery product. Diluted bitumen is known as "dilbit" in the Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen "upgraded" to synthetic crude oil is known as "syncrude", and syncrude blended with bitumen is called "synbit". is a form of sandstone impregnated with bitumen. The oil sands of Alberta Canada are a similar material.Neither of the terms should be confused with tar or coal tars. Tar is the thick liquid product of the dry distillation and pyrolysis of organic hydrocarbons primarily sourced from vegetation masses whether fossilized as with coal or freshly harvested. The majority of bitumen on the other hand was formed naturally when vast quantities of organic animal materials were deposited by water and buried hundreds of metres deep at the diagenetic point where the disorganized fatty hydrocarbon molecules joined together in long chains in the absence of oxygen. Bitumen occurs as a solid or highly viscous liquid. It may even be mixed in with coal deposits. Bitumen and coal using the Bergius process can be refined into petrols such as gasoline and bitumen may be distilled into tar not the other way around.Composition.Normal composition.The components of asphalt include four main classes of compoundsThe naphthene aromatics and polar aromatics are typically the majority components. Most natural bitumens also contain organosulfur compounds resulting in an overall sulfur content of up to 4%. Nickel and vanadium are found at &lt10 parts per million as is typical of some petroleum.The substance is soluble in carbon disulfide. It is commonly modelled as a colloid, with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase and maltenes as the continuous phase. .Asphalt may be confused with coal tar which is a visually similar black thermoplastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal. During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced coal tar was a readily available byproduct and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates. The addition of coal tar to macadam roads led to the word is another term sometimes informally used at times to refer to asphalt as in Pitch Lake.Additives mixtures and contaminants.For economic and other reasons asphalt is sometimes sold combined with other materials often without being labeled as anything other than simply .Of particular note is the use of re-refined engine oil bottoms – the residue of recycled automotive engine oil collected from the bottoms of re-refining vacuum distillation towers, in the manufacture of asphalt. REOB contains various elements and compounds found in recycled engine oil: additives to the original oil and materials accumulating from its circulation in the engine (typically iron and copper). Some research has indicated a correlation between this adulteration of asphalt and poorer-performing pavement.Occurrence.The majority of asphalt used commercially is obtained from petroleum. Nonetheless large amounts of asphalt occur in concentrated form in nature. Naturally occurring deposits of bitumen are formed from the remains of ancient microscopic algae (diatoms) and other once-living things. These remains were deposited in the mud on the bottom of the ocean or lake where the organisms lived. Under the heat (above 50 °C) and pressure of burial deep in the earth the remains were transformed into materials such as bitumen kerogen or petroleum.Natural deposits of bitumen include lakes such as the Pitch Lake in Trinidad and Tobago and Lake Bermudez in Venezuela. Natural seeps occur in the La Brea Tar Pits and in the Dead Sea.Bitumen also occurs in unconsolidated sandstones known as "oil sands" in Alberta Canada and the similar "tar sands" in Utah US.The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves, in three huge deposits covering , an area larger than England or New York state. These bituminous sands contain of commercially established oil reserves, giving Canada the third largest oil reserves in the world. Although historically it was used without refining to pave roads, nearly all of the output is now used as raw material for oil refineries in Canada and the United States.The world's largest deposit of natural bitumen, known as the Athabasca oil sands, is located in the McMurray Formation of Northern Alberta. This formation is from the early Cretaceous, and is composed of numerous lenses of oil-bearing sand with up to 20% oil. Isotopic studies show the oil deposits to be about 110 million years old. Two smaller but still very large formations occur in the Peace River oil sands and the Cold Lake oil sands, to the west and southeast of the Athabasca oil sands, respectively. Of the Alberta deposits, only parts of the Athabasca oil sands are shallow enough to be suitable for surface mining. The other 80% has to be produced by oil wells using enhanced oil recovery techniques like steam-assisted gravity drainage.Much smaller heavy oil or bitumen deposits also occur in the Uinta Basin in Utah, US. The Tar Sand Triangle deposit, for example, is roughly 6% bitumen.Bitumen may occur in hydrothermal veins. An example of this is within the Uinta Basin of Utah in the US where there is a swarm of laterally and vertically extensive veins composed of a solid hydrocarbon termed Gilsonite. These veins formed by the polymerization and solidification of hydrocarbons that were mobilized from the deeper oil shales of the Green River Formation during burial and diagenesis.Bitumen is similar to the organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites. However detailed studies have shown these materials to be distinct. The vast Alberta bitumen resources are considered to have started out as living material from marine plants and animals mainly algae that died millions of years ago when an ancient ocean covered Alberta. They were covered by mud buried deeply over time and gently cooked into oil by geothermal heat at a temperature of . Due to pressure from the rising of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta 80 to 55 million years ago the oil was driven northeast hundreds of kilometres and trapped into underground sand deposits left behind by ancient river beds and ocean beaches thus forming the oil sands.Ancient times.The use of natural bitumen for waterproofing and as an adhesive dates at least to the fifth millennium BC with a crop storage basket discovered in Mehrgarh of the Indus Valley Civilization lined with it. By the 3rd millennium BC refined rock asphalt was in use in the region and was used to waterproof the Great Bath in Mohenjo-daro.In the ancient Middle East, the Sumerians used natural bitumen deposits for mortar between bricks and stones, to cement parts of carvings, such as eyes, into place, for ship caulking, and for waterproofing. The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen was used as mortar in the walls of Babylon.The long Euphrates Tunnel beneath the river Euphrates at Babylon in the time of Queen Semiramis was reportedly constructed of burnt bricks covered with bitumen as a waterproofing agent.Bitumen was used by ancient Egyptians to embalm mummies. The Persian word for asphalt is "moom", which is related to the English word mummy. The Egyptians' primary source of bitumen was the Dead Sea, which the Romans knew as "Palus Asphaltites" .In approximately 40 AD, Dioscorides described the Dead Sea material as "Judaicum bitumen", and noted other places in the region where it could be found. The Sidon bitumen is thought to refer to material found at Hasbeya in Lebanon. Pliny also refers to bitumen being found in Epirus. Bitumen was a valuable strategic resource. It was the object of the first known battle for a hydrocarbon deposit – between the Seleucids and the Nabateans in 312 BC.In the ancient Far East natural bitumen was slowly boiled to get rid of the higher fractions leaving a thermoplastic material of higher molecular weight that when layered on objects became quite hard upon cooling. This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing such as scabbards and other items. Statuettes of household deities were also cast with this type of material in Japan and probably also in China.In North America, archaeological recovery has indicated that bitumen was sometimes used to adhere stone projectile points to wooden shafts. In Canada, aboriginal people used bitumen seeping out of the banks of the Athabasca and other rivers to waterproof birch bark canoes, and also heated it in smudge pots to ward off mosquitoes in the summer.Continental Europe.In 1553, Pierre Belon described in his work , a mixture of pitch and bitumen, was used in the Republic of Ragusa for tarring of ships.An 1838 edition of "Mechanics Magazine" cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621 by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys states that he had discovered the existence in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel" and that he proposed to use it in a variety of ways – "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries and in protecting by means of the arches the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusion of dirt and filth" which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross the brain of a Parisian of that generation".But the substance was generally neglected in France until the revolution of 1830. In the 1830s there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann (Bas-Rhin), the Parc (Ain) and the Puy-de-la-Poix (Puy-de-Dme)", although it could also be made artificially. One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the Place de la Concorde in 1835.United Kingdom.Among the earlier uses of bitumen in the United Kingdom was for etching. William Salmon's "Polygraphice" provides a recipe for varnish used in etching, consisting of three ounces of virgin wax, two ounces of mastic, and one ounce of asphaltum. By the fifth edition in 1685, he had included more asphaltum recipes from other sources.The first British patent for the use of asphalt was .Claridge obtained a patent in Scotland on 27 March 1838 and obtained a patent in Ireland on 23 April 1838. In 1851 extensions for the 1837 patent and for both 1838 patents were sought by the trustees of a company previously formed by Claridge. "Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company"formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France""laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall". Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks "and subsequently on the space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park". "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry". "By the end of 1838 at least two other companies Robinson's and the Bastenne company were in production" with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton Herne Bay Canterbury Kensington the Strand and a large floor area in Bunhill-row while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue in good order". The Bonnington Chemical Works manufactured asphalt using coal tar and by 1839 had installed it in Bonnington.In 1838 there was a flurry of entrepreneurial activity involving asphalt which had uses beyond paving. For example asphalt could also be used for flooring damp proofing in buildings and for waterproofing of various types of pools and baths both of which were also proliferating in the 19th century. On the London stockmarket there were various claims as to the exclusivity of asphalt quality from France Germany and England. And numerous patents were granted in France with similar numbers of patent applications being denied in England due to their similarity to each other. In England .In 1914 Claridges Company which was itself compulsorily wound up ceasing operations in 1917 having invested a substantial amount of funds into the new venture both at the outset and in a subsequent attempt to save the Clarmac Company.Bitumen was thought in 19th century Britain to contain chemicals with medicinal properties. Extracts from bitumen were used to treat catarrh and some forms of asthma and as a remedy against worms, especially the tapeworm.United States.The first use of bitumen in the New World was by indigenous peoples. On the west coast, as early as the 13th century, the Tongva, Luiseo and Chumash peoples collected the naturally occurring bitumen that seeped to the surface above underlying petroleum deposits. All three groups used the substance as an adhesive. It is found on many different artifacts of tools and ceremonial items. For example, it was used on rattles to adhere gourds or turtle shells to rattle handles. It was also used in decorations. Small round shell beads were often set in asphaltum to provide decorations. It was used as a sealant on baskets to make them watertight for carrying water, possibly poisoning those who drank the water. Asphalt was used also to seal the planks on ocean-going canoes.Asphalt was first used to pave streets in the 1870s. At first naturally occurring "bituminous rock" was used, such as at Ritchie Mines in Macfarlan in Ritchie County, West Virginia from 1852 to 1873. In 1876, asphalt-based paving was used to pave Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, in time for the celebration of the national centennial.In the horse-drawn era US streets were mostly unpaved and covered with dirt or gravel. Especially where mud or trenching often made streets difficult to pass pavements were sometimes made of diverse materials including wooden planks cobble stones or other stone blocks or bricks. Unpaved roads produced uneven wear and hazards for pedestrians. In the late 19th century with the rise of the popular bicycle bicycle clubs were important in pushing for more general pavement of streets. Advocacy for pavement increased in the early 20th century with the rise of the automobile. Asphalt gradually became an ever more common method of paving. St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans was paved its whole length with asphalt by 1889.In 1900 Manhattan alone had 130,000 horses, pulling streetcars, wagons, and carriages, and leaving their waste behind. They were not fast, and pedestrians could dodge and scramble their way across the crowded streets. Small towns continued to rely on dirt and gravel, but larger cities wanted much better streets. They looked to wood or granite blocks by the 1850s. In 1890, a third of Chicago's 2000 miles of streets were paved, chiefly with wooden blocks, which gave better traction than mud. Brick surfacing was a good compromise, but even better was asphalt paving, which was easy to install and to cut through to get at sewers. With London and Paris serving as models, Washington laid 400,000 square yards of asphalt paving by 1882; it became the model for Buffalo, Philadelphia and elsewhere. By the end of the century, American cities boasted 30 million square yards of asphalt paving, well ahead of brick. The streets became faster and more dangerous so electric traffic lights were installed. Electric trolleys (at 12 miles per hour) became the main transportation service for middle class shoppers and office workers until they bought automobiles after 1945 and commuted from more distant suburbs in privacy and comfort on asphalt highways.Canada has the worldt until 1787 that fur trader and explorer Alexander MacKenzie saw the Athabasca oil sands and said "At about 24 miles from the fork (of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers) are some bituminous fountains into which a pole of 20 feet long may be inserted without the least resistance."The value of the deposit was obvious from the start, but the means of extracting the bitumen was not. The nearest town, Fort McMurray, Alberta, was a small fur trading post, other markets were far away, and transportation costs were too high to ship the raw bituminous sand for paving. In 1915, Sidney Ells of the Federal Mines Branch experimented with separation techniques and used the product to pave 600 feet of road in Edmonton, Alberta. Other roads in Alberta were paved with material extracted from oil sands, but it was generally not economic. During the 1920s Dr. Karl A. Clark of the Alberta Research Council patented a hot water oil separation process and entrepreneur Robert C. Fitzsimmons built the Bitumount oil separation plant, which between 1925 and 1958 produced up to per day of bitumen using Dr. Clark's method. Most of the bitumen was used for waterproofing roofs, but other uses included fuels, lubrication oils, printers ink, medicines, rust- and acid-proof paints, fireproof roofing, street paving, patent leather, and fence post preservatives. Eventually Fitzsimmons ran out of money and the plant was taken over by the Alberta government. Today the Bitumount plant is a Provincial Historic Site.Photography and art.Bitumen was used in early photographic technology. In 1826 or 1827, it was used by French scientist Joseph Nicphore Nipce to make the oldest surviving photograph from nature. The bitumen was thinly coated onto a pewter plate which was then exposed in a camera. Exposure to light hardened the bitumen and made it insoluble, so that when it was subsequently rinsed with a solvent only the sufficiently light-struck areas remained. Many hours of exposure in the camera were required, making bitumen impractical for ordinary photography, but from the 1850s to the 1920s it was in common use as a photoresist in the production of printing plates for various photomechanical printing processes.Bitumen was the nemesis of many artists during the 19th century. Although widely used for a time, it ultimately proved unstable for use in oil painting, especially when mixed with the most common diluents, such as linseed oil, varnish and turpentine. Unless thoroughly diluted, bitumen never fully solidifies and will in time corrupt the other pigments with which it comes into contact. The use of bitumen as a glaze to set in shadow or mixed with other colors to render a darker tone resulted in the eventual deterioration of many paintings, for instance those of Delacroix. Perhaps the most famous example of the destructiveness of bitumen is Thodore Gricault's Raft of the Medusa , where his use of bitumen caused the brilliant colors to degenerate into dark greens and blacks and the paint and canvas to buckle.Modern use.Global use.The vast majority of refined asphalt is used in construction: primarily as a constituent of products used in paving and roofing applications. According to the requirements of the end use, asphalt is produced to specification. This is achieved either by refining or blending. It is estimated that the current world use of asphalt is approximately 102 million tonnes per year. Approximately 85% of all the asphalt produced is used as the binder in asphalt concrete for roads. It is also used in other paved areas such as airport runways, car parks and footways. Typically, the production of asphalt concrete involves mixing fine and coarse aggregates such as sand, gravel and crushed rock with asphalt, which acts as the binding agent. Other materials, such as recycled polymers , may be added to the asphalt to modify its properties according to the application for which the asphalt is ultimately intended.A further 10% of global asphalt production is used in roofing applications, where its waterproofing qualities are invaluable.The remaining 5% of asphalt is used mainly for sealing and insulating purposes in a variety of building materials, such as pipe coatings, carpet tile backing and paint. Asphalt is applied in the construction and maintenance of many structures, systems, and components, such as the following:Rolled asphalt concrete.The largest use of asphalt is for making asphalt concrete for road surfaces; this accounts for approximately 85% of the asphalt consumed in the United States. There are about 4,000 asphalt concrete mixing plants in the US, and a similar number in Europe.Asphalt concrete pavement mixes are typically composed of 5% asphalt cement and 95% aggregates . Due to its highly viscous nature asphalt cement must be heated so it can be mixed with the aggregates at the asphalt mixing facility. The temperature required varies depending upon characteristics of the asphalt and the aggregates but warm-mix asphalt technologies allow producers to reduce the temperature required.The weight of an asphalt pavement depends upon the aggregate type, the asphalt, and the air void content. An average example in the United States is about 112 pounds per square yard, per inch of pavement thickness.When maintenance is performed on asphalt pavements such as milling to remove a worn or damaged surface the removed material can be returned to a facility for processing into new pavement mixtures. The asphalt in the removed material can be reactivated and put back to use in new pavement mixes. With some 95% of paved roads being constructed of or surfaced with asphalt a substantial amount of asphalt pavement material is reclaimed each year. According to industry surveys conducted annually by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Asphalt Pavement Association more than 99% of the asphalt removed each year from road surfaces during widening and resurfacing projects is reused as part of new pavements roadbeds shoulders and embankments or stockpiled for future use.Asphalt concrete paving is widely used in airports around the world. Due to the sturdiness and ability to be repaired quickly it is widely used for runways.Mastic asphalt.Mastic asphalt is a type of asphalt that differs from dense graded asphalt in that it has a higher asphalt content, usually around 7–10% of the whole aggregate mix, as opposed to rolled asphalt concrete, which has only around 5% asphalt. This thermoplastic substance is widely used in the building industry for waterproofing flat roofs and tanking underground. Mastic asphalt is heated to a temperature of and is spread in layers to form an impervious barrier about thick.Asphalt emulsion.A number of technologies allow asphalt to be applied at mild temperatures. The viscosity can be lowered by emulsfying the asphalt by the addition of fatty amines. 2–25% is the content of these emulsifying agents. The cationic amines enhance the binding of the asphalt to the surface of the crushed rock.Asphalt emulsions are used in a wide variety of applications. Chipseal involves spraying the road surface with asphalt emulsion followed by a layer of crushed rock, gravel or crushed slag. Slurry seal is a mixture of asphalt emulsion and fine crushed aggregate that is spread on the surface of a road. Cold-mixed asphalt can also be made from asphalt emulsion to create pavements similar to hot-mixed asphalt, several inches in depth, and asphalt emulsions are also blended into recycled hot-mix asphalt to create low-cost pavements. Bitumen emulsion based techniques are known to be useful for all classes of roads, their use may also be possible in the following applications: 1. Asphalts for heavily trafficked roads (based on the use of polymer modified emulsions) 2. Warm emulsion based mixtures, to improve both their maturation time and mechanical properties 3. Half-warm technology, in which aggregates are heated up to 100 degrees, producing mixtures with similar properties to those of hot asphalts 4. High performance surface dressing.Synthetic crude oil.Synthetic crude oil also known as syncrude is the output from a bitumen upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production in Canada. Bituminous sands are mined using enormous power shovels and loaded into even larger dump trucks for movement to an upgrading facility. The process used to extract the bitumen from the sand is a hot water process originally developed by Dr. Karl Clark of the University of Alberta during the 1920s. After extraction from the sand the bitumen is fed into a bitumen upgrader which converts it into a light crude oil equivalent. This synthetic substance is fluid enough to be transferred through conventional oil pipelines and can be fed into conventional oil refineries without any further treatment. By 2015 Canadian bitumen upgraders were producing over per day of synthetic crude oil of which 75% was exported to oil refineries in the United States.In Alberta, five bitumen upgraders produce synthetic crude oil and a variety of other products: The Suncor Energy upgrader near Fort McMurray, Alberta produces synthetic crude oil plus diesel fuel; the Syncrude Canada, Canadian Natural Resources, and Nexen upgraders near Fort McMurray produce synthetic crude oil; and the Shell Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton produces synthetic crude oil plus an intermediate feedstock for the nearby Shell Oil Refinery. A sixth upgrader, under construction in 2015 near Redwater, Alberta, will upgrade half of its crude bitumen directly to diesel fuel, with the remainder of the output being sold as feedstock to nearby oil refineries and petrochemical plants.Non-upgraded crude bitumen.Canadian bitumen does not differ substantially from oils such as Venezuelan extra-heavy and Mexican heavy oil in chemical composition and the real difficulty is moving the extremely viscous bitumen through oil pipelines to the refinery. Many modern oil refineries are extremely sophisticated and can process non-upgraded bitumen directly into products such as gasoline diesel fuel and refined asphalt without any preprocessing. This is particularly common in areas such as the US Gulf coast where refineries were designed to process Venezuelan and Mexican oil and in areas such as the US Midwest where refineries were rebuilt to process heavy oil as domestic light oil production declined. Given the choice such heavy oil refineries usually prefer to buy bitumen rather than synthetic oil because the cost is lower and in some cases because they prefer to produce more diesel fuel and less gasoline. By 2015 Canadian production and exports of non-upgraded bitumen exceeded that of synthetic crude oil at over per day of which about 65% was exported to the United States.Because of the difficulty of moving crude bitumen through pipelines, non-upgraded bitumen is usually diluted with natural-gas condensate in a form called dilbit or with synthetic crude oil, called synbit. However, to meet international competition, much non-upgraded bitumen is now sold as a blend of multiple grades of bitumen, conventional crude oil, synthetic crude oil, and condensate in a standardized benchmark product such as Western Canadian Select. This sour, heavy crude oil blend is designed to have uniform refining characteristics to compete with internationally marketed heavy oils such as Mexican Mayan or Arabian Dubai Crude.Radioactive waste encapsulation matrix.Asphalt was used starting in the 1960s as a hydrophobic matrix aiming to encapsulate radioactive waste such as medium-activity salts produced by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels or radioactive sludges from sedimentation ponds. Bituminised radioactive waste containing highly radiotoxic alpha-emitting transuranic elements from nuclear reprocessing plants have been produced at industrial scale in France Belgium and Japan but this type of waste conditioning has been abandoned because operational safety issues and long-term stability problems related to their geological disposal in deep rock formations. One of the main problems is the swelling of asphalt exposed to radiation and to water. Asphalt swelling is first induced by radiation because of the presence of hydrogen gas bubbles generated by alpha and gamma radiolysis. A second mechanism is the matrix swelling when the encapsulated hygroscopic salts exposed to water or moisture start to rehydrate and to dissolve. The high concentration of salt in the pore solution inside the bituminised matrix is then responsible for osmotic effects inside the bituminised matrix. The water moves in the direction of the concentrated salts the asphalt acting as a semi-permeable membrane. This also causes the matrix to swell. The swelling pressure due to osmotic effect under constant volume can be as high as 200 bar. If not properly managed this high pressure can cause fractures in the near field of a disposal gallery of bituminised medium-level waste. When the bituminised matrix has been altered by swelling encapsulated radionuclides are easily leached by the contact of ground water and released in the geosphere. The high ionic strength of the concentrated saline solution also favours the migration of radionuclides in clay host rocks. The presence of chemically reactive nitrate can also affect the redox conditions prevailing in the host rock by establishing oxidizing conditions preventing the reduction of redox-sensitive radionuclides. Under their higher valences radionuclides of elements such as selenium technetium uranium neptunium and plutonium have a higher solubility and are also often present in water as non-retarded anions. This makes the disposal of medium-level bituminised waste very challenging.Different types of asphalt have been used blown bitumen and direct distillation bitumen . Blown bitumens like Mexphalte with a high content of saturated hydrocarbons are more easily biodegraded by microorganisms than direct distillation bitumen with a low content of saturated hydrocarbons and a high content of aromatic hydrocarbons.Concrete encapsulation of radwaste is presently considered a safer alternative by the nuclear industry and the waste management organisations.Other uses.Roofing shingles and roll roofing account for most of the remaining asphalt consumption. Other uses include cattle sprays, fence-post treatments, and waterproofing for fabrics. Asphalt is used to make Japan black, a lacquer known especially for its use on iron and steel, and it is also used in paint and marker inks by some exterior paint supply companies to increase the weather resistance and permanence of the paint or ink, and to make the color darker. Asphalt is also used to seal some alkaline batteries during the manufacturing process.Production.About 40,000,000 tons were produced in 1984. It is obtained as the "heavy" fraction. Material with a boiling point greater than around 500 °C is considered asphalt. Vacuum distillation separates it from the other components in crude oil . The resulting material is typically further treated to extract small but valuable amounts of lubricants and to adjust the properties of the material to suit applications. In a de-asphalting unit, the crude asphalt is treated with either propane or butane in a supercritical phase to extract the lighter molecules, which are then separated. Further processing is possible by "blowing" the product: namely reacting it with oxygen. This step makes the product harder and more viscous.Asphalt is typically stored and transported at temperatures around . Sometimes diesel oil or kerosene are mixed in before shipping to retain liquidity; upon delivery, these lighter materials are separated out of the mixture. This mixture is often called , or BFS. Some dump trucks route the hot engine exhaust through pipes in the dump body to keep the material warm. The backs of tippers carrying asphalt, as well as some handling equipment, are also commonly sprayed with a releasing agent before filling to aid release. Diesel oil is no longer used as a release agent due to environmental concerns.Naturally occurring crude bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from currently under development in Alberta Canada. Canada has most of the world's supply of natural bitumen covering 140000 square kilometres (an area larger than England) giving it the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The Athabasca oil sands are the largest bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to surface mining although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits becoming producible by methods. Because of oil price increases after 2003 producing bitumen became highly profitable but as a result of the decline after 2014 it became uneconomic to build new plants again. By 2014 Canadian crude bitumen production averaged about per day and was projected to rise to per day by 2020. The total amount of crude bitumen in Alberta that could be extracted is estimated to be about which at a rate of would last about 200 years.Alternatives and bioasphalt.Although uncompetitive economically, asphalt can be made from nonpetroleum-based renewable resources such as sugar, molasses and rice, corn and potato starches. Asphalt can also be made from waste material by fractional distillation of used motor oil, which is sometimes otherwise disposed of by burning or dumping into landfills. Use of motor oil may cause premature cracking in colder climates, resulting in roads that need to be repaved more frequently.Nonpetroleum-based asphalt binders can be made light-colored. Lighter-colored roads absorb less heat from solar radiation, reducing their contribution to the urban heat island effect. Parking lots that use asphalt alternatives are called green parking lots.Albanian deposits.Selenizza is a naturally occurring solid hydrocarbon bitumen found in native deposits in Selenice, in Albania, the only European asphalt mine still in use. The bitumen is found in the form of veins, filling cracks in a more or less horizontal direction. The bitumen content varies from 83% to 92% , with a penetration value near to zero and a softening point around 120 °C. The insoluble matter, consisting mainly of silica ore, ranges from 8% to 17%.Albanian bitumen extraction has a long history and was practiced in an organized way by the Romans. After centuries of silence the first mentions of Albanian bitumen appeared only in 1868 when the Frenchman Coquand published the first geological description of the deposits of Albanian bitumen. In 1875 the exploitation rights were granted to the Ottoman government and in 1912 they were transferred to the Italian company Simsa. Since 1945 the mine was exploited by the Albanian government and from 2001 to date the management passed to a French company which organized the mining process for the manufacture of the natural bitumen on an industrial scale.Today the mine is predominantly exploited in an open pit quarry but several of the many underground mines still remain viable. Selenizza is produced primarily in granular form, after melting the bitumen pieces selected in the mine.Selenizza is mainly used as an additive in the road construction sector. It is mixed with traditional asphalt to improve both the viscoelastic properties and the resistance to ageing. It may be blended with the hot asphalt in tanks, but its granular form allows it to be fed in the mixer or in the recycling ring of normal asphalt plants. Other typical applications include the production of mastic asphalts for sidewalks, bridges, car-parks and urban roads as well as drilling fluid additives for the oil and gas industry. Selenizza is available in powder or in granular material of various particle sizes and is packaged in sacks or in thermal fusible polyethylene bags.A life-cycle assessment study of the natural selenizza compared with petroleum asphalt has shown that the environmental impact of the selenizza is about half the impact of the road asphalt produced in oil refineries in terms of carbon dioxide emission.Asphalt is a commonly recycled material in the construction industry. The two most common recycled materials that contain asphalt are reclaimed asphalt pavement and reclaimed asphalt shingles . RAP is recycled at a greater rate than any other material in the United States and typically contains approximately 5 – 6% asphalt binder. Asphalt shingles typically contain 20 – 40% asphalt binder.Asphalt naturally becomes stiffer over time due to oxidation, evaporation, exudation, and physical hardening. For this reason, recycled asphalt is typically combined with virgin asphalt, softening agents, and/or rejuvenating additives to restore its physical and chemical properties.For information on the processing and performance of RAP and RAS see Asphalt Concrete.For information on the different types of RAS and associated health and safety concerns, see Asphalt Shingles.For information on in-place recycling methods used to restore pavements and roadways see Road Surface.Although asphalt typically makes up only 4 to 5 percent (by weight) of the pavement mixture, as the pavement's binder, it is also the most expensive part of the cost of the road-paving material.During asphalt's early use in modern paving oil refiners gave it away. However asphalt is today a highly traded commodity. Its prices increased substantially in the early 21st Century. A U.S. government report statesThe report indicates that an Health and safety.People can be exposed to asphalt in the workplace by breathing in fumes or skin absorption. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has set a recommended exposure limit of 5 mg/m3 over a 15-minute period.Asphalt is basically an inert material that must be heated or diluted to a point where it becomes workable for the production of materials for paving roofing and other applications. In examining the potential health hazards associated with asphalt the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that it is the application parameters predominantly temperature that affect occupational exposure and the potential bioavailable carcinogenic hazard/risk of the asphalt emissions. In particular temperatures greater than 199 °C were shown to produce a greater exposure risk than when asphalt was heated to lower temperatures such as those typically used in asphalt pavement mix production and placement. IARC has classified paving asphalt fumes as a Class 2B possible carcinogen indicating inadequate evidence of carcinogenicity in humans.In 2020 scientists reported that asphalt currently is a significant and largely overlooked source of air pollution in urban areas especially during hot and sunny periods.An asphalt-like substance found in the Himalayas and known as "shilajit" is sometimes used as an Ayurveda medicine, but is not in fact a tar, resin or asphalt.
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide.ANSI accredits standards that are developed by representatives of other standards organizations government agencies consumer groups companies and others. These standards ensure that the characteristics and performance of products are consistent that people use the same definitions and terms and that products are tested the same way. ANSI also accredits organizations that carry out product or personnel certification in accordance with requirements defined in international standards.The organizations operations office is located in New York City. The ANSI annual operating budget is funded by the sale of publications membership dues and fees accreditation services fee-based programs and international standards programs.ANSI was most likely originally formed in 1918, when five engineering societies and three government agencies founded the American Engineering Standards Committee . In 1928, the AESC became the American Standards Association . In 1966, the ASA was reorganized and became United States of America Standards Institute . The present name was adopted in 1969.Prior to 1918 these five founding engineering societieshad been members of the United Engineering Society . At the behest of the AIEE they invited the U.S. government Departments of War Navy and Commerce to join in founding a national standards organization.According to Adam Stanton, the first permanent secretary and head of staff in 1919, AESC started as an ambitious program and little else. Staff for the first year consisted of one executive, Clifford B. LePage, who was on loan from a founding member, ASME. An annual budget of $7,500 was provided by the founding bodies.In 1931, the organization became affiliated with the U.S. National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission , which had been formed in 1904 to develop electrical and electronics standards.ANSI's members are government agencies, organizations, academic and international bodies, and individuals. In total, the Institute represents the interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide.Although ANSI itself does not develop standards the Institute oversees the development and use of standards by accrediting the procedures of standards developing organizations. ANSI accreditation signifies that the procedures used by standards developing organizations meet the institute's requirements for openness balance consensus and due process.ANSI also designates specific standards as American National Standards or ANS when the Institute determines that the standards were developed in an environment that is equitable accessible and responsive to the requirements of various stakeholders.Voluntary consensus standards quicken the market acceptance of products while making clear how to improve the safety of those products for the protection of consumers. There are approximately 9500 American National Standards that carry the ANSI designation.The American National Standards process involves:International activities.In addition to facilitating the formation of standards in the United States, ANSI promotes the use of U.S. standards internationally, advocates U.S. policy and technical positions in international and regional standards organizations, and encourages the adoption of international standards as national standards where appropriate.The institute is the official U.S. representative to the two major international standards organizations the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a founding member and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) via the U.S. National Committee (USNC). ANSI participates in almost the entire technical program of both the ISO and the IEC and administers many key committees and subgroups. In many instances U.S. standards are taken forward to ISO and IEC through ANSI or the USNC where they are adopted in whole or in part as international standards.Adoption of ISO and IEC standards as American standards increased from 0.2% in 1986 to 15.5% in May 2012.Standards panels.The Institute administers nine standards panelsEach of the panels works to identify, coordinate, and harmonize voluntary standards relevant to these areas.In 2009 ANSI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) formed the Nuclear Energy Standards Coordination Collaborative (NESCC). NESCC is a joint initiative to identify and respond to the current need for standards in the nuclear industry.
In logic and philosophy, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, or give evidence or reasons for accepting a particular conclusion.Argument may also refer to:Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin formed the American crew that landed the Apollo Lunar Module "Eagle" on July 20 1969 at 2017 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours and 39 minutes later on July 21 at 0256 UTC Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft and collected of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module "Columbia" alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours 36 minutes on the lunar surface at a site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing before lifting off to rejoin "Columbia" in lunar orbit.Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island Florida on July 16 at 1332 UTC and it was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts a command module with a cabin for the three astronauts the only part that returned to Earth a service module which supported the command module with propulsion electrical power oxygen and water and a lunar module that had two stages—a descent stage for landing on the Moon and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit.After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's third stage the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits onto a trajectory back to Earth. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as Background.In the late 1950s and early 1960s the United States was engaged in the Cold War a geopolitical rivalry with the Soviet Union. On October 4 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 the first artificial satellite. This surprise success fired fears and imaginations around the world. It demonstrated that the Soviet Union had the capability to deliver nuclear weapons over intercontinental distances and challenged American claims of military economic and technological superiority. This precipitated the Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race to prove which superpower would achieve superior spaceflight capability. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to the Sputnik challenge by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and initiating Project Mercury which aimed to launch a man into Earth orbit. But on April 12 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space and the first to orbit the Earth. Nearly a month later on May 5 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in space completing a 15-minute suborbital journey. After being recovered from the Atlantic Ocean he received a congratulatory telephone call from Eisenhower's successor John F. Kennedy.Since the Soviet Union had higher lift capacity launch vehicles, Kennedy chose, from among options presented by NASA, a challenge beyond the capacity of the existing generation of rocketry, so that the US and Soviet Union would be starting from a position of equality. A crewed mission to the Moon would serve this purpose.On May 25 1961 Kennedy addressed the United States Congress on "Urgent National Needs" and declaredOn September 12, 1962, Kennedy delivered another speech before a crowd of about 40,000 people in the Rice University football stadium in Houston, Texas. A widely quoted refrain from the middle portion of the speech reads as follows:In spite of that the proposed program faced the opposition of many Americans and was dubbed a "moondoggle" by Norbert Wiener a mathematician at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The effort to land a man on the Moon already had a name Project Apollo. When Kennedy met with Nikita Khrushchev the Premier of the Soviet Union in June 1961 he proposed making the Moon landing a joint project but Khrushchev did not take up the offer. Kennedy again proposed a joint expedition to the Moon in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 20 1963. The idea of a joint Moon mission was abandoned after Kennedy's death.An early and crucial decision was choosing lunar orbit rendezvous over both direct ascent and Earth orbit rendezvous. A space rendezvous is an orbital maneuver in which two spacecraft navigate through space and meet up. In July 1962 NASA head James Webb announced that lunar orbit rendezvous would be used and that the Apollo spacecraft would have three major parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages—a descent stage for landing on the Moon, and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit. This design meant the spacecraft could be launched by a single Saturn V rocket that was then under development.Technologies and techniques required for Apollo were developed by Project Gemini. The Apollo project was enabled by NASA's adoption of new advances in semiconductor electronic technology, including metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors in the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform and silicon integrated circuit chips in the Apollo Guidance Computer .Project Apollo was abruptly halted by the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, in which astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee died, and the subsequent investigation. In October 1968, Apollo 7 evaluated the command module in Earth orbit, and in December Apollo 8 tested it in lunar orbit. In March 1969, Apollo 9 put the lunar module through its paces in Earth orbit, and in May Apollo 10 conducted a "dress rehearsal" in lunar orbit. By July 1969, all was in readiness for Apollo 11 to take the final step onto the Moon.The Soviet Union appeared to be winning the Space Race by beating the US to firsts, but its early lead was overtaken by the US Gemini program and Soviet failure to develop the N1 launcher, which would have been comparable to the Saturn V. The Soviets tried to beat the US to return lunar material to the Earth by means of uncrewed probes. On July 13, three days before Apollo 11's launch, the Soviet Union launched Luna 15, which reached lunar orbit before Apollo 11. During descent, a malfunction caused Luna 15 to crash in Mare Crisium about two hours before Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the Moon's surface to begin their voyage home. The Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories radio telescope in England recorded transmissions from Luna 15 during its descent, and these were released in July 2009 for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11.Prime crew.The initial crew assignment of Commander Neil Armstrong Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin on the backup crew for Apollo9 was officially announced on November 20 1967. Lovell and Aldrin had previously flown together as the crew of Gemini 12. Due to design and manufacturing delays in the LM Apollo8 and Apollo9 swapped prime and backup crews and Armstrong's crew became the backup for Apollo8. Based on the normal crew rotation scheme Armstrong was then expected to command Apollo 11.There would be one change. Michael Collins, the CMP on the Apollo8 crew, began experiencing trouble with his legs. Doctors diagnosed the problem as a bony growth between his fifth and sixth vertebrae, requiring surgery. Lovell took his place on the Apollo8 crew, and when Collins recovered he joined Armstrong's crew as CMP. In the meantime, Fred Haise filled in as backup LMP, and Aldrin as backup CMP for Apollo 8. Apollo 11 was the second American mission where all the crew members had prior spaceflight experience, the first being Apollo 10. The next was STS-26 in 1988.Deke Slayton gave Armstrong the option to replace Aldrin with Lovell since some thought Aldrin was difficult to work with. Armstrong had no issues working with Aldrin but thought it over for a day before declining. He thought Lovell deserved to command his own mission (eventually Apollo 13).The Apollo 11 prime crew had none of the close cheerful camaraderie characterized by that of Apollo 12. Instead, they forged an amiable working relationship. Armstrong in particular was notoriously aloof, but Collins, who considered himself a loner, confessed to rebuffing Aldrin's attempts to create a more personal relationship. Aldrin and Collins described the crew as Backup crew.The backup crew consisted of Lovell as Commander, William Anders as CMP, and Haise as LMP. Anders had flown with Lovell on Apollo8. In early 1969, he accepted a job with the National Aeronautics and Space Council effective August 1969, and announced he would retire as an astronaut at that time. Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup CMP in case Apollo 11 was delayed past its intended July launch date, at which point Anders would be unavailable.By the normal crew rotation in place during Apollo Lovell Mattingly and Haise were scheduled to fly on Apollo 14 after backing up for Apollo 11. Later Lovell's crew was forced to switch places with Alan Shepard's tentative Apollo 13 crew to give Shepard more training time.Support crew.During Projects Mercury and Gemini, each mission had a prime and a backup crew. For Apollo, a third crew of astronauts was added, known as the support crew. The support crew maintained the flight plan, checklists and mission ground rules, and ensured the prime and backup crews were apprised of changes. They developed procedures, especially those for emergency situations, so these were ready for when the prime and backup crews came to train in the simulators, allowing them to concentrate on practicing and mastering them. For Apollo 11, the support crew consisted of Ken Mattingly, Ronald Evans and Bill Pogue.Capsule communicators.The capsule communicator was an astronaut at the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, who was the only person who communicated directly with the flight crew. For Apollo 11, the CAPCOMs were: Charles Duke, Ronald Evans, Bruce McCandless II, James Lovell, William Anders, Ken Mattingly, Fred Haise, Don L. Lind, Owen K. Garriott and Harrison Schmitt.Flight directors.The flight directors for this mission wereOther key personnel.Other key personnel who played important roles in the Apollo 11 mission include the following.Preparations.The Apollo 11 mission emblem was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for .An illustrator at the Manned Spacecraft Center did the artwork, which was then sent off to NASA officials for approval. The design was rejected. Bob Gilruth, the director of the MSC felt the talons of the eagle looked "too warlike". After some discussion, the olive branch was moved to the talons. When the Eisenhower dollar coin was released in 1971, the patch design provided the eagle for its reverse side. The design was also used for the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar unveiled in 1979.Call signs.After the crew of Apollo 10 named their spacecraft "Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy", assistant manager for public affairs Julian Scheer wrote to George Low, the Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at the MSC, to suggest the Apollo 11 crew be less flippant in naming their craft. The name "Snowcone" was used for the CM and "Haystack" was used for the LM in both internal and external communications during early mission planning.The LM was named , the giant cannon that launched a spacecraft (also from Florida) in Jules Verne's 1865 novel was in reference to Christopher Columbus.The astronauts had personal preference kits , small bags containing personal items of significance they wanted to take with them on the mission. Five PPKs were carried on Apollo 11: three were stowed on "Columbia" before launch, and two on "Eagle".Neil Armstrong's LM PPK contained a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 "Wright Flyer"s left propeller and a piece of fabric from its wing along with a diamond-studded astronaut pin originally given to Slayton by the widows of the Apollo1 crew. This pin had been intended to be flown on that mission and given to Slayton afterwards but following the disastrous launch pad fire and subsequent funerals the widows gave the pin to Slayton. Armstrong took it with him on Apollo 11.Site selection.NASA's Apollo Site Selection Board announced five potential landing sites on February 8, 1968. These were the result of two years' worth of studies based on high-resolution photography of the lunar surface by the five uncrewed probes of the Lunar Orbiter program and information about surface conditions provided by the Surveyor program. The best Earth-bound telescopes could not resolve features with the resolution Project Apollo required. The landing site had to be close to the lunar equator to minimize the amount of propellant required, clear of obstacles to minimize maneuvering, and flat to simplify the task of the landing radar. Scientific value was not a consideration.Areas that appeared promising on photographs taken on Earth were often found to be totally unacceptable. The original requirement that the site be free of craters had to be relaxed as no such site was found. Five sites were considered Sites1 and2 were in the Sea of Tranquility () Site3 was in the Central Bay () and Sites4 and5 were in the Ocean of Storms ().The final site selection was based on seven criteriaThe requirement for the Sun angle was particularly restrictive limiting the launch date to one day per month. A landing just after dawn was chosen to limit the temperature extremes the astronauts would experience. The Apollo Site Selection Board selected Site2 with Sites 3and5 as backups in the event of the launch being delayed. In May 1969 Apollo 10's lunar module flew to within of Site2 and reported it was acceptable.First-step decision.During the first press conference after the Apollo 11 crew was announced the first question was .One of the first versions of the egress checklist had the lunar module pilot exit the spacecraft before the commander which matched what had been done on Gemini missions where the commander had never performed the spacewalk. Reporters wrote in early 1969 that Aldrin would be the first man to walk on the Moon and Associate Administrator George Mueller told reporters he would be first as well. Aldrin heard that Armstrong would be the first because Armstrong was a civilian which made Aldrin livid. Aldrin attempted to persuade other lunar module pilots he should be first but they responded cynically about what they perceived as a lobbying campaign. Attempting to stem interdepartmental conflict Slayton told Aldrin that Armstrong would be first since he was the commander. The decision was announced in a press conference on April 14 1969.For decades, Aldrin believed the final decision was largely driven by the lunar module's hatch location. Because the astronauts had their spacesuits on and the spacecraft was so small, maneuvering to exit the spacecraft was difficult. The crew tried a simulation in which Aldrin left the spacecraft first, but he damaged the simulator while attempting to egress. While this was enough for mission planners to make their decision, Aldrin and Armstrong were left in the dark on the decision until late spring. Slayton told Armstrong the plan was to have him leave the spacecraft first, if he agreed. Armstrong said, "Yes, that's the way to do it."The media accused Armstrong of exercising his commander's prerogative to exit the spacecraft first. Chris Kraft revealed in his 2001 autobiography that a meeting occurred between Gilruth, Slayton, Low, and himself to make sure Aldrin would not be the first to walk on the Moon. They argued that the first person to walk on the Moon should be like Charles Lindbergh, a calm and quiet person. They made the decision to change the flight plan so the commander was the first to egress from the spacecraft.Pre-launch.The ascent stage of LM-5 "Eagle" arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on January 8, 1969, followed by the descent stage four days later, and CSM-107 "Columbia" on January 23. There were several differences between "Eagle" and Apollo 10's LM-4 "Snoopy"; "Eagle" had a VHF radio antenna to facilitate communication with the astronauts during their EVA on the lunar surface; a lighter ascent engine; more thermal protection on the landing gear; and a package of scientific experiments known as the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP). The only change in the configuration of the command module was the removal of some insulation from the forward hatch. The CSM was mated on January 29, and moved from the Operations and Checkout Building to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 14.The S-IVB third stage of Saturn V AS-506 had arrived on January 18, followed by the S-II second stage on February 6, S-IC first stage on February 20, and the Saturn V Instrument Unit on February 27. At 12:30 on May 20, the assembly departed the Vehicle Assembly Building atop the crawler-transporter, bound for Launch Pad 39A, part of Launch Complex 39, while Apollo 10 was still on its way to the Moon. A countdown test commenced on June 26, and concluded on July 2. The launch complex was floodlit on the night of July 15, when the crawler-transporter carried the mobile service structure back to its parking area. In the early hours of the morning, the fuel tanks of the S-II and S-IVB stages were filled with liquid hydrogen. Fueling was completed by three hours before launch. Launch operations were partly automated, with 43 programs written in the ATOLL programming language.Slayton roused the crew shortly after 04:00, and they showered, shaved, and had the traditional pre-flight breakfast of steak and eggs with Slayton and the backup crew. They then donned their space suits and began breathing pure oxygen. At 06:30, they headed out to Launch Complex 39. Haise entered about three hours and ten minutes before launch time. Along with a technician, he helped Armstrong into the left-hand couch at 06:54. Five minutes later, Collins joined him, taking up his position on the right-hand couch. Finally, Aldrin entered, taking the center couch. Haise left around two hours and ten minutes before launch. The closeout crew sealed the hatch, and the cabin was purged and pressurized. The closeout crew then left the launch complex about an hour before launch time. The countdown became automated at three minutes and twenty seconds before launch time. Over 450 personnel were at the consoles in the firing room.Launch and flight to lunar orbit.An estimated one million spectators watched the launch of Apollo 11 from the highways and beaches in the vicinity of the launch site. Dignitaries included the Chief of Staff of the United States Army General William Westmoreland four cabinet members 19 state governors 40 mayors 60 ambassadors and 200 congressmen. Vice President Spiro Agnew viewed the launch with former president Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson. Around 3500 media representatives were present. About two-thirds were from the United States the rest came from 55 other countries. The launch was televised live in 33 countries with an estimated 25 million viewers in the United States alone. Millions more around the world listened to radio broadcasts. President Richard Nixon viewed the launch from his office in the White House with his NASA liaison officer Apollo astronaut Frank Borman.Saturn V AS-506 launched Apollo 11 on July 16 1969 at 133200 UTC . At 13.2 seconds into the flight the launch vehicle began to roll into its flight azimuth of 72.058°. Full shutdown of the first-stage engines occurred about 2minutes and 42 seconds into the mission followed by separation of the S-IC and ignition of the S-II engines. The second stage engines then cut off and separated at about 9minutes and 8seconds allowing the first ignition of the S-IVB engine a few seconds later.Apollo 11 entered a near-circular Earth orbit at an altitude of by , twelve minutes into its flight. After one and a half orbits, a second ignition of the S-IVB engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the trans-lunar injection burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later, with Collins in the left seat and at the controls, the transposition, docking, and extraction maneuver was performed. This involved separating "Columbia" from the spent S-IVB stage, turning around, and docking with "Eagle" still attached to the stage. After the LM was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the rocket stage flew on a trajectory past the Moon. This was done to avoid the third stage colliding with the spacecraft, the Earth, or the Moon. A slingshot effect from passing around the Moon threw it into an orbit around the Sun.On July 19 at 172150 UTC Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits that followed the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquility about southwest of the crater Sabine D. The site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers and the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft and because it was unlikely to present major landing or EVA challenges. It lay about southeast of the Surveyor5 landing site and southwest of Ranger8's crash site.Lunar descent.At 12:52:00 UTC on July 20, Aldrin and Armstrong entered "Eagle", and began the final preparations for lunar descent. At 17:44:00 "Eagle" separated from "Columbia". Collins, alone aboard "Columbia", inspected "Eagle" as it pirouetted before him to ensure the craft was not damaged, and that the landing gear was correctly deployed. Armstrong exclaimed: "The "Eagle" has wings!"As the descent began, Armstrong and Aldrin found themselves passing landmarks on the surface two or three seconds early, and reported that they were "long"; they would land miles west of their target point. "Eagle" was traveling too fast. The problem could have been mascons—concentrations of high mass in a region or regions of the Moon's crust that contains a gravitational anomaly, potentially altering "Eagle"'s trajectory. Flight Director Gene Kranz speculated that it could have resulted from extra air pressure in the docking tunnel. Or it could have been the result of "Eagle"s pirouette maneuver.Five minutes into the descent burn and above the surface of the Moon the LM guidance computer (LGC) distracted the crew with the first of several unexpected 1201 and 1202 program alarms. Inside Mission Control Center computer engineer Jack Garman told Guidance Officer Steve Bales it was safe to continue the descent and this was relayed to the crew. The program alarms indicated "executive overflows" meaning the guidance computer could not complete all its tasks in real-time and had to postpone some of them. Margaret Hamilton the Director of Apollo Flight Computer Programming at the MIT Charles Stark Draper Laboratory later recalledDuring the mission the cause was diagnosed as the rendezvous radar switch being in the wrong position causing the computer to process data from both the rendezvous and landing radars at the same time. Software engineer Don Eyles concluded in a 2005 Guidance and Control Conference paper that the problem was due to a hardware design bug previously seen during testing of the first uncrewed LM in Apollo 5. Having the rendezvous radar on should have been irrelevant to the computer but an electrical phasing mismatch between two parts of the rendezvous radar system could cause the stationary antenna to appear to the computer as dithering back and forth between two positions depending upon how the hardware randomly powered up. The extra spurious cycle stealing as the rendezvous radar updated an involuntary counter caused the computer alarms.When Armstrong again looked outside, he saw that the computer's landing target was in a boulder-strewn area just north and east of a crater , so he took semi-automatic control. Armstrong considered landing short of the boulder field so they could collect geological samples from it, but could not since their horizontal velocity was too high. Throughout the descent, Aldrin called out navigation data to Armstrong, who was busy piloting "Eagle". Now above the surface, Armstrong knew their propellant supply was dwindling and was determined to land at the first possible landing site.Armstrong found a clear patch of ground and maneuvered the spacecraft towards it. As he got closer, now above the surface, he discovered his new landing site had a crater in it. He cleared the crater and found another patch of level ground. They were now from the surface, with only 90 seconds of propellant remaining. Lunar dust kicked up by the LM's engine began to impair his ability to determine the spacecraft's motion. Some large rocks jutted out of the dust cloud, and Armstrong focused on them during his descent so he could determine the spacecraft's speed.A light informed Aldrin that at least one of the probes hanging from "Eagle" footpads had touched the surface a few moments before the landing and he said "Contact light!" Armstrong was supposed to immediately shut the engine down as the engineers suspected the pressure caused by the engine's own exhaust reflecting off the lunar surface could make it explode but he forgot. Three seconds later "Eagle" landed and Armstrong shut the engine down. Aldrin immediately said "Okay engine stop. ACA—out of detent." Armstrong acknowledged "Out of detent. Auto." Aldrin continued "Mode control—both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm—off. 413 is in."ACA was the Attitude Control Assembly—the LM's control stick. Output went to the LGC to command the reaction control system jets to fire. meant the stick had moved away from its centered position; it was spring-centered like the turn indicator in a car. LGC address 413 contained the variable that indicated the LM had landed."Eagle" landed at 201740 UTC on Sunday July 20 with of usable fuel remaining. Information available to the crew and mission controllers during the landing showed the LM had enough fuel for another 25 seconds of powered flight before an abort without touchdown would have become unsafe but post-mission analysis showed that the real figure was probably closer to 50 seconds. Apollo 11 landed with less fuel than most subsequent missions and the astronauts encountered a premature low fuel warning. This was later found to be the result of the propellant sloshing more than expected uncovering a fuel sensor. On subsequent missions extra anti-slosh baffles were added to the tanks to prevent this.Armstrong acknowledged Aldrin's completion of the post-landing checklist with "Engine arm is off" before responding to the CAPCOM Charles Duke with the words "Houston Tranquility Base here. The "Eagle" has landed." Armstrong's unrehearsed change of call sign from "Eagle" to "Tranquility Base" emphasized to listeners that landing was complete and successful. Duke mispronounced his reply as he expressed the relief at Mission Control "Roger Twan—Tranquility we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."Two and a half hours after landing before preparations began for the EVA Aldrin radioed to EarthHe then took communion privately. At this time NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair demanding that their astronauts refrain from broadcasting religious activities while in space. For this reason, Aldrin chose to refrain from directly mentioning taking communion on the Moon. Aldrin was an elder at the Webster Presbyterian Church, and his communion kit was prepared by the pastor of the church, Dean Woodruff. Webster Presbyterian possesses the chalice used on the Moon and commemorates the event each year on the Sunday closest to July 20. The schedule for the mission called for the astronauts to follow the landing with a five-hour sleep period, but they chose to begin preparations for the EVA early, thinking they would be unable to sleep.Lunar surface operations.Preparations for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to walk on the Moon began at 23:43. These took longer than expected; three and a half hours instead of two. During training on Earth, everything required had been neatly laid out in advance, but on the Moon the cabin contained a large number of other items as well, such as checklists, food packets, and tools. Six hours and thirty-nine minutes after landing Armstrong and Aldrin were ready to go outside, and "Eagle" was depressurized."Eagle"s hatch was opened at 023933. Armstrong initially had some difficulties squeezing through the hatch with his portable life support system . Some of the highest heart rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred during LM egress and ingress. At 0251 Armstrong began his descent to the lunar surface. The remote control unit on his chest kept him from seeing his feet. Climbing down the nine-rung ladder Armstrong pulled a D-ring to deploy the modular equipment stowage assembly folded against "Eagle" side and activate the TV camera.Apollo 11 used slow-scan television incompatible with broadcast TV, so it was displayed on a special monitor and a conventional TV camera viewed this monitor , significantly reducing the quality of the picture. The signal was received at Goldstone in the United States, but with better fidelity by Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station near Canberra in Australia. Minutes later the feed was switched to the more sensitive Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Despite some technical and weather difficulties, ghostly black and white images of the first lunar EVA were received and broadcast to at least 600 million people on Earth. Copies of this video in broadcast format were saved and are widely available, but recordings of the original slow scan source transmission from the lunar surface were likely destroyed during routine magnetic tape re-use at NASA.After describing the surface dust as Armstrong intended to say , and that Armstrong himself later admitted to misspeaking the line.About seven minutes after stepping onto the Moons Apollo space suit. Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface. He described the view with the simple phrase: Armstrong said moving in the lunar gravity one-sixth of Earth's was shadow produced no temperature change inside the suit but the helmet was warmer in sunlight so he felt cooler in shadow. The MESA failed to provide a stable work platform and was in shadow slowing work somewhat. As they worked the moonwalkers kicked up gray dust which soiled the outer part of their suits.The astronauts planted the Lunar Flag Assembly containing a flag of the United States on the lunar surface in clear view of the TV camera. Aldrin remembered "Of all the jobs I had to do on the Moon the one I wanted to go the smoothest was the flag raising." But the astronauts struggled with the telescoping rod and could only jam the pole about into the hard lunar surface. Aldrin was afraid it might topple in front of TV viewers. But he gave "a crisp West Point salute". Before Aldrin could take a photo of Armstrong with the flag President Richard Nixon spoke to them through a telephone-radio transmission which Nixon called "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House." Nixon originally had a long speech prepared to read during the phone call but Frank Borman who was at the White House as a NASA liaison during Apollo 11 convinced Nixon to keep his words brief.They deployed the EASEP, which included a passive seismic experiment package used to measure moonquakes and a retroreflector array used for the lunar laser ranging experiment. Then Armstrong walked from the LM to snap photos at the rim of Little West Crater while Aldrin collected two core samples. He used the geologist's hammer to pound in the tubes—the only time the hammer was used on Apollo 11—but was unable to penetrate more than deep. The astronauts then collected rock samples using scoops and tongs on extension handles. Many of the surface activities took longer than expected, so they had to stop documenting sample collection halfway through the allotted 34 minutes. Aldrin shoveled of soil into the box of rocks in order to pack them in tightly. Two types of rocks were found in the geological samples: basalt and breccia. Three new minerals were discovered in the rock samples collected by the astronauts: armalcolite, tranquillityite, and pyroxferroite. Armalcolite was named after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. All have subsequently been found on Earth.While on the surface Armstrong uncovered a plaque mounted on the LM ladder bearing two drawings of Earth an inscription and signatures of the astronauts and President Nixon. The inscription readAt the behest of the Nixon administration to add a reference to God, NASA included the vague date as a reason to include A.D., which stands for Anno Domini, .Mission Control used a coded phrase to warn Armstrong his metabolic rates were high, and that he should slow down. He was moving rapidly from task to task as time ran out. As metabolic rates remained generally lower than expected for both astronauts throughout the walk, Mission Control granted the astronauts a 15-minute extension. In a 2010 interview, Armstrong explained that NASA limited the first moonwalk PLSS backpacks would consume to handle their body heat generation while working on the Moon.Lunar ascent.Aldrin entered "Eagle" first. With some difficulty the astronauts lifted film and two sample boxes containing of lunar surface material to the LM hatch using a flat cable pulley device called the Lunar Equipment Conveyor . This proved to be an inefficient tool and later missions preferred to carry equipment and samples up to the LM by hand. Armstrong reminded Aldrin of a bag of memorial items in his sleeve pocket and Aldrin tossed the bag down. Armstrong then jumped onto the ladder's third rung and climbed into the LM. After transferring to LM life support the explorers lightened the ascent stage for the return to lunar orbit by tossing out their PLSS backpacks lunar overshoes an empty Hasselblad camera and other equipment. The hatch was closed again at 051113. They then pressurized the LM and settled down to sleep.Presidential speech writer William Safire had prepared an "In Event of Moon Disaster" announcement for Nixon to read in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon. The remarks were in a memo from Safire to Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such a disaster. According to the plan Mission Control would "close down communications" with the LM and a clergyman would "commend their souls to the deepest of the deep" in a public ritual likened to burial at sea. The last line of the prepared text contained an allusion to Rupert Brooke's First World War poem "The Soldier".While moving inside the cabin Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the main engine for liftoff from the Moon. There was a concern this would prevent firing the engine stranding them on the Moon. A felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.After more than hours on the lunar surface in addition to the scientific instruments the astronauts left behind an Apollo 1 mission patch in memory of astronauts Roger Chaffee Gus Grissom and Edward White who died when their command module caught fire during a test in January 1967 two memorial medals of Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin who died in 1967 and 1968 respectively a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace and a silicon message disk carrying the goodwill statements by Presidents Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson and Nixon along with messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world. The disk also carries a listing of the leadership of the US Congress a listing of members of the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for the NASA legislation and the names of NASA's past and then-current top management.After about seven hours of rest, the crew was awakened by Houston to prepare for the return flight. Two and a half hours later, at 17:54:00 UTC, they lifted off in "Eagle" ascent stage to rejoin Collins aboard "Columbia" in lunar orbit. Film taken from the LM ascent stage upon liftoff from the Moon reveals the American flag, planted some from the descent stage, whipping violently in the exhaust of the ascent stage engine. Aldrin looked up in time to witness the flag topple: "The ascent stage of the LM separated ... I was concentrating on the computers, and Neil was studying the attitude indicator, but I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over." Subsequent Apollo missions planted their flags farther from the LM. in lunar orbit.During his day flying solo around the Moon, Collins never felt lonely. Although it has been said .One of Collins' first tasks was to identify the lunar module on the ground. To give Collins an idea where to look, Mission Control radioed that they believed the lunar module landed about off target. Each time he passed over the suspected lunar landing site, he tried in vain to find the module. On his first orbits on the back side of the Moon, Collins performed maintenance activities such as dumping excess water produced by the fuel cells and preparing the cabin for Armstrong and Aldrin to return.Just before he reached the dark side on the third orbit, Mission Control informed Collins there was a problem with the temperature of the coolant. If it became too cold, parts of "Columbia" might freeze. Mission Control advised him to assume manual control and implement Environmental Control System Malfunction Procedure 17. Instead, Collins flicked the switch on the system from automatic to manual and back to automatic again, and carried on with normal housekeeping chores, while keeping an eye on the temperature. When "Columbia" came back around to the near side of the Moon again, he was able to report that the problem had been resolved. For the next couple of orbits, he described his time on the back side of the Moon as "relaxing". After Aldrin and Armstrong completed their EVA, Collins slept so he could be rested for the rendezvous. While the flight plan called for "Eagle" to meet up with "Columbia", Collins was prepared for a contingency in which he would fly "Columbia" down to meet "Eagle". on the lunar surface. In 2021 however, some calculations show that lander may still be in orbit.On July 23 the last night before splashdown the three astronauts made a television broadcast in which Collins commentedAldrin addedArmstrong concludedOn the return to Earth, a bearing at the Guam tracking station failed, potentially preventing communication on the last segment of the Earth return. A regular repair was not possible in the available time but the station director, Charles Force, had his ten-year-old son Greg use his small hands to reach into the housing and pack it with grease. Greg was later thanked by Armstrong.Splashdown and quarantine.The aircraft carrier , under the command of Captain Carl J. Seiberlich, was selected as the primary recovery ship for Apollo 11 on June 5, replacing its sister ship, the LPH , which had recovered Apollo 10 on May 26. s air wing was left behind in Long Beach. Special recovery equipment was also loaded, including a boilerplate command module used for training.On July 12, with Apollo 11 still on the launch pad, s carrier onboard delivery aircraft.Weather satellites were not yet common, but US Air Force Captain Hank Brandli had access to top-secret spy satellite images. He realized that a storm front was headed for the Apollo recovery area. Poor visibility which could make locating the capsule difficult, and strong upper-level winds which "would have ripped their parachutes to shreds" according to Brandli, posed a serious threat to the safety of the mission. Brandli alerted Navy Captain Willard S. Houston Jr., the commander of the Fleet Weather Center at Pearl Harbor, who had the required security clearance. On their recommendation, Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, commander of Manned Spaceflight Recovery Forces, Pacific, advised NASA to change the recovery area, each man risking his career. A new location was selected northeast.This altered the flight plan. A different sequence of computer programs was used one never before attempted. In a conventional entry trajectory event P64 was followed by P67. For a skip-out re-entry P65 and P66 were employed to handle the exit and entry parts of the skip. In this case because they were extending the re-entry but not actually skipping out P66 was not invoked and instead P65 led directly to P67. The crew were also warned they would not be in a full-lift attitude when they entered P67. The first program's acceleration subjected the astronauts to the second to .Before dawn on July 24, while the third acted as a communications relay aircraft. Two of the Sea Kings carried divers and recovery equipment. The third carried photographic equipment, and the fourth carried the decontamination swimmer and the flight surgeon. At 16:44 UTC (05:44 local time) , at . with seas and winds at from the east were reported under broken clouds at with visibility of at the recovery site. Reconnaissance aircraft flying to the original splashdown location reported the conditions Brandli and Houston had predicted.During splashdown landed upside down but was righted within ten minutes by flotation bags activated by the astronauts. A diver from the Navy helicopter hovering above attached a sea anchor to prevent it from drifting. More divers attached flotation collars to stabilize the module and positioned rafts for astronaut extraction.The divers then passed biological isolation garments to the astronauts, and assisted them into the life raft. The possibility of bringing back pathogens from the lunar surface was considered remote, but NASA took precautions at the recovery site. The astronauts were rubbed down with a sodium hypochlorite solution and "Columbia" wiped with Povidone-iodine to remove any lunar dust that might be present. The astronauts were winched on board the recovery helicopter. BIGs were worn until they reached isolation facilities on board "Hornet". The raft containing decontamination materials was intentionally sunk.After touchdown on "Hornet" at 17:53 UTC, the helicopter was lowered by the elevator into the hangar bay, where the astronauts walked the to the Mobile quarantine facility , where they would begin the Earth-based portion of their 21 days of quarantine. This practice would continue for two more Apollo missions, Apollo 12 and Apollo 14, before the Moon was proven to be barren of life, and the quarantine process dropped. Nixon welcomed the astronauts back to Earth. He told them: "s a result of what you've done, the world has never been closer together before."After Nixon departed "Hornet" was brought alongside the "Columbia" which was lifted aboard by the ship's crane placed on a dolly and moved next to the MQF. It was then attached to the MQF with a flexible tunnel allowing the lunar samples film data tapes and other items to be removed. "Hornet" returned to Pearl Harbor where the MQF was loaded onto a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and airlifted to the Manned Spacecraft Center. The astronauts arrived at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at 1000 UTC on July 28. "Columbia" was taken to Ford Island for deactivation and its pyrotechnics made safe. It was then taken to Hickham Air Force Base from whence it was flown to Houston in a Douglas C-133 Cargomaster reaching the Lunar Receiving Laboratory on July 30.In accordance with the Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law, a set of regulations promulgated by NASA on July 16 to codify its quarantine protocol, the astronauts continued in quarantine. After three weeks in confinement , the astronauts were given a clean bill of health. On August 10, 1969, the Interagency Committee on Back Contamination met in Atlanta and lifted the quarantine on the astronauts, on those who had joined them in quarantine , and on itself. Loose equipment from the spacecraft remained in isolation until the lunar samples were released for study.Celebrations.On August 13, the three astronauts rode in ticker-tape parades in their honor in New York and Chicago, with an estimated six million attendees. On the same evening in Los Angeles there was an official state dinner to celebrate the flight, attended by members of Congress, 44 governors, Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger and his predecessor, Earl Warren, and ambassadors from 83 nations at the Century Plaza Hotel. Nixon and Agnew honored each astronaut with a presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.The three astronauts spoke before a joint session of Congress on September 16, 1969. They presented two US flags, one to the House of Representatives and the other to the Senate, that they had carried with them to the surface of the Moon. The flag of American Samoa on Apollo 11 is on display at the Jean P. Haydon Museum in Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa.This celebration began a 38-day world tour that brought the astronauts to 22 foreign countries and included visits with the leaders of many countries. The crew toured from September 29 to November 5. Many nations honored the first human Moon landing with special features in magazines or by issuing Apollo 11 commemorative postage stamps or coins.Cultural significance.Humans walking on the Moon and returning safely to Earth accomplished Kennedy technological superiority and with the success of Apollo 11 America had won the Space Race.New phrases permeated into the English language. became a common saying following Apollo 11. Armstrong's words on the lunar surface also spun off various parodies.While most people celebrated the accomplishment disenfranchised Americans saw it as a symbol of the divide in America evidenced by protesters led by Ralph Abernathy outside of Kennedy Space Center the day before Apollo 11 launched. NASA Administrator Thomas Paine met with Abernathy at the occasion both hoping that the space program can spur progress also in other regards such as poverty in the US. Paine was then asked and agreed to host protesters as spectators at the launch and Abernathy awestruck by the spectacle prayed for the astronauts. Racial and financial inequalities frustrated citizens who wondered why money spent on the Apollo program was not spent taking care of humans on Earth. A poem by Gil Scott-Heron called illustrated the racial inequality in the United States that was highlighted by the Space Race. The poem starts withTwenty percent of the world's population watched humans walk on the Moon for the first time. While Apollo 11 sparked the interest of the world the follow-on Apollo missions did not hold the interest of the nation. One possible explanation was the shift in complexity. Landing someone on the Moon was an easy goal to understand lunar geology was too abstract for the average person. Another is that Kennedy's goal of landing humans on the Moon had already been accomplished. A well-defined objective helped Project Apollo accomplish its goal but after it was completed it was hard to justify continuing the lunar missions.While most Americans were proud of their nation's achievements in space exploration, only once during the late 1960s did the Gallup Poll indicate that a majority of Americans favored "doing more" in space as opposed to "doing less". By 1973, 59 percent of those polled favored cutting spending on space exploration. The Space Race had been won, and Cold War tensions were easing as the US and Soviet Union entered the era of dtente. This was also a time when inflation was rising, which put pressure on the government to reduce spending. What saved the space program was that it was one of the few government programs that had achieved something great. Drastic cuts, warned Caspar Weinberger, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, might send a signal that "our best years are behind us".After the Apollo 11 mission officials from the Soviet Union said landing humans on the Moon was dangerous and unnecessary. At the time the Soviet Union was attempting to retrieve lunar samples robotically. The Soviets publicly denied there was a race to the Moon and indicated they were not making an attempt. Mstislav Keldysh said in July 1969 "We are concentrating wholly on the creation of large satellite systems." It was revealed in 1989 that the Soviets had tried to send people to the Moon but were unable due to technological difficulties. The public's reaction in the Soviet Union was mixed. The Soviet government limited the release of information about the lunar landing which affected the reaction. A portion of the populace did not give it any attention and another portion was angered by it.The Apollo 11 landing is referenced in the songs .Spacecraft.The command module .. This included Space Center Houston from October 14, 2017, to March 18, 2018, the Saint Louis Science Center from April 14 to September 3, 2018, the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh from September 29, 2018, to February 18, 2019, and its last location at Museum of Flight in Seattle from March 16 to September 2, 2019. Continued renovations at the Smithsonian allowed time for an additional stop for the capsule, and it was moved to the Cincinnati Museum Center. The ribbon cutting ceremony was on September 29, 2019.For 40 years Armstrong's and Aldrin's space suits were displayed in the museum's "Apollo to the Moon" exhibit, until it permanently closed on December 3, 2018, to be replaced by a new gallery which was scheduled to open in 2022. A special display of Armstrong's suit was unveiled for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 in July 2019. The quarantine trailer, the flotation collar and the flotation bags are in the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex near Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, where they are on display along with a test lunar module.The descent stage of the LM "Eagle" remains on the Moon. In 2009 the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the various Apollo landing sites on the surface of the Moon for the first time with sufficient resolution to see the descent stages of the lunar modules scientific instruments and foot trails made by the astronauts. The remains of the ascent stage lie at an unknown location on the lunar surface after being abandoned and impacting the Moon. The location is uncertain because "Eagle" ascent stage was not tracked after it was jettisoned and the lunar gravity field is sufficiently non-uniform to make the orbit of the spacecraft unpredictable after a short time.In March 2012 a team of specialists financed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos located the F-1 engines from the S-IC stage that launched Apollo 11 into space. They were found on the Atlantic seabed using advanced sonar scanning. His team brought parts of two of the five engines to the surface. In July 2013 a conservator discovered a serial number under the rust on one of the engines raised from the Atlantic which NASA confirmed was from Apollo 11. The S-IVB third stage which performed Apollo 11's trans-lunar injection remains in a solar orbit near to that of Earth.Moon rocks.The main repository for the Apollo Moon rocks is the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. For safekeeping there is also a smaller collection stored at White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces New Mexico. Most of the rocks are stored in nitrogen to keep them free of moisture. They are handled only indirectly using special tools. Over 100 research laboratories around the world conduct studies of the samples and approximately 500 samples are prepared and sent to investigators every year.In November 1969 Nixon asked NASA to make up about 250 presentation Apollo 11 lunar sample displays for 135 nations the fifty states of the United States and its possessions and the United Nations. Each display included Moon dust from Apollo 11. The rice-sized particles were four small pieces of Moon soil weighing about 50 mg and were enveloped in a clear acrylic button about as big as a United States half dollar coin. This acrylic button magnified the grains of lunar dust. The Apollo 11 lunar sample displays were given out as goodwill gifts by Nixon in 1970.Experiment results.The Passive Seismic Experiment ran until the command uplink failed on August 25 1969. The downlink failed on December 14 1969. the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment remains operational.Armstrong's camera.Armstrong's Hasselblad camera was thought to be lost or left on the Moon surface.LM memorabilia.In 2015, after Armstrong died in 2012, his widow contacted the National Air and Space Museum to inform them she had found a white cloth bag in one of Armstrong's closets. The bag contained various items, which should have been left behind in the lunar module, including the 16mm Data Acquisition Camera that had been used to capture images of the first Moon landing. The camera is currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum.Anniversary events.40th anniversary.On July 15 2009 Life.com released a photo gallery of previously unpublished photos of the astronauts taken by "Life" photographer Ralph Morse prior to the Apollo 11 launch. From July 16 to 24 2009 NASA streamed the original mission audio on its website in real time 40 years to the minute after the events occurred. It is in the process of restoring the video footage and has released a preview of key moments. In July 2010 air-to-ground voice recordings and film footage shot in Mission Control during the Apollo 11 powered descent and landing was re-synchronized and released for the first time. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum set up an Adobe Flash website that rebroadcasts the transmissions of Apollo 11 from launch to landing on the Moon.On July 20, 2009, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins met with US President Barack Obama at the White House. On August 7, 2009, an act of Congress awarded the three astronauts a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States. The bill was sponsored by Florida Senator Bill Nelson and Florida Representative Alan Grayson.A group of British scientists interviewed as part of the anniversary events reflected on the significance of the Moon landing:50th anniversary.On June 10 2015 Congressman Bill Posey introduced resolution H.R. 2726 to the 114th session of the United States House of Representatives directing the United States Mint to design and sell commemorative coins in gold silver and clad for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. On January 24 2019 the Mint released the Apollo 11 Fiftieth Anniversary commemorative coins to the public on its website.A documentary film "Apollo 11" with restored footage of the 1969 event premiered in IMAX on March 1 2019 and broadly in theaters on March 8.The Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum and NASA sponsored the "Apollo 50 Festival" on the National Mall in Washington DC. The three day outdoor festival featured hands-on exhibits and activities, live performances, and speakers such as Adam Savage and NASA scientists.As part of the festival a projection of the tall Saturn V rocket was displayed on the east face of the tall Washington Monument from July 16 through the 20th from 930pm until 1130pm . The program also included a 17-minute show that combined full-motion video projected on the Washington Monument to recreate the assembly and launch of the Saturn V rocket. The projection was joined by a wide recreation of the Kennedy Space Center countdown clock and two large video screens showing archival footage to recreate the time leading up to the moon landing. There were three shows per night on July 19–20 with the last show on Saturday delayed slightly so the portion where Armstrong first set foot on the Moon would happen exactly 50 years to the second after the actual event.On July 19 2019 the Google Doodle paid tribute to the Apollo 11 Moon Landing complete with a link to an animated YouTube video with voiceover by astronaut Michael Collins.Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong's sons were hosted by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.References.In some of the following sources, times are shown in the format , referring to the mission's Ground Elapsed Time , based on the official launch time of July 16, 1969, 13:32:00 UTC .
Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, and also the first human spaceflight to reach another astronomical object, namely the Moon, which the crew orbited without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These three astronauts—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to witness and photograph an Earthrise.Apollo 8 launched on December 21 1968 and was the second crewed spaceflight mission flown in the United States Apollo space program after Apollo7 which stayed in Earth orbit. Apollo8 was the third flight and the first crewed launch of the Saturn V rocket and was the first human spaceflight from the Kennedy Space Center located adjacent to Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida.Originally planned as the second crewed Apollo Lunar Module and command module test to be flown in an elliptical medium Earth orbit in early 1969 the mission profile was changed in August 1968 to a more ambitious command-module-only lunar orbital flight to be flown in December as the lunar module was not yet ready to make its first flight. Astronaut Jim McDivitt less training and preparation time than originally planned and replaced the planned lunar module training with translunar navigation training.Apollo 8 took 68 hours to travel the distance to the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times over the course of twenty hours during which they made a Christmas Eve television broadcast in which they read the first ten verses from the Book of Genesis. At the time the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. Apollo8's successful mission paved the way for Apollo11 to fulfill U.S. president John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s. The Apollo8 astronauts returned to Earth on December 27 1968 when their spacecraft splashed down in the northern Pacific Ocean. The crew members were named "Time" magazine's "Men of the Year" for 1968 upon their return.Background.In the late 1950s and early 1960s the United States was engaged in the Cold War a geopolitical rivalry with the Soviet Union. On October 4 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 the first artificial satellite. This unexpected success stoked fears and imaginations around the world. It not only demonstrated that the Soviet Union had the capability to deliver nuclear weapons over intercontinental distances it challenged American claims of military economic and technological superiority. The launch precipitated the Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race.President John F. Kennedy believed that not only was it in the national interest of the United States to be superior to other nations but that the perception of American power was at least as important as the actuality. It was therefore intolerable to him for the Soviet Union to be more advanced in the field of space exploration. He was determined that the United States should compete and sought a challenge that maximized its chances of winning.The Soviet Union had heavier-lifting carrier rockets, which meant Kennedy needed to choose a goal that was beyond the capacity of the existing generation of rocketry, one where the US and Soviet Union would be starting from a position of equality—something spectacular, even if it could not be justified on military, economic, or scientific grounds. After consulting with his experts and advisors, he chose such a project: to land a man on the Moon and return him to the Earth. This project already had a name: Project Apollo.An early and crucial decision was the adoption of lunar orbit rendezvous under which a specialized spacecraft would land on the lunar surface. The Apollo spacecraft therefore had three primary components a command module with a cabin for the three astronauts and the only part that would return to Earth a service module to provide the command module with propulsion electrical power oxygen and water and a two-stage lunar module which comprised a descent stage for landing on the Moon and an ascent stage to return the astronauts to lunar orbit. This configuration could be launched by the Saturn V rocket that was then under development.Prime crew.The initial crew assignment of Frank Borman as Commander, Michael Collins as Command Module Pilot and William Anders as Lunar Module Pilot for the third crewed Apollo flight was officially announced on November 20, 1967. Collins was replaced by Jim Lovell in July 1968, after suffering a cervical disc herniation that required surgery to repair. This crew was unique among pre-Space Shuttle era missions in that the commander was not the most experienced member of the crew: Lovell had flown twice before, on Gemini VII and Gemini XII. This would also be the first case of a commander of a previous mission flying as a non-commander. This was also the first mission to reunite crewmates from a previous mission .As of 2021 all three Apollo 8 astronauts remain alive.Backup crew.The backup crew assignment of Neil Armstrong as Commander, Lovell as CMP, and Buzz Aldrin as LMP for the third crewed Apollo flight was officially announced at the same time as the prime crew. When Lovell was reassigned to the prime crew, Aldrin was moved to CMP, and Fred Haise was brought in as backup LMP. Armstrong would later command Apollo11, with Aldrin as LMP and Collins as CMP. Haise served on the backup crew of Apollo11 as LMP and flew on Apollo13 as LMP.Support personnel.During Projects Mercury and Gemini each mission had a prime and a backup crew. For Apollo a third crew of astronauts was added known as the support crew. The support crew maintained the flight plan checklists and mission ground rules and ensured that the prime and backup crews were apprised of any changes. The support crew developed procedures in the simulators especially those for emergency situations so that the prime and backup crews could practice and master them in their simulator training. For Apollo8 the support crew consisted of Ken Mattingly Vance Brand and Gerald Carr.The capsule communicator was an astronaut at the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, who was the only person who communicated directly with the flight crew. For Apollo8, the CAPCOMs were Michael Collins, Gerald Carr, Ken Mattingly, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Vance Brand, and Fred Haise.The mission control teams rotated in three shifts each led by a flight director. The directors for Apollo8 were Clifford E. Charlesworth Glynn Lunney and Milton Windler .Mission insignia and callsign.The triangular shape of the insignia refers to the shape of the Apollo CM. It shows a red figure8 looping around the Earth and Moon to reflect both the mission number and the circumlunar nature of the mission. On the bottom of the8 are the names of the three astronauts. The initial design of the insignia was developed by Jim Lovell, who reportedly sketched it while riding in the back seat of a T-38 flight from California to Houston shortly after learning of Apollo8's re-designation as a lunar-orbital mission.The crew wanted to name their spacecraft but NASA did not allow it. The crew would have likely chosen in part for that reason.Preparations.Mission schedule.On September 20 1967 NASA adopted a seven-step plan for Apollo missions with the final step being a Moon landing. Apollo4 and Apollo6 were missions tests of the SaturnV launch vehicle using an uncrewed Block I production model of the command and service module (CSM) in Earth orbit. Apollo5 was a mission would be the finale the Moon landing.Production of the LM fell behind schedule and when Apollo8's LM-3 arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in June 1968 more than a hundred significant defects were discovered leading Bob Gilruth the director of the Manned Spacecraft Center and others to conclude that there was no prospect of LM-3 being ready to fly in 1968. Indeed it was possible that delivery would slip to February or March 1969. Following the original seven-step plan would have meant delaying the mission had to be delayed and the plan for lunar landing in mid-1969 could remain on timeline.On August 9, 1968, Low discussed the idea with Gilruth, Flight Director Chris Kraft, and the Director of Flight Crew Operations, Donald Slayton. They then flew to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where they met with KSC Director Kurt Debus, Apollo Program Director Samuel C. Phillips, Rocco Petrone, and Wernher von Braun. Kraft considered the proposal feasible from a flight control standpoint; Debus and Petrone agreed that the next Saturn V, AS-503, could be made ready by December 1; and von Braun was confident the pogo oscillation problems that had afflicted Apollo6 had been fixed. Almost every senior manager at NASA agreed with this new mission, citing confidence in both the hardware and the personnel, along with the potential for a circumlunar flight providing a significant morale boost. The only person who needed some convincing was James E. Webb, the NASA administrator. Backed by the full support of his agency, Webb authorized the mission. Apollo8 was officially changed from a lunar-orbit mission.With the change in mission for Apollo 8, Slayton asked McDivitt if he still wanted to fly it. McDivitt turned it down; his crew had spent a great deal of time preparing to test the LM, and that was what he still wanted to do. Slayton then decided to swap the prime and backup crews of the Dand Emissions. This swap also meant a swap of spacecraft, requiring Borman's crew to use CSM-103, while McDivitt's crew would use CSM-104, since CM-104 could not be made ready by December. David Scott was not happy about giving up CM-103, the testing of which he had closely supervised, for CM-104, although the two were almost identical, and Anders was less than enthusiastic about being an LMP on a flight with no LM. Instead, in order that the spacecraft would have the correct weight and balance, Apollo8 would carry LM test article, a boilerplate model of LM-3.Added pressure on the Apollo program to make its 1969 landing goal was provided by the Soviet Union's Zond5 mission, which flew some living creatures, including Russian tortoises, in a cislunar loop around the Moon and returned them to Earth on September 21. There was speculation within NASA and the press that they might be preparing to launch cosmonauts on a similar circumlunar mission before the end of 1968.The Apollo 8 crew now living in the crew quarters at Kennedy Space Center received a visit from Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh the night before the launch. They talked about how before his 1927 flight Lindbergh had used a piece of string to measure the distance from New York City to Paris on a globe and from that calculated the fuel needed for the flight. The total he had carried was a tenth of the amount that the Saturn V would burn every second. The next day the Lindberghs watched the launch of Apollo8 from a nearby dune.Saturn V redesign.The Saturn V rocket used by Apollo8 was designated AS-503 or the "03rd" model of the SaturnV Rocket to be used in the Apollo-Saturn program. When it was erected in the Vehicle Assembly Building on December 20 1967 it was thought that the rocket would be used for an uncrewed Earth-orbit test flight carrying a boilerplate command and service module. Apollo6 had suffered several major problems during its April 1968 flight including severe pogo oscillation during its first stage two second-stage engine failures and a third stage that failed to reignite in orbit. Without assurances that these problems had been rectified NASA administrators could not justify risking a crewed mission until additional uncrewed test flights proved the Saturn V was ready.Teams from the MSFC went to work on the problems. Of primary concern was the pogo oscillation which would not only hamper engine performance but could exert significant g-forces on a crew. A task force of contractors NASA agency representatives and MSFC researchers concluded that the engines vibrated at a frequency similar to the frequency at which the spacecraft itself vibrated causing a resonance effect that induced oscillations in the rocket. A system that used helium gas to absorb some of these vibrations was installed.Of equal importance was the failure of three engines during flight. Researchers quickly determined that a leaking hydrogen fuel line ruptured when exposed to vacuum causing a loss of fuel pressure in engine two. When an automatic shutoff attempted to close the liquid hydrogen valve and shut down engine two it had accidentally shut down engine three's liquid oxygen due to a miswired connection. As a result engine three failed within one second of engine two's shutdown. Further investigation revealed the same problem for the third-stage engine—a faulty igniter line. The team modified the igniter lines and fuel conduits hoping to avoid similar problems on future launches.The teams tested their solutions in August 1968 at the MSFC. A Saturn stage IC was equipped with shock-absorbing devices to demonstrate the team's solution to the problem of pogo oscillation, while a Saturn Stage II was retrofitted with modified fuel lines to demonstrate their resistance to leaks and ruptures in vacuum conditions. Once NASA administrators were convinced that the problems had been solved, they gave their approval for a crewed mission using AS-503.The Apollo 8 spacecraft was placed on top of the rocket on September 21 and the rocket made the slow journey to the launch pad on October9. Testing continued all through December until the day before launch including various levels of readiness testing from December5 through 11. Final testing of modifications to address the problems of pogo oscillation ruptured fuel lines and bad igniter lines took place on December 18 three days before the scheduled launch.Parameter summary.As the first crewed spacecraft to orbit more than one celestial body, Apollo8's profile had two different sets of orbital parameters, separated by a translunar injection maneuver. Apollo lunar missions would begin with a nominal circular Earth parking orbit. Apollo8 was launched into an initial orbit with an apogee of and a perigee of , with an inclination of 32.51° to the Equator, and an orbital period of 88.19 minutes. Propellant venting increased the apogee by over the 2hours, 44 minutes, and 30 seconds spent in the parking orbit.This was followed by a trans-lunar injection burn of the S-IVB third stage for 318 seconds accelerating the command and service module and LM test article from an orbital velocity of to the injection velocity of which set a record for the highest speed relative to Earth that humans had ever traveled. This speed was slightly less than the Earth's escape velocity of but put Apollo8 into an elongated elliptical Earth orbit close enough to the Moon to be captured by the Moon's gravity.The standard lunar orbit for Apollo missions was planned as a nominal circular orbit above the Moon's surface. Initial lunar orbit insertion was an ellipse with a perilune of and an apolune of , at an inclination of 12° from the lunar equator. This was then circularized at , with an orbital period of 128.7 minutes. The effect of lunar mass concentrations on the orbit was found to be greater than initially predicted; over the course of the ten lunar orbits lasting twenty hours, the orbital distance was perturbated to .Apollo 8 achieved a maximum distance from Earth of .Launch and trans-lunar injection.Apollo 8 was launched at 125100 UTC (075100 Eastern Standard Time) on December 21 1968 using the Saturn V's three stages to achieve Earth orbit. The S-IC first stage landed in the Atlantic Ocean at and the S-II second stage landed at . The S-IVB third stage injected the craft into Earth orbit and remained attached to perform the TLI burn that would put the spacecraft on a trajectory to the Moon.Once the vehicle reached Earth orbit, both the crew and Houston flight controllers spent the next 2hours and 38 minutes checking that the spacecraft was in proper working order and ready for TLI. The proper operation of the S-IVB third stage of the rocket was crucial, and in the last uncrewed test, it had failed to reignite for this burn. Collins was the first CAPCOM on duty, and at 2hours, 27 minutes and 22 seconds after launch he radioed, This communication meant that Mission Control had given official permission for Apollo8 to go to the Moon. The S-IVB engine ignited on time and performed the TLI burn perfectly. Over the next five minutes, the spacecraft's speed increased from .After the S-IVB had placed the mission on course for the Moon the command and service modules the remaining Apollo8 spacecraft separated from it. The crew then rotated the spacecraft to take photographs of the spent stage and then practiced flying in formation with it. As the crew rotated the spacecraft they had their first views of the Earth as they moved away from it—this marked the first time humans had viewed the whole Earth at once. Borman became worried that the S-IVB was staying too close to the CSM and suggested to Mission Control that the crew perform a separation maneuver. Mission Control first suggested pointing the spacecraft towards Earth and using the small reaction control system thrusters on the service module to add to their velocity away from the Earth but Borman did not want to lose sight of the S-IVB. After discussion the crew and Mission Control decided to burn in the Earth direction to increase speed but at instead. The time needed to prepare and perform the additional burn put the crew an hour behind their onboard tasks.Five hours after launch, Mission Control sent a command to the S-IVB to vent its remaining fuel, changing its trajectory. The S-IVB, with the test article attached, posed no further hazard to Apollo8, passing the orbit of the Moon and going into a solar orbit with an inclination of 23.47° from the plane of the ecliptic, and an orbital period of 340.80 days. It became a , and will continue to orbit the Sun for many years, if not retrieved.The Apollo 8 crew were the first humans to pass through the Van Allen radiation belts, which extend up to from Earth. Scientists predicted that passing through the belts quickly at the spacecraft's high speed would cause a radiation dosage of no more than a chest X-ray, or 1milligray . To record the actual radiation dosages, each crew member wore a Personal Radiation Dosimeter that transmitted data to Earth, as well as three passive film dosimeters that showed the cumulative radiation experienced by the crew. By the end of the mission, the crew members experienced an average radiation dose of 1.6 mGy.Lunar trajectory.Lovells horizon. This task was made difficult by a large cloud of debris around the spacecraft which made it hard to distinguish the stars.By seven hours into the mission the crew was about 1hour and 40 minutes behind flight plan because of the problems in moving away from the S-IVB and Lovell's obscured star sightings. The crew placed the spacecraft into Passive Thermal Control (PTC) also called "barbecue roll" in which the spacecraft rotated about once per hour around its long axis to ensure even heat distribution across the surface of the spacecraft. In direct sunlight parts of the spacecraft's outer surface could be heated to over while the parts in shadow would be . These temperatures could cause the heat shield to crack and propellant lines to burst. Because it was impossible to get a perfect roll the spacecraft swept out a cone as it rotated. The crew had to make minor adjustments every half hour as the cone pattern got larger and larger.The first mid-course correction came eleven hours into the flight. The crew had been awake for more than 16 hours. Before launch NASA had decided at least one crew member should be awake at all times to deal with problems that might arise. Borman started the first sleep shift but found sleeping difficult because of the constant radio chatter and mechanical noises. Testing on the ground had shown that the service propulsion system engine had a small chance of exploding when burned for long periods unless its combustion chamber was "coated" first by burning the engine for a short period. This first correction burn was only 2.4 seconds and added about velocity prograde . This change was less than the planned because of a bubble of helium in the oxidizer lines which caused unexpectedly low propellant pressure. The crew had to use the small RCS thrusters to make up the shortfall. Two later planned mid-course corrections were canceled because the Apollo8 trajectory was found to be perfect.About an hour after starting his sleep shift, Borman obtained permission from ground control to take a Seconal sleeping pill. The pill had little effect. Borman eventually fell asleep, and then awoke feeling ill. He vomited twice and had a bout of diarrhea; this left the spacecraft full of small globules of vomit and feces, which the crew cleaned up as well as they could. Borman initially did not want everyone to know about his medical problems, but Lovell and Anders wanted to inform Mission Control. The crew decided to use the Data Storage Equipment (DSE), which could tape voice recordings and telemetry and dump them to Mission Control at high speed. After recording a description of Borman's illness they asked Mission Control to check the recording, stating that they "would like an evaluation of the voice comments".The Apollo 8 crew and Mission Control medical personnel held a conference using an unoccupied second-floor control room . The conference participants concluded that there was little to worry about and that Borman's illness was either a 24-hour flu, as Borman thought, or a reaction to the sleeping pill. Researchers now believe that he was suffering from space adaptation syndrome, which affects about a third of astronauts during their first day in space as their vestibular system adapts to weightlessness. Space adaptation syndrome had not occurred on previous spacecraft , because those astronauts could not move freely in the small cabins of those spacecraft. The increased cabin space in the Apollo command module afforded astronauts greater freedom of movement, contributing to symptoms of space sickness for Borman and, later, astronaut Rusty Schweickart during Apollo9.The cruise phase was a relatively uneventful part of the flight, except for the crew's checking that the spacecraft was in working order and that they were on course. During this time, NASA scheduled a television broadcast at 31 hours after launch. The Apollo8 crew used a camera that broadcast in black-and-white only, using a Vidicon tube. The camera had two lenses, a very wide-angle lens, and a telephoto lens.During this first broadcast the crew gave a tour of the spacecraft and attempted to show how the Earth appeared from space. However difficulties aiming the narrow-angle lens without the aid of a monitor to show what it was looking at made showing the Earth impossible. Additionally without proper filters the Earth image became saturated by any bright source. In the end all the crew could show the people watching back on Earth was a bright blob. After broadcasting for 17 minutes the rotation of the spacecraft took the high-gain antenna out of view of the receiving stations on Earth and they ended the transmission with Lovell wishing his mother a happy birthday.By this time, the crew had completely abandoned the planned sleep shifts. Lovell went to sleep 32-and-a-half hours into the flight – three-and-a-half hours before he had planned to. A short while later, Anders also went to sleep after taking a sleeping pill. The crew was unable to see the Moon for much of the outward cruise. Two factors made the Moon almost impossible to see from inside the spacecraft: three of the five windows fogging up due to out-gassed oils from the silicone sealant, and the attitude required for passive thermal control. It was not until the crew had gone behind the Moon that they would be able to see it for the first time.Apollo 8 made a second television broadcast at 55 hours into the flight. This time the crew rigged up filters meant for the still cameras so they could acquire images of the Earth through the telephoto lens. Although difficult to aim as they had to maneuver the entire spacecraft the crew was able to broadcast back to Earth the first television pictures of the Earth. The crew spent the transmission describing the Earth what was visible and the colors they could see. The transmission lasted 23 minutes.Lunar sphere of influence.At about 55 hours and 40 minutes into the flight, and 13 hours before entering lunar orbit, the crew of Apollo8 became the first humans to enter the gravitational sphere of influence of another celestial body. In other words, the effect of the Moon's gravitational force on Apollo8 became stronger than that of the Earth. At the time it happened, Apollo8 was from the Moon and had a speed of relative to the Moon. This historic moment was of little interest to the crew, since they were still calculating their trajectory with respect to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. They would continue to do so until they performed their last mid-course correction, switching to a reference frame based on ideal orientation for the second engine burn they would make in lunar orbit.The last major event before Lunar Orbit Insertion was a second mid-course correction. It was in retrograde and slowed the spacecraft down by , effectively reducing the closest distance at which the spacecraft would pass the Moon. At exactly 61 hours after launch, about from the Moon, the crew burned the RCS for 11 seconds. They would now pass from the lunar surface.At 64 hours into the flight the crew began to prepare for Lunar Orbit Insertion1 . This maneuver had to be performed perfectly and due to orbital mechanics had to be on the far side of the Moon out of contact with the Earth. After Mission Control was polled for a and for the first time in history humans travelled behind the Moon and out of radio contact with the Earth.With ten minutes remaining before LOI-1 the crew began one last check of the spacecraft systems and made sure that every switch was in its correct position. At that time they finally got their first glimpses of the Moon. They had been flying over the unlit side and it was Lovell who saw the first shafts of sunlight obliquely illuminating the lunar surface. The LOI burn was only two minutes away so the crew had little time to appreciate the view.Lunar orbit.The SPS was ignited at 69 hours 8minutes and 16 seconds after launch and burned for 4minutes and 7seconds placing the Apollo8 spacecraft in orbit around the Moon. The crew described the burn as being the longest four minutes of their lives. If the burn had not lasted exactly the correct amount of time the spacecraft could have ended up in a highly elliptical lunar orbit or even been flung off into space. If it had lasted too long they could have struck the Moon. After making sure the spacecraft was working they finally had a chance to look at the Moon which they would orbit for the next 20 hours.On Earth, Mission Control continued to wait. If the crew had not burned the engine, or the burn had not lasted the planned length of time, the crew would have appeared early from behind the Moon. Exactly at the calculated moment, however, the signal was received from the spacecraft, indicating it was in a orbit around the Moon.After reporting on the status of the spacecraft, Lovell gave the first description of what the lunar surface looked like:Lovell continued to describe the terrain they were passing over. One of the crew's major tasks was reconnaissance of planned future landing sites on the Moon especially one in Mare Tranquillitatis that was planned as the Apollo11 landing site. The launch time of Apollo8 had been chosen to give the best lighting conditions for examining the site. A film camera had been set up in one of the spacecraft windows to record one frame per second of the Moon below. Bill Anders spent much of the next 20 hours taking as many photographs as possible of targets of interest. By the end of the mission the crew had taken over eight hundred 70 mm still photographs and of 16 mm movie film.Throughout the hour that the spacecraft was in contact with Earth Borman kept asking how the data for the SPS looked. He wanted to make sure that the engine was working and could be used to return early to the Earth if necessary. He also asked that they receive a "go/no go" decision before they passed behind the Moon on each orbit.As they reappeared for their second pass in front of the Moon, the crew set up equipment to broadcast a view of the lunar surface. Anders described the craters that they were passing over. At the end of this second orbit, they performed an 11-second LOI-2 burn of the SPS to circularize the orbit to .Throughout the next two orbits the crew continued to check the spacecraft and to observe and photograph the Moon. During the third pass Borman read a small prayer for his church. He had been scheduled to participate in a service at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church near Seabrook Texas but due to the Apollo8 flight he was unable to attend. A fellow parishioner and engineer at Mission Control Rod Rose suggested that Borman read the prayer which could be recorded and then replayed during the service.When the spacecraft came out from behind the Moon for its fourth pass across the front the crew witnessed an "Earthrise" in person for the first time in human history. NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 had taken the first picture of an Earthrise from the vicinity of the Moon on August 23 1966. Anders saw the Earth emerging from behind the lunar horizon and called in excitement to the others taking a black-and-white photograph as he did so. Anders asked Lovell for color film and then took "Earthrise" a now famous color photo later picked by "Life" magazine as one of its hundred photos of the century.Due to the synchronous rotation of the Moon about the Earth Earthrise is not generally visible from the lunar surface. This is because as seen from any one place on the Moons limb where libration carries the Earth slightly above and below the lunar horizon.Anders continued to take photographs while Lovell assumed control of the spacecraft so that Borman could rest. Despite the difficulty resting in the cramped and noisy spacecraft, Borman was able to sleep for two orbits, awakening periodically to ask questions about their status. Borman awoke fully, however, when he started to hear his fellow crew members make mistakes. They were beginning to not understand questions and had to ask for the answers to be repeated. Borman realized that everyone was extremely tired from not having a good night's sleep in over three days. He ordered Anders and Lovell to get some sleep and that the rest of the flight plan regarding observing the Moon be scrubbed. Anders initially protested, saying that he was fine, but Borman would not be swayed. Anders finally agreed under the condition that Borman would set up the camera to continue to take automatic pictures of the Moon. Borman also remembered that there was a second television broadcast planned, and with so many people expected to be watching, he wanted the crew to be alert. For the next two orbits, Anders and Lovell slept while Borman sat at the helm.As they rounded the Moon for the ninth time, the astronauts began the second television transmission. Borman introduced the crew, followed by each man giving his impression of the lunar surface and what it was like to be orbiting the Moon. Borman described it as being The only task left for the crew at this point was to perform the trans-Earth injection (TEI) which was scheduled for hours after the end of the television transmission. The TEI was the most critical burn of the flight as any failure of the SPS to ignite would strand the crew in lunar orbit with little hope of escape. As with the previous burn the crew had to perform the maneuver above the far side of the Moon out of contact with Earth. The burn occurred exactly on time. The spacecraft telemetry was reacquired as it re-emerged from behind the Moon at 89 hours 28 minutes and 39 seconds the exact time calculated. When voice contact was regained Lovell announced The spacecraft began its journey back to Earth on December 25 Christmas Day.Unplanned manual realignment.Later Lovell used some otherwise idle time to do some navigational sightings maneuvering the module to view various stars by using the computer keyboard. However he accidentally erased some of the computer's memory which caused the inertial measurement unit to contain data indicating that the module was in the same relative orientation it had been in before lift-off the IMU then fired the thrusters to "correct" the module's attitude.Once the crew realized why the computer had changed the module's attitude they realized that they would have to reenter data to tell the computer the module's actual orientation. It took Lovell ten minutes to figure out the right numbers using the thrusters to get the stars Rigel and Sirius aligned and another 15 minutes to enter the corrected data into the computer. Sixteen months later during the Apollo13 mission Lovell would have to perform a similar manual realignment under more critical conditions after the module's IMU had to be turned off to conserve energy.Cruise back to Earth and reentry.The cruise back to Earth was mostly a time for the crew to relax and monitor the spacecraft. As long as the trajectory specialists had calculated everything correctly, the spacecraft would reenter Earth's atmosphere two-and-a-half days after TEI and splash down in the Pacific.On Christmas afternoon the crew made their fifth television broadcast. This time they gave a tour of the spacecraft showing how an astronaut lived in space. When they finished broadcasting they found a small present from Slayton in the food locker a real turkey dinner with stuffing in the same kind of pack given to the troops in Vietnam.Another Slayton surprise was a gift of three miniature bottles of brandy, which Borman ordered the crew to leave alone until after they landed. They remained unopened, even years after the flight. There were also small presents to the crew from their wives. The next day, at about 124 hours into the mission, the sixth and final TV transmission showed the mission's best video images of the Earth, during a four-minute broadcast. After two uneventful days, the crew prepared for reentry. The computer would control the reentry, and all the crew had to do was put the spacecraft in the correct attitude, with the blunt end forward. In the event of computer failure, Borman was ready to take over.Separation from the service module prepared the command module for reentry by exposing the heat shield and shedding unneeded mass. The service module would burn up in the atmosphere as planned. Six minutes before they hit the top of the atmosphere, the crew saw the Moon rising above the Earth's horizon, just as had been calculated by the trajectory specialists. As the module hit the thin outer atmosphere, the crew noticed that it was becoming hazy outside as glowing plasma formed around the spacecraft. The spacecraft started slowing down, and the deceleration peaked at . With the computer controlling the descent by changing the attitude of the spacecraft, Apollo8 rose briefly like a skipping stone before descending to the ocean. At , the drogue parachute deployed, stabilizing the spacecraft, followed at by the three main parachutes. The spacecraft splashdown position was officially reported as in the North Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii at 15:51:42 UTC on December 27, 1968.When the spacecraft hit the water the parachutes dragged it over and left it upside down in what was termed Stable2 position. As they were buffeted by a swell Borman was sick waiting for the three flotation balloons to right the spacecraft. About six minutes after splashdown the command module was righted into a normal apex-up orientation by its inflatable bag uprighting system. The first frogman from aircraft carrier arrived 43 minutes after splashdown. Forty-five minutes later the crew was safe on the flight deck of the "Yorktown".Historical importance.Apollo 8 came at the end of 1968, a year that had seen much upheaval in the United States and most of the world. Even though the year saw political assassinations, political unrest in the streets of Europe and America, and the Prague Spring, "Time" magazine chose the crew of Apollo8 as its Men of the Year for 1968, recognizing them as the people who most influenced events in the preceding year. They had been the first people ever to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth and orbit another celestial body. They had survived a mission that even the crew themselves had rated as having only a fifty-fifty chance of fully succeeding. The effect of Apollo8 was summed up in a telegram from a stranger, received by Borman after the mission, that stated simply, "Thank you Apollo8. You saved 1968."One of the most famous aspects of the flight was the "Earthrise" picture that the crew took as they came around for their fourth orbit of the Moon. This was the first time that humans had taken such a picture while actually behind the camera, and it has been credited as one of the inspirations of the first Earth Day in 1970. It was selected as the first of "Life" magazine's "100 Photographs That Changed the World".Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins said, . It is estimated that a quarter of the people alive at the time saw—either live or delayed—the Christmas Eve transmission during the ninth orbit of the Moon. The Apollo8 broadcasts won an Emmy Award, the highest honor given by the Academy of Television Arts &amp; Sciences.Madalyn Murray OHair wanted the courts to ban American astronauts—who were all government employees—from public prayer in space. Though the case was rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States, apparently for lack of jurisdiction in outer space, it caused NASA to be skittish about the issue of religion throughout the rest of the Apollo program. Buzz Aldrin, on Apollo11, self-communicated Presbyterian Communion on the surface of the Moon after landing; he refrained from mentioning this publicly for several years and referred to it only obliquely at the time.In 1969 the United States Post Office Department issued a postage stamp commemorating the Apollo8 flight around the Moon. The stamp featured a detail of the famous photograph of the Earthrise over the Moon taken by Anders on Christmas Eve and the words the first words of the book of Genesis. In January 1969 just 18 days after the crew's return to Earth they appeared in the Super Bowl III pre-game show reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before the national anthem was performed by trumpeter Lloyd Geisler of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra.Spacecraft location.In January 1970, the spacecraft was delivered to Osaka, Japan, for display in the U.S. pavilion at Expo '70. It is now displayed at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, along with a collection of personal items from the flight donated by Lovell and the space suit worn by Frank Borman. Jim Lovell's Apollo8 space suit is on public display in the Visitor Center at NASA's Glenn Research Center. Bill Anders's space suit is on display at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom.In popular culture.Apollo 8's historic mission has been depicted and referred to in several forms, both documentary and fiction. The various television transmissions and 16 mm footage shot by the crew of Apollo8 were compiled and released by NASA in the 1969 documentary "Debrief: Apollo8", hosted by Burgess Meredith. In addition, Spacecraft Films released, in 2003, a three-disc DVD set containing all of NASA's TV and 16 mm film footage related to the mission, including all TV transmissions from space, training and launch footage, and motion pictures taken in flight. Other documentaries include "Race to the Moon" as part of season 18 of "American Experience" and "In the Shadow of the Moon" . Apollo's Daring Mission aired on PBS' "" in December 2018, marking the flight's 50th anniversary.Parts of the mission are dramatized in the 1998 miniseries by the band Public Service Broadcasting.In the credits of the animated film A documentary film, was released in 2018.The choral music piece "Earthrise" by Luke Byrne commemorates the mission. The piece was premired on January 19 2020 by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs at the Sydney Opera House.
An astronaut (from the Greek ) is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the terms are sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists and tourists. technically applies to all human space travelers regardless of nationality or allegiance however astronauts fielded by Russia or the Soviet Union are typically known instead as cosmonauts (from the Russian also borrowed from Greek) in order to distinguish them from American or otherwise NATO-oriented space travellers. Comparatively recent developments in manned spaceflight made by China have led to the rise of the term taikonaut (from the Mandarin ) although its use is somewhat informal and its origin is unclear. In Mainland China the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps astronauts and their foreign counterparts are all officially called .From 1961 to late 2021 600 astronauts flew in space. Until 2002 astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments either by the military or by civilian space agencies. With the suborbital flight of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004 a new category of astronaut was created the commercial astronaut.Definition.The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary, with some focus on the point where the atmosphere becomes so thin that centrifugal force, rather than aerodynamic force, carries a significant portion of the weight of the flight object. The Fdration Aronautique Internationale Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed the Krmn line, at an altitude of . In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of are awarded astronaut wings. 552 people from 36 countries have reached or more in altitude of whom 549 reached low Earth orbit or beyond.Of these, 24 people have traveled beyond low Earth orbit, either to lunar orbit, the lunar surface, or, in one case, a loop around the Moon. Three of the 24—Jim Lovell, John Young and Eugene Cernan—did so twice. under the U.S. definition 558 people qualify as having reached space above altitude. Of eight X-15 pilots who exceeded in altitude only one Joseph A. Walker exceeded 100 kilometers and he did it two times becoming the first person in space twice. Space travelers have spent over 41790 man-days in space including over 100 astronaut-days of spacewalks. the man with the longest cumulative time in space is Gennady Padalka who has spent 879 days in space. Peggy A. Whitson holds the record for the most time in space by a woman 377 days.Terminology.In 1959, when both the United States and Soviet Union were planning, but had yet to launch humans into space, NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan and his Deputy Administrator, Hugh Dryden, discussed whether spacecraft crew members should be called "astronauts" or "cosmonauts". Dryden preferred "cosmonaut", on the grounds that flights would occur in and to the broader "cosmos", while the "astro" prefix suggested flight specifically to the stars. Most NASA Space Task Group members preferred "astronaut", which survived by common usage as the preferred American term. When the Soviet Union launched the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin in 1961, they chose a term which anglicizes to "cosmonaut".A professional space traveler is called an .The first known formal use of the term astronautics in the scientific community was the establishment of the annual International Astronautical Congress in 1950 and the subsequent founding of the International Astronautical Federation the following year.NASA applies the term astronaut to any crew member aboard NASA spacecraft bound for Earth orbit or beyond. NASA also uses the term as a title for those selected to join its Astronaut Corps. The European Space Agency similarly uses the term astronaut for members of its Astronaut Corps.By convention, an astronaut employed by the Russian Federal Space Agency is called a . Other countries of the former Eastern Bloc use variations of the Russian kosmonavt, such as the .Coinage of the term has been credited to Soviet aeronautics pioneer Mikhail Tikhonravov . The first cosmonaut was Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Gagarin also the first person in space. He was part of the first six Russians with German Titov Yevgeny Khrunov Andriyan Nikolayev Pavel Popovich and Grigoriy Nelyubov who were given the title of pilot-cosmonaut in January 1961. Valentina Tereshkova was the first female cosmonaut and the first and youngest woman to have flown in space with a solo mission on the Vostok 6 in 1963. On 14 March 1995 Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle and thus became the first .In Chinese, the term is used for astronauts and cosmonauts in general, while is used for Chinese astronauts. Here, is strictly defined as the navigation of outer space within the local star system, i.e. Solar System. The phrase is often used in Hong Kong and Taiwan.The term since the advent of the Chinese space program. The origin of the term is unclear; as early as May 1998, Chiew Lee Yih from Malaysia, used it in newsgroups.Parastronaut.For its 2022 Astronaut Group ESA envisions recruiting an astronaut with a physical disability a category they called with the intention but not guarantee of spaceflight. The categories of disability considered for the program were individuals with lower limb deficiency (either through amputation or congenital) leg length difference or a short stature (less than ).Other terms.With the rise of space tourism NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency agreed to use the term to distinguish those space travelers from professional astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.While no nation other than Russia the United States and China have launched a crewed spacecraft several other nations have sent people into space in cooperation with one of these countries e.g. the Soviet-led Interkosmos program. Inspired partly by these missions other synonyms for astronaut have entered occasional English usage. For example the term .As of 2021 in the United States astronaut status is conferred on a person depending on the authorizing agencyOn July 20 2021 the FAA issued an order redefining the eligibility criteria to be an astronaut in response to the private suborbital spaceflights of Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. The new criteria states that one must have "emonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety or contributed tohuman space flight safety" in order to qualify as an astronaut. This new definition excludes Bezos and Branson.Space travel milestones.The first human in space was Soviet Yuri Gagarin, who was launched on 12 April 1961, aboard Vostok 1 and orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes. The first woman in space was Soviet Valentina Tereshkova, who launched on 16 June 1963, aboard Vostok 6 and orbited Earth for almost three days.Alan Shepard became the first American and second person in space on 5 May 1961 on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight aboard 's mission STS-7 on 18 June 1983. In 1992 Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space aboard STS-47.Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first person to conduct an extravehicular activity , , on 18 March 1965, on the Soviet Union's Voskhod 2 mission. This was followed two and a half months later by astronaut Ed White who made the first American EVA on NASA's Gemini 4 mission.The first crewed mission to orbit the Moon, Apollo 8, included American William Anders who was born in Hong Kong, making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968.The Soviet Union through its Intercosmos program allowed people from other countries to fly on its missions with the notable exceptions of France and Austria participating in Soyuz TM-7 and Soyuz TM-13 respectively. An example is Czechoslovak Vladimr Remek the first cosmonaut from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States who flew to space in 1978 on a Soyuz-U rocket. Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to travel to space. He was launched aboard Soyuz T-11 on 2 April 1984.On 23 July 1980 Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37. Also in 1980 Cuban Arnaldo Tamayo Mndez became the first person of Hispanic and black African descent to fly in space and in 1983 Guion Bluford became the first African American to fly into space. In April 1985 Taylor Wang became the first ethnic Chinese person in space. The first person born in Africa to fly in space was Patrick Baudry in 1985. In 1985 Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud became the first Arab Muslim astronaut in space. In 1988 Abdul Ahad Mohmand became the first Afghan to reach space spending nine days aboard the "Mir" space station.With the increase of seats on the Space Shuttle the U.S. began taking international astronauts. In 1983 Ulf Merbold of West Germany became the first non-US citizen to fly in a US spacecraft. In 1984 Marc Garneau became the first of eight Canadian astronauts to fly in space (through 2010).In 1985, Rodolfo Neri Vela became the first Mexican-born person in space. In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton to fly in space.In 2002, Mark Shuttleworth became the first citizen of an African country to fly in space, as a paying spaceflight participant. In 2003, Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli to fly in space, although he died during a re-entry accident.On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.On 30 May 2020 Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken became the first astronauts to launch on a private crewed spacecraft Crew Dragon.Age milestones.The youngest person to reach space is Oliver Daemen who was 18 years and 11 months old when he made a suborbital spaceflight lasting 7 minutes on July 20th 2021. Daemen who was a commercial passenger aboard the New Shepard broke the record of Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov who was 25 years old when he flew Vostok 2. Titov remains the youngest human to reach orbit he rounded the planet 17 times. Titov was also the first person to suffer space sickness and the first person to sleep in space twice.On the same flight as Daemen was 82 year 6 month old Wally Funk one of the women dubbed the Mercury 13 and now the oldest person in space. She is the first of the Mercury 13 to reach space although the group was trained concurrently with the all-male Mercury 7 who would all engage in space travel. The oldest person to reach orbit is John Glenn one of the Mercury 7 who was 77 when he flew on STS-95. For suborbital age records see .Duration and distance milestones.438 days is the longest time spent in space by Russian Valeri Polyakov.As of 2006, the most spaceflights by an individual astronaut is seven, a record held by both Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz. The farthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was , when Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise went around the Moon during the Apollo 13 emergency.Civilian and non-government milestones.The first civilian in space was Valentina Tereshkova aboard Vostok 6 .Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the USSR's Air Force, which did not accept female pilots at that time. A month later, Joseph Albert Walker became the first American civilian in space when his X-15 Flight 90 crossed the line, qualifying him by the international definition of spaceflight. Walker had joined the US Army Air Force but was not a member during his flight.The first people in space who had never been a member of any country's armed forces were both Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov aboard Voskhod 1.The first non-governmental space traveler was Byron K. Lichtenberg a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who flew on STS-9 in 1983. In December 1990 Toyohiro Akiyama became the first paying space traveler and the first journalist in space for Tokyo Broadcasting System a visit to Mir as part of an estimated $12 million deal with a Japanese TV station although at the time the term used to refer to Akiyama was . Akiyama suffered severe space sickness during his mission which affected his productivity.The first self-funded space tourist was Dennis Tito on board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-3 on 28 April 2001.Self-funded travelers.The first person to fly on an entirely privately funded mission was Mike Melvill, piloting SpaceShipOne flight 15P on a suborbital journey, although he was a test pilot employed by Scaled Composites and not an actual paying space tourist. Seven others have paid the Russian Space Agency to fly into space:The first NASA astronauts were selected for training in 1959. Early in the space program military jet test piloting and engineering training were often cited as prerequisites for selection as an astronaut at NASA although neither John Glenn nor Scott Carpenter had any university degree in engineering or any other discipline at the time of their selection. Selection was initially limited to military pilots. The earliest astronauts for both the US and the USSR tended to be jet fighter pilots and were often test pilots.Once selected, NASA astronauts go through twenty months of training in a variety of areas, including training for extravehicular activity in a facility such as NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Astronauts-in-training may also experience short periods of weightlessness in an aircraft called the the nickname given to a pair of modified KC-135s which perform parabolic flights. Astronauts are also required to accumulate a number of flight hours in high-performance jet aircraft. This is mostly done in T-38 jet aircraft out of Ellington Field, due to its proximity to the Johnson Space Center. Ellington Field is also where the Shuttle Training Aircraft is maintained and developed, although most flights of the aircraft are conducted from Edwards Air Force Base.Astronauts in training must learn how to control and fly the Space Shuttle and it is vital that they are familiar with the International Space Station so they know what they must do when they get there.NASA candidacy requirements.The master's degree requirement can also be met by:Mission Specialist Educator.Mission Specialist Educators or "Educator Astronauts" were first selected in 2004 and as of 2007 there are three NASA Educator astronauts Joseph M. Acaba Richard R. Arnold and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger.Barbara Morgan selected as back-up teacher to Christa McAuliffe in 1985 is considered to be the first Educator astronaut by the media but she trained as a mission specialist.The Educator Astronaut program is a successor to the Teacher in Space program from the 1980s.Health risks of space travel.Astronauts are susceptible to a variety of health risks including decompression sickness, barotrauma, immunodeficiencies, loss of bone and muscle, loss of eyesight, orthostatic intolerance, sleep disturbances, and radiation injury. A variety of large scale medical studies are being conducted in space via the National Space Biomedical Research Institute to address these issues. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts to diagnose and potentially treat hundreds of medical conditions in space. This study's techniques are now being applied to cover professional and Olympic sports injuries as well as ultrasound performed by non-expert operators in medical and high school students. It is anticipated that remote guided ultrasound will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations, where access to a trained physician is often rare.A 2006 Space Shuttle experiment found that "Salmonella typhimurium", a bacterium that can cause food poisoning, became more virulent when cultivated in space. More recently, in 2017, bacteria were found to be more resistant to antibiotics and to thrive in the near-weightlessness of space. Microorganisms have been observed to survive the vacuum of outer space.On 31 December 2012 a NASA-supported study reported that human spaceflight may harm the brain and accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's disease.In October 2015, the NASA Office of Inspector General issued a health hazards report related to space exploration, including a human mission to Mars.Over the last decade flight surgeons and scientists at NASA have seen a pattern of vision problems in astronauts on long-duration space missions. The syndrome known as visual impairment intracranial pressure (VIIP) has been reported in nearly two-thirds of space explorers after long periods spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS).On 2 November 2017, scientists reported that significant changes in the position and structure of the brain have been found in astronauts who have taken trips in space, based on MRI studies. Astronauts who took longer space trips were associated with greater brain changes.Being in space can be physiologically deconditioning on the body. It can affect the otolith organs and adaptive capabilities of the central nervous system. Zero gravity and cosmic rays can cause many implications for astronauts.In October 2018 NASA-funded researchers found that lengthy journeys into outer space including travel to the planet Mars may substantially damage the gastrointestinal tissues of astronauts. The studies support earlier work that found such journeys could significantly damage the brains of astronauts and age them prematurely.Researchers in 2018 reported after detecting the presence on the International Space Station of five bacterial strains none pathogenic to humans that microorganisms on ISS should be carefully monitored to continue assuring a medically healthy environment for astronauts.A study by Russian scientists published in April 2019 stated that astronauts facing space radiation could face temporary hindrance of their memory centers. While this does not affect their intellectual capabilities, it temporarily hinders formation of new cells in brain's memory centers. The study conducted by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) concluded this after they observed that mice exposed to neutron and gamma radiation did not impact the rodents' intellectual capabilities.A 2020 study conducted on the brains of eight male Russian cosmonauts after they returned from long stays aboard the International Space Station showed that long-duration spaceflight causes many physiological adaptions including macro- and microstructural changes. While scientists still know little about the effects of spaceflight on brain structure this study showed that space travel can lead to new motor skills but also slightly weaker vision both of which could possibly be long lasting. It was the first study to provide clear evidence of sensorimotor neuroplasticity which is the brain's ability to change through growth and reorganization.Food and drink.An astronaut on the International Space Station requires about mass of food per meal each day (inclusive of about packaging mass per meal).Space Shuttle astronauts worked with nutritionists to select menus that appealed to their individual tastes. Five months before flight, menus were selected and analyzed for nutritional content by the shuttle dietician. Foods are tested to see how they will react in a reduced gravity environment. Caloric requirements are determined using a basal energy expenditure (BEE) formula. On Earth, the average American uses about of water every day. On board the ISS astronauts limit water use to only about per day.In Russia cosmonauts are awarded Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation upon completion of their missions often accompanied with the award of Hero of the Russian Federation. This follows the practice established in the USSR where cosmonauts were usually awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.At NASA, those who complete astronaut candidate training receive a silver lapel pin. Once they have flown in space, they receive a gold pin. U.S. astronauts who also have active-duty military status receive a special qualification badge, known as the Astronaut Badge, after participation on a spaceflight. The United States Air Force also presents an Astronaut Badge to its pilots who exceed in altitude., eighteen astronauts have lost their lives during four space flights. By nationality, thirteen were American, four were Russian , and one was Israeli., eleven people have lost their lives training for spaceflight: eight Americans and three Russians. Six of these were in crashes of training jet aircraft, one drowned during water recovery training, and four were due to fires in pure oxygen environments.Astronaut David Scott left a memorial consisting of a statuette titled on the surface of the Moon during his 1971 Apollo 15 mission along with a list of the names of eight of the astronauts and six cosmonauts known at the time to have died in service.The Space Mirror Memorial, which stands on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, is maintained by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and commemorates the lives of the men and women who have died during spaceflight and during training in the space programs of the United States. In addition to twenty NASA career astronauts, the memorial includes the names of an X-15 test pilot, a U.S. Air Force officer who died while training for a then-classified military space program, and a civilian spaceflight participant.
A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. The essay suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, predominately Irish Catholic as well as British policy toward the Irish in general.In English writing, the phrase "a modest proposal" is now conventionally an allusion to this style of straight-faced satire.Swift's essay is widely held to be one of the greatest examples of sustained irony in the history of the English language. Much of its shock value derives from the fact that the first portion of the essay describes the plight of starving beggars in Ireland, so that the reader is unprepared for the surprise of Swift's solution when he states: "A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout."Swift goes to great lengths to support his argument including a list of possible preparation styles for the children and calculations showing the financial benefits of his suggestion. He uses methods of argument throughout his essay which lampoon the then-influential William Petty and the social engineering popular among followers of Francis Bacon. These lampoons include appealing to the authority of .In the tradition of Roman satire Swift introduces the reforms he is actually suggesting by paralipsisPopulation solutions.George Wittkowsky argued that Swift's main target in "A Modest Proposal" was not the conditions in Ireland but rather the can-do spirit of the times that led people to devise a number of illogical schemes that would purportedly solve social and economic ills. Swift was especially attacking projects that tried to fix population and labour issues with a simple cure-all solution. A memorable example of these sorts of schemes "involved the idea of running the poor through a joint-stock company". In response Swift's "Modest Proposal" was "a burlesque of projects concerning the poor" that were in vogue during the early 18th century. to show the utter ridiculousness of trying to prove any proposal with dispassionate statistics.Critics differ about Swift's intentions in using this faux-mathematical philosophy. Edmund Wilson argues that statistically .Author Charles K. Smith argues that Swifts specific strategy is twofold, using a Swift has his proposer further degrade the Irish by using language ordinarily reserved for animals. Lewis argues that the speaker uses "the vocabulary of animal husbandry" to describe the Irish. Once the children have been commodified, Swift's rhetoric can easily turn "people into animals, then meat, and from meat, logically, into tonnage worth a price per pound".Swift uses the proposers time . The contrast between the .Influences.Scholars have speculated about which earlier works Swift may have had in mind when he wrote .Tertullian's .James William Johnson argues that over the subject of sacrificing children—Tertullian while attacking pagan parents and Swift while attacking the English mistreatment of the Irish poor.Defoe's "The Generous Projector".It has also been argued that by Swift's rival Daniel Defoe.Mandeville's "Modest Defence of Publick Stews".Bernard Mandeville's "Modest Defence of Publick Stews" asked to introduce public and state controlled bordellos. The 1726 paper acknowledges women's interests andwhile not being a completely satirical texthas also been discussed as an inspiration for Jonathan Swift's title. Mandeville had by 1705 already become famous for the Fable of The Bees and deliberations on private vices and public benefits.John Locke's "First Treatise of Government".John Locke commented: . (First Treatise, sec. 59).Economic themes.Robert Phiddian's article .While Swift's proposal is obviously not a serious economic proposal, George Wittkowsky, author of ."People are the riches of a nation".At the start of a new industrial age in the 18th century, it was believed that "people are the riches of the nation", and there was a general faith in an economy that paid its workers low wages because high wages meant workers would work less. Furthermore, "in the mercantilist view no child was too young to go into industry". In those times, the "somewhat more humane attitudes of an earlier day had all but disappeared and the laborer had come to be regarded as a commodity".Louis A. Landa composed a conducive analysis when he noted that it would have been healthier for the Irish economy to more appropriately utilize their human assets by giving the people an opportunity to Landa presents Swifts case, did not always mean greater wealth and economy. The uncontrolled maxim fails to take into account that a person who does not produce in an economic or political way makes a country poorer, not richer. Swift also recognises the implications of this fact in making mercantilist philosophy a paradox: the wealth of a country is based on the poverty of the majority of its citizens. Swift however, Landa argues, is not merely criticising economic maxims but also addressing the fact that England was denying Irish citizens their natural rights and dehumanising them by viewing them as a mere commodity.The public's reaction.Swift's essay created a backlash within the community after its publication. The work was aimed at the aristocracy and they responded in turn. Several members of society wrote to Swift regarding the work. Lord Bathurst's letter intimated that he certainly understood the message and interpreted it as a work of comedy12 February 1729–30.Modern usage."A Modest Proposal" is included in many literature courses as an example of early modern western satire. It also serves as an introduction to the concept and use of argumentative language lending itself to secondary and post-secondary essay courses. Outside of the realm of English studies "A Modest Proposal" is included in many comparative and global literature and history courses as well as those of numerous other disciplines in the arts humanities and even the social sciences.The essays work in a social conservative polemic against abortion and euthanasia imagining a future dystopia that advocates recycling of aborted embryos fetuses and some disabled infants with compound intellectual physical and physiological difficulties. In his book "A Modest Proposal for America" (2013), statistician Howard Friedman opens with a satirical reflection of the extreme drive to fiscal stability by ultra-conservatives.In the 1998 edition of before the introduction."A Modest Video Game Proposal" is the title of an open letter sent by activist/former attorney Jack Thompson on 10 October 2005. He proposed that someone should "create manufacture distribute and sell a video game" that would allow players to act out a scenario in which the game character kills video game developers.Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist" includes a letter in which he uses Swift's approach in connection with the Vietnam War. Thompson writes a letter to a local Aspen newspaper informing them that, on Christmas Eve, he is going to use napalm to burn a number of dogs and hopefully any humans they find. The letter protests against the burning of Vietnamese people occurring overseas.The 2013 horror film "Butcher Boys" written by the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre scribe Kim Henkel is said to be an updating of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." Henkel imagined the descendants of folks who actually took Swift up on his proposal. The film opens with a quote from J. Swift.On 30 November 2017, Jonathan Swift's 350th birthday, "The Washington Post" published a column entitled "Why Alabamians should consider eating Democrats' babies", by Alexandra Petri.In July 2019, E. Jean Carroll published a book titled , discussing problematic behaviour of male humans.On 3 October 2019 a satirist spoke up at an event for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming that a solution to the climate crisis was "we need to eat the babies". The individual also wore a T-shirt saying "Save The Planet Eat The Children". This stunt was understood by many as a modern application of "A Modest Proposal".
The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium sodium potassium rubidium caesium and francium . Together with hydrogen they constitute group 1 which lies in the s-block of the periodic table. All alkali metals have their outermost electron in an s-orbital this shared electron configuration results in their having very similar characteristic properties. Indeed the alkali metals provide the best example of group trends in properties in the periodic table with elements exhibiting well-characterised homologous behaviour. This family of elements is also known as the lithium family after its leading element.The alkali metals are all shiny soft highly reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure and readily lose their outermost electron to form cations with charge +1. They can all be cut easily with a knife due to their softness exposing a shiny surface that tarnishes rapidly in air due to oxidation by atmospheric moisture and oxygen . Because of their high reactivity they must be stored under oil to prevent reaction with air and are found naturally only in salts and never as the free elements. Caesium the fifth alkali metal is the most reactive of all the metals. All the alkali metals react with water with the heavier alkali metals reacting more vigorously than the lighter ones.All of the discovered alkali metals occur in nature as their compounds: in order of abundance, sodium is the most abundant, followed by potassium, lithium, rubidium, caesium, and finally francium, which is very rare due to its extremely high radioactivity; francium occurs only in minute traces in nature as an intermediate step in some obscure side branches of the natural decay chains. Experiments have been conducted to attempt the synthesis of ununennium , which is likely to be the next member of the group; none was successful. However, ununennium may not be an alkali metal due to relativistic effects, which are predicted to have a large influence on the chemical properties of superheavy elements; even if it does turn out to be an alkali metal, it is predicted to have some differences in physical and chemical properties from its lighter homologues.Most alkali metals have many different applications. One of the best-known applications of the pure elements is the use of rubidium and caesium in atomic clocks of which caesium atomic clocks form the basis of the second. A common application of the compounds of sodium is the sodium-vapour lamp which emits light very efficiently. Table salt or sodium chloride has been used since antiquity. Lithium finds use as a psychiatric medication and as an anode in lithium batteries. Sodium and potassium are also essential elements having major biological roles as electrolytes and although the other alkali metals are not essential they also have various effects on the body both beneficial and harmful.Sodium compounds have been known since ancient times; salt has been an important commodity in human activities, as testified by the English word "salary", referring to "salarium", money paid to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt. While potash has been used since ancient times, it was not understood for most of its history to be a fundamentally different substance from sodium mineral salts. Georg Ernst Stahl obtained experimental evidence which led him to suggest the fundamental difference of sodium and potassium salts in 1702, and Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau was able to prove this difference in 1736. The exact chemical composition of potassium and sodium compounds, and the status as chemical element of potassium and sodium, was not known then, and thus Antoine Lavoisier did not include either alkali in his list of chemical elements in 1789.Pure potassium was first isolated in 1807 in England by Humphry Davy, who derived it from caustic potash by the use of electrolysis of the molten salt with the newly invented voltaic pile. Previous attempts at electrolysis of the aqueous salt were unsuccessful due to potassium's extreme reactivity. Potassium was the first metal that was isolated by electrolysis. Later that same year, Davy reported extraction of sodium from the similar substance caustic soda by a similar technique, demonstrating the elements, and thus the salts, to be different.Petalite was discovered in 1800 by the Brazilian chemist Jos Bonifcio de Andrada in a mine on the island of Ut, Sweden. However, it was not until 1817 that Johan August Arfwedson, then working in the laboratory of the chemist Jns Jacob Berzelius, detected the presence of a new element while analysing petalite ore. This new element was noted by him to form compounds similar to those of sodium and potassium, though its carbonate and hydroxide were less soluble in water and more alkaline than the other alkali metals. Berzelius gave the unknown material the name ""lithion"/"lithina"", from the Greek word "o" , to reflect its discovery in a solid mineral, as opposed to potassium, which had been discovered in plant ashes, and sodium, which was known partly for its high abundance in animal blood. He named the metal inside the material "lithium". Lithium, sodium, and potassium were part of the discovery of periodicity, as they are among a series of triads of elements in the same group that were noted by Johann Wolfgang Dbereiner in 1850 as having similar properties.Rubidium and caesium were the first elements to be discovered using the spectroscope invented in 1859 by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff. The next year they discovered caesium in the mineral water from Bad Drkheim Germany. Their discovery of rubidium came the following year in Heidelberg Germany finding it in the mineral lepidolite. The names of rubidium and caesium come from the most prominent lines in their emission spectra a bright red line for rubidium and a sky-blue line for caesium .Around 1865 John Newlands produced a series of papers where he listed the elements in order of increasing atomic weight and similar physical and chemical properties that recurred at intervals of eight; he likened such periodicity to the octaves of music, where notes an octave apart have similar musical functions. His version put all the alkali metals then known (lithium to caesium), as well as copper, silver, and thallium (which show the +1 oxidation state characteristic of the alkali metals), together into a group. His table placed hydrogen with the halogens.After 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev proposed his periodic table placing lithium at the top of a group with sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and thallium. Two years later, Mendeleev revised his table, placing hydrogen in group 1 above lithium, and also moving thallium to the boron group. In this 1871 version, copper, silver, and gold were placed twice, once as part of group IB, and once as part of a comes from the fact that the hydroxides of the group 1 elements are all strong alkalis when dissolved in water.There were at least four erroneous and incomplete discoveries before Marguerite Perey of the Curie Institute in Paris France discovered francium in 1939 by purifying a sample of actinium-227 which had been reported to have a decay energy of 220 keV. However Perey noticed decay particles with an energy level below 80 keV. Perey thought this decay activity might have been caused by a previously unidentified decay product one that was separated during purification but emerged again out of the pure actinium-227. Various tests eliminated the possibility of the unknown element being thorium radium lead bismuth or thallium. The new product exhibited chemical properties of an alkali metal which led Perey to believe that it was element 87 caused by the alpha decay of actinium-227. Perey then attempted to determine the proportion of beta decay to alpha decay in actinium-227. Her first test put the alpha branching at 0.6% a figure that she later revised to 1%.The next element below francium in the periodic table would be ununennium element 119. The synthesis of ununennium was first attempted in 1985 by bombarding a target of einsteinium-254 with calcium-48 ions at the superHILAC accelerator at Berkeley California. No atoms were identified leading to a limiting yield of 300 nb.It is highly unlikely that this reaction will be able to create any atoms of ununennium in the near future given the extremely difficult task of making sufficient amounts of einsteinium-254 which is favoured for production of ultraheavy elements because of its large mass relatively long half-life of 270 days and availability in significant amounts of several micrograms to make a large enough target to increase the sensitivity of the experiment to the required level einsteinium has not been found in nature and has only been produced in laboratories and in quantities smaller than those needed for effective synthesis of superheavy elements. However given that ununennium is only the first period 8 element on the extended periodic table it may well be discovered in the near future through other reactions and indeed an attempt to synthesise it is currently ongoing in Japan. Currently none of the period 8 elements has been discovered yet and it is also possible due to drip instabilities that only the lower period 8 elements up to around element 128 are physically possible. No attempts at synthesis have been made for any heavier alkali metals due to their extremely high atomic number they would require new more powerful methods and technology to make.Occurrence.In the Solar System.The Oddo–Harkins rule holds that elements with even atomic numbers are more common that those with odd atomic numbers, with the exception of hydrogen. This rule argues that elements with odd atomic numbers have one unpaired proton and are more likely to capture another, thus increasing their atomic number. In elements with even atomic numbers, protons are paired, with each member of the pair offsetting the spin of the other, enhancing stability. All the alkali metals have odd atomic numbers and they are not as common as the elements with even atomic numbers adjacent to them in the Solar System. The heavier alkali metals are also less abundant than the lighter ones as the alkali metals from rubidium onward can only be synthesised in supernovae and not in stellar nucleosynthesis. Lithium is also much less abundant than sodium and potassium as it is poorly synthesised in both Big Bang nucleosynthesis and in stars: the Big Bang could only produce trace quantities of lithium, beryllium and boron due to the absence of a stable nucleus with 5 or 8 nucleons, and stellar nucleosynthesis could only pass this bottleneck by the triple-alpha process, fusing three helium nuclei to form carbon, and skipping over those three elements.The Earth formed from the same cloud of matter that formed the Sun, but the planets acquired different compositions during the formation and evolution of the solar system. In turn, the natural history of the Earth caused parts of this planet to have differing concentrations of the elements. The mass of the Earth is approximately 5.98 kg. It is composed mostly of iron , oxygen , silicon , magnesium , sulfur , nickel , calcium , and aluminium ; with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due to planetary differentiation, the core region is believed to be primarily composed of iron , with smaller amounts of nickel , sulfur , and less than 1% trace elements.The alkali metals due to their high reactivity do not occur naturally in pure form in nature. They are lithophiles and therefore remain close to the Earth's surface because they combine readily with oxygen and so associate strongly with silica forming relatively low-density minerals that do not sink down into the Earth's core. Potassium rubidium and caesium are also incompatible elements due to their large ionic radii.Sodium and potassium are very abundant in earth both being among the ten most common elements in Earths larger size makes its salts less soluble and because potassium is bound by silicates in soil and what potassium leaches is absorbed far more readily by plant life than sodium.Despite its chemical similarity lithium typically does not occur together with sodium or potassium due to its smaller size. Due to its relatively low reactivity it can be found in seawater in large amounts it is estimated that seawater is approximately 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million or 25 micromolar. Its diagonal relationship with magnesium often allows it to replace magnesium in ferromagnesium minerals where its crustal concentration is about 18 ppm comparable to that of gallium and niobium. Commercially the most important lithium mineral is spodumene which occurs in large deposits worldwide.Rubidium is approximately as abundant as zinc and more abundant than copper. It occurs naturally in the minerals leucite, pollucite, carnallite, zinnwaldite, and lepidolite, although none of these contain only rubidium and no other alkali metals. Caesium is more abundant than some commonly known elements, such as antimony, cadmium, tin, and tungsten, but is much less abundant than rubidium.Francium-223, the only naturally occurring isotope of francium, is the product of the alpha decay of actinium-227 and can be found in trace amounts in uranium minerals. In a given sample of uranium, there is estimated to be only one francium atom for every 1018 uranium atoms. It has been calculated that there are at most 30 grams of francium in the earth's crust at any time, due to its extremely short half-life of 22 minutes.Properties.Physical and chemical.The physical and chemical properties of the alkali metals can be readily explained by their having an ns1 valence electron configuration, which results in weak metallic bonding. Hence, all the alkali metals are soft and have low densities, melting and boiling points, as well as heats of sublimation, vaporisation, and dissociation. They all crystallise in the body-centered cubic crystal structure, and have distinctive flame colours because their outer s electron is very easily excited. The ns1 configuration also results in the alkali metals having very large atomic and ionic radii, as well as very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Their chemistry is dominated by the loss of their lone valence electron in the outermost s-orbital to form the +1 oxidation state, due to the ease of ionising this electron and the very high second ionisation energy. Most of the chemistry has been observed only for the first five members of the group. The chemistry of francium is not well established due to its extreme radioactivity; thus, the presentation of its properties here is limited. What little is known about francium shows that it is very close in behaviour to caesium, as expected. The physical properties of francium are even sketchier because the bulk element has never been observed; hence any data that may be found in the literature are certainly speculative extrapolations.The alkali metals are more similar to each other than the elements in any other group are to each other. Indeed the similarity is so great that it is quite difficult to separate potassium rubidium and caesium due to their similar ionic radii lithium and sodium are more distinct. For instance when moving down the table all known alkali metals show increasing atomic radius decreasing electronegativity increasing reactivity and decreasing melting and boiling points as well as heats of fusion and vaporisation. In general their densities increase when moving down the table with the exception that potassium is less dense than sodium. One of the very few properties of the alkali metals that does not display a very smooth trend is their reduction potentials lithium's value is anomalous being more negative than the others. This is because the Li+ ion has a very high hydration energy in the gas phase though the lithium ion disrupts the structure of water significantly causing a higher change in entropy this high hydration energy is enough to make the reduction potentials indicate it as being the most electropositive alkali metal despite the difficulty of ionising it in the gas phase.The stable alkali metals are all silver-coloured metals except for caesium which has a pale golden tint it is one of only three metals that are clearly coloured . Additionally the heavy alkaline earth metals calcium strontium and barium as well as the divalent lanthanides europium and ytterbium are pale yellow though the colour is much less prominent than it is for caesium. Their lustre tarnishes rapidly in air due to oxidation. They all crystallise in the body-centered cubic crystal structure and have distinctive flame colours because their outer s electron is very easily excited. Indeed these flame test colours are the most common way of identifying them since all their salts with common ions are soluble.All the alkali metals are highly reactive and are never found in elemental forms in nature. Because of this they are usually stored in mineral oil or kerosene . They react aggressively with the halogens to form the alkali metal halides which are white ionic crystalline compounds that are all soluble in water except lithium fluoride . The alkali metals also react with water to form strongly alkaline hydroxides and thus should be handled with great care. The heavier alkali metals react more vigorously than the lighter ones for example when dropped into water caesium produces a larger explosion than potassium if the same number of moles of each metal is used. The alkali metals have the lowest first ionisation energies in their respective periods of the periodic table because of their low effective nuclear charge and the ability to attain a noble gas configuration by losing just one electron. Not only do the alkali metals react with water but also with proton donors like alcohols and phenols gaseous ammonia and alkynes the last demonstrating the phenomenal degree of their reactivity. Their great power as reducing agents makes them very useful in liberating other metals from their oxides or halides.The second ionisation energy of all of the alkali metals is very high as it is in a full shell that is also closer to the nucleus thus they almost always lose a single electron forming cations. The alkalides are an exception they are unstable compounds which contain alkali metals in a −1 oxidation state which is very unusual as before the discovery of the alkalides the alkali metals were not expected to be able to form anions and were thought to be able to appear in salts only as cations. The alkalide anions have filled s-subshells which gives them enough stability to exist. All the stable alkali metals except lithium are known to be able to form alkalides and the alkalides have much theoretical interest due to their unusual stoichiometry and low ionisation potentials. Alkalides are chemically similar to the electrides which are salts with trapped electrons acting as anions. A particularly striking example of an alkalide is H+Na− as opposed to the usual sodium hydride Na+H− it is unstable in isolation due to its high energy resulting from the displacement of two electrons from hydrogen to sodium although several derivatives are predicted to be metastable or stable.In aqueous solution the alkali metal ions form aqua ions of the formula + ion.The chemistry of lithium shows several differences from that of the rest of the group as the small Li+ cation polarises anions and gives its compounds a more covalent character. Lithium and magnesium have a diagonal relationship due to their similar atomic radii so that they show some similarities. For example lithium forms a stable nitride a property common among all the alkaline earth metals (magnesium's group) but unique among the alkali metals. In addition among their respective groups only lithium and magnesium form organometallic compounds with significant covalent character (e.g. LiMe and MgMe2).Lithium fluoride is the only alkali metal halide that is poorly soluble in water and lithium hydroxide is the only alkali metal hydroxide that is not deliquescent. Conversely lithium perchlorate and other lithium salts with large anions that cannot be polarised are much more stable than the analogous compounds of the other alkali metals probably because Li+ has a high solvation energy. This effect also means that most simple lithium salts are commonly encountered in hydrated form because the anhydrous forms are extremely hygroscopic this allows salts like lithium chloride and lithium bromide to be used in dehumidifiers and air-conditioners.Francium is also predicted to show some differences due to its high atomic weight causing its electrons to travel at considerable fractions of the speed of light and thus making relativistic effects more prominent. In contrast to the trend of decreasing electronegativities and ionisation energies of the alkali metals franciums due to the relativistic stabilisation of the 7s electrons also its atomic radius is expected to be abnormally low. Thus contrary to expectation caesium is the most reactive of the alkali metals not francium. All known physical properties of francium also deviate from the clear trends going from lithium to caesium such as the first ionisation energy electron affinity and anion polarisability though due to the paucity of known data about francium many sources give extrapolated values ignoring that relativistic effects make the trend from lithium to caesium become inapplicable at francium. Some of the few properties of francium that have been predicted taking relativity into account are the electron affinity and the enthalpy of dissociation of the Fr2 molecule . The CsFr molecule is polarised as Cs+Fr− showing that the 7s subshell of francium is much more strongly affected by relativistic effects than the 6s subshell of caesium. Additionally francium superoxide is expected to have significant covalent character unlike the other alkali metal superoxides because of bonding contributions from the 6p electrons of francium.All the alkali metals have odd atomic numbers hence their isotopes must be either odd–odd (both proton and neutron number are odd) or odd–even (proton number is odd but neutron number is even). Odd–odd nuclei have even mass numbers whereas odd–even nuclei have odd mass numbers. Odd–odd primordial nuclides are rare because most odd–odd nuclei are highly unstable with respect to beta decay because the decay products are even–even and are therefore more strongly bound due to nuclear pairing effects.Due to the great rarity of odd–odd nuclei, almost all the primordial isotopes of the alkali metals are odd–even . For a given odd mass number, there can be only a single beta-stable nuclide, since there is not a difference in binding energy between even–odd and odd–even comparable to that between even–even and odd–odd, leaving other nuclides of the same mass number free to beta decay toward the lowest-mass nuclide. An effect of the instability of an odd number of either type of nucleons is that odd-numbered elements, such as the alkali metals, tend to have fewer stable isotopes than even-numbered elements. Of the 26 monoisotopic elements that have only a single stable isotope, all but one have an odd atomic number and all but one also have an even number of neutrons. Beryllium is the single exception to both rules, due to its low atomic number.All of the alkali metals except lithium and caesium have at least one naturally occurring radioisotope: sodium-22 and sodium-24 are trace radioisotopes produced cosmogenically, potassium-40 and rubidium-87 have very long half-lives and thus occur naturally, and all isotopes of francium are radioactive. Caesium was also thought to be radioactive in the early 20th century, although it has no naturally occurring radioisotopes. The natural long-lived radioisotope of potassium, potassium-40, makes up about 0.012% of natural potassium, and thus natural potassium is weakly radioactive. This natural radioactivity became a basis for a mistaken claim of the discovery for element 87 in 1925. Natural rubidium is similarly slightly radioactive, with 27.83% being the long-lived radioisotope rubidium-87.Caesium-137 with a half-life of 30.17 years is one of the two principal medium-lived fission products along with strontium-90 which are responsible for most of the radioactivity of spent nuclear fuel after several years of cooling up to several hundred years after use. It constitutes most of the radioactivity still left from the Chernobyl accident. Caesium-137 undergoes high-energy beta decay and eventually becomes stable barium-137. It is a strong emitter of gamma radiation. Caesium-137 has a very low rate of neutron capture and cannot be feasibly disposed of in this way but must be allowed to decay. Caesium-137 has been used as a tracer in hydrologic studies analogous to the use of tritium. Small amounts of caesium-134 and caesium-137 were released into the environment during nearly all nuclear weapon tests and some nuclear accidents most notably the Goinia accident and the Chernobyl disaster. As of 2005 caesium-137 is the principal source of radiation in the zone of alienation around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Its chemical properties as one of the alkali metals make it one of most problematic of the short-to-medium-lifetime fission products because it easily moves and spreads in nature due to the high water solubility of its salts and is taken up by the body which mistakes it for its essential congeners sodium and potassium.Periodic trends.The alkali metals are more similar to each other than the elements in any other group are to each other. For instance, when moving down the table, all known alkali metals show increasing atomic radius, decreasing electronegativity, increasing reactivity, and decreasing melting and boiling points as well as heats of fusion and vaporisation. In general, their densities increase when moving down the table, with the exception that potassium is less dense than sodium.Atomic and ionic radii.The atomic radii of the alkali metals increase going down the group. Because of the shielding effect when an atom has more than one electron shell each electron feels electric repulsion from the other electrons as well as electric attraction from the nucleus. In the alkali metals the outermost electron only feels a net charge of +1 as some of the nuclear charge is cancelled by the inner electrons the number of inner electrons of an alkali metal is always one less than the nuclear charge. Therefore the only factor which affects the atomic radius of the alkali metals is the number of electron shells. Since this number increases down the group the atomic radius must also increase down the group.The ionic radii of the alkali metals are much smaller than their atomic radii. This is because the outermost electron of the alkali metals is in a different electron shell than the inner electrons, and thus when it is removed the resulting atom has one fewer electron shell and is smaller. Additionally, the effective nuclear charge has increased, and thus the electrons are attracted more strongly towards the nucleus and the ionic radius decreases.First ionisation energy.The first ionisation energy of an element or molecule is the energy required to move the most loosely held electron from one mole of gaseous atoms of the element or molecules to form one mole of gaseous ions with electric charge +1. The factors affecting the first ionisation energy are the nuclear charge the amount of shielding by the inner electrons and the distance from the most loosely held electron from the nucleus which is always an outer electron in main group elements. The first two factors change the effective nuclear charge the most loosely held electron feels. Since the outermost electron of alkali metals always feels the same effective nuclear charge the only factor which affects the first ionisation energy is the distance from the outermost electron to the nucleus. Since this distance increases down the group the outermost electron feels less attraction from the nucleus and thus the first ionisation energy decreases. The second ionisation energy of the alkali metals is much higher than the first as the second-most loosely held electron is part of a fully filled electron shell and is thus difficult to remove.Reactivity.The reactivities of the alkali metals increase going down the group. This is the result of a combination of two factors the first ionisation energies and atomisation energies of the alkali metals. Because the first ionisation energy of the alkali metals decreases down the group it is easier for the outermost electron to be removed from the atom and participate in chemical reactions thus increasing reactivity down the group. The atomisation energy measures the strength of the metallic bond of an element which falls down the group as the atoms increase in radius and thus the metallic bond must increase in length making the delocalised electrons further away from the attraction of the nuclei of the heavier alkali metals. Adding the atomisation and first ionisation energies gives a quantity closely related to the activation energy of the reaction of an alkali metal with another substance. This quantity decreases going down the group and so does the activation energy thus chemical reactions can occur faster and the reactivity increases down the group.Electronegativity.Electronegativity is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom or a functional group to attract electrons towards itself. If the bond between sodium and chlorine in sodium chloride were covalent the pair of shared electrons would be attracted to the chlorine because the effective nuclear charge on the outer electrons is +7 in chlorine but is only +1 in sodium. The electron pair is attracted so close to the chlorine atom that they are practically transferred to the chlorine atom . However if the sodium atom was replaced by a lithium atom the electrons will not be attracted as close to the chlorine atom as before because the lithium atom is smaller making the electron pair more strongly attracted to the closer effective nuclear charge from lithium. Hence the larger alkali metal atoms will be less electronegative as the bonding pair is less strongly attracted towards them. As mentioned previously francium is expected to be an exception.Because of the higher electronegativity of lithium, some of its compounds have a more covalent character. For example, lithium iodide will dissolve in organic solvents, a property of most covalent compounds. Lithium fluoride is the only alkali halide that is not soluble in water, and lithium hydroxide is the only alkali metal hydroxide that is not deliquescent.Melting and boiling points.The melting point of a substance is the point where it changes state from solid to liquid while the boiling point of a substance is the point where the vapour pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid and all the liquid changes state to gas. As a metal is heated to its melting point, the metallic bonds keeping the atoms in place weaken so that the atoms can move around, and the metallic bonds eventually break completely at the metal's boiling point. Therefore, the falling melting and boiling points of the alkali metals indicate that the strength of the metallic bonds of the alkali metals decreases down the group. This is because metal atoms are held together by the electromagnetic attraction from the positive ions to the delocalised electrons. As the atoms increase in size going down the group , the nuclei of the ions move further away from the delocalised electrons and hence the metallic bond becomes weaker so that the metal can more easily melt and boil, thus lowering the melting and boiling points. The alkali metals all have the same crystal structure and thus the only relevant factors are the number of atoms that can fit into a certain volume and the mass of one of the atoms since density is defined as mass per unit volume. The first factor depends on the volume of the atom and thus the atomic radius which increases going down the group thus the volume of an alkali metal atom increases going down the group. The mass of an alkali metal atom also increases going down the group. Thus the trend for the densities of the alkali metals depends on their atomic weights and atomic radii if figures for these two factors are known the ratios between the densities of the alkali metals can then be calculated. The resultant trend is that the densities of the alkali metals increase down the table with an exception at potassium. Due to having the lowest atomic weight and the largest atomic radius of all the elements in their periods the alkali metals are the least dense metals in the periodic table. Lithium sodium and potassium are the only three metals in the periodic table that are less dense than water in fact lithium is the least dense known solid at room temperature.The alkali metals form complete series of compounds with all usually encountered anions, which well illustrate group trends. These compounds can be described as involving the alkali metals losing electrons to acceptor species and forming monopositive ions. This description is most accurate for alkali halides and becomes less and less accurate as cationic and anionic charge increase, and as the anion becomes larger and more polarisable. For instance, ionic bonding gives way to metallic bonding along the series NaCl, Na2O, Na2S, Na3P, Na3As, Na3Sb, Na3Bi, Na.Hydroxides.All the alkali metals react vigorously or explosively with cold water, producing an aqueous solution of a strongly basic alkali metal hydroxide and releasing hydrogen gas. This reaction becomes more vigorous going down the group: lithium reacts steadily with effervescence, but sodium and potassium can ignite and rubidium and caesium sink in water and generate hydrogen gas so rapidly that shock waves form in the water that may shatter glass containers. When an alkali metal is dropped into water, it produces an explosion, of which there are two separate stages. The metal reacts with the water first, breaking the hydrogen bonds in the water and producing hydrogen gas; this takes place faster for the more reactive heavier alkali metals. Second, the heat generated by the first part of the reaction often ignites the hydrogen gas, causing it to burn explosively into the surrounding air. This secondary hydrogen gas explosion produces the visible flame above the bowl of water, lake or other body of water, not the initial reaction of the metal with water . The alkali metal hydroxides are the most basic known hydroxides.Recent research has suggested that the explosive behavior of alkali metals in water is driven by a Coulomb explosion rather than solely by rapid generation of hydrogen itself. All alkali metals melt as a part of the reaction with water. Water molecules ionise the bare metallic surface of the liquid metal, leaving a positively charged metal surface and negatively charged water ions. The attraction between the charged metal and water ions will rapidly increase the surface area, causing an exponential increase of ionisation. When the repulsive forces within the liquid metal surface exceeds the forces of the surface tension, it vigorously explodes.The hydroxides themselves are the most basic hydroxides known reacting with acids to give salts and with alcohols to give oligomeric alkoxides. They easily react with carbon dioxide to form carbonates or bicarbonates or with hydrogen sulfide to form sulfides or bisulfides and may be used to separate thiols from petroleum. They react with amphoteric oxides for example the oxides of aluminium zinc tin and lead react with the alkali metal hydroxides to give aluminates zincates stannates and plumbates. Silicon dioxide is acidic and thus the alkali metal hydroxides can also attack silicate glass.Intermetallic compounds.The alkali metals form many intermetallic compounds with each other and the elements from groups 2 to 13 in the periodic table of varying stoichiometries, such as the sodium amalgams with mercury, including Na5Hg8 and Na3Hg. Some of these have ionic characteristics: taking the alloys with gold, the most electronegative of metals, as an example, NaAu and KAu are metallic, but RbAu and CsAu are semiconductors. NaK is an alloy of sodium and potassium that is very useful because it is liquid at room temperature, although precautions must be taken due to its extreme reactivity towards water and air. The eutectic mixture melts at −12.6 °C. An alloy of 41% caesium, 47% sodium, and 12% potassium has the lowest known melting point of any metal or alloy, −78 °C.Compounds with the group 13 elements.The intermetallic compounds of the alkali metals with the heavier group 13 elements such as NaTl are poor conductors or semiconductors unlike the normal alloys with the preceding elements implying that the alkali metal involved has lost an electron to the Zintl anions involved. Nevertheless while the elements in group 14 and beyond tend to form discrete anionic clusters group 13 elements tend to form polymeric ions with the alkali metal cations located between the giant ionic lattice. For example NaTl consists of a polymeric anion n with a covalent diamond cubic structure with Na+ ions located between the anionic lattice. The larger alkali metals cannot fit similarly into an anionic lattice and tend to force the heavier group 13 elements to form anionic clusters.Boron is a special case being the only nonmetal in group 13. The alkali metal borides tend to be boron-rich involving appreciable boron–boron bonding involving deltahedral structures and are thermally unstable due to the alkali metals having a very high vapour pressure at elevated temperatures. This makes direct synthesis problematic because the alkali metals do not react with boron below 700 °C and thus this must be accomplished in sealed containers with the alkali metal in excess. Furthermore exceptionally in this group reactivity with boron decreases down the group lithium reacts completely at 700 °C but sodium at 900 °C and potassium not until 1200 °C and the reaction is instantaneous for lithium but takes hours for potassium. Rubidium and caesium borides have not even been characterised. Various phases are known such as LiB10 NaB6 NaB15 and KB6. Under high pressure the boron–boron bonding in the lithium borides changes from following Wade's rules to forming Zintl anions like the rest of group 13.Compounds with the group 14 elements.Lithium and sodium react with carbon to form acetylides Li2C2 and Na2C2 which can also be obtained by reaction of the metal with acetylene. Potassium rubidium and caesium react with graphite their atoms are intercalated between the hexagonal graphite layers forming graphite intercalation compounds of formulae MC60 (dark grey almost black) MC48 (dark grey almost black) MC36 (blue) MC24 (steel blue) and MC8 (bronze) (M = K Rb or Cs). These compounds are over 200 times more electrically conductive than pure graphite suggesting that the valence electron of the alkali metal is transferred to the graphite layers (e.g. ). Upon heating of KC8 the elimination of potassium atoms results in the conversion in sequence to KC24 KC36 KC48 and finally KC60. KC8 is a very strong reducing agent and is pyrophoric and explodes on contact with water. While the larger alkali metals (K Rb and Cs) initially form MC8 the smaller ones initially form MC6 and indeed they require reaction of the metals with graphite at high temperatures around 500 °C to form. Apart from this the alkali metals are such strong reducing agents that they can even reduce buckminsterfullerene to produce solid fullerides M"n"C60 sodium potassium rubidium and caesium can form fullerides where "n" = 2 3 4 or 6 and rubidium and caesium additionally can achieve "n" = 1.When the alkali metals react with the heavier elements in the carbon group (silicon, germanium, tin, and lead), ionic substances with cage-like structures are formed, such as the silicides M4Si4 (M = K, Rb, or Cs), which contains M+ and tetrahedral ions. The chemistry of alkali metal germanides, involving the germanide ion Ge4− and other cluster (Zintl) ions such as , , , and [(Ge9)2]6−, is largely analogous to that of the corresponding silicides. Alkali metal stannides are mostly ionic, sometimes with the stannide ion (Sn4−), and sometimes with more complex Zintl ions such as , which appears in tetrapotassium nonastannide (K4Sn9). The monatomic plumbide ion (Pb4−) is unknown, and indeed its formation is predicted to be energetically unfavourable; alkali metal plumbides have complex Zintl ions, such as . These alkali metal germanides, stannides, and plumbides may be produced by reducing germanium, tin, and lead with sodium metal in liquid ammonia.Nitrides and pnictides.Lithium, the lightest of the alkali metals, is the only alkali metal which reacts with nitrogen at standard conditions, and its nitride is the only stable alkali metal nitride. Nitrogen is an unreactive gas because breaking the strong triple bond in the dinitrogen molecule (N2) requires a lot of energy. The formation of an alkali metal nitride would consume the ionisation energy of the alkali metal (forming M+ ions), the energy required to break the triple bond in N2 and the formation of N3− ions, and all the energy released from the formation of an alkali metal nitride is from the lattice energy of the alkali metal nitride. The lattice energy is maximised with small, highly charged ions; the alkali metals do not form highly charged ions, only forming ions with a charge of +1, so only lithium, the smallest alkali metal, can release enough lattice energy to make the reaction with nitrogen exothermic, forming lithium nitride. The reactions of the other alkali metals with nitrogen would not release enough lattice energy and would thus be endothermic, so they do not form nitrides at standard conditions. Sodium nitride (Na3N) and potassium nitride (K3N), while existing, are extremely unstable, being prone to decomposing back into their constituent elements, and cannot be produced by reacting the elements with each other at standard conditions. Steric hindrance forbids the existence of rubidium or caesium nitride. However, sodium and potassium form colourless azide salts involving the linear anion; due to the large size of the alkali metal cations, they are thermally stable enough to be able to melt before decomposing.All the alkali metals react readily with phosphorus and arsenic to form phosphides and arsenides with the formula M3Pn (where M represents an alkali metal and Pn represents a pnictogen – phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, or bismuth). This is due to the greater size of the P3− and As3− ions, so that less lattice energy needs to be released for the salts to form. These are not the only phosphides and arsenides of the alkali metals: for example, potassium has nine different known phosphides, with formulae K3P, K4P3, K5P4, KP, K4P6, K3P7, K3P11, KP10.3, and KP15. While most metals form arsenides, only the alkali and alkaline earth metals form mostly ionic arsenides. The structure of Na3As is complex with unusually short Na–Na distances of 328–330 pm which are shorter than in sodium metal, and this indicates that even with these electropositive metals the bonding cannot be straightforwardly ionic. Other alkali metal arsenides not conforming to the formula M3As are known, such as LiAs, which has a metallic lustre and electrical conductivity indicating the presence of some metallic bonding. The antimonides are unstable and reactive as the Sb3− ion is a strong reducing agent; reaction of them with acids form the toxic and unstable gas stibine (SbH3). Indeed, they have some metallic properties, and the alkali metal antimonides of stoichiometry MSb involve antimony atoms bonded in a spiral Zintl structure. Bismuthides are not even wholly ionic; they are intermetallic compounds containing partially metallic and partially ionic bonds.Oxides and chalcogenides.All the alkali metals react vigorously with oxygen at standard conditions. They form various types of oxides such as simple oxides peroxides superoxides and many others. Lithium burns in air to form lithium oxide but sodium reacts with oxygen to form a mixture of sodium oxide and sodium peroxide. Potassium forms a mixture of potassium peroxide and potassium superoxide while rubidium and caesium form the superoxide exclusively. Their reactivity increases going down the group while lithium sodium and potassium merely burn in air rubidium and caesium are pyrophoric .The smaller alkali metals tend to polarise the larger anions (the peroxide and superoxide) due to their small size. This attracts the electrons in the more complex anions towards one of its constituent oxygen atoms forming an oxide ion and an oxygen atom. This causes lithium to form the oxide exclusively on reaction with oxygen at room temperature. This effect becomes drastically weaker for the larger sodium and potassium allowing them to form the less stable peroxides. Rubidium and caesium at the bottom of the group are so large that even the least stable superoxides can form. Because the superoxide releases the most energy when formed the superoxide is preferentially formed for the larger alkali metals where the more complex anions are not polarised. (The oxides and peroxides for these alkali metals do exist but do not form upon direct reaction of the metal with oxygen at standard conditions.) In addition the small size of the Li+ and O2− ions contributes to their forming a stable ionic lattice structure. Under controlled conditions however all the alkali metals with the exception of francium are known to form their oxides peroxides and superoxides. The alkali metal peroxides and superoxides are powerful oxidising agents. Sodium peroxide and potassium superoxide react with carbon dioxide to form the alkali metal carbonate and oxygen gas which allows them to be used in submarine air purifiers the presence of water vapour naturally present in breath makes the removal of carbon dioxide by potassium superoxide even more efficient. All the stable alkali metals except lithium can form red ozonides (MO3) through low-temperature reaction of the powdered anhydrous hydroxide with ozone the ozonides may be then extracted using liquid ammonia. They slowly decompose at standard conditions to the superoxides and oxygen and hydrolyse immediately to the hydroxides when in contact with water. Potassium rubidium and caesium also form sesquioxides M2O3 which may be better considered peroxide disuperoxides .Rubidium and caesium can form a great variety of suboxides with the metals in formal oxidation states below +1. Rubidium can form Rb6O and Rb9O2 upon oxidation in air, while caesium forms an immense variety of oxides, such as the ozonide CsO3 and several brightly coloured suboxides, such as Cs7O , Cs4O , Cs11O3 , Cs3O , CsO, Cs3O2, as well as Cs7O2. The last of these may be heated under vacuum to generate Cs2O.The alkali metals can also react analogously with the heavier chalcogens and all the alkali metal chalcogenides are known . Reaction with an excess of the chalcogen can similarly result in lower chalcogenides with chalcogen ions containing chains of the chalcogen atoms in question. For example sodium can react with sulfur to form the sulfide and various polysulfides with the formula Na2S containing the ions. Due to the basicity of the Se2− and Te2− ions the alkali metal selenides and tellurides are alkaline in solution when reacted directly with selenium and tellurium alkali metal polyselenides and polytellurides are formed along with the selenides and tellurides with the and ions. They may be obtained directly from the elements in liquid ammonia or when air is not present and are colourless water-soluble compounds that air oxidises quickly back to selenium or tellurium. The alkali metal polonides are all ionic compounds containing the Po2− ion they are very chemically stable and can be produced by direct reaction of the elements at around 300–400 °C.Halides, hydrides, and pseudohalides.The alkali metals are among the most electropositive elements on the periodic table and thus tend to bond ionically to the most electronegative elements on the periodic table, the halogens (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine), forming salts known as the alkali metal halides. The reaction is very vigorous and can sometimes result in explosions. All twenty stable alkali metal halides are known; the unstable ones are not known, with the exception of sodium astatide, because of the great instability and rarity of astatine and francium. The most well-known of the twenty is certainly sodium chloride, otherwise known as common salt. All of the stable alkali metal halides have the formula MX where M is an alkali metal and X is a halogen. They are all white ionic crystalline solids that have high melting points. All the alkali metal halides are soluble in water except for lithium fluoride (LiF), which is insoluble in water due to its very high lattice enthalpy. The high lattice enthalpy of lithium fluoride is due to the small sizes of the Li+ and F− ions, causing the electrostatic interactions between them to be strong: a similar effect occurs for magnesium fluoride, consistent with the diagonal relationship between lithium and magnesium.The alkali metals also react similarly with hydrogen to form ionic alkali metal hydrides, where the hydride anion acts as a pseudohalide: these are often used as reducing agents, producing hydrides, complex metal hydrides, or hydrogen gas. Other pseudohalides are also known, notably the cyanides. These are isostructural to the respective halides except for lithium cyanide, indicating that the cyanide ions may rotate freely. Ternary alkali metal halide oxides, such as Na3ClO, K3BrO , Na4Br2O, Na4I2O, and K4Br2O, are also known. The polyhalides are rather unstable, although those of rubidium and caesium are greatly stabilised by the feeble polarising power of these extremely large cations.Coordination complexes.Alkali metal cations do not usually form coordination complexes with simple Lewis bases due to their low charge of just +1 and their relatively large size thus the Li+ ion forms most complexes and the heavier alkali metal ions form less and less . Lithium in particular has a very rich coordination chemistry in which it exhibits coordination numbers from 1 to 12 although octahedral hexacoordination is its preferred mode. In aqueous solution the alkali metal ions exist as octahedral hexahydrate complexes ([M6)]+) with the exception of the lithium ion which due to its small size forms tetrahedral tetrahydrate complexes ([Li4)]+) the alkali metals form these complexes because their ions are attracted by electrostatic forces of attraction to the polar water molecules. Because of this anhydrous salts containing alkali metal cations are often used as desiccants. Alkali metals also readily form complexes with crown ethers and cryptands due to electrostatic attraction.Ammonia solutions.The alkali metals dissolve slowly in liquid ammonia, forming ammoniacal solutions of solvated metal cation M+ and solvated electron e−, which react to form hydrogen gas and the alkali metal amide : this was first noted by Humphry Davy in 1809 and rediscovered by W. Weyl in 1864. The process may be speeded up by a catalyst. Similar solutions are formed by the heavy divalent alkaline earth metals calcium, strontium, barium, as well as the divalent lanthanides, europium and ytterbium. The amide salt is quite insoluble and readily precipitates out of solution, leaving intensely coloured ammonia solutions of the alkali metals. In 1907, Charles Krause identified the colour as being due to the presence of solvated electrons, which contribute to the high electrical conductivity of these solutions. At low concentrations , the solution is dark blue and has ten times the conductivity of aqueous sodium chloride; at higher concentrations , the solution is copper-coloured and has approximately the conductivity of liquid metals like mercury. In addition to the alkali metal amide salt and solvated electrons, such ammonia solutions also contain the alkali metal cation , the neutral alkali metal atom , diatomic alkali metal molecules and alkali metal anions . These are unstable and eventually become the more thermodynamically stable alkali metal amide and hydrogen gas. Solvated electrons are powerful reducing agents and are often used in chemical synthesis.Organometallic.Organolithium.Being the smallest alkali metal, lithium forms the widest variety of and most stable organometallic compounds, which are bonded covalently. Organolithium compounds are electrically non-conducting volatile solids or liquids that melt at low temperatures, and tend to form oligomers with the structure where R is the organic group. As the electropositive nature of lithium puts most of the charge density of the bond on the carbon atom, effectively creating a carbanion, organolithium compounds are extremely powerful bases and nucleophiles. For use as bases, butyllithiums are often used and are commercially available. An example of an organolithium compound is methyllithium (), which exists in tetrameric and hexameric forms. Organolithium compounds, especially -butyllithium, are useful reagents in organic synthesis, as might be expected given lithium's diagonal relationship with magnesium, which plays an important role in the Grignard reaction. For example, alkyllithiums and aryllithiums may be used to synthesise aldehydes and ketones by reaction with metal carbonyls. The reaction with nickel tetracarbonyl, for example, proceeds through an unstable acyl nickel carbonyl complex which then undergoes electrophilic substitution to give the desired aldehyde or ketone product.Alkyllithiums and aryllithiums may also react with "N","N"-disubstituted amides to give aldehydes and ketones, and symmetrical ketones by reacting with carbon monoxide. They thermally decompose to eliminate a -hydrogen, producing alkenes and lithium hydride: another route is the reaction of ethers with alkyl- and aryllithiums that act as strong bases. In non-polar solvents, aryllithiums react as the carbanions they effectively are, turning carbon dioxide to aromatic carboxylic acids (ArCO2H) and aryl ketones to tertiary carbinols (Ar'2C(Ar)OH). Finally, they may be used to synthesise other organometallic compounds through metal-halogen exchange.Heavier alkali metals.Unlike the organolithium compounds, the organometallic compounds of the heavier alkali metals are predominantly ionic. The application of organosodium compounds in chemistry is limited in part due to competition from organolithium compounds, which are commercially available and exhibit more convenient reactivity. The principal organosodium compound of commercial importance is sodium cyclopentadienide. Sodium tetraphenylborate can also be classified as an organosodium compound since in the solid state sodium is bound to the aryl groups. Organometallic compounds of the higher alkali metals are even more reactive than organosodium compounds and of limited utility. A notable reagent is Schlosser's base, a mixture of -2-butene equilibrate when in contact with alkali metals. Whereas isomerisation is fast with lithium and sodium, it is slow with the heavier alkali metals. The heavier alkali metals also favour the sterically congested conformation. Several crystal structures of organopotassium compounds have been reported, establishing that they, like the sodium compounds, are polymeric. Organosodium, organopotassium, organorubidium and organocaesium compounds are all mostly ionic and are insoluble in nonpolar solvents.Alkyl and aryl derivatives of sodium and potassium tend to react with air. They cause the cleavage of ethers generating alkoxides. Unlike alkyllithium compounds alkylsodiums and alkylpotassiums cannot be made by reacting the metals with alkyl halides because Wurtz coupling occursAs such, they have to be made by reacting alkylmercury compounds with sodium or potassium metal in inert hydrocarbon solvents. While methylsodium forms tetramers like methyllithium, methylpotassium is more ionic and has the nickel arsenide structure with discrete methyl anions and potassium cations.The alkali metals and their hydrides react with acidic hydrocarbons for example cyclopentadienes and terminal alkynes to give salts. Liquid ammonia ether or hydrocarbon solvents are used the most common of which being tetrahydrofuran. The most important of these compounds is sodium cyclopentadienide NaC5H5 an important precursor to many transition metal cyclopentadienyl derivatives. Similarly the alkali metals react with cyclooctatetraene in tetrahydrofuran to give alkali metal cyclooctatetraenides for example dipotassium cyclooctatetraenide is an important precursor to many metal cyclooctatetraenyl derivatives such as uranocene. The large and very weakly polarising alkali metal cations can stabilise large aromatic polarisable radical anions such as the dark-green sodium naphthalenide Na+− a strong reducing agent.Representative reactions of alkali metals.Reaction with oxygenUpon reacting with oxygen, alkali metals form oxides, peroxides, superoxides and suboxides. However, the first three are more common. The table below shows the types of compounds formed in reaction with oxygen. The compound in brackets represents the minor product of combustion.The alkali metal peroxides are ionic compounds that are unstable in water. The peroxide anion is weakly bound to the cation and it is hydrolysed forming stronger covalent bonds.The other oxygen compounds are also unstable in water.Reaction with sulfurWith sulfur, they form sulfides and polysulfides.Because alkali metal sulfides are essentially salts of a weak acid and a strong base, they form basic solutions.Reaction with nitrogenLithium is the only metal that combines directly with nitrogen at room temperature.Li3N can react with water to liberate ammonia.Reaction with hydrogenWith hydrogen, alkali metals form saline hydrides that hydrolyse in water.Reaction with carbonLithium is the only metal that reacts directly with carbon to give dilithium acetylide. Na and K can react with acetylene to give acetylides.Reaction with waterOn reaction with water they generate hydroxide ions and hydrogen gas. This reaction is vigorous and highly exothermic and the hydrogen resulted may ignite in air or even explode in the case of Rb and Cs.Reaction with other saltsThe alkali metals are very good reducing agents. They can reduce metal cations that are less electropositive. Titanium is produced industrially by the reduction of titanium tetrachloride with Na at 4000C .Reaction with organohalide compoundsAlkali metals react with halogen derivatives to generate hydrocarbon via the Wurtz reaction.Alkali metals in liquid ammoniaAlkali metals dissolve in liquid ammonia or other donor solvents like aliphatic amines or hexamethylphosphoramide to give blue solutions. These solutions are believed to contain free electrons.Due to the presence of solvated electrons, these solutions are very powerful reducing agents used in organic synthesis.Reaction 1) is known as Birch reduction.Other reductions that can be carried by these solutions are:Extensions.Although francium is the heaviest alkali metal that has been discovered, there has been some theoretical work predicting the physical and chemical characteristics of hypothetical heavier alkali metals. Being the first period 8 element, the undiscovered element ununennium is predicted to be the next alkali metal after francium and behave much like their lighter congeners; however, it is also predicted to differ from the lighter alkali metals in some properties. Its chemistry is predicted to be closer to that of potassium or rubidium instead of caesium or francium. This is unusual as periodic trends, ignoring relativistic effects would predict ununennium to be even more reactive than caesium and francium. This lowered reactivity is due to the relativistic stabilisation of ununenniums electron affinity far beyond that of caesium and francium; indeed, ununennium is expected to have an electron affinity higher than all the alkali metals lighter than it. Relativistic effects also cause a very large drop in the polarisability of ununennium. On the other hand, ununennium is predicted to continue the trend of melting points decreasing going down the group, being expected to have a melting point between 0 °C and 30 °C.The stabilisation of ununennium's valence electron and thus the contraction of the 8s orbital cause its atomic radius to be lowered to 240 pm very close to that of rubidium so that the chemistry of ununennium in the +1 oxidation state should be more similar to the chemistry of rubidium than to that of francium. On the other hand the ionic radius of the Uue+ ion is predicted to be larger than that of Rb+ because the 7p orbitals are destabilised and are thus larger than the p-orbitals of the lower shells. Ununennium may also show the +3 oxidation state which is not seen in any other alkali metal in addition to the +1 oxidation state that is characteristic of the other alkali metals and is also the main oxidation state of all the known alkali metals this is because of the destabilisation and expansion of the 7p3/2 spinor causing its outermost electrons to have a lower ionisation energy than what would otherwise be expected. Indeed many ununennium compounds are expected to have a large covalent character due to the involvement of the 7p3/2 electrons in the bonding.Not as much work has been done predicting the properties of the alkali metals beyond ununennium. Although a simple extrapolation of the periodic table would put element 169 unhexennium under ununennium Dirac-Fock calculations predict that the next element after ununennium with alkali-metal-like properties may be element 165 unhexpentium which is predicted to have the electron configuration 6g1 it returns to the alkali-metal-like situation of having one easily removed electron far above a closed p-shell in energy and is expected to be even more reactive than caesium.The probable properties of further alkali metals beyond unsepttrium have not been explored yet as of 2019, and they may or may not be able to exist. In periods 8 and above of the periodic table, relativistic and shell-structure effects become so strong that extrapolations from lighter congeners become completely inaccurate. In addition, the relativistic and shell-structure effects have opposite effects, causing even larger difference between relativistic and non-relativistic calculations of the properties of elements with such high atomic numbers. Interest in the chemical properties of ununennium, unhexpentium, and unsepttrium stems from the fact that they are located close to the expected locations of islands of stability, centered at elements 122 and 164 .Pseudo-alkali metals.Many other substances are similar to the alkali metals in their tendency to form monopositive cations. Analogously to the pseudohalogens, they have sometimes been called . These substances include some elements and many more polyatomic ions; the polyatomic ions are especially similar to the alkali metals in their large size and weak polarising power.The element hydrogen, with one electron per neutral atom, is usually placed at the top of Group 1 of the periodic table for convenience, but hydrogen is not normally considered to be an alkali metal; when it is considered to be an alkali metal, it is because of its atomic properties and not its chemical properties. Under typical conditions, pure hydrogen exists as a diatomic gas consisting of two atoms per molecule ; however, the alkali metals form diatomic molecules only at high temperatures, when they are in the gaseous state.Hydrogen, like the alkali metals, has one valence electron and reacts easily with the halogens, but the similarities mostly end there because of the small size of a bare proton H+ compared to the alkali metal cations. Its placement above lithium is primarily due to its electron configuration. It is sometimes placed above fluorine due to their similar chemical properties, though the resemblance is likewise not absolute.The first ionisation energy of hydrogen is much higher than that of the alkali metals. As only one additional electron is required to fill in the outermost shell of the hydrogen atom, hydrogen often behaves like a halogen, forming the negative hydride ion, and is very occasionally considered to be a halogen on that basis. An argument against this placement is that formation of hydride from hydrogen is endothermic, unlike the exothermic formation of halides from halogens. The radius of the H− anion also does not fit the trend of increasing size going down the halogens: indeed, H− is very diffuse because its single proton cannot easily control both electrons. It was expected for some time that liquid hydrogen would show metallic properties; while this has been shown to not be the case, under extremely high pressures, such as those found at the cores of Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen does become metallic and behaves like an alkali metal; in this phase, it is known as metallic hydrogen. The electrical resistivity of liquid metallic hydrogen at 3000 K is approximately equal to that of liquid rubidium and caesium at 2000 K at the respective pressures when they undergo a nonmetal-to-metal transition.The 1s1 electron configuration of hydrogen, while analogous to that of the alkali metals , is unique because there is no 1p subshell. Hence it can lose an electron to form the hydron H+, or gain one to form the hydride ion H−. In the former case it resembles superficially the alkali metals; in the latter case, the halogens, but the differences due to the lack of a 1p subshell are important enough that neither group fits the properties of hydrogen well. Group 14 is also a good fit in terms of thermodynamic properties such as ionisation energy and electron affinity, but hydrogen cannot be tetravalent. Thus none of the three placements are entirely satisfactory, although group 1 is the most common placement because the hydron is by far the most important of all monatomic hydrogen species, being the foundation of acid-base chemistry. As an example of hydrogens ability to form hydrogen bonds, which are an effect of charge-transfer, electrostatic, and electron correlative contributing phenomena. While analogous lithium bonds are also known, they are mostly electrostatic. Nevertheless, hydrogen can take on the same structural role as the alkali metals in some molecular crystals, and has a close relationship with the lightest alkali metals .Ammonium and derivatives.The ammonium ion has very similar properties to the heavier alkali metals acting as an alkali metal intermediate between potassium and rubidium and is often considered a close relative. For example most alkali metal salts are soluble in water a property which ammonium salts share. Ammonium is expected to behave stably as a metal at very high pressures and could possibly occur inside the ice giants Uranus and Neptune which may have significant impacts on their interior magnetic fields. It has been estimated that the transition from a mixture of ammonia and dihydrogen molecules to metallic ammonium may occur at pressures just below 25 GPa. Under standard conditions ammonium can form a metallic amalgam with mercury.Other include the alkylammonium cations in which some of the hydrogen atoms in the ammonium cation are replaced by alkyl or aryl groups. In particular the quaternary ammonium cations () are very useful since they are permanently charged and they are often used as an alternative to the expensive Cs+ to stabilise very large and very easily polarisable anions such as . Tetraalkylammonium hydroxides like alkali metal hydroxides are very strong bases that react with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form carbonates. Furthermore the nitrogen atom may be replaced by a phosphorus arsenic or antimony atom (the heavier nonmetallic pnictogens) creating a phosphonium () or arsonium () cation that can itself be substituted similarly while stibonium () itself is not known some of its organic derivatives are characterised.Cobaltocene and derivatives.Cobaltocene, Co2, is a metallocene, the cobalt analogue of ferrocene. It is a dark purple solid. Cobaltocene has 19 valence electrons, one more than usually found in organotransition metal complexes, such as its very stable relative, ferrocene, in accordance with the 18-electron rule. This additional electron occupies an orbital that is antibonding with respect to the Co–C bonds. Consequently, many chemical reactions of Co2 are characterized by its tendency to lose this "extra" electron, yielding a very stable 18-electron cation known as cobaltocenium. Many cobaltocenium salts coprecipitate with caesium salts, and cobaltocenium hydroxide is a strong base that absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide to form cobaltocenium carbonate. Like the alkali metals, cobaltocene is a strong reducing agent, and decamethylcobaltocene is stronger still due to the combined inductive effect of the ten methyl groups. Cobalt may be substituted by its heavier congener rhodium to give rhodocene, an even stronger reducing agent. Iridocene would presumably be still more potent, but is not very well-studied due to its instability.Thallium is the heaviest stable element in group 13 of the periodic table. At the bottom of the periodic table, the inert pair effect is quite strong, because of the relativistic stabilisation of the 6s orbital and the decreasing bond energy as the atoms increase in size so that the amount of energy released in forming two more bonds is not worth the high ionisation energies of the 6s electrons. It displays the +1 oxidation state that all the known alkali metals display, and thallium compounds with thallium in its +1 oxidation state closely resemble the corresponding potassium or silver compounds stoichiometrically due to the similar ionic radii of the Tl+ , K+ and Ag+ ions. It was sometimes considered an alkali metal in continental Europe in the years immediately following its discovery, and was placed just after caesium as the sixth alkali metal in Dmitri Mendeleev's 1869 periodic table and Julius Lothar Meyer's 1868 periodic table. However, thallium also displays the oxidation state +3, which no known alkali metal displays . The sixth alkali metal is now considered to be francium. While Tl+ is stabilised by the inert pair effect, this inert pair of 6s electrons is still able to participate chemically, so that these electrons are stereochemically active in aqueous solution. Additionally, the thallium halides are quite insoluble in water, and TlI has an unusual structure because of the presence of the stereochemically active inert pair in thallium.Copper, silver, and gold.The group 11 metals copper silver and gold are typically categorised as transition metals given they can form ions with incomplete d-shells. Physically they have the relatively low melting points and high electronegativity values associated with post-transition metals. "The filled "d" subshell and free "s" electron of Cu Ag and Au contribute to their high electrical and thermal conductivity. Transition metals to the left of group 11 experience interactions between "s" electrons and the partially filled "d" subshell that lower electron mobility." Chemically the group 11 metals behave like main-group metals in their +1 valence states and are hence somewhat related to the alkali metals this is one reason for their previously being labelled as "group IB" paralleling the alkali metals' "group IA". They are occasionally classified as post-transition metals. Their spectra are analogous to those of the alkali metals. Their monopositive ions are paramagnetic and contribute no colour to their salts like those of the alkali metals.In Mendeleevs main criterion for group assignment was the maximum oxidation state of an element: on that basis, the group 11 elements could not be classified in group IB, due to the existence of copper and gold compounds being known at that time. However, eliminating group IB would make group I the only main group to lack an A–B bifurcation. Soon afterward, a majority of chemists chose to classify these elements in group IB and remove them from group VIII for the resulting symmetry: this was the predominant classification until the rise of the modern medium-long 18-column periodic table, which separated the alkali metals and group 11 metals.The coinage metals were traditionally regarded as a subdivision of the alkali metal group due to them sharing the characteristic s1 electron configuration of the alkali metals . However the similarities are largely confined to the stoichiometries of the +1 compounds of both groups and not their chemical properties. This stems from the filled d subshell providing a much weaker shielding effect on the outermost s electron than the filled p subshell so that the coinage metals have much higher first ionisation energies and smaller ionic radii than do the corresponding alkali metals. Furthermore they have higher melting points hardnesses and densities and lower reactivities and solubilities in liquid ammonia as well as having more covalent character in their compounds. Finally the alkali metals are at the top of the electrochemical series whereas the coinage metals are almost at the very bottom. The coinage metals' filled d shell is much more easily disrupted than the alkali metals' filled p shell so that the second and third ionisation energies are lower enabling higher oxidation states than +1 and a richer coordination chemistry thus giving the group 11 metals clear transition metal character. Particularly noteworthy is gold forming ionic compounds with rubidium and caesium in which it forms the auride ion which also occurs in solvated form in liquid ammonia solution here gold behaves as a pseudohalogen because its 5d106s1 configuration has one electron less than the quasi-closed shell 5d106s2 configuration of mercury.Production and isolation.The production of pure alkali metals is somewhat complicated due to their extreme reactivity with commonly used substances, such as water. From their silicate ores, all the stable alkali metals may be obtained the same way: sulfuric acid is first used to dissolve the desired alkali metal ion and aluminium ions from the ore , whereupon basic precipitation removes aluminium ions from the mixture by precipitating it as the hydroxide. The remaining insoluble alkali metal carbonate is then precipitated selectively; the salt is then dissolved in hydrochloric acid to produce the chloride. The result is then left to evaporate and the alkali metal can then be isolated. Lithium and sodium are typically isolated through electrolysis from their liquid chlorides, with calcium chloride typically added to lower the melting point of the mixture. The heavier alkali metals, however, is more typically isolated in a different way, where a reducing agent is used to reduce the alkali metal chloride. The liquid or gaseous product then undergoes fractional distillation for purification. Most routes to the pure alkali metals require the use of electrolysis due to their high reactivity; one of the few which does not is the pyrolysis of the corresponding alkali metal azide, which yields the metal for sodium, potassium, rubidium, and caesium and the nitride for lithium.Lithium salts have to be extracted from the water of mineral springs brine pools and brine deposits. The metal is produced electrolytically from a mixture of fused lithium chloride and potassium chloride.Sodium occurs mostly in seawater and dried seabed but is now produced through electrolysis of sodium chloride by lowering the melting point of the substance to below 700 °C through the use of a Downs cell. Extremely pure sodium can be produced through the thermal decomposition of sodium azide. Potassium occurs in many minerals such as sylvite . Previously potassium was generally made from the electrolysis of potassium chloride or potassium hydroxide found extensively in places such as Canada Russia Belarus Germany Israel United States and Jordan in a method similar to how sodium was produced in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It can also be produced from seawater. However these methods are problematic because the potassium metal tends to dissolve in its molten chloride and vaporises significantly at the operating temperatures potentially forming the explosive superoxide. As a result pure potassium metal is now produced by reducing molten potassium chloride with sodium metal at 850 °C.Although sodium is less reactive than potassium, this process works because at such high temperatures potassium is more volatile than sodium and can easily be distilled off, so that the equilibrium shifts towards the right to produce more potassium gas and proceeds almost to completion.For several years in the 1950s and 1960s, a by-product of the potassium production called Alkarb was a main source for rubidium. Alkarb contained 21% rubidium while the rest was potassium and a small fraction of caesium. Today the largest producers of caesium, for example the Tanco Mine in Manitoba, Canada, produce rubidium as by-product from pollucite. Today, a common method for separating rubidium from potassium and caesium is the fractional crystallisation of a rubidium and caesium alum (Cs, Rb)Al(SO4)2·12H2O, which yields pure rubidium alum after approximately 30 recrystallisations. The limited applications and the lack of a mineral rich in rubidium limit the production of rubidium compounds to 2 to 4 tonnes per year. Caesium, however, is not produced from the above reaction. Instead, the mining of pollucite ore is the main method of obtaining pure caesium, extracted from the ore mainly by three methods: acid digestion, alkaline decomposition, and direct reduction. Both metals are produced as by-products of lithium production: after 1958, when interest in lithium's thermonuclear properties increased sharply, the production of rubidium and caesium also increased correspondingly. Pure rubidium and caesium metals are produced by reducing their chlorides with calcium metal at 750 °C and low pressure.As a result of its extreme rarity in nature, most francium is synthesised in the nuclear reaction 197Au + 18O → 210Fr + 5 n, yielding francium-209, francium-210, and francium-211. The greatest quantity of francium ever assembled to date is about 300,000 neutral atoms, which were synthesised using the nuclear reaction given above. When the only natural isotope francium-223 is specifically required, it is produced as the alpha daughter of actinium-227, itself produced synthetically from the neutron irradiation of natural radium-226, one of the daughters of natural uranium-238.Applications.Lithium sodium and potassium have many applications while rubidium and caesium are very useful in academic contexts but do not have many applications yet. Lithium is often used in lithium-ion batteries and lithium oxide can help process silica. Lithium stearate is a thickener and can be used to make lubricating greases it is produced from lithium hydroxide which is also used to absorb carbon dioxide in space capsules and submarines. Lithium chloride is used as a brazing alloy for aluminium parts. Metallic lithium is used in alloys with magnesium and aluminium to give very tough and light alloys.Sodium compounds have many applications the most well-known being sodium chloride as table salt. Sodium salts of fatty acids are used as soap. Pure sodium metal also has many applications including use in sodium-vapour lamps which produce very efficient light compared to other types of lighting and can help smooth the surface of other metals. Being a strong reducing agent it is often used to reduce many other metals such as titanium and zirconium from their chlorides. Furthermore it is very useful as a heat-exchange liquid in fast breeder nuclear reactors due to its low melting point viscosity and cross-section towards neutron absorption.Potassium compounds are often used as fertilisers as potassium is an important element for plant nutrition. Potassium hydroxide is a very strong base and is used to control the pH of various substances. Potassium nitrate and potassium permanganate are often used as powerful oxidising agents. Potassium superoxide is used in breathing masks as it reacts with carbon dioxide to give potassium carbonate and oxygen gas. Pure potassium metal is not often used but its alloys with sodium may substitute for pure sodium in fast breeder nuclear reactors.Rubidium and caesium are often used in atomic clocks. Caesium atomic clocks are extraordinarily accurate if a clock had been made at the time of the dinosaurs it would be off by less than four seconds . For that reason caesium atoms are used as the definition of the second. Rubidium ions are often used in purple fireworks and caesium is often used in drilling fluids in the petroleum industry.Francium has no commercial applications, but because of francium's relatively simple atomic structure, among other things, it has been used in spectroscopy experiments, leading to more information regarding energy levels and the coupling constants between subatomic particles. Studies on the light emitted by laser-trapped francium-210 ions have provided accurate data on transitions between atomic energy levels, similar to those predicted by quantum theory.Biological role and precautions.Pure alkali metals are dangerously reactive with air and water and must be kept away from heat, fire, oxidising agents, acids, most organic compounds, halocarbons, plastics, and moisture. They also react with carbon dioxide and carbon tetrachloride, so that normal fire extinguishers are counterproductive when used on alkali metal fires. Some Class D dry powder extinguishers designed for metal fires are effective, depriving the fire of oxygen and cooling the alkali metal.Experiments are usually conducted using only small quantities of a few grams in a fume hood. Small quantities of lithium may be disposed of by reaction with cool water but the heavier alkali metals should be dissolved in the less reactive isopropanol. The alkali metals must be stored under mineral oil or an inert atmosphere. The inert atmosphere used may be argon or nitrogen gas except for lithium which reacts with nitrogen. Rubidium and caesium must be kept away from air even under oil because even a small amount of air diffused into the oil may trigger formation of the dangerously explosive peroxide for the same reason potassium should not be stored under oil in an oxygen-containing atmosphere for longer than 6 months.The bioinorganic chemistry of the alkali metal ions has been extensively reviewed.Solid state crystal structures have been determined for many complexes of alkali metal ions in small peptides nucleic acid constituents carbohydrates and ionophore complexes.Lithium naturally only occurs in traces in biological systems and has no known biological role but does have effects on the body when ingested. Lithium carbonate is used as a mood stabiliser in psychiatry to treat bipolar disorder in daily doses of about 0.5 to 2 grams although there are side-effects. Excessive ingestion of lithium causes drowsiness slurred speech and vomiting among other symptoms and poisons the central nervous system which is dangerous as the required dosage of lithium to treat bipolar disorder is only slightly lower than the toxic dosage. Its biochemistry the way it is handled by the human body and studies using rats and goats suggest that it is an essential trace element although the natural biological function of lithium in humans has yet to be identified.Sodium and potassium occur in all known biological systems generally functioning as electrolytes inside and outside cells. Sodium is an essential nutrient that regulates blood volume blood pressure osmotic equilibrium and pH the minimum physiological requirement for sodium is 500 milligrams per day. Sodium chloride is the principal source of sodium in the diet and is used as seasoning and preservative such as for pickling and jerky most of it comes from processed foods. The Dietary Reference Intake for sodium is 1.5 grams per day but most people in the United States consume more than 2.3 grams per day the minimum amount that promotes hypertension this in turn causes 7.6 million premature deaths worldwide.Potassium is the major cation inside animal cells, while sodium is the major cation outside animal cells. The concentration differences of these charged particles causes a difference in electric potential between the inside and outside of cells, known as the membrane potential. The balance between potassium and sodium is maintained by ion transporter proteins in the cell membrane. The cell membrane potential created by potassium and sodium ions allows the cell to generate an action potential—a "spike" of electrical discharge. The ability of cells to produce electrical discharge is critical for body functions such as neurotransmission, muscle contraction, and heart function. Disruption of this balance may thus be fatal: for example, ingestion of large amounts of potassium compounds can lead to hyperkalemia strongly influencing the cardiovascular system. Potassium chloride is used in the United States for lethal injection executions.Due to their similar atomic radii, rubidium and caesium in the body mimic potassium and are taken up similarly. Rubidium has no known biological role, but may help stimulate metabolism, and, similarly to caesium, replace potassium in the body causing potassium deficiency. Partial substitution is quite possible and rather non-toxic: a 70 kg person contains on average 0.36 g of rubidium, and an increase in this value by 50 to 100 times did not show negative effects in test persons. Rats can survive up to 50% substitution of potassium by rubidium. Rubidium can function as temporary cures for hypokalemia; while rubidium can adequately physiologically substitute potassium in some systems, caesium is never able to do so. There is only very limited evidence in the form of deficiency symptoms for rubidium being possibly essential in goats; even if this is true, the trace amounts usually present in food are more than enough.Caesium compounds are rarely encountered by most people but most caesium compounds are mildly toxic. Like rubidium caesium tends to substitute potassium in the body but is significantly larger and is therefore a poorer substitute. Excess caesium can lead to hypokalemia arrythmia and acute cardiac arrest but such amounts would not ordinarily be encountered in natural sources. As such caesium is not a major chemical environmental pollutant. The median lethal dose value for caesium chloride in mice is 2.3 g per kilogram which is comparable to the LD50 values of potassium chloride and sodium chloride. Caesium chloride has been promoted as an alternative cancer therapy but has been linked to the deaths of over 50 patients on whom it was used as part of a scientifically unvalidated cancer treatment.Radioisotopes of caesium require special precautions the improper handling of caesium-137 gamma ray sources can lead to release of this radioisotope and radiation injuries. Perhaps the best-known case is the Goinia accident of 1987 in which an improperly-disposed-of radiation therapy system from an abandoned clinic in the city of Goinia Brazil was scavenged from a junkyard and the glowing caesium salt sold to curious uneducated buyers. This led to four deaths and serious injuries from radiation exposure. Together with caesium-134 iodine-131 and strontium-90 caesium-137 was among the isotopes distributed by the Chernobyl disaster which constitute the greatest risk to health. Radioisotopes of francium would presumably be dangerous as well due to their high decay energy and short half-life but none have been produced in large enough amounts to pose any serious risk.
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written symbols or graphemes that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllable, for instance, and logographic systems use characters to represent words, morphemes, or other semantic units.The first fully phonemic script the Proto-Canaanite script later known as the Phoenician alphabet is considered to be the first alphabet and is the ancestor of most modern alphabets including Arabic Cyrillic Greek Hebrew Latin and possibly Brahmic. It was created by Semitic-speaking workers and slaves in the Sinai Peninsula by selecting a small number of hieroglyphs commonly seen in their Egyptian surroundings to describe the sounds as opposed to the semantic values of their own Canaanite language. However Peter T. Daniels distinguishes an abugida or alphasyllabary a set of graphemes that represent consonantal base letters which diacritics modify to represent vowels an abjad in which letters predominantly or exclusively represent consonants and an "alphabet" a set of graphemes that represent both consonants and vowels. In this narrow sense of the word the first true alphabet was the Greek alphabet which was developed on the basis of the earlier Phoenician alphabet.Of the dozens of alphabets in use today, the most popular is the Latin alphabet, which was derived from the Greek, and which is now used by many languages world-wide, often with the addition of extra letters or diacritical marks. While most alphabets have letters composed of lines , there are also exceptions such as the alphabets used in Braille. The Khmer alphabet is the longest, with 74 letters.Alphabets are usually associated with a standard ordering of letters. This makes them useful for purposes of collation, specifically by allowing words to be sorted in alphabetical order. It also means that their letters can be used as an alternative method of "numbering" ordered items, in such contexts as numbered lists and number placements.The English word .Sometimes, like in the alphabet song in English, the term , in general, can be used as a metaphor for knowing the basics about anything.Ancient Northeast African and Middle Eastern scripts.The history of the alphabet started in ancient Egypt. Egyptian writing had a set of some 24 hieroglyphs that are called uniliterals to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant of their language plus a vowel to be supplied by the native speaker. These glyphs were used as pronunciation guides for logograms to write grammatical inflections and later to transcribe loan words and foreign names.In the Middle Bronze Age an apparently "alphabetic" system known as the Proto-Sinaitic script appears in Egyptian turquoise mines in the Sinai peninsula dated to circa the 15th century BC apparently left by Canaanite workers. In 1999 John and Deborah Darnell discovered an even earlier version of this first alphabet at Wadi el-Hol dated to circa 1800 BC and showing evidence of having been adapted from specific forms of Egyptian hieroglyphs that could be dated to circa 2000 BC strongly suggesting that the first alphabet had been developed about that time. Based on letter appearances and names it is believed to be based on Egyptian hieroglyphs. This script had no characters representing vowels although originally it probably was a syllabary but unneeded symbols were discarded. An alphabetic cuneiform script with 30 signs including three that indicate the following vowel was invented in Ugarit before the 15th century BC. This script was not used after the destruction of Ugarit.The Proto-Sinaitic script eventually developed into the Phoenician alphabet, which is conventionally called consonants are sometimes used to indicate the vowel quality of a syllable . These letters have a dual function since they are also used as pure consonants.The Proto-Sinaitic or Proto-Canaanite script and the Ugaritic script were the first scripts with a limited number of signs, in contrast to the other widely used writing systems at the time, Cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Linear B. The Phoenician script was probably the first phonemic script and it contained only about two dozen distinct letters, making it a script simple enough for common traders to learn. Another advantage of Phoenician was that it could be used to write down many different languages, since it recorded words phonemically.The script was spread by the Phoenicians across the Mediterranean. In Greece the script was modified to add vowels giving rise to the ancestor of all alphabets in the West. It was the first alphabet in which vowels have independent letter forms separate from those of consonants. The Greeks chose letters representing sounds that did not exist in Greek to represent vowels. Vowels are significant in the Greek language and the syllabical Linear B script that was used by the Mycenaean Greeks from the 16th century BC had 87 symbols including 5 vowels. In its early years there were many variants of the Greek alphabet a situation that caused many different alphabets to evolve from it.European alphabets.The Greek alphabet, in its Euboean form, was carried over by Greek colonists to the Italian peninsula, where it gave rise to a variety of alphabets used to write the Italic languages. One of these became the Latin alphabet, which was spread across Europe as the Romans expanded their empire. Even after the fall of the Roman state, the alphabet survived in intellectual and religious works. It eventually became used for the descendant languages of Latin and then for most of the other languages of western and central Europe.Some adaptations of the Latin alphabet are augmented with ligatures such as in Danish and Icelandic and in Algonquian by borrowings from other alphabets such as the thorn in Old English and Icelandic which came from the Futhark runes and by modifying existing letters such as the eth of Old English and Icelandic which is a modified "d". Other alphabets only use a subset of the Latin alphabet such as Hawaiian and Italian which uses the letters "j k x y" and "w" only in foreign words.Another notable script is Elder Futhark, which is believed to have evolved out of one of the Old Italic alphabets. Elder Futhark gave rise to a variety of alphabets known collectively as the Runic alphabets. The Runic alphabets were used for Germanic languages from AD 100 to the late Middle Ages. Its usage is mostly restricted to engravings on stone and jewelry, although inscriptions have also been found on bone and wood. These alphabets have since been replaced with the Latin alphabet, except for decorative usage for which the runes remained in use until the 20th century.The Old Hungarian script is a contemporary writing system of the Hungarians. It was in use during the entire history of Hungary, albeit not as an official writing system. From the 19th century it once again became more and more popular.The Glagolitic alphabet was the initial script of the liturgical language Old Church Slavonic and became together with the Greek uncial script the basis of the Cyrillic script. Cyrillic is one of the most widely used modern alphabetic scripts and is notable for its use in Slavic languages and also for other languages within the former Soviet Union. Cyrillic alphabets include the Serbian Macedonian Bulgarian Russian Belarusian and Ukrainian. The Glagolitic alphabet is believed to have been created by Saints Cyril and Methodius while the Cyrillic alphabet was invented by Clement of Ohrid who was their disciple. They feature many letters that appear to have been borrowed from or influenced by Greek and Hebrew.The longest European alphabet is the Latin-derived Slovak alphabet, which has 46 letters.Asian alphabets.Beyond the logographic Chinese writing many phonetic scripts are in existence in Asia. The Arabic alphabet Hebrew alphabet Syriac alphabet and other abjads of the Middle East are developments of the Aramaic alphabet.Most alphabetic scripts of India and Eastern Asia are descended from the Brahmi script, which is often believed to be a descendant of Aramaic.In Korea the Hangul alphabet was created by Sejong the Great. Hangul is a unique alphabet it is a featural alphabet where many of the letters are designed from a sound's place of articulation its design was planned by the government of the day and it places individual letters in syllable clusters with equal dimensions in the same way as Chinese characters to allow for mixed-script writing .Zhuyin is a semi-syllabary used to phonetically transcribe Mandarin Chinese in the Republic of China. After the later establishment of the People's Republic of China and its adoption of Hanyu Pinyin the use of Zhuyin today is limited but it is still widely used in Taiwan where the Republic of China still governs. Zhuyin developed out of a form of Chinese shorthand based on Chinese characters in the early 1900s and has elements of both an alphabet and a syllabary. Like an alphabet the phonemes of syllable initials are represented by individual symbols but like a syllabary the phonemes of the syllable finals are not rather each possible final is represented by its own symbol. For example . While Zhuyin is not used as a mainstream writing system it is still often used in ways similar to a romanization system—that is for aiding in pronunciation and as an input method for Chinese characters on computers and cellphones.European alphabets, especially Latin and Cyrillic, have been adapted for many languages of Asia. Arabic is also widely used, sometimes as an abjad and sometimes as a complete alphabet .The term alphabets from two other types of segmental script, abjads and abugidas. These three differ from each other in the way they treat vowels: abjads have letters for consonants and leave most vowels unexpressed; abugidas are also consonant-based, but indicate vowels with diacritics to or a systematic graphic modification of the consonants. In alphabets in the narrow sense, on the other hand, consonants and vowels are written as independent letters. The earliest known alphabet in the wider sense is the Wadi el-Hol script, believed to be an abjad, which through its successor Phoenician is the ancestor of modern alphabets, including Arabic, Greek, Latin , Cyrillic and Hebrew .Examples of present-day abjads are the Arabic and Hebrew scripts true alphabets include Latin Cyrillic and Korean hangul and abugidas are used to write Tigrinya Amharic Hindi and Thai. The Canadian Aboriginal syllabics are also an abugida rather than a syllabary as their name would imply since each glyph stands for a consonant that is modified by rotation to represent the following vowel. All three types may be augmented with syllabic glyphs. Ugaritic for example is basically an abjad but has syllabic letters for . (These are the only time vowels are indicated.) Cyrillic is basically a true alphabet but has syllabic letters for ( ) Coptic has a letter for . Devanagari is typically an abugida augmented with dedicated letters for initial vowels though some traditions use as a zero consonant as the graphic base for such vowels.The boundaries between the three types of segmental scripts are not always clear-cut. For example, Sorani Kurdish is written in the Arabic script, which is normally an abjad. However, in Kurdish, writing the vowels is mandatory, and full letters are used, so the script is a true alphabet. Other languages may use a Semitic abjad with mandatory vowel diacritics, effectively making them abugidas. On the other hand, the Phagspa script of the Mongol Empire was based closely on the Tibetan abugida, but all vowel marks were written after the preceding consonant rather than as diacritic marks. Although short "a" was not written, as in the Indic abugidas, one could argue that the linear arrangement made this a true alphabet. Conversely, the vowel marks of the Tigrinya abugida and the Amharic abugida have been so completely assimilated into their consonants that the modifications are no longer systematic and have to be learned as a syllabary rather than as a segmental script. Even more extreme, the Pahlavi abjad eventually became logographic. Thus the primary classification of alphabets reflects how they treat vowels. For tonal languages further classification can be based on their treatment of tone though names do not yet exist to distinguish the various types. Some alphabets disregard tone entirely especially when it does not carry a heavy functional load as in Somali and many other languages of Africa and the Americas. Such scripts are to tone what abjads are to vowels. Most commonly tones are indicated with diacritics the way vowels are treated in abugidas. This is the case for Vietnamese and Thai . In Thai tone is determined primarily by the choice of consonant with diacritics for disambiguation. In the Pollard script an abugida vowels are indicated by diacritics but the placement of the diacritic relative to the consonant is modified to indicate the tone. More rarely a script may have separate letters for tones as is the case for Hmong and Zhuang. For most of these scripts regardless of whether letters or diacritics are used the most common tone is not marked just as the most common vowel is not marked in Indic abugidas in Zhuyin not only is one of the tones unmarked but there is a diacritic to indicate lack of tone like the virama of Indic.The number of letters in an alphabet can be quite small. The Book Pahlavi script an abjad had only twelve letters at one point and may have had even fewer later on. Today the Rotokas alphabet has only twelve letters. While Rotokas has a small alphabet because it has few phonemes to represent Book Pahlavi was small because many letters had been "conflated"—that is the graphic distinctions had been lost over time and diacritics were not developed to compensate for this as they were in Arabic another script that lost many of its distinct letter shapes. For example a comma-shaped letter represented "g" "d" "y" "k" or "j". However such apparent simplifications can perversely make a script more complicated. In later Pahlavi papyri up to half of the remaining graphic distinctions of these twelve letters were lost and the script could no longer be read as a sequence of letters at all but instead each word had to be learned as a whole—that is they had become logograms as in Egyptian Demotic.The largest segmental script is probably an abugida, Devanagari. When written in Devanagari, Vedic Sanskrit has an alphabet of 53 letters, including the "visarga" mark for final aspiration and special letters for "k" and "j," though one of the letters is theoretical and not actually used. The Hindi alphabet must represent both Sanskrit and modern vocabulary, and so has been expanded to 58 with the "khutma" letters to represent sounds from Persian and English. Thai has a total of 59 symbols, consisting of 44 consonants, 13 vowels and 2 syllabics, not including 4 diacritics for tone marks and one for vowel length.The largest known abjad is Sindhi, with 51 letters. The largest alphabets in the narrow sense include Kabardian and Abkhaz , with 58 and 56 letters, respectively, and Slovak , with 46. However, these scripts either count di- and tri-graphs as separate letters, as Spanish did with "ch" and "ll" until recently, or uses diacritics like Slovak "".The Georgian alphabet is an alphabetic writing system. With 33 letters it is the largest true alphabet where each letter is graphically independent. The original Georgian alphabet had 38 letters but 5 letters were removed in the 19th century by Ilia Chavchavadze. The Georgian alphabet is much closer to Greek than the other Caucasian alphabets. The letter order parallels the Greek with the consonants without a Greek equivalent organized at the end of the alphabet. The origins of the alphabet are still unknown. Some Armenian and Western scholars believe it was created by Mesrop Mashtots also known as Mesrob the Vartabed who was an early medieval Armenian linguist theologian statesman and hymnologist best known for inventing the Armenian alphabet c. 405 AD other Georgian and Western scholars are against this theory. Most scholars link the creation of the Georgian script to the process of Christianization of Iberia a core Georgian kingdom of Kartli. The alphabet was therefore most probably created between the conversion of Iberia under King Mirian III and the Bir el Qutt inscriptions of 430 contemporaneously with the Armenian alphabet.Syllabaries typically contain 50 to 400 glyphs, and the glyphs of logographic systems typically number from the many hundreds into the thousands. Thus a simple count of the number of distinct symbols is an important clue to the nature of an unknown script.The Armenian alphabet ( ' or ') is a graphically unique alphabetical writing system that has been used to write the Armenian language. It was created in year 405 A.D. originally contained 36 letters. Two more letters (o) and (f) were added in the Middle Ages. During the 1920s orthography reform a new letter (capital ) was added which was a ligature before + while the letter was discarded and reintroduced as part of a new letter (which was a digraph before).The Armenian script's directionality is horizontal left-to-right like the Latin and Greek alphabets. It also uses bicameral script like those. The Armenian word for "alphabet" is "" named after the first two letters of the Armenian alphabet ayb and ben.Alphabetical order.Alphabets often come to be associated with a standard ordering of their letters, which can then be used for purposes of collation—namely for the listing of words and other items in what is called .The basic ordering of the Latin alphabet (AZ) which is derived from the Northwest Semitic and in 2010 the tenth congress of the Association of Spanish Language Academies changed it so they were no longer letters at all.In German words starting with and are not distinguished in the spoken language.The Danish and Norwegian alphabets end with at the end.It is unknown whether the earliest alphabets had a defined sequence. Some alphabets today, such as the Hanuno'o script, are learned one letter at a time, in no particular order, and are not used for collation where a definite order is required. However, a dozen Ugaritic tablets from the fourteenth century BC preserve the alphabet in two sequences. One, the was used in southern Arabia and is preserved today in Ethiopic. Both orders have therefore been stable for at least 3000 years.Runic used an unrelated Futhark sequence which was later simplified. Arabic uses its own sequence although Arabic retains the traditional abjadi order for numbering.The Brahmic family of alphabets used in India use a unique order based on phonology The letters are arranged according to how and where they are produced in the mouth. This organization is used in Southeast Asia Tibet Korean hangul and even Japanese kana which is not an alphabet.Names of letters.The Phoenician letter names in which each letter was associated with a word that begins with that sound continue to be used to varying degrees in Samaritan Aramaic Syriac Hebrew Greek and Arabic.The names were abandoned in Latin which instead referred to the letters by adding a vowel before or after the consonant the two exceptions were Y and Z which were borrowed from the Greek alphabet rather than Etruscan and were known as "Y Graeca" "Greek Y" and "zeta" —this discrepancy was inherited by many European languages as in the term "zed" for Z in all forms of English other than American English. Over time names sometimes shifted or were added as in "double U" for W the English name for Y and American "zee" for Z. Comparing names in English and French gives a clear reflection of the Great Vowel Shift A B C and D are pronounced in today's English but in contemporary French they are . The French names preserve the qualities of the English vowels from before the Great Vowel Shift. By contrast the names of F L M N and S remain the same in both languages because "short" vowels were largely unaffected by the Shift.In Cyrillic originally the letters were given names based on Slavic words this was later abandoned as well in favor of a system similar to that used in Latin.Letters of Armenian alphabet also have distinct letter names.Orthography and pronunciation.When an alphabet is adopted or developed to represent a given language, an orthography generally comes into being, providing rules for the spelling of words in that language. In accordance with the principle on which alphabets are based, these rules will generally map letters of the alphabet to the phonemes of the spoken language. In a perfectly phonemic orthography there would be a consistent one-to-one correspondence between the letters and the phonemes, so that a writer could predict the spelling of a word given its pronunciation, and a speaker would always know the pronunciation of a word given its spelling, and vice versa. However this ideal is not usually achieved in practice; some languages come close to it, while others deviate from it to a much larger degree.The pronunciation of a language often evolves independently of its writing system and writing systems have been borrowed for languages they were not designed for so the degree to which letters of an alphabet correspond to phonemes of a language varies greatly from one language to another and even within a single language.Languages may fail to achieve a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds in any of several waysNational languages sometimes elect to address the problem of dialects by simply associating the alphabet with the national standard. Some national languages like Finnish Armenian Turkish Russian Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian have a very regular spelling system with a nearly one-to-one correspondence between letters and phonemes. Strictly speaking these national languages lack a word corresponding to the verb is unknown to many Italians because spelling is usually trivial as Italian spelling is highly phonemic. In standard Spanish one can tell the pronunciation of a word from its spelling but not vice versa as certain phonemes can be represented in more than one way but a given letter is consistently pronounced. French with its silent letters and its heavy use of nasal vowels and elision may seem to lack much correspondence between spelling and pronunciation but its rules on pronunciation though complex are actually consistent and predictable with a fair degree of accuracy.At the other extreme are languages such as English where the pronunciations of many words simply have to be memorized as they do not correspond to the spelling in a consistent way. For English this is partly because the Great Vowel Shift occurred after the orthography was established and because English has acquired a large number of loanwords at different times retaining their original spelling at varying levels. Even English has general albeit complex rules that predict pronunciation from spelling and these rules are successful most of the time rules to predict spelling from the pronunciation have a higher failure rate.Sometimes, countries have the written language undergo a spelling reform to realign the writing with the contemporary spoken language. These can range from simple spelling changes and word forms to switching the entire writing system itself, as when Turkey switched from the Arabic alphabet to a Latin-based Turkish alphabet, and as when Kazakh changes from an Arabic script to a Cyrillic script due to the Soviet Union's influence, and in 2021, having a transition to the Latin alphabet, just like Turkish. The Cyrillic script used to be official in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan before they all switched to the Latin alphabets, including Uzbekistan that is having a reform of the alphabet to use diacritics on the letters that is marked by apostrophes and the letters that are digraphs.The standard system of symbols used by linguists to represent sounds in any language independently of orthography is called the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The atomic number or proton number of a chemical element is the number of protons found in the nucleus of every atom of that element. The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical element. It is identical to the charge number of the nucleus. In an uncharged atom, the atomic number is also equal to the number of electrons.The sum of the atomic number .Atoms with the same atomic number but different neutron numbers, and hence different mass numbers, are known as isotopes. A little more than three-quarters of naturally occurring elements exist as a mixture of isotopes , and the average isotopic mass of an isotopic mixture for an element in a defined environment on Earth, determines the element's standard atomic weight. Historically, it was these atomic weights of elements that were the quantities measurable by chemists in the 19th century.The conventional symbol "Z" comes from the German word "" 'number', which, before the modern synthesis of ideas from chemistry and physics, merely denoted an element's numerical place in the periodic table, whose order is approximately, but not completely, consistent with the order of the elements by atomic weights. Only after 1915, with the suggestion and evidence that this "Z" number was also the nuclear charge and a physical characteristic of atoms, did the word (and its English equivalent "atomic number") come into common use in this context.The periodic table and a natural number for each element.Loosely speaking the existence or construction of a periodic table of elements creates an ordering of the elements and so they can be numbered in order.Dmitri Mendeleev claimed that he arranged his first periodic tables in order of atomic weight . However in consideration of the elements' observed chemical properties he changed the order slightly and placed tellurium ahead of iodine . This placement is consistent with the modern practice of ordering the elements by proton number but that number was not known or suspected at the time.A simple numbering based on periodic table position was never entirely satisfactory however. Besides the case of iodine and tellurium later several other pairs of elements were known to have nearly identical or reversed atomic weights thus requiring their placement in the periodic table to be determined by their chemical properties. However the gradual identification of more and more chemically similar lanthanide elements whose atomic number was not obvious led to inconsistency and uncertainty in the periodic numbering of elements at least from lutetium onward .The Rutherford-Bohr model and van den Broek.In 1911 Ernest Rutherford gave a model of the atom in which a central nucleus held most of the atom's mass and a positive charge which in units of the electron's charge was to be approximately equal to half of the atom's atomic weight expressed in numbers of hydrogen atoms. This central charge would thus be approximately half the atomic weight the single element from which Rutherford made his guess). Nevertheless in spite of Rutherford's estimation that gold had a central charge of about 100 a month after Rutherford's paper appeared Antonius van den Broek first formally suggested that the central charge and number of electrons in an atom was "exactly" equal to its place in the periodic table . This proved eventually to be the case.Moseley's 1913 experiment.The experimental position improved dramatically after research by Henry Moseley in 1913. Moseley, after discussions with Bohr who was at the same lab , decided to test Van den Broek's and Bohr's hypothesis directly, by seeing if spectral lines emitted from excited atoms fitted the Bohr theory's postulation that the frequency of the spectral lines be proportional to the square of "Z".To do this, Moseley measured the wavelengths of the innermost photon transitions produced by the elements from aluminum to gold used as a series of movable anodic targets inside an x-ray tube. The square root of the frequency of these photons increased from one target to the next in an arithmetic progression. This led to the conclusion that the atomic number does closely correspond to the calculated electric charge of the nucleus, i.e. the element number "Z". Among other things, Moseley demonstrated that the lanthanide series must have 15 members—no fewer and no more—which was far from obvious from known chemistry at that time.Missing elements.After Moseley's death in 1915 the atomic numbers of all known elements from hydrogen to uranium were examined by his method. There were seven elements which were not found and therefore identified as still undiscovered corresponding to atomic numbers 43 61 72 75 85 87 and 91. From 1918 to 1947 all seven of these missing elements were discovered. By this time the first four transuranium elements had also been discovered so that the periodic table was complete with no gaps as far as curium .The proton and the idea of nuclear electrons.In 1915, the reason for nuclear charge being quantized in units of , which were now recognized to be the same as the element number, was not understood. An old idea called Prouts hypothesis were true, something had to be neutralizing some of the charge of the hydrogen nuclei present in the nuclei of heavier atoms.In 1917, Rutherford succeeded in generating hydrogen nuclei from a nuclear reaction between alpha particles and nitrogen gas, and believed he had proven Prout's law. He called the new heavy nuclear particles protons in 1920 . It had been immediately apparent from the work of Moseley that the nuclei of heavy atoms have more than twice as much mass as would be expected from their being made of hydrogen nuclei, and thus there was required a hypothesis for the neutralization of the extra protons presumed present in all heavy nuclei. A helium nucleus was presumed to be composed of four protons plus two "nuclear electrons" to cancel two of the charges. At the other end of the periodic table, a nucleus of gold with a mass 197 times that of hydrogen was thought to contain 118 nuclear electrons in the nucleus to give it a residual charge of +79, consistent with its atomic number.The discovery of the neutron makes the proton number.All consideration of nuclear electrons ended with James Chadwicks atomic number was also realized to be identical to the proton number of its nuclei.The symbol of "Z".The conventional symbol was used for an element's assigned number in the periodic table.Chemical properties.Each element has a specific set of chemical properties as a consequence of the number of electrons present in the neutral atom which is mixture of atoms with a given atomic number.New elements.The quest for new elements is usually described using atomic numbers. As of , all elements with atomic numbers 1 to 118 have been observed. Synthesis of new elements is accomplished by bombarding target atoms of heavy elements with ions, such that the sum of the atomic numbers of the target and ion elements equals the atomic number of the element being created. In general, the half-life of a nuclide becomes shorter as atomic number increases, though undiscovered nuclides with certain numbers of protons and neutrons may have relatively longer half-lives and comprise an island of stability.
Anatomy is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science which deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times. Anatomy is inherently tied to developmental biology, embryology, comparative anatomy, evolutionary biology, and phylogeny, as these are the processes by which anatomy is generated, both over immediate and long-term timescales. Anatomy and physiology, which study the structure and function of organisms and their parts respectively, make a natural pair of related disciplines, and are often studied together. Human anatomy is one of the essential basic sciences that are applied in medicine.The discipline of anatomy is divided into macroscopic and microscopic. Macroscopic anatomy or gross anatomy is the examination of an animal's body parts using unaided eyesight. Gross anatomy also includes the branch of superficial anatomy. Microscopic anatomy involves the use of optical instruments in the study of the tissues of various structures known as histology and also in the study of cells.The history of anatomy is characterized by a progressive understanding of the functions of the organs and structures of the human body. Methods have also improved dramatically advancing from the examination of animals by dissection of carcasses and cadavers to 20th century medical imaging techniques including X-ray ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging.Definition.Derived from the Greek (from ), anatomy is the scientific study of the structure of organisms including their systems, organs and tissues. It includes the appearance and position of the various parts, the materials from which they are composed, their locations and their relationships with other parts. Anatomy is quite distinct from physiology and biochemistry, which deal respectively with the functions of those parts and the chemical processes involved. For example, an anatomist is concerned with the shape, size, position, structure, blood supply and innervation of an organ such as the liver; while a physiologist is interested in the production of bile, the role of the liver in nutrition and the regulation of bodily functions.The discipline of anatomy can be subdivided into a number of branches including gross or macroscopic anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye and also includes superficial anatomy or surface anatomy the study by sight of the external body features. Microscopic anatomy is the study of structures on a microscopic scale along with histology and embryology .Anatomy can be studied using both invasive and non-invasive methods with the goal of obtaining information about the structure and organization of organs and systems. Methods used include dissection, in which a body is opened and its organs studied, and endoscopy, in which a video camera-equipped instrument is inserted through a small incision in the body wall and used to explore the internal organs and other structures. Angiography using X-rays or magnetic resonance angiography are methods to visualize blood vessels.The term "anatomy" is commonly taken to refer to human anatomy. However substantially the same structures and tissues are found throughout the rest of the animal kingdom and the term also includes the anatomy of other animals. The term "zootomy" is also sometimes used to specifically refer to non-human animals. The structure and tissues of plants are of a dissimilar nature and they are studied in plant anatomy.Animal tissues.The kingdom Animalia contains multicellular organisms that are heterotrophic and motile . Most animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues and these animals are also known as eumetazoans. They have an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings; the gametes are produced in multicellular sex organs, and the zygotes include a blastula stage in their embryonic development. Metazoans do not include the sponges, which have undifferentiated cells.Unlike plant cells, animal cells have neither a cell wall nor chloroplasts. Vacuoles, when present, are more in number and much smaller than those in the plant cell. The body tissues are composed of numerous types of cell, including those found in muscles, nerves and skin. Each typically has a cell membrane formed of phospholipids, cytoplasm and a nucleus. All of the different cells of an animal are derived from the embryonic germ layers. Those simpler invertebrates which are formed from two germ layers of ectoderm and endoderm are called diploblastic and the more developed animals whose structures and organs are formed from three germ layers are called triploblastic. All of a triploblastic animal's tissues and organs are derived from the three germ layers of the embryo, the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm.Animal tissues can be grouped into four basic types: connective, epithelial, muscle and nervous tissue.Connective tissue.Connective tissues are fibrous and made up of cells scattered among inorganic material called the extracellular matrix. Connective tissue gives shape to organs and holds them in place. The main types are loose connective tissue adipose tissue fibrous connective tissue cartilage and bone. The extracellular matrix contains proteins the chief and most abundant of which is collagen. Collagen plays a major part in organizing and maintaining tissues. The matrix can be modified to form a skeleton to support or protect the body. An exoskeleton is a thickened rigid cuticle which is stiffened by mineralization as in crustaceans or by the cross-linking of its proteins as in insects. An endoskeleton is internal and present in all developed animals as well as in many of those less developed.Epithelium.Epithelial tissue is composed of closely packed cells bound to each other by cell adhesion molecules with little intercellular space. Epithelial cells can be squamous cuboidal or columnar and rest on a basal lamina the upper layer of the basement membrane the lower layer is the reticular lamina lying next to the connective tissue in the extracellular matrix secreted by the epithelial cells. There are many different types of epithelium modified to suit a particular function. In the respiratory tract there is a type of ciliated epithelial lining in the small intestine there are microvilli on the epithelial lining and in the large intestine there are intestinal villi. Skin consists of an outer layer of keratinized stratified squamous epithelium that covers the exterior of the vertebrate body. Keratinocytes make up to 95% of the cells in the skin. The epithelial cells on the external surface of the body typically secrete an extracellular matrix in the form of a cuticle. In simple animals this may just be a coat of glycoproteins. In more advanced animals many glands are formed of epithelial cells.Muscle tissue.Muscle cells form the active contractile tissue of the body. Muscle tissue functions to produce force and cause motion, either locomotion or movement within internal organs. Muscle is formed of contractile filaments and is separated into three main types; smooth muscle, skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle. Smooth muscle has no striations when examined microscopically. It contracts slowly but maintains contractibility over a wide range of stretch lengths. It is found in such organs as sea anemone tentacles and the body wall of sea cucumbers. Skeletal muscle contracts rapidly but has a limited range of extension. It is found in the movement of appendages and jaws. Obliquely striated muscle is intermediate between the other two. The filaments are staggered and this is the type of muscle found in earthworms that can extend slowly or make rapid contractions. In higher animals striated muscles occur in bundles attached to bone to provide movement and are often arranged in antagonistic sets. Smooth muscle is found in the walls of the uterus, bladder, intestines, stomach, oesophagus, respiratory airways, and blood vessels. Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart, allowing it to contract and pump blood round the body.Nervous tissue.Nervous tissue is composed of many nerve cells known as neurons which transmit information. In some slow-moving radially symmetrical marine animals such as ctenophores and cnidarians , the nerves form a nerve net, but in most animals they are organized longitudinally into bundles. In simple animals, receptor neurons in the body wall cause a local reaction to a stimulus. In more complex animals, specialized receptor cells such as chemoreceptors and photoreceptors are found in groups and send messages along neural networks to other parts of the organism. Neurons can be connected together in ganglia. In higher animals, specialized receptors are the basis of sense organs and there is a central nervous system and a peripheral nervous system. The latter consists of sensory nerves that transmit information from sense organs and motor nerves that influence target organs. The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system which conveys sensation and controls voluntary muscle, and the autonomic nervous system which involuntarily controls smooth muscle, certain glands and internal organs, including the stomach.Vertebrate anatomy.All vertebrates have a similar basic body plan and at some point in their lives mostly in the embryonic stage share the major chordate characteristics a stiffening rod the notochord a dorsal hollow tube of nervous material the neural tube pharyngeal arches and a tail posterior to the anus. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebral column and is above the notochord and the gastrointestinal tract is below it. Nervous tissue is derived from the ectoderm connective tissues are derived from mesoderm and gut is derived from the endoderm. At the posterior end is a tail which continues the spinal cord and vertebrae but not the gut. The mouth is found at the anterior end of the animal and the anus at the base of the tail. The defining characteristic of a vertebrate is the vertebral column formed in the development of the segmented series of vertebrae. In most vertebrates the notochord becomes the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs. However a few vertebrates such as the sturgeon and the coelacanth retain the notochord into adulthood. Jawed vertebrates are typified by paired appendages fins or legs which may be secondarily lost. The limbs of vertebrates are considered to be homologous because the same underlying skeletal structure was inherited from their last common ancestor. This is one of the arguments put forward by Charles Darwin to support his theory of evolution.Fish anatomy.The body of a fish is divided into a head, trunk and tail, although the divisions between the three are not always externally visible. The skeleton, which forms the support structure inside the fish, is either made of cartilage, in cartilaginous fish, or bone in bony fish. The main skeletal element is the vertebral column, composed of articulating vertebrae which are lightweight yet strong. The ribs attach to the spine and there are no limbs or limb girdles. The main external features of the fish, the fins, are composed of either bony or soft spines called rays, which with the exception of the caudal fins, have no direct connection with the spine. They are supported by the muscles which compose the main part of the trunk. The heart has two chambers and pumps the blood through the respiratory surfaces of the gills and on round the body in a single circulatory loop. The eyes are adapted for seeing underwater and have only local vision. There is an inner ear but no external or middle ear. Low frequency vibrations are detected by the lateral line system of sense organs that run along the length of the sides of fish, and these respond to nearby movements and to changes in water pressure.Sharks and rays are basal fish with numerous primitive anatomical features similar to those of ancient fish, including skeletons composed of cartilage. Their bodies tend to be dorso-ventrally flattened, they usually have five pairs of gill slits and a large mouth set on the underside of the head. The dermis is covered with separate dermal placoid scales. They have a cloaca into which the urinary and genital passages open, but not a swim bladder. Cartilaginous fish produce a small number of large, yolky eggs. Some species are ovoviviparous and the young develop internally but others are oviparous and the larvae develop externally in egg cases.The bony fish lineage shows more derived anatomical traits often with major evolutionary changes from the features of ancient fish. They have a bony skeleton are generally laterally flattened have five pairs of gills protected by an operculum and a mouth at or near the tip of the snout. The dermis is covered with overlapping scales. Bony fish have a swim bladder which helps them maintain a constant depth in the water column but not a cloaca. They mostly spawn a large number of small eggs with little yolk which they broadcast into the water column.Amphibian anatomy.Amphibians are a class of animals comprising frogs salamanders and caecilians. They are tetrapods but the caecilians and a few species of salamander have either no limbs or their limbs are much reduced in size. Their main bones are hollow and lightweight and are fully ossified and the vertebrae interlock with each other and have articular processes. Their ribs are usually short and may be fused to the vertebrae. Their skulls are mostly broad and short and are often incompletely ossified. Their skin contains little keratin and lacks scales but contains many mucous glands and in some species poison glands. The hearts of amphibians have three chambers two atria and one ventricle. They have a urinary bladder and nitrogenous waste products are excreted primarily as urea. Amphibians breathe by means of buccal pumping a pump action in which air is first drawn into the buccopharyngeal region through the nostrils. These are then closed and the air is forced into the lungs by contraction of the throat. They supplement this with gas exchange through the skin which needs to be kept moist.In frogs the pelvic girdle is robust and the hind legs are much longer and stronger than the forelimbs. The feet have four or five digits and the toes are often webbed for swimming or have suction pads for climbing. Frogs have large eyes and no tail. Salamanders resemble lizards in appearance; their short legs project sideways, the belly is close to or in contact with the ground and they have a long tail. Caecilians superficially resemble earthworms and are limbless. They burrow by means of zones of muscle contractions which move along the body and they swim by undulating their body from side to side.Reptile anatomy.Reptiles are a class of animals comprising turtles tuataras lizards snakes and crocodiles. They are tetrapods but the snakes and a few species of lizard either have no limbs or their limbs are much reduced in size. Their bones are better ossified and their skeletons stronger than those of amphibians. The teeth are conical and mostly uniform in size. The surface cells of the epidermis are modified into horny scales which create a waterproof layer. Reptiles are unable to use their skin for respiration as do amphibians and have a more efficient respiratory system drawing air into their lungs by expanding their chest walls. The heart resembles that of the amphibian but there is a septum which more completely separates the oxygenated and deoxygenated bloodstreams. The reproductive system has evolved for internal fertilization with a copulatory organ present in most species. The eggs are surrounded by amniotic membranes which prevents them from drying out and are laid on land or develop internally in some species. The bladder is small as nitrogenous waste is excreted as uric acid.Turtles are notable for their protective shells. They have an inflexible trunk encased in a horny carapace above and a plastron below. These are formed from bony plates embedded in the dermis which are overlain by horny ones and are partially fused with the ribs and spine. The neck is long and flexible and the head and the legs can be drawn back inside the shell. Turtles are vegetarians and the typical reptile teeth have been replaced by sharp, horny plates. In aquatic species, the front legs are modified into flippers.Tuataras superficially resemble lizards but the lineages diverged in the Triassic period. There is one living species . The skull has two openings on either side and the jaw is rigidly attached to the skull. There is one row of teeth in the lower jaw and this fits between the two rows in the upper jaw when the animal chews. The teeth are merely projections of bony material from the jaw and eventually wear down. The brain and heart are more primitive than those of other reptiles and the lungs have a single chamber and lack bronchi. The tuatara has a well-developed parietal eye on its forehead.Lizards have skulls with only one fenestra on each side the lower bar of bone below the second fenestra having been lost. This results in the jaws being less rigidly attached which allows the mouth to open wider. Lizards are mostly quadrupeds with the trunk held off the ground by short sideways-facing legs but a few species have no limbs and resemble snakes. Lizards have moveable eyelids eardrums are present and some species have a central parietal eye.Snakes are closely related to lizards having branched off from a common ancestral lineage during the Cretaceous period and they share many of the same features. The skeleton consists of a skull a hyoid bone spine and ribs though a few species retain a vestige of the pelvis and rear limbs in the form of pelvic spurs. The bar under the second fenestra has also been lost and the jaws have extreme flexibility allowing the snake to swallow its prey whole. Snakes lack moveable eyelids the eyes being covered by transparent scales. They do not have eardrums but can detect ground vibrations through the bones of their skull. Their forked tongues are used as organs of taste and smell and some species have sensory pits on their heads enabling them to locate warm-blooded prey.Crocodilians are large, low-slung aquatic reptiles with long snouts and large numbers of teeth. The head and trunk are dorso-ventrally flattened and the tail is laterally compressed. It undulates from side to side to force the animal through the water when swimming. The tough keratinized scales provide body armour and some are fused to the skull. The nostrils, eyes and ears are elevated above the top of the flat head enabling them to remain above the surface of the water when the animal is floating. Valves seal the nostrils and ears when it is submerged. Unlike other reptiles, crocodilians have hearts with four chambers allowing complete separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.Bird anatomy.Birds are tetrapods but though their hind limbs are used for walking or hopping, their front limbs are wings covered with feathers and adapted for flight. Birds are endothermic, have a high metabolic rate, a light skeletal system and powerful muscles. The long bones are thin, hollow and very light. Air sac extensions from the lungs occupy the centre of some bones. The sternum is wide and usually has a keel and the caudal vertebrae are fused. There are no teeth and the narrow jaws are adapted into a horn-covered beak. The eyes are relatively large, particularly in nocturnal species such as owls. They face forwards in predators and sideways in ducks.The feathers are outgrowths of the epidermis and are found in localized bands from where they fan out over the skin. Large flight feathers are found on the wings and tail, contour feathers cover the bird's surface and fine down occurs on young birds and under the contour feathers of water birds. The only cutaneous gland is the single uropygial gland near the base of the tail. This produces an oily secretion that waterproofs the feathers when the bird preens. There are scales on the legs, feet and claws on the tips of the toes.Mammal anatomy.Mammals are a diverse class of animals, mostly terrestrial but some are aquatic and others have evolved flapping or gliding flight. They mostly have four limbs but some aquatic mammals have no limbs or limbs modified into fins and the forelimbs of bats are modified into wings. The legs of most mammals are situated below the trunk, which is held well clear of the ground. The bones of mammals are well ossified and their teeth, which are usually differentiated, are coated in a layer of prismatic enamel. The teeth are shed once (milk teeth) during the animal's lifetime or not at all, as is the case in cetaceans. Mammals have three bones in the middle ear and a cochlea in the inner ear. They are clothed in hair and their skin contains glands which secrete sweat. Some of these glands are specialized as mammary glands, producing milk to feed the young. Mammals breathe with lungs and have a muscular diaphragm separating the thorax from the abdomen which helps them draw air into the lungs. The mammalian heart has four chambers and oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are kept entirely separate. Nitrogenous waste is excreted primarily as urea.Mammals are amniotes and most are viviparous giving birth to live young. The exception to this are the egg-laying monotremes the platypus and the echidnas of Australia. Most other mammals have a placenta through which the developing foetus obtains nourishment but in marsupials the foetal stage is very short and the immature young is born and finds its way to its mother's pouch where it latches on to a nipple and completes its development.Human anatomy.Humans have the overall body plan of a mammal. Humans have a head neck trunk two arms and hands and two legs and feet.Generally students of certain biological sciences paramedics prosthetists and orthotists physiotherapists occupational therapists nurses podiatrists and medical students learn gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy from anatomical models skeletons textbooks diagrams photographs lectures and tutorials and in addition medical students generally also learn gross anatomy through practical experience of dissection and inspection of cadavers. The study of microscopic anatomy can be aided by practical experience examining histological preparations under a microscope.Human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are complementary basic medical sciences, which are generally taught to medical students in their first year at medical school. Human anatomy can be taught regionally or systemically; that is, respectively, studying anatomy by bodily regions such as the head and chest, or studying by specific systems, such as the nervous or respiratory systems. The major anatomy textbook, Gray's Anatomy, has been reorganized from a systems format to a regional format, in line with modern teaching methods. A thorough working knowledge of anatomy is required by physicians, especially surgeons and doctors working in some diagnostic specialties, such as histopathology and radiology.Academic anatomists are usually employed by universities medical schools or teaching hospitals. They are often involved in teaching anatomy and research into certain systems organs tissues or cells.Invertebrate anatomy.Invertebrates constitute a vast array of living organisms ranging from the simplest unicellular eukaryotes such as to such complex multicellular animals as the octopus lobster and dragonfly. They constitute about 95% of the animal species. By definition none of these creatures has a backbone. The cells of single-cell protozoans have the same basic structure as those of multicellular animals but some parts are specialized into the equivalent of tissues and organs. Locomotion is often provided by cilia or flagella or may proceed via the advance of pseudopodia food may be gathered by phagocytosis energy needs may be supplied by photosynthesis and the cell may be supported by an endoskeleton or an exoskeleton. Some protozoans can form multicellular colonies.Metazoans are a multicellular organism, with different groups of cells serving different functions. The most basic types of metazoan tissues are epithelium and connective tissue, both of which are present in nearly all invertebrates. The outer surface of the epidermis is normally formed of epithelial cells and secretes an extracellular matrix which provides support to the organism. An endoskeleton derived from the mesoderm is present in echinoderms, sponges and some cephalopods. Exoskeletons are derived from the epidermis and is composed of chitin in arthropods . Calcium carbonate constitutes the shells of molluscs, brachiopods and some tube-building polychaete worms and silica forms the exoskeleton of the microscopic diatoms and radiolaria. Other invertebrates may have no rigid structures but the epidermis may secrete a variety of surface coatings such as the pinacoderm of sponges, the gelatinous cuticle of cnidarians and the collagenous cuticle of annelids. The outer epithelial layer may include cells of several types including sensory cells, gland cells and stinging cells. There may also be protrusions such as microvilli, cilia, bristles, spines and tubercles.Marcello Malpighi the father of microscopical anatomy discovered that plants had tubules similar to those he saw in insects like the silk worm. He observed that when a ring-like portion of bark was removed on a trunk a swelling occurred in the tissues above the ring and he unmistakably interpreted this as growth stimulated by food coming down from the leaves and being captured above the ring.Arthropod anatomy.Arthropods comprise the largest phylum in the animal kingdom with over a million known invertebrate species.Insects possess segmented bodies supported by a hard-jointed outer covering, the exoskeleton, made mostly of chitin. The segments of the body are organized into three distinct parts, a head, a thorax and an abdomen. The head typically bears a pair of sensory antennae, a pair of compound eyes, one to three simple eyes and three sets of modified appendages that form the mouthparts. The thorax has three pairs of segmented legs, one pair each for the three segments that compose the thorax and one or two pairs of wings. The abdomen is composed of eleven segments, some of which may be fused and houses the digestive, respiratory, excretory and reproductive systems. There is considerable variation between species and many adaptations to the body parts, especially wings, legs, antennae and mouthparts.Spiders a class of arachnids have four pairs of legs a body of two segments—a cephalothorax and an abdomen. Spiders have no wings and no antennae. They have mouthparts called chelicerae which are often connected to venom glands as most spiders are venomous. They have a second pair of appendages called pedipalps attached to the cephalothorax. These have similar segmentation to the legs and function as taste and smell organs. At the end of each male pedipalp is a spoon-shaped cymbium that acts to support the copulatory organ.In 1600 BCE, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Ancient Egyptian medical text, described the heart, its vessels, liver, spleen, kidneys, hypothalamus, uterus and bladder, and showed the blood vessels diverging from the heart. The Ebers Papyrus features a "treatise on the heart", with vessels carrying all the body's fluids to or from every member of the body.Ancient Greek anatomy and physiology underwent great changes and advances throughout the early medieval world. Over time this medical practice expanded by a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body. Phenomenal anatomical observations of the human body were made which have contributed towards the understanding of the brain eye liver reproductive organs and the nervous system.The Hellenistic Egyptian city of Alexandria was the stepping-stone for Greek anatomy and physiology. Alexandria not only housed the biggest library for medical records and books of the liberal arts in the world during the time of the Greeks, but was also home to many medical practitioners and philosophers. Great patronage of the arts and sciences from the Ptolemy rulers helped raise Alexandria up, further rivalling the cultural and scientific achievements of other Greek states.Some of the most striking advances in early anatomy and physiology took place in Hellenistic Alexandria. Two of the most famous anatomists and physiologists of the third century were Herophilus and Erasistratus. These two physicians helped pioneer human dissection for medical research. They also conducted vivisections on the cadavers of condemned criminals, which was considered taboo until the Renaissance—Herophilus was recognized as the first person to perform systematic dissections. Herophilus became known for his anatomical works making impressing contributions to many branches of anatomy and many other aspects of medicine. Some of the works included classifying the system of the pulse, the discovery that human arteries had thicker walls than veins, and that the atria were parts of the heart. Herophilus's knowledge of the human body has provided vital input towards understanding the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs and nervous system, and characterizing the course of disease. Erasistratus accurately described the structure of the brain, including the cavities and membranes, and made a distinction between its cerebrum and cerebellum During his study in Alexandria, Erasistratus was particularly concerned with studies of the circulatory and nervous systems. He was able to distinguish the sensory and the motor nerves in the human body and believed that air entered the lungs and heart, which was then carried throughout the body. His distinction between the arteries and veins—the arteries carrying the air through the body, while the veins carried the blood from the heart was a great anatomical discovery. Erasistratus was also responsible for naming and describing the function of the epiglottis and the valves of the heart, including the tricuspid. During the third century, Greek physicians were able to differentiate nerves from blood vessels and tendons and to realize that the nerves convey neural impulses. It was Herophilus who made the point that damage to motor nerves induced paralysis. Herophilus named the meninges and ventricles in the brain, appreciated the division between cerebellum and cerebrum and recognized that the brain was the "seat of intellect" and not a "cooling chamber" as propounded by Aristotle Herophilus is also credited with describing the optic, oculomotor, motor division of the trigeminal, facial, vestibulocochlear and hypoglossal nerves.Great feats were made during the third century BCE in both the digestive and reproductive systems. Herophilus was able to discover and describe not only the salivary glands but the small intestine and liver. He showed that the uterus is a hollow organ and described the ovaries and uterine tubes. He recognized that spermatozoa were produced by the testes and was the first to identify the prostate gland.The anatomy of the muscles and skeleton is described in the "Hippocratic Corpus" an Ancient Greek medical work written by unknown authors. Aristotle described vertebrate anatomy based on animal dissection. Praxagoras identified the difference between arteries and veins. Also in the 4th century BCE Herophilos and Erasistratus produced more accurate anatomical descriptions based on vivisection of criminals in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic dynasty.In the 2nd century, Galen of Pergamum, an anatomist, clinician, writer and philosopher, wrote the final and highly influential anatomy treatise of ancient times. He compiled existing knowledge and studied anatomy through dissection of animals. He was one of the first experimental physiologists through his vivisection experiments on animals. Galen's drawings, based mostly on dog anatomy, became effectively the only anatomical textbook for the next thousand years. His work was known to Renaissance doctors only through Islamic Golden Age medicine until it was translated from the Greek some time in the 15th century.Medieval to early modern.Anatomy developed little from classical times until the sixteenth century as the historian Marie Boas writes of 1316 was the first textbook in the medieval rediscovery of human anatomy. It describes the body in the order followed in Mondino's dissections starting with the abdomen then the thorax then the head and limbs. It was the standard anatomy textbook for the next century.Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was trained in anatomy by Andrea del Verrocchio. He made use of his anatomical knowledge in his artwork, making many sketches of skeletal structures, muscles and organs of humans and other vertebrates that he dissected.Andreas Vesalius professor of anatomy at the University of Padua is considered the founder of modern human anatomy. Originally from Brabant Vesalius published the influential book a large format book in seven volumes in 1543. The accurate and intricately detailed illustrations often in allegorical poses against Italianate landscapes are thought to have been made by the artist Jan van Calcar a pupil of Titian.In England anatomy was the subject of the first public lectures given in any science these were given by the Company of Barbers and Surgeons in the 16th century joined in 1583 by the Lumleian lectures in surgery at the Royal College of Physicians.Late modern.In the United States, medical schools began to be set up towards the end of the 18th century. Classes in anatomy needed a continual stream of cadavers for dissection and these were difficult to obtain. Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York were all renowned for body snatching activity as criminals raided graveyards at night, removing newly buried corpses from their coffins. A similar problem existed in Britain where demand for bodies became so great that grave-raiding and even anatomy murder were practised to obtain cadavers. Some graveyards were in consequence protected with watchtowers. The practice was halted in Britain by the Anatomy Act of 1832, while in the United States, similar legislation was enacted after the physician William S. Forbes of Jefferson Medical College was found guilty in 1882 of .The teaching of anatomy in Britain was transformed by Sir John Struthers, Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Aberdeen from 1863 to 1889. He was responsible for setting up the system of three years of "pre-clinical" academic teaching in the sciences underlying medicine, including especially anatomy. This system lasted until the reform of medical training in 1993 and 2003. As well as teaching, he collected many vertebrate skeletons for his museum of comparative anatomy, published over 70 research papers, and became famous for his public dissection of the Tay Whale. From 1822 the Royal College of Surgeons regulated the teaching of anatomy in medical schools. Medical museums provided examples in comparative anatomy, and were often used in teaching. Ignaz Semmelweis investigated puerperal fever and he discovered how it was caused. He noticed that the frequently fatal fever occurred more often in mothers examined by medical students than by midwives. The students went from the dissecting room to the hospital ward and examined women in childbirth. Semmelweis showed that when the trainees washed their hands in chlorinated lime before each clinical examination, the incidence of puerperal fever among the mothers could be reduced dramatically.Before the modern medical era, the main means for studying the internal structures of the body were dissection of the dead and inspection, palpation and auscultation of the living. It was the advent of microscopy that opened up an understanding of the building blocks that constituted living tissues. Technical advances in the development of achromatic lenses increased the resolving power of the microscope and around 1839, Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann identified that cells were the fundamental unit of organization of all living things. Study of small structures involved passing light through them and the microtome was invented to provide sufficiently thin slices of tissue to examine. Staining techniques using artificial dyes were established to help distinguish between different types of tissue. Advances in the fields of histology and cytology began in the late 19th century along with advances in surgical techniques allowing for the painless and safe removal of biopsy specimens. The invention of the electron microscope brought a great advance in resolution power and allowed research into the ultrastructure of cells and the organelles and other structures within them. About the same time, in the 1950s, the use of X-ray diffraction for studying the crystal structures of proteins, nucleic acids and other biological molecules gave rise to a new field of molecular anatomy.Equally important advances have occurred in "non-invasive" techniques for examining the interior structures of the body. X-rays can be passed through the body and used in medical radiography and fluoroscopy to differentiate interior structures that have varying degrees of opaqueness. Magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and ultrasound imaging have all enabled examination of internal structures in unprecedented detail to a degree far beyond the imagination of earlier generations.
Affirming the consequent sometimes called converse error fallacy of the converse or confusion of necessity and sufficiency is a formal fallacy of taking a true conditional statement and invalidly inferring its converse even though the converse may not be true. This arises when a consequent has more than one possible antecedent .Converse errors are common in everyday thinking and communication and can result from, among other causes, communication issues, misconceptions about logic, and failure to consider other causes.The opposite statement denying the consequent "is" a valid form of argument.Formal description.Affirming the consequent is the action of taking a true statement formula_1 and invalidly concluding its converse formula_2. The name "affirming the consequent" derives from using the consequent "Q" of formula_1 to conclude the antecedent "P". This illogic can be summarized formally as formula_4 or alternatively formula_5.The root cause of such a logic error is sometimes failure to realize that just because may follow from another condition as well.Affirming the consequent can also result from overgeneralizing the experience of many statements "having" true converses. If "P" and "Q" are "equivalent" statements, i.e. formula_6, it "is" possible to infer "P" under the condition "Q". For example, the statements "It is August 13, so it is my birthday" formula_1 and "It is my birthday, so it is August 13" formula_2 are equivalent and both true consequences of the statement "August 13 is my birthday" . Using one statement to conclude the other is "not" an example of affirming the consequent, but some people may misapply the approach.Additional examples.One way to demonstrate the invalidity of this argument form is with a counterexample with true premises but an obviously false conclusion. For exampleOwning Fort Knox is not the way to be rich. Any number of other ways to be rich exist.However, one can affirm with certainty that "if someone is not rich" , then "this person does not own Fort Knox" . This is the contrapositive of the first statement, and it must be true if and only if the original statement is true.Here is another useful obviously-fallacious example but one that does not require familiarity with who Bill Gates is and what Fort Knox isHere it is immediately intuitive that any number of other antecedents can give rise to the consequent and that it is preposterous to suppose that having four legs imply that the animal is a dog and nothing else. This is useful as a teaching example since most people can immediately recognize that the conclusion reached must be wrong and that the method by which it was reached must therefore be fallacious.Arguments of the same form can sometimes seem superficially convincing as in the following exampleBeing thrown off the top of the Eiffel Tower is not the cause of death, since there exist numerous different causes of death.Affirming the consequent is commonly used in rationalization, and thus appears as a coping mechanism in some people.In "Catch-22" the chaplain is interrogated for supposedly being "Washington Irving"/"Irving Washington" who has been blocking out large portions of soldiers' letters home. The colonel has found such a letter but with the Chaplain's name signed.
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and film theorist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in Russian and world cinema. His films explored spiritual and metaphysical themes, and are noted for their slow pacing and long takes, dreamlike visual imagery, and preoccupation with nature and memory.Tarkovsky studied film at Moscow's VGIK under filmmaker Mikhail Romm and subsequently directed his first five features in the Soviet Union . He died of cancer later that year.Tarkovsky was the recipient of several awards at the Cannes Film Festival throughout his career (including the FIPRESCI prize the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Grand Prix Spcial du Jury) and winner of the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival for his debut film "Ivan's Childhood". In 1990 he was posthumously awarded the Soviet Union's prestigious Lenin Prize. Three of his films—"Andrei Rublev" "Mirror" and "Stalker"—featured in "Sight &amp Sound"'s 2012 poll of the 100 greatest films of all time.Life and career.Childhood and early life.Andrei Tarkovsky was born in the village of Zavrazhye in the Yuryevetsky District of the Ivanovo Industrial Oblast to the poet and translator Arseny Alexandrovich Tarkovsky, a native of Yelisavetgrad, Kherson Governorate, and Maria Ivanova Vishnyakova, a graduate of the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute who later worked as a corrector; she was born in Moscow in the Dubasov family estate.Andreis maternal grandmother Vera Nikolaevna Vishnyakova belonged to an old Dubasov family of Russian nobility that traces its history back to the 17th century; among her relatives was Admiral Fyodor Dubasov, a fact she had to conceal during the Soviet days. She was married to Ivan Ivanovich Vishnyakov, a native of the Kaluga Governorate who studied law at the Moscow State University and served as a judge in Kozelsk.According to the family legend Tarkovskys side were princes from the Shamkhalate of Tarki Dagestan although his sister Marina Tarkovskaya who did a detailed research on their genealogy called it stressing that none of the documents confirms this version.Tarkovsky spent his childhood in Yuryevets. He was described by childhood friends as active and popular, having many friends and being typically in the center of action. His father left the family in 1937, subsequently volunteering for the army in 1941. He returned home in 1943, having been awarded a Red Star after being shot in one of his legs (which he would eventually need to amputate due to gangrene). Tarkovsky stayed with his mother, moving with her and his sister Marina to Moscow, where she worked as a proofreader at a printing press.In 1939 Tarkovsky enrolled at the Moscow School No. 554. During the war the three evacuated to Yuryevets living with his maternal grandmother. In 1943 the family returned to Moscow. Tarkovsky continued his studies at his old school where the poet Andrei Voznesensky was one of his classmates. He studied piano at a music school and attended classes at an art school. The family lived on Shchipok Street in the Zamoskvorechye District in Moscow. From November 1947 to spring 1948 he was in the hospital with tuberculosis. Many themes of his childhood—the evacuation his mother and her two children the withdrawn father the time in the hospital—feature prominently in his film .In his school years, Tarkovsky was a troublemaker and a poor student. He still managed to graduate, and from 1951 to 1952 studied Arabic at the Oriental Institute in Moscow, a branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. Although he already spoke some Arabic and was a successful student in his first semesters, he did not finish his studies and dropped out to work as a prospector for the Academy of Science Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. He participated in a year-long research expedition to the river Kureyka near Turukhansk in the Krasnoyarsk Province. During this time in the taiga, Tarkovsky decided to study film.Film school student.Upon returning from the research expedition in 1954, Tarkovsky applied at the State Institute of Cinematography and was admitted to the film-directing program. He was in the same class as Irma Raush whom he married in April 1957.The early Khrushchev era offered good opportunities for young film directors. Before 1953 annual film production was low and most films were directed by veteran directors. After 1953 more films were produced many of them by young directors. The Khrushchev Thaw relaxed Soviet social restrictions a bit and permitted a limited influx of European and North American literature films and music. This allowed Tarkovsky to see films of the Italian neorealists French New Wave and of directors such as Kurosawa Buuel Bergman Bresson Wajda (whose film "Ashes and Diamonds" influenced Tarkovsky) and Mizoguchi.Tarkovsky's teacher and mentor was Mikhail Romm, who taught many film students who would later become influential film directors. In 1956 Tarkovsky directed his first student short film, "The Killers", from a short story of Ernest Hemingway. The longer television film "There Will Be No Leave Today" followed in 1959. Both films were a collaboration between the VGIK students. Classmate Aleksandr Gordon, who married Tarkovsky's sister, in particular directed, wrote, edited, and acted in the two films with Tarkovsky.An important influence on Tarkovsky was the film director Grigory Chukhray, who was teaching at the VGIK. Impressed by the talent of his student, Chukhray offered Tarkovsky a position as assistant director for his film "Clear Skies". Tarkovsky initially showed interest but then decided to concentrate on his studies and his own projects.During his third year at the VGIK, Tarkovsky met Andrei Konchalovsky. They found much in common as they liked the same film directors and shared ideas on cinema and films. In 1959 they wrote the script , which they sold to Mosfilm. This became Tarkovsky's graduation project, earning him his diploma in 1960 and winning First Prize at the New York Student Film Festival in 1961.Film career in the Soviet Union.Tarkovsky's first feature film was "Ivan's Childhood" in 1962. He had inherited the film from director Eduard Abalov who had to abort the project. The film earned Tarkovsky international acclaim and won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in the year 1962. In the same year on 30 September his first son Arseny Tarkovsky was born.In 1965, he directed the film was not, except for a single screening in Moscow in 1966, immediately released after completion due to problems with Soviet authorities. Tarkovsky had to cut the film several times, resulting in several different versions of varying lengths. The film was widely released in the Soviet Union in a cut version in 1971. Nevertheless, the film had a budget of more than 1 million rubles – a significant sum for that period. A version of the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969 and won the FIPRESCI prize.He divorced his wife Irina in June 1970. In the same year he married Larisa Kizilova who had been a production assistant for the film . Their son Andrei Andreyevich Tarkovsky was born in the same year on 7 August.In 1972 he completed "Solaris" an adaptation of the novel "Solaris" by Stanisaw Lem. He had worked on this together with screenwriter Friedrich Gorenstein as early as 1968. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival won the Grand Prix Spcial du Jury and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.From 1973 to 1974, he shot the film "Mirror", a highly autobiographical and unconventionally structured film drawing on his childhood and incorporating some of his father's poems. In this film Tarkovsky portrayed the plight of childhood affected by war. Tarkovsky had worked on the screenplay for this film since 1967, under the consecutive titles "Confession", "White day" and "A white, white day". From the beginning the film was not well received by Soviet authorities due to its content and its perceived elitist nature. Soviet authorities placed the film in the "third category", a severely limited distribution, and only allowed it to be shown in third-class cinemas and workers' clubs. Few prints were made and the film-makers received no returns. Third category films also placed the film-makers in danger of being accused of wasting public funds, which could have serious effects on their future productivity. These difficulties are presumed to have made Tarkovsky play with the idea of going abroad and producing a film outside the Soviet film industry.During 1975, Tarkovsky also worked on the screenplay "Hoffmanniana", about the German writer and poet E. T. A. Hoffmann. In December 1976, he directed "Hamlet", his only stage play, at the Lenkom Theatre in Moscow. The main role was played by Anatoly Solonitsyn, who also acted in several of Tarkovsky's films. At the end of 1978, he also wrote the screenplay "Sardor" together with the writer Aleksandr Misharin.The last film Tarkovsky completed in the Soviet Union was "Stalker" inspired by the novel "Roadside Picnic" by the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Tarkovsky had met the brothers first in 1971 and was in contact with them until his death in 1986. Initially he wanted to shoot a film based on their novel "Dead Mountaineer's Hotel" and he developed a raw script. Influenced by a discussion with Arkady Strugatsky he changed his plan and began to work on the script based on "Roadside Picnic". Work on this film began in 1976. The production was mired in troubles improper development of the negatives had ruined all the exterior shots. Tarkovsky's relationship with cinematographer Georgy Rerberg deteriorated to the point where he hired Alexander Knyazhinsky as a new first cinematographer. Furthermore Tarkovsky suffered a heart attack in April 1978 resulting in further delay. The film was completed in 1979 and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. In a question and answer session at the Edinburgh Filmhouse on 11 February 1981 Tarkovsky trenchantly rejected suggestions that the film was either impenetrably mysterious or a political allegory.In 1979 Tarkovsky began production of the film "The First Day" based on a script by his friend and long-term collaborator Andrei Konchalovsky. The film was set in 18th-century Russia during the reign of Peter the Great and starred Natalya Bondarchuk and Anatoli Papanov. To get the project approved by Goskino Tarkovsky submitted a script that was different from the original script omitting several scenes that were critical of the official atheism in the Soviet Union. After shooting roughly half of the film the project was stopped by Goskino after it became apparent that the film differed from the script submitted to the censors. Tarkovsky was reportedly infuriated by this interruption and destroyed most of the film.Film career outside the Soviet Union.During the summer of 1979 Tarkovsky traveled to Italy where he shot the documentary . During this period he took Polaroid photographs depicting his personal life.Tarkovsky returned to Italy in 1982 to start shooting "Nostalghia" but Mosfilm then withdrew from the project so he sought and received financial backing from the Italian RAI. Tarkovsky completed the film in 1983 and it was presented at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Tarkovsky also shared a special prize called "Grand Prix du cinma de creation" with Robert Bresson. Soviet authorities lobbied to prevent the film from winning the Palme d'Or a fact that hardened Tarkovsky's resolve to never work in the Soviet Union again. After Cannes he went to London to stage and choreograph the opera "Boris Godunov" at the Royal Opera House under the musical direction of Claudio Abbado.At a press conference in Milan on 10 July 1984 he announced that he would never return to the Soviet Union and would remain in Western Europe. He stated "I am not a Soviet dissident I have no conflict with the Soviet Government" but if he returned home he added "I would be unemployed." At that time his son Andriosha was still in the Soviet Union and not allowed to leave the country. On 28 August 1985 Tarkovsky was processed as a Soviet Defector at a refugee camp in Latina Italy registered with the serial number 13225/379 and officially welcomed to the West.Tarkovsky spent most of 1984 preparing the film . It was finally shot in 1985 in Sweden, with many of the crew being alumni from Ingmar Bergmans style.While in a particularly poignant scene writer/director Michal Leszczylowski follows Tarkovsky on a walk as he expresses his sentiments on death — he claims himself to be immortal and has no fear of dying. Ironically at the end of the year Tarkovsky was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In January 1986 he began treatment in Paris and was joined there by his son Andre Jr who was finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union. What would be Tarkovsky's final film was dedicated to him. was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Grand Prix Spcial du Jury, the FIPRESCI prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. As Tarkovsky was unable to attend due to his illness, the prizes were collected by his son.In Tarkovsky's last entry , he wrote: and were published posthumously in 1989 and in English in 1991.Tarkovsky died in Paris on 29 December 1986. His funeral ceremony was held at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. He was buried on 3 January 1987 in the Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Genevive-des-Bois in France. The inscription on his gravestone which was erected in 1994 was conceived by Tarkovsky's wife Larisa reads . Larisa died in 1998 and is buried beside her husband.A conspiracy theory emerged in Russia in the early 1990s when it was alleged that Tarkovsky did not die of natural causes but was assassinated by the KGB. Evidence for this hypothesis includes testimonies by former KGB agents who claim that Viktor Chebrikov gave the order to eradicate Tarkovsky to curtail what the Soviet government and the KGB saw as anti-Soviet propaganda by Tarkovsky. Other evidence includes several memoranda that surfaced after the 1991 coup and the claim by one of Tarkovsky's doctors that his cancer could not have developed from a natural cause.As with Tarkovsky his wife Larisa and actor Anatoly Solonitsyn all died from the very same type of lung cancer. Vladimir Sharun sound designer in is convinced that they were all poisoned by the chemical plant where they were shooting the film.Influences.Tarkovsky became a film director during the mid and late 1950s, a period referred to as the Khrushchev Thaw, during which Soviet society opened to foreign films, literature and music, among other things. This allowed Tarkovsky to see films of European, American and Japanese directors, an experience that influenced his own film making. His teacher and mentor at the film school, Mikhail Romm, allowed his students considerable freedom and emphasized the independence of the film director.Tarkovsky was according to fellow student Shavkat Abdusalmov fascinated by Japanese films. He was amazed by how every character on the screen is exceptional and how everyday events such as a Samurai cutting bread with his sword are elevated to something special and put into the limelight. Tarkovsky has also expressed interest in the art of Haiku and its ability to create "images in such a way that they mean nothing beyond themselves".Tarkovsky was also a deeply religious Orthodox Christian who believed great art should have a higher spiritual purpose. He was a perfectionist not given to humor or humility his signature style was ponderous and literary having many characters that pondered over religious themes and issues regarding faith.Tarkovsky perceived that the art of cinema has only been truly mastered by very few filmmakers stating in a 1970 interview with Naum Abramov that by Hiroshi Teshigahara. Among his favorite directors were Buuel Mizoguchi Bergman Bresson Kurosawa Michelangelo Antonioni Jean Vigo and Carl Theodor Dreyer.With the exception of Andrei Tarkovsky was not a fan of science fiction, largely dismissing it for its , but was nevertheless impressed by the film.Cinematic style.In a 1962 interview, Tarkovsky argued: "All art, of course, is intellectual, but for me, all the arts, and cinema even more so, must above all be emotional and act upon the heart." His films are characterized by metaphysical themes, extremely long takes, and images often considered by critics to be of exceptional beauty. Recurring motifs are dreams, memory, childhood, running water accompanied by fire, rain indoors, reflections, levitation, and characters re-appearing in the foreground of long panning movements of the camera. He once said: "Juxtaposing a person with an environment that is boundless, collating him with a countless number of people passing by close to him and far away, relating a person to the whole world, that is the meaning of cinema."Tarkovsky incorporated levitation scenes into several of his films most notably . To him these scenes possess great power and are used for their photogenic value and magical inexplicability. Water clouds and reflections were used by him for their surreal beauty and photogenic value as well as their symbolism such as waves or the forms of brooks or running water. Bells and candles are also frequent symbols. These are symbols of film sight and sound and Tarkovsky's film frequently has themes of self-reflection.Tarkovsky developed a theory of cinema that he called "sculpting in time". By this he meant that the unique characteristic of cinema as a medium was to take our experience of time and alter it. Unedited movie footage transcribes time in real time. By using long takes and few cuts in his films, he aimed to give the viewers a sense of time passing, time lost, and the relationship of one moment in time to another.Up to, and including, his film , he announced that he would focus his work on exploring the dramatic unities proposed by Aristotle: a concentrated action, happening in one place, within the span of a single day.Several of Tarkovsky's films have color or black-and-white sequences. This first occurs in the otherwise monochrome "Andrei Rublev", which features a color epilogue of Rublev's authentic religious icon paintings. All of his films afterwards contain monochrome, and in "Stalker's" case sepia sequences, while otherwise being in color. In 1966, in an interview conducted shortly after finishing "Andrei Rublev", Tarkovsky dismissed color film as a "commercial gimmick" and cast doubt on the idea that contemporary films meaningfully use color. He claimed that in everyday life one does not consciously notice colors most of the time, and that color should therefore be used in film mainly to emphasize certain moments, but not all the time, as this distracts the viewer. To him, films in color were like moving paintings or photographs, which are too beautiful to be a realistic depiction of life.Bergman on Tarkovsky.Ingmar Bergman a renowned director commented on TarkovskyContrarily, however, Bergman conceded the truth in the claim made by a critic who wrote that "with "Autumn Sonata" Bergman does Bergman", adding: "Tarkovsky began to make Tarkovsky films, and that Fellini began to make Fellini films Buuel nearly always made Buuel films." This pastiche of one's own work has been derogatorily termed as "self-karaoke".Vadim Yusov.Tarkovsky worked in close collaboration with cinematographer Vadim Yusov from 1958 to 1972, and much of the visual style of Tarkovsky's films can be attributed to this collaboration. Tarkovsky would spend two days preparing for Yusov to film a single long take, and due to the preparation, usually only a single take was needed.Sven Nykvist.In his last film Tarkovsky worked with cinematographer Sven Nykvist who had worked on many films with director Ingmar Bergman. Nykvist complained that Tarkovsky would frequently look through the camera and even direct actors through it but ultimately stated that choosing to work with Tarkovsky was one of the best choices he had ever made.Personal life.Film scholars Vita T. Johnson and Graham Petrie, in "" , wrote that Tarkovsky was bisexual and speculated more controversially that he was also ephebophilic. Noting that Tarkovsky's favorite hair color was red, they argue that his work portrays female sexuality negatively except in the case of a sexually precocious red-haired child in "Mirror" who is also played by his own red-haired step-daughter. Film teacher David Pratt criticized the evidence given for the theory as insufficient. Dina Iordanova likewise found the claim on bisexuality too undeveloped. Donato Totaro, however, took this claim seriously and said that "perhaps the authors were 'protecting' their source, given that homosexuality is still a taboo subject in Russia."Filmography.Tarkovsky is mainly known as a film director. During his career he directed seven feature films, as well as three shorts from his time at VGIK. His features are:He also wrote several screenplays. Furthermore he directed the play "Hamlet" for the stage in Moscow directed the opera "Boris Godunov" in London and he directed a radio production of the short story "Turnabout" by William Faulkner. He also wrote "Sculpting in Time" a book on film theory.Tarkovskys screenplay without being involved in it becomes a mere illustrator resulting in dead and monotonous films.Published books.A book of 60 photos, , taken by Tarkovsky in Russia and Italy between 1979 and 1984 was published in 2006. The collection was selected by Italian photographer Giovanni Chiaramonte and Tarkovsky's son Andrey A. Tarkovsky.Unproduced screenplays."Concentrate".Concentrate is a never-filmed 1958 screenplay by Tarkovsky. The screenplay is based on Tarkovsky's year in the taiga as a member of a research expedition prior to his enrollment in film school. It's about the leader of a geological expedition who waits for the boat that brings back the concentrates collected by the expedition. The expedition is surrounded by mystery and its purpose is a state secret.Although some authors claim that the screenplay was filmed, according to Marina Tarkovskaya, Tarkovsky's sister the screenplay was never filmed. Tarkovsky wrote the screenplay during his entrance examination at the State Institute of Cinematography in a single sitting. He earned the highest possible grade, by Marina Tarkovskaya and Aleksandr Gordon."Hoffmanniana".Hoffmanniana () is a never-filmed 1974 screenplay by Tarkovsky. The screenplay is based on the life and work of German author E. T. A. Hoffmann. In 1974 an acquaintance from Tallinnfilm approached Tarkovsky to write a screenplay on a German theme. Tarkovsky considered Thomas Mann and E. T. A. Hoffmann, and also thought about Ibsen's "Peer Gynt". In the end Tarkovsky signed a contract for a script based on the life and work of Hoffmann. He planned to write the script during the summer of 1974 at his dacha. Writing was not without difficulty, less than a month before the deadline he had not written a single page. He finally finished the project in late 1974 and submitted the final script to Tallinnfilm in October.Although the script was well received by the officials at Tallinnfilm it was the consensus that no one but Tarkovsky would be able to direct it. The script was sent to Goskino in February 1976 and although approval was granted for proceeding with making the film the screenplay was never realized. In 1984 during the time of his exile in the West Tarkovsky revisited the screenplay and made a few changes. He also considered to finally direct a film based on the screenplay but ultimately dropped this idea.Awards and commemoration.Numerous awards were bestowed on Tarkovsky throughout his lifetime.Under the influence of Glasnost and Perestroika Tarkovsky was finally recognized in the Soviet Union in the Autumn of 1986 shortly before his death by a retrospective of his films in Moscow. After his death an entire issue of the film magazine "Iskusstvo Kino" was devoted to Tarkovsky. In their obituaries the film committee of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union and the Union of Soviet Film Makers expressed their sorrow that Tarkovsky had to spend the last years of his life in exile.Posthumously he was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1990 one of the highest state honors in the Soviet Union. In 1989 the "Andrei Tarkovsky Memorial Prize" was established with its first recipient being the Russian animator Yuri Norstein. In three consecutive events the Moscow International Film Festival awarded the "Andrei Tarkovsky Award" in 1993 1995 and 1997.In 1996 the Andrei Tarkovsky Museum opened in Yuryevets, his childhood town. A minor planet, 3345 Tarkovskij, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina in 1982, has been named after him.Tarkovsky has been the subject of several documentaries. Most notable is the 1988 documentary as an homage to Andrei Tarkovsky in 2000.At the entrance to the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, there is a monument that includes statues of Tarkovsky, Gennady Shpalikov and Vasily Shukshin.Reception and influence on others.Andrei Tarkovsky and his works have received praise from many filmmakers critics and thinkers.The Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman was quoted as saying .The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa remarked on Tarkovsky's films as saying "His unusual sensitivity is both overwhelming and astounding. It almost reaches a pathological intensity. Probably there is no equal among film directors alive now." Kurosawa also commented "I love all of Tarkovsky's films. I love his personality and all his works. Every cut from his films is a marvelous image in itself. But the finished image is nothing more than the imperfect accomplishment of his idea. His ideas are only realized in part. And he had to make do with it."The Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami remarked that: "Tarkovsky's works separate me completely from physical life, and are the most spiritual films I have seen".The Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kielowski commented that "Andrei Tarkovsky was one of the greatest directors of recent years" and regarded Tarkovsky's film Ivan's Childhood as an influence on his own work.The Armenian filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov remarked that watching Tarkovsky's film, "Ivan's Childhood" was his main inspiration to become a filmmaker by saying: "I did not know how to do anything and I would not have done anything if there had not been "Ivan's Childhood"".The Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke voted for directors' poll and later said that he has seen the picture at least 25 times.The German filmmaker Wim Wenders dedicated his film to Tarkovsky .The French filmmaker Chris Marker directed a documentary film as a homage to Tarkovsky called One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich and used Tarkovsky's concept of "The Zone" for his film, Sans Soleil.The Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos regarded Tarkokvsky's film as one of the films that influenced him.The Greek-Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas was as one his favorite films.The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre highly praised Tarkovsky's film "Ivan's Childhood" saying that it was one of the most beautiful films he had ever seen.The Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Oshii, known for his works such as Ghost in the Shell was influenced by Tarkovsky.The Indian-born British American novelist Salman Rushdie praised Tarkovsky and his work "Solaris" by calling it a "a sci-fi masterpiece".Film historian Steven Dillon says that much of subsequent film was deeply influenced by the films of Tarkovsky.Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzlez Iarritu is a huge fan of Tarkovsky. He once said in an interview: "Andrei Rublev is maybe my favorite film ever", and in another interview, he added: "I remember, the first time I saw a Tarkovsky film, I was shocked by it. I did not know what to do. I was shocked by it. I was fascinated, because suddenly I realized that film could have so many more layers to it than what I had imagined before". There are many direct references and hidden tributes to Tarkovsky's movies in Iarritu's drama The Revenant.Danish film director Lars von Trier is a fervent admirer of Tarkovsky's. He dedicated his film Antichrist to him, and, while discussing it with critic David Jenkins, asked: “Have you seen Mirror? I was hypnotised! I’ve seen it 20 times. It’s the closest thing I’ve got to a religion – to me he is a god".References.Bibliography
Ambiguity is a type of meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It is thus an attribute of any idea or statement whose intended meaning cannot be definitively resolved according to a rule or process with a finite number of steps. The concept of ambiguity is generally contrasted with vagueness. In ambiguity, specific and distinct interpretations are permitted , whereas with information that is vague, it is difficult to form any interpretation at the desired level of specificity.Linguistic forms.Lexical ambiguity is contrasted with semantic ambiguity. The former represents a choice between a finite number of known and meaningful context-dependent interpretations. The latter represents a choice between any number of possible interpretations, none of which may have a standard agreed-upon meaning. This form of ambiguity is closely related to vagueness.Linguistic ambiguity can be a problem in law, because the interpretation of written documents and oral agreements is often of paramount importance.Lexical ambiguity.The lexical ambiguity of a word or phrase pertains to its having more than one meaning in the language to which the word belongs. . This could mean one actually spoke to the apothecary or went to the apothecary .The context in which an ambiguous word is used often makes it evident which of the meanings is intended. If for instance someone says "I buried $100 in the bank" most people would not think someone used a shovel to dig in the mud. However some linguistic contexts do not provide sufficient information to disambiguate a used word.Lexical ambiguity can be addressed by algorithmic methods that automatically associate the appropriate meaning with a word in context a task referred to as word sense disambiguation.The use of multi-defined words requires the author or speaker to clarify their context and sometimes elaborate on their specific intended meaning (in which case a less ambiguous term should have been used). The goal of clear concise communication is that the receiver(s) have no misunderstanding about what was meant to be conveyed. An exception to this could include a politician whose "weasel words" and obfuscation are necessary to gain support from multiple constituents with mutually exclusive conflicting desires from their candidate of choice. Ambiguity is a powerful tool of political science.More problematic are words whose senses express closely related concepts. is not clear about which sense is intended. The various ways to apply prefixes and suffixes can also create ambiguity .Semantic and syntactic ambiguity.Semantic ambiguity occurs when a word phrase or sentence taken out of context has more than one interpretation. In "We saw her duck" (example due to Richard Nordquist) the words "her duck" can refer eitherSyntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can have two different meanings because of the structure of the sentence—its syntax. This is often due to a modifying expression, such as a prepositional phrase, the application of which is unclear. "He ate the cookies on the couch", for example, could mean that he ate those cookies that were on the couch , or it could mean that he was sitting on the couch when he ate the cookies. "To get in, you will need an entrance fee of $10 or your voucher and your drivers' license." This could mean that you need EITHER ten dollars OR BOTH your voucher and your license. Or it could mean that you need your license AND you need EITHER ten dollars OR a voucher. Only rewriting the sentence, or placing appropriate punctuation can resolve a syntactic ambiguity.For the notion of, and theoretic results about, syntactic ambiguity in artificial, formal languages (such as computer programming languages), see Ambiguous grammar.Usually semantic and syntactic ambiguity go hand in hand. The sentence "We saw her duck" is also syntactically ambiguous. Conversely a sentence like "He ate the cookies on the couch" is also semantically ambiguous. Rarely but occasionally the different parsings of a syntactically ambiguous phrase result in the same meaning. For example the command "Cook cook!" can be parsed as "Cook cook !" but also as "Cook cook !". It is more common that a syntactically unambiguous phrase has a semantic ambiguity for example the lexical ambiguity in "Your boss is a funny man" is purely semantic leading to the response "Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?"Spoken language can contain many more types of ambiguities which are called phonological ambiguities, where there is more than one way to compose a set of sounds into words. For example, . Such ambiguity is generally resolved according to the context. A mishearing of such, based on incorrectly resolved ambiguity, is called a mondegreen.Metonymy involves referring to one entity by the name of a different but closely related entity (for example, using to refer to the stock exchanges located on that street or even the entire US financial sector). In the modern vocabulary of critical semiotics, metonymy encompasses any potentially ambiguous word substitution that is based on contextual contiguity (located close together), or a function or process that an object performs, such as to refer to a nice car. Metonym miscommunication is considered a primary mechanism of linguistic humor.Philosophy.Philosophers spend a lot of time and effort searching for and removing ambiguity in arguments because it can lead to incorrect conclusions and can be used to deliberately conceal bad arguments. For example, a politician might say, "I oppose taxes which hinder economic growth", an example of a glittering generality. Some will think they oppose taxes in general because they hinder economic growth. Others may think they oppose only those taxes that they believe will hinder economic growth. In writing, the sentence can be rewritten to reduce possible misinterpretation, either by adding a comma after "taxes" or by changing "which" to "that" or by rewriting it in other ways. The devious politician hopes that each constituent will interpret the statement in the most desirable way, and think the politician supports everyone's opinion. However, the opposite can also be true—an opponent can turn a positive statement into a bad one if the speaker uses ambiguity . The logical fallacies of amphiboly and equivocation rely heavily on the use of ambiguous words and phrases.In continental philosophy there is much greater tolerance of ambiguity as it is generally seen as an integral part of the human condition. Martin Heidegger argued that the relation between the subject and object is ambiguous as is the relation of mind and body and part and whole. In Heidegger and balancing tension rather than seeking a priori validation or certainty. Like the existentialists and phenomenologists he sees the ambiguity of life as the basis of creativity.Literature and rhetoric.In literature and rhetoric, ambiguity can be a useful tool. Groucho Marx's classic joke depends on a grammatical ambiguity for its humor, for example: .In the narrative ambiguity can be introduced in several ways motive plot character. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the latter type of ambiguity with notable effect in his novel "The Great Gatsby".Mathematical notation.Mathematical notation, widely used in physics and other sciences, avoids many ambiguities compared to expression in natural language. However, for various reasons, several lexical, syntactic and semantic ambiguities remain.Names of functions.The ambiguity in the style of writing a function should not be confused with a multivalued function which can be defined in a deterministic and unambiguous way. Several special functions still do not have established notations. Usually the conversion to another notation requires to scale the argument or the resulting value sometimes the same name of the function is used causing confusions. Examples of such underestablished functionsExpressions.Ambiguous expressions often appear in physical and mathematical texts.It is common practice to omit multiplication signs in mathematical expressions. Also it is common to give the same name to a variable and a function for example formula_1. Then if one sees formula_2 there is no way to distinguish whether it means formula_1 multiplied by formula_4 or function formula_5 evaluated at argument equal to formula_4. In each case of use of such notations the reader is supposed to be able to perform the deduction and reveal the true meaning.Creators of algorithmic languages try to avoid ambiguities. Many algorithmic languages require the character * as symbol of multiplication. The Wolfram Language used in Mathematica allows the user to omit the multiplication symbol but requires square brackets to indicate the argument of a function square brackets are not allowed for grouping of expressions. Fortran in addition does not allow use of the same name for different objects for example function and variable in particular the expression f=f is qualified as an error.The order of operations may depend on the context. In most programming languages, the operations of division and multiplication have equal priority and are executed from left to right. Until the last century, many editorials assumed that multiplication is performed first, for example, formula_7 is interpreted as formula_8; in this case, the insertion of parentheses is required when translating the formulas to an algorithmic language. In addition, it is common to write an argument of a function without parenthesis, which also may lead to ambiguity.In the scientific journal style one uses roman letters to denote elementary functions whereas variables are written using italics.For example, in mathematical journals the expressiondoes not denote the sine function but theproduct of the three variablesformula_10,formula_11,formula_12, although in the informal notation of a slide presentation it may stand for formula_13.Commas in multi-component subscripts and superscripts are sometimes omitted; this is also potentially ambiguous notation.For example in the notation formula_14 the reader can only infer from the context whether it means a single-index object taken with the subscript equal to product of variables formula_15 formula_12 and formula_17 or it is an indication to a trivalent tensor.Examples of potentially confusing ambiguous mathematical expressions.An expression such as formula_18 can be understood to mean either formula_19 or formula_20. Often the author's intention can be understood from the context, in cases where only one of the two makes sense, but an ambiguity like this should be avoided, for example by writing formula_21 or formula_22.The expression formula_23 means formula_24 in several texts though it might be thought to mean formula_25 since formula_26 commonly means formula_27. Conversely formula_28 might seem to mean formula_29 as this exponentiation notation usually denotes function iteration in general formula_30 means formula_31. However for trigonometric and hyperbolic functions this notation conventionally means exponentiation of the result of function application.The expression formula_32 can be interpreted as meaning formula_33 however it is more commonly understood to mean formula_34.Notations in quantum optics and quantum mechanics.It is common to define the coherent states in quantum optics with formula_35 and states with fixed number of photons with formula_36. Then there is an "unwritten rule" the state is coherent if there are more Greek characters than Latin characters in the argument and formula_37photon state if the Latin characters dominate. The ambiguity becomes even worse if formula_38 is used for the states with certain value of the coordinate and formula_39 means the state with certain value of the momentum which may be used in books on quantum mechanics. Such ambiguities easily lead to confusions especially if some normalized adimensional dimensionless variables are used. Expression formula_40 may mean a state with single photon or the coherent state with mean amplitude equal to 1 or state with momentum equal to unity and so on. The reader is supposed to guess from the context.Ambiguous terms in physics and mathematics.Some physical quantities do not yet have established notations; their value , depends on the system of notations. Many terms are ambiguous. Each use of an ambiguous term should be preceded by the definition, suitable for a specific case. Just like Ludwig Wittgenstein states in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: "...Only in the context of a proposition has a name meaning."A highly confusing term is "gain". For example the sentence "the gain of a system should be doubled" without context means close to nothing.The term is ambiguous when applied to light. The term can refer to any of irradiance, luminous intensity, radiant intensity, or radiance, depending on the background of the person using the term.Also, confusions may be related with the use of atomic percent as measure of concentration of a dopant, or resolution of an imaging system, as measure of the size of the smallest detail which still can be resolved at the background of statistical noise. See also Accuracy and precision and its talk.The Berry paradox arises as a result of systematic ambiguity in the meaning of terms such as . Terms of this kind give rise to vicious circle fallacies. Other terms with this type of ambiguity are satisfiable true false function property class relation cardinal and ordinal.Mathematical interpretation of ambiguity.In mathematics and logic, ambiguity can be considered to be an instance of the logical concept of underdetermination—for example, formula_41 leaves open what the value of "X" is—while its opposite is a self-contradiction, also called inconsistency, paradoxicalness, or oxymoron, or in mathematics an inconsistent system—such as formula_42, which has no solution.Logical ambiguity and self-contradiction is analogous to visual ambiguity and impossible objects, such as the Necker cube and impossible cube, or many of the drawings of M. C. Escher.Constructed language.Some languages have been created with the intention of avoiding ambiguity especially lexical ambiguity. Lojban and Loglan are two related languages which have been created for this focusing chiefly on syntactic ambiguity as well. The languages can be both spoken and written. These languages are intended to provide a greater technical precision over big natural languages although historically such attempts at language improvement have been criticized. Languages composed from many diverse sources contain much ambiguity and inconsistency. The many exceptions to syntax and semantic rules are time-consuming and difficult to learn.In structural biology ambiguity has been recognized as a problem for studying protein conformations. The analysis of a protein three-dimensional structure consists in dividing the macromolecule into subunits called domains. The difficulty of this task arises from the fact that different definitions of what a domain is can be used which sometimes results in a single protein having different—yet equally valid—domain assignments.Christianity and Judaism.Christianity and Judaism employ the concept of paradox synonymously with "ambiguity". Many Christians and Jews endorse Rudolf Otto's description of the sacred as 'mysterium tremendum et fascinans', the awe-inspiring mystery which fascinates humans. The orthodox Catholic writer G. K. Chesterton regularly employed paradox to tease out the meanings in common concepts which he found ambiguous or to reveal meaning often overlooked or forgotten in common phrases. In music, pieces or sections which confound expectations and may be or are interpreted simultaneously in different ways are ambiguous, such as some polytonality, polymeter, other ambiguous meters or rhythms, and ambiguous phrasing, or (Stein 2005, p.79) any aspect of music. The music of Africa is often purposely ambiguous. To quote Sir Donald Francis Tovey (1935, p.195), "Theorists are apt to vex themselves with vain efforts to remove uncertainty just where it has a high aesthetic value."Visual art.In visual art, certain images are visually ambiguous, such as the Necker cube, which can be interpreted in two ways. Perceptions of such objects remain stable for a time, then may flip, a phenomenon called multistable perception.The opposite of such ambiguous images are impossible objects.Pictures or photographs may also be ambiguous at the semantic level: the visual image is unambiguous, but the meaning and narrative may be ambiguous: is a certain facial expression one of excitement or fear, for instance?Social psychology and the bystander effect.In social psychology ambiguity is a factor used in determining peoples' responses to various situations. High levels of ambiguity in an emergency make witnesses less likely to offer any sort of assistance due to the fear that they may have misinterpreted the situation and acted unnecessarily. Alternately non-ambiguous emergencies illicit more consistent intervention and assistance. With regard to the bystander effect studies have shown that emergencies deemed ambiguous trigger the appearance of the classic bystander effect far more than non-ambiguous emergencies.Computer science.In computer science the SI prefixes kilo- mega- and giga- were historically used in certain contexts to mean either the first three powers of 1024 contrary to the metric system in which these units unambiguously mean one thousand one million and one billion. This usage is particularly prevalent with electronic memory devices addressed directly by a binary machine register where a decimal interpretation makes no practical sense.Subsequently the Ki Mi and Gi prefixes were introduced so that binary prefixes could be written explicitly also rendering k M and G ambiguity in engineering documents lacking outward trace of the binary prefixes (necessarily indicating the new style) as to whether the usage of k M and G remains ambiguous (old style) or not (new style). 1 M (where M is ambiguously 1000000 or 1048576) is uncertain than the engineering value 1.0e6 (defined to designate the interval 950000 to 1050000) and that as non-volatile storage devices began to commonly exceed 1 GB in capacity (where the ambiguity begins to routinely impact the second significant digit) GB and TB almost always mean 109 and 1012 bytes.
Abel is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd who offered his firstborn flock up to God as an offering. God accepted his offering but not his brother's. Cain then killed Abel out of jealousy.According to Genesis, this was the first murder in the history of mankind.Interpretations.Jewish and Christian interpretations.According to the narrative in Genesis, Abel is Eve's second son. His name in Hebrew is composed of the same three consonants as a root meaning "breath". Julius Wellhausen, have proposed that the name is independent of the root. Eberhard Schrader had previously put forward the Akkadian "ablu" as a more likely etymology.In Christianity, comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that of Jesus, the former thus seen as being the first martyr. In Jesus speaks of Abel as . The blood of Jesus is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance .Abel is invoked in the litany for the dying in the Roman Catholic Church, and his sacrifice is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass along with those of Abraham and Melchizedek. The Alexandrian Rite commemorates him with a feast day on December 28.According to the Coptic Book of Adam and Eve and the Syriac Cave of Treasures Abel's body after many days of mourning was placed in the "Cave of Treasures" before which Adam and Eve and descendants offered their prayers. In addition the Sethite line of the Generations of Adam swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from the "unrighteous".In the Book of Enoch regarded by most Christian and Jewish traditions as extra-biblical the soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs crying for vengeance for the destruction of the seed of Cain. This view is later repeated in the Testament of Abraham where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls.Mandaean interpretation.According to Mandaean beliefs and scriptures including the Qolast, the Book of John and Genz Rabb, Abel is cognate with the angelic soteriological figure Hibil Ziwa, (, sometimes translated "Splendid Hibel"), who is spoken of as a son of Hayyi or of Manda d-Hayyi, and as a brother to Anush (Enosh) and to Sheetil (Seth), who is the son of Adam. Elsewhere, Anush is spoken of as the son of Sheetil, and Sheetil as the son of Hibil, where Hibil came to Adam and Eve as a young boy when they were still virgins, but was called their son. Hibil is an important lightworld being (uthra) who conquered the World of Darkness. As Yawar Hibil, he is one of multiple figures known as Yawar (), being so named by and after his father.In the , Hibil tells the figure Abatur to go and reside in the boundary between the World of Light and the World of Darkness, and weigh for purity those souls which have passed through all the purgatories and wish to return to the light.Descent to the World of Darkness.Hibil's soteriological descent to the World of Darkness and his baptisms before and after are detailed in book 5 of the Right Volume of the "Ginza Rabba" and also in a separate text named "Diwan Masbuta d-Hibil Ziwa" . Hibil battles and defeats Krun and seals the abodes of the rulers of darkness. Some versions of this account have parallels with the Hymn of the Pearl included in the Acts of Thomas.In response to an upset of the dualistic balance of the universe Manda d-Hayyi summons Hibil whom the King of Light proceeds to baptise in 360000 or 360 yardeni. In connection with this baptism Hibil is bestowed with 360 robes of light the Great Mystery seven staves and the name Yawar amongst other attributes.Hibil is dispatched to the World of Darkness and enters the world of Ruha, lingering for many ages until the Great Mystery instructs him to descend further. He descends to the world of Zartai and Zartanai, remaining there undetected for many ages while aiding the beings of light accompanying him with prayers and supplications, before descending through the worlds of Hagh and Magh and of Gaf and Gafan, and confronting Shdum over the disturbance in the world of light. Shdum directs Hibil further down to Giuo, who directs Hibil further down to Giuo's brother Krun, whom Hibil battles. Krun surrenders and hands over seals to secure Hibil's passage through the World of Darkness.Hibil ascends sealing the abodes of Giuo and Shdum to the world of Qin. According to the "Diwan Masbuta d-Hibil Ziwa" Qin-Anatan is the consort of Gaf according to the Right Ginza Hibil assumes the appearance of Anatan who is the husband of Qin. Hibil asks Qin what they are made from and Qin shows him the murky waters which the Great Mystery informs him is utter bitterness and the sole constant of the World of Darkness. Hibil then ascends back to the world of Gaf and Gafan. In the "Diwan Masbuta d-Hibil Ziwa" Qin had also revealed the mysteries of the jewel mirror and bitter herb to Hibil in response to his questions and he had secretly taken them while in the Right Ginza Hibil marries Zahreil the daughter of Qin while undercover in the world of Gaf and Gafan and she shows him the spring with the mirror which he takes. In this version Hibil is said not to have copulated with Zahreil since his intention was to locate the mysteries rather than to get married although some other accounts consider Ptahil a son of Hibil and Zahreil.Hibil disguises himself as Gaf and appears to Ruha who is pregnant with Ur. He leads her out of the world of Gaf and Gafan sealing its gates seals the gates of the world of Zartai and Zartanai commands the Great Mystery to confound Ruha and seals her in her world. The also mentions Hibil taking away dark waters and Ptahil.Hibil offers prayers to the King of Light, who sends for Manda d-Hayyi to send a Letter of Kushta and phial of oil to Hibil, which are received, but Hibil and his companions remain detained by the powers of darkness, until a masiqta is performed, following which they ascend to the middle world. This alarms the guards, in response to which the Great Mana dispatches Yushamin, who interrogates Hibil's identity and permits him re-entry to the World of Light, upon which he is baptised 360 times again.Islamic interpretation.According to Shia are frequent visitors of this mosque for ziyarat. The mosque was built by Ottoman Wali Ahmad Pasha in 1599.
An animal is a multicellular, eukaryotic organism of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa.Animal Animals or The Animal may also refer toThe aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike most other insectivores, it has a long pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to create burrows in which to live and rear its young. It receives a rating from the IUCN, although its numbers seem to be decreasing. Aardvarks are afrotheres, a clade which also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes.Name and taxonomy.The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the (not to be confused with the South American anteater), or the is Afrikaans (), comes from earlier Afrikaans (erdvark) and means (: pig), because of its burrowing habits. The name comes from the tubule-style teeth.The aardvark is not closely related to the pig rather it is the sole extant representative of the obscure mammalian order Tubulidentata in which it is usually considered to form one variable species of the genus "Orycteropus" the sole surviving genus in the family Orycteropodidae. The aardvark is not closely related to the South American anteater despite sharing some characteristics and a superficial resemblance. The similarities are based on convergent evolution. The closest living relatives of the aardvark are the elephant shrews tenrecs and golden moles. Along with the sirenians hyraxes elephants and their extinct relatives these animals form the superorder Afrotheria. Studies of the brain have shown the similarities with Condylarthra and given the clade's status as a wastebasket taxon it may mean some species traditionally classified as "condylarths" are actually stem-aardvarks.Evolutionary history.Based on fossils, Bryan Patterson has concluded that early relatives of the aardvark appeared in Africa around the end of the Paleocene. The ptolemaiidans, a mysterious clade of mammals with uncertain affinities, may actually be stem-aardvarks, either as a sister clade to Tubulidentata or as a grade leading to true tubulidentates.The first unambiguous tubulidentate was probably "Myorycteropus africanus" from Kenyan Miocene deposits. The earliest example from the genus "Orycteropus" was "Orycteropus mauritanicus" found in Algeria in deposits from the middle Miocene with an equally old version found in Kenya. Fossils from the aardvark have been dated to 5 million years and have been located throughout Europe and the Near East.The mysterious Pleistocene "Plesiorycteropus" from Madagascar was originally thought to be a tubulidentate that was descended from ancestors that entered the island during the Eocene. However a number of subtle anatomical differences coupled with recent molecular evidence now lead researchers to believe that "Plesiorycteropus" is a relative of golden moles and tenrecs that achieved an aardvark-like appearance and ecological niche through convergent evolution.Subspecies.The aardvark has seventeen poorly defined subspecies listedThe 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica also mentions "O. a. capensis" or Cape ant-bear from South Africa.Description.The aardvark is vaguely pig-like in appearance. Its body is stout with a prominently arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length, with the rear legs being longer than the forelegs. The front feet have lost the pollex , resulting in four toes, while the rear feet have all five toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which is somewhat flattened and shovel-like, and appears to be intermediate between a claw and a hoof. Whereas the aardvark is considered digitigrade, it appears at times to be plantigrade. This confusion happens because when it squats it stands on its soles. A contributing characteristic to the burrow digging capabilities of aardvarks is an endosteal tissue called compacted coarse cancellous bone . The stress and strain resistance provided by CCCB allows aardvarks to create their burrows, ultimately leading to a favorable environment for plants and a variety of animals.An aardvark's weight is typically between . An aardvark's length is usually between , and can reach lengths of when its tail is taken into account. It is tall at the shoulder, and has a girth of about . It is the largest member of the proposed clade Afroinsectiphilia. The aardvark is pale yellowish-gray in color and often stained reddish-brown by soil. The aardvark's coat is thin, and the animal's primary protection is its tough skin. Its hair is short on its head and tail; however its legs tend to have longer hair. The hair on the majority of its body is grouped in clusters of 3-4 hairs. The hair surrounding its nostrils is dense to help filter particulate matter out as it digs. Its tail is very thick at the base and gradually tapers.The greatly elongated head is set on a short thick neck and the end of the snout bears a disc which houses the nostrils. It contains a thin but complete zygomatic arch. The head of the aardvark contains many unique and different features. One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Tubulidentata is their teeth. Instead of having a pulp cavity each tooth has a cluster of thin hexagonal upright parallel tubes of vasodentin with individual pulp canals held together by cementum. The number of columns is dependent on the size of the tooth with the largest having about 1500. The teeth have no enamel coating and are worn away and regrow continuously. The aardvark is born with conventional incisors and canines at the front of the jaw which fall out and are not replaced. Adult aardvarks have only cheek teeth at the back of the jaw and have a dental formula of These remaining teeth are peg-like and rootless and are of unique composition. The teeth consist of 14 upper and 12 lower jaw molars. The nasal area of the aardvark is another unique area as it contains ten nasal conchae more than any other placental mammal.The sides of the nostrils are thick with hair. The tip of the snout is highly mobile and is moved by modified mimetic muscles. The fleshy dividing tissue between its nostrils probably has sensory functions, but it is uncertain whether they are olfactory or vibratory in nature. Its nose is made up of more turbinate bones than any other mammal, with between 9 and 11, compared to dogs with 4 to 5. With a large quantity of turbinate bones, the aardvark has more space for the moist epithelium, which is the location of the olfactory bulb. The nose contains nine olfactory bulbs, more than any other mammal. Its keen sense of smell is not just from the quantity of bulbs in the nose but also in the development of the brain, as its olfactory lobe is very developed. The snout resembles an elongated pig snout. The mouth is small and tubular, typical of species that feed on ants and termites. The aardvark has a long, thin, snakelike, protruding tongue and elaborate structures supporting a keen sense of smell. The ears, which are very effective, are disproportionately long, about long. The eyes are small for its head, and consist only of rods.Digestive system.The aardvark's stomach has a muscular pyloric area that acts as a gizzard to grind swallowed food up thereby rendering chewing unnecessary. Its cecum is large. Both sexes emit a strong smelling secretion from an anal gland. Its salivary glands are highly developed and almost completely ring the neck their output is what causes the tongue to maintain its tackiness. The female has two pairs of teats in the inguinal region.Genetically speaking, the aardvark is a living fossil, as its chromosomes are highly conserved, reflecting much of the early eutherian arrangement before the divergence of the major modern taxa.Habitat and range.Aardvarks are found in sub-Saharan Africa where suitable habitat and food is available. They spend the daylight hours in dark burrows to avoid the heat of the day. The only major habitat that they are not present in is swamp forest as the high water table precludes digging to a sufficient depth. They also avoid terrain rocky enough to cause problems with digging. They have been documented as high as in Ethiopia. They are present throughout sub-Saharan Africa all the way to South Africa with few a exceptions including the coastal areas of Namibia Ivory Coast and Ghana. They are not found in Madagascar.Ecology and behaviour.Aardvarks live for up to 23 years in captivity. Its keen hearing warns it of predators: lions, leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs, hyenas, and pythons. Some humans also hunt aardvarks for meat. Aardvarks can dig fast or run in zigzag fashion to elude enemies, but if all else fails, they will strike with their claws, tail and shoulders, sometimes flipping onto their backs lying motionless except to lash out with all four feet. They are capable of causing substantial damage to unprotected areas of an attacker. They will also dig to escape as they can. Sometimes, when pressed, aardvarks can dig extremely quicklyThe aardvark is nocturnal and is a solitary creature that feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites ; the only fruit eaten by aardvarks is the aardvark cucumber. In fact, the cucumber and the aardvark have a symbiotic relationship as they eat the subterranean fruit, then defecate the seeds near their burrows, which then grow rapidly due to the loose soil and fertile nature of the area. The time spent in the intestine of the aardvark helps the fertility of the seed, and the fruit provides needed moisture for the aardvark. They avoid eating the African driver ant and red ants. Due to their stringent diet requirements, they require a large range to survive. An aardvark emerges from its burrow in the late afternoon or shortly after sunset, and forages over a considerable home range encompassing . While foraging for food, the aardvark will keep its nose to the ground and its ears pointed forward, which indicates that both smell and hearing are involved in the search for food. They zig-zag as they forage and will usually not repeat a route for 5–8 days as they appear to allow time for the termite nests to recover before feeding on it again.During a foraging period they will stop to dig a "V" shaped trench with their forefeet and then sniff it profusely as a means to explore their location. When a concentration of ants or termites is detected the aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs keeping its long ears upright to listen for predators and takes up an astonishing number of insects with its long sticky tongue—as many as 50000 in one night have been recorded. Its claws enable it to dig through the extremely hard crust of a termite or ant mound quickly. It avoids inhaling the dust by sealing the nostrils. When successful the aardvark's long tongue licks up the insects the termites' biting or the ants' stinging attacks are rendered futile by the tough skin. After an aardvark visit at a termite mound other animals will visit to pick up all the leftovers. Termite mounds alone don't provide enough food for the aardvark so they look for termites that are on the move. When these insects move they can form columns long and these tend to provide easy pickings with little effort exerted by the aardvark. These columns are more common in areas of livestock or other hoofed animals. The trampled grass and dung attract termites from the "Odontotermes" "Microtermes" and "Pseudacanthotermes" genera.On a nightly basis they tend to be more active during the first portion of night (roughly the four hours between 8:00p.m. and 12:00a.m.); however, they don't seem to prefer bright or dark nights over the other. During adverse weather or if disturbed they will retreat to their burrow systems. They cover between per night; however, some studies have shown that they may traverse as far as in a night.Vocalization.The aardvark is a rather quiet animal. However it does make soft grunting sounds as it forages and loud grunts as it makes for its tunnel entrance. It makes a bleating sound if frightened. When it is threatened it will make for one of its burrows. If one is not close it will dig a new one rapidly. This new one will be short and require the aardvark to back out when the coast is clear.The aardvark is known to be a good swimmer and has been witnessed successfully swimming in strong currents. It can dig a yard of tunnel in about five minutes, but otherwise moves fairly slowly.When leaving the burrow at night, they pause at the entrance for about ten minutes, sniffing and listening. After this period of watchfulness, it will bound out and within seconds it will be away. It will then pause, prick its ears, twisting its head to listen, then jump and move off to start foraging.Aside from digging out ants and termites, the aardvark also excavates burrows in which to live, which generally fall into one of three categories: burrows made while foraging, refuge and resting location, and permanent homes. Temporary sites are scattered around the home range and are used as refuges, while the main burrow is also used for breeding. Main burrows can be deep and extensive, have several entrances and can be as long as . These burrows can be large enough for a person to enter. The aardvark changes the layout of its home burrow regularly, and periodically moves on and makes a new one. The old burrows are an important part of the African wildlife scene. As they are vacated, then they are inhabited by smaller animals like the African wild dog, ant-eating chat, and warthogs. Other animals that use them are hares, mongooses, hyenas, owls, pythons, and lizards. Without these refuges many animals would die during wildfire season. Only mothers and young share burrows; however, the aardvark is known to live in small family groups or as a solitary creature. If attacked in the tunnel, it will escape by digging out of the tunnel thereby placing the fresh fill between it and its predator, or if it decides to fight it will roll onto its back, and attack with its claws. The aardvark has been known to sleep in a recently excavated ant nest, which also serves as protection from its predators.Reproduction.Aardvarks pair only during the breeding season after a gestation period of seven months one cub weighing around is born during May–July. When born the young has flaccid ears and many wrinkles. When nursing it will nurse off each teat in succession. After two weeks the folds of skin disappear and after three the ears can be held upright. After 5–6 weeks body hair starts growing. It is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks and eats termites at 9 weeks and is weaned between three months and 16 weeks. At six months of age it is able to dig its own burrows but it will often remain with the mother until the next mating season and is sexually mature from approximately two years of age.Conservation.Aardvarks were thought to have declining numbers however this is possibly because they are not readily seen. There are no definitive counts because of their nocturnal and secretive habits however their numbers seem to be stable overall. They are not considered common anywhere in Africa but due to their large range they maintain sufficient numbers. There may be a slight decrease in numbers in eastern northern and western Africa. Southern African numbers are not decreasing. It receives an official designation from the IUCN as least concern. However they are a species in a precarious situation as they are so dependent on such specific food therefore if a problem arises with the abundance of termites the species as a whole would be affected drastically.Aardvarks handle captivity well. The first zoo to have one was London Zoo in 1869 which had an animal from South Africa.Mythology and popular culture.In African folklore, the aardvark is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants. Hausa magicians make a charm from the heart, skin, forehead, and nails of the aardvark, which they then proceed to pound together with the root of a certain tree. Wrapped in a piece of skin and worn on the chest, the charm is said to give the owner the ability to pass through walls or roofs at night. The charm is said to be used by burglars and those seeking to visit young girls without their parents' permission. Also, some tribes, such as the Margbetu, Ayanda, and Logo, will use aardvark teeth to make bracelets, which are regarded as good luck charms. The meat, which has a resemblance to pork, is eaten in certain cultures.The ancient Egyptian god Set is usually depicted with the head of an unidentified animal, whose similarity to an aardvark has been noted in scholarship.The titular character of (1976), he has a long, aardvark-like nose, but in later books, his face becomes more rounded.Otis the Aardvark was a puppet character used on Children's BBC programming.An aardvark features as the antagonist in the cartoon .The supersonic fighter-bomber F-111/FB-111 was nicknamed the Aardvark because of its long nose resembling the animal. It also had similarities with its nocturnal missions flown at a very low level employing ordnance that could penetrate deep into the ground. In the US Navy the squadron VF-114 was nicknamed the Aardvarks flying F-4s and then F-14s. The squadron mascot was adapted from the animal in the comic strip which the F-4 was said to resemble. is a 300-issue comic book series by Dave Sim.In Blackadder The Third after frustratingly being unable to rewrite the dictionary Blackadder remarks that if he ever met an aardvark he would "step on it's damned protruding nasal implement until it couldn't suck up an insect if it's life depended on it." Aardvark being the only word he had managed to define in five hours' work.
The aardwolf is an insectivorous mammal native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called "maanhaar-jackal" "termite-eating hyena" and "civet hyena" based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland a characteristic shared with the African civet. The aardwolf is in the same family as the hyena. Unlike many of its relatives in the order Carnivora the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. It eats insects and their larvae mainly termites one aardwolf can lap up as many as 250000 termites during a single night using its long sticky tongue. The aardwolf's tongue has adapted to be tough enough to withstand the strong bite of termites.The aardwolf lives in the shrublands of eastern and southern Africa – open lands covered with stunted trees and shrubs. It is nocturnal resting in burrows during the day and emerging at night to seek food.The aardwolf is generally classified with the hyena family Hyaenidae, though it was formerly placed in its own family Protelidae. Early on, scientists felt that it was merely mimicking the striped hyena, which subsequently led to the creation of Protelidae. Recent studies have suggested that the aardwolf probably diverged from other hyaenids early on; how early is still unclear, as the fossil record and genetic studies disagree by 10 million years.The aardwolf is the only surviving species in the subfamily Protelinae. There is disagreement as to whether the species is monotypic, or can be divided into subspecies "P. c. cristatus" of Southern Africa and "P. c. septentrionalis" of East Africa.The generic name "proteles" comes from two words both of Greek origin, "protos" and "teleos" which combined means "complete in front" based on the fact that they have five toes on their front feet and four on the rear. The specific name, "cristatus", comes from Latin and means "provided with a comb", relating to their mane.Description.The aardwolf resembles a very thin striped hyena, but with a more slender muzzle, black vertical stripes on a coat of yellowish fur, and a long, distinct mane down the midline of the neck and back. It also has one or two diagonal stripes down the fore- and hind-quarters, along with several stripes on its legs. The mane is raised during confrontations to make the aardwolf appear larger. It is missing the throat spot that others in the family have. Its lower leg is all black, and its tail is bushy with a black tip.The aardwolf is about long, excluding its bushy tail, which is about long, and stands about tall at the shoulders. An adult aardwolf weighs approximately , sometimes reaching . The aardwolves in the south of the continent tend to be smaller than the eastern version . This makes the aardwolf, the smallest extant member of the Hyaenidae family. The front feet have five toes each, unlike the four-toed hyena. The teeth and skull are similar to those of other hyenas, though smaller, and its cheek teeth are specialised for eating insects. It does still have canines, but, unlike other hyenas, these teeth are used primarily for fighting and defense. Its ears, which are large, are very similar to those of the striped hyena.As an aardwolf ages, it will normally lose some of its teeth, though this has little impact on its feeding habits due to the softness of the insects that it eats.Distribution and habitat.Aardwolves live in open dry plains and bushland avoiding mountainous areas. Due to their specific food requirements they are only found in regions where termites of the family Hodotermitidae occur. Termites of this family depend on dead and withered grass and are most populous in heavily grazed grasslands and savannahs including farmland. For most of the year aardwolves spend time in shared territories consisting of up to a dozen dens which are occupied for six weeks at a time.There are two distinct populations one in Southern Africa and another in East and Northeast Africa. The species does not occur in the intermediary miombo forests.An adult pair, along with their most-recent offspring, occupies a territory of .Aardwolves are shy and nocturnal, sleeping in burrows by day. They will, on occasion during the winter, become diurnal feeders. This happens during the coldest periods as they then stay in at night to conserve heat.They have often been mistaken for solitary animals. In fact, they live as monogamous pairs with their young. If their territory is infringed upon, they will chase the intruder up to or to the border. If the intruder is caught, which rarely happens, a fight will occur, which is accompanied by soft clucking, hoarse barking, and a type of roar. The majority of incursions occur during mating season, when they can occur once or twice per week. When food is scarce, the stringent territorial system may be abandoned and as many as three pairs may occupy a single territory.The territory is marked by both sexes as they both have developed anal glands from which they extrude a black substance that is smeared on rocks or grass stalks in -long streaks. Aardwolves also have scent glands on the forefoot and penile pad. They often mark near termite mounds within their territory every 20 minutes or so. If they are patrolling their territorial boundaries the marking frequency increases drastically to once every . At this rate an individual may mark 60 marks per hour and upwards of 200 per night.An aardwolf pair may have up to 10 dens, and numerous feces middens, within their territory. When they deposit excreta at their middens, they dig a small hole and cover it with sand. Their dens are usually abandoned aardvark, springhare, or porcupine dens, or on occasion they are crevices in rocks. They will also dig their own dens, or enlarge dens started by springhares. They typically will only use one or two dens at a time, rotating through all of their dens every six months. During the summer, they may rest outside their den during the night, and sleep underground during the heat of the day.Aardwolves are not fast runners nor are they particularly adept at fighting off predators. Therefore when threatened the aardwolf may attempt to mislead its foe by doubling back on its tracks. If confronted it may raise its mane in an attempt to appear more menacing. It also emits a foul-smelling liquid from its anal glands.The aardwolf feeds primarily on termites and more specifically on "Trinervitermes". This genus of termites has different species throughout the aardwolf's range. In East Africa, they eat "Trinervitermes bettonianus", in central Africa, they eat "Trinervitermes rhodesiensis", and in southern Africa, they eat "T. trinervoides". Their technique consists of licking them off the ground as opposed to the aardvark, which digs into the mound. They locate their food by sound and also from the scent secreted by the soldier termites. An aardwolf may consume up to 250,000 termites per night using its long, sticky tongue.They do not destroy the termite mound or consume the entire colony thus ensuring that the termites can rebuild and provide a continuous supply of food. They often memorize the location of such nests and return to them every few months. During certain seasonal events such as the onset of the rainy season and the cold of midwinter the primary termites become scarce so the need for other foods becomes pronounced. During these times the southern aardwolf will seek out "Hodotermes mossambicus" a type of harvester termite active in the afternoon which explains some of their diurnal behavior in the winter. The eastern aardwolf during the rainy season subsists on termites from the genera "Odontotermes" and "Macrotermes". They are also known to feed on other insects larvae eggs and some sources say occasionally small mammals and birds but these constitute a very small percentage of their total diet.Unlike other hyenas aardwolves do not scavenge or kill larger animals. Contrary to popular myths aardwolves do not eat carrion and if they are seen eating while hunched over a dead carcass they are actually eating larvae and beetles. Also contrary to some sources they do not like meat unless it is finely ground or cooked for them. The adult aardwolf was formerly assumed to forage in small groups but more recent research has shown that they are primarily solitary foragers necessary because of the scarcity of their insect prey. Their primary source "Trinervitermes" forages in small but dense patches of . While foraging the aardwolf can cover about per hour which translates to per summer night and per winter night.The breeding season varies depending on location, but normally takes place during autumn or spring. In South Africa, breeding occurs in early July. During the breeding season, unpaired male aardwolves search their own territory, as well as others, for a female to mate with. Dominant males also mate opportunistically with the females of less dominant neighboring aardwolves, which can result in conflict between rival males. Dominant males even go a step further and as the breeding season approaches, they make increasingly greater and greater incursions onto weaker males' territories. As the female comes into oestrus, they add pasting to their tricks inside of the other territories, sometimes doing so more in rivals' territories than their own. Females will also, when given the opportunity, mate with the dominant male, which increases the chances of the dominant male guarding "his" cubs with her. Copulation lasts between 1 and 4.5 hours.Gestation lasts between 89 and 92 days producing two to five cubs during the rainy season when termites are more active. They are born with their eyes open but initially are helpless and weigh around . The first six to eight weeks are spent in the den with their parents. The male may spend up to six hours a night watching over the cubs while the mother is out looking for food. After three months they begin supervised foraging and by four months are normally independent though they often share a den with their mother until the next breeding season. By the time the next set of cubs is born the older cubs have moved on. Aardwolves generally achieve sexual maturity at one and a half to two years of age.Conservation.The aardwolf has not seen decreasing numbers and is relatively widespread throughout eastern Africa. They are not common throughout their range, as they maintain a density of no more than 1 per square kilometer, if food is abundant. Because of these factors, the IUCN has rated the aardwolf as least concern. In some areas, they are persecuted because of the mistaken belief that they prey on livestock; however, they are actually beneficial to the farmers because they eat termites that are detrimental. In other areas, the farmers have recognized this, but they are still killed, on occasion, for their fur. Dogs and insecticides are also common killers of the aardwolf.Interaction with humans.Aardwolves are rare sights at zoos. Frankfurt Zoo in Germany was home to the oldest recorded aardwolf in captivity at 18 years and 11 months.
Adobe is a building material made from earth and organic materials, is Spanish for "mudbrick". In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of earthen construction, or various architectural styles like Pueblo Revival or Territorial Revival. Most adobe buildings are similar in appearance to cob and rammed earth buildings. Adobe is among the earliest building materials, and is used throughout the world.Adobe architecture has been dated to before 5100 B.C.Description.Adobe bricks are rectangular prisms small enough that they can quickly air dry individually without cracking. They can be subsequently assembled, with the application of adobe mud to bond the individual bricks into a structure. There is no standard size, with substantial variations over the years and in different regions. In some areas a popular size measured weighing about ; in other contexts the size is weighing about . The maximum sizes can reach up to ; above this weight it becomes difficult to move the pieces, and it is preferred to ram the mud , resulting in a different typology known as rammed earth.In dry climates adobe structures are extremely durable and account for some of the oldest existing buildings in the world. Adobe buildings offer significant advantages due to their greater thermal mass but they are known to be particularly susceptible to earthquake damage if they are not reinforced. Cases where adobe structures were widely damaged during earthquakes include the 1976 Guatemala earthquake the 2003 Bam earthquake and the 2010 Chile earthquake.Distribution.Buildings made of sun-dried earth are common throughout the world Adobe had been in use by indigenous peoples of the Americas in the Southwestern United States Mesoamerica and the Andes for several thousand years. Puebloan peoples built their adobe structures with handsful or basketsful of adobe until the Spanish introduced them to making bricks. Adobe bricks were used in Spain from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages . Its wide use can be attributed to its simplicity of design and manufacture and economics.The word "adobe" has existed for around 4000 years with relatively little change in either pronunciation or meaning. The word can be traced from the Middle Egyptian word "bt" "mud brick" . Middle Egyptian evolved into Late Egyptian Demotic or "pre-Coptic" and finally to Coptic where it appeared as "tb". This was adopted into Arabic as "a-awbu" or "a-bu" with the definite article "al-" attached. "tuba" This was assimilated into the Old Spanish language as "adobe" probably via Mozarabic. English borrowed the word from Spanish in the early 18th century still referring to mudbrick construction.In more modern English usage the term has come to include a style of architecture popular in the desert climates of North America especially in New Mexico regardless of the construction method.Composition.An adobe brick is a composite material made of earth mixed with water and an organic material such as straw or dung. The soil composition typically contains sand silt and clay. Straw is useful in binding the brick together and allowing the brick to dry evenly thereby preventing cracking due to uneven shrinkage rates through the brick. Dung offers the same advantage. The most desirable soil texture for producing the mud of adobe is 15% clay 10–30% silt and 55–75% fine sand. Another source quotes 15–25% clay and the remainder sand and coarser particles up to cobbles with no deleterious effect. Modern adobe is stabilized with either emulsified asphalt or Portland cement up to 10% by weight.No more than half the clay content should be expansive clays, with the remainder non-expansive illite or kaolinite. Too much expansive clay results in uneven drying through the brick, resulting in cracking, while too much kaolinite will make a weak brick. Typically the soils of the Southwest United States, where such construction has been widely used, are an adequate composition.Material properties.Adobe walls are load bearing i.e. they carry their own weight into the foundation rather than by another structure hence the adobe must have sufficient compressive strength. In the United States most building codes call for a minimum compressive strength of 300 lbf/in2 (2.07 newton/mm2) for the adobe block. Adobe construction should be designed so as to avoid lateral structural loads that would cause bending loads. The building codes require the building sustain a 1 g lateral acceleration earthquake load. Such an acceleration will cause lateral loads on the walls resulting in shear and bending and inducing tensile stresses. To withstand such loads the codes typically call for a tensile modulus of rupture strength of at least 50 lbf/in2 (0.345 newton/mm2) for the finished block.In addition to being an inexpensive material with a small resource cost adobe can serve as a significant heat reservoir due to the thermal properties inherent in the massive walls typical in adobe construction. In climates typified by hot days and cool nights the high thermal mass of adobe mediates the high and low temperatures of the day moderating the temperature of the living space. The massive walls require a large and relatively long input of heat from the sun and from the surrounding air before they warm through to the interior. After the sun sets and the temperature drops the warm wall will continue to transfer heat to the interior for several hours due to the time-lag effect. Thus a well-planned adobe wall of the appropriate thickness is very effective at controlling inside temperature through the wide daily fluctuations typical of desert climates a factor which has contributed to its longevity as a building material.Thermodynamic material properties have significant variation in the literature. Some experiments suggest that the standard consideration of conductivity is not adequate for this material as its main thermodynamic property is inertia and conclude that experimental tests should be performed over a longer period of time than usual - preferably with changing thermal jumps. There is an effective R-value for a north facing 10-in wall of R0=10 hr ft2 °F/Btu which corresponds to thermal conductivity k=10 in x 1 ft/12 in /R0=0.33 Btu/(hr ft °F) or 0.57 W/(m K) in agreement with the thermal conductivity reported from another source. To determine the total R-value of a wall scale R0 by the thickness of the wall in inches. The thermal resistance of adobe is also stated as an R-value for a 10-inch wall R0=4.1 hr ft2 °F/Btu. Another source provides the following properties conductivity=0.30 Btu/(hr ft °F) or 0.52 W/(m K) specific heat capacity=0.24 Btu/(lb °F) or 1 kJ/(kg K) and density=106 lb/ft3 or 1700 kg/m3 giving heat capacity=25.4 Btu/(ft3 °F) or 1700 kJ/(m3 K). Using the average value of the thermal conductivity as k = 32 Btu/(hr ft °F) or 0.55 W/(m K) the thermal diffusivity is calculated to be 0.013 ft2/h or 3.3x10−7 m2/s.Poured and puddled adobe walls.Poured and puddled adobe , today called is a general term for a clay or clay and sand-based material worked into a dense, plastic state. These are the oldest methods of building with adobe in the Americas until holes in the ground were used as forms, and later wooden forms used to make individual bricks were introduced by the Spanish.Adobe bricks.Bricks made from adobe are usually made by pressing the mud mixture into an open timber frame. In North America, the brick is typically about in size. The mixture is molded into the frame, which is removed after initial setting. After drying for a few hours, the bricks are turned on edge to finish drying. Slow drying in shade reduces cracking.The same mixture without straw is used to make mortar and often plaster on interior and exterior walls. Some cultures used lime-based cement for the plaster to protect against rain damage.Depending on the form into which the mixture is pressed, adobe can encompass nearly any shape or size, provided drying is even and the mixture includes reinforcement for larger bricks. Reinforcement can include manure, straw, cement, rebar, or wooden posts. Straw, cement, or manure added to a standard adobe mixture can produce a stronger, more crack-resistant brick. A test is done on the soil content first. To do so, a sample of the soil is mixed into a clear container with some water, creating an almost completely saturated liquid. The container is shaken vigorously for one minute. It is then allowed to settle for a day until the soil has settled into layers. Heavier particles settle out first, sand above, silt above that, and very fine clay and organic matter will stay in suspension for days. After the water has cleared, percentages of the various particles can be determined. Fifty to 60 percent sand and 35 to 40 percent clay will yield strong bricks. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service at New Mexico State University recommends a mix of not more than clay, not less than sand, and never more than silt.Adobe wall construction.The ground supporting an adobe structure should be compressed, as the weight of adobe wall is significant and foundation settling may cause cracking of the wall. Footing depth is to be below the ground frost level. The footing and stem wall are commonly 24 and 14 inches thick, respectively. Modern construction codes call for the use of reinforcing steel in the footing and stem wall. Adobe bricks are laid by course. Adobe walls usually never rise above two stories as they are load bearing and adobe has low structural strength. When creating window and door openings, a lintel is placed on top of the opening to support the bricks above. Atop the last courses of brick, bond beams made of heavy wood beams or modern reinforced concrete are laid to provide a horizontal bearing plate for the roof beams and to redistribute lateral earthquake loads to shear walls more able to carry the forces. To protect the interior and exterior adobe walls, finishes such as mud plaster, whitewash or stucco can be applied. These protect the adobe wall from water damage, but need to be reapplied periodically. Alternatively, the walls can be finished with other nontraditional plasters that provide longer protection. Bricks made with stabilized adobe generally do not need protection of plasters.Adobe roof.The traditional adobe roof has been constructed using a mixture of soil/clay, water, sand and organic materials. The mixture was then formed and pressed into wood forms, producing rows of dried earth bricks that would then be laid across a support structure of wood and plastered into place with more adobe.Depending on the materials available, a roof may be assembled using wood or metal beams to create a framework to begin layering adobe bricks. Depending on the thickness of the adobe bricks, the framework has been preformed using a steel framing and a layering of a metal fencing or wiring over the framework to allow an even load as masses of adobe are spread across the metal fencing like cob and allowed to air dry accordingly. This method was demonstrated with an adobe blend heavily impregnated with cement to allow even drying and prevent cracking.The more traditional flat adobe roofs are functional only in dry climates that are not exposed to snow loads. The heaviest wooden beams called vigas lie atop the wall. Across the vigas lie smaller members called latillas and upon those brush is then laid. Finally the adobe layer is applied.To construct a flat adobe roof, beams of wood were laid to span the building, the ends of which were attached to the tops of the walls. Once the vigas, latillas and brush are laid, adobe bricks are placed. An adobe roof is often laid with bricks slightly larger in width to ensure a greater expanse is covered when placing the bricks onto the roof. Following each individual brick should be a layer of adobe mortar, recommended to be at least thick to make certain there is ample strength between the brick's edges and also to provide a relative moisture barrier during rain.Roof design evolved around 1850 in the American Southwest. Three inches of adobe mud was applied on top of the latillas, then 18 inches of dry adobe dirt applied to the roof. The dirt was contoured into a low slope to a downspout aka a 'canal'. When moisture was applied to the roof the clay particles expanded to create a waterproof membrane. Once a year it was necessary to pull the weeds from the roof and re-slope the dirt as needed.Depending on the materials, adobe roofs can be inherently fire-proof. The construction of a chimney can greatly influence the construction of the roof supports, creating an extra need for care in choosing the materials. The builders can make an adobe chimney by stacking simple adobe bricks in a similar fashion as the surrounding walls.In 1927 the Uniform Building Code was adopted in the United States. Local ordinances referencing the UBC added requirements to building with adobe. These included restriction of building height of adobe structures to 1-story requirements for adobe mix and new requirements which stated that every building shall be designed to withstand seismic activity specifically lateral forces. By the 1980s however seismic related changes in the California Building Code effectively ended solid wall adobe construction in California however Post-and-Beam adobe and veneers are still being used.Adobe around the world.The largest structure ever made from adobe is the Arg- Bam built by the Achaemenid Empire. Other large adobe structures are the Huaca del Sol in Peru with 100 million signed bricks and the of Chan Chan and Tambo Colorado both in Peru.
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with some potential for physical danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting or participating in extreme sports. Adventures are often undertaken to create psychological arousal or in order to achieve a greater goal such as the pursuit of knowledge that can only be obtained in a risky manner.Motivation.Adventurous experiences create psychological arousal, which can be interpreted as negative or positive . For some people, adventure becomes a major pursuit in and of itself. According to adventurer Andr Malraux, in his .Similarly Helen Keller stated that "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."Outdoor adventurous activities are typically undertaken for the purposes of recreation or excitement: examples are adventure racing and adventure tourism. Adventurous activities can also lead to gains in knowledge, such as those undertaken by explorers and pioneers – the British adventurer Jason Lewis, for example, uses adventures to draw global sustainability lessons from living within finite environmental constraints on expeditions to share with schoolchildren. Adventure education intentionally uses challenging experiences for learning.Author Jon Levy suggests that an experience should meet several criteria to be considered an adventureMythology and fiction.Some of the oldest and most widespread stories in the world are stories of adventure such as Homer's "The Odyssey".The knight errant was the form the character took in the late Middle Ages.The adventure novel exhibits these "protagonist on adventurous journey" characteristics as do many popular feature films such as "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark".Adventure books may have the theme of the hero or main character going to face the wilderness or Mother Nature. Examples include books such as such as in mythology or other adventure novels but more about surviving on their own living off the land gaining new experiences and becoming closer to the natural world.Many adventures are based on the idea of a quest the hero goes off in pursuit of a reward whether it be a skill prize treasure or perhaps the safety of a person. On the way the hero must overcome various obstacles to obtain their reward.Video games.In video-game culture, an adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of literary genres. Many adventure games are designed for a single player, since this emphasis on story and character makes multi-player design difficult.Nonfiction works.From ancient times, travelers and explorers have written about their adventures. Journals which became best-sellers in their day were written, such as Marco Polo's journal by Lionel Terray. Documentaries often use the theme of adventure as well.Adventure sports.There are many sports classified as adventure games or sports due to their inherent danger and excitement. Some of these include mountain climbing skydiving or other extreme sports.
Asia is Earths population.In general terms Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural linguistic and ethnic differences some of which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa and to the east of the Turkish Straits the Ural Mountains and Ural River and to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas separating it from Europe.China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 CE. China was a major economic power and attracted many to the east and for many the legendary wealth and prosperity of the ancient culture of India personified Asia attracting European commerce exploration and colonialism. The accidental discovery of a trans-Atlantic route from Europe to America by Columbus while in search for a route to India demonstrates this deep fascination. The Silk Road became the main east–west trading route in the Asian hinterlands while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism (particularly East Asia) as well as robust population growth during the 20th century but overall population growth has since fallen. Asia was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions including Hinduism Zoroastrianism Judaism Jainism Buddhism Confucianism Taoism Christianity Islam Sikhism as well as many other religions.Given its size and diversity the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups cultures environments economics historical ties and government systems. It also has a mix of many different climates ranging from the equatorial south via the hot desert in the Middle East temperate areas in the east and the continental centre to vast subarctic and polar areas in Siberia.Definition and boundaries.Asia–Africa boundary.The boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia and the remainder of the country in Africa.Asia–Europe boundary.The threefold division of the Old World into Europe, Asia and Africa has been in use since the 6th century BC, due to Greek geographers such as Anaximander and Hecataeus. Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the Phasis River in Georgia of Caucasus , a convention still followed by Herodotus in the 5th century BC. During the Hellenistic period, this convention was revised, and the boundary between Europe and Asia was now considered to be the Tanais . This is the convention used by Roman era authors such as Posidonius, Strabo and Ptolemy.The border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. The Don River became unsatisfactory to northern Europeans when Peter the Great king of the Tsardom of Russia defeating rival claims of Sweden and the Ottoman Empire to the eastern lands and armed resistance by the tribes of Siberia synthesized a new Russian Empire extending to the Ural Mountains and beyond founded in 1721. The major geographical theorist of the empire was a former Swedish prisoner-of-war taken at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and assigned to Tobolsk where he associated with Peter's Siberian official Vasily Tatishchev and was allowed freedom to conduct geographical and anthropological studies in preparation for a future book.In Sweden, five years after Peter's death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Ural Mountains as the border of Asia. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg. The latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century. The border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, although it is sometimes placed further north.Asia–Oceania boundary.The border between Asia and the region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The Maluku Islands in Indonesia are often considered to lie on the border of southeast Asia, with New Guinea, to the east of the islands, being wholly part of Oceania. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several vastly different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the colonial possessions of the various empires there . Lewis and Wigen assert, "The narrowing of 'Southeast Asia' to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process."Ongoing definition.Geographical Asia is a cultural artifact of European conceptions of the world, beginning with the Ancient Greeks, being imposed onto other cultures, an imprecise concept causing endemic contention about what it means. Asia does not exactly correspond to the cultural borders of its various types of constituents.From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds that there is no substantial physical separation between them. For example Sir Barry Cunliffe the emeritus professor of European archeology at Oxford argues that Europe has been geographically and culturally merely "the western excrescence of the continent of Asia".Geographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the continent of Eurasia with Europe being a northwestern peninsula of the landmass. Asia, Europe and Africa make up a single continuous landmass—Afro-Eurasia (except for the Suez Canal)—and share a common continental shelf. Almost all of Europe and a major part of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate, adjoined on the south by the Arabian and Indian Plate and with the easternmost part of Siberia (east of the Chersky Range) on the North American Plate.The idea of a place called in other languages comes from Latin of the Roman Empire is much less certain, and the ultimate source of the Latin word is uncertain, though several theories have been published. One of the first classical writers to use Asia as a name of the whole continent was Pliny. This metonymical change in meaning is common and can be observed in some other geographical names, such as Scandinavia .Bronze Age.Before Greek poetry, the Aegean Sea area was in a Greek Dark Age, at the beginning of which syllabic writing was lost and alphabetic writing had not begun. Prior to then in the Bronze Age the records of the Assyrian Empire, the Hittite Empire and the various Mycenaean states of Greece mention a region undoubtedly Asia, certainly in Anatolia, including if not identical to Lydia. These records are administrative and do not include poetry.The Mycenaean states were destroyed about 1200 BCE by unknown agents though one school of thought assigns the Dorian invasion to this time. The burning of the palaces caused the clay tablets holding the Mycenaean administrative records to be preserved by baking. These tablets were written in a Greek syllabic script called Linear B. This script was deciphered by a number of interested parties most notably by a young World War II cryptographer Michael Ventris subsequently assisted by the scholar John Chadwick.A major cache discovered by Carl Blegen at the site of ancient Pylos included hundreds of male and female names formed by different methods. Some of these are of women held in servitude . They were used in trades, such as cloth-making, and usually came with children. The epithet "lawiaiai", "captives", associated with some of them identifies their origin. Some are ethnic names. One in particular, "aswiai", identifies "women of Asia". Perhaps they were captured in Asia, but some others, "Milatiai", appear to have been of Miletus, a Greek colony, which would not have been raided for slaves by Greeks. Chadwick suggests that the names record the locations where these foreign women were purchased. The name is also in the singular, "Aswia", which refers both to the name of a country and to a female from there. There is a masculine form, . This "Aswia" appears to have been a remnant of a region known to the Hittites as Assuwa, centered on Lydia, or "Roman Asia". This name, "Assuwa", has been suggested as the origin for the name of the continent "Asia". The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia, defeated by the Hittites under Tudhaliya I around 1400 BCE.Classical antiquity.Latin Asia and Greek appear to be the same word. Roman authors translated as Asia. The Romans named a province Asia located in western Anatolia . There was an Asia Minor and an Asia Major located in modern-day Iraq. As the earliest evidence of the name is Greek it is likely circumstantially that Asia came from but ancient transitions due to the lack of literary contexts are difficult to catch in the act. The most likely vehicles were the ancient geographers and historians such as Herodotus who were all Greek. Ancient Greek certainly evidences early and rich uses of the name.The first continental use of Asia is attributed to Herodotus , not because he innovated it, but because his "Histories" are the earliest surviving prose to describe it in any detail. He defines it carefully, mentioning the previous geographers whom he had read, but whose works are now missing. By it he means Anatolia and the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt.Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three women's names were .In ancient Greek religion, places were under the care of female divinities, parallel to guardian angels. The poets detailed their doings and generations in allegoric language salted with entertaining stories, which subsequently playwrights transformed into classical Greek drama and became . Many of these are geographic: Doris, Rhodea, Europa, Asia. Hesiod explains:The Iliad mentions two Phrygians in the Trojan War named Asios and also a marsh or lowland containing a marsh in Lydia as . According to many Muslims the term came from Ancient Egypt's Queen Asiya the adoptive mother of Moses.The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Central Asian steppes.The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, each of them developing around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and the Yellow River shared many similarities. These civilizations may well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other innovations, such as writing, seem to have been developed individually in each area. Cities, states and empires developed in these lowlands.The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, South Asia, and the borders of China, where the Tocharians resided. The northernmost part of Asia, including much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing to the dense forests, climate and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated.The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum and Gobi deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially in many cases they could do little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force for this and other reasons the nomads who conquered states in China India and the Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local more affluent societies.The Islamic Caliphate's defeats of the Byzantine and Persian empires led to West Asia and southern parts of Central Asia and western parts of South Asia under its control during its conquests of the 7th century. The Mongol Empire conquered a large part of Asia in the 13th century, an area extending from China to Europe. Before the Mongol invasion, Song dynasty reportedly had approximately 120 million citizens; the 1300 census which followed the invasion reported roughly 60 million people.The Black Death one of the most devastating pandemics in human history is thought to have originated in the arid plains of central Asia where it then travelled along the Silk Road.The Russian Empire began to expand into Asia from the 17th century, and would eventually take control of all of Siberia and most of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire controlled Anatolia, most of the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans from the mid 16th century onwards. In the 17th century, the Manchu conquered China and established the Qing dynasty. The Islamic Mughal Empire and the Hindu Maratha Empire controlled much of India in the 16th and 18th centuries respectively. The Empire of Japan controlled most of East Asia and much of Southeast Asia, New Guinea and the Pacific islands until the end of World War II.Geography and climate.Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 9% of the Earth's total surface area , and has the longest coastline, at . Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Asia is subdivided into 49 countries, five of them are transcontinental countries lying partly in Europe. Geographically, Russia is partly in Asia, but is considered a European nation, both culturally and politically.The Gobi Desert is in Mongolia and the Arabian Desert stretches across much of the Middle East. The Yangtze River in China is the longest river in the continent. The Himalayas between Nepal and China is the tallest mountain range in the world. Tropical rainforests stretch across much of southern Asia and coniferous and deciduous forests lie farther north.Main regions.There are various approaches to the regional division of Asia. The following subdivision into regions is used among others by the UN statistics agency UNSD. This division of Asia into regions by the United Nations is done solely for statistical reasons and does not imply any assumption about political or other affiliations of countries and territories.Asia has extremely diverse climate features. Climates range from arctic and subarctic in Siberia to tropical in southern India and Southeast Asia. It is moist across southeast sections, and dry across much of the interior. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in western sections of Asia. The monsoon circulation dominates across southern and eastern sections, due to the presence of the Himalayas forcing the formation of a thermal low which draws in moisture during the summer. Southwestern sections of the continent are hot. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere, and can act as a source of arctic air masses for North America. The most active place on Earth for tropical cyclone activity lies northeast of the Philippines and south of Japan.A survey carried out in 2010 by global risk analysis farm Maplecroft identified 16 countries that are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Each nation's vulnerability was calculated using 42 socio, economic and environmental indicators, which identified the likely climate change impacts during the next 30 years. The Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka were among the 16 countries facing extreme risk from climate change. Some shifts are already occurring. For example, in tropical parts of India with a semi-arid climate, the temperature increased by 0.4 °C between 1901 and 2003.A 2013 study by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics aimed to find science-based, pro-poor approaches and techniques that would enable Asias recommendations ranged from improving the use of climate information in local planning and strengthening weather-based agro-advisory services, to stimulating diversification of rural household incomes and providing incentives to farmers to adopt natural resource conservation measures to enhance forest cover, replenish groundwater and use renewable energy.The ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar the Philippines Singapore Thailand and Vietnam - are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change in the world however ASEAN's climate mitigation efforts are not commensurate with the climate threats and risks it faces.Asia has the largest continental economy by both GDP Nominal and PPP in the world, and is the fastest growing economic region. , the largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, India, South Korea, Indonesia and Turkey based on GDP in both nominal and PPP. Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated the office locations with 4 of the top 5 being in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul. Around 68 percent of international firms have an office in Hong Kong.In the late 1990s and early 2000s the economies of China and India have been growing rapidly both with an average annual growth rate of more than 8%. Other recent very-high-growth nations in Asia include Israel Malaysia Indonesia Bangladesh Thailand Vietnam and the Philippines and mineral-rich nations such as Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran Brunei the United Arab Emirates Qatar Kuwait Saudi Arabia Bahrain and Oman.According to economic historian Angus Maddison in his book "The World Economy A Millennial Perspective" India had the world's largest economy during 0 BCE and 1000 BCE. Historically India was the largest economy in the world for most of the two millennia from the 1st until 19th century contributing 25% of the world's industrial output. China was the largest and most advanced economy on earth for much of recorded history and shared the mantle with India. For several decades in the late twentieth century Japan was the largest economy in Asia and second-largest of any single nation in the world after surpassing the Soviet Union in 1990 and Germany in 1968. (NB A number of supernational economies are larger such as the European Union the North American Free Trade Agreement or APEC). This ended in 2010 when China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy.In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's GDP was almost as large (current exchange rate method) as that of the rest of Asia combined. In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equaled that of the US as the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency reached a record high of 79 yen/US$. Economic growth in Asia since World War II to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as the four regions of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore located in the Pacific Rim, known as the Asian tigers, which have now all received developed country status, having the highest GDP per capita in Asia.It is forecasted that India will overtake Japan in terms of nominal GDP by 2025. By 2027 according to Goldman Sachs China will have the largest economy in the world. Several trade blocs exist with the most developed being the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Asia is the largest continent in the world by a considerable margin and it is rich in natural resources such as petroleum forests fish water rice copper and silver. Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia particularly in China Taiwan South Korea Japan India the Philippines and Singapore. Japan and South Korea continue to dominate in the area of multinational corporations but increasingly the PRC and India are making significant inroads. Many companies from Europe North America South Korea and Japan have operations in Asia's developing countries to take advantage of its abundant supply of cheap labour and relatively developed infrastructure.According to Citigroup 9 of 11 Global Growth Generators countries came from Asia driven by population and income growth. They are Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iraq Mongolia the Philippines Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Asia has three main financial centers Hong Kong Tokyo and Singapore. Call centers and business process outsourcing are becoming major employers in India and the Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly skilled English-speaking workers. The increased use of outsourcing has assisted the rise of India and the China as financial centers. Due to its large and extremely competitive information technology industry India has become a major hub for outsourcing.Trade between Asian countries and countries on other continents is largely carried out on the sea routes that are important for Asia. Individual main routes have emerged from this. The main route leads from the Chinese coast south via Hanoi to Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur through the Strait of Malacca via the Sri Lankan Colombo to the southern tip of India via Mal to East Africa Mombasa, from there to Djibouti, then through the Red Sea over the Suez Canal into Mediterranean, there via Haifa, Istanbul and Athens to the upper Adriatic to the northern Italian hub of Trieste with its rail connections to Central and Eastern Europe or further to Barcelona and around Spain and France to the European northern ports. A far smaller part of the goods traffic runs via South Africa to Europe. A particularly significant part of the Asian goods traffic is carried out across the Pacific towards Los Angeles and Long Beach. In contrast to the sea routes, the Silk Road via the land route to Europe is on the one hand still under construction and on the other hand is much smaller in terms of scope. Intra-Asian trade, including sea trade, is growing rapidly.In 2010, Asia had 3.3 million millionaires , slightly below North America with 3.4 million millionaires. Last year Asia had toppled Europe.Citigroup in The Wealth Report 2012 stated that Asian centa-millionaire overtook North America's wealth for the first time as the world's "economic center of gravity" continued moving east. At the end of 2011 there were 18000 Asian people mainly in Southeast Asia China and Japan who have at least $100 million in disposable assets while North America with 17000 people and Western Europe with 14000 people.With growing Regional Tourism with domination of Chinese visitors MasterCard has released Global Destination Cities Index 2013 with 10 of 20 are dominated by Asia and Pacific Region Cities and also for the first time a city of a country from Asia set in the top-ranked with 15.98 international visitors.Demographics.East Asia had by far the strongest overall Human Development Index improvement of any region in the world, nearly doubling average HDI attainment over the past 40 years, according to the report's analysis of health, education and income data. China, the second highest achiever in the world in terms of HDI improvement since1970, is the only country on the "Top 10 Movers" list due to income rather than health or education achievements. Its per capita income increased a stunning 21-fold over the last four decades, also lifting hundreds of millions out of income poverty. Yet it was not among the region's top performers in improving school enrollment and life expectancy.&ltbr&gtNepal a South Asian country emerges as one of the world's fastest movers since 1970 mainly due to health and education achievements. Its present life expectancy is 25 years longer than in the 1970s. More than four of every five children of school age in Nepal now attend primary school compared to just one in five 40 years ago.&lt;br&gt; Hong Kong ranked highest among the countries grouped on the HDI , followed by Singapore , Japan and South Korea . Afghanistan ranked lowest amongst Asian countries out of the 169 countries assessed.Asia is home to several language families and many language isolates. Most Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue, more than 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 800 languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. China has many languages and dialects in different provinces.Many of the world's major religions have their origins in Asia including the five most practiced in the world which are Christianity Islam Hinduism Chinese folk religion and Buddhism respectively. Asian mythology is complex and diverse. The story of the Great Flood for example as presented to Jews in the Hebrew Bible in the narrative of Noah—and later to Christians in the Old Testament and to Muslims in the Quran—is earliest found in Mesopotamian mythology in the Enma Eli and . Hindu mythology similarly tells about an avatar of Vishnu in the form of a fish who warned Manu of a terrible flood. Ancient Chinese mythology also tells of a Great Flood spanning generations one that required the combined efforts of emperors and divinities to control.The Abrahamic religions including Judaism Christianity Islam and Bah Faith originated in West Asia.Judaism, the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, is practiced primarily in Israel, the indigenous homeland and historical birthplace of the Hebrew nation: which today consists both of those Jews who remained in the Middle East and those who returned from diaspora in Europe, North America, and other regions; though various diaspora communities persist worldwide. Jews are the predominant ethnic group in Israel numbering at about 6.1 million, although the levels of adherence to Jewish religion vary. Outside of Israel there are small ancient Jewish communities in Turkey , Azerbaijan , Iran , India and Uzbekistan , among many other places. In total, there are 14.4–17.5 million Jews alive in the world today, making them one of the smallest Asian minorities, at roughly 0.3 to 0.4 percent of the total population of the continent.Christianity is a widespread religion in Asia with more than 286 million adherents according to Pew Research Center in 2010, and nearly 364 million according to Britannica Book of the Year 2014. Constituting around 12.6% of the total population of Asia. In the Philippines and East Timor, Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion; it was introduced by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, respectively. In Armenia and Georgia, Eastern Orthodoxy is the predominant religion. In the Middle East, such as in the Levant, Syriac Christianity and Oriental Orthodoxy are prevalent minority denominations, which are both Eastern Christian sects mainly adhered to Assyrian people or Syriac Christians. Saint Thomas Christians in India trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.Islam, which originated in the Hejaz located in modern-day Saudi Arabia, is the second largest and most widely-spread religion in Asia with at least 1 billion Muslims constituting around 23.8% of the total population of Asia. With 12.7% of the world Muslim population, the country currently with the largest Muslim population in the world is Indonesia, followed by Pakistan , India , Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey. Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are the three holiest cities for Islam in all the world. The Hajj and Umrah attract large numbers of Muslim devotees from all over the world to Mecca and Medina. Iran is the largest Shi'a country.The Bah Faith originated in Asia in Iran and spread from there to the Ottoman Empire Central Asia India and Burma during the lifetime of Bah'u'llh. Since the middle of the 20th century growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries because Bah activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities. Lotus Temple is a big Bah Temple in India.Indian and East Asian religions.Almost all Asian religions have philosophical character and Asian philosophical traditions cover a large spectrum of philosophical thoughts and writings. Indian philosophy includes Hindu philosophy and Buddhist philosophy. They include elements of nonmaterial pursuits whereas another school of thought from India Crvka preached the enjoyment of the material world. The religions of Hinduism Buddhism Jainism and Sikhism originated in India South Asia. In East Asia particularly in China and Japan Confucianism Taoism and Zen Buddhism took shape. Hinduism has around 1.1 billion adherents. The faith represents around 25% of Asia's population and is the largest religion in Asia. However it is mostly concentrated in South Asia. Over 80% of the populations of both India and Nepal adhere to Hinduism alongside significant communities in Bangladesh Pakistan Bhutan Sri Lanka and Bali Indonesia. Many overseas Indians in countries such as Burma Singapore and Malaysia also adhere to Hinduism.Buddhism has a great following in mainland Southeast Asia and East Asia. Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the populations of Cambodia Thailand Burma Japan Bhutan Sri Lanka Laos and Mongolia . Large Buddhist populations also exist in Singapore Taiwan South Korea Malaysia Nepal Vietnam China North Korea and small communities in India and Bangladesh. The Communist-governed countries of China Vietnam and North Korea are officially atheist thus the number of Buddhists and other religious adherents may be under-reported.Jainism is found mainly in India and in overseas Indian communities such as the United States and Malaysia. Sikhism is found in Northern India and amongst overseas Indian communities in other parts of Asia especially Southeast Asia. Confucianism is found predominantly in Mainland China South Korea Taiwan and in overseas Chinese populations. Taoism is found mainly in Mainland China Taiwan Malaysia and Singapore. In many Chinese communities Taoism is easily syncretized with Mahayana Buddhism thus exact religious statistics are difficult to obtain and may be understated or overstated.Modern conflicts.Some of the events pivotal in the Asia territory related to the relationship with the outside world in the post-Second World War were:Nobel prizes.The polymath Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, dramatist, and writer from Santiniketan, now in West Bengal, India, became in 1913 the first Asian Nobel laureate. He won his Nobel Prize in Literature for notable impact his prose works and poetic thought had on English, French, and other national literatures of Europe and the Americas. He is also the writer of the national anthems of Bangladesh and India.Other Asian writers who won Nobel Prize for literature include Yasunari Kawabata , Kenzabur e , Gao Xingjian , Orhan Pamuk , and Mo Yan . Some may consider the American writer, Pearl S. Buck, an honorary Asian Nobel laureate, having spent considerable time in China as the daughter of missionaries, and based many of her novels, namely "The Good Earth" and "The Mother" , as well as the biographies of her parents for their time in China, "The Exile" and "Fighting Angel", all of which earned her the Literature prize in 1938.Also, Mother Teresa of India and Shirin Ebadi of Iran were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. Ebadi is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize. Another Nobel Peace Prize winner is Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship in Burma. She is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma (Myanmar) and a noted prisoner of conscience. She is a Buddhist and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for .Sir C.V. Raman is the first Asian to get a Nobel prize in Sciences. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him".Japan has won the most Nobel Prizes of any Asian nation with 24 followed by India which has won 13.Amartya Sen, is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members.Other Asian Nobel Prize winners include Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Abdus Salam, Malala Yousafzai, Robert Aumann, Menachem Begin, Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Daniel Kahneman, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Ada Yonath, Yasser Arafat, Jos Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Timor Leste, Kim Dae-jung, and 13 Japanese scientists. Most of the said awardees are from Japan and Israel except for Chandrasekhar and Raman , Abdus Salam and Malala Yousafzai, , Arafat , Kim , and Horta and Belo .In 2006 Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the establishment of Grameen Bank a community development bank that lends money to poor people especially women in Bangladesh. Dr. Yunus received his PhD in economics from Vanderbilt University United States. He is internationally known for the concept of micro credit which allows poor and destitute people with little or no collateral to borrow money. The borrowers typically pay back money within the specified period and the incidence of default is very low.The Dalai Lama has received approximately eighty-four awards over his spiritual and political career. On 22 June 2006, he became one of only four people ever to be recognized with Honorary Citizenship by the Governor General of Canada. On 28 May 2005, he received the Christmas Humphreys Award from the Buddhist Society in the United Kingdom. Most notable was the Nobel Peace Prize, presented in Oslo, Norway on 10 December 1989.Political geography.Within the above-mentioned states are several partially recognized countries with limited to no international recognition. None of them are members of the UNReferences to articles:Special topics:
Aruba ( , ) is an island country in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguan and northwest of Curaao. It measures long from its northwestern to its southeastern end and across at its widest point. Together with Bonaire and Curaao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, these and the other three Dutch substantial islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean, of which Aruba has about one-third of the population. In 1986 it became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and acquired the formal name the Country of Aruba.Aruba is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands, Curaao, and Sint Maarten; the citizens of these countries are all Dutch nationals. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but, for census purposes, is divided into eight regions. Its capital is Oranjestad.Unlike much of the Caribbean region Aruba has a dry climate and an arid cactus-strewn landscape. The climate has helped tourism because visitors to the island can expect clear sunny skies all year. Its area is and it is quite densely populated with 101484 inhabitants as at the 2010 Census. A January 2019 estimate of the population placed it at 116600.There are different theories as to the origin of the name Aruba:Pre-colonial era.There has been a human presence on Aruba from as early as circa 2000 BC. The first identifiable group are the Arawak Caqueto Amerindians who migrated from South America about 1000 AD. Archaeological evidence suggests continuing links between these native Arubans and Amerindian peoples of mainland South America.Spanish Colonization.The first Europeans to visit Aruba were Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Ojeda in 1499, who claimed the island for Spain. Both men described Aruba as an "island of giants", remarking on the comparatively large stature of the native Caquetos. Vespucci returned to Spain with stocks of cotton and brazilwood from the island and described houses built into the ocean. Vespucci and Ojeda's tales spurred interest in Aruba, and the Spanish began colonising the island. Alonso de Ojeda was appointed the island's first governor in 1508. From 1513 the Spanish began enslaving the Caquetos, sending many to a life of forced labour in the mines of Hispaniola. The island's low rainfall and arid landscape meant that it was not considered profitable for a slave-based plantation system, so the type of large-scale slavery so common on other Caribbean islands never became established on Aruba.Early Dutch period.The Netherlands seized Aruba from Spain in 1636 in the course of the Thirty Yearss proximity to South America resulted in interactions with the cultures of the coastal areas for example architectural similarities can be seen between the 19th-century parts of Oranjestad and the nearby Venezuelan city of Coro in Falcn State. Historically Dutch was not widely spoken on the island outside of colonial administration its use increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Students on Curaao Aruba and Bonaire were taught predominantly in Spanish until the late 18th century.During the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire took control of the island, occupying it between 1806 and 1816, before handing it back to the Dutch as per the terms of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. Aruba subsequently became part of the Colony of Curaao and Dependencies along with Bonaire. During the 19th century, an economy based on gold mining, phosphate production and aloe vera plantations developed, but the island remained a relatively poor backwater.20th and 21st centuries.The first oil refinery in Aruba was built in 1928 by Royal Dutch Shell. The facility was built just to the west of the capital city, Oranjestad, and was commonly called the Eagle. Immediately following that, another refinery was built by Lago Oil and Transport Company, in an area now known as San Nicolas on the east end of Aruba. The refineries processed crude oil from the vast Venezuelan oil fields, bringing greater prosperity to the island. The refinery on Aruba grew to become one of the largest in the world.During World War II, the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1940, the oil facilities in Aruba came under the administration of the Dutch government-in-exile in London, causing them to be attacked by the German navy in 1942.In August 1947 Aruba formulated its first (constitution) for Aruba's as an autonomous state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands prompted by the efforts of Henny Eman a noted Aruban politician. By 1954 the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was established providing a framework for relations between Aruba and the rest of the Kingdom. That created the Netherlands Antilles which united all of the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean into one administrative structure. Many Arubans were unhappy with the arrangement however as the new polity was perceived as being dominated by Curaao.In 1972 at a conference in Suriname Betico Croes a politician from Aruba proposed the creation of a Dutch Commonwealth of four states Aruba the Netherlands Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles each to have its own nationality. Backed by his newly created party the Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo Croes sought greater autonomy for Aruba with the long-term goal of independence adopting the trappings of an independent state in 1976 with the creation of a flag and national anthem. In March 1977 a referendum was held with the support of the United Nations. 82% of the participants voted for complete independence from the Netherlands. Tensions mounted as Croes stepped up the pressure on the Dutch government by organising a general strike in 1977. Croes later met with Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl with the two sides agreeing to assign the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague to prepare a study for independence entitled "Aruba en Onafhankelijkheid achtergronden modaliteiten en mogelijkheden een rapport in eerste aanleg" .In March 1983, Aruba reached an official agreement within the Kingdom for its independence, to be developed in a series of steps as the Crown granted increasing autonomy. In August 1985, Aruba drafted a constitution that was unanimously approved. On 1 January 1986, after elections were held for its first parliament, Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles, officially becoming a country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with full independence planned for 1996. However, Croes was seriously injured in a traffic accident in 1985, slipping into a coma. He died in 1986, never seeing the enacting of "status aparte" for Aruba for which he had worked over many years.After his death Croes was proclaimed . Croess Party (AVP) became the first Prime Minister of Aruba. In 1985 Arubas complete independence was rescinded in 1995 although it was decided that the process could be revived after another referendum.Aruba is a generally flat riverless island in the Leeward Antilles island arc of the Lesser Antilles in the southern part of the Caribbean. It lies west of Curaao and north of Venezuela's Paraguan Peninsula. Aruba has white sandy beaches on the western and southern coasts of the island relatively sheltered from fierce ocean currents. This is where the bulk of the population live and where most tourist development has occurred. The northern and eastern coasts lacking this protection are considerably more battered by the sea and have been left largely untouched.The hinterland of the island features some rolling hills such as Hooiberg at and Mount Jamanota the highest on the island at above sea level. Oranjestad the capital is located at .The Natural Bridge was a large naturally formed limestone bridge on the island's north shore. It was a popular tourist destination until its collapse in 2005.Cities and towns.The island with a population of about 116600 people (1 January 2019 estimate) does not have major cities. It is divided into six districts. Most of the island's population resides in or around the two major city-like districts of Oranjestad (the capital) and San Nicolaas. Oranjestad and San Nicolaas are both divided into two districts for census purposes only. The districts are as followsThe isolation of Aruba from the mainland of South America has fostered the evolution of multiple endemic animals. The island provides a habitat for the endemic Aruban Whiptail and Aruba Rattlesnake as well as an endemic subspecies of Burrowing Owl and Brown-throated Parakeet.The flora of Aruba differs from the typical tropical island vegetation. Xeric scrublands are common, with various forms of cacti, thorny shrubs, and evergreens. Aloe vera is also present, its economic importance earning it a place on the Coat of Arms of Aruba.Cacti like .Trees like are drought tolerant.Climate and natural hazards.By the Kppen climate classification, Aruba has a hot semi-arid climate . Rainfall is scarce, only 300 millimeters per year; in particular, rainy season is drier than it normally is in tropical climates; during the dry season, it almost never rains. Owing to the scarcity of rainfall, the landscape of Aruba is arid. Mean monthly temperature in Oranjestad varies little from to , moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean, which come from the north-east. Yearly rainfall barely exceeds in Oranjestad, although it is extremely variable and can range from as little as during strong El Nio years to over in La Nia years like 1933/1934, 1970/1971 or 1988/1989.Aruba is south of the typical latitudes of hurricanes but was affected by two in their early stages in late 2020.Demographics.In terms of country of birth the population is estimated to be 66% Aruban 9.1% Colombian 4.3% Dutch 4.1% Dominican 3.2% Venezuelan 2.2% Curaaoan 1.5% Haitian 1.2% Surinamese 1.1% Peruvian 1.1% Chinese 6.2% other.In terms of ethnic composition, the population is estimated to be 75% mestizo, 15% black and 10% other ethnicities. Arawak heritage is stronger on Aruba than on most Caribbean islands; although no full-blooded Aboriginals remain, the features of the islanders clearly indicate their genetic Arawak heritage. Most of the population is descended from Caquetio Indians, African slaves, and Dutch settlers, and to a lesser extent the various other groups that have settled on the island over time, such as the Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Sephardic Jews.Recently, there has been substantial immigration to the island from neighbouring South American and Caribbean nations, attracted by the higher paid jobs. In 2007, new immigration laws were introduced to help control the growth of the population by restricting foreign workers to a maximum of three years residency on the island. Most notable are those from Venezuela, which lies just to the south.In 2019, recently arrived Venezuelan refugees were estimated to number around 17,000, accounting for some 15% of the island’s population.The official languages are Dutch and Papiamento. While Dutch is the sole language for all administration and legal matters Papiamento is the predominant language used on Aruba. It is a creole language spoken on Aruba Bonaire and Curaao that incorporates words from Portuguese various West African languages Dutch and Spanish. English and Spanish are also spoken their usage having grown due to tourism. Other common languages spoken based on the size of their community are Portuguese Cantonese French and German.In recent years, the government of Aruba has shown an increased interest in acknowledging the cultural and historical importance of Papiamento. Although spoken Papiamento is fairly similar among the several Papiamento-speaking islands, there is a big difference in written Papiamento. The orthography differs per island, with Aruba using etymological spelling, and Curaao and Bonaire a phonetic spelling. Some are more oriented towards Portuguese and use the equivalent spelling (e.g. ), where others are more oriented towards Dutch.The book , first published in 1678, states through eyewitness account that the natives on Aruba spoke Spanish already. Spanish became an important language in the 18th century due to the close economic ties with Spanish colonies in what are now Venezuela and Colombia. Venezuelan TV networks are received on the island, and Aruba also has significant Venezuelan and Colombian communities. Around 13% of the population today speaks Spanish natively. Use of English dates to the early 19th century, when the British took Curaao, Aruba, and Bonaire. When Dutch rule resumed in 1815, officials already noted wide use of the language.Aruba has newspapers published in Papiamento "Diario" "Bon Dia" "Solo di Pueblo" and "Awe Mainta" English "Aruba Daily" "Aruba Today" and "The News" and Dutch "Amigoe". Aruba has 18 radio stations and two television stations .Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion practiced by about 75% of the population. Various Protestant denominations are also present on the island.Aruba is cartographically split into eight for censuses these regions have no administrative function some allude to parishes which include a few charitable community facilitiesGovernment.Along with the Netherlands Curaao and Sint Maarten Aruba is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with internal autonomy. Matters such as foreign affairs and defense are handled by the Netherlands. Aruba's politics take place within a framework of a 21-member Staten and an eight-member Cabinet the Staten's 21 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve a four-year term. The governor of Aruba is appointed for a six-year term by the monarch and the prime minister and deputy prime minister are indirectly elected by the Staten for four-year terms.Aruba was formerly a part of the Netherlands Antilles however it separated from that entity in 1986 gaining its own constitution.Aruba is designated as a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) and is thus officially not a part of the European Union, though Aruba can and does receive support from the European Development Fund.The Aruban legal system is based on the Dutch model. In Aruba, legal jurisdiction lies with the "Gerecht in Eerste Aanleg" on Aruba, the "Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie van Aruba, Curaao, Sint Maarten, en van Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba" and the "Hoge Raad der Nederlanden" . The "Korps Politie Aruba" is the island's law enforcement agency and operates district precincts in Oranjestad, Noord, San Nicolaas, and Santa Cruz, where it is headquartered.Deficit spending has been a staple in Arubas debt had grown to 1.883 billion Aruban florins. In 2006, the Aruban government changed several tax laws to reduce the deficit. Direct taxes have been converted to indirect taxes as proposed by the IMF.Foreign relations.Aruba is one of the overseas countries and territories of the European Union and maintains economic and cultural relations with the European Union and the United States of America. Aruba is also a member of several International organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and Interpol.Defence on Aruba is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Dutch Armed Forces that protect the island include the Navy Marine Corps and the Coastguard including a platoon sized national guard.All forces are stationed at Marines base in Savaneta. Furthermore, in 1999, the U.S. Department of Defense established a Forward Operating Location (FOL) at the airport.Aruba's educational system is patterned after the Dutch system of education. The government of Aruba finances the public national education system.Schools are a mixture of public and private including the International School of Aruba the Schakel College and mostly the Colegio Arubano.There are three medical schools American University School of Medicine Aruba (AUSOMA) Aureus University School of Medicine and Xavier University School of Medicine as well as its own national university the University of Aruba.The island's economy is dominated by four main industries: tourism, aloe export, petroleum refining, and offshore banking. Aruba has one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region. The GDP per capita for Aruba was estimated to be $37,500 in 2017. Its main trading partners are Colombia, the United States, Venezuela, and the Netherlands.The agriculture and manufacturing sectors are fairly minimal. Gold mining was important in the 19th century. Aloe was introduced to Aruba in 1840 but did not become a big export until 1890. Cornelius Eman founded Aruba Aloe Balm, and over time the industry became very important to the economy. At one point, two-thirds of the island was covered in Aloe Vera fields, and Aruba became the largest exporter of aloe in the world. The industry continues today, though on a smaller scale.Access to biocapacity in Aruba is much lower than world average. In 2016, Aruba had 0.57 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Aruba used 6.5 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use almost 12 times the biocapacity that Aruba contains. This is the extent of Aruba's biocapacity deficit.The official exchange rate of the Aruban florin is pegged to the US dollar at 1.79 florins to US$1. This fact and the majority of tourists being US means businesses of hotel and resort districts prefer to bank and trade with the consumer in US dollars.Aruba is a prosperous country. Unemployment is low and per capita income is one of the highest in the Caribbean . At the end of 2018 the labor force participation rate was 56.6% for women.Until the mid-1980s Aruba's main industry was oil refining. Then the refinery was shut down and the island's economy shifted towards tourism. Currently Aruba receives about 1235673 guests per year of which three-quarters are Americans. Tourism is mainly focused on the beaches and the sea. The refinery has been closed and restarted repeatedly during the last decades. In recent years a letter of intent was signed with CITGO to explore the possibility of reopening the refinery again.Until 2009, the Netherlands granted development aid to Aruba. This aid was mainly for law enforcement, education, administrative development, health care and sustainable economic development. This aid was discontinued at Arubas debt has risen sharply to over 80% of GDP.Aruba also has two free trade zones where import and export and the movement of services are tax-free.About of the Aruban gross national product is earned through tourism and related activities. Most tourists are from North America, with a market-share of 73.3%, followed by Latin America with 15.2% and Europe with 8.3%.For private aircraft passengers bound for the United States, the United States Department of Homeland Security , U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a full pre-clearance facility since 1 February 2001 when Queen Beatrix Airport expanded. Since 2008, Aruba has been the only island to have this service for private flights.Aruba has a large and well-developed tourism industry, receiving 1,082,000 tourists who stayed overnight in its territory in 2018. The largest number of tourists come from North America , with a market share of 73.3%, in addition to 15.2% from Latin America and 8.3% from Europe. In 2018 there were 40,231 visitors from the Netherlands. There are many luxury and lesser luxury hotels, concentrated mainly on the west coast beaches. In Palm Beach are the luxury hotels aimed at American tourists. This area is also called "Highrise-area", because most of the hotels are located in high-rise buildings. Eagle Beach, a short distance from Palm Beach in the direction of Oranjestad, offers hotels on a somewhat smaller and more intimate scale in low-rise buildings, hence the name "lowrise-area".Oranjestad is in addition to the capital an important place in the tourist industry. Here is the port for the many cruise ships that visit Aruba. The cruise industry is a very important pillar of tourism in Aruba since during a cruise a large part of the passengers go ashore to visit the island. With 334 and hospitality facilities. The main street called Caya G.F. Croes has been redesigned in recent years including new paving new palm trees and a streetcar line for tourists.Also elsewhere on the island you can find the necessary tourist accommodation even in apartment buildings.Aruba has a varied culture. According to the "Bureau Burgelijke Stand en Bevolkingsregister" , in 2005 there were ninety-two different nationalities living on the island. Dutch influence can still be seen, as in the celebration of "Sinterklaas" on 5 and 6 December and other national holidays like 27 April, when in Aruba and the rest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands the King's birthday or "Dia di Rey" is celebrated.On 18 March, Aruba celebrates its National Day. Christmas and New Year's Eve are celebrated with the typical music and songs for gaitas for Christmas and the Dande for New Year, and "ayaca", "ponche crema", ham, and other typical foods and drinks. On 25 January, Betico Croes' birthday is celebrated. Dia di San Juan is celebrated on 24 June. Besides Christmas, the religious holy days of the Feast of the Ascension and Good Friday are also holidays on the island.The festival of Carnaval is also an important one in Aruba, as it is in many Caribbean and Latin American countries. Its celebration in Aruba started in the 1950s, influenced by the inhabitants from Venezuela and the nearby islands who came to work for the oil refinery. Over the years, the Carnival Celebration has changed and now starts from the beginning of January until the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, with a large parade on the last Sunday of the festivities .Tourism from the United States has recently increased the visibility of American culture on the island, with such celebrations as Halloween in October and Thanksgiving Day in November.Architecture.From the beginning of the colonization of the Netherlands until the beginning of the 20th century the architecture in the most inhabited areas of Aruba was influenced by the Dutch colonial style and also some Spanish elements from the Catholic missionaries present in Aruba who later settled in Venezuela as well. After the boom of the oil industry and the tourist sector in the 20th century the architectural style of the island incorporated a more American and international influence. In addition elements of the Art Deco style can still be seen in several buildings in San Nicolas. Therefore it can be said that the island's architecture is a mixture of Spanish Dutch American and Caribbean influences.Infrastructure.Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport is near Oranjestad.Aruba has three ports: Barcadera, the main cargo port, Paardenbaai, the cruise ship terminal in Oranjestad, and Commander's Bay in Savaneta. Paardenbaai services all the cruise-ship lines such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL, Holland America, MSC Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&amp;O Cruises and Disney. Nearly one million tourists enter this port per year. Aruba Ports Authority, owned and operated by the Aruban government, runs these seaports."Arubus" is a government-owned bus company. Its buses operate from 3:30 a.m. until 12:30 a.m., 365 days a year. Private minibuses/people movers service zones such as the Hotel Area, San Nicolaas, Santa Cruz and Noord.A streetcar service runs on rails on the Mainstreet of Oranjestad.Water- en Energiebedrijf Aruba N.V. (W.E.B.) produces potable water its eponymous plant was one of the world's largest desalination plants as of 2007. Average daily consumption in Aruba is about . N.V. Elmar is the sole provider of electricity on the island of Aruba.Communications.There are two telecommunications providers government-based Setar and privately owned Digicel. Digicel is Setar's competitor in wireless technology using the GSM platform.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first Frame of Government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after ratification by all the states. A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The weak central government established by the Articles received only those powers which the former colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament.The document provided clearly written rules for how the states' since its organization remained the same.As the Confederation Congress attempted to govern the continually growing American states delegates discovered that the limitations placed upon the central government rendered it ineffective at doing so. As the government Rebellion some prominent political thinkers in the fledgling union began asking for changes to the Articles. Their hope was to create a stronger government. Initially some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems. However as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25 1787. This became the Constitutional Convention. It was quickly agreed that changes would not work and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced. On March 4 1789 the government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution. The new Constitution provided for a much stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive courts and taxing powers.Background and context.The political push to increase cooperation among the then-loyal colonies began with the Albany Congress in 1754 and Benjamin Franklin's proposed Albany Plan, an inter-colonial collaboration to help solve mutual local problems. Over the next two decades, some of the basic concepts it addressed would strengthen; others would weaken, especially in the degree of loyalty owed the Crown. Civil disobedience resulted in coercive and quelling measures, such as the passage of what the colonials referred to as the Intolerable Acts in the British Parliament, and armed skirmishes which resulted in dissidents being proclaimed rebels. These actions eroded the number of Crown Loyalists among the colonials and, together with the highly effective propaganda campaign of the Patriot leaders, caused an increasing number of colonists to begin agitating for independence from the mother country. In 1775, with events outpacing communications, the Second Continental Congress began acting as the provisional government.It was an era of constitution writing—most states were busy at the task—and leaders felt the new nation must have a written constitution a for how the new nation should function. During the war Congress exercised an unprecedented level of political diplomatic military and economic authority. It adopted trade restrictions established and maintained an army issued fiat money created a military code and negotiated with foreign governments.To transform themselves from outlaws into a legitimate nation, the colonists needed international recognition for their cause and foreign allies to support it. In early 1776, Thomas Paine argued in the closing pages of the first edition of Beyond improving their existing association, the records of the Second Continental Congress show that the need for a declaration of independence was intimately linked with the demands of international relations. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution before the Continental Congress declaring the colonies independent; at the same time, he also urged Congress to resolve "to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances" and to prepare a plan of confederation for the newly independent states. Congress then created three overlapping committees to draft the Declaration, a model treaty, and the Articles of Confederation. The Declaration announced the states' entry into the international system; the model treaty was designed to establish amity and commerce with other states; and the Articles of Confederation, which established "a firm league" among the thirteen free and independent states, constituted an international agreement to set up central institutions for the conduct of vital domestic and foreign affairs.On June 12 1776 a day after appointing a committee to prepare a draft of the Declaration of Independence the Second Continental Congress resolved to appoint a committee of 13 to prepare a draft of a constitution for a union of the states. The committee met frequently and chairman John Dickinson presented their results to the Congress on July 12 1776. Afterward there were long debates on such issues as state sovereignty the exact powers to be given to Congress whether to have a judiciary western land claims and voting procedures. To further complicate work on the constitution Congress was forced to leave Philadelphia twice for Baltimore Maryland in the winter of 1776 and later for Lancaster then York Pennsylvania in the fall of 1777 to evade advancing British troops. Even so the committee continued with its work.The final draft of the by state, and establishing a unicameral legislature with limited and clearly delineated powers.Ratification.The Articles of Confederation was submitted to the states for ratification in late November 1777. The first state to ratify was Virginia on December 16, 1777; 12 states had ratified the Articles by February 1779, 14 months into the process. The lone holdout, Maryland, refused to go along until the landed states, especially Virginia, had indicated they were prepared to cede their claims west of the Ohio River to the Union. It would be two years before the Maryland General Assembly became satisfied that the various states would follow through, and voted to ratify. During this time, Congress observed the Articles as its de facto frame of government. Maryland finally ratified the Articles on February 2, 1781. Congress was informed of Maryland's assent on March 1, and officially proclaimed the Articles of Confederation to be the law of the land.The several states ratified the Articles of Confederation on the following datesArticle summaries.The Articles of Confederation contain a preamble, thirteen articles, a conclusion, and a signatory section. The individual articles set the rules for current and future operations of the confederation's central government. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national Congress, which was empowered to make war and peace, negotiate diplomatic and commercial agreements with foreign countries, and to resolve disputes between the states. The document also stipulates that its provisions .Summary of the purpose and content of each of the 13 articles:Congress under the Articles.Under the Articles, Congress had the authority to regulate and fund the Continental Army, but it lacked the power to compel the States to comply with requests for either troops or funding. This left the military vulnerable to inadequate funding, supplies, and even food. Further, although the Articles enabled the states to present a unified front when dealing with the European powers, as a tool to build a centralized war-making government, they were largely a failure; Historian Bruce Chadwick wrote:Phelps wrote:The Continental Congress, before the Articles were approved, had promised soldiers a pension of half pay for life. However Congress had no power to compel the states to fund this obligation, and as the war wound down after the victory at Yorktown the sense of urgency to support the military was no longer a factor. No progress was made in Congress during the winter of 1783–84. General Henry Knox, who would later become the first Secretary of War under the Constitution, blamed the weaknesses of the Articles for the inability of the government to fund the army. The army had long been supportive of a strong union.As Congress failed to act on the petitions Knox wrote to Gouverneur Morris four years before the Philadelphia Convention was convened Once the war had been won the Continental Army was largely disbanded. A very small national force was maintained to man the frontier forts and to protect against Native American attacks. Meanwhile each of the states had an army and 11 of them had navies. The wartime promises of bounties and land grants to be paid for service were not being met. In 1783 George Washington defused the Newburgh conspiracy but riots by unpaid Pennsylvania veterans forced Congress to leave Philadelphia temporarily.The Congress from time to time during the Revolutionary War requisitioned troops from the states. Any contributions were voluntary, and in the debates of 1788, the Federalists (who supported the proposed new Constitution) claimed that state politicians acted unilaterally, and contributed when the Continental army protected their state's interests. The Anti-Federalists claimed that state politicians understood their duty to the Union and contributed to advance its needs. Dougherty (2009) concludes that generally the States' behavior validated the Federalist analysis. This helps explain why the Articles of Confederation needed reforms.Foreign policy.The 1783 Treaty of Paris which ended hostilities with Great Britain languished in Congress for several months because too few delegates were present at any one time to constitute a quorum so that it could be ratified. Afterward the problem only got worse as Congress had no power to enforce attendance. Rarely did more than half of the roughly sixty delegates attend a session of Congress at the time causing difficulties in raising a quorum. The resulting paralysis embarrassed and frustrated many American nationalists including George Washington. Many of the most prominent national leaders such as Washington John Adams John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin retired from public life served as foreign delegates or held office in state governments and for the general public local government and self-rule seemed quite satisfactory. This served to exacerbate Congress's impotence.Inherent weaknesses in the confederation's frame of government also frustrated the ability of the government to conduct foreign policy. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, concerned over the failure of Congress to fund an American naval force to confront the Barbary pirates, wrote in a diplomatic correspondence to James Monroe that, "It will be said there is no money in the treasury. There never will be money in the treasury till the Confederacy shows its teeth."Furthermore, the 1786 Jay–Gardoqui Treaty with Spain also showed weakness in foreign policy. In this treaty, which was never ratified, the United States was to give up rights to use the Mississippi River for 25 years, which would have economically strangled the settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains. Finally, due to the Confederation's military weakness, it could not compel the British army to leave frontier forts which were on American soil — forts which, in 1783, the British promised to leave, but which they delayed leaving pending U.S. implementation of other provisions such as ending action against Loyalists and allowing them to seek compensation. This incomplete British implementation of the Treaty of Paris would later be resolved by the implementation of Jay's Treaty in 1795 after the federal Constitution came into force.Taxation and commerce.Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was kept quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions but lacked enforcement powers. Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures.Congress was denied any powers of taxation it could only request money from the states. The states often failed to meet these requests in full leaving both Congress and the Continental Army chronically short of money. As more money was printed by Congress the continental dollars depreciated. In 1779 George Washington wrote to John Jay who was serving as the president of the Continental Congress The States did not respond with any of the money requested from them.Congress had also been denied the power to regulate either foreign trade or interstate commerce and as a result all of the States maintained control over their own trade policies. The states and the Confederation Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War and how to repay those debts became a major issue of debate following the War. Some States paid off their war debts and others did not. Federal assumption of the states' war debts became a major issue in the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention.Accomplishments.Nevertheless, the Confederation Congress did take two actions with long-lasting impact. The Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance created territorial government, set up protocols for the admission of new states and the division of land into useful units, and set aside land in each township for public use. This system represented a sharp break from imperial colonization, as in Europe, and it established the precedent by which the national government would be sovereign and expand westward—as opposed to the existing states doing so under their sovereignty.The Land Ordinance of 1785 established both the general practices of land surveying in the west and northwest and the land ownership provisions used throughout the later westward expansion beyond the Mississippi River. Frontier lands were surveyed into the now-familiar squares of land called the township , the section , and the quarter section . This system was carried forward to most of the States west of the Mississippi . Then, when the Homestead Act was enacted in 1867, the quarter section became the basic unit of land that was granted to new settler-farmers.The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 noted the agreement of the original states to give up northwestern land claims organized the Northwest Territory and laid the groundwork for the eventual creation of new states. While it didn't happen under the articles the land north of the Ohio River and west of the western border of Pennsylvania ceded by Massachusetts Connecticut New York Pennsylvania and Virginia eventually became the states of Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin and the part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi River. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 also made great advances in the abolition of slavery. New states admitted to the union in this territory would never be slave states.No new states were admitted to the Union under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles provided for a blanket acceptance of the Province of Quebec into the United States if it chose to do so. It did not, and the subsequent Constitution carried no such special provision of admission. Additionally, ordinances to admit Frankland , Kentucky, and Vermont to the Union were considered, but none were approved.Presidents of Congress.Under the Articles of Confederation, the presiding officer of Congress—referred to in many official records as —chaired the Committee of the States when Congress was in recess, and performed other administrative functions. He was not, however, an executive in the way the later President of the United States is a chief executive, since all of the functions he executed were under the direct control of Congress.There were 10 presidents of Congress under the Articles. The first, Samuel Huntington, had been serving as president of the Continental Congress since September 28, 1779.U.S. under the Articles.The peace treaty left the United States independent and at peace but with an unsettled governmental structure. The Articles envisioned a permanent confederation but granted to the Congress—the only federal institution—little power to finance itself or to ensure that its resolutions were enforced. There was no president, no executive agencies, no judiciary, and no tax base. The absence of a tax base meant that there was no way to pay off state and national debts from the war years except by requesting money from the states, which seldom arrived. Although historians generally agree that the Articles were too weak to hold the fast-growing nation together, they do give credit to the settlement of the western issue, as the states voluntarily turned over their lands to national control.By 1783 with the end of the British blockade the new nation was regaining its prosperity. However trade opportunities were restricted by the mercantilism of the British and French empires. The ports of the British West Indies were closed to all staple products which were not carried in British ships. France and Spain established similar policies. Simultaneously new manufacturers faced sharp competition from British products which were suddenly available again. Political unrest in several states and efforts by debtors to use popular government to erase their debts increased the anxiety of the political and economic elites which had led the Revolution. The apparent inability of the Congress to redeem the public obligations incurred during the war or to become a forum for productive cooperation among the states to encourage commerce and economic development only aggravated a gloomy situation. In 1786–87 Shays' Rebellion an uprising of dissidents in western Massachusetts against the state court system threatened the stability of state government.The Continental Congress printed paper money which was so depreciated that it ceased to pass as currency, spawning the expression "not worth a continental". Congress could not levy taxes and could only make requisitions upon the States. Less than a million and a half dollars came into the treasury between 1781 and 1784, although the governors had been asked for two million in 1783 alone.When John Adams went to London in 1785 as the first representative of the United States he found it impossible to secure a treaty for unrestricted commerce. Demands were made for favors and there was no assurance that individual states would agree to a treaty. Adams stated it was necessary for the States to confer the power of passing navigation laws to Congress or that the States themselves pass retaliatory acts against Great Britain. Congress had already requested and failed to get power over navigation laws. Meanwhile each State acted individually against Great Britain to little effect. When other New England states closed their ports to British shipping Connecticut hastened to profit by opening its ports.By 1787 Congress was unable to protect manufacturing and shipping. State legislatures were unable or unwilling to resist attacks upon private contracts and public credit. Land speculators expected no rise in values when the government could not defend its borders nor protect its frontier population.The idea of a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation grew in favor. Alexander Hamilton realized while serving as Washington's top aide that a strong central government was necessary to avoid foreign intervention and allay the frustrations due to an ineffectual Congress. Hamilton led a group of like-minded nationalists won Washington's endorsement and convened the Annapolis Convention in 1786 to petition Congress to call a constitutional convention to meet in Philadelphia to remedy the long-term crisis.Signatures.The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles for distribution to the states on November 15, 1777. A copy was made for each state and one was kept by the Congress. On November 28, the copies sent to the states for ratification were unsigned, and the cover letter, dated November 17, had only the signatures of Henry Laurens and Charles Thomson, who were the President and Secretary to the Congress.The Articles, however, were unsigned, and the date was blank. Congress began the signing process by examining their copy of the Articles on June 27, 1778. They ordered a final copy prepared , and that delegates should inform the secretary of their authority for ratification.On July 9 1778 the prepared copy was ready. They dated it and began to sign. They also requested each of the remaining states to notify its delegation when ratification was completed. On that date delegates present from New Hampshire Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New York Pennsylvania Virginia and South Carolina signed the Articles to indicate that their states had ratified. New Jersey Delaware and Maryland could not since their states had not ratified. North Carolina and Georgia also were unable to sign that day since their delegations were absent.After the first signing, some delegates signed at the next meeting they attended. For example, John Wentworth of New Hampshire added his name on August 8. John Penn was the first of North Carolina's delegates to arrive (on July 10), and the delegation signed the Articles on July 21, 1778.The other states had to wait until they ratified the Articles and notified their Congressional delegation. Georgia signed on July 24 New Jersey on November 26 and Delaware on February 12 1779. Maryland refused to ratify the Articles until every state had ceded its western land claims. Chevalier de La Luzerne French Minister to the United States felt that the Articles would help strengthen the American government. In 1780 when Maryland requested France provide naval forces in the Chesapeake Bay for protection from the British he indicated that French Admiral Destouches would do what he could but La Luzerne also "sharply pressed" Maryland to ratify the Articles thus suggesting the two issues were related.On February 2, 1781, the much-awaited decision was taken by the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis. As the last piece of business during the afternoon Session, The decision of Maryland to ratify the Articles was reported to the Continental Congress on February 12. The confirmation signing of the Articles by the two Maryland delegates took place in Philadelphia at noon time on March 1, 1781, and was celebrated in the afternoon. With these events, the Articles were entered into force and the United States of America came into being as a sovereign federal state.Congress had debated the Articles for over a year and a half, and the ratification process had taken nearly three and a half years. Many participants in the original debates were no longer delegates, and some of the signers had only recently arrived. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were signed by a group of men who were never present in the Congress at the same time.The signers and the states they represented wereRoger Sherman was the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.Robert Morris signed three of the great state papers of the United States the United States Declaration of Independence the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.John Dickinson , Daniel Carroll and Gouverneur Morris , along with Sherman and Robert Morris, were the only five people to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution .Parchment pages.Original parchment pages of the Articles of Confederation, National Archives and Records Administration.Revision and replacement.In September 1786, delegates from five states met at what became known as the Annapolis Convention to discuss the need for reversing the protectionist interstate trade barriers that each state had erected. At its conclusion, delegates voted to invite all states to a larger convention to be held in Philadelphia in 1787. The Confederation Congress later endorsed this convention , described the change this way:In May 1786 Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles of Confederation. Recommended changes included granting Congress power over foreign and domestic commerce and providing means for Congress to collect money from state treasuries. Unanimous approval was necessary to make the alterations however and Congress failed to reach a consensus. The weakness of the Articles in establishing an effective unifying government was underscored by the threat of internal conflict both within and between the states especially after Shays' Rebellion threatened to topple the state government of Massachusetts.Historian Ralph Ketcham commented on the opinions of Patrick Henry, George Mason, and other Anti-Federalists who were not so eager to give up the local autonomy won by the revolution:Historians have given many reasons for the perceived need to replace the articles in 1787. Jillson and Wilson point to the financial weakness as well as the norms rules and institutional structures of the Congress and the propensity to divide along sectional lines.Rakove identifies several factors that explain the collapse of the Confederation. The lack of compulsory direct taxation power was objectionable to those wanting a strong centralized state or expecting to benefit from such power. It could not collect customs after the war because tariffs were vetoed by Rhode Island. Rakove concludes that their failure to implement national measures The second group of factors Rakove identified derived from the substantive nature of the problems the Continental Congress confronted after 1783, especially the inability to create a strong foreign policy. Finally, the Confederation's lack of coercive power reduced the likelihood for profit to be made by political means, thus potential rulers were uninspired to seek power.When the war ended in 1783, certain special interests had incentives to create a new "merchant state," much like the British state people had rebelled against. In particular, holders of war scrip and land speculators wanted a central government to pay off scrip at face value and to legalize western land holdings with disputed claims. Also, manufacturers wanted a high tariff as a barrier to foreign goods, but competition among states made this impossible without a central government.Legitimacy of closing down.Two prominent political leaders in the Confederation, John Jay of New York and Thomas Burke of North Carolina believed that "the authority of the congress rested on the prior acts of the several states, to which the states gave their voluntary consent, and until those obligations were fulfilled, neither nullification of the authority of congress, exercising its due powers, nor secession from the compact itself was consistent with the terms of their original pledges."According to Article XIII of the Confederation, any alteration had to be approved unanimously:he Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State.On the other hand, Article VII of the proposed Constitution stated that it would become effective after ratification by a mere nine states, without unanimity:The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.The apparent tension between these two provisions was addressed at the time, and remains a topic of scholarly discussion. In 1788, James Madison remarked that the issue had become moot: Nevertheless, it is a historical and legal question whether opponents of the Constitution could have plausibly attacked the Constitution on that ground. At the time, there were state legislators who argued that the Constitution was not an alteration of the Articles of Confederation, but rather would be a complete replacement so the unanimity rule did not apply. Moreover, the Confederation had proven woefully inadequate and therefore was supposedly no longer binding.Modern scholars such as Francisco Forrest Martin agree that the Articles of Confederation had lost its binding force because many states had violated it, and thus . In contrast, law professor Akhil Amar suggests that there may not have really been any conflict between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution on this point; Article VI of the Confederation specifically allowed side deals among states, and the Constitution could be viewed as a side deal until all states ratified it.Final months.On July 3, 1788, the Congress received New Hampshire's all-important ninth ratification of the proposed Constitution, thus, according to its terms, establishing it as the new framework of governance for the ratifying states. The following day delegates considered a bill to admit Kentucky into the Union as a sovereign state. The discussion ended with Congress making the determination that, in light of this development, it would be "unadvisable" to admit Kentucky into the Union, as it could do so "under the Articles of Confederation" only, but not "under the Constitution".By the end of July 1788, 11 of the 13 states had ratified the new Constitution. Congress continued to convene under the Articles with a quorum until October. On Saturday, September 13, 1788, the Confederation Congress voted the resolve to implement the new Constitution, and on Monday, September 15 published an announcement that the new Constitution had been ratified by the necessary nine states, set the first Wednesday in January 1789 for appointing electors, set the first Wednesday in February 1789 for the presidential electors to meet and vote for a new president, and set the first Wednesday of March 1789 as the day under the new Constitution. On that same September 13, it determined that New York would remain the national capital.
Asia Minor is an alternative name for Anatolia the westernmost protrusion of Asia comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey.Asia Minor may also refer to:The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceans with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Europe and Asia from the "New World" of the Americas in the European perception of the World.The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the interconnected World Ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south . The Atlantic Ocean is divided in two parts, by the Equatorial Counter Current, with the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean at about 8°N.Scientific explorations of the Atlantic include the "Challenger" expedition the German "Meteor" expedition Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office.The oldest known mentions of an "Atlantic" sea come from Stesichorus around mid-sixth century BC and in "The Histories" of Herodotus around 450 BC where the name refers to "the sea beyond the pillars of Heracles" which is said to be part of the sea that surrounds all land. In these uses the name refers to Atlas the Titan in Greek mythology who supported the heavens and who later appeared as a frontispiece in Medieval maps and also lent his name to modern atlases. On the other hand to early Greek sailors and in Ancient Greek mythological literature such as the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" this all-encompassing ocean was instead known as Oceanus the gigantic river that encircled the world in contrast to the enclosed seas well known to the Greeks the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In contrast the term "Atlantic" originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of millions of years ago.The term "Aethiopian Ocean", derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century. During the Age of Discovery, the Atlantic was also known to English cartographers as the Great Western Ocean.The pond is a term often used by British and American speakers in reference to the Northern Atlantic Ocean as a form of meiosis or ironic understatement. It is used mostly when referring to events or circumstances "on this side of the pond" or "on the other side of the pond" rather than to discuss the ocean itself. The term dates to 1640 first appearing in print in pamphlet released during the reign of Charles I and reproduced in 1869 in Nehemiah Wallington's "Historical Notices of Events Occurring Chiefly in The Reign of Charles I" where "great Pond" is used in reference to the Atlantic Ocean by Francis Windebank Charles I's Secretary of State.Extent and data.The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defined the limits of the oceans and seas in 1953, but some of these definitions have been revised since then and some are not used by various authorities, institutions, and countries, see for example the CIA World Factbook. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas vary.The Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait Greenland Sea Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. To the east the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe the Strait of Gibraltar (where it connects with the Mediterranean Sea—one of its marginal seas—and in turn the Black Sea both of which also touch upon Asia) and Africa.In the southeast the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean. The 20° East meridian running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean.The Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs and seas. These include the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures compared to for the Pacific.Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of or 23.5% of the global ocean and has a volume of or 23.3% of the total volume of the earth's oceans. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers and has a volume of . The North Atlantic covers (11.5%) and the South Atlantic (11.1%). The average depth is and the maximum depth, the Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench, is .Biggest seas in Atlantic Ocean.Top large seas:Bathymetry.The bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . It runs from 87°N or south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 54°S.Mid-Atlantic Ridge.The MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above along most of its length, but is interrupted by larger transform faults at two places: the Romanche Trench near the Equator and the Gibbs Fracture Zone at 53°N. The MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other.The MAR rises above the surrounding ocean floor and its rift valley is the divergent boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates in the North Atlantic and the South American and African plates in the South Atlantic. The MAR produces basaltic volcanoes in Eyjafjallajkull, Iceland, and pillow lava on the ocean floor. The depth of water at the apex of the ridge is less than in most places, while the bottom of the ridge is three times as deep.The MAR is intersected by two perpendicular ridges: the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault, the boundary between the Nubian and Eurasian plates, intersects the MAR at the Azores Triple Junction, on either side of the Azores microplate, near the 40°N. A much vaguer, nameless boundary, between the North American and South American plates, intersects the MAR near or just north of the Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone, approximately at 16°N.In the 1870s the "Challenger" expedition discovered parts of what is now known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge orThe remainder of the ridge was discovered in the 1920s by the German expedition using echo-sounding equipment. The exploration of the MAR in the 1950s led to the general acceptance of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics.Most of the MAR runs under water but where it reaches the surfaces it has produced volcanic islands. While nine of these have collectively been nominated a World Heritage Site for their geological value four of them are considered of "Outstanding Universal Value" based on their cultural and natural criteria ingvellir Iceland Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture Portugal Gough and Inaccessible Islands United Kingdom and Brazilian Atlantic Islands Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves Brazil.Ocean floor.Continental shelves in the Atlantic are wide off Newfoundland, southernmost South America, and north-eastern Europe.In the western Atlantic carbonate platforms dominate large areas for example the Blake Plateau and Bermuda Rise.The Atlantic is surrounded by passive margins except at a few locations where active margins form deep trenches the Puerto Rico Trench in the western Atlantic and South Sandwich Trench in the South Atlantic. There are numerous submarine canyons off north-eastern North America western Europe and north-western Africa. Some of these canyons extend along the continental rises and farther into the abyssal plains as deep-sea channels.In 1922 a historic moment in cartography and oceanography occurred. The USS used a Navy Sonic Depth Finder to draw a continuous map across the bed of the Atlantic. This involved little guesswork because the idea of sonar is straightforward with pulses being sent from the vessel which bounce off the ocean floor then return to the vessel. The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat with occasional deeps abyssal plains trenches seamounts basins plateaus canyons and some guyots. Various shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography with few deep channels cut across the continental rise.The mean depth between 60°N and 60°S is , or close to the average for the global ocean, with a modal depth between .In the South Atlantic the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise form barriers to ocean currents.The Laurentian Abyss is found off the eastern coast of Canada.Water characteristics.Surface water temperatures, which vary with latitude, current systems, and season and reflect the latitudinal distribution of solar energy, range from below to over . Maximum temperatures occur north of the equator, and minimum values are found in the polar regions. In the middle latitudes, the area of maximum temperature variations, values may vary by .From October to June the surface is usually covered with sea ice in the Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea.The Coriolis effect circulates North Atlantic water in a clockwise direction whereas South Atlantic water circulates counter-clockwise. The south tides in the Atlantic Ocean are semi-diurnal that is two high tides occur every 24 lunar hours. In latitudes above 40° North some east–west oscillation known as the North Atlantic oscillation occurs.On average the Atlantic is the saltiest major ocean surface water salinity in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand by mass and varies with latitude and season. Evaporation precipitation river inflow and sea ice melting influence surface salinity values. Although the lowest salinity values are just north of the equator in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers enter. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° north and south in subtropical regions with low rainfall and high evaporation.The high surface salinity in the Atlantic, on which the Atlantic thermohaline circulation is dependent, is maintained by two processes: the Agulhas Leakage/Rings, which brings salty Indian Ocean waters into the South Atlantic, and the "Atmospheric Bridge", which evaporates subtropical Atlantic waters and exports it to the Pacific.Water masses.The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major, upper water masses with distinct temperature and salinity. The Atlantic Subarctic Upper Water in the northernmost North Atlantic is the source for Subarctic Intermediate Water and North Atlantic Intermediate Water. North Atlantic Central Water can be divided into the Eastern and Western North Atlantic central Water since the western part is strongly affected by the Gulf Stream and therefore the upper layer is closer to underlying fresher subpolar intermediate water. The eastern water is saltier because of its proximity to Mediterranean Water. North Atlantic Central Water flows into South Atlantic Central Water at 15°N.There are five intermediate waters: four low-salinity waters formed at subpolar latitudes and one high-salinity formed through evaporation. Arctic Intermediate Water, flows from north to become the source for North Atlantic Deep Water south of the Greenland-Scotland sill. These two intermediate waters have different salinity in the western and eastern basins. The wide range of salinities in the North Atlantic is caused by the asymmetry of the northern subtropical gyre and the large number of contributions from a wide range of sources: Labrador Sea, Norwegian-Greenland Sea, Mediterranean, and South Atlantic Intermediate Water.The North Atlantic Deep Water is a complex of four water masses two that form by deep convection in the open ocean — Classical and Upper Labrador Sea Water — and two that form from the inflow of dense water across the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland sill — Denmark Strait and Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water. Along its path across Earth the composition of the NADW is affected by other water masses especially Antarctic Bottom Water and Mediterranean Overflow Water.The NADW is fed by a flow of warm shallow water into the northern North Atlantic which is responsible for the anomalous warm climate in Europe. Changes in the formation of NADW have been linked to global climate changes in the past. Since man-made substances were introduced into the environment, the path of the NADW can be traced throughout its course by measuring tritium and radiocarbon from nuclear weapon tests in the 1960s and CFCs.The clockwise warm-water North Atlantic Gyre occupies the northern Atlantic, and the counter-clockwise warm-water South Atlantic Gyre appears in the southern Atlantic.In the North Atlantic surface circulation is dominated by three inter-connected currents the Gulf Stream which flows north-east from the North American coast at Cape Hatteras the North Atlantic Current a branch of the Gulf Stream which flows northward from the Grand Banks and the Subpolar Front an extension of the North Atlantic Current a wide vaguely defined region separating the subtropical gyre from the subpolar gyre. This system of currents transport warm water into the North Atlantic without which temperatures in the North Atlantic and Europe would plunge dramatically.North of the North Atlantic Gyre, the cyclonic North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre plays a key role in climate variability. It is governed by ocean currents from marginal seas and regional topography, rather than being steered by wind, both in the deep ocean and at sea level.The subpolar gyre forms an important part of the global thermohaline circulation. Its eastern portion includes eddying branches of the North Atlantic Current which transport warm saline waters from the subtropics to the north-eastern Atlantic. There this water is cooled during winter and forms return currents that merge along the eastern continental slope of Greenland where they form an intense current which flows around the continental margins of the Labrador Sea. A third of this water becomes part of the deep portion of the North Atlantic Deep Water . The NADW in its turn feeds the meridional overturning circulation the northward heat transport of which is threatened by anthropogenic climate change. Large variations in the subpolar gyre on a decade-century scale associated with the North Atlantic oscillation are especially pronounced in Labrador Sea Water the upper layers of the MOC.The South Atlantic is dominated by the anti-cyclonic southern subtropical gyre. The South Atlantic Central Water originates in this gyre, while Antarctic Intermediate Water originates in the upper layers of the circumpolar region, near the Drake Passage and the Falkland Islands. Both these currents receive some contribution from the Indian Ocean. On the African east coast, the small cyclonic Angola Gyre lies embedded in the large subtropical gyre.The southern subtropical gyre is partly masked by a wind-induced Ekman layer. The residence time of the gyre is 4.4–8.5 years. North Atlantic Deep Water flows southward below the thermocline of the subtropical gyre.Sargasso Sea.The Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic can be defined as the area where two species of float, an area wide and encircled by the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift, and North Equatorial Current. This population of seaweed probably originated from Tertiary ancestors on the European shores of the former Tethys Ocean and has, if so, maintained itself by vegetative growth, floating in the ocean for millions of years.Other species endemic to the Sargasso Sea include the sargassum fish a predator with algae-like appendages which hovers motionless among the "Sargassum". Fossils of similar fishes have been found in fossil bays of the former Tethys Ocean in what is now the Carpathian region that were similar to the Sargasso Sea. It is possible that the population in the Sargasso Sea migrated to the Atlantic as the Tethys closed at the end of the Miocene around 17 Ma. The origin of the Sargasso fauna and flora remained enigmatic for centuries. The fossils found in the Carpathians in the mid-20th century often called the "quasi-Sargasso assemblage" finally showed that this assemblage originated in the Carpathian Basin from where it migrated over Sicily to the Central Atlantic where it evolved into modern species of the Sargasso Sea.The location of the spawning ground for European eels remained unknown for decades. In the early 19th century it was discovered that the southern Sargasso Sea is the spawning ground for both the European and American eel and that the former migrate more than and the latter . Ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream transport eel larvae from the Sargasso Sea to foraging areas in North America, Europe, and Northern Africa. Recent but disputed research suggests that eels possibly use Earth's magnetic field to navigate through the ocean both as larvae and as adults.Climate is influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as winds. Because of the ocean's great capacity to store and release heat maritime climates are more moderate and have less extreme seasonal variations than inland climates. Precipitation can be approximated from coastal weather data and air temperature from water temperatures.The oceans are the major source of the atmospheric moisture that is obtained through evaporation. Climatic zones vary with latitude the warmest zones stretch across the Atlantic north of the equator. The coldest zones are in high latitudes with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents influence the climate by transporting warm and cold waters to other regions. The winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents influence adjacent land areas.The Gulf Stream and its northern extension towards Europe the North Atlantic Drift is thought to have at least some influence on climate. For example the Gulf Stream helps moderate winter temperatures along the coastline of southeastern North America keeping it warmer in winter along the coast than inland areas. The Gulf Stream also keeps extreme temperatures from occurring on the Florida Peninsula. In the higher latitudes the North Atlantic Drift warms the atmosphere over the oceans keeping the British Isles and north-western Europe mild and cloudy and not severely cold in winter like other locations at the same high latitude. The cold water currents contribute to heavy fog off the coast of eastern Canada (the Grand Banks of Newfoundland area) and Africa's north-western coast. In general winds transport moisture and air over land areas.Natural hazards.Every winter the Icelandic Low produces frequent storms. Icebergs are common from early February to the end of July across the shipping lanes near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The ice season is longer in the polar regions but there is little shipping in those areas.Hurricanes are a hazard in the western parts of the North Atlantic during the summer and autumn. Due to a consistently strong wind shear and a weak Intertropical Convergence Zone, South Atlantic tropical cyclones are rare.Geology and plate tectonics.The Atlantic Ocean is underlain mostly by dense mafic oceanic crust made up of basalt and gabbro and overlain by fine clay, silt and siliceous ooze on the abyssal plain. The continental margins and continental shelf mark lower density, but greater thickness felsic continental rock that is often much older than that of the seafloor. The oldest oceanic crust in the Atlantic is up to 145 million years and situated off the west coast of Africa and east coast of North America, or on either side of the South Atlantic.In many places the continental shelf and continental slope are covered in thick sedimentary layers. For instance on the North American side of the ocean large carbonate deposits formed in warm shallow waters such as Florida and the Bahamas while coarse river outwash sands and silt are common in shallow shelf areas like the Georges Bank. Coarse sand boulders and rocks were transported into some areas such as off the coast of Nova Scotia or the Gulf of Maine during the Pleistocene ice ages.Central Atlantic.The break-up of Pangaea began in the Central Atlantic, between North America and Northwest Africa, where rift basins opened during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. This period also saw the first stages of the uplift of the Atlas Mountains. The exact timing is controversial with estimates ranging from 200 to 170 Ma.The opening of the Atlantic Ocean coincided with the initial break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea both of which were initiated by the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province one of the most extensive and voluminous large igneous provinces in Earth's history associated with the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event one of Earth's major extinction events.Theoliitic dikes, sills, and lava flows from the CAMP eruption at 200 Ma have been found in West Africa, eastern North America, and northern South America. The extent of the volcanism has been estimated to of which covered what is now northern and central Brazil.The formation of the Central American Isthmus closed the Central American Seaway at the end of the Pliocene 2.8 Ma ago. The formation of the isthmus resulted in the migration and extinction of many land-living animals, known as the Great American Interchange, but the closure of the seaway resulted in a "Great American Schism" as it affected ocean currents, salinity, and temperatures in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Marine organisms on both sides of the isthmus became isolated and either diverged or went extinct.Geologically the Northern Atlantic is the area delimited to the south by two conjugate margins Newfoundland and Iberia and to the north by the Arctic Eurasian Basin. The opening of the Northern Atlantic closely followed the margins of its predecessor the Iapetus Ocean and spread from the Central Atlantic in six stages Iberia–Newfoundland Porcupine–North America Eurasia–Greenland Eurasia–North America. Active and inactive spreading systems in this area are marked by the interaction with the Iceland hotspot.Seafloor spreading led to the extension of the crust and formations of troughs and sedimentary basins. The Rockall Trough opened between 105 and 84 million years ago although along the rift failed along with one leading into the Bay of Biscay.Spreading began opening the Labrador Sea around 61 million years ago continuing until 36 million years ago. Geologists distinguish two magmatic phases. One from 62 to 58 million years ago predates the separation of Greenland from northern Europe while the second from 56 to 52 million years ago happened as the separation occurred.Iceland began to form 62 million years ago due to a particularly concentrated mantle plume. Large quantities of basalt erupted at this time period are found on Baffin Island Greenland the Faroe Islands and Scotland with ash falls in Western Europe acting as a stratigraphic marker. The opening of the North Atlantic caused significant uplift of continental crust along the coast. For instance in spite of 7 km thick basalt Gunnbjorn Field in East Greenland is the highest point on the island elevated enough that it exposes older Mesozoic sedimentary rocks at its base similar to old lava fields above sedimentary rocks in the uplifted Hebrides of western Scotland.South Atlantic.West Gondwana (South America and Africa) broke up in the Early Cretaceous to form the South Atlantic. The apparent fit between the coastlines of the two continents was noted on the first maps that included the South Atlantic and it was also the subject of the first computer-assisted plate tectonic reconstructions in 1965. This magnificent fit, however, has since then proven problematic and later reconstructions have introduced various deformation zones along the shorelines to accommodate the northward-propagating break-up. Intra-continental rifts and deformations have also been introduced to subdivide both continental plates into sub-plates.Geologically the South Atlantic can be divided into four segments: Equatorial segment, from 10°N to the Romanche Fracture Zone ;; Central segment, from RFZ to Florianopolis Fracture Zone ; Southern segment, from FFZ to the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone ; and Falkland segment, south of AFFZ.In the southern segment the Early Cretaceous intensive magmatism of the Paran–Etendeka Large Igneous Province produced by the Tristan hotspot resulted in an estimated volume of . It covered an area of in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and in Africa. Dyke swarms in Brazil, Angola, eastern Paraguay, and Namibia, however, suggest the LIP originally covered a much larger area and also indicate failed rifts in all these areas. Associated offshore basaltic flows reach as far south as the Falkland Islands and South Africa. Traces of magmatism in both offshore and onshore basins in the central and southern segments have been dated to 147–49 Ma with two peaks between 143 and 121 Ma and 90–60 Ma.In the Falkland segment rifting began with dextral movements between the Patagonia and Colorado sub-plates between the Early Jurassic (190 Ma) and the Early Cretaceous (126.7 Ma). Around 150 Ma sea-floor spreading propagated northward into the southern segment. No later than 130 Ma rifting had reached the Walvis Ridge–Rio Grande Rise.In the central segment rifting started to break Africa in two by opening the Benue Trough around 118 Ma. Rifting in the central segment however coincided with the Cretaceous Normal Superchron a 40 Ma period without magnetic reversals which makes it difficult to date sea-floor spreading in this segment.The equatorial segment is the last phase of the break-up but because it is located on the Equator magnetic anomalies cannot be used for dating. Various estimates date the propagation of sea-floor spreading in this segment to the period 120–96 Ma. This final stage nevertheless coincided with or resulted in the end of continental extension in Africa.About 50 Ma the opening of the Drake Passage resulted from a change in the motions and separation rate of the South American and Antarctic plates. First small ocean basins opened and a shallow gateway appeared during the Middle Eocene. 34–30 Ma a deeper seaway developed followed by an Eocene–Oligocene climatic deterioration and the growth of the Antarctic ice sheet.Closure of the Atlantic.An embryonic subduction margin is potentially developing west of Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Arc in the western Mediterranean is migrating westward into the Central Atlantic where it joins the converging African and Eurasian plates. Together these three tectonic forces are slowly developing into a new subduction system in the eastern Atlantic Basin. Meanwhile the Scotia Arc and Caribbean Plate in the western Atlantic Basin are eastward-propagating subduction systems that might together with the Gibraltar system represent the beginning of the closure of the Atlantic Ocean and the final stage of the Atlantic Wilson cycle.Human origin.Humans evolved in Africa; first by diverging from other apes around 7 mya; then developing stone tools around 2.6 mya; to finally evolve as modern humans around 200 kya. The earliest evidence for the complex behavior associated with this behavioral modernity has been found in the Greater Cape Floristic Region along the coast of South Africa. During the latest glacial stages, the now-submerged plains of the Agulhas Bank were exposed above sea level, extending the South African coastline farther south by hundreds of kilometers. A small population of modern humans — probably fewer than a thousand reproducing individuals — survived glacial maxima by exploring the high diversity offered by these Palaeo-Agulhas plains. The GCFR is delimited to the north by the Cape Fold Belt and the limited space south of it resulted in the development of social networks out of which complex Stone Age technologies emerged. Human history thus begins on the coasts of South Africa where the Atlantic Benguela Upwelling and Indian Ocean Agulhas Current meet to produce an intertidal zone on which shellfish, fur seal, fish and sea birds provided the necessary protein sources.The African origin of this modern behaviour is evidenced by 70000 years-old engravings from Blombos Cave South Africa.Mitochondrial DNA studies indicate that 80–60000 years ago a major demographic expansion within Africa derived from a single small population coincided with the emergence of behavioral complexity and the rapid MIS 5–4 environmental changes. This group of people not only expanded over the whole of Africa but also started to disperse out of Africa into Asia Europe and Australasia around 65000 years ago and quickly replaced the archaic humans in these regions. During the Last Glacial Maximum 20000 years ago humans had to abandon their initial settlements along the European North Atlantic coast and retreat to the Mediterranean. Following rapid climate changes at the end of the LGM this region was repopulated by Magdalenian culture. Other hunter-gatherers followed in waves interrupted by large-scale hazards such as the Laacher See volcanic eruption the inundation of Doggerland and the formation of the Baltic Sea. The European coasts of the North Atlantic were permanently populated about 9–8.5 thousand years ago.This human dispersal left abundant traces along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. 50 kya-old, deeply stratified shell middens found in Ysterfontein on the western coast of South Africa are associated with the Middle Stone Age . The MSA population was small and dispersed and the rate of their reproduction and exploitation was less intense than those of later generations. While their middens resemble 12–11 kya-old Late Stone Age middens found on every inhabited continent, the 50–45 kya-old Enkapune Ya Muto in Kenya probably represents the oldest traces of the first modern humans to disperse out of Africa.The same development can be seen in Europe. In La Riera Cave in Asturias Spain only some 26600 molluscs were deposited over 10 kya. In contrast 8–7 kya-old shell middens in Portugal Denmark and Brazil generated thousands of tons of debris and artefacts. The Erteblle middens in Denmark for example accumulated of shell deposits representing some 50 million molluscs over only a thousand years. This intensification in the exploitation of marine resources has been described as accompanied by new technologies — such as boats harpoons and fish-hooks — because many caves found in the Mediterranean and on the European Atlantic coast have increased quantities of marine shells in their upper levels and reduced quantities in their lower. The earliest exploitation however took place on the now submerged shelves and most settlements now excavated were then located several kilometers from these shelves. The reduced quantities of shells in the lower levels can represent the few shells that were exported inland.During the LGM the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of northern North America while Beringia connected Siberia to Alaska. In 1973 late American geoscientist Paul S. Martin proposed a "blitzkrieg" colonization of the Americas by which Clovis hunters migrated into North America around 13,000 years ago in a single wave through an ice-free corridor in the ice sheet and "spread southward explosively, briefly attaining a density sufficiently large to overkill much of their prey." Others later proposed a "three-wave" migration over the Bering Land Bridge. These hypotheses remained the long-held view regarding the settlement of the Americas, a view challenged by more recent archaeological discoveries: the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas have been found in South America; sites in north-east Siberia report virtually no human presence there during the LGM; and most Clovis artefacts have been found in eastern North America along the Atlantic coast. Furthermore, colonisation models based on mtDNA, yDNA, and atDNA data respectively support neither the "blitzkrieg" nor the "three-wave" hypotheses but they also deliver mutually ambiguous results. Contradictory data from archaeology and genetics will most likely deliver future hypotheses that will, eventually, confirm each other. A proposed route across the Pacific to South America could explain early South American finds and another hypothesis proposes a northern path, through the Canadian Arctic and down the North American Atlantic coast.Early settlements across the Atlantic have been suggested by alternative theories, ranging from purely hypothetical to mostly disputed, including the Solutrean hypothesis and some of the Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories.The Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands and Iceland began during the 9th and 10th centuries. A settlement on Greenland was established before 1000 CE, but contact with it was lost in 1409 and it was finally abandoned during the early Little Ice Age. This setback was caused by a range of factors: an unsustainable economy resulted in erosion and denudation, while conflicts with the local Inuit resulted in the failure to adapt their Arctic technologies; a colder climate resulted in starvation, and the colony got economically marginalized as the Great Plague and Barbary pirates harvested its victims on Iceland in the 15th century.Iceland was initially settled 865–930 CE following a warm period when winter temperatures hovered around which made farming favorable at high latitudes. This did not last however and temperatures quickly dropped at 1080 CE summer temperatures had reached a maximum of . The — and by the early 1200s hay had to be abandoned for short-season crops such as barley.Atlantic World.Christopher Columbus reached the Americas in 1492 under Spanish flag. Six years later Vasco da Gama reached India under the Portuguese flag by navigating south around the Cape of Good Hope thus proving that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are connected. In 1500 in his voyage to India following Vasco da Gama Pedro Alvares Cabral reached Brazil taken by the currents of the South Atlantic Gyre. Following these explorations Spain and Portugal quickly conquered and colonized large territories in the New World and forced the Amerindian population into slavery in order to explore the vast quantities of silver and gold they found. Spain and Portugal monopolized this trade in order to keep other European nations out but conflicting interests nevertheless led to a series of Spanish-Portuguese wars. A peace treaty mediated by the Pope divided the conquered territories into Spanish and Portuguese sectors while keeping other colonial powers away. England France and the Dutch Republic enviously watched the Spanish and Portuguese wealth grow and allied themselves with pirates such as Henry Mainwaring and Alexandre Exquemelin. They could explore the convoys leaving the Americas because prevailing winds and currents made the transport of heavy metals slow and predictable.In the colonies of the Americas, depredation, smallpox and others diseases, and slavery quickly reduced the indigenous population of the Americas to the extent that the Atlantic slave trade had to be introduced to replace them — a trade that became the norm and an integral part of the colonization. Between the 15th century and 1888, when Brazil became the last part of the Americas to end the slave trade, an estimated ten million Africans were exported as slaves, most of them destined for agricultural labour. The slave trade was officially abolished in the British Empire and the United States in 1808, and slavery itself was abolished in the British Empire in 1838 and in the United States in 1865 after the Civil War.From Columbus to the Industrial Revolution Trans-Atlantic trade including colonialism and slavery became crucial for Western Europe. For European countries with direct access to the Atlantic 1500–1800 was a period of sustained growth during which these countries grew richer than those in Eastern Europe and Asia. Colonialism evolved as part of the Trans-Atlantic trade but this trade also strengthened the position of merchant groups at the expense of monarchs. Growth was more rapid in non-absolutist countries such as Britain and the Netherlands and more limited in absolutist monarchies such as Portugal Spain and France where profit mostly or exclusively benefited the monarchy and its allies.Trans-Atlantic trade also resulted in increasing urbanization in European countries facing the Atlantic urbanization grew from 8% in 1300 10.1% in 1500 to 24.5% in 1850 in other European countries from 10% in 1300 11.4% in 1500 to 17% in 1850. Likewise GDP doubled in Atlantic countries but rose by only 30% in the rest of Europe. By end of the 17th century the volume of the Trans-Atlantic trade had surpassed that of the Mediterranean trade.The Atlantic Ocean became the scene of one of the longest continuous naval military camapaigns throughout World War II, from 1939 to 1945.The Atlantic has contributed significantly to the development and economy of surrounding countries. Besides major transatlantic transportation and communication routes the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the sedimentary rocks of the continental shelves.The Atlantic harbors petroleum and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, and precious stones.Gold deposits are a mile or two under water on the ocean floor however the deposits are also encased in rock that must be mined through. Currently there is no cost-effective way to mine or extract gold from the ocean to make a profit.Various international treaties attempt to reduce pollution caused by environmental threats such as oil spills marine debris and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea.The shelves of the Atlantic hosts one of the world's richest fishing resources. The most productive areas include the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank off Cape Cod, the Bahama Banks, the waters around Iceland, the Irish Sea, the Bay of Fundy, the Dogger Bank of the North Sea, and the Falkland Banks.Fisheries have, however, undergone significant changes since the 1950s and global catches can now be divided into three groups of which only two are observed in the Atlantic: fisheries in the Eastern Central and South-West Atlantic oscillate around a globally stable value, the rest of the Atlantic is in overall decline following historical peaks. The third group, , is only found in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.In the North-East Atlantic total catches decreased between the mid-1970s and the 1990s and reached 8.7 million tons in 2013. Blue whiting reached a 2.4 million tons peak in 2004 but was down to 628000 tons in 2013. Recovery plans for cod sole and plaice have reduced mortality in these species. Arctic cod reached its lowest levels in the 1960s–1980s but is now recovered. Arctic saithe and haddock are considered fully fished Sand eel is overfished as was capelin which has now recovered to fully fished. Limited data makes the state of redfishes and deep-water species difficult to assess but most likely they remain vulnerable to overfishing. Stocks of northern shrimp and Norwegian lobster are in good condition. In the North-East Atlantic 21% of stocks are considered overfished.In the North-West Atlantic landings have decreased from 4.2 million tons in the early 1970s to 1.9 million tons in 2013. During the 21st century some species have shown weak signs of recovery including Greenland halibut yellowtail flounder Atlantic halibut haddock spiny dogfish while other stocks shown no such signs including cod witch flounder and redfish. Stocks of invertebrates in contrast remain at record levels of abundance. 31% of stocks are overfished in the North-west Atlantic.In 1497 John Cabot became the first Western European since the Vikings to explore mainland North America and one of his major discoveries was the abundant resources of Atlantic cod off Newfoundland. Referred to as this discovery yielded some 200 million tons of fish over five centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries new fisheries started to exploit haddock, mackerel, and lobster. From the 1950s to the 1970s the introduction of European and Asian distant-water fleets in the area dramatically increased the fishing capacity and the number of exploited species. It also expanded the exploited areas from near-shore to the open sea and to great depths to include deep-water species such as redfish, Greenland halibut, witch flounder, and grenadiers. Overfishing in the area was recognised as early as the 1960s but, because this was occurring on international waters, it took until the late 1970s before any attempts to regulate was made. In the early 1990s, this finally resulted in the collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery. The population of a number of deep-sea fishes also collapsed in the process, including American plaice, redfish, and Greenland halibut, together with flounder and grenadier.In the Eastern Central Atlantic small pelagic fishes constitute about 50% of landings with sardine reaching 0.6–1.0 million tons per year. Pelagic fish stocks are considered fully fished or overfished, with sardines south of Cape Bojador the notable exception. Almost half of the stocks are fished at biologically unsustainable levels. Total catches have been fluctuating since the 1970s; reaching 3.9 million tons in 2013 or slightly less than the peak production in 2010.In the Western Central Atlantic, catches have been decreasing since 2000 and reached 1.3 million tons in 2013. The most important species in the area, Gulf menhaden, reached a million tons in the mid-1980s but only half a million tons in 2013 and is now considered fully fished. Round sardinella was an important species in the 1990s but is now considered overfished. Groupers and snappers are overfished and northern brown shrimp and American cupped oyster are considered fully fished approaching overfished. 44% of stocks are being fished at unsustainable levels.In the South-East Atlantic catches have decreased from 3.3 million tons in the early 1970s to 1.3 million tons in 2013. Horse mackerel and hake are the most important species, together representing almost half of the landings. Off South Africa and Namibia deep-water hake and shallow-water Cape hake have recovered to sustainable levels since regulations were introduced in 2006 and the states of Southern African pilchard and anchovy have improved to fully fished in 2013.In the South-West Atlantic, a peak was reached in the mid-1980s and catches now fluctuate between 1.7 and 2.6 million tons. The most important species, the Argentine shortfin squid, which reached half a million tons in 2013 or half the peak value, is considered fully fished to overfished. Another important species was the Brazilian sardinella, with a production of 100,000 tons in 2013 it is now considered overfished. Half the stocks in this area are being fished at unsustainable levels: Whitehead's round herring has not yet reached fully fished but Cunene horse mackerel is overfished. The sea snail perlemoen abalone is targeted by illegal fishing and remain overfished.Environmental issues.Endangered species.Endangered marine species include the manatee seals sea lions turtles and whales. Drift net fishing can kill dolphins albatrosses and other seabirds hastening the fish stock decline and contributing to international disputes.Waste and pollution.Marine pollution is a generic term for the entry into the ocean of potentially hazardous chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers and with them many agriculture fertilizer chemicals as well as livestock and human waste. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.Marine debris which is also known as marine litter describes human-created waste floating in a body of water. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter. The North Atlantic garbage patch is estimated to be hundreds of kilometers across in size.Other pollution concerns include agricultural and municipal waste. Municipal pollution comes from the eastern United States, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.A USAF C-124 aircraft from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware was carrying three nuclear bombs over the Atlantic Ocean when it experienced a loss of power. For their own safety, the crew jettisoned two nuclear bombs, which were never recovered.Climate change.North Atlantic hurricane activity has increased over past decades because of increased sea surface temperature (SST) at tropical latitudes, changes that can be attributed to either the natural Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) or to anthropogenic climate change.A 2005 report indicated that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation slowed down by 30% between 1957 and 2004. If the AMO were responsible for SST variability, the AMOC would have increased in strength, which is apparently not the case. Furthermore, it is clear from statistical analyses of annual tropical cyclones that these changes do not display multidecadal cyclicity. Therefore, these changes in SST must be caused by human activities.The ocean mixed layer plays an important role in heat storage over seasonal and decadal time-scales, whereas deeper layers are affected over millennia and have a heat capacity about 50 times that of the mixed layer. This heat uptake provides a time-lag for climate change but it also results in thermal expansion of the oceans which contributes to sea level rise. 21st-century global warming will probably result in an equilibrium sea-level rise five times greater than today, whilst melting of glaciers, including that of the Greenland ice-sheet, expected to have virtually no effect during the 21st century, will probably result in a sea-level rise of 3–6 m over a millennium.
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work which characterizes the phenomenal world as the product of a blind noumenal will. Building on the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant Schopenhauer developed an atheistic metaphysical and ethical system that rejected the contemporaneous ideas of German idealism. He was among the first thinkers in Western philosophy to share and affirm significant tenets of Indian philosophy such as asceticism denial of the self and the notion of the world-as-appearance. His work has been described as an exemplary manifestation of philosophical pessimism.Though his work failed to garner substantial attention during his lifetime, Schopenhauer had a posthumous impact across various disciplines, including philosophy, literature, and science. His writing on aesthetics, morality, and psychology have influenced many thinkers and artists. Those who have cited his influence include philosophers Emil Cioran, Friedrich Nietzsche and Ludwig Wittgenstein, scientists Erwin Schrdinger and Albert Einstein, psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, writers Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Machado de Assis, Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett, and composers Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Arnold Schoenberg and Gustav Mahler.Early life.Arthur Schopenhauer was born on February 22 1788 in Danzig (then part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth present-day Gdask Poland) on Heiligegeistgasse (present day w. Ducha 47) the son of Johanna Schopenhauer (ne Trosiener 1766–1838) and Heinrich Floris Schopenhauer (1747–1805) both descendants of wealthy German-Dutch patrician families. Neither of them was very religious both supported the French Revolution and were republicans cosmopolitans and Anglophiles. When Danzig became part of Prussia in 1793 Heinrich moved to Hamburg—a free city with a republican constitution. His firm continued trading in Danzig where most of their extended families remained. Adele Arthur's only sibling was born on July 12 1797.In 1797, Arthur was sent to Le Havre to live with the family of his father's business associate, Grgoire de Blsimaire. He seemed to enjoy his two year stay there, learning to speak French and fostering a life-long friendship with Jean Anthime Grgoire de Blsimaire. As early as 1799, Arthur started playing the flute. In 1803, he accompanied his parents on a European tour of Holland, Britain, France, Switzerland, Austria and Prussia. Viewed as primarily a pleasure tour, Heinrich used the opportunity to visit some of his business associates abroad.Heinrich offered Arthur a choice he could stay at home and start preparations for university or he could travel with them and continue his merchant education. Arthur chose to travel with them. He deeply regretted his choice later because the merchant training was very tedious. He spent twelve weeks of the tour attending school in Wimbledon where he was disillusioned by strict and intellectually shallow Anglican religiosity. He continued to sharply criticize Anglican religiosity later in life despite his general Anglophilia. He was also under pressure from his father who became very critical of his educational results.In 1805 Heinrich drowned in a canal near their home in Hamburg. Although it was possible that his death was accidental his wife and son believed that it was suicide. He was prone to unsociable behavior such as anxiety and depression each becoming more pronounced later in his life. Heinrich had become so fussy even his wife started to doubt his mental health. "There was in the father's life some dark and vague source of fear which later made him hurl himself to his death from the attic of his house in Hamburg."Arthur showed similar moodiness during his youth and often acknowledged that he inherited it from his father. There were other instances of serious mental health history on his father's side of the family. Despite his hardship, Schopenhauer liked his father and later referred to him in a positive light. Heinrich Schopenhauer left the family with a significant inheritance that was split in three among Johanna and the children. Arthur Schopenhauer was entitled to control of his part when he reached the age of majority. He invested it conservatively in government bonds and earned annual interest that was more than double the salary of a university professor. After quitting his merchant apprenticeship, with some encouragement from his mother, he dedicated himself to studies at the Ernestine Gymnasium, Gotha, in Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. While there, he also enjoyed social life among the local nobility, spending large amounts of money, which deeply concerned his frugal mother. He left the Gymnasium after writing a satirical poem about one of the schoolmasters. Although Arthur claimed that he left voluntarily, his mother's letter indicates that he may have been expelled.Arthur spent two years as a merchant in honor of his dead father. During this time, he had doubts about being able to start a new life as a scholar. Most of his prior education was as a practical merchant and he had trouble learning Latin; a prerequisite for an academic career.His mother moved away with her daughter Adele to Weimarthe then centre of German literatureto enjoy social life among writers and artists. Arthur and his mother did not part on good terms. In one letter she wrote His mother Johanna was generally described as vivacious and sociable. After they split they did not meet again. She died 24 years later. Some of Arthur's negative opinions about women may be rooted in his troubled relationship with his mother.Arthur moved to Hamburg to live with his friend Jean Anthime who was also studying to become a merchant.He moved to Weimar but did not live with his mother who even tried to discourage him from coming by explaining that they would not get along very well. Their relationship deteriorated even further due to their temperamental differences. He accused his mother of being financially irresponsible flirtatious and seeking to remarry which he considered an insult to his fathers language instructor and roommate Franz Passow. Schopenhauer was also captivated by the beautiful Karoline Jagemann mistress of Karl August Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and he wrote to her his only known love poem. Despite his later celebration of asceticism and negative views of sexuality Schopenhauer occasionally had sexual affairsusually with women of lower social status such as servants actresses and sometimes even paid prostitutes. In a letter to his friend Anthime he claims that such affairs continued even in his mature age and admits that he had two out-of-wedlock daughters both of whom died in infancy. In their youthful correspondence Arthur and Anthime were somewhat boastful and competitive about their sexual exploits—but Schopenhauer seemed aware that women usually did not find him very charming or physically attractive and his desires often remained unfulfilled.He left Weimar to become a student at the University of Gttingen in 1809. There are no written reasons about why Schopenhauer chose that university instead of the then more famous University of Jena, but Gttingen was known as more modern and scientifically oriented, with less attention given to theology. Law or medicine were usual choices for young men of Schopenhauer's status who also needed career and income; he chose medicine due to his scientific interests. Among his notable professors were Bernhard Friedrich Thibaut, Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Friedrich Stromeyer, Heinrich Adolf Schrader, Johann Tobias Mayer and Konrad Johann Martin Langenbeck. He studied metaphysics, psychology and logic under Gottlob Ernst Schulze, the author of "Aenesidemus", who made a strong impression and advised him to concentrate on Plato and Immanuel Kant. He decided to switch from medicine to philosophy around 1810–11 and he left Gttingen, which did not have a strong philosophy program: besides Schulze, the only other philosophy professor was Friedrich Bouterwek, whom Schopenhauer disliked. He did not regret his medicinal and scientific studies; he claimed that they were necessary for a philosopher, and even in Berlin he attended more lectures in sciences than in philosophy. During his days at Gttingen, he spent considerable time studying, but also continued his flute playing and social life. His friends included Friedrich Gotthilf Osann, Karl Witte, Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen, and William Backhouse Astor Sr.He arrived at the newly founded University of Berlin for the winter semester of 1811–12. At the same time, his mother had just begun her literary career; she published her first book in 1810, a biography of her friend Karl Ludwig Fernow, which was a critical success. Arthur attended lectures by the prominent post-Kantian philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte, but quickly found many points of disagreement with his ; he also found Fichte's lectures tedious and hard to understand. He later mentioned Fichte only in critical, negative termsseeing his philosophy as a lower quality version of Kant's and considering it useful only because Fichte's poor arguments unintentionally highlighted some failings of Kantianism. He also attended the lectures of the famous Protestant theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, whom he also quickly came to dislike. His notes and comments on Schleiermacher's lectures show that Schopenhauer was becoming very critical of religion and moving towards atheism. He learned by self-directed reading; besides Plato, Kant and Fichte he also read the works of Schelling, Fries, Jacobi, Bacon, Locke, and much current scientific literature. He attended philological courses by August Bckh and Friedrich August Wolf and continued his naturalistic interests with courses by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, Paul Erman, Johann Elert Bode, Ernst Gottfried Fischer, Johann Horkel, Friedrich Christian Rosenthal and Hinrich Lichtenstein .Early work.Schopenhauer left Berlin in a rush in 1813, fearing that the city could be attacked and that he could be pressed into military service as Prussia had just joined the war against France. He returned to Weimar, but left after less than a month disgusted by the fact that his mother was now living with her supposed lover, Georg Friedrich Konrad Ludwig Mller von Gerstenbergk , a civil servant twelve years younger than her; he considered the relationship an act of infidelity to his father's memory. He settled for a while in Rudolstadt, hoping that no army would pass through the small town. He spent his time in solitude, hiking in the mountains and the Thuringian forest and writing his dissertation, "On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason". He completed his dissertation at about the same time as the French army was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig. He became irritated by the arrival of soldiers in the town and accepted his mother's invitation to visit her in Weimar. She tried to convince him that her relationship with Gerstenbergk was platonic and that she had no intention of remarrying. But Schopenhauer remained suspicious and often came in conflict with Gerstenbergk because he considered him untalented, pretentious, and nationalistic. His mother had just published her second book, "Reminiscences of a Journey in the Years 1803, 1804, and 1805", a description of their family tour of Europe, which quickly became a hit. She found his dissertation incomprehensible and said it was unlikely that anyone would ever buy a copy. In a fit of temper Arthur told her that people would read his work long after the "rubbish" she wrote was totally forgotten. In fact, although they considered her novels of dubious quality, the Brockhaus publishing firm held her in high esteem because they consistently sold well. Hans Brockhaus later claimed that his predecessors "saw nothing in this manuscript, but wanted to please one of our best-selling authors by publishing her son's work. We published more and more of her son Arthur's work and today nobody remembers Johanna, but her son's works are in steady demand and contribute to Brockhaus' reputation." He kept large portraits of the pair in his office in Leipzig for the edification of his new editors.Also contrary to his mothers extreme self-confidence and tactless criticismssoon made Goethe become distant again and after 1816 their correspondence became less frequent. Schopenhauer later admitted that he was greatly hurt by this rejection, but he continued to praise Goethe, and considered his color theory a great introduction to his own.Another important experience during his stay in Weimar was his acquaintance with Friedrich Majera historian of religion, orientalist and disciple of Herderwho introduced him to Eastern philosophy . Schopenhauer was immediately impressed by the by the Asiatic Society. Schopenhauer held a profound respect for Indian philosophy; although he loved Hindu texts, he was more interested in Buddhism, which he came to regard as the best religion. His studies on Hindu and Buddhist texts were constrained by the lack of adequate literature, and the latter were mostly restricted to Early Buddhism. He also claimed that he formulated most of his ideas independently, and only later realized the similarities with Buddhism.Schopenhauer read the Latin translation and praised the Upanishads in his main work, "The World as Will and Representation" , as well as in his "Parerga and Paralipomena" , and commented,In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death.As the relationship with his mother fell to a new low in May 1814 he left Weimar and moved to Dresden. He continued his philosophical studies enjoyed the cultural life socialized with intellectuals and engaged in sexual affairs. His friends in Dresden were Johann Gottlob von Quandt Friedrich Laun Karl Christian Friedrich Krause and Ludwig Sigismund Ruhl a young painter who made a romanticized portrait of him in which he improved some of Schopenhauer's unattractive physical features. His criticisms of local artists occasionally caused public quarrels when he ran into them in public. Schopenhauer's main occupation during his stay in Dresden was his seminal philosophical work "The World as Will and Representation" which he started writing in 1814 and finished in 1818. He was recommended to the publisher Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus by Baron Ferdinand von Biedenfeld an acquaintance of his mother. Although Brockhaus accepted his manuscript Schopenhauer made a poor impression because of his quarrelsome and fussy attitude as well as very poor sales of the book after it was published in December 1818.In September 1818 while waiting for his book to be published and conveniently escaping an affair with a maid that caused an unwanted pregnancy Schopenhauer left Dresden for a year-long vacation in Italy. He visited Venice Bologna Florence Naples and Milan travelling alone or accompanied by mostly English tourists he met. He spent the winter months in Rome where he accidentally met his acquaintance Karl Witte and engaged in numerous quarrels with German tourists in the Caff Greco among them Johann Friedrich Bhmer who also mentioned his insulting remarks and unpleasant character. He enjoyed art architecture and ancient ruins attended plays and operas and continued his philosophical contemplation and love affairs. One of his affairs supposedly became serious and for a while he contemplated marriage to a rich Italian noblewomanbut despite his mentioning this several times no details are known and it may have been Schopenhauer exaggerating. He corresponded regularly with his sister Adele and became close to her as her relationship with Johanna and Gerstenbergk also deteriorated. She informed him about their financial troubles as the banking house of A. L. Muhl in Danzigin which her mother invested their whole savings and Arthur a third of hiswas near bankruptcy. Arthur offered to share his assets but his mother refused and became further enraged by his insulting comments. The women managed to receive only thirty percent of their savings while Arthur using his business knowledge took a suspicious and aggressive stance towards the banker and eventually received his part in full. The affair additionally worsened the relationships among all three members of the Schopenhauer family.He shortened his stay in Italy because of the trouble with Muhl and returned to Dresden. Disturbed by the financial risk and the lack of responses to his book he decided to take an academic position since it provided him with both income and an opportunity to promote his views. He contacted his friends at universities in Heidelberg, Gttingen and Berlin and found Berlin most attractive. He scheduled his lectures to coincide with those of the famous philosopher G. W. F. Hegel, whom Schopenhauer described as a , expressed his resentment towards the work conducted in academies.Later life.After his tenure in academia he continued to travel extensively visiting Leipzig Nuremberg Stuttgart Schaffhausen Vevey Milan and spending eight months in Florence. Before he left for his three-year travel Schopenhauer had an incident with his Berlin neighbor 47-year-old seamstress Caroline Louise Marquet. The details of the August 1821 incident are unknown. He claimed that he had just pushed her from his entrance after she had rudely refused to leave and that she had purposely fallen to the ground so that she could sue him. She claimed that he had attacked her so violently that she had become paralyzed on her right side and unable to work. She immediately sued him and the process lasted until May 1827 when a court found Schopenhauer guilty and forced him to pay her an annual pension until her death in 1842.Schopenhauer enjoyed Italy, where he studied art and socialized with Italian and English nobles. It was his last visit to the country. He left for Munich and stayed there for a year, mostly recuperating from various health issues, some of them possibly caused by venereal diseases . He contacted publishers, offering to translate Hume into German and Kant into English, but his proposals were declined. Returning to Berlin, he began to study Spanish so he could read some of his favorite authors in their original language. He liked Pedro Caldern de la Barca, Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes, and especially Baltasar Gracin. He also made failed attempts to publish his translations of their works. Few attempts to revive his lecturesagain scheduled at the same time as Hegel'salso failed, as did his inquiries about relocating to other universities.During his Berlin years Schopenhauer occasionally mentioned his desire to marry and have a family. For a while he was unsuccessfully courting 17-year-old Flora Weiss who was 22 years younger than himself. His unpublished writings from that time show that he was already very critical of monogamy but still not advocating polygynyinstead musing about a polyamorous relationship that he called "tetragamy". He had an on-and-off relationship with a young dancer Caroline Richter . They met when he was 33 and she was 19 and working at the Berlin Opera. She had already had numerous lovers and a son out of wedlock and later gave birth to another son this time to an unnamed foreign diplomat . As Schopenhauer was preparing to escape from Berlin in 1831 due to a cholera epidemic he offered to take her with him on the condition that she left her young son behind. She refused and he went alone in his will he left her a significant sum of money but insisted that it should not be spent in any way on her second son.Schopenhauer claimed that, in his last year in Berlin, he had a prophetic dream that urged him to escape from the city. As he arrived in his new home in Frankfurt, he supposedly had another supernatural experience, an apparition of his dead father and his mother, who was still alive. This experience led him to spend some time investigating paranormal phenomena and magic. He was quite critical of the available studies and claimed that they were mostly ignorant or fraudulent, but he did believe that there are authentic cases of such phenomena and tried to explain them through his metaphysics as manifestations of the will.Upon his arrival in Frankfurt, he experienced a period of depression and declining health. He renewed his correspondence with his mother, and she seemed concerned that he might commit suicide like his father. By now Johanna and Adele were living very modestly. Johanna's writing did not bring her much income, and her popularity was waning. Their correspondence remained reserved, and Arthur seemed undisturbed by her death in 1838. His relationship with his sister grew closer and he corresponded with her until she died in 1849.In July 1832 Schopenhauer left Frankfurt for Mannheim but returned in July 1833 to remain there for the rest of his life, except for a few short journeys. He lived alone except for a succession of pet poodles named Atman and Butz. In 1836, he published . That book was again mostly ignored and the few reviews were mixed or negative.Schopenhauer began to attract some followers mostly outside academia among practical professionals who pursued private philosophical studies. He jokingly referred to them as "evangelists" and "apostles". One of the most active early followers was Julius Frauenstdt who wrote numerous articles promoting Schopenhauer's philosophy. He was also instrumental in finding another publisher after Brockhaus declined to publish "Parerga and Paralipomena" believing that it would be another failure. Though Schopenhauer later stopped corresponding with him claiming that he did not adhere closely enough to his ideas Frauenstdt continued to promote Schopenhauer's work. They renewed their communication in 1859 and Schopenhauer named him heir for his literary estate. Frauenstdt also became the editor of the first collected works of Schopenhauer.In 1848 Schopenhauer witnessed violent upheaval in Frankfurt after General Hans Adolf Erdmann von Auerswald and Prince Felix Lichnowsky were murdered. He became worried for his own safety and property. Even earlier in life he had had such worries and kept a sword and loaded pistols near his bed to defend himself from thieves. He gave a friendly welcome to Austrian soldiers who wanted to shoot revolutionaries from his window and as they were leaving he gave one of the officers his opera glasses to help him monitor rebels. The rebellion passed without any loss to Schopenhauer and he later praised Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grtz for restoring order. He even modified his will, leaving a large part of his property to a Prussian fund that helped soldiers who became invalids while fighting rebellion in 1848 or the families of soldiers who died in battle. As Young Hegelians were advocating change and progress, Schopenhauer claimed that misery is natural for humans and that, even if some utopian society were established, people would still fight each other out of boredom, or would starve due to overpopulation.In 1851 Schopenhauer published "Parerga and Paralipomena", which, as the title says, contains essays that are supplementary to his main work. It was his first successful, widely read book, partly due to the work of his disciples who wrote praising reviews. The essays that proved most popular were the ones that actually did not contain the basic philosophical ideas of his system. Many academic philosophers considered him a great stylist and cultural critic but did not take his philosophy seriously. His early critics liked to point out similarities of his ideas to those Fichte and Schelling, or to claim that there were numerous contradictions in his philosophy. Both criticisms enraged Schopenhauer. He was becoming less interested in intellectual fights, but encouraged his disciples to do so. His private notes and correspondence show that he acknowledged some of the criticisms regarding contradictions, inconsistencies, and vagueness in his philosophy, but claimed that he was not concerned about harmony and agreement in his propositions and that some of his ideas should not be taken literally but instead as metaphors.Academic philosophers were also starting to notice his work. In 1856 the University of Leipzig sponsored an essay contest about Schopenhauers to observe him dining. Admirers gave him gifts and asked for autographs. He complained that he still felt isolated due to his not very social nature and the fact that many of his good friends had already died from old age.He remained healthy in his own old age, which he attributed to regular walks no matter the weather and always getting enough sleep. He had a great appetite and could read without glasses, but his hearing had been declining since his youth and he developed problems with rheumatism. He remained active and lucid, continued his reading, writing and correspondence until his death. The numerous notes that he made during these years, amongst others on aging, were published posthumously under the title "Senilia". In the spring of 1860 his health began to decline, and he experienced shortness of breath and heart palpitations; in September he suffered inflammation of the lungs and, although he was starting to recover, he remained very weak. The last friend to visit him was Wilhelm Gwinner; according to him, Schopenhauer was concerned that he would not be able to finish his planned additions to "Parerga and Paralipomena" but was at peace with dying. He died of pulmonary-respiratory failure on 21 September 1860 while sitting at home on his couch. He was 72.Philosophy.The world as representation.Schopenhauer saw his philosophy as an extension of Kant's and used the results of Kantian epistemological investigation (transcendental idealism) as starting point for his own. Kant had argued that the empirical world is merely a complex of appearances whose existence and connection occur only in our mental representations. Schopenhauer reiterates this in the first sentence of his main work "The world is my representation ("Die Welt ist meine Vorstellung")". Everything that there is for cognition (the entire world) exists simply as an object in relation to a subjecta 'representation' to a subject. Everything that belongs to the world is therefore 'subject-dependent'. In Book One of "The World as Will and Representation" Schopenhauer considers the world from this anglethat is insofar as it is representation.Theory of perception.In November 1813 Goethe invited Schopenhauer to help him on his Theory of Colours. Although Schopenhauer considered colour theory a minor matter, he accepted the invitation out of admiration for Goethe. Nevertheless, these investigations led him to his most important discovery in epistemology: finding a demonstration for the "a priori" nature of causality.Kant openly admitted that it was Hume's skeptical assault on causality that motivated the critical investigations in his "Critique of Pure Reason" and gave an elaborate proof to show that causality is "a priori". After G. E. Schulze had made it plausible that Kant had not disproven Hume's skepticism, it was up to those loyal to Kant's project to prove this important matter.The difference between the approaches of Kant and Schopenhauer was this Kant simply declared that the empirical content of perception is "given" to us from outside an expression with which Schopenhauer often expressed his dissatisfaction. He on the other hand was occupied with the questions how do we get this empirical content of perception how is it possible to comprehend subjective sensations "limited to my skin" as the objective perception of things that lie "outside" of me?Causality is therefore not an empirical concept drawn from objective perceptions, as Hume had maintained; instead, as Kant had said, objective perception presupposes knowledge of causality.By this intellectual operation, comprehending every effect in our sensory organs as having an external cause, the external world arises. With vision, finding the cause is essentially simplified due to light acting in straight lines. We are seldom conscious of the process that interprets the double sensation in both eyes as coming from one object, that inverts the impressions on the retinas, and that uses the change in the apparent position of an object relative to more distant objects provided by binocular vision to perceive depth and distance.Schopenhauer stresses the importance of the intellectual nature of perception; the senses furnish the raw material by which the intellect produces the world as representation. He set out his theory of perception for the first time in "On Vision and Colors", and, in the subsequent editions of "Fourfold Root", an extensive exposition is given in § 21.The world as will.In Book Two of its inner essence. The very being in-itself of all things Schopenhauer argues is will (). The empirical world that appears to us as representation has plurality and is ordered in a spatio-temporal framework. The world as thing in-itself must exist outside the subjective forms of space and time. Although the world manifests itself to our experience as a multiplicity of objects (the of the will) each element of this multiplicity has the same blind essence striving towards existence and life. Human rationality is merely a secondary phenomenon that does not distinguish humanity from the rest of nature at the fundamental essential level. The advanced cognitive abilities of human beings Schopenhauer argues serve the ends of willingan illogical directionless ceaseless striving that condemns the human individual to a life of suffering unredeemed by any final purpose. Schopenhauer's philosophy of the will as the essential reality behind the world as representation is often called metaphysical voluntarism.For Schopenhauer understanding the world as will leads to ethical concerns which he explores in the Fourth Book of "The World as Will and Representation" and again in his two prize essays on ethics "On the Freedom of the Will" and "On the Basis of Morality". No individual human actions are free Schopenhauer argues because they are events in the world of appearance and thus are subject to the principle of sufficient reason a person's actions are a necessary consequence of motives and the given character of the individual human. Necessity extends to the actions of human beings just as it does to every other appearance and thus we cannot speak of freedom of individual willing. Albert Einstein quoted the Schopenhauerian idea that "a man can "do" as he will but not "will" as he will." Yet the will as thing in-itself is free as it exists beyond the realm of representation and thus is not constrained by any of the forms of necessity that are part of the principle of sufficient reason.According to Schopenhauer salvation from our miserable existence can come through the will's being . The negation of the will in other words stems from the insight that the world in-itself (free from the forms of space and time) is one. Ascetic practices Schopenhauer remarks are used to aid the will's state of emptiness that is free from striving or suffering.Art and aesthetics.For Schopenhauer, human comes to the fore.From this aesthetic immersion one is no longer an individual who suffers as a result of servitude to one's individual will but rather becomes a "pure will-less painless timeless subject of cognition". The pure will-less subject of cognition is cognizant only of Ideas not individual things this is a kind of cognition that is unconcerned with relations between objects according to the Principle of Sufficient Reason and instead involves complete absorption in the object.Art is the practical consequence of this brief aesthetic contemplation since it attempts to depict the essence/pure Ideas of the world. Music for Schopenhauer is the purest form of art because it is the one that depicts the will itself without it appearing as subject to the Principle of Sufficient Reason therefore as an individual object. According to Daniel Albright "Schopenhauer thought that music was the only art that did not merely copy ideas but actually embodied the will itself". He deemed music a timeless universal language comprehended everywhere that can imbue global enthusiasm if in possession of a significant melody.Mathematics.Schopenhauer's realist views on mathematics are evident in his criticism of contemporaneous attempts to prove the parallel postulate in Euclidean geometry. Writing shortly before the discovery of hyperbolic geometry demonstrated the logical independence of the axiom—and long before the general theory of relativity revealed that it does not necessarily express a property of physical space—Schopenhauer criticized mathematicians for trying to use indirect concepts to prove what he held was directly evident from intuitive perception.Throughout his writings Schopenhauer criticized the logical derivation of philosophies and mathematics from mere concepts instead of from intuitive perceptions.Although Schopenhauer could see no justification for trying to prove Euclid's parallel postulate, he did see a reason for examining another of Euclid's axioms.This follows Kant's reasoning.Schopenhauer asserts that the task of ethics is not to prescribe moral actions that ought to be done, but to investigate moral actions. As such, he states that philosophy is always theoretical: its task to explain what is given.According to Kant's transcendental idealism, space and time are forms of our sensibility in which phenomena appear in multiplicity. Reality in itself is free from multiplicity, not in the sense that an object is one, but that it is outside the of multiplicity. Two individuals, though they appear distinct, are in-themselves not distinct.Appearances are entirely subordinated to the principle of sufficient reason. The egoistic individual who focuses his aims on his own interests has to deal with empirical laws as well as he can.What is relevant for ethics are individuals who can act against their own self-interest. If we take a man who suffers when he sees his fellow men living in poverty and consequently uses a significant part of his income to support and others than is usually made.Regarding how things "appear" to us the egoist asserts a gap between two individuals but the altruist experiences the sufferings of others as his own. In the same way a compassionate man cannot hurt animals though they appear as distinct from himself.What motivates the altruist is compassion. The suffering of others is for him not a cold matter to which he is indifferent, but he feels connectiveness to all beings. Compassion is thus the basis of morality.Eternal justice.Schopenhauer calls the principle through which multiplicity appears the "principium individuationis". When we behold nature we see that it is a cruel battle for existence. Individual manifestations of the will can maintain themselves only at the expense of others—the will as the only thing that exists has no other option but to devour itself to experience pleasure. This is a fundamental characteristic of the will and cannot be circumvented.Unlike temporal or human justice which requires time to repay an evil deed and "has its seat in the state as requiting and punishing" eternal justice "rules not the state but the world is not dependent upon human institutions is not subject to chance and deception is not uncertain wavering and erring but infallible fixed and sure". Eternal justice is not retributive because retribution requires time. There are no delays or reprieves. Instead punishment is tied to the offence "to the point where the two become one. ... Tormenter and tormented are one. The [Tormenter] errs in that he believes he is not a partaker in the suffering the [tormented] in that he believes he is not a partaker in the guilt."Suffering is the moral outcome of our attachment to pleasure. Schopenhauer deemed that this truth was expressed by the Christian dogma of original sin and, in Eastern religions, by the dogma of rebirth.He who sees through the as his own will see suffering everywhere and, instead of fighting for the happiness of his individual manifestation, will abhor life itself since he knows that it is inseparably connected with suffering. For him, a happy individual life in a world of suffering is like a beggar who dreams one night that he is a king.Those who have experienced this intuitive knowledge cannot affirm life but exhibit asceticism and quietism meaning that they are no longer sensitive to motives are not concerned about their individual welfare and accept without resistance the evil that others inflict on them. They welcome poverty and neither seek nor flee death. Schopenhauer referred to asceticism as the denial of the will to live.Human life is a ceaseless struggle for satisfaction and, instead of continuing their struggle, ascetics break it. It does not matter if these ascetics adhere to the dogmata of Christianity or to Dharmic religions, since their way of living is the result of intuitive knowledge.Psychology.Philosophers have not traditionally been impressed by the necessity of sex but Schopenhauer addressed sex and related concepts forthrightlyHe named a force within man that he felt took invariable precedence over reason: the Will to Live or Will to Life , defined as an inherent drive within human beings, and all creatures, to stay alive; a force that inveigles us into reproducing.Schopenhauer refused to conceive of love as either trifling or accidental but rather understood it as an immensely powerful force that lay unseen within man's psyche guaranteeing the quality of the human raceIt has often been argued that Schopenhauer's thoughts on sexuality foreshadowed the theory of evolution, a claim met with satisfaction by Darwin as he included a quotation from Schopenhauer in his "Descent of Man". This has also been noted about Freud's concepts of the libido and the unconscious mind, and evolutionary psychology in general.Political and social thought.Schopenhauer's politics were an echo of his system of ethics, which he elucidated in detail in his .In occasional political comments in his Schopenhauer described himself as a proponent of limited government. Schopenhauer shared the view of Thomas Hobbes on the necessity of the state and state action to check the innate destructive tendencies of our species. He also defended the independence of the legislative judicial and executive branches of power and a monarch as an impartial element able to practise justice .He declared that monarchy is "natural to man in almost the same way as it is to bees and ants to cranes in flight to wandering elephants to wolves in a pack in search of prey and to other animals". Intellect in monarchies he writes always has "much better chances against stupidity its implacable and ever-present foe than it has in republics but this is a great advantage." On the other hand Schopenhauer disparaged republicanism as being "as unnatural to man as it is unfavorable to higher intellectual life and thus to the arts and sciences".By his own admission Schopenhauer did not give much thought to politics and several times he wrote proudly of how little attention he paid Punishment.The State, Schopenhauer claimed, punishes criminals to prevent future crimes. It places "beside every possible motive for committing a wrong a more powerful motive for leaving it undone, in the inescapable punishment. Accordingly, the criminal code is as complete a register as possible of counter-motives to all criminal actions that can possibly be imagined ..." He claimed that this doctrine was not original to him but had appeared in the writings of Plato, Seneca, Hobbes, Pufendorf, and Anselm Feuerbach.Races and religions.Schopenhauer attributed civilizational primacy to the northern due to their sensitivity and creativity :The highest civilization and culture apart from the ancient Hindus and Egyptians are found exclusively among the white races and even with many dark peoples the ruling caste or race is fairer in colour than the rest and has therefore evidently immigrated for example the Brahmans the Incas and the rulers of the South Sea Islands. All this is due to the fact that necessity is the mother of invention because those tribes that emigrated early to the north and there gradually became white had to develop all their intellectual powers and invent and perfect all the arts in their struggle with need want and misery which in their many forms were brought about by the climate. This they had to do in order to make up for the parsimony of nature and out of it all came their high civilization.Schopenhauer was fervently opposed to slavery. Speaking of the treatment of slaves in the slave-holding states of the United States, he condemned "those devils in human form, those bigoted, church-going, strict sabbath-observing scoundrels, especially the Anglican parsons among them" for how they "treat their innocent black brothers who through violence and injustice have fallen into their devil's claws". The slave-holding states of North America, Schopenhauer writes, are a "disgrace to the whole of humanity".In his , Schopenhauer wrote:Further, the consideration as to the complexion is very decided. Blondes prefer dark persons, or brunettes; but the latter seldom prefer the former. The reason is, that fair hair and blue eyes are in themselves a variation from the type, almost an abnormity, analogous to white mice, or at least to grey horses. In no part of the world, not even in the vicinity of the pole, are they indigenous, except in Europe, and are clearly of Scandinavian origin. I may here express my opinion in passing that the white colour of the skin is not natural to man, but that by nature he has a black or brown skin, like our forefathers the Hindus; that consequently a white man has never originally sprung from the womb of nature, and that thus there is no such thing as a white race, much as this is talked of, but every white man is a faded or bleached one. Forced into the strange world, where he only exists like an exotic plant, and like this requires in winter the hothouse, in the course of thousands of years man became white. The gipsies, an Indian race which immigrated only about four centuries ago, show the transition from the complexion of the Hindu to our own. Therefore in sexual love nature strives to return to dark hair and brown eyes as the primitive type; but the white colour of the skin has become a second nature, though not so that the brown of the Hindu repels us. Finally, each one also seeks in the particular parts of the body the corrective of his own defects and aberrations, and does so the more decidedly the more important the part is.Schopenhauer also maintained a marked metaphysical and political anti-Judaism. He argued that Christianity constituted a revolt against what he styled the materialistic basis of Judaism, exhibiting an Indian-influenced ethics reflecting the Aryan-Vedic theme of spiritual self-conquest. He saw this as opposed to the ignorant drive toward earthly utopianism and superficiality of a worldly "Jewish" spirit:, who has created the world, desires to be worshipped and adored; and so above all he is jealous, is envious of his colleagues, of all the other gods; if sacrifices are made to them he is furious and his Jews have a bad time ... It is most deplorable that this religion has become the basis of the prevailing religion of Europe; for it is a religion without any metaphysical tendency. While all other religions endeavor to explain to the people by symbols the metaphysical significance of life, the religion of the Jews is entirely immanent and furnishes nothing but a mere war-cry in the struggle with other nations.In his 1851 essay , and are more sympathetic to the suffering of others.Schopenhauer's writings influenced many, from Friedrich Nietzsche to nineteenth-century feminists. His biological analysis of the difference between the sexes, and their separate roles in the struggle for survival and reproduction, anticipates some of the claims that were later ventured by sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists.When the elderly Schopenhauer sat for a sculpture portrait by the Prussian sculptor Elisabet Ney in 1859, he was much impressed by the young woman's wit and independence, as well as by her skill as a visual artist. After his time with Ney, he told Richard Wagner's friend Malwida von Meysenbug: "I have not yet spoken my last word about women. I believe that if a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man."In the third, expanded edition of (1859), Schopenhauer added an appendix to his chapter on the .Schopenhauer ends the appendix with the statement that "by expounding these paradoxical ideas, I wanted to grant to the professors of philosophy a small favour. I have done so by giving them the opportunity of slandering me by saying that I defend and commend pederasty."Heredity and eugenics.Schopenhauer viewed personality and intellect as inherited. He quotes Horace's saying, to reinforce his hereditarian argument.Mechanistically, Schopenhauer believed that a person inherits his intellect through his mother, and personal character through the father. This belief in heritability of traits informed Schopenhauer's view of loveplacing it at the highest level of importance. For Schopenhauer the This view of the importance for the species of whom we choose to love was reflected in his views on eugenics or good breeding. Here Schopenhauer wrote:With our knowledge of the complete unalterability both of character and of mental faculties we are led to the view that a real and thorough improvement of the human race might be reached not so much from outside as from within not so much by theory and instruction as rather by the path of generation. Plato had something of the kind in mind when in the fifth book of his he explained his plan for increasing and improving his warrior caste. If we could castrate all scoundrels and stick all stupid geese in a convent and give men of noble character a whole harem and procure men and indeed thorough men for all girls of intellect and understanding then a generation would soon arise which would produce a better age than that of Pericles.In another context Schopenhauer reiterated his eugenic thesis "If you want Utopian plans I would say the only solution to the problem is the despotism of the wise and noble members of a genuine aristocracy a genuine nobility achieved by mating the most magnanimous men with the cleverest and most gifted women. This proposal constitutes my Utopia and my Platonic Republic." Analysts have suggested that Schopenhauer's anti-egalitarianist sentiment and his support for eugenics influenced the neo-aristocratic philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche who initially considered Schopenhauer his mentor.Animal welfare.As a consequence of his monistic philosophy, Schopenhauer was very concerned about animal welfare. For him, all individual animals, including humans, are essentially phenomenal manifestations of the one underlying Will. For him the word designates force, power, impulse, energy, and desire; it is the closest word we have that can signify both the essence of all external things and our own direct, inner experience. Since every living thing possesses will, humans and animals are fundamentally the same and can recognize themselves in each other. For this reason, he claimed that a good person would have sympathy for animals, who are our fellow sufferers.In 1841, he praised the establishment in London of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and in Philadelphia of the Animals' Friends Society. Schopenhauer went so far as to protest using the pronoun "it" in reference to animals because that led to treatment of them as though they were inanimate things. To reinforce his points, Schopenhauer referred to anecdotal reports of the look in the eyes of a monkey who had been shot and also the grief of a baby elephant whose mother had been killed by a hunter.Schopenhauer was very attached to his succession of pet poodles. He criticized Spinoza's belief that animals are a mere means for the satisfaction of humans.Intellectual interests and affinities.Schopenhauer read the Latin translation of the ancient Hindu texts the Schopenhauer was first introduced to Anquetil du Perron's translation by Friedrich Majer in 1814. They met during the winter of 1813–1814 in Weimar at the home of Schopenhauer's mother according to the biographer Safranski. Majer was a follower of Herder and an early Indologist. Schopenhauer did not begin serious study of the Indic texts until the summer of 1814. Safranski maintains that between 1815 and 1817 Schopenhauer had another important cross-pollination with Indian thought in Dresden. This was through his neighbor of two years Karl Christian Friedrich Krause. Krause was then a minor and rather unorthodox philosopher who attempted to mix his own ideas with ancient Indian wisdom. Krause had also mastered Sanskrit unlike Schopenhauer and they developed a professional relationship. It was from Krause that Schopenhauer learned meditation and received the closest thing to expert advice concerning Indian thought.The book (Upanishad) always lay open on his table, and he invariably studied it before going to bed. He called the opening up of Sanskrit literature .Schopenhauer noted a correspondence between his doctrines and the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. Similarities centered on the principles that life involves suffering, that suffering is caused by desire , and that the extinction of desire leads to liberation. Thus three of the four correspond to Schopenhauer's doctrine of the will. In Buddhism, while greed and lust are always unskillful, desire is ethically variable – it can be skillful, unskillful, or neutral.For Schopenhauer, will had ontological primacy over the intellect; desire is prior to thought. Schopenhauer felt this was similar to notions of pururtha or goals of life in Vednta Hinduism.In Schopenhauer's philosophy, denial of the will is attained by:Buddhist nirva is not equivalent to the condition that Schopenhauer described as denial of the will. Nirva is not the extinguishing of the "person" as some Western scholars have thought but only the "extinguishing" of the flames of greed hatred and delusion that assail a person's character. Schopenhauer made the following statement in his discussion of religionsIf I wished to take the results of my philosophy as the standard of truth I should have to concede to Buddhism pre-eminence over the others. In any case it must be a pleasure to me to see my doctrine in such close agreement with a religion that the majority of men on earth hold as their own for this numbers far more followers than any other. And this agreement must be yet the more pleasing to me inasmuch as . For up till 1818 when my work appeared there was to be found in Europe only a very few accounts of Buddhism.Buddhist philosopher Keiji Nishitani sought to distance Buddhism from Schopenhauer. While Schopenhauer's philosophy may sound rather mystical in such a summary, his methodology was resolutely empirical, rather than speculative or transcendental:Philosophy ... is a science and as such has no articles of faith accordingly in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions.This actual world of what is knowable in which we are and which is in us remains both the material and the limit of our consideration.The argument that Buddhism affected Schopenhauers philosophy actually is to Buddhism.Magic and occultism.Some traditions in Western esotericism and parapsychology interested Schopenhauer and influenced his philosophical theories. He praised animal magnetism as evidence for the reality of magic in his "On the Will in Nature", and went so far as to accept the division of magic into left-hand and right-hand magic, although he doubted the existence of demons.Schopenhauer grounded magic in the Will and claimed all forms of magical transformation depended on the human Will, not on ritual. This theory notably parallels Aleister Crowley's system of magick and its emphasis on human will. Given the importance of the Will to Schopenhauer's overarching system, this amounts to "suggesting his whole philosophical system had magical powers." Schopenhauer rejected the theory of disenchantment and claimed philosophy should synthesize itself with magic, which he believed amount to "practical metaphysics."Neoplatonism including the traditions of Plotinus and to a lesser extent Marsilio Ficino has also been cited as an influence on Schopenhauer.Schopenhauer had a wide range of interests, from science and opera to occultism and literature.In his student years, Schopenhauer went more often to lectures in the sciences than philosophy. He kept a strong interest as his personal library contained near to 200 books of scientific literature at his death, and his works refer to scientific titles not found in the library.Many evenings were spent in the theatre, opera and ballet; Schopenhauer especially liked the operas of Mozart, Rossini and Bellini. Schopenhauer considered music the highest art, and played the flute during his whole life.As a polyglot, he knew German, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Latin and ancient Greek, and was an avid reader of poetry and literature. He particularly revered Goethe, Petrarch, Caldern and Shakespeare.If Goethe had not been sent into the world simultaneously with Kant in order to counterbalance him so to speak in the spirit of the age the latter would have been haunted like a nightmare many an aspiring mind and would have oppressed it with great affliction. But now the two have an infinitely wholesome effect from opposite directions and will probably raise the German spirit to a height surpassing even that of antiquity.In philosophy, his most important influences were, according to himself, Kant, Plato and the Upanishads. Concerning the Upanishads and Vedas, he writes in "The World as Will and Representation":If the reader has also received the benefit of the Vedas the access to which by means of the Upanishads is in my eyes the greatest privilege which this still young century may claim before all previous centuries if then the reader I say has received his initiation in primeval Indian wisdom and received it with an open heart he will be prepared in the very best way for hearing what I have to tell him. It will not sound to him strange as to many others much less disagreeable for I might if it did not sound conceited contend that every one of the detached statements which constitute the Upanishads may be deduced as a necessary result from the fundamental thoughts which I have to enunciate though those deductions themselves are by no means to be found there.Thoughts on other philosophers.Giordano Bruno and Spinoza.Schopenhauer saw Bruno and Spinoza as philosophers not bound to their age or nation. "Both were fulfilled by the thought, that as manifold the appearances of the world may be, it is still "one" being, that appears in all of them. ... Consequently, there is no place for God as creator of the world in their philosophy, but God is the world itself."Schopenhauer expressed regret that Spinoza stuck for the presentation of his philosophy with the concepts of scholasticism and Cartesian philosophy, and tried to use geometrical proofs that do not hold because of vague and overly broad definitions. Bruno on the other hand, who knew much about nature and ancient literature, presented his ideas with Italian vividness, and is amongst philosophers the only one who comes near Plato's poetic and dramatic power of exposition.Schopenhauer noted that their philosophies do not provide any ethics and it is therefore very remarkable that Spinoza called his main work .Immanuel Kant.The importance of Kant for Schopenhauer, in philosophy as well as on a personal level, cannot be overstated. Kant's philosophy was the foundation of Schopenhauer's, and he had high praise for the Transcendental Aesthetic section of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". Schopenhauer maintained that Kant stands in the same relation to philosophers such as Berkeley and Plato, as Copernicus to Hicetas, Philolaus, and Aristarchus: Kant succeeded in demonstrating what previous philosophers merely asserted.Schopenhauer writes about Kant's influence on his work in the preface to the second edition of :In his study room, one bust was of Buddha, the other was of Kant. The bond which Schopenhauer felt with the philosopher of Knigsberg is demonstrated in an unfinished poem he dedicated to Kant :Schopenhauer dedicated one fifth of his main work to a detailed criticism of the Kantian philosophy.Schopenhauer praised Kant for his distinction between appearance and the thing-in-itself, whereas the general consensus in German idealism was that this was the weakest spot of Kant's theory, since, according to Kant, causality can find application on objects of experience only, and consequently, things-in-themselves cannot be the cause of appearances. The inadmissibility of this reasoning was also acknowledged by Schopenhauer. He insisted that this was a true conclusion, drawn from false premises.Post-Kantian school.The leading figures of post-Kantian philosophy—Johann Gottlieb Fichte, F. W. J. Schelling and G. W. F. Hegel—were not respected by Schopenhauer. He argued that they were not philosophers at all, for they lacked "the first requirement of a philosopher, namely a seriousness and honesty of inquiry." Rather, they were merely sophists who, excelling in the art of beguiling the public, pursued their own selfish interests . Diatribes against the vacuity, dishonesty, pomposity, and self-interest of these contemporaries are to be found throughout Schopenhauer's published writings. The following passage is an example:Schopenhauer deemed Schelling the most talented of the three and wrote that he would recommend his "elucidatory paraphrase of the highly important doctrine of Kant" concerning the intelligible character, if he had been honest enough to admit he was parroting Kant, instead of hiding this relation in a cunning manner.Schopenhauer reserved his most unqualified damning condemnation for Hegel, whom he considered less worthy than Fichte or Schelling. Whereas Fichte was merely a windbag , Hegel was a Influence and legacy.Schopenhauer remained the most influential German philosopher until the First World War. His philosophy was a starting point for a new generation of philosophers including Julius Bahnsen, Paul Deussen, Lazar von Hellenbach, Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, Ernst Otto Lindner, Philipp Mainlnder, Friedrich Nietzsche, Olga Plmacher and Agnes Taubert. His legacy shaped the intellectual debate, and forced movements that were utterly opposed to him, neo-Kantianism and positivism, to address issues they would otherwise have completely ignored, and in doing so he changed them markedly. The French writer Maupassant commented that . Other philosophers of the 19th century who cited his influence include Hans Vaihinger, Volkelt, Solovyov and Weininger.Schopenhauer was well read by physicists, most notably Einstein, Schrdinger, Wolfgang Pauli, and Majorana. Einstein described Schopenhauer's thoughts as a "continual consolation" and called him a genius. In his Berlin study three figures hung on the wall: Faraday, Maxwell, Schopenhauer. Konrad Wachsmann recalled: "He often sat with one of the well-worn Schopenhauer volumes, and as he sat there, he seemed so pleased, as if he were engaged with a serene and cheerful work."When Erwin Schrdinger discovered Schopenhauer he considered switching his study of physics to philosophy. He maintained the idealistic views during the rest of his life. Wolfgang Pauli accepted the main tenet of Schopenhauer's metaphysics that the thing-in-itself is will.But most of all Schopenhauer is famous for his influence on artists. Richard Wagner became one of the earliest and most famous adherents of the Schopenhauerian philosophy. The admiration was not mutual, and Schopenhauer proclaimed: "I remain faithful to Rossini and Mozart!" So he has been nicknamed "the artist's philosopher". See also Influence of Schopenhauer on "Tristan und Isolde".Under the influence of Schopenhauer, Leo Tolstoy became convinced that the truth of all religions lies in self-renunciation. When he read Schopenhauer's philosophy, Tolstoy exclaimed .Jorge Luis Borges remarked that the reason he had never attempted to write a systematic account of his world view despite his penchant for philosophy and metaphysics in particular was because Schopenhauer had already written it for him.Other figures in literature who were strongly influenced by Schopenhauer were Thomas Mann, Thomas Hardy, Afanasy Fet, J.-K. Huysmans and George Santayana. In Herman Melville's final years, while he wrote "Billy Budd", he read Schopenhauer's essays and marked them heavily. Scholar Brian Yothers notes that Melville "marked numerous misanthropic and even suicidal remarks, suggesting an attraction to the most extreme sorts of solitude, but he also made note of Schopenhauer's reflection on the moral ambiguities of genius." Schopenhauer's attraction to and discussions of both Eastern and Western religions in conjunction with each other made an impression on Melville in his final years.Sergei Prokofiev, although initially reluctant to engage with works noted for their pessimism, became fascinated with Schopenhauer after reading "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life" in "Parerga and Paralipomena". "With his truths Schopenhauer gave me a spiritual world and an awareness of happiness."Friedrich Nietzsche owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading .Early in his career, Ludwig Wittgenstein adopted Schopenhauers influence (particularly Schopenhauerian transcendentalism) can be observed in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Later on, Wittgenstein rejected epistemological transcendental idealism for Gottlob Frege's conceptual realism. In later years, Wittgenstein became highly dismissive of Schopenhauer, describing him as an ultimately shallow thinker. His friend Bertrand Russell had a low opinion on the philosopher, and even came to attack him in his for hypocritically praising asceticism yet not acting upon it.Opposite to Russell on the foundations of mathematics the Dutch mathematician L. E. J. Brouwer incorporated Kant's and Schopenhauer's ideas in the philosophical school of intuitionism where mathematics is considered as a purely mental activity instead of an analytic activity wherein objective properties of reality are revealed. Brouwer was also influenced by Schopenhauer's metaphysics and wrote an essay on mysticism.Schopenhauer's philosophy has made its way into a novel, "The Schopenhauer Cure", by American existential psychiatrist and emeritus professor of psychiatry Irvin Yalom.Schopenhauer's philosophy and the discussions on philosophical pessimism it has engendered has been the focus of contemporary thinkers such as David Benatar Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker. Their work also served as an inspiration for the popular HBO TV series "True Detective".
Angola , officially the Republic of Angola , is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone country in both total area and population , and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. It is bordered by Namibia to the south, the DR Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola has an exclave province, the province of Cabinda, that borders the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital and most populated city is Luanda.Angola has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. Its formation as a nation-state originates from Portuguese colonisation which initially began with coastal settlements and trading posts founded in the 16th century. In the 19th century European settlers gradually began to establish themselves in the interior. The Portuguese colony that became Angola did not have its present borders until the early 20th century owing to resistance by native groups such as the Cuamato the Kwanyama and the Mbunda.After a protracted anti-colonial struggle, Angola achieved independence in 1975 as a Marxist–Leninist one-party Republic. The country descended into a devastating civil war the same year, between the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola , backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba, the insurgent anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola , supported by the United States and South Africa, and the militant organisation National Liberation Front of Angola , backed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country has been governed by MPLA ever since its independence in 1975. Following the end of the war in 2002, Angola emerged as a relatively stable unitary, presidential constitutional republic.Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world especially since the end of the civil war. However economic growth is highly uneven with most of the nation's wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small sector of the population and highly concentrated in China and in the United States. The standard of living remains low for most Angolans life expectancy is among the lowest in the world while infant mortality is among the highest.Since 2017, the government of Joo Loureno has made fighting corruption its flagship, so much so that many individuals of the previous government are either jailed or awaiting trial. Whilst this effort has been recognised by foreign diplomats to be legitimate, some skeptics see the actions as being politically motivated.Angola is a member of the United Nations OPEC African Union the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Southern African Development Community. As of 2021 the Angolan population is estimated at 32.87 million. Angola is multicultural and multiethnic. Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese rule namely the predominance of the Portuguese language and of the Catholic Church intermingled with a variety of indigenous customs and traditions.The name comes from the Portuguese colonial name , which appeared as early as Paulo Dias de Novais's 1571 charter. The toponym was derived by the Portuguese from the title held by the kings of Ndongo and Matamba. Ndongo in the highlands, between the Kwanza and Lucala Rivers, was nominally a possession of the Kingdom of Kongo, but was seeking greater independence in the 16th century.Early migrations and political units.Modern Angola was populated predominantly by nomadic Khoi and San prior to the first Bantu migrations. The Khoi and San peoples were neither pastoralists nor cultivators but rather hunter-gatherers. They were displaced by Bantu peoples arriving from the north in the first millennium BC most of whom likely originated in what is today northwestern Nigeria and southern Niger. Bantu speakers introduced the cultivation of bananas and taro as well as large cattle herds to Angola's central highlands and the Luanda plain.A number of political entities were established the best-known of these was the Kingdom of the Kongo based in Angola which extended northward to what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo the Republic of the Congo and Gabon. It established trade routes with other city-states and civilisations up to and down the coast of southwestern and western Africa and even with Great Zimbabwe and the Mutapa Empire although it engaged in little or no transoceanic trade. To its south lay the Kingdom of Ndongo from which the area of the later Portuguese colony was sometimes known as and right next to them lay the Kingdom of Matamba.Portuguese colonization.Portuguese explorer Diogo Co reached the area in 1484. The previous year, the Portuguese had established relations with the Kongo, which stretched at the time from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The Portuguese established their primary early trading post at Soyo, which is now the northernmost city in Angola apart from the Cabinda exclave. Paulo Dias de Novais founded So Paulo de Loanda in 1575 with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. Benguela was fortified in 1587 and became a township in 1617.The Portuguese established several other settlements, forts and trading posts along the Angolan coast, principally trading in Angolan slaves for plantations. Local slave dealers provided a large number of slaves for the Portuguese Empire, usually in exchange for manufactured goods from Europe.This part of the Atlantic slave trade continued until after Brazil's independence in the 1820s.Despite Portugals vast interior was minimal. In the 16th century Portugal gained control of the coast through a series of treaties and wars. Life for European colonists was difficult and progress was slow. John Iliffe notes that .During the Portuguese Restoration War, the Dutch West India Company occupied the principal settlement of Luanda in 1641, using alliances with local peoples to carry out attacks against Portuguese holdings elsewhere. A fleet under Salvador de S retook Luanda in 1648; reconquest of the rest of the territory was completed by 1650. New treaties with the Kongo were signed in 1649; others with Njinga's Kingdom of Matamba and Ndongo followed in 1656. The conquest of Pungo Andongo in 1671 was the last major Portuguese expansion from Luanda, as attempts to invade Kongo in 1670 and Matamba in 1681 failed. Colonial outposts also expanded inward from Benguela, but until the late 19th century the inroads from Luanda and Benguela were very limited. Hamstrung by a series of political upheavals in the early 1800s, Portugal was slow to mount a large scale annexation of Angolan territory.The slave trade was abolished in Angola in 1836 and in 1854 the colonial government freed all its existing slaves. Four years later a more progressive administration appointed by Portugal abolished slavery altogether. However these decrees remained largely unenforceable and the Portuguese depended on assistance from the British Royal Navy to enforce their ban on the slave trade. This coincided with a series of renewed military expeditions into the bush.By the mid-nineteenth century Portugal had established its dominion as far east as the Congo River and as far south as Mossmedes. Until the late 1880s, Portugal entertained proposals to link Angola with its colony in Mozambique but was blocked by British and Belgian opposition. In this period, the Portuguese came up against different forms of armed resistance from various peoples in Angola.The Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 set the colony's borders delineating the boundaries of Portuguese claims in Angola although many details were unresolved until the 1920s. Trade between Portugal and its African territories rapidly increased as a result of protective tariffs leading to increased development and a wave of new Portuguese immigrants.Angolan independence.Under colonial law black Angolans were forbidden from forming political parties or labour unions. The first nationalist movements did not take root until after World War II spearheaded by a largely Westernised and Portuguese-speaking urban class which included many mestios. During the early 1960s they were joined by other associations stemming from labour activism in the rural workforce. Portugal's refusal to address increasing Angolan demands for self-determination provoked an armed conflict which erupted in 1961 with the Baixa de Cassanje revolt and gradually evolved into a protracted war of independence that persisted for the next twelve years. Throughout the conflict three militant nationalist movements with their own partisan guerrilla wings emerged from the fighting between the Portuguese government and local forces supported to varying degrees by the Portuguese Communist Party.The "National Front for the Liberation of Angola" (FNLA) recruited from Bakongo refugees in Zaire. Benefiting from particularly favourable political circumstances in Lopoldville and especially from a common border with Zaire Angolan political exiles were able to build up a power base among a large expatriate community from related families clans and traditions. People on both sides of the border spoke mutually intelligible dialects and enjoyed shared ties to the historical Kingdom of Kongo. Though as foreigners skilled Angolans could not take advantage of Mobutu Sese Seko's state employment programme some found work as middlemen for the absentee owners of various lucrative private ventures. The migrants eventually formed the FNLA with the intention of making a bid for political power upon their envisaged return to Angola.A largely Ovimbundu guerrilla initiative against the Portuguese in central Angola from 1966 was spearheaded by Jonas Savimbi and the . It remained handicapped by its geographic remoteness from friendly borders the ethnic fragmentation of the Ovimbundu and the isolation of peasants on European plantations where they had little opportunity to mobilise.During the late 1950s the rise of the Marxist–Leninist "Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola" in the east and Dembos hills north of Luanda came to hold special significance. Formed as a coalition resistance movement by the Angolan Communist Party the organisation's leadership remained predominantly Ambundu and courted public sector workers in Luanda. Although both the MPLA and its rivals accepted material assistance from the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China the former harboured strong anti-imperialist views and was openly critical of the United States and its support for Portugal. This allowed it to win important ground on the diplomatic front soliciting support from nonaligned governments in Morocco Ghana Guinea Mali and the United Arab Republic.The MPLA attempted to move its headquarters from Conakry to Lopoldville in October 1961 renewing efforts to create a common front with the FNLA then known as the and its leader Holden Roberto. Roberto turned down the offer. When the MPLA first attempted to insert its own insurgents into Angola the cadres were ambushed and annihilated by UPA partisans on Roberto's orders—setting a precedent for the bitter factional strife which would later ignite the Angolan Civil War.Angolan Civil War.Throughout the war of independence, the three rival nationalist movements were severely hampered by political and military factionalism, as well as their inability to unite guerrilla efforts against the Portuguese. Between 1961 and 1975 the MPLA, UNITA, and the FNLA competed for influence in the Angolan population and the international community. The Soviet Union and Cuba became especially sympathetic towards the MPLA and supplied that party with arms, ammunition, funding, and training. They also backed UNITA militants until it became clear that the latter was at irreconcilable odds with the MPLA.The collapse of Portugal's Estado Novo government following the 1974 Carnation Revolution suspended all Portuguese military activity in Africa and the brokering of a ceasefire pending negotiations for Angolan independence. Encouraged by the Organisation of African Unity, Holden Roberto, Jonas Savimbi, and MPLA chairman Agostinho Neto met in Mombasa in early January 1975 and agreed to form a coalition government. This was ratified by the Alvor Agreement later that month, which called for general elections and set the country's independence date for 11 November 1975. All three factions, however, followed up on the ceasefire by taking advantage of the gradual Portuguese withdrawal to seize various strategic positions, acquire more arms, and enlarge their militant forces. The rapid influx of weapons from numerous external sources, especially the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as the escalation of tensions between the nationalist parties, fueled a new outbreak of hostilities. With tacit American and Zairean support the FNLA began massing large numbers of troops in northern Angola in an attempt to gain military superiority. Meanwhile, the MPLA began securing control of Luanda, a traditional Ambundu stronghold. Sporadic violence broke out in Luanda over the next few months after the FNLA attacked MPLA forces in March 1975. The fighting intensified with street clashes in April and May, and UNITA became involved after over two hundred of its members were massacred by an MPLA contingent that June. An upswing in Soviet arms shipments to the MPLA influenced a decision by the Central Intelligence Agency to likewise provide substantial covert aid to the FNLA and UNITA.In August 1975 the MPLA requested direct assistance from the Soviet Union in the form of ground troops. The Soviets declined offering to send advisers but no troops however Cuba was more forthcoming and in late September dispatched nearly five hundred combat personnel to Angola along with sophisticated weaponry and supplies. By independence there were over a thousand Cuban soldiers in the country. They were kept supplied by a massive airbridge carried out with Soviet aircraft. The persistent buildup of Cuban and Soviet military aid allowed the MPLA to drive its opponents from Luanda and blunt an abortive intervention by Zairean and South African troops which had deployed in a belated attempt to assist the FNLA and UNITA. The FNLA was largely annihilated although UNITA managed to withdraw its civil officials and militia from Luanda and seek sanctuary in the southern provinces. From there Savimbi continued to mount a determined insurgent campaign against the MPLA.Between 1975 and 1991 the MPLA implemented an economic and political system based on the principles of scientific socialism incorporating central planning and a Marxist–Leninist one-party state. It embarked on an ambitious programme of nationalisation and the domestic private sector was essentially abolished. Privately owned enterprises were nationalised and incorporated into a single umbrella of state-owned enterprises known as . Under the MPLA Angola experienced a significant degree of modern industrialisation. However corruption and graft also increased and public resources were either allocated inefficiently or simply embezzled by officials for personal enrichment. The ruling party survived an attempted coup d'tat by the Maoist-oriented Communist Organisation of Angola in 1977 which was suppressed after a series of bloody political purges left thousands of OCA supporters dead.The MPLA abandoned its former Marxist ideology at its third party congress in 1990, and declared social democracy to be its new platform. Angola subsequently became a member of the International Monetary Fund; restrictions on the market economy were also reduced in an attempt to draw foreign investment. By May 1991 it reached a peace agreement with UNITA, the Bicesse Accords, which scheduled new general elections for September 1992. When the MPLA secured a major electoral victory, UNITA objected to the results of both the presidential and legislative vote count and returned to war. Following the election, the Halloween massacre occurred from 30 October to 1 November, where MPLA forces killed thousands of UNITA supporters.21st century.On 22 March 2002 Jonas Savimbi was killed in action against government troops. UNITA and the MPLA reached a cease-fire shortly afterwards. UNITA gave up its armed wing and assumed the role of a major opposition party. Although the political situation of the country began to stabilise regular democratic processes did not prevail until the elections in Angola in 2008 and 2012 and the adoption of a new constitution in 2010 all of which strengthened the prevailing dominant-party system.Angola has a serious humanitarian crisis; the result of the prolonged war, of the abundance of minefields, and the continued political agitation in favour of the independence of the exclave of Cabinda (carried out in the context of the protracted Cabinda conflict by the FLEC). While most of the internally displaced have now squatted around the capital, in musseques (shanty towns) the general situation for Angolans remains desperate.Drought in 2016 caused the worst food crisis in Southern Africa in 25 years, affecting 1.4 million people across seven of Angola's 18 provinces. Food prices rose and acute malnutrition rates doubled, with more than 95,000 children affected.Jos Eduardo dos Santos stepped down as President of Angola after 38 years in 2017 being peacefully succeeded by Joo Loureno Santos' chosen successor.At , Angola is the world's twenty-fourth largest country - comparable in size to Mali, or twice the size of France or of Texas. It lies mostly between latitudes 4° and 18°S, and longitudes 12° and 24°E.Angola borders Namibia to the south Zambia to the east the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north-east and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west.The coastal exclave of Cabinda in the north has borders with the Republic of the Congo to the north and with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south.Angola's capital Luanda lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country.Angola had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.35/10 ranking it 23rd globally out of 172 countries.Angola although located in a tropical zone has a climate uncharacteristic of this zone due to the confluence of three factorsAngola's climate features two seasonsWhile the coastline has high rainfall rates decreasing from north to south and from to with average annual temperatures above one can divide the interior zone into three areasAdministrative divisions.
, Angola is divided into eighteen provinces and 162 municipalities. The municipalities are further divided into 559 communes . The provinces are:Exclave of Cabinda.With an area of approximately , the Northern Angolan province of Cabinda is unusual in being separated from the rest of the country by a strip, some wide, of the Democratic Republic of Congo along the lower Congo River. Cabinda borders the Congo Republic to the north and north-northeast and the DRC to the east and south. The town of Cabinda is the chief population centre.According to a 1995 census, Cabinda had an estimated population of 600,000, approximately 400,000 of whom are citizens of neighboring countries. Population estimates are, however, highly unreliable. Consisting largely of tropical forest, Cabinda produces hardwoods, coffee, cocoa, crude rubber and palm oil.The product for which it is best known, however, is its oil, which has given it the nickname, . Cabindas output. Most of the oil along its coast was discovered under Portuguese rule by the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company from 1968 onwards.Ever since Portugal handed over sovereignty of its former overseas province of Angola to the local independence groups , the territory of Cabinda has been a focus of separatist guerrilla actions opposing the Government of Angola and Cabindan separatists. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda announced the virtual Federal Republic of Cabinda under the Presidency of N'Zita Henriques Tiago. One of the characteristics of the Cabindan independence movement is its constant fragmentation, into smaller and smaller factions.Government and politics.The Angolan government is composed of three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch of the government is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents and the Council of Ministers.The legislative branch comprises a 220-seat unicameral legislature the National Assembly of Angola elected from both provincial and nationwide constituencies. For decades political power has been concentrated in the presidency.After 38 years of rule in 2017 President dos Santos stepped down from MPLA leadership. The leader of the winning party at the parliamentary elections in August 2017 would become the next president of Angola. The MPLA selected the former Defense Minister Joo Loureno as Santos' chosen successor.In what has been described as a political purge to cement his power and reduce the influence of the Dos Santos family, Loureno subsequently sacked the chief of the national police, Ambrsio de Lemos, and the head of the intelligence service, Apolinrio Jos Pereira. Both are considered allies of former president Dos Santos. He also removed Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of the former president, as head of the country's state oil company Sonangol.Constitution.The Constitution of 2010 establishes the broad outlines of government structure and delineates the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system is based on Portuguese law and customary law but is weak and fragmented, and courts operate in only 12 of more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court serves as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court does not hold the powers of judicial review. Governors of the 18 provinces are appointed by the president. After the end of the civil war, the regime came under pressure from within as well as from the international community to become more democratic and less authoritarian. Its reaction was to implement a number of changes without substantially changing its character.The new constitution, adopted in 2010, did away with presidential elections, introducing a system in which the president and the vice-president of the political party that wins the parliamentary elections automatically become president and vice-president. Directly or indirectly, the president controls all other organs of the state, so there is Armed forces.The Angolan Armed Forces are headed by a Chief of Staff who reports to the Minister of Defence. There are three divisions—the Army , Navy and National Air Force . Total manpower is 107,000; plus paramilitary forces of 10,000 .Its equipment includes Russian-manufactured fighters bombers and transport planes. There are also Brazilian-made EMB-312 Tucanos for training Czech-made L-39s for training and bombing and a variety of western-made aircraft such as the C-212\Aviocar Sud Aviation Alouette III etc. A small number of AAF personnel are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo .The National Police departments are Public Order Criminal Investigation Traffic and Transport Investigation and Inspection of Economic Activities Taxation and Frontier Supervision Riot Police and the Rapid Intervention Police. The National Police are in the process of standing up an air wing to provide helicopter support for operations. The National Police are developing their criminal investigation and forensic capabilities. The force has an estimated 6000 patrol officers 2500 taxation and frontier supervision officers 182 criminal investigators and 100 financial crimes detectives and around 90 economic activity inspectors.The National Police have implemented a modernisation and development plan to increase the capabilities and efficiency of the total force. In addition to administrative reorganisation, modernisation projects include procurement of new vehicles, aircraft and equipment, construction of new police stations and forensic laboratories, restructured training programmes and the replacement of AKM rifles with 9 mm Uzis for officers in urban areas.A Supreme Court serves as a court of appeal. The Constitutional Court is the supreme body of the constitutional jurisdiction, established with the approval of Law no. 2/08, of 17 June – Organic Law of the Constitutional Court and Law n. 3/08, of 17 June – Organic Law of the Constitutional Process. The legal system is based on Portuguese and customary law. There are 12 courts in more than 140 counties in the country. Its first task was the validation of the candidacies of the political parties to the legislative elections of 5 September 2008. Thus, on 25 June 2008, the Constitutional Court was institutionalized and its Judicial Counselors assumed the position before the President of the Republic. Currently, seven advisory judges are present, four men and three women.In 2014, a new penal code took effect in Angola. The classification of money-laundering as a crime is one of the novelties in the new legislation.Foreign relations.Angola is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.On 16 October 2014 Angola was elected for the second time a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with 190 favorable votes out of a total of 193. The term of office began on 1 January 2015 and expired on 31 December 2016.Since January 2014, the Republic of Angola has been chairing the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region . In 2015, CIRGL Executive Secretary Ntumba Luaba said that Angola is the example to be followed by the members of the organization, due to the significant progress made during the 12 years of peace, namely in terms of socio-economic stability and political-military.Human rights.Angola is classified as 'not free' by Freedom House in the Freedom in the World 2014 report. The report noted that the August 2012 parliamentary elections, in which the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola won more than 70% of the vote, suffered from serious flaws, including outdated and inaccurate voter rolls. Voter turnout dropped from 80% in 2008 to 60%.A 2012 report by the U.S. Department of State said, "The three most important human rights abuses [in 2012] were official corruption and impunity; limits on the freedoms of assembly, association, speech, and press; and cruel and excessive punishment, including reported cases of torture and beatings as well as unlawful killings by police and other security personnel."Angola ranked forty-two of forty-eight sub-Saharan African states on the 2007 Index of African Governance list and scored poorly on the 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. It was ranked 39 out of 52 sub-Saharan African countries, scoring particularly badly in the areas of participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development. The Ibrahim Index uses a number of variables to compile its list which reflects the state of governance in Africa.In 2019, homosexual acts were decriminalized in Angola, and the government also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. The vote was overwhelming: 155 for, 1 against, 7 abstaining.Angola has diamonds, oil, gold, copper and rich wildlife , forest and fossil fuels. Since independence, oil and diamonds have been the most important economic resource. Smallholder and plantation agriculture dramatically dropped in the Angolan Civil War, but began to recover after 2002.Angolas highest annual average GDP growth at 11.1%.In 2004 the Exim Bank of China approved a $2 billion line of credit to Angola to be used for rebuilding Angola's infrastructure and to limit the influence of the International Monetary Fund there.China is Angola's biggest trade partner and export destination as well as the fourth-largest source of imports. Bilateral trade reached $27.67 billion in 2011, up 11.5% year-on-year. China's imports, mainly crude oil and diamonds, increased 9.1% to $24.89 billion while China's exports to Angola, including mechanical and electrical products, machinery parts and construction materials, surged 38.8%. The oil glut led to a local price for unleaded gasoline of £0.37 a gallon.The Angolan economy grew 18% in 2005 26% in 2006 and 17.6% in 2007. Due to the global recession the economy contracted an estimated −0.3% in 2009. The security brought about by the 2002 peace settlement has allowed the resettlement of 4 million displaced persons and a resulting large-scale increase in agriculture production. Angola's economy is expected to grow by 3.9 per cent in 2014 said the International Monetary Fund robust growth in the non-oil economy mainly driven by a very good performance in the agricultural sector is expected to offset a temporary drop in oil production.Angola's financial system is maintained by the National Bank of Angola and managed by the governor . According to a study on the banking sector carried out by Deloitte the monetary policy led by Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA) the Angolan national bank allowed a decrease in the inflation rate put at 7.96% in December 2013 which contributed to the sectors economy should grow at an annual average rate of 5 per cent over the next four years boosted by the increasing participation of the private sector.Although the country's economy has grown significantly since Angola achieved political stability in 2002, mainly due to fast-rising earnings in the oil sector, Angola faces huge social and economic problems. These are in part a result of almost continual armed conflict from 1961 on, although the highest level of destruction and socio-economic damage took place after the 1975 independence, during the long years of civil war. However, high poverty rates and blatant social inequality chiefly stems from persistent authoritarianism, "neo-patrimonial" practices at all levels of the political, administrative, military and economic structures, and of a pervasive corruption. The main beneficiaries are political, administrative, economic and military power holders, who have accumulated enormous wealth. are the middle strata that are about to become social classes. However almost half the population has to be considered poor with dramatic differences between the countryside and the cities where slightly more than 50% of the people reside.A study carried out in 2008 by the Angolan Instituto Nacional de Estatstica found that in rural areas roughly 58% must be classified as according to UN norms but in the urban areas only 19% and an overall rate of 37%. In cities a majority of families well beyond those officially classified as poor must adopt a variety of survival strategies. In urban areas social inequality is most evident and it is extreme in Luanda. In the Human Development Index Angola constantly ranks in the bottom group.In January 2020, a leak of government documents known as the showed that U.S. consulting companies such as Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey &amp; Company, and PricewaterhouseCoopers had helped members of the family of former President Jos Eduardo dos Santos corruptly run Sonangol for their own personal profit, helping them use the company's revenues to fund vanity projects in France and Switzerland.The enormous differences between the regions pose a serious structural problem for the Angolan economy, illustrated by the fact that about one third of economic activities are concentrated in Luanda and neighbouring Bengo province, while several areas of the interior suffer economic stagnation and even regression.One of the economic consequences of social and regional disparities is a sharp increase in Angolan private investments abroad. The small fringe of Angolan society where most of the asset accumulation takes place seeks to spread its assets, for reasons of security and profit. For the time being, the biggest share of these investments is concentrated in Portugal where the Angolan presence (including the family of the state president) in banks as well as in the domains of energy, telecommunications, and mass media has become notable, as has the acquisition of vineyards and orchards as well as of touristic enterprises.Angola has upgraded critical infrastructure, an investment made possible by funds from the nation's development of oil resources. According to a report, just slightly more than ten years after the end of the civil war Angola's standard of living has overall greatly improved. Life expectancy, which was just 46 years in 2002, reached 51 in 2011. Mortality rates for children fell from 25 per cent in 2001 to 19 per cent in 2010 and the number of students enrolled in primary school has tripled since 2001. However, at the same time the social and economic inequality that has characterised the country for so long has not diminished, but on the contrary deepened in all respects.With a stock of assets corresponding to 70 billion Kz Angola is now the third-largest financial market in sub-Saharan Africa surpassed only by Nigeria and South Africa. According to the Angolan Minister of Economy Abrao Gourgel the financial market of the country grew modestly from 2002 and now lies in third place at the level of sub-Saharan Africa.On 19 December 2014 the Capital Market in Angola started. BODIVA received the secondary public debt market and it is expected to start the corporate debt market by 2015 but the stock market should be a reality only in 2016.Natural resources."The Economist" reported in 2008 that diamonds and oil make up 60% of Angola's economy almost all of the country's revenue and all of its dominant exports. Growth is almost entirely driven by rising oil production which surpassed in late 2005 and was expected to grow to by 2007. Control of the oil industry is consolidated in Sonangol Group a conglomerate owned by the Angolan government. In December 2006 Angola was admitted as a member of OPEC.According to the Heritage Foundation a conservative American think tank oil production from Angola has increased so significantly that Angola now is China's biggest supplier of oil. "China has extended three multibillion dollar lines of credit to the Angolan government two loans of $2 billion from China Exim Bank one in 2004 the second in 2007 as well as one loan in 2005 of $2.9 billion from China International Fund Ltd."Growing oil revenues also created opportunities for corruption according to a recent Human Rights Watch report 32 billion US dollars disappeared from government accounts in 2007–2010. Furthermore Sonangol the state-run oil company controls 51% of Cabinda's oil. Due to this market control the company ends up determining the profit received by the government and the taxes it pays. The council of foreign affairs states that the World Bank mentioned that Sonangol " is a taxpayer it carries out quasi-fiscal activities it invests public funds and as concessionaire it is a sector regulator. This multifarious work programme creates conflicts of interest and characterises a complex relationship between Sonangol and the government that weakens the formal budgetary process and creates uncertainty as regards the actual fiscal stance of the state."In 2002 Angola demanded compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron Corporation the first time it had fined a multinational corporation operating in its waters.Operations in its diamond mines include partnerships between state-run Endiama and mining companies such as ALROSA which operate in Angola.Access to biocapacity in Angola is higher than world average. In 2016, Angola had 1.9 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, slightly more than world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Angola used 1.01 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use about half as much biocapacity as Angola contains. As a result, Angola is running a biocapacity reserve.Agriculture.Agriculture and forestry is an area of potential opportunity for the country. The African Economic Outlook organization states that .In addition the World Bank estimates that .Before independence in 1975 Angola was a breadbasket of southern Africa and a major exporter of bananas coffee and sisal but three decades of civil war destroyed fertile countryside left it littered with landmines and drove millions into the cities.The country now depends on expensive food imports, mainly from South Africa and Portugal, while more than 90% of farming is done at the family and subsistence level. Thousands of Angolan small-scale farmers are trapped in poverty.Transport in Angola consists ofAngola centers its port trade in five main ports: Namibe, Lobito, Soyo, Cabinda and Luanda. The port of Luanda is the largest of the five, as well as being one of the busiest on the African continent.Travel on highways outside of towns and cities in Angola is often not best advised for those without four-by-four vehicles. While a reasonable road infrastructure has existed within Angola time and the war have taken their toll on the road surfaces leaving many severely potholed littered with broken asphalt. In many areas drivers have established alternate tracks to avoid the worst parts of the surface although careful attention must be paid to the presence or absence of landmine warning markers by the side of the road. The Angolan government has contracted the restoration of many of the country's roads. The road between Lubango and Namibe for example was completed recently with funding from the European Union and is comparable to many European main routes. Completing the road infrastructure is likely to take some decades but substantial efforts are already being made.Telecommunications.The telecommunications industry is considered one of the main strategic sectors in Angola.In October 2014 the building of an optic fiber underwater cable was announced. This project aims to turn Angola into a continental hub thus improving Internet connections both nationally and internationally.On 11 March 2015, the First Angolan Forum of Telecommunications and Information Technology was held in Luanda under the motto , to promote debate on topical issues on telecommunications in Angola and worldwide. A study of this sector, presented at the forum, said Angola had the first telecommunications operator in Africa to test LTE – with speeds up to 400 Mbit/s – and mobile penetration of about 75%; there are about 3.5 million smartphones in the Angolan market; There are about of optical fibre installed in the country.The first Angolan satellite AngoSat-1 was launched into orbit on 26 December 2017. It was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on board a Zenit 3F rocket. The satellite was built by Russia's RSC Energia a subsidiary of the state-run space industry player Roscosmos. The satellite payload was supplied by Airbus Defence &amp Space. Due to an on-board power failure during solar panel deployment on 27 December RSC Energia revealed that they lost communications contact with the satellite. Although subsequent attempts to restore communications with the satellite were successful the satellite eventually stopped sending data and RSC Energia confirmed that AngoSat-1 was inoperable. The launch of AngoSat-1 was aimed at ensuring telecommunications throughout the country. According to Aristides Safeca Secretary of State for Telecommunications the satellite was aimed at providing telecommunications services TV internet and e-government and was expected to remain in orbit for 18 years. A replacement satellite named AngoSat-2 is in the works and is expected to be in service by 2020. As of February 2021 Ango-Sat-2 was about 60% ready. The officials reported the launch is expected in about 17 months by July 2022.Technology.The management of the top-level domain passed from Portugal to Angola in 2015 following new legislation. A joint decree of Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies Jos Carvalho da Rocha and the minister of Science and Technology Maria Cndida Pereira Teixeira states that .Demographics.Angola has a population of 24,383,301 inhabitants according to the preliminary results of its 2014 census, the first one conducted or carried out since 15 December 1970. It is composed of Ovimbundu 37%, Ambundu 23%, Bakongo 13%, and 32% other ethnic groups as well as about 2% "mulattos" , 1.6% Chinese and 1% European. The Ambundu and Ovimbundu ethnic groups combined form a majority of the population, at 62%. The population is forecast to grow to over 60 million people in 2050, 2.7 times the 2014 population. However, on 23 March 2016, official data revealed by Angola's National Statistic Institute – Instituto Nacional de Estatstica , states that Angola has a population of 25,789,024 inhabitants.It is estimated that Angola was host to 12100 refugees and 2900 asylum seekers by the end of 2007. 11400 of those refugees were originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo who arrived in the 1970s. there were an estimated 400000 Democratic Republic of the Congo migrant workers at least 220000 Portuguese and about 259000 Chinese living in Angola. 1 million Angolans are mixed race .Since 2003, more than 400,000 Congolese migrants have been expelled from Angola. Prior to independence in 1975, Angola had a community of approximately 350,000 Portuguese, but the vast majority left after independence and the ensuing civil war. However, Angola has recovered its Portuguese minority in recent years; currently, there are about 200,000 registered with the consulates, and increasing due to the debt crisis in Portugal and the relative prosperity in Angola. The Chinese population stands at 258,920, mostly composed of temporary migrants. Also, there is a small Brazilian community of about 5,000 people., the total fertility rate of Angola is 5.54 children born per woman , the 11th highest in the world.The languages in Angola are those originally spoken by the different ethnic groups and Portuguese, introduced during the Portuguese colonial era. The most widely spoken indigenous languages are Umbundu, Kimbundu and Kikongo, in that order. Portuguese is the official language of the country.Although the exact numbers of those fluent in Portuguese or who speak Portuguese as a first language are unknown a 2012 study mentions that Portuguese is the first language of 39% of the population. In 2014 a census carried out by the Instituto Nacional de Estatstica in Angola mentions that 71.15% of the nearly 25.8 million inhabitants of Angola use Portuguese as a first or second language.According to the 2014 census, Portuguese is spoken by 71.1% of Angolans, Umbundu by 23%, Kikongo by 8.2%, Kimbundu by 7.8%, Chokwe by 6.5%, Nyaneka by 3.4%, Ngangela by 3.1%, Fiote by 2.4%, Kwanyama by 2.3%, Muhumbi by 2.1%, Luvale by 1%, and other languages by 4.1%.There are about 1000 religious communities mostly Christian in Angola. While reliable statistics are nonexistent estimates have it that more than half of the population are Catholics while about a quarter adhere to the Protestant churches introduced during the colonial period the Congregationalists mainly among the Ovimbundu of the Central Highlands and the coastal region to its west the Methodists concentrating on the Kimbundu speaking strip from Luanda to Malanje the Baptists almost exclusively among the Bakongo of the north-west (now present in Luanda as well) and dispersed Adventists Reformed and Lutherans.In Luanda and region there subsists a nucleus of the "syncretic" Tocoists and in the north-west a sprinkling of Kimbanguism can be found, spreading from the Congo/Zare. Since independence, hundreds of Pentecostal and similar communities have sprung up in the cities, whereby now about 50% of the population is living; several of these communities/churches are of Brazilian origin.the U.S. Department of State estimates the Muslim population at 80,000–90,000, less than 1% of the population, while the Islamic Community of Angola puts the figure closer to 500,000. Muslims consist largely of migrants from West Africa and the Middle East , although some are local converts. The Angolan government does not legally recognize any Muslim organizations and often shuts down mosques or prevents their construction.In a study assessing nations' levels of religious regulation and persecution with scores ranging from 0 to 10 where 0 represented low levels of regulation or persecution Angola was scored 0.8 on Government Regulation of Religion 4.0 on Social Regulation of Religion 0 on Government Favoritism of Religion and 0 on Religious Persecution.Foreign missionaries were very active prior to independence in 1975, although since the beginning of the anti-colonial fight in 1961 the Portuguese colonial authorities expelled a series of Protestant missionaries and closed mission stations based on the belief that the missionaries were inciting pro-independence sentiments. Missionaries have been able to return to the country since the early 1990s, although security conditions due to the civil war have prevented them until 2002 from restoring many of their former inland mission stations.The Catholic Church and some major Protestant denominations mostly keep to themselves in contrast to the which actively proselytize. Catholics as well as some major Protestant denominations provide help for the poor in the form of crop seeds farm animals medical care and education.Epidemics of cholera malaria rabies and African hemorrhagic fevers like Marburg hemorrhagic fever are common diseases in several parts of the country. Many regions in this country have high incidence rates of tuberculosis and high HIV prevalence rates. Dengue filariasis leishmaniasis and onchocerciasis (river blindness) are other diseases carried by insects that also occur in the region. Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and one of the world's lowest life expectancies. A 2007 survey concluded that low and deficient niacin status was common in Angola. Demographic and Health Surveys is currently conducting several surveys in Angola on malaria domestic violence and more.In September 2014 the Angolan Institute for Cancer Control was created by presidential decree and it will integrate the National Health Service in Angola. The purpose of this new centre is to ensure health and medical care in oncology policy implementation programmes and plans for prevention and specialised treatment. This cancer institute will be assumed as a reference institution in the central and southern regions of Africa.In 2014, Angola launched a national campaign of vaccination against measles, extended to every child under ten years old and aiming to go to all 18 provinces in the country. The measure is part of the Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Measles 2014–2020 created by the Angolan Ministry of Health which includes strengthening routine immunisation, a proper dealing with measles cases, national campaigns, introducing a second dose of vaccination in the national routine vaccination calendar and active epidemiological surveillance for measles. This campaign took place together with the vaccination against polio and vitamin A supplementation.A yellow fever outbreak, the worst in the country in three decades began in December 2015. By August 2016, when the outbreak began to subside, nearly 4,000 people were suspected of being infected. As many as 369 may have died. The outbreak began in the capital, Luanda, and spread to at least 16 of the 18 provinces.Although by law education in Angola is compulsory and free for eight years, the government reports that a percentage of pupils are not attending due to a lack of school buildings and teachers. Pupils are often responsible for paying additional school-related expenses, including fees for books and supplies.In 1999, the gross primary enrollment rate was 74 per cent and in 1998, the most recent year for which data are available, the net primary enrollment rate was 61 per cent. Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of pupils formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. There continue to be significant disparities in enrollment between rural and urban areas. In 1995, 71.2 per cent of children ages 7 to 14 years were attending school. It is reported that higher percentages of boys attend school than girls. During the Angolan Civil War , nearly half of all schools were reportedly looted and destroyed, leading to current problems with overcrowding.The Ministry of Education recruited 20000 new teachers in 2005 and continued to implement teacher training. Teachers tend to be underpaid inadequately trained and overworked . Some teachers may reportedly demand payment or bribes directly from their pupils. Other factors such as the presence of landmines lack of resources and identity papers and poor health prevent children from regularly attending school. Although budgetary allocations for education were increased in 2004 the education system in Angola continues to be extremely under-funded.According to estimates by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the adult literacy rate in 2011 was 70.4%. By 2015, this had increased to 71.1%. 82.9% of men and 54.2% of women are literate as of 2001. Since independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Angolan students continued to be admitted every year at high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities in Portugal and Brazil through bilateral agreements; in general, these students belong to the elites.In September 2014, the Angolan Ministry of Education announced an investment of 16 million Euros in the computerisation of over 300 classrooms across the country. The project also includes training teachers at a national level, "as a way to introduce and use new information technologies in primary schools, thus reflecting an improvement in the quality of teaching".In 2010 the Angolan government started building the Angolan Media Libraries Network distributed throughout several provinces in the country to facilitate the people's access to information and knowledge. Each site has a bibliographic archive multimedia resources and computers with Internet access as well as areas for reading researching and socialising. The plan envisages the establishment of one media library in each Angolan province by 2017. The project also includes the implementation of several media libraries in order to provide the several contents available in the fixed media libraries to the most isolated populations in the country. At this time the mobile media libraries are already operating in the provinces of Luanda Malanje Uge Cabinda and Lunda South. As for REMA the provinces of Luanda Benguela Lubango and Soyo have currently working media libraries.Angolan culture has been heavily influenced by Portuguese culture especially in language and religion and the culture of the indigenous ethnic groups of Angola predominantly Bantu culture.The diverse ethnic communities—the Ovimbundu Ambundu Bakongo Chokwe Mbunda and other peoples—to varying degrees maintain their own cultural traits traditions and languages but in the cities where slightly more than half of the population now lives a mixed culture has been emerging since colonial times in Luanda since its foundation in the 16th century.In this urban culture Portuguese heritage has become more and more dominant. African roots are evident in music and dance and is moulding the way in which Portuguese is spoken. This process is well reflected in contemporary Angolan literature especially in the works of Angolan authors.In 2014, Angola resumed the National Festival of Angolan Culture after a 25-year break. The festival took place in all the provincial capitals and lasted for 20 days, with the theme ”Culture as a Factor of Peace and Development.In 1972, one of Angolas highest prize.Literature.Angolan Writer Ndalu de Almeida pen name Ondjaki published a novel called in 2012 that takes place in Luanda Angola.Basketball is the second most popular sport in Angola. Its national team has won the AfroBasket 11 times and holds the record of most titles. As a top team in Africa, it is a regular competitor at the Summer Olympic Games and the FIBA World Cup. Angola is home to one of Africa's first competitive leagues.In football Angola hosted the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. The Angola national football team qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup their first appearance in the World Cup finals. They were eliminated after one defeat and two draws in the group stage. They won three COSAFA Cups and finished runner-up in the 2011 African Nations Championship.Angola has participated in the World Women's Handball Championship for several years. The country has also appeared in the Summer Olympics for seven years and both regularly competes in and once has hosted the FIRS Roller Hockey World Cup where the best finish is sixth. Angola is also often believed to have historic roots in the martial art which were practised by enslaved African Angolans transported as part of the Atlantic slave trade.
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Angola, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.According to 2014 census data, Angola had a population of 25,789,024 inhabitants in 2014.Ethnically, there are three main groups, each speaking a Bantu language: the Ovimbundu who represent 37% of the population, the Ambundu with 25%, and the Bakongo 13%. Other numerically important groups include the closely interrelated Chokwe and Lunda, the Ganguela and Nyaneka-Khumbi , the Ovambo, the Herero, the Xindonga and scattered residual groups of San. In addition, mixed race people amount to about 2%, with a small population of whites, mainly ethnically Portuguese.As a former overseas territory of Portugal until 1975 Angola possesses a Portuguese population of over 200000 a number that has been growing from 2000 onwards because of Angola's growing demand for qualified human resources. Currently over 300000 Angolans are white 1 million Angolans are mixed race and 50000 Angolans are from China which accounts for 1.35 million people. In 1974 white Angolans made up a population of 330000 to 350000 people in an overall population of 6.3 million Angolans at that time. The only reliable source on these numbers is Gerald Bender &amp Stanley Yoder "Whites in Angola on the Eve of Independence The Politics of Numbers" "Africa Today" 21 1974 pp. 23 – 37. Today many Angolans who are not ethnic Portuguese can claim Portuguese nationality under Portuguese law. Estimates on the overall population are given in O Pas Besides the Portuguese significant numbers of people from other European and from diverse Latin American countries can be found. From the 2000s many Chinese have settled and started up small businesses while at least as many have come as workers for large enterprises . Observers claim that the Chinese community in Angola might include as many as 300000 persons at the end of 2010 but reliable statistics are not at this stage available. In 1974/75 over 25000 Cuban soldiers arrived in Angola to help the MPLA forces at the beginning of the Angolan Civil War. Once this was over a massive development cooperation in the field of health and education brought in numerous civil personnel from Cuba. However only a very small percentage of all these people has remained in Angola either for personal reasons or as professionals .The largest religious denomination is Catholicism to which adheres about half the population. Roughly 26% are followers of traditional forms of Protestantism but over the last decades there has in addition been a growth of Pentecostal communities and African Initiated Churches. In 2006 one out of 221 people were Jehovah's Witnesses. Blacks from Mali Nigeria and Senegal are mostly Sunnite Muslims but do not make up more than 1 - 2% of the population. By now few Angolans retain African traditional religions following different ethnic faiths.Population.According to the total population was in , compared to only 4 148 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 46.6%, 50.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.5% was 65 years or olderStructure of the population Vital statistics.Registration of vital events is in Angola not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations and the CIA World Factbook prepared the following estimates.Fertility and Births.Total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate :Other demographics statistics.Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.Population growth.The population is growing by 3.52% annually. There are 44.2 births and 9.2 deaths per 1,000 citizens. The net migration rate is 0.2 migrants per 1,000 citizens. The fertility rate of Angola is 6.16 children born per woman as of 2017. The infant mortality rate is 67.6 deaths for every 1,000 live births with 73.3 deaths for males and 61.8 deaths for females for every 1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth is 60.2 years; 58.2 years for males and 62.3 years for females.According to the CIA World Factbook 2% of adults are living with HIV/AIDS . The risk of contracting disease is very high. There are food and waterborne diseases bacterial and protozoal diarrhea hepatitis A and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases malaria African trypanosomiasis respiratory disease meningococcal meningitis and schistosomiasis a water contact disease as of 2005.Ethnic groups.Roughly 37% of Angolans are Ovimbundu, 25% are Ambundu, 13% are Bakongo, 2% are mestio, 1-2% are white Africans, and people from other African ethnicities make up 22% of Angola's population.Angola is a majority Christian country. Official statistics do not exist, however it is estimated that over 80% belong to a Christian church or community. More than half are Catholic, the remaining ones comprising members of traditional Protestant churches as well as of Pentecostal communities. Only 0.1% are Muslims - generally immigrants from other African countries. Traditional indigenous religions are practiced by a very small minority, generally in peripheral rural societies.Literacy is quite low, with 71.1% of the population over the age of 15 able to read and write in Portuguese. 82% of males and 60.7% of women are literate as of 2015.Portuguese is the official language of Angola, but Bantu and other African languages are also widely spoken. In fact, Kikongo, Kimbundu, Umbundu, Tuchokwe, Nganguela, and Ukanyama have the official status of "national languages". The mastery of Portuguese is widespread; in the cities the overwhelming majority are either fluent in Portuguese or have at least a reasonable working knowledge of this language; an increasing minority are native Portuguese speakers and have a poor, if any, knowledge of an African language.
The Angolan government is composed of three branches of government executive legislative and judicial. For decades political power has been concentrated in the presidency with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola.Since the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, the politics of Angola takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Angola is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the President, the government and parliament.Angola changed from a one-party Marxist-Leninist system ruled by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in place since independence in 1975 to a multiparty democracy based on a new constitution adopted in 1992. That same year the first parliamentary and presidential elections were held. The MPLA won an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections. In the presidential elections President Jos Eduardo dos Santos won the first round election with more than 49% of the vote to Jonas Savimbis elected MPs - while Jos Eduardo dos Santos continued to exercise his functions without democratic legitimation. However the armed forces of the MPLA and of UNITA fought each other until the leader of UNITA Jonas Savimbi was killed in action in 2002.From 2002 to 2010, the system as defined by the constitution of 1992 functioned in a relatively normal way. The executive branch of the government was composed of the President, the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers, composed of all ministers and vice ministers, met regularly to discuss policy issues. Governors of the 18 provinces were appointed by and served at the pleasure of the president. The Constitutional Law of 1992 established the broad outlines of government structure and the rights and duties of citizens. The legal system was based on Portuguese and customary law but was weak and fragmented. Courts operated in only 12 of more than 140 municipalities. A Supreme Court served as the appellate tribunal; a Constitutional Court with powers of judicial review was never constituted despite statutory authorization. In practice, power was more and more concentrated in the hands of the President who, supported by an ever-increasing staff, largely controlled parliament, government, and the judiciary.The 26-year-long civil war has ravaged the country's political and social institutions. The UN estimates of 1.8 million internally displaced persons while generally the accepted figure for war-affected people is 4 million. Daily conditions of life throughout the country and specifically Luanda mirror the collapse of administrative infrastructure as well as many social institutions. The ongoing grave economic situation largely prevents any government support for social institutions. Hospitals are without medicines or basic equipment schools are without books and public employees often lack the basic supplies for their day-to-day work.Executive branch.The 2010 constitution grants the President almost absolute power. Elections for the National assembly are to take place every five years and the President is automatically the leader of the winning party or coalition. It is for the President to appoint all of the followingThe President is also provided a variety of powers like defining the policy of the country. Even though it's not up to him/her to make laws (only to promulgate them and make edicts) the President is the leader of the winning party.The only post that is not directly appointed by the President is the Vice-President which is the second in the winning party.Jos Eduardo dos Santos stepped down as President of Angola after 38 years in 2017, being peacefully succeeded by Joo Loureno, Santos' chosen successor.Legislative branch.The National Assembly has 223 members elected for a four-year term 130 members by proportional representation 90 members in provincial districts and 3 members to represent Angolans abroad. The general elections in 1997 were rescheduled for 5 September 2008. The ruling party MPLA won 82% and the main opposition party won only 10% . The elections however have been described as only partly free but certainly not fair. A White Book on the elections in 2008 lists up all irregularities surrounding the Parliamentary elections of 2008.Judicial branch.Supreme Court judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president. The Constitutional Court with the power of judicial review contains 11 justices. Four are appointed by the President four by the National Assembly two by the Superior Council of the Judiciary and one elected by the public.Administrative divisions.Angola has eighteen provinces: Bengo, Benguela, Bie, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uige, ZairePolitical pressure groups and leaders.Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda or FLEC (Henrique N'zita Tiago; Antnio Bento Bembe)International organization participation.African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, AfDB, CEEAC, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, FAO, Group of 77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, International Criminal Court (signatory), ICFTU, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, International Development Association, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Interpol, IOC, International Organization for Migration, ISO (correspondent), ITU, Non-Aligned Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, World Customs Organization, World Federation of Trade Unions, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
The economy of Angola remains heavily influenced by the effects of four decades of conflict in the last part of the 20th century the war for independence from Portugal (1961–75) and the subsequent civil war (1975–2002). Despite extensive oil and gas resources diamonds hydroelectric potential and rich agricultural land Angola remains poor and a third of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Since 2002 when the 27-year civil war ended government policy prioritized the repair and improvement of infrastructure and strengthening of political and social institutions. During the first decade of the 21st century Angola's economy was one of the fastest-growing in the world with reported annual average GDP growth of 11.1 percent from 2001 to 2010. High international oil prices and rising oil production contributed to strong economic growth although with high inequality at that time.Corruption is rife throughout the economy and the country remains heavily dependent on the oil sector, which in 2017 accounted for over 90 percent of exports by value and 64 percent of government revenue. With the end of the oil boom, from 2015 Angola entered into a period of economic contraction.The Angolan economy has been dominated by the production of raw materials and the use of cheap labor since European rule began in the sixteenth century. The Portuguese used Angola principally as a source for the thriving slave trade across the Atlantic; Luanda became the greatest slaving port in Africa. After the Portuguese Empire abolished the slave trade in Angola in 1858, it began using concessional agreements, granting exclusive rights to a private company to exploit land, people, and all other resources within a given territory. In Mozambique, this policy spawned a number of companies notorious for their exploitation of local labor. But in Angola, only Diamang showed even moderate success. At the same time, Portuguese began emigrating to Angola to establish farms and plantations to grow cash crops for export. Although these farms were only partially successful before World War II, they formed the basis for the later economic growth.The principal exports of the post-slave economy in the 19th century were rubber, beeswax, and ivory. Prior to the First World War, exportation of coffee, palm kernels and oil, cattle, leather and hides, and salt fish joined the principal exports, with small quantities of gold and cotton also being produced. Grains, sugar, and rum were also produced for local consumption. The principal imports were foodstuffs, cotton goods, hardware, and British coal. Legislation against foreign traders was implemented in the 1890s. The territory's prosperity, however, continued to depend on plantations worked by labor "indentured" from the interior.Before World War II, the Portuguese government was concerned primarily with keeping its colonies self-sufficient and therefore invested little capital in Angola's local economy. It built no roads until the mid-1920s, and the first railroad, the Benguela Railway, was not completed until 1929. Between 1900 and 1940, only 35,000 Portuguese emigrants settled in Angola, and most worked in commerce in the cities, facilitating trade with Portugal. In the rural areas, Portuguese settlers often found it difficult to make a living because of fluctuating world prices for sugarcane and sisal and the difficulties in obtaining cheap labor to farm their crops. As a result, they often suspended their operations until the market prices rose and instead marketed the produce of Angolan farmers.But in the wake of World War II the rapid growth of industrialization worldwide and the parallel requirements for raw materials led Portugal to develop closer ties with its colonies and to begin actively developing the Angolan economy. In the 1930s Portugal started to develop closer trade ties with its colonies and by 1940 it absorbed 63 percent of Angolan exports and accounted for 47 percent of Angolan imports up from 39 percent and 37 percent respectively a decade earlier. When the price of Angola's principal crops—coffee and sisal—jumped after the war the Portuguese government began to reinvest some profits inside the country initiating a series of projects to develop infrastructure. During the 1950s Portugal built dams hydroelectric power stations and transportation systems. In addition Portuguese citizens were encouraged to emigrate to Angola where planned settlements were established for them in the rural areas. Finally the Portuguese initiated mining operations for iron ore manganese and copper to complement industrial activities at home and in 1955 the first successful oil wells were drilled in Angola. By 1960 the Angolan economy had been completely transformed boasting a successful commercial agricultural sector a promising mineral and petroleum production enterprise and an incipient manufacturing industry.Yet by 1976, these encouraging developments had been reversed. The economy was in complete disarray in the aftermath of the war of independence and the subsequent internal fighting of the liberation movements. According to the ruling MPLA-PT, in August 1976 more than 80 percent of the agricultural plantations had been abandoned by their Portuguese owners; only 284 out of 692 factories continued to operate; more than 30,000 medium-level and high-level managers, technicians, and skilled workers had left the country; and 2,500 enterprises had been closed (75 percent of which had been abandoned by their owners). Furthermore, only 8,000 vehicles remained out of 153,000 registered, dozens of bridges had been destroyed, the trading network was disrupted, administrative services did not exist, and files and studies were missing.Angolas overwhelmingly dominant trade partner—for both markets and machinery. Only the petroleum and diamond industries boasted a wider clientele for investment and markets. Most important the Portuguese had not trained Angolans to operate the larger industrial or agricultural enterprises nor had they actively educated the population. Upon independence Angola thus found itself without markets or expertise to maintain even minimal economic growth.As a result the government intervened nationalizing most businesses and farms abandoned by the Portuguese. It established state farms to continue producing coffee sugar and sisal and it took over the operations of all factories to maintain production. These attempts usually failed primarily because of the lack of experienced managers and the continuing disruptions in rural areas caused by the UNITA insurgency. Only the petroleum sector continued to operate successfully and by 1980 this sector had helped the gross domestic product reach US$3.6 billion its highest level up to 1988. In the face of serious economic problems and the continuing war throughout the countryside in 1987 the government announced plans to liberalize economic policies and promote private investment and involvement in the economy.United Nations Angola Verification Mission III and MONUA spent US$1.5 billion overseeing implementation of the Lusaka Protocol, a 1994 peace accord that ultimately failed to end the civil war. The protocol prohibited UNITA from buying foreign arms, a provision the United Nations largely did not enforce, so both sides continued to build up their stockpile. UNITA purchased weapons in 1996 and 1997 from private sources in Albania and Bulgaria, and from Zaire, South Africa, Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Togo, and Burkina Faso. In October 1997 the UN imposed travel sanctions on UNITA leaders, but the UN waited until July 1998 to limit UNITA's exportation of diamonds and freeze UNITA bank accounts. While the U.S. government gave US$250 million to UNITA between 1986 and 1991, UNITA made US$1.72 billion between 1994 and 1999 exporting diamonds, primarily through Zaire to Europe. At the same time the Angolan government received large amounts of weapons from the governments of Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, and South Africa. While no arms shipment to the government violated the protocol, no country informed the U.N. Register on Conventional Weapons as required.Despite the increase in civil warfare in late 1998, the economy grew by an estimated 4% in 1999. The government introduced new currency denominations in 1999, including a 1 and 5 kwanza note.An economic reform effort was launched in 1998. Angola ranked 160 of 174 nations in the United Nations Human Development Index in 2000. In April 2000 Angola started an International Monetary Fund Staff-Monitored Program . The program formally lapsed in June 2001, but the IMF remains engaged. In this context the Government of Angola has succeeded in unifying exchange rates and has raised fuel, electricity, and water rates. The Commercial Code, telecommunications law, and Foreign Investment Code are being modernized. A privatization effort, prepared with World Bank assistance, has begun with the BCI bank. Nevertheless, a legacy of fiscal mismanagement and corruption persists. The civil war internally displaced 3.8 million people, 32% of the population, by 2001. The security brought about by the 2002 peace settlement has led to the resettlement of 4 million displaced persons, thus resulting in large-scale increases in agriculture production.Angola produced over of diamonds in 2003, and production was expected to grow to per year by 2007. In 2004 China's Eximbank approved a $2 billion line of credit to Angola to rebuild infrastructure. The economy grew 18% in 2005 and growth was expected to reach 26% in 2006 and stay above 10% for the rest of the decade. By 2020, Angola had a national debt of $76 billion, of which $20 billion is to China.The construction industry is taking advantage of the growing economy with various housing projects stimulated by the government initiatives for example the projects. Not all public construction projects are functional. A case in point Kilamba Kiaxi where a whole new satellite town of Luanda consisting of housing facilities for several hundreds of thousands of people was completely uninhabited for over four years because of skyrocketing prices but completely sold out after the government decreased the original price and created mortgage plans at around the election time thus made it affordable for middle-class people.ChevronTexaco started pumping from Block 14 in January 2000 but production decreased to in 2007 due to poor-quality oil. Angola joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on January 1 2007. Cabinda Gulf Oil Company found Malange-1 an oil reservoir in Block 14 on August 9 2007.Despite its abundant natural resources, output per capita is among the world's lowest. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. Oil production and the supporting activities are vital to the economy, contributing about 45% to GDP and 90% of exports. Growth is almost entirely driven by rising oil production which surpassed in late-2005 and which is expected to grow to by 2007. Control of the oil industry is consolidated in Sonangol Group, a conglomerate owned by the Angolan government. With revenues booming from oil exports, the government has started to implement ambitious development programs to build roads and other basic infrastructure for the nation.In the last decade of the colonial period Angola was a major African food exporter but now imports almost all its food. Severe wartime conditions including extensive planting of landmines throughout the countryside have brought agricultural activities to a near-standstill. Some efforts to recover have gone forward however notably in fisheries. Coffee production though a fraction of its pre-1975 level is sufficient for domestic needs and some exports. Expanding oil production is now almost half of GDP and 90% of exports at . Diamonds provided much of the revenue for Jonas Savimbi's UNITA rebellion through illicit trade. Other rich resources await development gold forest products fisheries iron ore coffee and fruits.This is a chart of trend of nominal gross domestic product of Angola at market prices using International Monetary Fund data figures are in millions of units.The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017. Inflation below 5% is in green.Agriculture.Angola produced, in 2018:In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, like coffee (16 thousand tons).Foreign trade.Exports in 2004 reached US$10530764911. The vast majority of Angola's exports 92% in 2004 are petroleum products. US$785 million worth of diamonds 7.5% of exports were sold abroad that year. Nearly all of Angola's oil goes to the United States in 2006 making it the eighth largest supplier of oil to the United States and to China in 2006. In the first quarter of 2008 Angola became the main exporter of oil to China. The rest of its petroleum exports go to Europe and Latin America. U.S. companies account for more than half the investment in Angola with Chevron-Texaco leading the way. The U.S. exports industrial goods and services primarily oilfield equipment mining equipment chemicals aircraft and food to Angola while principally importing petroleum. Trade between Angola and South Africa exceeded US$300 million in 2007. From the 2000s many Chinese have settled and started up businesses.Angola produces and exports more petroleum than any other nation in sub-Saharan Africa, surpassing Nigeria in the 2000s. In January 2007 Angola became a member of OPEC. By 2010 production is expected to double the 2006 output level with development of deep-water offshore oil fields. Oil sales generated US$1.71 billion in tax revenue in 2004 and now makes up 80% of the government's budget, a 5% increase from 2003, and 45% of GDP.Chevron Corporation produces and receives 27% of Angolan oil. Total S.A. ExxonMobil Eni Petrobras and BP also operate in the country.Block Zero provides the majority of Angolas first producing deepwater section, Block 14, with .The United Nations has criticized the Angolan government for using torture rape summary executions arbitrary detention and disappearances actions which Angolan government has justified on the need to maintain oil output.Angola is the third-largest trading partner of the United States in Sub-Saharan Africa, largely because of its petroleum exports. The U.S. imports 7% of its oil from Angola, about three times as much as it imported from Kuwait just prior to the Gulf War in 1991. The U.S. Government has invested US$4 billion in Angola's petroleum sector.Oil makes up over 90% of Angola's exports.Angola is the third largest producer of diamonds in Africa and has only explored 40% of the diamond-rich territory within the country but has had difficulty in attracting foreign investment because of corruption human rights violations and diamond smuggling. Production rose by 30% in 2006 and Endiama the national diamond company of Angola expects production to increase by 8% in 2007 to 10 million carats annually. The government is trying to attract foreign companies to the provinces of Bi Malanje and Uge.The Angolan government loses $375 million annually from diamond smuggling. In 2003 the government began Operation Brilliant, an anti-smuggling investigation that arrested and deported 250,000 smugglers between 2003 and 2006. Rafael Marques, a journalist and human rights activist, described the diamond industry in his 2006 "Angola's Deadly Diamonds" report as plagued by "murders, beatings, arbitrary detentions and other human rights violations." Marques called on foreign countries to boycott Angola's "conflict diamonds". In December 2014, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs issued a "List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor" that classified Angola as one of the major diamond-producing African countries relying on both child labor and forced labor. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that "there is little publicly available information on efforts to enforce child labor law". Diamonds accounted for 1.48% of Angolan exports in 2014.Under Portuguese rule Angola began mining iron in 1957 producing 1.2 million tons in 1967 and 6.2 million tons by 1971. In the early 1970s 70% of Portuguese Angolas mining infrastructure. The redevelopment of the Angolan mining industry started in the late 2000s.
Transport in Angola comprisesThere are three separate railway lines in Angola:Reconstruction of these three lines began in 2005 and they are now all operational. The Benguela Railway connects to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.In April 2012 the Zambian Development Agency and an Angolan company signed a memorandum of understanding to build a multi-product pipeline from Lobito to Lusaka Zambia to deliver various refined products to Zambia.Angola plans to build an oil refinery in Lobito in the coming years.Ports and harbors.The government plans to build a deep-water port at Barra do Dande north of Luanda in Bengo province near Caxito.Angolan Airlines.International and domestic services are maintained by TAAG Angola Airlines Aeroflot British Airways Brussels Airlines Lufthansa Air France Cubana Ethiopian Airlines Emirates Delta Air Lines Royal Air Maroc Iberia Hainan Airlines Kenya Airways South African Airways TAP Air Portugal and several regional carriers. There are airstrips at Benguela Cabinda Huambo Momedes and Catumbela.References.
The Angolan Armed Forces () or FAA is the military of Angola. The FAA include the General Staff of the Armed Forces and three components: the Army (), the Navy () and the National Air Force (). Reported total manpower in 2013 was about 107,000. The FAA is headed by the Chief of the General Staff Antnio Egdio de Sousa Santos since 2018, who reports to the Minister of National Defense, currently Joo Ernesto dos Santos.The FAA succeeded to the previous People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) following the abortive Bicesse Accord with the Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola (FALA) armed wing of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). As part of the peace agreement troops from both armies were to be demilitarized and then integrated. Integration was never completed as UNITA and FALA went back to war in 1992. Later consequences for FALA personnel in Luanda were harsh with FAPLA veterans persecuting their erstwhile opponents in certain areas and reports of vigilantism.The Angolan Armed Forces were created on 9 October 1991. The institutionalization of the FAA was made in the Bicesse Accords signed in 1991 between the Angolan Government and UNITA. The principles that would govern the FAA were defined in a joint proposal presented on September 24 1991 and approved on 9 October. On 14 November 1991 Generals Joo Baptista de Matos and Ablio Kamalata Numa were appointed to the Superior Command of the Armed Forces. The ceremony took place at the Hotel Presidente Luanda and was presided over by the then-minister Frana Vandnem.The Army is the land component of the FAA. It is organized in six military regions with an infantry division being based in each one. Distributed by the six military regions / infantry divisions there are 25 motorized infantry brigades one tank brigade and one engineering brigade. The Army also includes an artillery regiment the Military Artillery School the Army Military Academy an anti-aircraft defense group a composite land artillery group a military police regiment a logistical transportation regiment and a field artillery brigade. The Army further includes the Special Forces Brigade but this unit is under the direct command of the General Staff of the FAA.The National Air Force of Angola (FANA "Fora Area Nacional de Angola") is the air component of the FAA. It is organized in six aviation regiments each including several squadrons. To each of the regiments correspond an air base. Besides the aviation regiments there is also a Pilot Training School.The Air Force's personnel total about 8,000; its equipment includes transport aircraft and six Russian-manufactured Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft. In 2002 one was lost during the civil war with UNITA forces.In 1991, the Air Force/Air Defense Forces had 8,000 personnel and 90 combat-capable aircraft, including 22 fighters, 59 fighter ground attack aircraft and 16 attack helicopters.The Angola Navy (MGA ) is the naval component of the FAA. It is organized in two naval zones (North and South) with naval bases in Luanda Lobito and Momedes. It includes a Marines Brigade and a Marines School based in Ambriz. The Navy numbers about 1000 personnel and operates only a handful of small patrol craft and barges.The Navy has been neglected and ignored as a military arm mainly due to the guerrilla struggle against the Portuguese and the nature of the civil war. From the early 1990s to the present the Angolan Navy has shrunk from around 4200 personnel to around 1000 resulting in the loss of skills and expertise needed to maintain equipment. In order to protect Angola's 1 600 km long coastline the Angolan Navy is undergoing modernisation but is still lacking in many ways. Portugal has been providing training through its Technical Military Cooperation programme. The Navy is requesting procurement of a frigate three corvettes three offshore patrol vessel and additional fast patrol boats.Most of the vessels in the navy's inventory dates back from the 1980s or earlier, and many of its ships are inoperable due to age and lack of maintenance. However the navy acquired new boats from Spain and France in the 1990s. Germany has delivered several Fast Attack Craft for border protection in 2011.In September 2014 it was reported that the Angolan Navy would acquire seven Maca-class patrol vessels from Brazil as part of a Technical Memorandum of Understanding covering the production of the vessels as part of Angolas economy.The navy's current known inventory includes the following:The navy also has several aircraft for maritime patrolSpecialized units.Special forces.The FAA include several types of special forces, namely the Commandos, the Special Operations and the Marines. The Angolan special forces follow the general model of the analogous Portuguese special forces, receiving a similar training.The Commandos and the Special forces are part of the Special Forces Brigade , based at Cabo Ledo, in the Bengo Province. The BRIFE includes two battalions of commandos, a battalion of special operations and sub-units of combat support and service support. The BRIFE also included the Special Actions Group , which is presently inactive and that was dedicated to long range reconnaissance, covert and sabotage operations. In the Cabo Ledo base is also installed the Special Forces Training School . Both the BRIFE and the EFFE are directly under the Directorate of Special Forces of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.The marines constitute the Marines Brigade of the Angolan Navy. The Marines Brigade is not permanently dependent of the Directorate of Special Forces but can detach their units and elements to be put under the command of that body for the conduction of exercises or real operations.Since the disbandment of the Angolan Parachute Battalion in 2004, the FAA do not have a specialized paratrooper unit. However, elements of the commandos, special operations and marines are parachute qualified.Territorial troops.The Directorate of Peoples Vigilance Brigades also serve a similar purpose.Training establishments.Armed Forces Academy.The Military Academy is a military university public higher education establishment whos mission is to train officers of the Permanent Staff of the Army. It has been in operation since 21 August 2009 by presidential decree. Its headquarters are in Lobito. It trains in the following specialties:Institutions/other units.Military Hospitals.The Military hospital of the FAA is the Main Military Hospital. It has the following lineage:It provides specialized medical assistance in accordance with the military health system It also promotes post-graduate education and scientific research. Currently the Main Military Hospital serves 39 special medical specialties. It is a headed by a Director General whose main supporting body is the Board of Directors.Supreme Military Court.The Supreme Military Court is the highest organ of the hierarchy of military courts. The Presiding Judge, the Deputy Presiding Judge and the other Counselor Judges of the Supreme Military Court are appointed by the President of the Republic. The composition, organization, powers and functioning of the Supreme Military Court are established by law.Military Bands.The FAA maintains Portuguese-style military bands in all three branches and in individual units. The primary band is the 100-member Music Band of the Presidential Security Household. The music band of the Army Command was created on 16 June 1994 and four years later on 15 August 1998 the National Air Force created a music band within an artistic brigade. The navy has its own marching band as well as a small musical group known as "Banda 10 de Julho" based at the Luanda Naval Base.Foreign deployments.The FAPLA's main counterinsurgency effort was directed against UNITA in the southeast and its conventional capabilities were demonstrated principally in the undeclared South African Border War. The FAPLA first performed its external assistance mission with the dispatch of 1000 to 1500 troops to So Tom and Prncipe in 1977 to bolster the socialist regime of President Manuel Pinto da Costa. During the next several years Angolan forces conducted joint exercises with their counterparts and exchanged technical operational visits. The Angolan expeditionary force was reduced to about 500 in early 1985.The Angolan Armed Forces were controversially involved in training the armed forces of fellow Lusophone states Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. In the case of the latter, the 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'tat was cited by the coup leaders as due to Angola's involvement in trying to "reform" the military in connivance with the civilian leadership.A small number of FAA personnel are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) and the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville). A presence during the unrest in Ivory Coast 2010–2011 were not officially confirmed. However the said that among President Gbagbos Presidential Guard Unit. Angola is basically interested in the participation of the FAA operations of the African Union and has formed special units for this purpose.Further reading.David Birmingham African Affairs Vol. 77 No. 309 pp. 554–564Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African Society
The foreign relations of Angola are based on Angola's strong support of U.S. foreign policy as the Angolan economy is dependent on U.S. foreign aid.From 1975 to 1989 Angola was aligned with the Eastern bloc in particular the Soviet Union Libya and Cuba. Since then it has focused on improving relationships with Western countries cultivating links with other Portuguese-speaking countries and asserting its own national interests in Central Africa through military and diplomatic intervention. In 1993 it established formal diplomatic relations with the United States. It has entered the Southern African Development Community as a vehicle for improving ties with its largely Anglophone neighbors to the south. Zimbabwe and Namibia joined Angola in its military intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Angolan troops remain in support of the Joseph Kabila government. It also has intervened in the Republic of the Congo to support the existing government in that country.Since 1998 Angola has successfully worked with the United Nations Security Council to impose and carry out sanctions on UNITA. More recently it has extended those efforts to controls on conflict diamonds the primary source of revenue for UNITA during the Civil War that ended in 2002. At the same time Angola has promoted the revival of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries as a forum for cultural exchange and expanding ties with Portugal and Brazil in particular. Angola is a member of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa .
Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, fighting actions in the Black Hawk War, the Texas War of Independence, the Mexican–American War, the Utah War, and the American Civil War.Considered by Confederate States President Jefferson Davis to be the finest general officer in the Confederacy before the later emergence of Robert E. Lee, he was killed early in the Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862. Johnston was the highest-ranking Confederate officer killed during the entire war. Davis believed the loss of General Johnston "was the turning point of our fate."Johnston was unrelated to Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.Early life and education.Johnston was born in Washington Kentucky the youngest son of Dr. John and Abigail Johnston. His father was a native of Salisbury Connecticut. Although Albert Johnston was born in Kentucky he lived much of his life in Texas which he considered his home. He was first educated at Transylvania University in Lexington Kentucky where he met fellow student Jefferson Davis. Both were appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point New York Davis two years behind Johnston. In 1826 Johnston graduated eighth of 41 cadets in his class from West Point with a commission as a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Infantry.Johnston was assigned to posts in New York and Missouri and served in the brief Black Hawk War in 1832 as chief of staff to Bvt. Brig. Gen. Henry Atkinson.Marriage and family.In 1829 he married Henrietta Preston sister of Kentucky politician and future Civil War general William Preston. They had one son William Preston Johnston who became a colonel in the Confederate States Army. The senior Johnston resigned his commission in 1834 in order to care for his dying wife in Kentucky who succumbed two years later to tuberculosis.After serving as Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas from 1838 to 1840 Johnston resigned and returned to Kentucky. In 1843 he married Eliza Griffin his late wifes two children from his first marriage and the first three children born to Eliza and him. A sixth child was born later when the family lived in Los Angeles where they had permanently settled.Texian Army.In 1836 Johnston moved to Texas. He enlisted as a private in the Texian Army during the Texas War of Independence from the Republic of Mexico. He was named Adjutant General as a colonel in the Republic of Texas Army on August 5, 1836. On January 31, 1837, he became senior brigadier general in command of the Texas Army.On February 5 1837 he fought in a duel with Texas Brig. Gen. Felix Huston who was angered and offended by Johnston's promotion. Johnston was shot through the hip and severely wounded requiring him to relinquish his post during his recovery.On December 22 1838 Mirabeau B. Lamar the second president of the Republic of Texas appointed Johnston as Secretary of War. He provided for the defense of the Texas border against Mexican invasion and in 1839 conducted a campaign against Indians in northern Texas. In February 1840 he resigned and returned to Kentucky.United States Army.Johnston returned to Texas during the Mexican–American War under General Zachary Taylor as a colonel of the 1st Texas Rifle Volunteers. The Polk administration's preference for officers associated with the Democratic Party prevented the promotion of those such as Johnston who were perceived as WhigsThe enlistments of Johnston's volunteers ran out just before the Battle of Monterrey. Johnston convinced a few volunteers to stay and fight as he served as the inspector general of volunteers and fought at the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. Future Union general, Joseph Hooker, was with Johnston at Monterrey. Hooker wrote: He remained on his plantation after the war until he was appointed by later 12th president Zachary Taylor to the U.S. Army as a major and was made a paymaster in December 1849. He served in that role for more than five years, making six tours, and traveling more than annually on the Indian frontier of Texas. He served on the Texas frontier at Fort Mason and elsewhere in the West.In 1855, 14th president Franklin Pierce appointed him colonel of the new 2nd U.S. Cavalry , a new regiment, which he organized, his lieutenant colonel being Robert E. Lee, and his majors William J. Hardee and George H. Thomas. Other subordinates in this unit included Earl Van Dorn, Edmund Kirby Smith, Nathan G. Evans, Innis N. Palmer, George Stoneman, R.W. Johnson, John B. Hood, and Charles W. Field, all future Civil War generals.As a key figure in the Utah War Johnston took command of the U.S forces in November 1857. This army was sent to install Alfred Cummings as governor of the Utah territory in place of Brigham Young. After the army wintered at Fort Bridger Wyoming a peaceful resolution was reached and in late June 1858 Johnston led the army through Salt Lake city without incident to establish Camp Floyd some 50 miles distant. He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general in 1857 for his service in Utah. He spent 1860 in Kentucky until December 21 when he sailed for California to take command of the Department of the Pacific.Johnston was a proponent of slavery and a slaveholder. In 1846 he owned a family of four slaves in Texas. In 1855 having discovered that a slave was stealing from the army payroll Johnston refused to have him physically punished and instead sold him for $1000 to recoup the losses. Johnston explained that "whipping will not restore what is lost and it will not benefit the whom a lifetime of kind treatment has failed to make honest." In 1856 he called abolitionism "fanatical idolotrous negro worshipping" in a letter to his son fearing that the abolitionists would incite a servile insurrection in the South. Upon moving to California Johnston sold one slave to his son and freed another Randolph or "Ran" who desired to accompany the family on the condition of a $12/month contract for five more years of servitude. Ran accompanied Johnston throughout the Civil War up until the latter's death. Johnston's wife Eliza celebrated the lack of black people in California writing "where the darky is in any numbers it should be as slaves."At the outbreak of the American Civil War Johnston was the commander of the U.S. Army Department of the Pacific in California. Like many regular army officers from the South he was opposed to secession. But he resigned his commission soon after he heard of the secession of the Southern states. It was accepted by the War Department on May 6 1861 effective May 3. On April 28 he moved to Los Angeles the home of his wife's brother John Griffin. Considering staying in California with his wife and five children Johnston remained there until May. A sixth child was born in the family home at Los Angeles where his eldest son Capt. Albert S. Johnston Jr. was later killed in an accidental explosion on a steamer ship while on liberty in 1863.Soon, Johnston enlisted in the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles as a private, leaving Warner's Ranch May 27. He participated in their trek across the southwestern deserts to Texas, crossing the Colorado River into the Confederate Territory of Arizona on July 4, 1861. His escort was commanded by Alonzo Ridley, Undersheriff of Los Angeles, who remained at Johnston's side until he was killed.Early in the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis decided that the Confederacy would attempt to hold as much of its territory as possible, and therefore distributed military forces around its borders and coasts. In the summer of 1861, Davis appointed several generals to defend Confederate lines from the Mississippi River east to the Allegheny Mountains.The most sensitive, and in many ways the most crucial areas, along the Mississippi River and in western Tennessee along the Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers were placed under the command of Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk and Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow. The latter had initially been in command in Tennessee as that States action gave Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant an excuse to take control of the strategically located town of Paducah, Kentucky, without raising the ire of most Kentuckians and the pro-Union majority in the State legislature.Confederate command in Western Theater.On September 10 1861 Johnston was assigned to command the huge area of the Confederacy west of the Allegheny Mountains except for coastal areas. He became commander of the Confederacys appointment as a full general by his friend and admirer Jefferson Davis already had been confirmed by the Confederate Senate on August 31 1861. The appointment had been backdated to rank from May 30 1861 making him the second highest ranking general in the Confederate States Army. Only Adjutant General and Inspector General Samuel Cooper ranked ahead of him. After his appointment Johnston immediately headed for his new territory. He was permitted to call on governors of Arkansas Tennessee and Mississippi for new troops although this authority was largely stifled by politics especially with respect to Mississippi. On September 13 1861 Johnston ordered Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer with 4000 men to occupy Cumberland Gap in Kentucky in order to block Union troops from coming into eastern Tennessee. The Kentucky legislature had voted to side with the Union after the occupation of Columbus by Polk. By September 18 Johnston had Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner with another 4000 men blocking the railroad route to Tennessee at Bowling Green Kentucky.Johnston had fewer than 40,000 men spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri. Of these, 10,000 were in Missouri under Missouri State Guard Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. Johnston did not quickly gain many recruits when he first requested them from the governors, but his more serious problem was lacking sufficient arms and ammunition for the troops he already had. As the Confederate government concentrated efforts on the units in the East, they gave Johnston small numbers of reinforcements and minimal amounts of arms and material. Johnston maintained his defense by conducting raids and other measures to make it appear he had larger forces than he did, a strategy that worked for several months. Johnston's tactics had so annoyed and confused Union Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in Kentucky that he became paranoid and mentally unstable. Sherman overestimated Johnston's forces, and had to be relieved by Brig. Gen. Don Carlos Buell on November 9, 1861. However, in his Memoirs Sherman strongly refutes this account.Battle of Mill Springs.East Tennessee was held for the Confederacy by two unimpressive brigadier generals appointed by Jefferson Davis Felix Zollicoffer a brave but untrained and inexperienced officer and soon-to-be Maj. Gen. George B. Crittenden a former U.S. Army officer with apparent alcohol problems. While Crittenden was away in Richmond Zollicoffer moved his forces to the north bank of the upper Cumberland River near Mill Springs putting the river to his back and his forces into a trap. Zollicoffer decided it was impossible to obey orders to return to the other side of the river because of scarcity of transport and proximity of Union troops. When Union Brig. Gen. George H. Thomas moved against the Confederates Crittenden decided to attack one of the two parts of Thomas's command at Logan's Cross Roads near Mill Springs before the Union forces could unite. At the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19 1862 the ill-prepared Confederates after a night march in the rain attacked the Union force with some initial success. As the battle progressed Zollicoffer was killed Crittenden was unable to lead the Confederate force and the Confederates were turned back and routed by a Union bayonet charge suffering 533 casualties from their force of 4000. The Confederate troops who escaped were assigned to other units as General Crittenden faced an investigation of his conduct.After the Confederate defeat at the Mill Springs Davis sent Johnston a brigade and a few other scattered reinforcements. He also assigned him Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard who was supposed to attract recruits because of his victories early in the war and act as a competent subordinate for Johnston. The brigade was led by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd considered incompetent. He took command at Fort Donelson as the senior general present just before Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant attacked the fort. Historians believe the assignment of Beauregard to the west stimulated Union commanders to attack the forts before Beauregard could make a difference in the theater. Union officers heard that he was bringing 15 regiments with him but this was an exaggeration of his forces.Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Nashville.Based on the assumption that Kentucky neutrality would act as a shield against a direct invasion from the north, circumstances that no longer applied in September 1861, Tennessee initially had sent men to Virginia and concentrated defenses in the Mississippi Valley. Even before Johnston arrived in Tennessee, construction of two forts had been started to defend the Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers, which provided avenues into the State from the north. Both forts were located in Tennessee in order to respect Kentucky neutrality, but these were not in ideal locations. Fort Henry on the Tennessee River was in an unfavorable low-lying location, commanded by hills on the Kentucky side of the river. Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, although in a better location, had a vulnerable land side and did not have enough heavy artillery to defend against gunboats.Maj. Gen. Polk ignored the problems of the forts when he took command. After Johnston took command Polk at first refused to comply with Johnston's order to send an engineer Lt. Joseph K. Dixon to inspect the forts. After Johnston asserted his authority Polk had to allow Dixon to proceed. Dixon recommended that the forts be maintained and strengthened although they were not in ideal locations because much work had been done on them and the Confederates might not have time to build new ones. Johnston accepted his recommendations. Johnston wanted Major Alexander P. Stewart to command the forts but President Davis appointed Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman as commander.To prevent Polk from dissipating his forces by allowing some men to join a partisan group Johnston ordered him to send Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow and 5000 men to Fort Donelson. Pillow took up a position at nearby Clarksville Tennessee and did not move into the fort until February 7 1862. Alerted by a Union reconnaissance on January 14 1862 Johnston ordered Tilghman to fortify the high ground opposite Fort Henry which Polk had failed to do despite Johnston's orders. Tilghman failed to act decisively on these orders which in any event were too late to be adequately carried out.Gen. Beauregard arrived at Johnston's headquarters at Bowling Green on February 4, 1862, and was given overall command of Polk's force at the western end of Johnston's line at Columbus, Kentucky. On February 6, 1862, Union Navy gunboats quickly reduced the defenses of ill-sited Fort Henry, inflicting 21 casualties on the small remaining Confederate force. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman surrendered the 94 remaining officers and men of his approximately 3,000-man force which had not been sent to Fort Donelson before U.S. Grant's force could even take up their positions. Johnston knew he could be trapped at Bowling Green if Fort Donelson fell, so he moved his force to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee and an increasingly important Confederate industrial center, beginning on February 11, 1862.Johnston also reinforced Fort Donelson with 12000 more men including those under Floyd and Pillow a curious decision in view of his thought that the Union gunboats alone might be able to take the fort. He did order the commanders of the fort to evacuate the troops if the fort could not be held. The senior generals sent to the fort to command the enlarged garrison Gideon J. Pillow and John B. Floyd squandered their chance to avoid having to surrender most of the garrison and on February 16 1862 Brig. Gen. Simon Buckner having been abandoned by Floyd and Pillow surrendered Fort Donelson. Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest escaped with his cavalry force of about 700 men before the surrender. The Confederates suffered about 1500 casualties with an estimated 12000 to 14000 taken prisoner. Union casualties were 500 killed 2108 wounded 224 missing.Johnston who had little choice in allowing Floyd and Pillow to take charge at Fort Donelson on the basis of seniority after he ordered them to add their forces to the garrison took the blame and suffered calls for his removal because a full explanation to the press and public would have exposed the weakness of the Confederate position. His passive defensive performance while positioning himself in a forward position at Bowling Green spreading his forces too thinly not concentrating his forces in the face of Union advances and appointing or relying upon inadequate or incompetent subordinates subjected him to criticism at the time and by later historians. The fall of the forts exposed Nashville to imminent attack and it fell without resistance to Union forces under Brig. Gen. Buell on February 25 1862 two days after Johnston had to pull his forces out in order to avoid having them captured as well.Concentration at Corinth.Johnston had various remaining military units scattered throughout his territory and retreating to the south to avoid being cut off. Johnston himself retreated with the force under his personal command the Army of Central Kentucky from the vicinity of Nashville. With Beauregards arrival on March 24 1862.Johnston's army of 17,000 men gave the Confederates a combined force of about 40,000 to 44,669 men at Corinth. On March 29, 1862, Johnston officially took command of this combined force, which continued to use the Army of the Mississippi name under which it had been organized by Beauregard on March 5.Johnston now planned to defeat the Union forces piecemeal before the various Union units in Kentucky and Tennessee under Grant with 40000 men at nearby Pittsburg Landing Tennessee and the now Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell on his way from Nashville with 35000 men could unite against him. Johnston started his army in motion on April 3 1862 intent on surprising Grants force and undetected by the evening of April 5 1862.Battle of Shiloh and death.Johnston launched a massive surprise attack with his concentrated forces against Grant at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6 1862. As the Confederate forces overran the Union camps Johnston personally rallied troops up and down the line on his horse. One of his most famous moments in the battle occurred when he witnessed some of his soldiers breaking from the ranks to pillage and loot the Union camps and was outraged to see a young lieutenant among them. "None of that sir" Johnston roared at the officer "we are not here for plunder." Then realizing he had embarrassed the man he picked up a tin cup off a table and announced "Let this be my share of the spoils today" before directing his army onward.At about 2:30 pm, while leading one of those charges against a Union camp near the "Peach Orchard," he was wounded, taking a bullet behind his right knee. The bullet clipped a part of his popliteal artery and his boot filled up with blood. There were no medical personnel on scene at the time, since Johnston had sent his personal surgeon to care for the wounded Confederate troops and Union prisoners earlier in the battle.Within a few minutes Johnston was observed by his staff to be nearly fainting. Among his staff was Isham G. Harris the Governor of Tennessee who had ceased to make any real effort to function as governor after learning that Abraham Lincoln had appointed Andrew Johnson as military governor of Tennessee. Seeing Johnston slumping in his saddle and his face turning deathly pale Harris asked and desperately tried to aid the general who had lost consciousness by this point. Harris then sent an aide to fetch Johnstons wounded leg. A few minutes later before a doctor could be found Johnston died from blood loss. It is believed that Johnston may have lived for as long as one hour after receiving his fatal wound. Ironically it was later discovered that Johnston had a tourniquet in his pocket when he died.Harris and the other officers wrapped General Johnston's body in a blanket so as not to damage the troops' morale with the sight of the dead general. Johnston and his wounded horse, Fire Eater, were taken to his field headquarters on the Corinth road, where his body remained in his tent for the remainder of the battle. P. G. T. Beauregard assumed command of the army and resumed leading the Confederate assault, which continued advancing and pushed the Union force back to a final defensive line near the Tennessee river. With his army exhausted and daylight almost gone, Beauregard called off the final Confederate attack around 1900 hours, figuring he could finish off the Union army the following morning. However, Grant was reinforced by 20,000 fresh troops from Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio during the night, and led a successful counter-attack the following day, driving the Confederates from the field and winning the battle. As the Confederate army retreated back to Corinth, Johnston's body was taken to the home of Colonel William Inge, which had been his headquarters in Corinth. It was covered in the Confederate flag and lay in state for several hours.It is possible that a Confederate soldier fired the fatal round as many Confederates were firing at the Union lines while Johnston charged well in advance of his soldiers. Alonzo Ridley of Los Angeles commanded the bodyguard “the Guides” of Gen. A. S. Johnston and was by his side when he fell.Johnston was the highest-ranking fatality of the war on either side, and his death was a strong blow to the morale of the Confederacy. At the time, Davis considered him the best general in the country.Legacy and honors.Johnston was survived by his wife Eliza and six children. His wife and five younger children, including one born after he went to war, chose to live out their days at home in Los Angeles with Elizas eldest son, Albert Sidney Jr. (born in Texas), had already followed him into the Confederate States Army. In 1863, after taking home leave in Los Angeles, Albert Jr. was on his way out of San Pedro harbor on a ferry. While a steamer was taking on passengers from the ferry, a wave swamped the smaller boat, causing its boilers to explode. Albert Jr. was killed in the accident.Upon his passing General Johnston received the highest praise ever given by the Confederate government: accounts were published, on December 20, 1862, and thereafter, in the Los Angeles of his family's hometown. Johnston Street, Hancock Street, and Griffin Avenue, each in northeast Los Angeles, are named after the general and his family, who lived in the neighborhood.Johnston was initially buried in New Orleans. In 1866 a joint resolution of the Texas Legislature was passed to have his body moved and reinterred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. The re-interment occurred in 1867. Forty years later the state appointed Elisabet Ney to design a monument and sculpture of him to be erected at the grave site installed in 1905.The Texas Historical Commission has erected a historical marker near the entrance of what was once Johnston's plantation. An adjacent marker was erected by the San Jacinto Chapter of the Daughters of The Republic of Texas and the Lee, Roberts, and Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederate States of America.In 1916 the University of Texas at Austin recognized several confederate veterans (including Johnston) with statues on its South Mall. On August 21 2017 as part of the wave of confederate monument removals in America Johnston's statue was taken down. Plans were announced to add it to the Briscoe Center for American History on the east side of the university campus.Johnston was inducted to the Texas Military Hall of Honor in 1980.In the fall of 2018 A.S. Johnston Elementary School in Dallas Texas was renamed Cedar Crest Elementary. Johnston Middle School in Houston Texas was also renamed to Meyerland Middle School. Three additional elementary schools named for Confederate veterans were renamed at the same time.
An android is a robot or other artificial being designed to resemble a man and often made from a flesh-like material. Historically androids were completely within the domain of science fiction and frequently seen in film and television but recent advances in robot technology now allow the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots.The word was coined from the Greek root - (as opposed to - ) and the suffix .The elaborate mechanical devices resembling humans performing human activities were displayed in exhibit halls.The term and the distinction between mechanical robots and fleshy androids was popularized by Edmond Hamilton's Captain Future stories .Although Karel apek's robots in "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)" (1921)—the play that introduced the word "robot" to the world—were organic artificial humans, the word "robot" has come to primarily refer to mechanical humans, animals, and other beings. The term "android" can mean either one of these, while a cyborg ("cybernetic organism" or "bionic man") would be a creature that is a combination of organic and mechanical parts.The term "droid", popularized by George Lucas in the original "Star Wars" film and now used widely within science fiction, originated as an abridgment of "android", but has been used by Lucas and others to mean any robot, including distinctly non-human form machines like R2-D2. The word "android" was used in "" episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" The abbreviation "andy", coined as a pejorative by writer Philip K. Dick in his novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", has seen some further usage, such as within the TV series "Total Recall 2070".Authors have used the term "android" in more diverse ways than "robot" or "cyborg". In some fictional works, the difference between a robot and android is only superficial, with androids being made to look like humans on the outside but with robot-like internal mechanics. In other stories, authors have used the word "android" to mean a wholly organic, yet artificial, creation. Other fictional depictions of androids fall somewhere in between.Eric G. Wilson who defines an android as a distinguishes between three types of android based on their body's compositionAlthough human morphology is not necessarily the ideal form for working robots the fascination in developing robots that can mimic it can be found historically in the assimilation of two concepts (devices that exhibit likeness) and (devices that have independence).Several projects aiming to create androids that look, and, to a certain degree, speak or act like a human being have been launched or are underway.Japanese robotics have been leading the field since the 1970s. Waseda University initiated the WABOT project in 1967 and in 1972 completed the WABOT-1 the first android a full-scale humanoid intelligent robot. Its limb control system allowed it to walk with the lower limbs and to grip and transport objects with hands using tactile sensors. Its vision system allowed it to measure distances and directions to objects using external receptors artificial eyes and ears. And its conversation system allowed it to communicate with a person in Japanese with an artificial mouth.In 1984, WABOT-2 was revealed, and made a number of improvements. It was capable of playing the organ. Wabot-2 had ten fingers and two feet, and was able to read a score of music. It was also able to accompany a person. In 1986, Honda began its humanoid research and development program, to create humanoid robots capable of interacting successfully with humans.The Intelligent Robotics Lab directed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University and the Kokoro company demonstrated the Actroid at Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture Japan and released the Telenoid R1 in 2010. In 2006 Kokoro developed a new which Kokoro developed originally is used for the actuator. As a result of having an actuator controlled precisely with air pressure via a servosystem the movement is very fluid and there is very little noise. DER2 realized a slimmer body than that of the former version by using a smaller cylinder. Outwardly DER2 has a more beautiful proportion. Compared to the previous model DER2 has thinner arms and a wider repertoire of expressions. Once programmed it is able to choreograph its motions and gestures with its voice.The Intelligent Mechatronics Lab, directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi at the Tokyo University of Science, has developed an android head called at the Science University of Tokyo as a guide.The Waseda University and NTT Docomos hair style and skin color if a photo of their face is projected onto the 3D Mask.Prof Nadia Thalmann a Nanyang Technological University scientist directed efforts of the Institute for Media Innovation along with the School of Computer Engineering in the development of a social robot Nadine. Nadine is powered by software similar to Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana. Nadine may become a personal assistant in offices and homes in future or she may become a companion for the young and the elderly.Assoc Prof Gerald Seet from the School of Mechanical &amp Aerospace Engineering and the BeingThere Centre led a three-year R&ampD development in tele-presence robotics creating EDGAR. A remote user can control EDGAR with the user's face and expressions displayed on the robot's face in real time. The robot also mimics their upper body movements.South Korea.KITECH researched and developed EveR-1 an android interpersonal communications model capable of emulating human emotional expression via facial "musculature" and capable of rudimentary conversation having a vocabulary of around 400 words. She is tall and weighs matching the average figure of a Korean woman in her twenties. EveR-1's name derives from the Biblical Eve plus the letter "r" for "robot". EveR-1's advanced computing processing power enables speech recognition and vocal synthesis at the same time processing lip synchronization and visual recognition by 90-degree micro-CCD cameras with face recognition technology. An independent microchip inside her artificial brain handles gesture expression body coordination and emotion expression. Her whole body is made of highly advanced synthetic jelly silicon and with 60 artificial joints in her face neck and lower body she is able to demonstrate realistic facial expressions and sing while simultaneously dancing. In South Korea the Ministry of Information and Communication has an ambitious plan to put a robot in every household by 2020. Several robot cities have been planned for the country the first will be built in 2016 at a cost of 500 billion won of which 50 billion is direct government investment. The new robot city will feature research and development centers for manufacturers and part suppliers as well as exhibition halls and a stadium for robot competitions. The country's new Robotics Ethics Charter will establish ground rules and laws for human interaction with robots in the future setting standards for robotics users and manufacturers as well as guidelines on ethical standards to be programmed into robots to prevent human abuse of robots and vice versa.United States.Walt Disney and a staff of Imagineers created Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln that debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair.Dr. William Barry an Education Futurist and former visiting West Point Professor of Philosophy and Ethical Reasoning at the United States Military Academy created an AI android character named as a well-behaved distant relative. Maria Bot is the first AI Android Teaching Assistant at the university level. Maria Bot has appeared as a keynote speaker as a duo with Barry for a TEDx talk in Everett Washington in February 2020.Resembling a human from the shoulders up, Maria Bot is a virtual being android that has complex facial expressions and head movement and engages in conversation about a variety of subjects. She uses AI to process and synthesize information to make her own decisions on how to talk and engage. She collects data through conversations, direct data inputs such as books or articles, and through internet sources.Maria Bot was built by an international high-tech company for Barry to help improve education quality and eliminate education poverty. Maria Bot is designed to create new ways for students to engage and discuss ethical issues raised by the increasing presence of robots and artificial intelligence. Barry also uses Maria Bot to demonstrate that programming a robot with life-affirming, ethical framework makes them more likely to help humans to do the same.Maria Bot is an ambassador robot for good and ethical AI technology.Hanson Robotics, Inc., of Texas and KAIST produced an android portrait of Albert Einstein, using Hanson's facial android technology mounted on KAIST's life-size walking bipedal robot body. This Einstein android, also called "Albert Hubo", thus represents the first full-body walking android in history. Hanson Robotics, the FedEx Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas at Arlington also developed the android portrait of sci-fi author Philip K. Dick , with full conversational capabilities that incorporated thousands of pages of the author's works. In 2005, the PKD android won a first-place artificial intelligence award from AAAI.Use in fiction.Androids are a staple of science fiction. Isaac Asimov pioneered the fictionalization of the science of robotics and artificial intelligence, notably in his 1950s series . One thing common to most fictional androids is that the real-life technological challenges associated with creating thoroughly human-like robots—such as the creation of strong artificial intelligence—are assumed to have been solved. Fictional androids are often depicted as mentally and physically equal or superior to humans—moving, thinking and speaking as fluidly as them.The tension between the nonhuman substance and the human appearance—or even human ambitions—of androids is the dramatic impetus behind most of their fictional depictions. Some android heroes seek, like Pinocchio, to become human, as in the film "Bicentennial Man", or Data in "". Others, as in the film "Westworld", rebel against abuse by careless humans. Android hunter Deckard in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and its film adaptation "Blade Runner" discovers that his targets appear to be, in some ways, more "human" than he is. Android stories, therefore, are not essentially stories "about" androids; they are stories about the human condition and what it means to be human.One aspect of writing about the meaning of humanity is to use discrimination against androids as a mechanism for exploring racism in society as in also explores how androids are treated as second class citizens in a near future society.Female androids, or , although others have suggested that the treatment of androids is a way of exploring racism and misogyny in society.The 2015 Japanese film .
Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west Saskatchewan to the east the Northwest Territories to the north and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. It is one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada. The eastern part of the province is occupied by the Great Plains while the western part borders the Rocky Mountains. The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature changes due to air aridity. Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional chinook winds.Alberta is the 6th largest province by area at 661848 square kilometres and the 4th most populous being home to 4067175 people. Alberta's capital is Edmonton while Calgary is its largest city. The two are Alberta's largest census metropolitan areas and both exceed 1 million people. More than half of Albertans live in either Edmonton or Calgary which contributes to continuing the rivalry between the two cities. English is the official language of the province. In 2016 76.0% of Albertans were anglophone 1.8% were francophone and 22.2% were allophone.The oil and gas industry is also a part of the provinces GDP.In the past Alberta's political landscape hosted parties like the left-wing Liberals and the agrarian United Farmers of Alberta. Today Alberta is generally perceived as a conservative province. The right-wing Social Credit Party held office continually from 1935 to 1971 before the centre-right Progressive Conservatives held office continually from 1971 to 2015 the latter being the longest unbroken run in government at the provincial or federal level in Canadian history.Before becoming part of Canada Alberta was home to several First Nations and was a territory used by fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company. The lands that would become Alberta were acquired by Canada as part of the NWT on July 15 1870. On September 1 1905 Alberta was separated from the NWT as a result of the Alberta Act and designated the 8th province of Canada. From the late 1800s to early 1900s many immigrants arrived the biggest wave of which was pushed by Wilfrid Laurier to prevent the prairies from being annexed by Americans. Massive oil resources were discovered in Alberta in 1947.Alberta is renowned for its natural beauty richness in fossils and for housing important nature reserves. Alberta is home to six UNESCO World Heritage Sites The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks Dinosaur Provincial Park the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Waterton–Glacier International Peace Park Wood Buffalo National Park and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. Other popular sites include Banff Canmore Drumheller Jasper Sylvan Lake and Lake Louise.Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta , the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise was the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada . Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named in her honour.The name itself is a feminine Latinized form of Albert the name of Princess Louise's father the Prince Consort (cf. masculine) and its Germanic cognates ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic (compound of ).Alberta, with an area of , is the fourth-largest province after Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.Alberta's southern border is the 49th parallel north, which separates it from the U.S. state of Montana. The 60th parallel north divides Alberta from the Northwest Territories. The 110th meridian west separates it from the province of Saskatchewan; while on the west its boundary with British Columbia follows the 120th meridian west south from the Northwest Territories at 60°N until it reaches the Continental Divide at the Rocky Mountains, and from that point follows the line of peaks marking the Continental Divide in a generally southeasterly direction until it reaches the Montana border at 49°N.The province extends north to south and east to west at its maximum width. Its highest point is at the summit of Mount Columbia in the Rocky Mountains along the southwest border while its lowest point is on the Slave River in Wood Buffalo National Park in the northeast.With the exception of the semi-arid steppe of the south-eastern section the province has adequate water resources. There are numerous rivers and lakes used for swimming fishing and a range of water sports. There are three large lakes Lake Claire () in Wood Buffalo National Park Lesser Slave Lake () and Lake Athabasca () which lies in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The longest river in the province is the Athabasca River which travels from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca.The largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2161 m3/s. The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River a tributary of the Mackenzie River.Alberta's capital city Edmonton is located at about the geographic centre of the province. It is the most northerly major city in Canada and serves as a gateway and hub for resource development in northern Canada. The region with its proximity to Canada's largest oil fields has most of western Canada's oil refinery capacity. Calgary is about south of Edmonton and north of Montana surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the province's population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The land grant policy to the railways served as a means to populate the province in its early years.Most of the northern half of the province is boreal forest while the Rocky Mountains along the southwestern boundary are largely forested . The southern quarter of the province is prairie ranging from shortgrass prairie in the southeastern corner to mixed grass prairie in an arc to the west and north of it. The central aspen parkland region extending in a broad arc between the prairies and the forests from Calgary north to Edmonton and then east to Lloydminster contains the most fertile soil in the province and most of the population. Much of the unforested part of Alberta is given over either to grain or to dairy farming with mixed farming more common in the north and centre while ranching and irrigated agriculture predominate in the south.The Alberta badlands are located in southeastern Alberta, where the Red Deer River crosses the flat prairie and farmland, and features deep canyons and striking landforms. Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks, Alberta, showcases the badlands terrain, desert flora, and remnants from Alberta's past when dinosaurs roamed the then lush landscape.Alberta extends for over from north to south; its climate, therefore, varies considerably. Average high temperatures in January range from in the southwest to in the far north. The climate is also influenced by the presence of the Rocky Mountains to the southwest, which disrupt the flow of the prevailing westerly winds and cause them to drop most of their moisture on the western slopes of the mountain ranges before reaching the province, casting a rain shadow over much of Alberta. The northerly location and isolation from the weather systems of the Pacific Ocean cause Alberta to have a dry climate with little moderation from the ocean. Annual precipitation ranges from in the southeast to in the north, except in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where total precipitation including snowfall can reach annually.Northern Alberta is mostly covered by boreal forest and has a subarctic climate. The agricultural area of southern Alberta has a semi-arid steppe climate because the annual precipitation is less than the water that evaporates or is used by plants. The southeastern corner of Alberta, part of the Palliser Triangle, experiences greater summer heat and lower rainfall than the rest of the province, and as a result suffers frequent crop yield problems and occasional severe droughts. Western Alberta is protected by the mountains and enjoys the mild temperatures brought by winter chinook winds. Central and parts of northwestern Alberta in the Peace River region are largely aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie to the south and boreal forest to the north.Alberta has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. The province is open to cold arctic weather systems from the north which often produce extremely cold conditions in winter. As the fronts between the air masses shift north and south across Alberta the temperature can change rapidly. Arctic air masses in the winter produce extreme minimum temperatures varying from in northern Alberta to in southern Alberta although temperatures at these extremes are rare.In the summer continental air masses have produced record maximum temperatures from in the mountains to over in southeastern Alberta. Alberta is a sunny province. Annual bright sunshine totals range between 1900 up to just under 2600 hours per year. Northern Alberta gets about 18 hours of daylight in the summer. The average daytime temperatures range from around in the Rocky Mountain valleys and far north up to around in the dry prairie of the southeast. The northern and western parts of the province experience higher rainfall and lower evaporation rates caused by cooler summer temperatures. The south and east-central portions are prone to drought-like conditions sometimes persisting for several years although even these areas can receive heavy precipitation sometimes resulting in flooding.In the winter the Alberta clipper a type of intense fast-moving winter storm that generally forms over or near the province and pushed with great speed by the continental polar jetstream descends over the rest of Southern Canada and the northern tier of the United States. In southwestern Alberta the cold winters are frequently interrupted by warm dry chinook winds blowing from the mountains which can propel temperatures upward from frigid conditions to well above the freezing point in a very short period. During one chinook recorded at Pincher Creek temperatures soared from in just one hour. The region around Lethbridge has the most chinooks averaging 30 to 35 chinook days per year. Calgary has a 56% chance of a white Christmas while Edmonton has an 86% chance.After Saskatchewan Alberta experiences the most tornadoes in Canada with an average of 15 verified per year. Thunderstorms some of them severe are frequent in the summer especially in central and southern Alberta. The region surrounding the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor is notable for having the highest frequency of hail in Canada which is caused by orographic lifting from the nearby Rocky Mountains enhancing the updraft/downdraft cycle necessary for the formation of hail.In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring is marked by the early flowering of the prairie crocus anemone this member of the buttercup family has been recorded flowering as early as March though April is the usual month for the general population. Other prairie flora known to flower early are the golden bean and wild rose. Members of the sunflower family blossom on the prairie in the summer months between July and September. The southern and east central parts of Alberta are covered by short prairie grass which dries up as summer lengthens to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the prairie coneflower fleabane and sage. Both yellow and white sweet clover can be found throughout the southern and central areas of the province.The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous typically aspen poplar and willow. Many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. On the north side of the North Saskatchewan River evergreen forests prevail for thousands of square kilometres. Aspen poplar balsam poplar and paper birch are the primary large deciduous species. Conifers include jack pine Rocky Mountain pine lodgepole pine both white and black spruce and the deciduous conifer tamarack.The four climatic regions of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the homeland of the American bison, also known as buffalo, with its grasses providing pasture and breeding ground for millions of buffalo. The buffalo population was decimated during early settlement, but since then, buffalo have made a comeback, living on farms and in parks all over Alberta.Herbivorous animals are found throughout the province. Moose mule deer elk and white-tailed deer are found in the wooded regions and pronghorn can be found in the prairies of southern Alberta. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats live in the Rocky Mountains. Rabbits porcupines skunks squirrels and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Alberta is home to only one species of venomous snake the prairie rattlesnake.Alberta is home to many large carnivores such as wolves grizzly and black bears and mountain lions which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the canine and feline families include coyotes red foxes Canada lynx and bobcats. Wolverines can also be found in the northwestern areas of the province.Central and northern Alberta and the region farther north is the nesting ground of many migratory birds. Vast numbers of ducks, geese, swans and pelicans arrive in Alberta every spring and nest on or near one of the hundreds of small lakes that dot northern Alberta. Eagles, hawks, owls and crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Alberta, like other temperate regions, is home to mosquitoes, flies, wasps, and bees. Rivers and lakes are populated with pike, walleye, whitefish, rainbow, speckled, brown trout, and sturgeon. Bull trout, native to the province, is Alberta's provincial fish. Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province. Frogs and salamanders are a few of the amphibians that make their homes in Alberta.Alberta is the only province in Canada—as well as one of the few places in the world—that is free of Norwegian rats. Since the early 1950s the Government of Alberta has operated a rat-control program which has been so successful that only isolated instances of wild rat sightings are reported usually of rats arriving in the province aboard trucks or by rail. In 2006 Alberta Agriculture reported zero findings of wild rats the only rat interceptions have been domesticated rats that have been seized from their owners. It is illegal for individual Albertans to own or keep Norwegian rats of any description the animals can only be kept in the province by zoos universities and colleges and recognized research institutions. In 2009 several rats werefound and captured in small pockets in southern Alberta putting Alberta's rat-free status in jeopardy. A colony of rats were subsequently found in a landfill near Medicine Hat in 2012 and again in 2014.Paleontology.Alberta has one of the greatest diversities and abundances of Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils in the world. Taxa are represented by complete fossil skeletons isolated material microvertebrate remains and even mass graves. At least 38 dinosaur type specimens were collected in the province. The Foremost Formation Oldman Formation and Dinosaur Park Formations collectively comprise the Judith River Group and are the most thoroughly studied dinosaur-bearing strata in Alberta.Dinosaur-bearing strata are distributed widely throughout Alberta. The Dinosaur Provincial Park area contains outcrops of the Dinosaur Park Formation and Oldman Formation. In the central and southern regions of Alberta are intermittent Scollard Formation outcrops. In the Drumheller Valley and Edmonton regions there are exposed Horseshoe Canyon facies. Other formations have been recorded as well, like the Milk River and Foremost Formations. However, these latter two have a lower diversity of documented dinosaurs, primarily due to their lower total fossil quantity and neglect from collectors who are hindered by the isolation and scarcity of exposed outcrops. Their dinosaur fossils are primarily teeth recovered from microvertebrate fossil sites. Additional geologic formations that have produced only few fossils are the Belly River Group and St. Mary River Formations of the southwest and the northwestern Wapiti Formation. The Wapiti Formation contains two "Pachyrhinosaurus" bone beds that break its general trend of low productivity, however. The Bearpaw Formation represents strata deposited during a marine transgression. Dinosaurs are known from this formation, but represent specimens washed out to sea or reworked from older sediments.Paleo-Indians arrived in Alberta at least 10,000 years ago, toward the end of the last ice age. They are thought to have migrated from Siberia to Alaska on a land bridge across the Bering Strait and then possibly moved down the east side of the Rocky Mountains through Alberta to settle the Americas. Others may have migrated down the coast of British Columbia and then moved inland. Over time they differentiated into various First Nations peoples, including the Plains Indian tribes of southern Alberta such as those of the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Plains Cree, who generally lived by hunting buffalo, and the more northerly tribes such as the Woodland Cree and Chipewyan who hunted, trapped, and fished for a living.After the British arrival in Canada, approximately half of the province of Alberta, south of the Athabasca River drainage, became part of Rupert's Land which consisted of all land drained by rivers flowing into Hudson Bay. This area was granted by Charles II of England to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, and rival fur trading companies were not allowed to trade in it.The Athabasca River and the rivers north of it were not in HBC territory because they drained into the Arctic Ocean instead of Hudson Bay and they were prime habitat for fur-bearing animals. The first European explorer of the Athabasca region was Peter Pond who learned of the Methye Portage which allowed travel from southern rivers into the rivers north of Rupert's Land. Fur traders formed the North West Company of Montreal to compete with the HBC in 1779. The NWC occupied the northern part of Alberta territory. Peter Pond built Fort Athabasca on Lac la Biche in 1778. Roderick Mackenzie built Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca ten years later in 1788. His cousin Sir Alexander Mackenzie followed the North Saskatchewan River to its northernmost point near Edmonton then setting northward on foot trekked to the Athabasca River which he followed to Lake Athabasca. It was there he discovered the mighty outflow river which bears his name—the Mackenzie River—which he followed to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. Returning to Lake Athabasca he followed the Peace River upstream eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean and so he became the first European to cross the North American continent north of Mexico.The extreme southernmost portion of Alberta was part of the French territory of Louisiana, sold to the United States in 1803; in 1818, the portion of Louisiana north of the Forty-Ninth Parallel was ceded to Great Britain.Fur trade expanded in the north but bloody battles occurred between the rival HBC and NWC and in 1821 the British government forced them to merge to stop the hostilities. The amalgamated Hudson's Bay Company dominated trade in Alberta until 1870 when the newly formed Canadian Government purchased Rupert's Land. Northern Alberta was included in the North-Western Territory until 1870 when it and Rupert's land became Canada's North-West Territories.First Nations negotiated treaties with the Crown in which the Crown gained title to the land that would later become Alberta and the Crown committed to ongoing support of the First Nations and guaranteed their hunting and fishing rights. The most significant treaties for Alberta are Treaty 6 Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 .The District of Alberta was created as part of the North-West Territories in 1882. As settlement increased local representatives to the North-West Legislative Assembly were added. After a long campaign for autonomy in 1905 the District of Alberta was enlarged and given provincial status with the election of Alexander Cameron Rutherford as the first premier. Less than a decade later the First World War presented special challenges to the new province as an extraordinary number of volunteers left relatively few workers to maintain services and production. Over 50% of Alberta's doctors volunteered for service overseas.On June 21 2013 during the 2013 Alberta floods Alberta experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding throughout much of the southern half of the province along the Bow Elbow Highwood and Oldman rivers and tributaries. A dozen municipalities in Southern Alberta declared local states of emergency on June 21 as water levels rose and numerous communities were placed under evacuation orders.In 2016 a wildfire resulted in the largest fire evacuation of residents in Alberta's history as more than 80000 people were ordered to evacuate.Since 2020 Alberta has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.Demographics.The 2016 census reported Alberta had a population of 4,067,175 living in 1,527,678 of its 1,654,129 total dwellings, an 11.6% change from its 2011 population of 3,645,257. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. Statistics Canada estimated the province to have a population of 4,444,277 in Q2 of 2021.Since 2000 Albertas young and growing population.About 81% of the population lives in urban areas and only about 19% in rural areas. The Calgary–Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized area in the province and is one of the most densely populated areas of Canada. Many of Albertas population rose from 73,022 in 1901 to 3,290,350 according to the 2006 census.Census information.According to the 2016 census, Alberta has 779,155 residents between the ages of 0-14, 2,787,805 residents between the ages of 15–64, and 500,215 residents aged 65 and over. English is the most common mother tongue, with 2,991,485 native speakers. This is followed by Tagalog, with 99,035 speakers, German, with 80,050 speakers, French, with 72,150 native speakers, and Hindi, with 68,695 speakers. 253,460 residents identify as Aboriginal, including 136,585 as First Nations, 114,370 as Mtis, and 2,500 as Inuit. There are also 933,165 residents who identify as a visible minority, including 230,930 South Asian people, 166,195 Filipinos, and 158,200 Chinese respondents. 1,769,500 residents hold a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree, 895,885 residents have obtained a secondary school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 540,665 residents do not have any certificate, diploma or degree.The 2006 census found that English with 2576670 native speakers was the most common mother tongue of Albertans representing 79.99% of the population. The next most common mother tongues were Chinese with 97275 native speakers followed by German with 84505 native speakers and French with 61225 . Other mother tongues include Punjabi with 36320 native speakers Tagalog with 29740 Ukrainian with 29455 Spanish with 29125 Polish with 21990 Arabic with 20495 Dutch with 19980 and Vietnamese with 19350 . The most common aboriginal language is Cree 17215 . Other common mother tongues include Italian with 13095 speakers Urdu with 11275 and Korean with 10845 then Hindi 8985 Farsi 7700 Portuguese 7205 and Hungarian 6770 .Alberta has considerable ethnic diversity. In line with the rest of Canada many are descended from immigrants of Western European nations notably England Scotland Ireland Wales and France but large numbers later came from other regions of Europe notably Germany Ukraine and Scandinavia. According to Statistics Canada Alberta is home to the second-highest proportion of Francophones in western Canada . Despite this relatively few Albertans claim French as their mother tongue. Many of Alberta's French-speaking residents live in the central and northwestern regions of the province after migration from other areas of Canada or descending from Mtis. As reported in the 2001 census the Chinese represented nearly four percent of Alberta's population and South Asians represented more than two percent. Both Edmonton and Calgary have historic Chinatowns and Calgary has Canada's third-largest Chinese community. The Chinese presence began with workers employed in the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. Aboriginal Albertans make up approximately three percent of the population.In the 2006 Canadian census the most commonly reported ethnic origins among Albertans were 885825 English 679705 German 667405 Canadian 661265 Scottish 539160 Irish 388210 French 332180 Ukrainian 172910 Dutch 170935 Polish 169355 North American Indian 144585 Norwegian and 137600 Chinese . Amongst those of British heritage the Scots have had a particularly strong influence on place-names with the names of many cities and towns including Calgary Airdrie Canmore and Banff having Scottish origins.Alberta is the third most diverse province in terms of visible minorities after British Columbia and Ontario with 13.9% of the population consisting of visible minorities in 2006. Over one third of the populations of Calgary and Edmonton belong to a visible minority group. Aboriginal Identity Peoples made up 5.8% of the population in 2006 about half of whom consist of First Nations and the other half are Mtis. There are also small number of Inuit people in Alberta. The number of Aboriginal Identity Peoples have been increasing at a rate greater than the population of Alberta. As of the 2011 National Household Survey the largest religious group was Roman Catholic representing 24.3% of the population. Alberta had the second-highest percentage of non-religious residents among the provinces at 31.6% of the population. Of the remainder 7.5% of the population identified themselves as belonging to the United Church of Canada while 3.9% were Anglican. Lutherans made up 3.3% of the population while Baptists comprised 1.9%. The remainder belonged to a wide variety of different religious affiliations none of which constituted more than 2% of the population.Members of LDS Church are mostly concentrated in the extreme south of the province. Alberta has a population of Hutterites, a communal Anabaptist sect similar to the Mennonites, and has a significant population of Seventh-day Adventists. Alberta is home to several Byzantine Rite Churches as part of the legacy of Eastern European immigration, including the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canadas Jews live in the metropolitan areas of Calgary and Edmonton .Albertas per capita GDP exceeded that of the United States, Norway, or Switzerland, and was the highest of any province in Canada at This was 56% higher than the national average of and more than twice that of some of the Atlantic provinces. In 2006, the deviation from the national average was the largest for any province in Canadian history. According to the 2006 census, the median annual family income after taxes was $70,986 in Alberta . In 2014, Alberta had the second-largest economy in Canada after Ontario, with a GDP exceeding . The GDP of the province calculated at basic prices rose by 4.6% in 2017 to $327.4 billion, which was the largest increase recorded in Canada, and it ended two consecutive years of decreases.Alberta's debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to peak at 12.1% in fiscal year 2021–2022 falling to 11.3% the following year.The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized region in the province and one of the densest in Canada. The region covers a distance of roughly 400 kilometres north to south. In 2001, the population of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor was 2.15 million . It is also one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. A 2003 study by TD Bank Financial Group found the corridor to be the only Canadian urban centre to amass a U.S. level of wealth while maintaining a Canadian style quality of life, offering universal health care benefits. The study found that GDP per capita in the corridor was 10% above average U.S. metropolitan areas and 40% above other Canadian cities at that time.The Fraser Institute states that Alberta also has very high levels of economic freedom and rates Alberta as the freest economy in Canada, and second-freest economy amongst U.S. states and Canadian provinces.In 2014 Merchandise exports totalled US$121.4 billion. Energy revenues totalled $111.7 billion and Energy resource exports totalled $90.8 billion. Farm Cash receipts from agricultural products totalled $12.9 billion. Shipments of forest products totalled $5.4 billion while exports were $2.7 billion. Manufacturing sales totalled $79.4 billion and Alberta's ICT industries generated over $13 billion in revenue. In total Alberta's 2014 GDP amassed $364.5 billion in 2007 dollars or $414.3 billion in 2015 dollars. In 2015 Alberta's GDP grew despite low oil prices however it was unstable with growth rates as high 4.4% and as low as 0.2%. Should the GDP remain at an average of 2.2% for the last two-quarters of 2015 Alberta's GDP should exceed $430 billion by the end of 2015. However RBC Economics research predicts Alberta's real GDP growth to only average 0.6% for the last two-quarters of 2015. This estimate predicts a real GDP growth of only 1.4% for 2015. A positive is the predicted 10.8% growth in Nominal GDP and possibly above 11% in 2016.Agriculture and forestry.Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. The province has over three million head of cattle, and Alberta beef has a healthy worldwide market. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the top producers of plains buffalo for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and mutton are also raised.Wheat and canola are primary farm crops with Alberta leading the provinces in spring wheat production other grains are also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province the once common grain elevator is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreasing farmers typically truck the grain to central points.Alberta is the leading beekeeping province of Canada, with some beekeepers wintering hives indoors in specially designed barns in southern Alberta, then migrating north during the summer into the Peace River valley where the season is short but the working days are long for honeybees to produce honey from clover and fireweed. Hybrid canola also requires bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need.Forestry plays a vital role in Albertas increased focus on Asian markets.Alberta is the largest producer of conventional crude oil synthetic crude natural gas and gas products in Canada. Alberta is the world's second-largest exporter of natural gas and the fourth-largest producer. Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in North America are located in central and north-central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products that are shipped all over the world. Edmonton's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton.The Athabasca oil sands surrounding Fort McMurray have estimated unconventional oil reserves approximately equal to the conventional oil reserves of the rest of the world estimated to be 1.6 trillion barrels . Many companies employ both conventional strip mining and non-conventional in situ methods to extract the bitumen from the oil sands. As of late 2006 there were over $100 billion in oil sands projects under construction or in the planning stages in northeastern Alberta.Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the oil sands is the price of oil. The oil price increases since 2003 have made it profitable to extract this oil which in the past would give little profit or even a loss. By mid-2014 however rising costs and stabilizing oil prices were threatening the economic viability of some projects. An example of this was the shelving of the Joslyn north project in the Athabasca region in May 2014.With concerted effort and support from the provincial government, several high-tech industries have found their birth in Alberta, notably patents related to interactive liquid-crystal display systems. With a growing economy, Alberta has several financial institutions dealing with civil and private funds.Alberta has been a tourist destination from the early days of the twentieth century, with attractions including outdoor locales for skiing, hiking and camping, shopping locales such as West Edmonton Mall, Calgary Stampede, outdoor festivals, professional athletic events, international sporting competitions such as the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games, as well as more eclectic attractions. According to Alberta Economic Development, Calgary and Edmonton both host over four million visitors annually. Banff, Jasper and the Rocky Mountains are visited by about three million people per year. Alberta tourism relies heavily on Southern Ontario tourists, as well as tourists from other parts of Canada, the United States, and many other countries.There are also natural attractions like Elk Island National Park Wood Buffalo National Park and the Columbia Icefield. Albertas fourteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites are located within the province Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park Wood Buffalo National Park Dinosaur Provincial Park and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. A number of these areas hold ski resorts most notably Sunshine Village Lake Louise Marmot Basin Norquay and Nakiska.About 1.2 million people visit the Calgary Stampede, a celebration of Canada's own Wild West and the cattle ranching industry. About 700,000 people enjoy Edmonton's K-Days (formerly Klondike Days and Capital EX). Edmonton was the gateway to the only all-Canadian route to the Yukon gold fields, and the only route which did not require gold-seekers to travel the exhausting and dangerous Chilkoot Pass.Another tourist destination that draws more than 650000 visitors each year is the Drumheller Valley located northeast of Calgary. Drumheller "Dinosaur Capital of The World" offers the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. Drumheller also had a rich mining history being one of Western Canada's largest coal producers during the war years. Another attraction in east-central Alberta is Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions a popular tourist attraction operated out of Stettler that offers train excursions into the prairie and caters to tens of thousands of visitors every year.Government and politics.The Government of Alberta is organized as a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral legislature. Its unicameral legislature—the Legislative Assembly—consists of 87 members elected first past the post from single-member constituencies. Locally municipal governments and school boards are elected and operate separately. Their boundaries do not necessarily coincide.As Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II is the head of state for the Government of Alberta. Her duties in Alberta are carried out by Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani. The Queen and lieutenant governor are figureheads whose actions are highly restricted by custom and constitutional convention. The lieutenant governor handles numerous honorific duties in the name of the Queen. The government is headed by the premier. The premier is normally a member of the Legislative Assembly, and draws all the members of the Cabinet from among the members of the Legislative Assembly. The City of Edmonton is the seat of the provincial government—the capital of Alberta. The premier is Jason Kenney, sworn in on April 30, 2019.Alberta's elections have tended to yield much more conservative outcomes than those of other Canadian provinces. Since the 1960s, Alberta has had three main political parties, the Progressive Conservatives ("Conservatives" or "Tories"), the Liberals, and the social democratic New Democrats. The Wildrose Party, a more conservative party formed in early 2008, gained much support in the 2012 election and became the official opposition, a role it held until 2017 when it was dissolved and succeeded by the new United Conservative Party created by the merger of Wildrose and the Progressive Conservatives. The strongly conservative Social Credit Party was a power in Alberta for many decades, but fell from the political map after the Progressive Conservatives came to power in 1971.For 44 years the Progressive Conservatives governed Alberta. They lost the 2015 election to the NDP , suggesting at the time a possible shift to the left in the province, also indicated by the election of progressive mayors in both of Alberta's major cities. Since becoming a province in 1905, Alberta has seen only five changes of government—only six parties have governed Alberta: the Liberals, from 1905 to 1921; the United Farmers of Alberta, from 1921 to 1935; the Social Credit Party, from 1935 to 1971; the Progressive Conservative Party, from 1971 to 2015; from 2015 to 2019, the Alberta New Democratic Party; and from 2019, the United Conservative Party, with the most recent transfer of power being the first time in provincial history that an incumbent government was not returned to a second term.Administrative divisions.The province is divided into 10 types of local governments – urban municipalities specialized municipalities rural municipalities (including municipal districts improvement districts and special areas) Mtis settlements and Indian reserves. All types of municipalities are governed by local residents and were incorporated under various provincial acts with the exception of improvement districts and Indian reserves .Law enforcement.Policing in the province of Alberta upon its creation was the responsibility of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. In 1917 due to pressures of World War I the Alberta Provincial Police was created. This organization policed the province until it was disbanded as a Great Depression-era cost-cutting measure in 1932. It was at that time the now renamed Royal Canadian Mounted Police resumed policing of the province specifically RCMP Division. With the advent of the Alberta Sheriffs Branch the distribution of duties of law enforcement in Alberta has been evolving as certain aspects such as traffic enforcement mobile surveillance and the close protection of the Premier of Alberta have been transferred to the Sheriffs. In 2006 Alberta formed the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams to combat organized crime and the serious offences that accompany it. ALERT is made up of members of the RCMP Sheriffs Branch and various major municipal police forces in Alberta.Military bases in Alberta include Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake CFB Edmonton CFB Suffield and CFB Wainwright. Air force units stationed at CFB Cold Lake have access to the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range. CFB Edmonton is the headquarters for the 3rd Canadian Division. CFB Suffield hosts British troops and is the largest training facility in Canada.According to Alberta's 2009 budget government revenue in that year came mainly from royalties on non-renewable natural resources personal income taxes corporate and other taxes and grants from the federal government primarily for infrastructure projects . In 2014 Alberta received $6.1 billion in bitumen royalties. With the drop in the price of oil in 2015 it was down to $1.4 billion. In 2016 Alberta received "about $837 million in royalty payments from oil sands Royalty Projects". According to the 2018–21 fiscal plan the two top sources of revenue in 2016 were personal income tax at $10 763 million and federal transfers of $7976 million with total resource revenue at $3097 million. Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax. Alberta residents are still subject to the federal sales tax the Goods and Services Tax of 5%.From 2001 to 2016 Alberta was the only Canadian province to have a flat tax of 10% of taxable income which was introduced by then-Premier Ralph Klein as part of the Alberta Tax Advantage which also included a zero-percent tax on income below a "generous personal exemption".In 2016 under then-Premier Rachel Notley while most Albertans continued to pay the 10-per-cent income tax rate new tax brackets 12-per-cent 14-per-cent and 15-per-cent for those with higher incomes ($128145 annually or more) were introduced. Albertas municipalities and school jurisdictions have their own governments who usually work in co-operation with the provincial government. By 2018 most Albertans continued to pay the 10-per-cent income tax rate.According to a March 2015 Statistics Canada report, the median household income in Alberta in 2014 was about $100,000, which is 23 per cent higher than the Canadian national average.Based on Statistic Canada reports, low income Albertans, who earn less than $25,000 and those in the high-income bracket earning $150,000 or more, are the lowest-taxed people in Canada. Those in the middle income brackets representing those that earn about $25,000 to $75,000 pay more in provincial taxes than residents in British Columbia and Ontario. In terms of income tax, Alberta is the for those with a low income because there is no provincial income tax for those who earn $18,915 or less. Even with the 2016 progressive tax brackets up to 15%, Albertans who have the highest incomes, those with a $150,000 annual income or more—about 178,000 people in 2015, pay the least in taxes in Canada. — About 1.9 million Albertans earned between $25,000 and $150,000 in 2015.Alberta also privatized alcohol distribution. By 2010 privatization had increased outlets from 304 stores to 1726 1300 jobs to 4000 jobs and 3325 products to 16495 products. Tax revenue also increased from $400 million to $700 million.In 2017/18 Alberta collected about $2.4 billion in education property taxes from municipalities. Albertan municipalities raise a significant portion of their income through levying property taxes. The value of assessed property in Alberta was approximately $727 billion in 2011. Most real property is assessed according to its market value. The exceptions to market value assessment are farmland, railways, machinery &amp; equipment and linear property, all of which is assessed by regulated rates. Depending on the property type, property owners may appeal a property assessment to their municipal 'Local Assessment Review Board', 'Composite Assessment Review Board,' or the Alberta Municipal Government Board.Summer brings many festivals to the province of Alberta, especially in Edmonton. The Edmonton Fringe Festival is the worlds Churchill Square is home to a large number of the festivals, including the large Taste of Edmonton &amp; The Works Art &amp; Design Festival throughout the summer months.The City of Calgary is also famous for its Stampede, dubbed . The Stampede is Canada's biggest rodeo festival and features various races and competitions, such as calf roping and bull riding. In line with the western tradition of rodeo are the cultural artisans that reside and create unique Alberta western heritage crafts.The Banff Centre hosts a range of festivals and other events including the international Mountain Film Festival. These cultural events in Alberta highlight the provinces Arts Barns and the Francis Winspear Centre for Music. Both Calgary and Edmonton are home to Canadian Football League and National Hockey League teams . Soccer rugby union and lacrosse are also played professionally in Alberta.In 2019, the then Minister of Culture and Tourism Ricardo Miranda announced the Alberta Artist in Residence program in conjunction with the provinces 1st Artist in Residence. Alberta is the first province to launch an Artist in Residence program in Canada.As with any Canadian province the Alberta Legislature has exclusive authority to make laws respecting education. Since 1905 the Legislature has used this capacity to continue the model of locally elected public and separate school boards which originated prior to 1905 as well as to create and regulate universities colleges technical institutions and other educational forms and institutions .Elementary and secondary.There are forty-two public school jurisdictions in Alberta, and seventeen operating separate school jurisdictions. Sixteen of the operating separate school jurisdictions have a Catholic electorate, and one has a Protestant electorate. In addition, one Protestant separate school district, Glen Avon, survives as a ward of the St. Paul Education Region. The City of Lloydminster straddles the Albertan/Saskatchewan border, and both the public and separate school systems in that city are counted in the above numbers: both of them operate according to Saskatchewan law.For many years the provincial government has funded the greater part of the cost of providing K–12 education. Prior to 1994 public and separate school boards in Alberta had the legislative authority to levy a local tax on property as a supplementary support for local education. In 1994 the government of the province eliminated this right for public school boards but not for separate school boards. Since 1994 there has continued to be a tax on property in support of K–12 education the difference is that the mill rate is now set by the provincial government the money is collected by the local municipal authority and remitted to the provincial government. The relevant legislation requires that all the money raised by this property tax must go to the support of K–12 education provided by school boards. The provincial government pools the property tax funds from across the province and distributes them according to a formula to public and separate school jurisdictions and Francophone authorities.Public and separate school boards charter schools and private schools all follow the Program of Studies and the curriculum approved by the provincial department of education . Homeschool tutors may choose to follow the Program of Studies or develop their own Program of Studies. Public and separate schools charter schools and approved private schools all employ teachers who are certificated by Alberta Education they administer Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Examinations set by Alberta Education and they may grant high school graduation certificates endorsed by Alberta Education.Post-secondary.The University of Alberta located in Edmonton and established in 1908 is Alberta's oldest and largest university. The University of Calgary once affiliated with the University of Alberta gained its autonomy in 1966 and is now the second-largest university in Alberta. Athabasca University which focuses on distance learning and the University of Lethbridge are located in Athabasca and Lethbridge respectively.In early September 2009 Mount Royal University became Calgary's second public university and in late September 2009 a similar move made MacEwan University Edmonton's second public university. There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding along with two technical institutes Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Two of the colleges Red Deer College and Grande Prairie Regional College were approved by the Alberta government to become degree granting universities.There are also many private post-secondary institutions mostly Christian Universities bringing the total number of universities to 12. Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions. There was some controversy in 2005 over the rising cost of post-secondary education for students . In 2005 Premier Ralph Klein made a promise that he would freeze tuition and look into ways of reducing schooling costs.Health care.Alberta provides a publicly funded fully integrated health system through Alberta Health Services —a quasi-independent agency that delivers health care on behalf of the Government of Albertas second province to adopt a Tommy Douglas-style program in 1950 a precursor to the modern medicare system.Alberta's health care budget was $22.5 billion during the 2018–2019 fiscal year , making it the best-funded health-care system per-capita in Canada. Every hour the province spends more than $2.5 million, , to maintain and improve health care in the province.Notable health education research and resources facilities in Alberta all of which are located within Calgary or Edmonton. Health centres in Calgary includeHealth centres in Edmonton include:The Edmonton Clinic complex completed in 2012 provides a similar research education and care environment as the Mayo Clinic in the United States.All public health care services funded by the Government of Alberta are delivered operationally by Alberta Health Services. AHS is the province's single health authority, established on July 1, 2008, which replaced nine regional health authorities. AHS also funds all ground ambulance services in the province, as well as the province-wide Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society air ambulance service.Transportation.Alberta is well-connected by air, with international airports in both Calgary and Edmonton. Calgary International Airport and Edmonton International Airport are the fourth- and fifth-busiest in Canada, respectively. Calgarys airport acts as a hub for the Canadian north and has connections to all major Canadian airports as well as airports in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean .Public transit.Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge have substantial public transit systems. In addition to buses, Calgary and Edmonton operate light rail transit systems. Edmonton LRT, which is underground in the downtown core and on the surface outside the CBD, was the first of the modern generation of light rail systems to be built in North America, while the Calgary C-Train has one of the highest number of daily riders of any LRT system in North America.There are more than of operating mainline railway in Alberta. The vast majority of this trackage is owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway companies, which operate railway freight across the province. Additional railfreight service in the province is provided by two shortline railways: the Battle River Railway and Forty Mile Rail. Passenger trains include Via Rail's Canadian or Jasper–Prince Rupert trains, which use the CN mainline and pass through Jasper National Park and parallel the Yellowhead Highway during at least part of their routes. The Rocky Mountaineer operates two sections: one from Vancouver to Banff and Calgary over CP tracks, and a section that travels over CN tracks to Jasper.Alberta has over of highways and roads of which nearly are paved. The main north–south corridor is Highway 2 which begins south of Cardston at the Carway border crossing and is part of the CANAMEX Corridor. Highway 4 which effectively extends Interstate 15 into Alberta and is the busiest U.S. gateway to the province begins at the Coutts border crossing and ends at Lethbridge. Highway 3 joins Lethbridge to Fort Macleod and links Highway 2 to Highway 4. Highway 2 travels north through Fort Macleod Calgary Red Deer and Edmonton.North of Edmonton, the highway continues to Athabasca, then northwesterly along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake into High Prairie, north to Peace River, west to Fairview and finally south to Grande Prairie, where it ends at an interchange with Highway 43. The section of Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton has been named the Queen Elizabeth II Highway to commemorate the visit of the monarch in 2005. Highway 2 is supplemented by two more highways that run parallel to it: Highway 22, west of Highway 2, known as , and Highway 21, east of Highway 2. Highway 43 travels northwest into Grande Prairie and the Peace River Country; Highway 63 travels northeast to Fort McMurray, the location of the Athabasca oil sands.Alberta has two main east–west corridors. The southern corridor part of the Trans-Canada Highway system enters the province near Medicine Hat runs westward through Calgary and leaves Alberta through Banff National Park. The northern corridor also part of the Trans-Canada network and known as the Yellowhead Highway runs west from Lloydminster in eastern Alberta through Edmonton and Jasper National Park into British Columbia. One of the most scenic drives is along the Icefields Parkway which runs for between Jasper and Lake Louise with mountain ranges and glaciers on either side of its entire length. A third corridor stretches across southern Alberta Highway 3 runs between Crowsnest Pass and Medicine Hat through Lethbridge and forms the eastern portion of the Crowsnest Highway. Another major corridor through central Alberta is Highway 11 which runs east from the Saskatchewan River Crossing in Banff National Park through Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer connecting with Highway 12 west of Stettler. The highway connects many of the smaller towns in central Alberta with Calgary and Edmonton as it crosses Highway 2 just west of Red Deer.Urban stretches of Alberta's major highways and freeways are often called "trails". For example Highway 2 the main north–south highway in the province is called Deerfoot Trail as it passes through Calgary but becomes Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard as it enters Edmonton and then turns into St. Albert Trail as it leaves Edmonton for the City of St. Albert. Calgary in particular has a tradition of calling its largest urban expressways "trails" and naming many of them after prominent First Nations individuals and tribes such as Crowchild Trail Deerfoot Trail and Stoney Trail.Friendship partners.Alberta has relationships with many provinces states and other entities worldwide.
Actinopterygii (New Latin + Greek ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a clade of the bony fishes. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.The ray-finned fishes are so-called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines (rays) as opposed to the fleshy lobed fins that characterize the class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish). These actinopterygian fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeletal elements the radials which represent the link or connection between these fins and the internal skeleton (e.g. pelvic and pectoral girdles).By species count actinopterygians dominate the vertebrates and they comprise nearly 99% of the over 30000 species of fish. They are ubiquitous throughout freshwater and marine environments from the deep sea to the highest mountain streams. Extant species can range in size from at to the massive ocean sunfish at and the long-bodied oarfish at . The vast majority of Actinopterygii are teleosts.Characteristics.Ray-finned fishes occur in many variant forms. The main features of a typical ray-finned fish are shown in the adjacent diagram. The swim bladder is the more derived structure.Ray-finned fishes have many different types of scales but all teleosts the most advanced actinopterygians have leptoid scales. The outer part of these scales fan out with bony ridges while the inner part is crossed with fibrous connective tissue. Leptoid scales are thinner and more transparent than other types of scales and lack the hardened enamel or dentine-like layers found in the scales of many other fish. Unlike ganoid scales which are found in non-teleost actinopterygians new scales are added in concentric layers as the fish grows.Ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes, including tetrapods, possessed lungs used for aerial respiration. Only bichirs retain ventrally budding lungs.Body shapes and fin arrangements.Ray-finned fish vary in size and shape, in their feeding specializations, and in the number and arrangement of their ray-fins.Reproduction.In nearly all ray-finned fish, the sexes are separate, and in most species the females spawn eggs that are fertilized externally, typically with the male inseminating the eggs after they are laid. Development then proceeds with a free-swimming larval stage. However other patterns of ontogeny exist, with one of the commonest being sequential hermaphroditism. In most cases this involves protogyny, fish starting life as females and converting to males at some stage, triggered by some internal or external factor. Protandry, where a fish converts from male to female, is much less common than protogyny.Most families use external rather than internal fertilization. Of the oviparous teleosts, most (79%) do not provide parental care. Viviparity, ovoviviparity, or some form of parental care for eggs, whether by the male, the female, or both parents is seen in a significant fraction (21%) of the 422 teleost families; no care is likely the ancestral condition. The oldest case of viviparity in ray-finned fish is found in Middle Triassic species of a species for evolving male parental care.There are a few examples of fish that self-fertilise. The mangrove rivulus is an amphibious, simultaneous hermaphrodite, producing both eggs and spawn and having internal fertilisation. This mode of reproduction may be related to the fish's habit of spending long periods out of water in the mangrove forests it inhabits. Males are occasionally produced at temperatures below and can fertilise eggs that are then spawned by the female. This maintains genetic variability in a species that is otherwise highly inbred.Fossil record.The earliest known fossil actinopterygian is "Andreolepis hedei", dating back 420 million years . Remains have been found in Russia, Sweden, and Estonia.Classification.Actinopterygii is divided into the classes Cladistia and Actinopteri. The latter comprised subclasses Chondrostei and Neopterygii. The Neopterygii, in turn, is divided into the infraclasses Holostei and Teleostei. During the Mesozoic and Cenozoic the teleosts in particular diversified widely, and as a result, 96% of all known fish species are teleosts. The cladogram shows the major groups of actinopterygians and their relationship to the terrestrial vertebrates that evolved from a related group of fish. Approximate dates are from Near et al., 2012.The polypterids are the sister lineage of all other actinopterygians, the Acipenseriformes are the sister lineage of Neopterygii, and Holostei are the sister lineage of teleosts. The Elopomorpha appear to be the most basal teleosts.The listing below follows Phylogenetic Classification of Bony Fishes with notes when this differs from Nelson ITIS and FishBase and extinct groups from Van der Laan 2016 and Xu 2021.
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula , which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed .In 1905, a year sometimes described as his , Einstein published four groundbreaking papers. These outlined the theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian motion, introduced special relativity, and demonstrated mass-energy equivalence. Einstein thought that the laws of classical mechanics could no longer be reconciled with those of the electromagnetic field, which led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He then extended the theory to gravitational fields; he published a paper on general relativity in 1916, introducing his theory of gravitation. In 1917, he applied the general theory of relativity to model the structure of the universe. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light and the quantum theory of radiation, which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light.However, for much of the later part of his career, he worked on two ultimately unsuccessful endeavors. First, despite his great contributions to quantum mechanics, he opposed what it evolved into, objecting that nature "does not play dice". Second, he attempted to devise a unified field theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result, he became increasingly isolated from the mainstream of modern physics.Einstein was born in the German Empire but moved to Switzerland in 1895 forsaking his German citizenship the following year. In 1897 at the age of 17 he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss Federal polytechnic school in Zrich graduating in 1900. In 1901 he acquired Swiss citizenship which he kept for the rest of his life and in 1903 he secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In 1905 he was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. In 1914 Einstein moved to Berlin in order to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1917 Einstein became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics he also became a German citizen again this time Prussian.In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Einstein, of Jewish origin, objected to the policies of the newly elected Nazi government; he settled in the United States and became an American citizen in 1940. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research. Einstein supported the Allies but generally denounced the idea of nuclear weapons.Life and career.Early life and education.Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Wrttemberg in the German Empire, on 14 March 1879 into a family of secular Ashkenazi Jews. His parents were Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer, and Pauline Koch. In 1880, the family moved to Munich, where Einstein's father and his uncle Jakob founded , a company that manufactured electrical equipment based on direct current.Albert attended a Catholic elementary school in Munich from the age of five for three years. At the age of eight he was transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium where he received advanced primary and secondary school education until he left the German Empire seven years later.In 1894 Hermann and Jakob's company lost a bid to supply the city of Munich with electrical lighting because they lacked the capital to convert their equipment from the direct current standard to the more efficient alternating current standard. The loss forced the sale of the Munich factory. In search of business the Einstein family moved to Italy first to Milan and a few months later to Pavia. When the family moved to Pavia Einstein then 15 stayed in Munich to finish his studies at the Luitpold Gymnasium. His father intended for him to pursue electrical engineering but Einstein clashed with the authorities and resented the school's regimen and teaching method. He later wrote that the spirit of learning and creative thought was lost in strict rote learning. At the end of December 1894 he traveled to Italy to join his family in Pavia convincing the school to let him go by using a doctor's note. During his time in Italy he wrote a short essay with the title "On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field".Einstein excelled at math and physics from a young age reaching a mathematical level years ahead of his peers. The 12-year-old Einstein taught himself algebra and Euclidean geometry over a single summer. Einstein also independently discovered his own original proof of the Pythagorean theorem at age 12. A family tutor Max Talmud says that after he had given the 12-year-old Einstein a geometry textbook after a short time .At age 13, when he had become more seriously interested in philosophy , Einstein was introduced to Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". Kant became his favorite philosopher, his tutor stating: "At the time he was still a child, only thirteen years old, yet Kant's works, incomprehensible to ordinary mortals, seemed to be clear to him."In 1895, at the age of 16, Einstein took the entrance examinations for the Swiss Federal polytechnic school in Zrich . He failed to reach the required standard in the general part of the examination, but obtained exceptional grades in physics and mathematics. On the advice of the principal of the polytechnic school, he attended the Argovian cantonal school in Aarau, Switzerland, in 1895 and 1896 to complete his secondary schooling. While lodging with the family of Professor Jost Winteler, he fell in love with Winteler's daughter, Marie. Albert's sister Maja later married Winteler's son Paul. In January 1896, with his father's approval, Einstein renounced his citizenship in the German Kingdom of Wrttemberg to avoid military service. In September 1896 he passed the Swiss "Matura" with mostly good grades, including a top grade of 6 in physics and mathematical subjects, on a scale of 1–6. At 17, he enrolled in the four-year mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Federal polytechnic school. Marie Winteler, who was a year older, moved to Olsberg, Switzerland, for a teaching post.Einsteins friendship developed into a romance and they spent countless hours debating and reading books together on extra-curricular physics in which they were both interested. Einstein wrote in his letters to Mari that he preferred studying alongside her. In 1900 Einstein passed the exams in Maths and Physics and was awarded a Federal teaching diploma. There is eyewitness evidence and several letters over many years that indicate Mari might have collaborated with Einstein prior to his landmark 1905 papers known as the papers and that they developed some of the concepts together during their studies although some historians of physics who have studied the issue disagree that she made any substantive contributions.Marriages and children.Early correspondence between Einstein and Mari was discovered and published in 1987 which revealed that the couple had a daughter named , born in early 1902 in Novi Sad where Mari was staying with her parents. Mari returned to Switzerland without the child, whose real name and fate are unknown. The contents of Einstein's letter in September 1903 suggest that the girl was either given up for adoption or died of scarlet fever in infancy.Einstein and Mari married in January 1903. In May 1904, their son Hans Albert Einstein was born in Bern, Switzerland. Their son Eduard was born in Zrich in July 1910. The couple moved to Berlin in April 1914, but Mari returned to Zrich with their sons after learning that, despite their close relationship before, Einstein's chief romantic attraction was now his cousin Elsa Lwenthal; she was his first cousin maternally and second cousin paternally. Einstein and Mari divorced on 14 February 1919, having lived apart for five years. As part of the divorce settlement, Einstein agreed to give Mari his future Nobel Prize money.In letters revealed in 2015, Einstein wrote to his early love Marie Winteler about his marriage and his strong feelings for her. He wrote in 1910, while his wife was pregnant with their second child: regarding his love for Marie.Einstein married his cousin Elsa Lwenthal in 1919 after having had a relationship with her since 1912. They emigrated to the United States in 1933. Elsa was diagnosed with heart and kidney problems in 1935 and died in December 1936.In 1923, Einstein fell in love with a secretary named Betty Neumann, the niece of a close friend, Hans Mhsam. In a volume of letters released by Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2006, Einstein described about six women, including Margarete Lebach (a blonde Austrian), Estella Katzenellenbogen (the rich owner of a florist business), Toni Mendel (a wealthy Jewish widow) and Ethel Michanowski (a Berlin socialite), with whom he spent time and from whom he received gifts while being married to Elsa. Later, after the death of his second wife Elsa, Einstein was briefly in a relationship with Margarita Konenkova. Konenkova was a Russian spy who was married to the noted Russian sculptor Sergei Konenkov (who created the bronze bust of Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton).Einstein's son Eduard had a breakdown at about age 20 and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mother cared for him and he was also committed to asylums for several periods, finally being committed permanently after her death.Patent office.After graduating in 1900, Einstein spent almost two frustrating years searching for a teaching post. He acquired Swiss citizenship in February 1901, but was not conscripted for medical reasons. With the help of Marcel Grossmann's father, he secured a job in Bern at the Swiss Patent Office, as an assistant examiner – level III.Einstein evaluated patent applications for a variety of devices including a gravel sorter and an electromechanical typewriter. In 1903 his position at the Swiss Patent Office became permanent although he was passed over for promotion until he .Much of his work at the patent office related to questions about transmission of electric signals and electrical-mechanical synchronization of time, two technical problems that show up conspicuously in the thought experiments that eventually led Einstein to his radical conclusions about the nature of light and the fundamental connection between space and time.With a few friends he had met in Bern Einstein started a small discussion group in 1902 self-mockingly named "The Olympia Academy" which met regularly to discuss science and philosophy. Sometimes they were joined by Mileva who attentively listened but did not participate. Their readings included the works of Henri Poincar Ernst Mach and David Hume which influenced his scientific and philosophical outlook.First scientific papers.In 1900, Einstein's paper .Also in 1905, which has been called Einstein's , he published four groundbreaking papers, on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and the equivalence of mass and energy, which were to bring him to the notice of the academic world, at the age of 26.Academic career.By 1908, he was recognized as a leading scientist and was appointed lecturer at the University of Bern. The following year, after he gave a lecture on electrodynamics and the relativity principle at the University of Zurich, Alfred Kleiner recommended him to the faculty for a newly created professorship in theoretical physics. Einstein was appointed associate professor in 1909.Einstein became a full professor at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague in April 1911, accepting Austrian citizenship in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to do so. During his Prague stay, he wrote 11 scientific works, five of them on radiation mathematics and on the quantum theory of solids. In July 1912, he returned to his alma mater in Zrich. From 1912 until 1914, he was a professor of theoretical physics at the ETH Zurich, where he taught analytical mechanics and thermodynamics. He also studied continuum mechanics, the molecular theory of heat, and the problem of gravitation, on which he worked with mathematician and friend Marcel Grossmann.When the "Manifesto of the Ninety-Three" was published in October 1914—a document signed by a host of prominent German intellectuals that justified Germany's militarism and position during the First World War—Einstein was one of the few German intellectuals to rebut its contents and sign the pacifistic "Manifesto to the Europeans".On 3 July 1913, he became a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Max Planck and Walther Nernst visited him the next week in Zurich to persuade him to join the academy, additionally offering him the post of director at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, which was soon to be established. Membership in the academy included paid salary and professorship without teaching duties at Humboldt University of Berlin. He was officially elected to the academy on 24 July, and he moved to Berlin the following year. His decision to move to Berlin was also influenced by the prospect of living near his cousin Elsa, with whom he had started a romantic affair. He joined the academy and thus Berlin University on 1 April 1914. As World War I broke out that year, the plan for Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics was aborted. The institute was established on 1 October 1917, with Einstein as its director. In 1916, Einstein was elected president of the German Physical Society .Based on calculations Einstein had made in 1911 using his new theory of general relativity light from another star should be bent by the Sun's gravity. In 1919 that prediction was confirmed by Sir Arthur Eddington during the solar eclipse of 29 May 1919. Those observations were published in the international media making Einstein world-famous. On 7 November 1919 the leading British newspaper .In 1920 he became a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1922 he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". While the general theory of relativity was still considered somewhat controversial the citation also does not treat even the cited photoelectric work as an "explanation" but merely as a "discovery of the law" as the idea of photons was considered outlandish and did not receive universal acceptance until the 1924 derivation of the Planck spectrum by S. N. Bose. Einstein was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1921. He also received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society in 1925.1921–1922 Travels abroad.Einstein visited New York City for the first time on 2 April 1921 where he received an official welcome by Mayor John Francis Hylan followed by three weeks of lectures and receptions. He went on to deliver several lectures at Columbia University and Princeton University and in Washington he accompanied representatives of the National Academy of Sciences on a visit to the White House. On his return to Europe he was the guest of the British statesman and philosopher Viscount Haldane in London where he met several renowned scientific intellectual and political figures and delivered a lecture at King's College London.He also published an essay, (1835). For some of his observations, Einstein was clearly surprised: In 1922 his travels took him to Asia and later to Palestine as part of a six-month excursion and speaking tour as he visited Singapore Ceylon and Japan where he gave a series of lectures to thousands of Japanese. After his first public lecture he met the emperor and empress at the Imperial Palace where thousands came to watch. In a letter to his sons he described his impression of the Japanese as being modest intelligent considerate and having a true feel for art. In his own travel diaries from his 1922–23 visit to Asia he expresses some views on the Chinese Japanese and Indian people which have been described as xenophobic and racist judgments when they were rediscovered in 2018.Because of Einstein's travels to the Far East, he was unable to personally accept the Nobel Prize for Physics at the Stockholm award ceremony in December 1922. In his place, the banquet speech was made by a German diplomat, who praised Einstein not only as a scientist but also as an international peacemaker and activist.On his return voyage, he visited Palestine for 12 days, his only visit to that region. He was greeted as if he were a head of state, rather than a physicist, which included a cannon salute upon arriving at the home of the British high commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel. During one reception, the building was stormed by people who wanted to see and hear him. In Einstein's talk to the audience, he expressed happiness that the Jewish people were beginning to be recognized as a force in the world.Einstein visited Spain for two weeks in 1923 where he briefly met Santiago Ramn y Cajal and also received a diploma from King Alfonso XIII naming him a member of the Spanish Academy of Sciences.From 1922 to 1932, Einstein was a member of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations in Geneva , a body created to promote international exchange between scientists, researchers, teachers, artists, and intellectuals. Originally slated to serve as the Swiss delegate, Secretary-General Eric Drummond was persuaded by Catholic activists Oskar Halecki and Giuseppe Motta to instead have him become the German delegate, thus allowing Gonzague de Reynold to take the Swiss spot, from which he promoted traditionalist Catholic values. Einstein's former physics professor Hendrik Lorentz and the Polish chemist Marie Curie were also members of the committee.1925: Visit to South America.In the months of March and April 1925 Einstein visited South America where he spent about a month in Argentina a week in Uruguay and a week in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Einstein's visit was initiated by Jorge Duclout (1856–1927) and Mauricio Nirenstein (1877–1935) with the support of several Argentine scholars including Julio Rey Pastor Jakob Laub and Leopoldo Lugones. The visit by Einstein and his wife was financed primarily by the Council of the University of Buenos Aires and the (Argentine Hebraic Association) with a smaller contribution from the Argentine-Germanic Cultural Institution.1930–1931 Travel to the US.In December 1930 Einstein visited America for the second time originally intended as a two-month working visit as a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology. After the national attention he received during his first trip to the US he and his arrangers aimed to protect his privacy. Although swamped with telegrams and invitations to receive awards or speak publicly he declined them all.After arriving in New York City, Einstein was taken to various places and events, including Chinatown, a lunch with the editors of "The New York Times", and a performance of "Carmen" at the Metropolitan Opera, where he was cheered by the audience on his arrival. During the days following, he was given the keys to the city by Mayor Jimmy Walker and met the president of Columbia University, who described Einstein as "the ruling monarch of the mind". Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor at New York's Riverside Church, gave Einstein a tour of the church and showed him a full-size statue that the church made of Einstein, standing at the entrance. Also during his stay in New York, he joined a crowd of 15,000 people at Madison Square Garden during a Hanukkah celebration.Einstein next traveled to California, where he met Caltech president and Nobel laureate Robert A. Millikan. His friendship with Millikan was "awkward", as Millikan "had a penchant for patriotic militarism", where Einstein was a pronounced pacifist. During an address to Caltech's students, Einstein noted that science was often inclined to do more harm than good.This aversion to war also led Einstein to befriend author Upton Sinclair and film star Charlie Chaplin, both noted for their pacifism. Carl Laemmle, head of Universal Studios, gave Einstein a tour of his studio and introduced him to Chaplin. They had an instant rapport, with Chaplin inviting Einstein and his wife, Elsa, to his home for dinner. Chaplin said Einstein's outward persona, calm and gentle, seemed to conceal a .Chaplin's film "City Lights" was to premiere a few days later in Hollywood and Chaplin invited Einstein and Elsa to join him as his special guests. Walter Isaacson Einstein's biographer described this as "one of the most memorable scenes in the new era of celebrity". Chaplin visited Einstein at his home on a later trip to Berlin and recalled his "modest little flat" and the piano at which he had begun writing his theory. Chaplin speculated that it was "possibly used as kindling wood by the Nazis".1933 Emigration to the US.In February 1933, while on a visit to the United States, Einstein knew he could not return to Germany with the rise to power of the Nazis under Germany's new chancellor, Adolf Hitler.While at American universities in early 1933 he undertook his third two-month visiting professorship at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In February and March 1933 the Gestapo repeatedly raided his family's apartment in Berlin. He and his wife Elsa returned to Europe in March and during the trip they learned that the German Reichstag had passed the Enabling Act on 23 March transforming Hitler's government into a "de facto" legal dictatorship and that they would not be able to proceed to Berlin. Later on they heard that their cottage had been raided by the Nazis and Einstein's personal sailboat confiscated. Upon landing in Antwerp Belgium on 28 March Einstein immediately went to the German consulate and surrendered his passport formally renouncing his German citizenship. The Nazis later sold his boat and converted his cottage into a Hitler Youth camp.Refugee status.In April 1933, Einstein discovered that the new German government had passed laws barring Jews from holding any official positions, including teaching at universities. Historian Gerald Holton describes how, with , thousands of Jewish scientists were suddenly forced to give up their university positions and their names were removed from the rolls of institutions where they were employed.A month later, Einstein's works were among those targeted by the German Student Union in the Nazi book burnings, with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels proclaiming, "Jewish intellectualism is dead." One German magazine included him in a list of enemies of the German regime with the phrase, "not yet hanged", offering a $5,000 bounty on his head. In a subsequent letter to physicist and friend Max Born, who had already emigrated from Germany to England, Einstein wrote, "... I must confess that the degree of their brutality and cowardice came as something of a surprise." After moving to the US, he described the book burnings as a "spontaneous emotional outburst" by those who "shun popular enlightenment", and "more than anything else in the world, fear the influence of men of intellectual independence".Einstein was now without a permanent home, unsure where he would live and work, and equally worried about the fate of countless other scientists still in Germany. He rented a house in De Haan, Belgium, where he lived for a few months. In late July 1933, he went to England for about six weeks at the personal invitation of British naval officer Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson, who had become friends with Einstein in the preceding years. Locker-Lampson invited him to stay near his home in a wooden cabin on Roughton Heath in the Parish of . To protect Einstein, Locker-Lampson had two bodyguards watch over him at his secluded cabin; a photo of them carrying shotguns and guarding Einstein was published in the "Daily Herald" on 24 July 1933.Locker-Lampson took Einstein to meet Winston Churchill at his home and later Austen Chamberlain and former Prime Minister Lloyd George. Einstein asked them to help bring Jewish scientists out of Germany. British historian Martin Gilbert notes that Churchill responded immediately and sent his friend physicist Frederick Lindemann to Germany to seek out Jewish scientists and place them in British universities. Churchill later observed that as a result of Germany having driven the Jews out they had lowered their "technical standards" and put the Allies' technology ahead of theirs.Einstein later contacted leaders of other nations including Turkey's Prime Minister smet nn to whom he wrote in September 1933 requesting placement of unemployed German-Jewish scientists. As a result of Einstein's letter Jewish invitees to Turkey eventually totaled over "1000 saved individuals".Locker-Lampson also submitted a bill to parliament to extend British citizenship to Einstein, during which period Einstein made a number of public appearances describing the crisis brewing in Europe. In one of his speeches he denounced Germany's treatment of Jews, while at the same time he introduced a bill promoting Jewish citizenship in Palestine, as they were being denied citizenship elsewhere. In his speech he described Einstein as a who should be offered a temporary shelter in the UK. Both bills failed, however, and Einstein then accepted an earlier offer from the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, US, to become a resident scholar.Resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study.In October 1933, Einstein returned to the US and took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study, noted for having become a refuge for scientists fleeing Nazi Germany. At the time, most American universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale, had minimal or no Jewish faculty or students, as a result of their Jewish quotas, which lasted until the late 1940s.Einstein was still undecided on his future. He had offers from several European universities, including Christ Church, Oxford where he stayed for three short periods between May 1931 and June 1933 and was offered a 5-year studentship, but in 1935, he arrived at the decision to remain permanently in the United States and apply for citizenship.Einstein's affiliation with the Institute for Advanced Study would last until his death in 1955. He was one of the four first selected at the new Institute, where he soon developed a close friendship with Gdel. The two would take long walks together discussing their work. Bruria Kaufman, his assistant, later became a physicist. During this period, Einstein tried to develop a unified field theory and to refute the accepted interpretation of quantum physics, both unsuccessfully.World War II and the Manhattan Project.In 1939, a group of Hungarian scientists that included migr physicist Le Szilrd attempted to alert Washington to ongoing Nazi atomic bomb research. The group's warnings were discounted. Einstein and Szilrd, along with other refugees such as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, "regarded it as their responsibility to alert Americans to the possibility that German scientists might win the race to build an atomic bomb, and to warn that Hitler would be more than willing to resort to such a weapon." To make certain the US was aware of the danger, in July 1939, a few months before the beginning of World War II in Europe, Szilrd and Wigner visited Einstein to explain the possibility of atomic bombs, which Einstein, a pacifist, said he had never considered. He was asked to lend his support by writing a letter, with Szilrd, to President Roosevelt, recommending the US pay attention and engage in its own nuclear weapons research.The letter is believed to be to initiate the Manhattan Project.For Einstein "war was a disease ... he called for resistance to war." By signing the letter to Roosevelt some argue he went against his pacifist principles. In 1954 a year before his death Einstein said to his old friend Linus Pauling "I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them ..." In 1955 Einstein and ten other intellectuals and scientists including British philosopher Bertrand Russell signed a manifesto highlighting the danger of nuclear weapons.US citizenship.Einstein became an American citizen in 1940. Not long after settling into his career at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey he expressed his appreciation of the meritocracy in American culture when compared to Europe. He recognized the "right of individuals to say and think what they pleased" without social barriers and as a result individuals were encouraged he said to be more creative a trait he valued from his own early education.Einstein joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Princeton, where he campaigned for the civil rights of African Americans. He considered racism America's "worst disease", seeing it as "handed down from one generation to the next". As part of his involvement, he corresponded with civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois and was prepared to testify on his behalf during his trial in 1951. When Einstein offered to be a character witness for Du Bois, the judge decided to drop the case.In 1946 Einstein visited Lincoln University in Pennsylvania a historically black college where he was awarded an honorary degree. Lincoln was the first university in the United States to grant college degrees to African Americans alumni include Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall. Einstein gave a speech about racism in America adding "I do not intend to be quiet about it." A resident of Princeton recalls that Einstein had once paid the college tuition for a black student. Einstein has said "Being a Jew myself perhaps I can understand and empathize with how black people feel as victims of discrimination".Personal life.Assisting Zionist causes.Einstein was a figurehead leader in helping establish the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which opened in 1925 and was among its first Board of Governors. Earlier, in 1921, he was asked by the biochemist and president of the World Zionist Organization, Chaim Weizmann, to help raise funds for the planned university. He also submitted various suggestions as to its initial programs.Among those he advised first creating an Institute of Agriculture in order to settle the undeveloped land. That should be followed he suggested by a Chemical Institute and an Institute of Microbiology to fight the various ongoing epidemics such as malaria which he called an that was undermining a third of the country's development. Establishing an Oriental Studies Institute to include language courses given in both Hebrew and Arabic for scientific exploration of the country and its historical monuments was also important.Einstein was not a nationalist; he was against the creation of an independent Jewish state, which would be established without his help as Israel in 1948. Einstein felt that the waves of arriving Jews of the Aliyah could live alongside existing Arabs in Palestine. His views were not shared by the majority of Jews seeking to form a new country; as a result, Einstein was limited to a marginal role in the Zionist movement.Chaim Weizmann later became Israels ambassador in Washington, Abba Eban, who explained that the offer that he could not accept it.Love of music.Einstein developed an appreciation for music at an early age. In his late journals he wrote: "If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music... I get most joy in life out of music."His mother played the piano reasonably well and wanted her son to learn the violin, not only to instill in him a love of music but also to help him assimilate into German culture. According to conductor Leon Botstein, Einstein began playing when he was 5. However, he did not enjoy it at that age.When he turned 13, he discovered the violin sonatas of Mozart, whereupon he became enamored of Mozart's compositions and studied music more willingly. Einstein taught himself to play without "ever practicing systematically". He said that "love is a better teacher than a sense of duty." At age 17, he was heard by a school examiner in Aarau while playing Beethoven's violin sonatas. The examiner stated afterward that his playing was "remarkable and revealing of 'great insight. What struck the examiner, writes Botstein, was that Einstein "displayed a deep love of the music, a quality that was and remains in short supply. Music possessed an unusual meaning for this student."Music took on a pivotal and permanent role in Einstein's life from that period on. Although the idea of becoming a professional musician himself was not on his mind at any time among those with whom Einstein played chamber music were a few professionals and he performed for private audiences and friends. Chamber music had also become a regular part of his social life while living in Bern Zrich and Berlin where he played with Max Planck and his son among others. He is sometimes erroneously credited as the editor of the 1937 edition of the Kchel catalog of Mozart's work that edition was prepared by Alfred Einstein who may have been a distant relation.In 1931, while engaged in research at the California Institute of Technology, he visited the Zoellner family conservatory in Los Angeles, where he played some of Beethoven and Mozart's works with members of the Zoellner Quartet. Near the end of his life, when the young Juilliard Quartet visited him in Princeton, he played his violin with them, and the quartet was .Political views.In 1918 Einstein was one of the founding members of the German Democratic Party a liberal party. Later in his life Einstein's political view was in favor of socialism and critical of capitalism which he detailed in his essays such as "Why Socialism?" His opinions on the Bolsheviks also changed with time. In 1925 he criticized them for not having a 'well-regulated system of government' and called their rule a 'regime of terror and a tragedy in human history'. He later adopted a more moderated view criticizing their methods but praising them which is shown by his 1929 remark on Vladimir Lenin "In Lenin I honor a man who in total sacrifice of his own person has committed his entire energy to realizing social justice. I do not find his methods advisable. One thing is certain however men like him are the guardians and renewers of mankind's conscience." Einstein offered and was called on to give judgments and opinions on matters often unrelated to theoretical physics or mathematics. He strongly advocated the idea of a democratic global government that would check the power of nation-states in the framework of a world federation. He wrote "I advocate world government because I am convinced that there is no other possible way of eliminating the most terrible danger in which man has ever found himself." The FBI created a secret dossier on Einstein in 1932 and by the time of his death his FBI file was 1427 pages long.Einstein was deeply impressed by Mahatma Gandhi with whom he exchanged written letters. He described Gandhi as . The initial connection was established on 27 September 1931 when Wilfrid Israel took his Indian guest V. A. Sundaram to meet his friend Einstein at his summer home in the town of Caputh. Sundaram was Gandhis home in 1925. During the visit Einstein wrote a short letter to Gandhi that was delivered to him through his envoy and Gandhi responded quickly with his own letter. Although in the end Einstein and Gandhi were unable to meet as they had hoped the direct connection between them was established through Wilfrid Israel.Religious and philosophical views.Einstein spoke of his spiritual outlook in a wide array of original writings and interviews. He said he had sympathy for the impersonal pantheistic God of Baruch Spinoza's philosophy. He did not believe in a personal god who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings, a view which he described as nave. He clarified, however, that Einstein was primarily affiliated with non-religious humanist and Ethical Culture groups in both the UK and US. He served on the advisory board of the First Humanist Society of New York and was an honorary associate of the Rationalist Association which publishes In a German-language letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, dated 3 January 1954, Einstein wrote:The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. ... For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. ... I cannot see anything about them.On 17 April 1955 Einstein experienced internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm which had previously been reinforced surgically by Rudolph Nissen in 1948. He took the draft of a speech he was preparing for a television appearance commemorating the state of Israel's seventh anniversary with him to the hospital but he did not live to complete it.Einstein refused surgery saying He died in Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center early the next morning at the age of 76 having continued to work until near the end.During the autopsy the pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey removed Einstein's brain for preservation without the permission of his family in the hope that the neuroscience of the future would be able to discover what made Einstein so intelligent. Einstein's remains were cremated in Trenton New Jersey and his ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.In a memorial lecture delivered on 13 December 1965 at UNESCO headquarters, nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer summarized his impression of Einstein as a person: "He was almost wholly without sophistication and wholly without worldliness ... There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn."Einstein bequeathed his personal archives library and intellectual assets to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.Scientific career.Throughout his life, Einstein published hundreds of books and articles. He published more than 300 scientific papers and 150 non-scientific ones. On 5 December 2014, universities and archives announced the release of Einsteins intellectual achievements and originality have made the word . In addition to the work he did by himself he also collaborated with other scientists on additional projects including the Bose–Einstein statistics, the Einstein refrigerator and others.1905 – papers.The "Annus Mirabilis" papers are four articles pertaining to the photoelectric effect , Brownian motion, the special theory of relativity, and E = mc2 that Einstein published in the "Annalen der Physik" scientific journal in 1905. These four works contributed substantially to the foundation of modern physics and changed views on space, time, and matter. The four papers are:Statistical mechanics.Thermodynamic fluctuations and statistical physics.Einstein's first paper submitted in 1900 to . Two papers he published in 1902–1903 attempted to interpret atomic phenomena from a statistical point of view. These papers were the foundation for the 1905 paper on Brownian motion, which showed that Brownian movement can be construed as firm evidence that molecules exist. His research in 1903 and 1904 was mainly concerned with the effect of finite atomic size on diffusion phenomena.Theory of critical opalescence.Einstein returned to the problem of thermodynamic fluctuations, giving a treatment of the density variations in a fluid at its critical point. Ordinarily the density fluctuations are controlled by the second derivative of the free energy with respect to the density. At the critical point, this derivative is zero, leading to large fluctuations. The effect of density fluctuations is that light of all wavelengths is scattered, making the fluid look milky white. Einstein relates this to Rayleigh scattering, which is what happens when the fluctuation size is much smaller than the wavelength, and which explains why the sky is blue. Einstein quantitatively derived critical opalescence from a treatment of density fluctuations, and demonstrated how both the effect and Rayleigh scattering originate from the atomistic constitution of matter.Special relativity.Einstein's "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Krper" was received on 30 June 1905 and published 26 September of that same year. It reconciled conflicts between Maxwell's equations and the laws of Newtonian mechanics by introducing changes to the laws of mechanics. Observationally, the effects of these changes are most apparent at high speeds . The theory developed in this paper later became known as Einstein's special theory of relativity. There is evidence from Einstein's writings that he collaborated with his first wife, Mileva Mari, on this work. The decision to publish only under his name seems to have been mutual, but the exact reason is unknown.This paper predicted that when measured in the frame of a relatively moving observer a clock carried by a moving body would appear to slow down and the body itself would contract in its direction of motion. This paper also argued that the idea of a luminiferous aether—one of the leading theoretical entities in physics at the time—was superfluous.In his paper on mass–energy equivalence, Einstein produced 2 as a consequence of his special relativity equations. Einstein's 1905 work on relativity remained controversial for many years, but was accepted by leading physicists, starting with Max Planck.Einstein originally framed special relativity in terms of kinematics . In 1908 Hermann Minkowski reinterpreted special relativity in geometric terms as a theory of spacetime. Einstein adopted Minkowski's formalism in his 1915 general theory of relativity.General relativity.General relativity and the equivalence principle.General relativity is a theory of gravitation that was developed by Einstein between 1907 and 1915. According to general relativity, the observed gravitational attraction between masses results from the warping of space and time by those masses. General relativity has developed into an essential tool in modern astrophysics. It provides the foundation for the current understanding of black holes, regions of space where gravitational attraction is so strong that not even light can escape.As Einstein later said, the reason for the development of general relativity was that the preference of inertial motions within special relativity was unsatisfactory, while a theory which from the outset prefers no state of motion (even accelerated ones) should appear more satisfactory. Consequently, in 1907 he published an article on acceleration under special relativity. In that article titled "On the Relativity Principle and the Conclusions Drawn from It", he argued that free fall is really inertial motion, and that for a free-falling observer the rules of special relativity must apply. This argument is called the equivalence principle. In the same article, Einstein also predicted the phenomena of gravitational time dilation, gravitational redshift and deflection of light.In 1911, Einstein published another article "On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light" expanding on the 1907 article, in which he estimated the amount of deflection of light by massive bodies. Thus, the theoretical prediction of general relativity could for the first time be tested experimentally.Gravitational waves.In 1916 Einstein predicted gravitational waves ripples in the curvature of spacetime which propagate as waves traveling outward from the source transporting energy as gravitational radiation. The existence of gravitational waves is possible under general relativity due to its Lorentz invariance which brings the concept of a finite speed of propagation of the physical interactions of gravity with it. By contrast gravitational waves cannot exist in the Newtonian theory of gravitation which postulates that the physical interactions of gravity propagate at infinite speed.The first indirect detection of gravitational waves came in the 1970s through observation of a pair of closely orbiting neutron stars PSR B1913+16. The explanation of the decay in their orbital period was that they were emitting gravitational waves. Einstein's prediction was confirmed on 11 February 2016 when researchers at LIGO published the first observation of gravitational waves detected on Earth on 14 September 2015 nearly one hundred years after the prediction.Hole argument and Entwurf theory.While developing general relativity, Einstein became confused about the gauge invariance in the theory. He formulated an argument that led him to conclude that a general relativistic field theory is impossible. He gave up looking for fully generally covariant tensor equations and searched for equations that would be invariant under general linear transformations only.In June 1913, the Entwurf theory was the result of these investigations. As its name suggests, it was a sketch of a theory, less elegant and more difficult than general relativity, with the equations of motion supplemented by additional gauge fixing conditions. After more than two years of intensive work, Einstein realized that the hole argument was mistaken and abandoned the theory in November 1915.Physical cosmology.In 1917, Einstein applied the general theory of relativity to the structure of the universe as a whole. He discovered that the general field equations predicted a universe that was dynamic, either contracting or expanding. As observational evidence for a dynamic universe was not known at the time, Einstein introduced a new term, the cosmological constant, to the field equations, in order to allow the theory to predict a static universe. The modified field equations predicted a static universe of closed curvature, in accordance with Einsteins static universe.Following the discovery of the recession of the nebulae by Edwin Hubble in 1929, Einstein abandoned his static model of the universe, and proposed two dynamic models of the cosmos, The Friedmann-Einstein universe of 1931 and the Einstein–de Sitter universe of 1932. In each of these models, Einstein discarded the cosmological constant, claiming that it was .In many Einstein biographies it is claimed that Einstein referred to the cosmological constant in later years as his "biggest blunder". The astrophysicist Mario Livio has recently cast doubt on this claim suggesting that it may be exaggerated.In late 2013 a team led by the Irish physicist Cormac O'Raifeartaigh discovered evidence that shortly after learning of Hubble's observations of the recession of the nebulae Einstein considered a steady-state model of the universe. In a hitherto overlooked manuscript apparently written in early 1931 Einstein explored a model of the expanding universe in which the density of matter remains constant due to a continuous creation of matter a process he associated with the cosmological constant. As he stated in the paper "In what follows I would like to draw attention to a solution to equation that can account for Hubbel's facts and in which the density is constant over time" ... "If one considers a physically bounded volume particles of matter will be continually leaving it. For the density to remain constant new particles of matter must be continually formed in the volume from space."It thus appears that Einstein considered a steady-state model of the expanding universe many years before Hoyle Bondi and Gold. However Einstein's steady-state model contained a fundamental flaw and he quickly abandoned the idea.Energy momentum pseudotensor.General relativity includes a dynamical spacetime, so it is difficult to see how to identify the conserved energy and momentum. Noethers prescriptions do not make a real tensor for this reason.Einstein argued that this is true for a fundamental reason: the gravitational field could be made to vanish by a choice of coordinates. He maintained that the non-covariant energy momentum pseudotensor was, in fact, the best description of the energy momentum distribution in a gravitational field. This approach has been echoed by Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz, and others, and has become standard.The use of non-covariant objects like pseudotensors was heavily criticized in 1917 by Erwin Schrdinger and others.In 1935, Einstein collaborated with Nathan Rosen to produce a model of a wormhole, often called Einstein–Rosen bridges. His motivation was to model elementary particles with charge as a solution of gravitational field equations, in line with the program outlined in the paper "Do Gravitational Fields play an Important Role in the Constitution of the Elementary Particles?". These solutions cut and pasted Schwarzschild black holes to make a bridge between two patches.If one end of a wormhole was positively charged, the other end would be negatively charged. These properties led Einstein to believe that pairs of particles and antiparticles could be described in this way.Einstein–Cartan theory.In order to incorporate spinning point particles into general relativity, the affine connection needed to be generalized to include an antisymmetric part, called the torsion. This modification was made by Einstein and Cartan in the 1920s.Equations of motion.The theory of general relativity has a fundamental lawthe Einstein field equations which describe how space curves. The geodesic equation which describes how particles move may be derived from the Einstein field equations.Since the equations of general relativity are non-linear a lump of energy made out of pure gravitational fields like a black hole would move on a trajectory which is determined by the Einstein field equations themselves not by a new law. So Einstein proposed that the path of a singular solution like a black hole would be determined to be a geodesic from general relativity itself.This was established by Einstein, Infeld, and Hoffmann for pointlike objects without angular momentum, and by Roy Kerr for spinning objects.Old quantum theory.Photons and energy quanta.In a 1905 paper Einstein postulated that light itself consists of localized particles . Einsteins detailed experiments on the photoelectric effect and with the measurement of Compton scattering.Einstein concluded that each wave of frequency is Planck's constant. He does not say much more because he is not sure how the particles are related to the wave. But he does suggest that this idea would explain certain experimental results notably the photoelectric effect.Quantized atomic vibrations.In 1907, Einstein proposed a model of matter where each atom in a lattice structure is an independent harmonic oscillator. In the Einstein model, each atom oscillates independently—a series of equally spaced quantized states for each oscillator. Einstein was aware that getting the frequency of the actual oscillations would be difficult, but he nevertheless proposed this theory because it was a particularly clear demonstration that quantum mechanics could solve the specific heat problem in classical mechanics. Peter Debye refined this model.Adiabatic principle and action-angle variables.Throughout the 1910s, quantum mechanics expanded in scope to cover many different systems. After Ernest Rutherford discovered the nucleus and proposed that electrons orbit like planets, Niels Bohr was able to show that the same quantum mechanical postulates introduced by Planck and developed by Einstein would explain the discrete motion of electrons in atoms, and the periodic table of the elements.Einstein contributed to these developments by linking them with the 1898 arguments Wilhelm Wien had made. Wien had shown that the hypothesis of adiabatic invariance of a thermal equilibrium state allows all the blackbody curves at different temperature to be derived from one another by a simple shifting process. Einstein noted in 1911 that the same adiabatic principle shows that the quantity which is quantized in any mechanical motion must be an adiabatic invariant. Arnold Sommerfeld identified this adiabatic invariant as the action variable of classical mechanics.Bose–Einstein statistics.In 1924 Einstein received a description of a statistical model from Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose based on a counting method that assumed that light could be understood as a gas of indistinguishable particles. Einstein noted that Boses sketches for this project may be seen in the Einstein Archive in the library of the Leiden University.Wave–particle duality.Although the patent office promoted Einstein to Technical Examiner Second Class in 1906 he had not given up on academia. In 1908 he became a concept and inspired the notion of wave–particle duality in quantum mechanics. Einstein saw this wave–particle duality in radiation as concrete evidence for his conviction that physics needed a new unified foundation.Zero-point energy.In a series of works completed from 1911 to 1913 Planck reformulated his 1900 quantum theory and introduced the idea of zero-point energy in his "second quantum theory". Soon this idea attracted the attention of Einstein and his assistant Otto Stern. Assuming the energy of rotating diatomic molecules contains zero-point energy they then compared the theoretical specific heat of hydrogen gas with the experimental data. The numbers matched nicely. However after publishing the findings they promptly withdrew their support because they no longer had confidence in the correctness of the idea of zero-point energy.Stimulated emission.In 1917 at the height of his work on relativity Einstein published an article in that proposed the possibility of stimulated emission the physical process that makes possible the maser and the laser.This article showed that the statistics of absorption and emission of light would only be consistent with Planck's distribution law if the emission of light into a mode with n photons would be enhanced statistically compared to the emission of light into an empty mode. This paper was enormously influential in the later development of quantum mechanics, because it was the first paper to show that the statistics of atomic transitions had simple laws.Matter waves.Einstein discovered Louis de Broglie's work and supported his ideas which were received skeptically at first. In another major paper from this era Einstein gave a wave equation for de Broglie waves which Einstein suggested was the Hamilton–Jacobi equation of mechanics. This paper would inspire Schrdinger's work of 1926.Quantum mechanics.Einstein's objections to quantum mechanics.Einstein played a major role in developing quantum theory, beginning with his 1905 paper on the photoelectric effect. However, he became displeased with modern quantum mechanics as it had evolved after 1925, despite its acceptance by other physicists. He was skeptical that the randomness of quantum mechanics was fundamental rather than the result of determinism, stating that God . Until the end of his life, he continued to maintain that quantum mechanics was incomplete.Bohr versus Einstein.The Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of public disputes about quantum mechanics between Einstein and Niels Bohr, who were two of its founders. Their debates are remembered because of their importance to the philosophy of science. Their debates would influence later interpretations of quantum mechanics.Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox.In 1935, Einstein returned to quantum mechanics, in particular to the question of its completeness, in the "EPR paper". In a thought experiment, he considered two particles which had interacted such that their properties were strongly correlated. No matter how far the two particles were separated, a precise position measurement on one particle would result in equally precise knowledge of the position of the other particle; likewise a precise momentum measurement of one particle would result in equally precise knowledge of the momentum of the other particle, without needing to disturb the other particle in any way.Given Einstein's concept of local realism there were two possibilities either the other particle had these properties already determined or the process of measuring the first particle instantaneously affected the reality of the position and momentum of the second particle. Einstein rejected this second possibility .Einstein's belief in local realism led him to assert that while the correctness of quantum mechanics was not in question it must be incomplete. But as a physical principle local realism was shown to be incorrect when the Aspect experiment of 1982 confirmed Bell's theorem which J. S. Bell had delineated in 1964. The results of these and subsequent experiments demonstrate that quantum physics cannot be represented by any version of the picture of physics in which "particles are regarded as unconnected independent classical-like entities each one being unable to communicate with the other after they have separated."Although Einstein was wrong about local realism his clear prediction of the unusual properties of its opposite entangled quantum states has resulted in the EPR paper becoming among the top ten papers published in . It is considered a centerpiece of the development of quantum information theory.Unified field theory.Following his research on general relativity Einstein attempted to generalize his theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism as aspects of a single entity. In 1950 he described his . Although he was lauded for this work his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.Notably, Einstein's unification project did not accommodate the strong and weak nuclear forces, neither of which were well understood until many years after his death. Although mainstream physics long ignored Einstein's approaches to unification, Einstein's work has motivated modern quests for a theory of everything, in particular string theory, where geometrical fields emerge in a unified quantum-mechanical setting.Other investigations.Einstein conducted other investigations that were unsuccessful and abandoned. These pertain to force, superconductivity, and other research.Collaboration with other scientists.In addition to longtime collaborators Leopold Infeld Nathan Rosen Peter Bergmann and others Einstein also had some one-shot collaborations with various scientists.Einstein–de Haas experiment.Einstein and De Haas demonstrated that magnetization is due to the motion of electrons nowadays known to be the spin. In order to show this they reversed the magnetization in an iron bar suspended on a torsion pendulum. They confirmed that this leads the bar to rotate because the electron's angular momentum changes as the magnetization changes. This experiment needed to be sensitive because the angular momentum associated with electrons is small but it definitively established that electron motion of some kind is responsible for magnetization.Schrdinger gas model.Einstein suggested to Erwin Schrdinger that he might be able to reproduce the statistics of a Bose–Einstein gas by considering a box. Then to each possible quantum motion of a particle in a box associate an independent harmonic oscillator. Quantizing these oscillators, each level will have an integer occupation number, which will be the number of particles in it.This formulation is a form of second quantization, but it predates modern quantum mechanics. Erwin Schrdinger applied this to derive the thermodynamic properties of a semiclassical ideal gas. Schrdinger urged Einstein to add his name as co-author, although Einstein declined the invitation.Einstein refrigerator.In 1926, Einstein and his former student Le Szilrd co-invented the Einstein refrigerator. This absorption refrigerator was then revolutionary for having no moving parts and using only heat as an input. On 11 November 1930, was awarded to Einstein and Le Szilrd for the refrigerator. Their invention was not immediately put into commercial production, and the most promising of their patents were acquired by the Swedish company Electrolux.Non-scientific legacy.While traveling, Einstein wrote daily to his wife Elsa and adopted stepdaughters Margot and Ilse. The letters were included in the papers bequeathed to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Margot Einstein permitted the personal letters to be made available to the public, but requested that it not be done until twenty years after her death . Barbara Wolff, of the Hebrew University's Albert Einstein Archives, told the BBC that there are about 3,500 pages of private correspondence written between 1912 and 1955.Einstein's right of publicity was litigated in 2015 in a federal district court in California. Although the court initially held that the right had expired that ruling was immediately appealed and the decision was later vacated in its entirety. The underlying claims between the parties in that lawsuit were ultimately settled. The right is enforceable and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the exclusive representative of that right. Corbis successor to The Roger Richman Agency licenses the use of his name and associated imagery as agent for the university.In popular culture.Einstein became one of the most famous scientific celebrities beginning with the confirmation of his theory of general relativity in 1919. Despite the general public having little understanding of his work he was widely recognized and received adulation and publicity. In the period before World War II Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many novels films plays and works of music. He is a favorite model for depictions of absent-minded professors his expressive face and distinctive hairstyle have been widely copied and exaggerated. .Many popular quotations are often misattributed to him.Awards and honors.Einstein received numerous awards and honors and in 1922 he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics . None of the nominations in 1921 met the criteria set by Alfred Nobel so the 1921 prize was carried forward and awarded to Einstein in 1922.
Afghanistan officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south Iran to the west Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north and Tajikistan and China to the northeast. Occupying the country is predominately mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest that are separated by the Hindu Kush mountains. Its population as of 2020 is 31.4 million composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns Tajiks Hazaras and Uzbeks. Kabul serves as its capital and largest city.Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic Era and the country's strategic location along the Silk Road connected it to the cultures of other parts of Asia as well as Europe leaving behind a mosaic of ethnolinguistic and religious groups that has influenced present Afghanistan. The land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns including those by Alexander the Great Mauryas Muslim Arabs Mongols British Soviets and the Coalition. The land also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and Mughals among others rose to form major empires. The various conquests and periods in the Indian and Persian cultural spheres made the area a center for Buddhism Zoroastrianism Hinduism and Islam throughout history.The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotaki and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century Afghanistan became a buffer state in the "Great Game" between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 the country became free of foreign dominance eventually becoming the Kingdom of Afghanistan in June 1926 under King Amanullah. This kingdom lasted almost fifty years until King Zahir was overthrown and a republic was established in 1973. Its history since the late 1970s has been dominated by prolonged warfare starting with the country becoming a socialist state provoking the Soviet–Afghan War followed by three civil wars territory control by the Taliban militia and its totalitarian regime the US invasion and a twenty-year-long war which concluded with the Taliban's summer offensive and the resulting fall of Kabul in August 2021.The country has high levels of terrorism poverty and child malnutrition. Afghanistans 96th largest with a gross domestic product of $72.9 billion by purchasing power parity the country fares much worse in terms of per-capita GDP ranking 169th out of 186 countries as of 2018.The root name :Many empires and kingdoms have also risen to power in Afghanistan, such as the Greco-Bactrians, Indo-Scythians, Kushans, Kidarites, Hephthalites, Alkhons, Nezaks, Zunbils, Turk Shahis, Hindu Shahis, Lawiks, Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Khaljis, Kartids, Lodis, Surs, Mughals, and finally, the Hotak and Durrani dynasties, which marked the political origins of the modern state. Throughout millennia several cities within the modern day Afghanistan served as capitals of various empires, namely, Bactra , Alexandria on the Oxus , Kapisi, Sigal, Kabul, Kunduz, Zaranj, Firozkoh, Herat, Ghazna , Binban , and Kandahar.The country has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within vast regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. For its success in resisting foreign occupation during the 19th and 20th centuries, Afghanistan has been called the , though it is unknown who coined the phrase.Prehistory and antiquity.Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50000 years ago and that farming communities in the area were among the earliest in the world. An important site of early historical activities many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites.Ancient era.Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the geographical area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west, and north. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages have been found in Afghanistan. Urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak was a center of the Helmand culture. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilization stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilization today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. In more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan, shows Afghanistan to have been a part of Indus Valley Civilization.After 2000 BCE successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia Western Asia and toward Europe via the area north of the Caspian Sea. The region at the time was referred to as Ariana.By the middle of the 6th century BCE the Achaemenids overthrew the Medes and incorporated Arachosia Aria and Bactria within its eastern boundaries. An inscription on the tombstone of Darius I of Persia mentions the Kabul Valley in a list of the 29 countries that he had conquered. The region of Arachosia around Kandahar in modern-day southern Afghanistan used to be primarily Zoroastrian and played a key role in the transfer of the Avesta to Persia and is thus considered by some to be the "second homeland of Zoroastrianism".Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces arrived in Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating Darius III of Persia a year earlier in the Battle of Gaugamela. Following Alexanders rule ended, leading to the Hellenistic reconquest by the Greco-Bactrians. Much of it soon broke away from them and became part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. They were defeated and expelled by the Indo-Scythians in the late 2nd century BCE.The Silk Road appeared during the first century BCE, and Afghanistan flourished with trade, with routes to China, India, Persia and north to the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva in present-day Uzbekistan. Goods and ideas were exchanged at this center point, such as Chinese silk, Persian silver and Roman gold, while the region of present Afghanistan was mining and trading lapis lazuli stones mainly from the Badakhshan region.During the first century BCE the Parthian Empire subjugated the region but lost it to their Indo-Parthian vassals. In the mid-to-late first century CE the vast Kushan Empire centered in Afghanistan became great patrons of Buddhist culture making Buddhism flourish throughout the region. The Kushans were overthrown by the Sassanids in the 3rd century CE though the Indo-Sassanids continued to rule at least parts of the region. They were followed by the Kidarites who in turn was replaced by the Hephthalites. They were replaced by the Turk Shahi in the 7th century. The Buddhist Turk Shahi of Kabul was replaced by a Hindu dynasty before the Saffarids conquered the area in 870 this Hindu dynasty was called Hindu Shahi. Much of the northeastern and southern areas of the country remained dominated by Buddhist culture.Medieval history.Islamic conquest.Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before the arrival of Islam the region used to be home to various beliefs and cults often resulting in Syncretism between the dominant religions such as Zoroastrianism Buddhism or Greco-Buddhism Ancient Iranian religions Hinduism Christianity and Judaism. An exemplification of the syncretism in the region would be that people were patrons of Buddhism but still worshipped local Iranian gods such as Ahura Mazda Lady Nana Anahita or Mihr and portrayed Greek Gods like Heracles or Tyche as protectors of Buddha. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later the Samanids extended their Islamic influence south of the Hindu Kush. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side in Kabul before the Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century.By the 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni defeated the remaining Hindu rulers and effectively Islamized the wider region with the exception of Kafiristan. Mahmud made Ghazni into an important city and patronized intellectuals such as the historian Al-Biruni and the poet Ferdowsi. The Ghaznavid dynasty was overthrown by the Ghurids whose architectural achievements included the remote Minaret of Jam. The Ghurids controlled Afghanistan for less than a century before being conquered by the Khwarazmian dynasty in 1215.Mongols and Babur with the Lodi Dynasty.In 1219 CE Genghis Khan and his Mongol army overran the region. His troops are said to have annihilated the Khwarazmian cities of Herat and Balkh as well as Bamyan. The destruction caused by the Mongols forced many locals to return to an agrarian rural society. Mongol rule continued with the Ilkhanate in the northwest while the Khalji dynasty administered the Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush until the invasion of Timur who established the Timurid Empire in 1370. Under the rule of Shah Rukh the city served as the focal point of the Timurid Renaissance whose glory matched Florence of the Italian Renaissance as the center of a cultural rebirth.In the early 16th century Babur arrived from Ferghana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty. Babur would go on to conquer the Afghan Lodi dynasty who had ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the First Battle of Panipat. Between the 16th and 18th century the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara Iranian Safavids and Indian Mughals ruled parts of the territory. During the Medieval Period the northwestern area of Afghanistan was referred to by the regional name Khorasan. Two of the four capitals of Khorasan are now located in Afghanistan while the regions of Kandahar Zabulistan Ghazni Kabulistan and Afghanistan formed the frontier between Khorasan and Hindustan. However up to the 19th century the term Khorasan was commonly used among natives to describe their country Sir George Elphinstone wrote with amazement that the country known to outsiders as and that the first Afghan official whom he met at the border welcomed him to Khorasan.Modern history.Hotak Dynasty.In 1709, Mirwais Hotak, a local Ghilzai tribal leader, successfully rebelled against the Safavids. He defeated Gurgin Khan and established his own kingdom. Mirwais died of natural causes in 1715 and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz, who was soon killed by Mirwais' son Mahmud for possibly planning to concede territories back to the Safavids. Mahmud led the Afghan army in 1722 to the Persian capital of Isfahan, captured the city after the Battle of Gulnabad and proclaimed himself King of Persia. The Afghan dynasty was ousted from Persia by Nader Shah after the 1729 Battle of Damghan.Fall of the Hotak Dynasty.In 1738 Nader Shah and his forces captured Kandahar in the Siege of Kandahar the last Hotak stronghold from Shah Hussain Hotak. Soon after the Persian and Afghan forces invaded India Nader Shah had plundered Delhi alongside his 16 year old commander Ahmad Shah Durrani who had assisted him on these campaigns. Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747.Rise of the Durrani Empire.After the death of Nader Shah in 1747 Ahmad Shah Durrani had returned to Kandahar with a contingent of 4000 Pashtuns. the Abdalis had Ahmad Shah as their new leader. With his acension in 1747 Ahmad Shah had led multiple campaigns against the Mughal Empire Maratha Empire and then receding Afsharid Empire. Ahmad Shah had captured Kabul and Peshawar from the Mughal appointed governor Nasir Khan. Ahmad Shah had then conquered Herat in 1750 and had also captured Kashmir in 1752. Ahmad Shah had launched two campaigns into Khorasan and . His first campaign had seen the siege of Mashhad however he was forced to retreat after 4 months. In November 1750 he moved to siege Nishapur however he was unable to capture the city and was forced to retreat in early 1751. Ahmad Shah returned in 1754 he captured Tun and on 23 July he sieged Mashhad once again. Mashhad had fallen on 2 December however Shah rokh was reappointed in 1755. He was forced to give up Torshiz Bakharz Jam Khaf and Turbat-e Haidari to the Afghans. Following this Ahmad Shah had sieged Nishapur once again and captured it.Objectives and Invasions of India.Ahmad Shah invaded India 8 times during his reign. With the capture of Peshawar, Ahmad Shah had used this as a convenient striking point to lead his military campaigns into Punjab and India.Ahmad Shah had sought out multiple reasons for his invasions, Ahmad Shah saw Afghanistan in a dire state, and one that needed to expand and exploit a weak but rich neighboring country, which Ahmad Shah had capitalized on in multiple opportunities during his Invasions of India, he sought the reasons needed to fill his treasury in a war-plunder conquest based economy. Ahmad Shah had launched his first invasion in 1748, crossing the indus river, his armies sacked and absorbed Lahore into the Durrani Realm. Ahmad Shah had met Mughal armies at the Battle of Manupur , where he was defeated and forced to retreat to back to Afghanistan. Ahmad Shah had returned the next year in 1749, where he had captured the area around Lahore and Punjab, presenting it as an Afghan victory for this campaign. From 1749–1767, Ahmad Shah would lead 6 more invasions, the most important being his sixth invasion, with the Third Battle of Panipat, which created a power vacumn in northern india, halting Maratha expansion.Death of Ahmad Shah and his Successors.Ahmad Shah Durrani had died in October 1772 what followed would be a civil war in succession with his named successor Timur Shah Durrani succeeding him after the defeat of his brother Suleiman Mirza.Timur Shah had led a series of reforms to try and stabilize the empire, prominent of these would be the changing of the capital of the Durrani Kingdom from Kandahar to Kabul, which would layover to the modern foundations of Afghanistan with its capital being Kabul. Timur Shah had also led multiple campaigns into India as his father did, recapturing Multan from the Sikhs. However, his set of reforms and isolation of the Pashtuns had alienated the tribal aristocracy, and as he relied on the Qizilbash guards to protect him more to be more inclusive, this would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Durrani Empire just decades later. Timur Shah had died on 20 May 1793 at the age of 46. he would be succeeded by his son, Zaman Shah Durrani.Zaman Shah Durrani would succeed to the Durrani Throne following the death of his father Timur Shah Durrani. This instigated civil war with his brothers Mahmud Shah Durrani and Humayun Mirza revolting against him. With Humayun centered in Kandahar and Mahmud Shah centered in Herat. Zaman Shah would defeat Humayun and also force the loyalty of Mahmud Shah Durrani. Securing his position on the throne Zaman Shah had led 3 campaigns into Punjab with the first two campaigns capturing Lahore but being forced to retreat due to issues from a possible Qajar invasion or his brother Mahmud Shah Durrani revolting. Zaman Shah embarked on his third campaign for Punjab in 1800 to deal with a rebellious Ranjit Singh. However he was forced to withdraw with his brother Mahmud Shah Durrani revolting Zaman Shah would be toppled from his reign replaced by his brother Mahmud Shah Durrani. However just under 2 years in his reign Mahmud Shah Durrani would be deposed by his brother Shah Shuja Durrani on 13 July 1803. Shah Shuja would attempt to consolidate the Durrani Realm which had been long striven by civil war. Shah Shuja would later be deposed by his brother at the Battle of Nimla where Mahmud Shah Durrani would defeat and force Shah Shuja to flee with Shah Mahmud usurping the throne again for his second reign beginning on 3 May 1809.Barakzai dynasty and British wars.By the early 19th century, the Afghan empire was under threat from the Persians in the west and the Sikh Empire in the east. Afghanistan was divided, including the Emirate of Herat centred in the east. Fateh Khan, leader of the Barakzai tribe, had installed 21 of his brothers in positions of power throughout the empire. After his death, they rebelled and divided up the provinces of the empire between themselves. During this turbulent period, Afghanistan had many temporary rulers until Dost Mohammad Khan declared himself emir in 1823. Punjab and Kashmir were lost to Ranjit Singh, who invaded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in March 1823 and captured the city of Peshawar at the Battle of Nowshera. In 1837, during the Battle of Jamrud near the Khyber Pass, Akbar Khan and the Afghan army failed to capture the Jamrud Fort from the Sikh Khalsa Army, but killed Sikh Commander Hari Singh Nalwa, thus ending the Afghan-Sikh Wars. By this time the British were advancing from the east and the first major conflict during "the Great Game" was initiated.In 1838 a British expeditionary force marched into Afghanistan and arrested Dost Mohammad sent him into exile in India and replaced him with the previous ruler Shah Shuja. Following an uprising the 1842 retreat from Kabul of British-Indian forces and the annihilation of Elphinstone's army and the Battle of Kabul that led to its recapture the British gave up on their attempts and allowed Dost Mohammad Khan as ruler and withdrew their military forces from Afghanistan. Dost Mohammad Khan would go on to expand the Afghan Realm greatly with the capture of the Emirate of Herat in the Herat Campaign of 1862-63. Dost Mohammad died on 9 June 1863 a few months after his campaign to capture Herat. Dost Mohammad's successors would fight for the throne of Afghanistan between Sher Ali Khan Mohammad Afzal Khan and Mohammad Azam Khan in the Afghan Civil War . Sher Ali would win this civil war and would go on to rule the realm until In 1878 the British had returned in the Second Anglo-Afghan War which was fought over perceived Russian influence in the region Abdur Rahman Khan replaced Ayub Khan who had succeeded Sher Ali Khan after his death in 1879. Britain would gain control of Afghanistan's foreign relations as part of the Treaty of Gandamak of 1879 making it an official British Protected State. In 1893 Amir Abdur Rahman signed an agreement in which the ethnic Pashtun and Baloch territories were divided by the Durand Line which forms the modern-day border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shia-dominated Hazarajat and pagan Kafiristan remained politically independent until being conquered by Abdur Rahman Khan in 1891–1896. He was known as the "Iron Amir" for his features and his ruthless methods against tribes. The "Iron Amir" viewed railway and telegraph lines coming from the Russian and British as "trojan horses" and therefore prevented railway development in Afghanistan. He died in 1901 succeeded by his son Habibullah Khan.During the First World War when Afghanistan was neutral Habibullah Khan was met by officials of the Central Powers in the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition to declare full independence from the United Kingdom join them and attack British India as part of the Hindu–German Conspiracy. Their efforts to bring Afghanistan into the Central Powers failed but it caused discontent among the population for keeping neutrality against the British. Habibullah was assassinated during a hunting trip in February 1919 and Amanullah Khan eventually assumed power. A staunch supporter of the 1915–1916 expeditions Amanullah Khan provoked the Third Anglo-Afghan War entering British India via the Khyber Pass.After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi on 19 August 1919, Emir Amanullah Khan declared the Emirate of Afghanistan a sovereign and fully independent state. He moved to end his countrys education and against their oppression.Some of the reforms that were put in place such as the abolition of the traditional burqa for women and the opening of several co-educational schools quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders and this led to the Afghan Civil War . Faced with the overwhelming armed opposition King Amanullah abdicated in January 1929 and soon after Kabul fell to Saqqawist forces led by Habibullah Kalakani. Prince Mohammed Nadir Shah Amanullah's cousin in turn defeated and killed Kalakani in October 1929 and was declared King Nadir Shah. He abandoned the reforms of King Amanullah in favor of a more gradual approach to modernization but was assassinated in 1933 by Abdul Khaliq a fifteen-year-old Hazara student who was an Amanullah loyalist.Mohammed Zahir Shah Nadir Shahs reign challenged by Zadran Safi Mangal and Wazir tribesmen led by Mazrak Zadran Salemai and Mirzali Khan among others many of whom were Amanullah loyalists. Close relations with the Muslim states Turkey the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq and Iran/Persia were also pursued while further international relations were sought by joining the League of Nations in 1934. The 1930s saw the development of roads infrastructure the founding of a national bank and increased education. Road links in the north played a large part in a growing cotton and textile industry. The country built close relationships with the Axis powers with Nazi Germany having the largest share in Afghan development at the time along with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan.Contemporary history.Until 1946, King Zahir ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. Another of Zahir Shah's uncles, Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister in 1946 and began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. He was replaced in 1953 by Mohammed Daoud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law, and a Pashtun nationalist who sought the creation of a Pashtunistan, leading to highly tense relations with Pakistan. During his ten years at the post until 1963, Daoud Khan pressed for social modernization reforms and sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Afterward, the 1964 constitution was formed, and the first non-royal Prime Minister was sworn in.King Zahir Shah, like his father Nadir Shah, had a policy of maintaining national independence while pursuing gradual modernization, creating nationalist feeling, and improving relations with the United Kingdom. However, Afghanistan remained neutral and was neither a participant in World War II nor aligned with either power bloc in the Cold War thereafter. However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union and the United States vied for influence by building Afghanistan's main highways, airports, and other vital infrastructure in the post-war period. On a per capita basis, Afghanistan received more Soviet development aid than any other country. Afghanistan had, therefore, good relations with both Cold War enemies. In 1973, while the King was in Italy, Daoud Khan launched a bloodless coup and became the first President of Afghanistan, abolishing the monarchy.Democratic Republic and Soviet war.In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan seized power in a bloody coup d'tat against then-President Mohammed Daoud Khan, in what is called the Saur Revolution. The PDPA declared the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, with its first leader named as People's Democratic Party general secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki. This would trigger a series of events that would dramatically turn Afghanistan from a poor and secluded country to a hotbed of international terrorism. The PDPA initiated various social, symbolic and land distribution reforms that provoked strong opposition, while also brutally oppressing political dissidents. This caused unrest and quickly expanded into a state of civil war by 1979, waged by guerrilla "mujahideen" against regime forces countrywide. It quickly turned into a proxy war as the Pakistani government provided these rebels with covert training centers, the United States supported them through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence , and the Soviet Union sent thousands of military advisers to support the PDPA regime. Meanwhile, there was increasingly hostile friction between the competing factions of the PDPA – the dominant Khalq and the more moderate Parcham.In September 1979 PDPA General Secretary Taraki was assassinated in an internal coup orchestrated by fellow Khalq member then-prime minister Hafizullah Amin who assumed the new general secretary of the Peoples Babrak Karmal but inclusive of both factions (Parcham and Khalq) filled the vacuum. Soviet troops in more substantial numbers were deployed to stabilize Afghanistan under Karmal marking the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War. The United States and Pakistan along with smaller actors like Saudi Arabia and China continued supporting the rebels delivering billions of dollars in cash and weapons including two thousand FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Lasting nine years the war caused the deaths of between 562000 and 2 million Afghans and displaced about 6 million people who subsequently fled Afghanistan mainly to Pakistan and Iran. Heavy air bombardment destroyed many countryside villages millions of landmines were planted and some cities such as Herat and Kandahar were also damaged from bombardment. Pakistans Democratic Party leader Mohammad Najibullah collapsed in 1992.The Soviet-Afghan War had drastic social effects on Afghanistan. The militarization of society led to heavily armed police private bodyguards openly armed civil defense groups and other such things becoming the norm in Afghanistan for decades thereafter. The traditional power structure had shifted from clergy community elders intelligentsia and military in favor of powerful warlords.Post-Cold War conflict.Another civil war broke out after the creation of a dysfunctional coalition government between leaders of various factions committed widespread rape, murder and extortion, while Kabul was heavily bombarded and partially destroyed by the fighting. Several failed reconciliations and alliances occurred between different leaders. The Taliban emerged in September 1994 as a movement and militia of students from Islamic madrassas in Pakistan, who soon had military support from Pakistan. Taking control of Kandahar city that year, they conquered more territories until finally driving out the government of Rabbani from Kabul in 1996, where they established an emirate that gained international recognition from 3 countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Taliban were condemned internationally for the harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic sharia law, which resulted in the brutal treatment of many Afghans, especially women. During their rule, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to starving civilians and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes.After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Rashid Dostum formed the Northern Alliance later joined by others to resist the Taliban. Dostums Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf began sending thousands of Pakistanis to help the Taliban defeat the Northern Alliance.&ltref name=&gt&lt/ref&gt By 2000 the Northern Alliance only controlled 10% of territory cornered in the north-east. On 9 September 2001 Massoud was assassinated by two Arab suicide attackers in Panjshir Valley. Around 400000 Afghans died in internal conflicts between 1990 and 2001.21st century.In October 2001 the United States invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power after they refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden the prime suspect of the September 11 attacks who was a of the Taliban and was operating his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. The majority of Afghans supported the American invasion of their country. During the initial invasion US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps and later working with the Northern Alliance the Taliban regime came to an end.In December 2001, after the Taliban government was overthrown, the Afghan Interim Administration under Hamid Karzai was formed. The International Security Assistance Force was established by the UN Security Council to help assist the Karzai administration and provide basic security. By this time, after two decades of war as well as an acute famine at the time, Afghanistan had one of the highest infant and child mortality rates in the world, the lowest life expectancy, much of the population were hungry, and infrastructure was in ruins. Many foreign donors started providing aid and assistance to rebuild the war-torn country.Taliban forces meanwhile began regrouping inside Pakistan while more coalition troops entered Afghanistan to help the rebuilding process. The Taliban began an insurgency to regain control of Afghanistan. Over the next decade ISAF and Afghan troops led many offensives against the Taliban but failed to fully defeat them. Afghanistan remained one of the poorest countries in the world because of a lack of foreign investment government corruption and the Taliban insurgency. Meanwhile Karzai attempted to unite the peoples of the country and the Afghan government was able to build some democratic structures adopting a constitution in 2004 with the name Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Attempts were made often with the support of foreign donor countries to improve the country's economy healthcare education transport and agriculture. ISAF forces also began to train the Afghan National Security Forces. Following 2002 nearly five million Afghans were repatriated. The number of NATO troops present in Afghanistan peaked at 140000 in 2011 dropping to about 16000 in 2018.In September 2014 Ashraf Ghani became president after the 2014 presidential election where for the first time in Afghanistan's history power was democratically transferred. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations in Afghanistan and transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. The NATO-led Operation Resolute Support was formed the same day as a successor to ISAF. Thousands of NATO troops remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces and continue their fight against the Taliban. It was estimated in 2015 that concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians had been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict.On 14 April 2021 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May. Soon after the withdrawal of NATO troops started the Taliban launched an offensive against the Afghan government quickly advancing in front of collapsing Afghan government forces. On 15 August 2021 as the Taliban once again controlled a vast majority of Afghan territory the Taliban began capturing the capital city of Kabul and many civilians government officials and foreign diplomats were evacuated. President Ghani fled Afghanistan that day. As of 16 August 2021 an unofficial Coordination Council led by senior statesmen was in the process of coordinating the transfer of the state institutions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Taliban. On 17 August the First Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh proclaimed himself the caretaker President of Afghanistan and announced the formation of an anti-Taliban front with a reported 6000+ troops in the Panjshir Valley along with Ahmad Massoud. However on 6 September the Taliban took control of most of the Panjshir province with resistance fighters retreating to the mountains to continue fighting within the province. Fights in the valley ceased mid-September while resistances leaders Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud fled to neighboring Tajikistan.The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was swiftly restored as its opponents were defeated or left the country. It is apparently led by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and acting Prime Minister Hasan Akhund who took office on 7 September 2021. Akhund is one of the four founders of the Taliban and was a deputy Prime Minister in their previous Emirate his appointment was seen as a compromise between moderates and hardliners. A new all-male cabinet was formed including Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai as Minister of Justice. On 20 September 2021 United Nations Secretary-General Antnio Guterres received a letter from acting minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi to formally claim Afghanistan's seat as a member state for their official spokesman in Doha Suhail Shaheen and asked to address the General Assembly. During the previous Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001 the United Nations never recognized their representatives and chose to work with the then-government in exile instead.Western nations have suspended most humanitarian aid to Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021 and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund also halted payments. In October 2021 more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage. On 11 November 2021 the "Human Rights Watch" reported that Afghanistan was facing widespread famine due to collapsed economy and broken banking system.Afghanistan is located in Southern-Central Asia. The region centered at Afghanistan is considered the , and the country has had the nickname Heart of Asia. The renowned Urdu poet Allama Iqbal once wrote about the country:At over , Afghanistan is the world's 41st largest country, slightly bigger than France and smaller than Myanmar, and about the size of Texas in the United States. There is no coastline, as Afghanistan is landlocked. Afghanistan shares its longest land border with Pakistan to the east and south, followed by borders with Tajikistan to the north-east, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the north-west, Uzbekistan to the north and China to the north-east; India recognizes a border with Afghanistan through Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Clockwise from south-west, Afghanistan shares borders with the Sistan and Baluchestan Province, South Khorasan Province and Razavi Khorasan Province of Iran; Ahal Region, Mary Region and Lebap Region of Turkmenistan; Surxondaryo Region of Uzbekistan; Khatlon Region and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan; Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China; and the Gilgit-Baltistan territory, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Balochistan province of Pakistan.The geography in Afghanistan is varied but is mostly mountainous and rugged with some unusual mountain ridges accompanied by plateaus and river basins. It is dominated by the Hindu Kush range the western extension of the Himalayas that stretches to eastern Tibet via the Pamir Mountains and Karakoram Mountains in Afghanistan's far north-east. Most of the highest points are in the east consisting of fertile mountain valleys often considered part of the . The Hindu Kush ends at the west-central highlands creating plains in the north and southwest namely the Turkestan Plains and the Sistan Basin these two regions consist of rolling grasslands and semi-deserts and hot windy deserts respectively. Forests exist in the corridor between Nuristan and Paktika provinces (see East Afghan montane conifer forests) and tundra in the north-east. The country's highest point is Noshaq at above sea level. The lowest point lies in Jowzjan Province along the Amu River bank at above sea level.Despite having numerous rivers and reservoirs, large parts of the country are dry. The endorheic Sistan Basin is one of the driest regions in the world. The Amu Darya rises at the north of the Hindu Kush, while the nearby Hari Rud flows west towards Herat, and the Arghandab River from the central region southwards. To the south and west of the Hindu Kush flow a number of streams that are tributaries of the Indus River, such as the Helmand River. One exception is the Kabul River which flows in an easternly direction to the Indus ending at the Indian Ocean. Afghanistan receives heavy snow during the winter in the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains, and the melting snow in the spring season enters the rivers, lakes, and streams. However, two-thirds of the country's water flows into the neighboring countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. As reported in 2010, the state needs more than US$2 billion to rehabilitate its irrigation systems so that the water is properly managed.The northeastern Hindu Kush mountain range, in and around the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, is in a geologically active area where earthquakes may occur almost every year. They can be deadly and destructive, causing landslides in some parts or avalanches during the winter. The last strong earthquakes were in 1998, which killed about 6,000 people in Badakhshan near Tajikistan. This was followed by the 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes in which over 150 people were killed and over 1,000 injured. A 2010 earthquake left 11 Afghans dead, over 70 injured, and more than 2,000 houses destroyed.Afghanistan has a continental climate with harsh winters in the central highlands, the glaciated northeast , and the Wakhan Corridor, where the average temperature in January is below and can reach , and hot summers in the low-lying areas of the Sistan Basin of the southwest, the Jalalabad basin in the east, and the Turkestan plains along the Amu River in the north, where temperatures average over in July and can go over . The country is generally arid in the summers, with most rainfall falling between December and April. The lower areas of northern and western Afghanistan are the driest, with precipitation more common in the east. Although proximate to India, Afghanistan is mostly outside the monsoon zone, except the Nuristan Province which occasionally receives summer monsoon rain.Biodiversity.Several types of mammals exist throughout Afghanistan. Snow leopards Siberian tigers and brown bears live in the high elevation alpine tundra regions. The Marco Polo sheep exclusively live in the Wakhan Corridor region of north-east Afghanistan. Foxes wolves otters deer wild sheep lynx and other big cats populate the mountain forest region of the east. In the semi-desert northern plains wildlife include a variety of birds hedgehogs gophers and large carnivores such as jackals and hyenas.Gazelles wild pigs and jackals populate the steppe plains of the south and west while mongoose and cheetahs exist in the semi-desert south. Marmots and ibex also live in the high mountains of Afghanistan and pheasants exist in some parts of the country. The Afghan hound is a native breed of dog known for its fast speed and its long hair it is relatively known in the west.Endemic fauna of Afghanistan includes the Afghan flying squirrel Afghan snowfinch Afghanodon . Afghanistan has a wide variety of birds despite its relatively arid climate – an estimated 460 species of which 235 breed within.The forest region of Afghanistan has vegetation such as pine trees spruce trees fir trees and larches whereas the steppe grassland regions consist of broadleaf trees short grass perennial plants and shrublands. The colder high elevation regions are composed of hardy grasses and small flowering plants. Several regions are designated protected areas there are three national parks Band-e Amir Wakhan and Nuristan. Afghanistan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.85/10 ranking it 15th globally out of 172 countries.Demographics.The population of Afghanistan was estimated at 32.9 million as of 2019 by the Afghanistan Statistics and Information Authority whereas the UN estimates over 38.0 million. In 1979 the total population was reported to be about 15.5 million. About 23.9% of them are urbanite 71.4% live in rural areas and the remaining 4.7% are nomadic.&ltref name= &gt&lt/ref&gt An additional 3 million or so Afghans are temporarily housed in neighboring Pakistan and Iran most of whom were born and raised in those two countries. As of 2013 Afghanistan was the largest refugee-producing country in the world a title held for 32 years.The current population growth rate is 2.37%, one of the highest in the world outside of Africa. This population is expected to reach 82 million by 2050 if current population trends continue. The population of Afghanistan increased steadily until the 1980s, when civil war caused millions to flee to other countries such as Pakistan. Millions have since returned and the war conditions contribute to the country having the highest fertility rate outside Africa. Afghanistan's healthcare has recovered since the turn of the century, causing falls in infant mortality and increases in life expectancy, although it has the lowest life expectance of any country outside Africa. This caused rapid population growth in the 2000s that has only recently started to slow down. The Gini coefficient in 2008 was 27.8.Ethnicity and languages.Afghans are divided into several ethnolinguistic groups. The Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group, comprising 39% (2019 sociological research data by The Asia Foundation), followed by Tajiks (or Farsiwans), comprising 37%. of the country's population. Generally the other three major ethnic groups are the Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks. A further 10 other ethnic groups are recognized and each are represented in the Afghan National Anthem.Dari and Pashto are the official languages of Afghanistan; bilingualism is very common. Dari, which is a variety of and mutually intelligible with Persian (and very often called by some Afghans like in Iran) functions as the lingua franca in Kabul as well as in much of the northern and northwestern parts of the country. Native speakers of Dari, of any ethnicity, are sometimes called Farsiwans. Pashto is the native tongue of the Pashtuns, although many of them are also fluent in Dari while some non-Pashtuns are fluent in Pashto. Despite the Pashtuns having been dominant in Afghan politics for centuries, Dari remained the preferred language for government and bureaucracy.According to CIA World Factbook Dari Persian is spoken by 78% and functions as the lingua franca while Pashto is spoken by 50% Uzbek 10% English 5% Turkmen 2% Urdu 2% Pashayi 1% Nuristani 1% Arabic 1% and Balochi 1% . Data represent the most widely spoken languages shares sum to more than 100% because there is much bilingualism in the country and because respondents were allowed to select more than one language.There are a number of smaller regional languages including Uzbek Turkmen Balochi Pashayi and Nuristani.When it comes to foreign languages among the populace many are able to speak or understand Hindustani (Urdu-Hindi) partly due to returning Afghan refugees from Pakistan and the popularity of Bollywood films respectively. English is also understood by some of the population and has been gaining popularity as of the 2000s. Some Afghans retain some ability in Russian which was taught in public schools during the 1980s.An estimated 99.7% of the Afghan population is Muslim and most are thought to adhere to the Sunni Hanafi school. According to Pew Research Center, as much as 90% are of the Sunni denomination, 7% Shia and 3% non-denominational. The CIA Factbook variously estimates up to 89.7% Sunni or up to 15% Shia. Dr Michael Izady estimated 70% of the population to be followers of Sunni Islam, 25% Imami Shia Islam, 4.5% Ismaili Shia Islam, and 0.5% other religions.Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are also found in certain major cities accompanied by gurdwaras and mandirs. According to Deutsche Welle in September 2021, 250 remain in the country after 67 were evacuated to India.There was a small Jewish community in Afghanistan, living mainly in Herat and Kabul. Over the years, this small community was forced leave due to decades of warfare and religious prosecution. By the end of the twentieth century, the entire community had emigrated to Israel and the United States, with the exception of one person, Herat-born Zablon Simintov. He remained for years, being the caretaker of the only remaining Afghan synagogue. After the second Taliban takeover, he left Afghanistan for the United States.Afghan Christians who number 500–8000 practice their faith secretly due to intense societal opposition and there are no public churches.Urbanization.As estimated by the CIA World Factbook, 26% of the population was urbanized as of 2020. This is one of the lowest figures in the world; in Asia it is only higher than Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Urbanization has increased rapidly, particularly in the capital Kabul, due to returning refugees from Pakistan and Iran after 2001, internally displaced people, and rural migrants. Urbanization in Afghanistan is different from typical urbanization in that it is centered on just a few cities.The only city with over a million residents is its capital Kabul located in the east of the country. The other large cities are located generally in the "ring" around the Central Highlands namely Kandahar in the south Herat in the west Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz in the north and Jalalabad in the east.Governance.Following the effective collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan during the 2021 Taliban offensive, the Taliban declared the country an Islamic Emirate. A new caretaker government was announced on 7 September. As of 8 September 2021, no other country had formally recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as the "de jure" government of Afghanistan.A traditional instrument of governance in Afghanistan is the a Pashtun consultative meeting that was mainly organized for choosing a new head of state adopting a new constitution or to settle national or regional issue such as war. Loya jirgas have been held since at least 1747 with the most recent one occurring in August 2020.Development of Taliban government.On 17 August 2021 the leader of the Taliban-affiliated Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin party Gulbuddin Hekmatyar met with both Hamid Karzai the former President of Afghanistan and Abdullah Abdullah the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and former Chief Executive in Doha Qatar with the aim of forming a government . President Ashraf Ghani having fled the country during the Taliban advance to either Tajikistan or Uzbekistan emerged in the United Arab Emirates and said that he supported such negotiations and was in talks to return to Afghanistan. the Islamic Emirate is undergoing a transitional political period with an unofficial Coordination Council led by senior statesmen in the process of coordinating the transfer of the state institutions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Taliban. Taliban forces meanwhile exercise effective police authority in the country. The Kabul meetings on government formation are men-only meetings according to Fawzia Koofi former member of the Afghan National Assembly who stated that a men-only government would "not be complete". Many figures within the Taliban generally agree that continuation of the Constitution of Afghanistan may potentially be workable as the basis for the new state as their objections to the former government were religious and not political in nature. On 20 August Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul from Kandahar to begin formal negotiations with the Coordination Council on the composition and structure of the new government.Hours after the final flight of American troops left Kabul on 30 August, a Taliban official interviewed said that a new government would likely be announced as early as Friday 3 September after Jumu'ah. It was added that Hibatullah Akhundzada would be officially named Emir, with cabinet ministers being revealed at the Arg in an official ceremony. Abdul Ghani Baradar would be named head of government as Prime Minister, while other important positions would go to Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mohammad Yaqoob. Beneath the supreme leader, day-to-day governance will be entrusted to the cabinet.According to CNN, the new government is likely to be a unitary Deobandist Islamic republic. In a report by CNN-News18, sources said the new government was going to be governed similarly to Iran with Haibatullah Akhundzada as supreme leader similar to the role of Saayid Ali Khamenei, and would be based out of Kandahar. Baradar or Yaqoob would be head of government as Prime Minister. The government's ministries and agencies will be under a cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister. The Supreme Leader would preside over an executive body known Supreme Council with anywhere from 11 to 72 members. Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai is likely to be promoted to Chief Justice. According to the report, the new government will take place within the framework of an amended 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan.However later interviews disclosed to News18 that negotiations were not yet completed and that representatives were still in Kandahar and that the announcement of the new government would not take place until 4 September or later. Government formation was further delayed with the announcement postponed to some time during the week of 6 September due to concerns about forming a broad-based government acceptable to the international community. It was later added however that the Taliban's Rahbari Shura the group's leadership council was divided between the hardline Haqqani Network and moderate Abdul Ghani Baradar over appointments needed to form an "inclusive" government. This culminated in a skirmish which led to Baradar being injured and treated in Pakistan. It was speculated that the government would be announced on 11 September 2021 the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with invitations possibly being extended to the governments of Turkey China Iran Pakistan and Qatar.As of early September the Taliban were planning the Cabinet to be men-only stating that women would not be allowed to "work in high-ranking posts" in the government and that women were "ruled out" from the Cabinet. Journalists and other human rights activists mostly women protested in Herat and Kabul calling for women to be included in the Cabinet. The acting Cabinet announced on 7 September was men-only and the Ministry of Women's Affairs appeared to have been abolished.Administrative divisions.Afghanistan is administratively divided into 34 provinces . Each province has a governor and a capital. The country is further divided into nearly 400 provincial districts each of which normally covers a city or several villages. Each district is represented by a district governor.The provincial governors are now appointed by the Prime Minister of Afghanistan and the district governors are selected by the provincial governors. The provincial governors are representatives of the central government in Kabul and are responsible for all administrative and formal issues within their provinces. There are also provincial councils that are elected through direct and general elections for four years. The functions of provincial councils are to take part in provincial development planning and to participate in the monitoring and appraisal of other provincial governance institutions.According to article 140 of the constitution and the presidential decree on electoral law, mayors of cities should be elected through free and direct elections for a four-year term. In practice however, mayors are appointed by the government.The following is a list of all the 34 provinces in alphabetical order:Foreign relations.Afghanistan became a member of the United Nations in 1946. Historically Afghanistan had strong relations with Germany one of the first countries to recognize Afghanistans forces and includes the signing of a Treaty of Friendship in 1921 and 1978 and India with which a friendship treaty was signed in 1950. Relations with Pakistan have often been tense for various reasons such as the Durand Line border issue and alleged Pakistani involvement in Afghan insurgent groups.The present Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is currently internationally unrecognized, but has had notable unofficial ties with China, Pakistan, and Qatar. Under the previous Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, it enjoyed cordial relations with a number of NATO and allied nations, particularly the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Turkey. In 2012, the United States and the then-republic in Afghanistan signed their Strategic Partnership Agreement in which Afghanistan became a major non-NATO ally.The Islamic Emirate Army inherited high amount of modern army ground forces and airforce weapons hardware vehicles aerocrafts and equipment including UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.Afghanistans rough physical geography and its landlocked status has been cited as reasons why the country has always been among the least developed in the modern era – a factor where progress is also slowed by contemporary conflict and political instability. The country imports over $7 billion worth of goods but exports only $784 million mainly fruits and nuts. It has $2.8 billion in external debt. The service sector contributed the most to the GDP followed by agriculture and industry .While the nation's current account deficit is largely financed with donor money, only a small portion is provided directly to the government budget. The rest is provided to non-budgetary expenditure and donor-designated projects through the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations.Da Afghanistan Bank serves as the central bank of the nation and the Afghani is the national currency, with an exchange rate of about 75 Afghanis to 1 US dollar. A number of local and foreign banks operate in the country, including the Afghanistan International Bank, New Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, Pashtany Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and the First Micro Finance Bank.One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 5 million expatriates, who brought with them entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. Many Afghans are now involved in construction, which is one of the largest industries in the country. Some of the major national construction projects include the $35 billion New Kabul City next to the capital, the Aino Mena project in Kandahar, and the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Town near Jalalabad. Similar development projects have also begun in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, and other cities. An estimated 400,000 people enter the labor market each year.Several small companies and factories began operating in different parts of the country which not only provide revenues to the government but also create new jobs. Improvements to the business environment have resulted in more than $1.5 billion in telecom investment and created more than 100000 jobs since 2003. Afghan rugs are becoming popular again allowing many carpet dealers around the country to hire more workers in 2016–17 it was the fourth most exported group of items.Afghanistan is a member of WTO SAARC ECO and OIC. It holds an observer status in SCO. In 2018 a majority of imports come from either Iran China Pakistan and Kazakhstan while 84% of exports are to Pakistan and India.Since the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021, the United States has frozen about $9 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, blocking the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars held in U.S. bank accounts.Agriculture.Agricultural production is the backbone of Afghanistan's economy and has traditionally dominated the economy, employing about 40% of the workforce as of 2018. The country is known for producing pomegranates, grapes, apricots, melons, and several other fresh and dry fruits. It is also known as the world's largest producer of opium – as much as 16% or more of the nation's economy is derived from the cultivation and sale of opium. It is also one of the world's top producers of cannabis.Saffron the most expensive spice grows in Afghanistan particularly Herat Province. In recent years there has been an uptick in saffron production which authorities and farmers trying to replace poppy cultivation. Between 2012 and 2019 the saffron cultivated and produced in Afghanistan was consecutively ranked the world's best by the International Taste and Quality Institute. Production hit record high in 2019 (19469 kg of saffron) and one kilogram is sold domestically between $634 and $1147.The country's natural resources include: coal, copper, iron ore, lithium, uranium, rare earth elements, chromite, gold, zinc, talc, barite, sulfur, lead, marble, precious and semi-precious stones, natural gas, and petroleum. In 2010, US and Afghan government officials estimated that untapped mineral deposits located in 2007 by the US Geological Survey are worth at least .Michael E. O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution estimated that if Afghanistan generates about $10 billion per year from its mineral deposits, its gross national product would double and provide long-term funding for Afghan security forces and other critical needs. The United States Geological Survey estimated in 2006 that northern Afghanistan has an average of crude oil, of natural gas, and of natural gas liquids. In 2011, Afghanistan signed an oil exploration contract with China National Petroleum Corporation for the development of three oil fields along the Amu Darya river in the north.The country has significant amounts of lithium, copper, gold, coal, iron ore, and other minerals. The Khanashin carbonatite in Helmand Province contains of rare earth elements. In 2007, a 30-year lease was granted for the Aynak copper mine to the China Metallurgical Group for $3 billion, making it the biggest foreign investment and private business venture in Afghanistan's history. The state-run Steel Authority of India won the mining rights to develop the huge Hajigak iron ore deposit in central Afghanistan. Government officials estimate that 30% of the country's untapped mineral deposits are worth at least . One official asserted that "this will become the backbone of the Afghan economy" and a Pentagon memo stated that Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium". The lithium reserves of 21 Mio. tons could amount to the ones of Bolivia, which is currently viewed as the country with the largest lithium reserves. Other larger deposits are the ones of Bauxit and Cobalt. In a 2011 news story, the "CSM" reported, "The United States and other Western nations that have borne the brunt of the cost of the Afghan war have been conspicuously absent from the bidding process on Afghanistan's mineral deposits, leaving it mostly to regional powers."Access to biocapacity in Afghanistan is lower than world average. In 2016 Afghanistan had 0.43 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Afghanistan used 0.73 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use just under double as much biocapacity as Afghanistan contains. As a result Afghanistan is running a biocapacity deficit.Infrastructure.According to the World Bank 98% of the rural population have access to electricity in 2018 up from 28% in 2008. Overall the figure stands at 98.7%. As of 2016 Afghanistan produces 1400 megawatts of power but still imports the majority of electricity via transmission lines from Iran and the Central Asian states. The majority of electricity production is via hydropower helped by the amount of rivers and streams that flow from the mountains. However electricity is not always reliable and blackouts happen including in Kabul. In recent years an increasing number of solar biomass and wind power plants have been constructed. Currently under development are the CASA-1000 project which will transmit electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. Power is managed by the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat .Important dams include the Kajaki Dam, Dahla Dam, and the Sardeh Band Dam.Tourism is a small industry in Afghanistan due to security issues. Nevertheless, some 20,000 foreign tourists visit the country annually as of 2016. In particular an important region for domestic and international tourism is the picturesque Bamyan Valley, which includes lakes, canyons and historical sites, helped by the fact it is in a safe area away from insurgent activity. Smaller numbers visit and trek in regions such as the Wakhan Valley, which is also one of the world's most remote communities. From the late 1960s onwards, Afghanistan was a popular stop on the famous hippie trail, attracting many Europeans and Americans. Coming from Iran, the trail traveled through various Afghan provinces and cities including Herat, Kandahar and Kabul before crossing to northern Pakistan, northern India, and Nepal. Tourism peaked in 1977, the year before the start of political instability and armed conflict.The city of Ghazni has significant history and historical sites and together with Bamyan city have in recent years been voted Islamic Cultural Capital and South Asia Cultural Capital respectively. The cities of Herat Kandahar Balkh and Zaranj are also very historic. The Minaret of Jam in the Hari River valley is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A cloak reputedly worn by Islam's prophet Muhammad is kept inside the Shrine of the Cloak in Kandahar a city founded by Alexander the Great and the first capital of Afghanistan. The citadel of Alexander in the western city of Herat has been renovated in recent years and is a popular attraction. In the north of the country is the Shrine of Ali believed by many to be the location where Ali was buried. The National Museum of Afghanistan is located in Kabul and hosts a large number of Buddhist Bactrian Greek and early Islamic antiquities the museum suffered greatly by civil war but has been slowly restoring since the early 2000s.Communication.Telecommunication services in Afghanistan are provided by Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, MTN Group, and Roshan. The country uses its own space satellite called Afghansat 1, which provides services to millions of phone, internet, and television subscribers. By 2001 following years of civil war, telecommunications was virtually a non-existent sector, but by 2016 it had grown to a $2 billion industry, with 22 million mobile phone subscribers and 5 million internet users. The sector employs at least 120,000 people nationwide.Transportation.Due to Afghanistans road network is Highway 1, often called the , which extends for and connects five major cities: Kabul, Ghazni, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif, with spurs to Kunduz and Jalalabad and various border crossings, while skirting around the mountains of the Hindu Kush.The Ring Road is crucially important for domestic and international trade and the economy. A key portion of the Ring Road is the Salang Tunnel, completed in 1964, which facilitates travel through the Hindu Kush mountain range and connects northern and southern Afghanistan. It is the only land route that connects Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Several mountain passes allow travel between the Hindu Kush in other areas. Serious traffic accidents are common on Afghan roads and highways, particularly on the Kabul–Kandahar and the Kabul–Jalalabad Road. Traveling by bus in Afghanistan remains dangerous due to militant activities.Air transport in Afghanistan is provided by the national carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines and by the private company Kam Air. Airlines from a number of countries also provide flights in and out of the country. These include Air India Emirates Gulf Air Iran Aseman Airlines Pakistan International Airlines and Turkish Airlines. The country has four international airports Hamid Karzai International Airport Kandahar International Airport Herat International Airport and Mazar-e Sharif International Airport. Including domestic airports there are 43. Bagram Air Base is a major military airfield.The country has three rail links: one, a line from Mazar-i-Sharif to the Uzbekistan border; a long line from Toraghundi to the Turkmenistan border ; and a short link from Aqina across the Turkmen border to Kerki, which is planned to be extended further across Afghanistan. These lines are used for freight only and there is no passenger service. A rail line between Khaf, Iran and Herat, western Afghanistan, intended for both freight and passengers, is under construction as of 2019. About of the line will lie on the Afghan side. There are various proposals for the construction of additional rail lines in the country.Private vehicle ownership has increased substantially since the early 2000s. Taxis are yellow in color and consist of both cars and auto rickshaws. In rural Afghanistan, villagers often use donkeys, mules or horses to transport or carry goods. Camels are primarily used by the Kochi nomads. Bicycles are popular throughout Afghanistan.Education in Afghanistan includes K–12 and higher education, which is overseen by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. There are over 16,000 schools in the country and roughly 9 million students. Of this, about 60% are males and 40% females. However, the new regime has thus far forbidden girls and female teachers from returning to secondary schools. Over 174,000 students are enrolled in different universities around the country. About 21% of these are females. Former Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak had stated that construction of 8,000 schools is required for the remaining children who are deprived of formal learning.The top universities in Afghanistan are the American University of Afghanistan followed by Kabul University , both of which are located in Kabul. The National Military Academy of Afghanistan, modeled after the United States Military Academy at West Point, is a four-year military development institution dedicated to graduating officers for the Afghan Armed Forces. The Afghan Defense University was constructed near Qargha in Kabul. Major universities outside of Kabul include Kandahar University in the south, Herat University in the northwest, Balkh University and Kunduz University in the north, Nangarhar University and Khost University in the east. The United States is building six faculties of education and five provincial teacher training colleges around the country, two large secondary schools in Kabul, and one school in Jalalabad. Kabul University was founded in 1932 and is a respected institute that played a significant part in the country's education; from the 1960s the Kabul University was also a hotbed of radical political ideologies such as Marxism and Islamism, which played major parts in society, politics and the war that began in 1978.As of 2018 the literacy rate of the population age 15 and older is 43.02% . The Afghan National Security Forces are provided with mandatory literacy courses.According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the 15th least developed country in the world. The average life expectancy is estimated to be around 60 years. The country's maternal mortality rate is 396 deaths/100,000 live births and its infant mortality rate is 66 to 112.8 deaths in every 1,000 live births. The Ministry of Public Health plans to cut the infant mortality rate to 400 for every 100,000 live births before 2020. The country has more than 3,000 midwives, with an additional 300 to 400 being trained each year.There are over 100 hospitals in Afghanistan, with the most advanced treatments being available in Kabul. The French Medical Institute for Children and Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul are the leading children's hospitals in the country. Some of the other leading hospitals in Kabul include the Jamhuriat Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. In spite of all this, many Afghans travel to Pakistan and India for advanced treatment.It was reported in 2006 that nearly 60% of the Afghan population lives within a two-hour walk of the nearest health facility. Disability rate is also high in Afghanistan due to the decades of war. It was reported recently that about 80,000 people are missing limbs. Non-governmental charities such as Save the Children and Mahboba's Promise assist orphans in association with governmental structures. Demographic and Health Surveys is working with the Indian Institute of Health Management Research and others to conduct a survey in Afghanistan focusing on maternal death, among other things.Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between the regions of Afghanistan each with distinctive cultures partly as a result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Family is the mainstay of Afghan society and families are often headed by a patriarch. In the southern and eastern region the people live according to the Pashtun culture by following Pashtunwali (the Pashtun way). Key tenets of Pashtunwali include hospitality the provision of sanctuary to those seeking refuge and revenge for the shedding of blood. The Pashtuns are largely connected to the culture of Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau. The remaining Afghans are culturally Persian and Turkic. Some non-Pashtuns who live in proximity with Pashtuns have adopted Pashtunwali in a process called Pashtunization while some Pashtuns have been Persianized. Those who have lived in Pakistan and Iran over the last 30 years have been further influenced by the cultures of those neighboring nations. The Afghan people are known to be strongly religious.Afghans, particularly Pashtuns, are noted for their tribal solidarity and high regard for personal honor. One writer considers the tribal system to be the best way of organizing large groups of people in a country that is geographically difficult, and in a society that, from a materialistic point of view, has an uncomplicated lifestyle. There are various Afghan tribes, and an estimated 2–3 million nomads. Afghan culture is deeply Islamic, but pre-Islamic practices persist. One example is , a term for activities involving sexual relations between older men and younger adolescent men, or boys. Child marriage is prevalent in Afghanistan; the legal age for marriage is 16. The most preferred marriage in Afghan society is to one's parallel cousin, and the groom is often expected to pay a bride price.In the villages families typically occupy mudbrick houses or compounds with mudbrick or stone walled houses. Villages typically have a headman a master for water distribution and a religious teacher . Men would typically work on the fields joined by women during harvest. About 15% of the population are nomadic locally called "kochis". When nomads pass villages they often buy supplies such as tea wheat and kerosene from the villagers villagers buy wool and milk from the nomads.Afghan clothing for both men and women typically consists of various forms of shalwar kameez, especially "perahan tunban" and "khet partug". Women would normally wear a "chador" for head covering; some women, typically from highly conservative communities, wear the "burqa", a full body covering. These were worn by some women of the Pashtun community well before Islam came to the region, but the Taliban enforced this dress on women when they were in power. Another popular dress is the "chapan" which acts as a coat. The "karakul" is a hat made from the fur of a specific regional breed of sheep. It was favored by former kings of Afghanistan and became known to much of the world in the 21st century when it was constantly worn by President Hamid Karzai. The "pakol" is another traditional hat originating from the far east of the country; it was popularly worn by the guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. The "Mazari hat" originates from northern Afghanistan.Architecture.The nation has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. Afghanistan contains many remnants from all ages including Greek and Buddhist stupas monasteries monuments temples and Islamic minarets. Among the most well known are the Great Mosque of Herat the Blue Mosque the Minaret of Jam the Chil Zena the Qala-i Bost in Lashkargah the ancient Greek city of Ai-Khanoum. However many of its historic monuments have been damaged in modern times due to the civil wars. The two famous Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed by the Taliban who regarded them as idolatrous. Despite that archaeologists are still finding Buddhist relics in different parts of the country some of them dating back to the 2nd century. As there was no colonialism in the modern era in Afghanistan European-style architecture is rare but does exist the Victory Arch at Paghman and the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul were built in this style in the 1920s by the Afghans themselves.Art and ceramics.Carpet weaving is an ancient practice in Afghanistan, and many of these are still handmade by tribal and nomadic people today. Carpets have been produced in the region for thousands of years and traditionally done by women. Some crafters express their feelings through the designs of rugs; for example after the outbreak of the Soviet-Afghan War, "war rugs", a variant of Afghan rugs, were created with designs representing pain and misery caused by the conflict. Every province has its own specific characteristics in making rugs. In some of the Turkic-populated areas in the north-west, bride and wedding ceremony prices are driven by the bride's weaving skills.Pottery has been crafted in Afghanistan for millennia. The village of Istalif, north of Kabul, is in particular a major center, known for its unique turquoise and green pottery, and their methods of crafting have remained the same for centuries. Much of stones were earthed in modern-day Afghanistan which were used in Chinese porcelain as cobalt blue, later used in ancient Mesopotamia and Turkey.The lands of Afghanistan have a long history of art with the world's earliest known usage of oil painting found in cave murals in the country. A notable art style that developed in Afghanistan and eastern Pakistan is Gandhara Art produced by a fusion of Greco-Roman art and Buddhist art between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. Later eras saw increased use of the Persian miniature style with Kamaleddin Behzad of Herat being one of the most notable miniature artists of the Timurid and early Safavid periods. Since the 1900s the nation began to use Western techniques in art. Abdul Ghafoor Breshna was a prominent Afghan painter and sketch artist from Kabul during the 20th century.Media and entertainment.Afghanistan has around 350 radio stations and over 200 television stations. Radio Television Afghanistan originating from 1925 is the state public broadcaster. Television programs began airing in the 1970s and today there are many private television channels such as TOLO and Shamshad TV. The first Afghan newspaper was published in 1873 and there are hundreds of print outlets today. By the 1920s Radio Kabul was broadcasting local radio services. Voice of America BBC and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcast in both of Afghanistan's official languages on radio. Press restrictions have been gradually relaxed and private media diversified since 2002 after more than two decades of tight controls.Afghans have long been accustomed to watching Indian Bollywood films and listening to its filmi songs. It has been claimed that Afghanistan is among the biggest markets for the Hindi film industry. The stereotypes of Afghans in India has also been represented in some Bollywood films by actors. Many Bollywood film stars have roots in Afghanistan, including Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Feroz Khan, Kader Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Zarine Khan, Celina Jaitly, and a number of others. Several Bollywood films have been shot inside Afghanistan, including .Afghan classical music has close historical links with Indian classical music and use the same Hindustani terminology and theories like raga. Genres of this style of music include ghazal and instruments such as the Indian tabla, sitar and harmonium, and local instruments like zerbaghali, as well as dayereh and tanbur which are also known in Central Asia, the Caucusus and the Middle East. The rubab is the country's national instrument and precurses the Indian sarod instrument. Some of the famous artists of classical music include Ustad Sarahang and Sarban.Pop music developed in the 1950s through Radio Kabul and was influential in social change. During this time female artists also started appearing, at first Mermon Parwin. Perhaps the most famous artist of this genre was Ahmad Zahir, who synthesized many genres and continues to be renowned for his voice and rich lyrics long after his death in 1979. Other notable masters of traditional or popular Afghan music include Nashenas, Ubaidullah Jan, Mahwash, Ahmad Wali, Farhad Darya, and Naghma.Attan is the national dance of Afghanistan a group dance popularly performed by Afghans of all backgrounds. The dance is considered part of Afghan identity.Afghan cuisine is largely based upon the nation's chief crops such as wheat maize barley and rice. Accompanying these staples are native fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products such as milk yogurt and whey. Kabuli palaw is the national dish of Afghanistan. The nation's culinary specialties reflect its ethnic and geographic diversity. Afghanistan is known for its high quality pomegranates grapes and sweet melons. Tea is a favorite drink among Afghans and a typical diet consists of naan yoghurts rice and meat.Literature.Classic Persian and Pashto poetry are a cherished part of Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in the region, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. One of the poetic styles is called landay. A popular theme in Afghan folklore and mythology are Divs, monstrous creatures. Thursdays are traditionally in the city of Herat when men, women and children gather and recite both ancient and modern poems.The Afghan region has produced countless Persian-speaking poets and writers from the Middle Ages to the present day, among which three mystical authors are considered true national glories , namely: Khwaja Abdullah Ansari of Herat, a great mystic and Sufi saint in the 11th century, Sanai of Ghazni, author of mystical poems in the 12th century, and, finally, Rumi of Balkh, in the 13th century, considered the persophonist throughout the world as the greatest mystical poet of the entire Muslim world. The Afghan Pashto literature, although quantitatively remarkable and in great growth in the last century, has always had an essentially local meaning and importance, feeling the influence of both Persian literature and the contiguous literatures of India. Both main literatures, from the second half of the nineteenth century, have shown themselves to be sensitive to genres , movements and stylistic features imported from Europe.Khushal Khan Khattak of the 17th century is considered the national poet. Other notable poets include Rabi'a Balkhi, Jami, Rahman Baba, Khalilullah Khalili, and Parween Pazhwak.Holidays and festivals.Afghanistan's official New Year starts with Nowruz an ancient tradition that started as a Zoroastrian celebration in present-day Iran and with which it shares the annual celebration along with several other countries. It occurs every year at the vernal equinox. In Afghanistan Nowruz is typically celebrated with music and dance as well as holding buzkashi tournaments.Yald, another nationally celebrated ancient tradition, commemorates the ancient goddess Mithra and marks the longest night of the year on the eve of the winter solstice (; usually falling on 20 or 21 December), during which families gather together to recite poetry and eat fruits—particularly the red fruits watermelon and pomegranate, as well as mixed nuts.Religious festivals are also celebrated; as a predominantly Muslim country, Islamic events and festivals such as Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Ashura are widely celebrated annually in Afghanistan. The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi is celebrated by the Sikh community and the Hindu festival Diwali by the Hindu community.National Independence Day is celebrated on 19 August to mark the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 under King Amanullah Khan and the country's full independence. Several international celebrations are also officially held in Afghanistan, such as International Workers' Day and International Women's Day. Some regional festivals include the Pamir Festival, which celebrates the culture of the Wakhi and Kyrgyz peoples, the Red Flower Festival in Mazar-i-Sharif and the Damboora Festival in Bamyan Province.Sport in Afghanistan is managed by the Afghan Sports Federation. Cricket and association football are the two most popular sports in the country. The Afghan Sports Federation promotes cricket, association football, basketball, volleyball, golf, handball, boxing, taekwondo, weightlifting, bodybuilding, track and field, skating, bowling, snooker, chess, and other sports.Afghanistans football team followed as it won the SAFF Championship.The Afghan national cricket team which was formed in 2001 participated in the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One and the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. It won the ACC Twenty20 Cup in 2007 2009 2011 and 2013. The team eventually made it and played in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The Afghanistan Cricket Board is the official governing body of the sport and is headquartered in Kabul. The Alokozay Kabul International Cricket Ground serves as the nation's main cricket stadium. There are several other stadiums throughout the country including the Ghazi Amanullah Khan International Cricket Stadium near Jalalabad. Domestically cricket is played between teams from different provinces.The Afghanistan national football team has been competing in international football since 1941. The national team plays its home games at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, while football in Afghanistan is governed by the Afghanistan Football Federation. The national team has never competed or qualified for the FIFA World Cup but has recently won an international football trophy in 2013. The country also has a national team in the sport of futsal, a 5-a-side variation of football.The traditional and the national sport of Afghanistan is buzkashi, mainly popular in the north, but also having a following in other parts of the country. It is similar to polo, played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. The Afghan Hound originated in Afghanistan and was formerly used in wolf hunting. In 2002, traveler Rory Stewart reported that dogs were still used for wolf hunting in remote areas.
Albania officially the Republic of Albania is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest Kosovo to the northeast North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city followed by Durrs Vlor and Shkodr.Geographically, Albania displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, defined in an area of . It possesses significant diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean Sea.Historically, Albania has been inhabited by different civilisations over time, such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans. The Albanians established the autonomous Principality of Arbr in the 12th century. The Kingdom of Albania and Principality of Albania formed between the 13th and 14th centuries. Prior to the Ottoman conquest of Albania in the 15th century, the Albanian resistance to Ottoman expansion into Europe led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg won them acclaim over most of Europe. Albania remained under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries, during which many Albanians attained high-ranking offices in the empire, especially in the Southern Balkans and Egypt. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, cultural developments, widely attributed to Albanians having gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength, conclusively led to the Albanian Renaissance. After the defeat of the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars, the modern nation state of Albania declared independence in 1912. In the 20th century, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy which formed Greater Albania before becoming a protectorate of Nazi Germany. Enver Hoxha formed the People's Socialist Republic of Albania after World War II, modeled under the terms of Hoxhaism. The Revolutions of 1991 concluded the fall of communism in Albania and eventually the establishment of the current Republic of Albania.Politically, Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic and a developing country with an upper-middle income economy dominated by the service sector, followed by manufacturing. It went through a process of transition following the end of communism in 1990, from centralized planning to a market-based economy. Albania provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO, NATO, WTO, COE, OSCE, and OIC. It is an official candidate for membership in the European Union. It is one of the founding members of the Energy Community, including the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and Union for the Mediterranean.The term Albania is the medieval Latin name of the country. It may be derived from the Illyrian tribe of Albani () recorded by Ptolemy, the geographer and astronomer from Alexandria, who drafted a map in 150 AD which shows the city of Albanopolis located northeast of Durrs. The term may have a continuation in the name of a medieval settlement called Albanon or Arbanon, although it is not certain that this was the same place. In his history written in the 10th century, the Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates was the first to refer to Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country ' and referred to themselves as '.Nowadays, Albanians call their country "". The words "Shqipri" and "Shqiptar" are attested from 14th century onward, but it was only at the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries that the placename "Shqipria" and the ethnic demonym "Shqiptar" gradually replaced "Arbria" and "Arbresh" amongst Albanian speakers. The two terms are popularly interpreted as "Land of the Eagles" and "Children of the Eagles".Prehistory.The first attested traces of neanderthal presence in the territory of Albania dates back to the middle and upper Paleolithic period and were discovered in Xarr and at Mount Dajt in the adjacent region of Tirana. Archaeological sites from this period include the Kamenica Tumulus, Konispol Cave and Pellumbas Cave.The discovered objects in a cave near Xarr include flint and jasper objects along with fossilised animal bones while those discoveries at Mount Dajt comprise bone and stone tools similar to those of the Aurignacian culture. They also demonstrate notable similarities with objects of the equivalent period found at Crvena Stijena in Montenegro and northwestern Greece.Multiple artifacts from the Iron and Bronze Ages near tumulus burials have been unearthed in central and southern Albania, which has similar affinity with the sites in southwestern Macedonia and Lefkada. Archaeologists have come to the conclusion that these regions were inhabited from the middle of the third millennium BC by Indo-European people who spoke a Proto-Greek language. Hence, a part of this historical population later moved to Mycenae around 1600 BC and properly established the Mycenaean civilisation.In ancient times the incorporated territory of Albania was historically inhabited by Indo-European peoples among them numerous Illyrian tribes Ancient Greeks and Thracians. In view of the Illyrian tribes there is no evidence that these tribes used any collective nomenclature for themselves while it is regarded to be unlikely that they used a common endonym. The endonym "Illyrians" seems to be the name applied to a specific Illyrian tribe which was the first to come in liaison with the Ancient Greeks resulting in the endonym "Illyrians" to be applied "pars pro toto" to all people of similar language and customs.The territory referred to as Illyria corresponded roughly to the area east of the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean Sea extending in the south to the mouth of the Vjos. The first account of the Illyrian groups comes from Periplus of the Euxine Sea, an ancient Greek text written in the middle of the 4th century BC. The west was inhabited by the Thracian tribe of the Bryges while the south was inhabited by the Ancient Greek-speaking tribe of the Chaonians, whose capital was at Phoenice. Other colonies such as Apollonia, Epidamnos and Amantia, were established by Ancient Greek city-states on the coast by the 7th century BC.The Illyrian Ardiaei tribe centered in Montenegro ruled over most of the territory of Albania. Their Ardiaean Kingdom reached its greatest extent under King Agron the son of Pleuratus II. Agron extended his rule over other neighboring tribes as well. Following Agrons forces extended their operations further southward to the Ionian Sea. In 229 BC Rome declared war on the kingdom for extensively plundering Roman ships. The war ended in Illyrian defeat in 227 BC. Teuta was eventually succeeded by Gentius in 181 BC. Gentius clashed with the Romans in 168 BC initiating the Third Illyrian War. The conflict resulted in Roman conquest of the region by 167 BC. The Romans split the region into three administrative divisions.Middle Ages.The Roman Empire was split in 395 upon the death of Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire in part because of the increasing pressure from threats during the Barbarian Invasions. From the 6th century into the 7th century, the Slavs crossed the Danube and largely absorbed the indigenous Ancient Greeks, Illyrians and Thracians in the Balkans; thus, the Illyrians were mentioned for the last time in historical records in the 7th century.In the 11th century the Great Schism formalised the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Church that is reflected in Albania through the emergence of a Catholic north and Orthodox south. The Albanian people inhabited the west of Lake Ochrida and the upper valley of River Shkumbin and established the Principality of Arbanon in 1190 under the leadership of Progon of Kruja. The realm was succeeded by his sons Gjin and Dhimitri.Upon the death of Dhimiter the territory came under the rule of the Albanian-Greek Gregory Kamonas and subsequently under the Golem of Kruja. In the 13th century the principality was dissolved. Arbanon is considered to be the first sketch of an Albanian state that retained a semi-autonomous status as the western extremity of the Byzantine Empire under the Byzantine Doukai of Epirus or Laskarids of Nicaea.Towards the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, Serbs and Venetians started to take possession over the territory. The ethnogenesis of the Albanians is uncertain; however the first undisputed mention of Albanians dates back in historical records from 1079 or 1080 in a work by Michael Attaliates, who referred to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople. At this point the Albanians were fully Christianized.Few years after the dissolution of Arbanon, Charles of Anjou concluded an agreement with the Albanian rulers, promising to protect them and their ancient liberties. In 1272, he established the Kingdom of Albania and conquered regions back from the Despotate of Epirus. The kingdom claimed all of central Albania territory from Dyrrhachium along the Adriatic Sea coast down to Butrint. A catholic political structure was a basis for the papal plans of spreading Catholicism in the Balkan Peninsula. This plan found also the support of Helen of Anjou, a cousin of Charles of Anjou. Around 30 Catholic churches and monasteries were built during her rule mainly in northern Albania. Internal power struggles within the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century enabled Serbs' most powerful medieval ruler, Stefan Dusan, to establish a short-lived empire that included all of Albania except Durrs. In 1367, various Albanian rulers established the Despotate of Arta. During that time, several Albanian principalities were created, notably the Principality of Albania, Principality of Kastrioti, Lordship of Berat and Principality of Dukagjini. In the first half of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire invaded most of Albania, and the League of Lezh was held under Skanderbeg as a ruler, who became the national hero of the Albanian medieval history.Ottoman Empire.With the fall of Constantinople the Ottoman Empire continued an extended period of conquest and expansion with its borders going deep into Southeast Europe. They reached the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast in 1385 and erected their garrisons across Southern Albania in 1415 and then occupied most of Albania in 1431. Thousands of Albanians consequently fled to Western Europe particularly to Calabria Naples Ragusa and Sicily whereby others sought protection at the often inaccessible Mountains of Albania.The Albanians, as Christians, were considered an inferior class of people, and as such they were subjected to heavy taxes among others by the Devshirme system that allowed the Sultan to collect a requisite percentage of Christian adolescents from their families to compose the Janissary. The Ottoman conquest was also accompanied with the gradual process of Islamisation and the rapid construction of mosques which consequently modified the religious picture of Albania.A prosperous and longstanding revolution erupted after the formation of the Assembly of Lezh until the Siege of Shkodr under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, multiple times defeating major Ottoman armies led by Sultans Murad II and Mehmed II. Skanderbeg managed to gather several of the Albanian principals, amongst them the Arianitis, Dukagjinis, Zaharias and Thopias, and establish a centralised authority over most of the non-conquered territories, becoming the Lord of Albania.Skanderbeg consistently pursued the goal relentlessly but rather unsuccessfully to constitute a European coalition against the Ottomans. He thwarted every attempt by the Ottomans to regain Albania, which they envisioned as a springboard for the invasion of Italy and Western Europe. His unequal fight against them won the esteem of Europe also among others financial and military aid from the Papacy and Naples, Venice and Ragusa.When the Ottomans were gaining a firm foothold in the region Albanian towns were organised into four principal sanjaks. The government fostered trade by settling a sizeable Jewish colony of refugees fleeing persecution in Spain. The city of Vlor saw passing through its ports imported merchandise from Europe such as velvets cotton goods mohairs carpets spices and leather from Bursa and Constantinople. Some citizens of Vlor even had business associates throughout Europe.The phenomenon of Islamisation among the Albanians became primarily widespread from the 17th century and continued into the 18th century. Islam offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire. However, motives for conversion were, according to some scholars, diverse depending on the context though the lack of source material does not help when investigating such issues. Because of increasing suppression of Catholicism, most Catholic Albanians converted in the 17th century, while Orthodox Albanians followed suit mainly in the following century.Since the Albanians were seen as strategically important they made up a significant proportion of the Ottoman military and bureaucracy. A couple of Muslim Albanians attained important political and military positions who culturally contributed to the broader Muslim world. Enjoying this privileged position they held various high administrative positions with over two dozen Albanian Grand Viziers. Others included members of the prominent Kprl family Zagan Pasha Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Ali Pasha of Tepelena. Furthermore two sultans Bayezid II and Mehmed III both had mothers of Albanian origin.The Albanian Renaissance was a period with its roots in the late 18th century and continuing into the 19th century, during which the Albanian people gathered spiritual and intellectual strength for an independent cultural and political life within an independent nation. Modern Albanian culture flourished too, especially Albanian literature and arts, and was frequently linked to the influences of the Romanticism and Enlightenment principles.Prior to the rise of nationalism, Albania was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries, and Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of national unity or conscience by the Albanian people. Through literature, Albanians started to make a conscious effort to awaken feelings of pride and unity among their people that would call to mind the rich history and hopes for a more decent future.The victory of Russia over the Ottoman Empire following the Russian-Ottoman Wars resulted the execution of the Treaty of San Stefano which overlooked to assign Albanian-populated lands to the Slavic and Greek neighbours. However, the United Kingdom and Austro-Hungarian Empire consequently blocked the arrangement and caused the Treaty of Berlin. From this point, Albanians started to organise themselves with the goal to protect and unite the Albanian-populated lands into a unitary nation, leading to the formation of the League of Prizren.The league had initially the assistance of the Ottoman authorities whose position was based on the religious solidarity of Muslim people and landlords connected with the Ottoman administration. They favoured and protected the Muslim solidarity and called for defense of Muslim lands simultaneously constituting the reason for titling the league Committee of the Real Muslims.Approximately 300 Muslims participated in the assembly composed by delegates from Bosnia, the administrator of the Sanjak of Prizren as representatives of the central authorities and no delegates from Vilayet of Scutari. Signed by only 47 Muslim deputies, the league issued the Kararname that contained a proclamation that the people from northern Albania, Epirus and Bosnia and Herzegovina are willing to defend the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire by all possible means against the troops of Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro.Ottomans authorities cancelled their assistance when the league under Abdyl Frashri became focused on working toward Albanian autonomy and requested merging four vilayets including Kosovo Shkodr Monastir and Ioannina into an unified vilayet the Albanian Vilayet. The league used military force to prevent the annexing areas of Plav and Gusinje assigned to Montenegro. After several successful battles with Montenegrin troops such as the Battle of Novie the league was forced to retreat from their contested regions. The league was later defeated by the Ottoman army sent by the sultan.Independence.Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire on 28 November 1912 accompanied with the establishment of the Senate and Government by the Assembly of Vlor on 4 December 1912. Its sovereignty was recognised by the Conference of London. On 29 July 1913 the Treaty of London delineated the borders of the country and its neighbors leaving many Albanians outside Albania predominantly partitioned between Montenegro Serbia and Greece.Headquartered in Vlor, the International Commission of Control was established on 15 October 1913 to take care of the administration of newly established Albania, until its own political institutions were in order. The International Gendarmerie was established as the first law enforcement agency of the Principality of Albania. In November, the first gendarmerie members arrived in the country. Prince of Albania Wilhelm of Wied was selected as the first prince of the principality. On 7 March, he arrived in the provisional capital of Durrs and started to organise his government, appointing Turhan Pasha Prmeti to form the first Albanian cabinet.In November 1913, the Albanian pro-Ottoman forces had offered the throne of Albania to the Ottoman war Minister of Albanian origin, Ahmed Izzet Pasha. The pro-Ottoman peasants believed that the new regime was a tool of the six Christian Great Powers and local landowners, that owned half of the arable land.In February 1914 the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was proclaimed in Gjirokastr by the local Greek population against incorporation to Albania. This initiative was short-lived and in 1921 the southern provinces were incorporated into the Albanian Principality. Meanwhile the revolt of Albanian peasants against the new Albanian regime erupted under the leadership of the group of Muslim clerics gathered around Essad Pasha Toptani who proclaimed himself the savior of Albania and Islam. In order to gain support of the Mirdita Catholic volunteers from the northern part of Albania Prince Wied appointed their leader Prnk Bib Doda to be the foreign minister of the Principality of Albania. In May and June 1914 the International Gendarmerie was joined by Isa Boletini and his men mostly from Kosovo and northern Mirdita Catholics were defeated by the rebels who captured most of Central Albania by the end of August 1914. The regime of Prince Wied collapsed and he left the country on 3 September 1914.First Republic.Following the end of the government of Fan Noli, the parliament adopted a new constitution and proclaimed the country as a parliamentary republic in which King Zog I of Albania served as the head of state for a seven-year term. Immediately after, Tirana was endorsed officially as the country's permanent capital.The politics of Zogu was authoritarian and conservative with the primary aim of the maintenance of stability and order. He was forced to adopt a policy of cooperation with Italy where a pact had been signed between both countries, whereby Italy gained a monopoly on shipping and trade concessions. Italians exercised control over nearly every Albanian official through money and patronage. In 1928, the country was eventually replaced by another monarchy with a strong support by the fascist regime of Italy however, both maintained close relations until the Italian invasion of the country. Zogu remained a conservative but initiated reforms and placed great emphasis on the development of infrastructure.In an attempt at social modernisation, the custom of adding ones name was dropped. He also made donations of land to international organisations for the building of schools and hospitals. The armed forces were trained and supervised by instructors from Italy, and as a counterweight, he kept British officers in the Gendarmerie despite strong Italian pressure to remove them.After being militarily occupied by Italy from 1939 until 1943 the Kingdom of Albania was a protectorate and a dependency of the Kingdom of Italy governed by Victor Emmanuel III and his government. In October 1940 Albania served as a staging ground for an unsuccessful Italian invasion of Greece. A counterattack resulted in a sizeable portion of southern Albania coming under Greek military control until April 1941 when Greece capitulated during the German invasion. In April 1941 territories of Yugoslavia with substantial Albanian population were annexed to Albania inclusively western Macedonia a strip of eastern Montenegro the town of Tutin in central Serbia and most of Kosovo.Germans started to occupy the country in September 1943 and subsequently announced that they would recognise the independence of a neutral Albania and set about organising a new government military and law enforcement. Balli Kombtar which had fought against Italy formed a neutral government and side by side with the Germans fought against the communist-led National Liberation Movement of Albania.During the last years of the war the country fell into a civil war-like state between the communists and nationalists. The communists defeated the last anti-communist forces in the south in 1944. Before the end of November the main German troops had withdrawn from Tirana and the communists took control by attacking it. The partisans entirely liberated the country from German occupation on 29 November 1944. A provisional government which the communists had formed at Berat in October administered Albania with Enver Hoxha as the head of government.By the end of the Second World War, the main military and political force of the nation, the Communist party sent forces to northern Albania against the nationalists to eliminate its rivals. They faced open resistance in Nikaj-Mrtur, Dukagjin and Kelmend led by Prek Cali. On 15 January 1945, a clash took place between partisans of the first Brigade and nationalist forces at the Tamara Bridge, resulting in the defeat of the nationalist forces. About 150 Kelmendi people were killed or tortured. This event was the starting point of many other issues which took place during Enver Hoxha's dictatorship. Class struggle was strictly applied, human freedom and human rights were denied. The Kelmend region was almost isolated by both the border and by a lack of roads for another 20 years, the institution of agricultural cooperatives brought about economic decline. Many Kelmendi people fled, and some were executed trying to cross the border.In the aftermath of World War II and the defeat of the Axis Powers, the country became initially a satellite state of the Soviet Union, and Enver Hoxha emerged as the leader of the newly established Peoples Republic of China.During this period, the country experienced an increasing industrialisation and urbanisation, a rapid collectivisation and economic growth which led to a higher standard of living. The government called for the development of infrastructure and most notably the introduction of a railway system that completely revamped transportation.The new land reform laws were passed granting ownership of the land to the workers and peasants who tilled it. Agriculture became cooperative, and production increased significantly, leading to the country becoming agriculturally self-sufficient. In the field of education, illiteracy was eliminated among the country's adult population. The government also oversaw the emancipation of women and the expansion of healthcare and education throughout the country.The average annual increase in the country's national income was 29% and 56% higher than the world and European average respectively. The nation incurred large debts initially with Yugoslavia until 1948 then the Soviet Union until 1961 and China from the middle of the 1950s. The constitution of the communist regime did not allow taxes on individuals instead taxes were imposed on cooperatives and other organisations with much the same effect.Today a secular state without any official religion, religious freedoms and practices were severely curtailed during the communist era with all forms of worship being outlawed. In 1945, the Agrarian Reform Law meant that large swaths of property owned by religious groups were nationalised, mostly the waqfs along with the estates of mosques, tekkes, monasteries and dioceses. Many believers, along with the ulema and many priests, were arrested and executed. In 1949, a new Decree on Religious Communities required that all their activities be sanctioned by the state alone.After hundreds of mosques and dozens of Islamic libraries containing priceless manuscripts were destroyed Hoxha proclaimed Albania the world's first atheist state in 1967. The churches had not been spared either and many were converted into cultural centres for young people. A 1967 law banned all fascist religious and antisocialist activity and propaganda. Preaching religion carried a three to ten-year prison sentence.Nonetheless many Albanians continued to practice their beliefs secretly. The anti-religious policy of Hoxha attained its most fundamental legal and political expression a decade later .Fourth Republic.After forty years of communism and isolation as well as the revolutions of 1989 people most notably students became politically active and campaigned against the government that led to the transformation of the existing order. Following the popular support in the first multi-party elections of 1991 the communists retained a stronghold in the parliament until the victory in the general elections of 1992 led by the Democratic Party.Considerable economic and financial resources were devoted to pyramid schemes that were widely supported by the government. The schemes swept up somewhere between one sixth and one third of the population of the country. Despite the warnings of the International Monetary Fund Sali Berisha defended the schemes as large investment firms leading more people to redirect their remittances and sell their homes and cattle for cash to deposit in the schemes.The schemes began to collapse in late 1996, leading many of the investors to join initially peaceful protests against the government, requesting their money back. The protests turned violent in February 1997 as government forces responded by firing on the demonstrators. In March, the Police and Republican Guard deserted, leaving their armouries open. These were promptly emptied by militias and criminal gangs. The resulting civil war caused a wave of evacuations of foreign nationals and refugees.The crisis led both Aleksandr Meksi and Sali Berisha to resign from office in the wake of the general election. In April 1997, Operation Alba, a UN peacekeeping force led by Italy, entered the country with two goals exclusively to assist with the evacuation of expatriates and to secure the ground for international organisations. The main international organisation that was involved was the Western European Union's multinational Albanian Police element, which worked with the government to restructure the judicial system and simultaneously the Albanian police.Contemporary.Following the disintegration of the communist system, Albania focused on an active process of Westernisation with the goal of accession to the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation . In 2009, the country, together with Croatia, gained active membership in NATO, becoming among the first countries in Southeast Europe to do so. It also applied to join the European Union on 28 April 2009, receiving official candidate status on 24 June 2014.Between 2013 and 2017, Edi Rama of the Socialist Party won both the 2013 and 2017 parliamentary elections. As Prime Minister, he implemented numerous reforms focused on modernising the economy, as well as democratising state institutions, including the countrys history.On 26 November 2019, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake ravaged Albania with the epicenter positioned southwest of the town of Mamurras. The tremor was felt in Tirana and in places as far away as Taranto, Italy, and Belgrade, Serbia, while the most affected areas were the coastal city of Durrs and Kodr-Thuman. Response to the earthquake included substantial humanitarian aid, designed to help the Albanian people, from the Albanian diaspora and several countries around the world.On 9 March 2020 the coronavirus disease 2019 was confirmed to have spread to Albania. From March to June 2020 the government declared a state of emergency as a measure to limit the rapid spread of the pandemic in the country. The country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on 11 January 2021 however as of 11 August 2021 the total number of vaccines administered so far in Albania amounts to 1280239 doses.On 27 April 2021 during the 2021 parliamentary elections the ruling Socialist Party led by Edi Rama secured its third consecutive victory winning nearly half of votes and enough seats in parliament to govern alone.Albania has an area of and is located on the Balkan Peninsula in South and Southeast Europe. Its shoreline faces the Adriatic Sea to the northwest and the Ionian Sea to the southwest along the Mediterranean Sea. Albania lies between latitudes 42° and 39° N and longitudes 21° and 19° E. Its northernmost point is Vrmosh at 42° 35' 34" northern latitude the southernmost is Konispol at 39° 40' 0" northern latitude the westernmost point is Sazan at 19° 16' 50" eastern longitude and the easternmost point is Vrnik at 21° 1' 26" eastern longitude. The highest point is Mount Korab at above the Adriatic the lowest point is the Mediterranean Sea at . The distance from the east to west is and from the north to south about .For a small country, much of Albania rises into mountains and hills that run in different directions across the length and breadth of its territory. The most extensive mountain ranges are the Albanian Alps in the north, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest and the Skanderbeg Mountains in the centre.Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the country is the presence of numerous important lakes. The Lake of Shkodr is the largest lake in Southern Europe and located in northwest. In the southeast rises the Lake of Ohrid that is one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world. Farther south extends the Large and Small Lake of Prespa which are among the highest positioned lakes in the Balkans. Rivers rise mostly in the east of Albania and discharge into the Adriatic Sea but as well as into the Ionian Sea to a lesser extent. The longest river in the country measured from its mouth to its source is the Drin that starts at the confluence of its two headwaters the Black and White Drin. Of particular concern is the Vjos which represents one of the last intact large river systems in Europe.The climate in the country is extremely variable and diverse owing to the differences in latitude, longitude and altitude. Albania experiences predominantly a mediterranean and continental climate, with four distinct seasons. Defined by the Kppen classification, it accommodates five major climatic types ranging from mediterranean and subtropical in the western half to oceanic, continental and subarctic in the eastern half of Albania.The warmest areas of the country are immediately placed along the Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coasts. On the contrary, the coldest areas are positioned within the northern and eastern highlands. The mean monthly temperature ranges between in winter to in summer. The highest temperature of was recorded in Kuov on 18 July 1973. The lowest temperature of was registered in the village of Shtyll, Librazhd on 9 January 2017.Rainfall naturally varies from season to season and from year to year. The country receives most of the precipitation in winter months and less in summer months. The average precipitation is about . The mean annual precipitation ranges between and depending on geographical location. The northwestern and southeastern highlands receive the intenser amount of precipitation whilst the northeastern and southwestern highlands as well as the Western Lowlands the more limited amount.The Albanian Alps in the far north of the country are considered to be among the most humid regions of Europe receiving at least of rain annually. An expedition from the University of Colorado discovered four glaciers within these mountains at a relatively low altitude of which is extremely rare for such a southerly latitude. Snowfall occurs frequently in winter in the highlands of the country particularly on the mountains in the north and east including the Albanian Alps and Korab Mountains. Snow also falls on the coastal areas in the southwest almost every winter such as in the Ceraunian Mountains where it can lie even beyond March.Biodiversity.A biodiversity hotspot, Albania possesses an exceptionally rich and contrasting biodiversity on account of its geographical location at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and the great diversity in its climatic, geological and hydrological conditions. Because of remoteness, the mountains and hills of Albania are endowed with forests, trees and grasses that are essential to the lives for a wide variety of animals, among others for two of the most endangered species of the country, the lynx and brown bear, as well as the wildcat, gray wolf, red fox, golden jackal, egyptian vulture and golden eagle, the latter constituting the national animal of the country.The estuaries wetlands and lakes are extraordinarily important for the greater flamingo pygmy cormorant and the extremely rare and perhaps the most iconic bird of the country the dalmatian pelican. Of particular importance are the mediterranean monk seal loggerhead sea turtle and green sea turtle that use to nest on the country's coastal waters and shores.In terms of phytogeography, Albania is part of the Boreal Kingdom and stretches specifically within the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal and Mediterranean Region. Its territory can be subdivided into four terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic realm namely within the Illyrian deciduous forests, Balkan mixed forests, Pindus Mountains mixed forests and Dinaric Mountains mixed forests.Approximately 3,500 different species of plants can be found in Albania which refers principally to a Mediterranean and Eurasian character. The country maintains a vibrant tradition of herbal and medicinal practices. At the minimum 300 plants growing locally are used in the preparation of herbs and medicines. The trees within the forests are primarily made up of fir, oak, beech and pine.Protected areas.The protected areas of Albania are areas designated and managed by the Albanian government. There are 15 national parks, 4 ramsar sites, 1 biosphere reserve and 786 other types of conservation reserves. Albania has fifteen officially designated national parks scattered across its territory. Encircled by numerous two-thousanders, Valbon Valley National Park and Theth National Park cover a combined territory of within the rugged Albanian Alps in northern Albania. Shebenik-Jabllanic National Park and Prespa National Park protect the mountainous scenery of eastern Albania as well as the country's sections of the Great and Small Lakes of Prespa.Divjak-Karavasta National Park extends along the central Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast and possesses one of the largest lagoons in the Mediterranean Sea, the Lagoon of Karavasta. The Ceraunian Mountains in southern Albania, rising immediately along the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast, characterises the topographical picture of Llogara National Park and continue on the Peninsula of Karaburun within the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park. Further south sprawls the Butrint National Park on a peninsula that is surrounded by the Lake of Butrint and Channel of Vivari on the eastern half of the Straits of Corfu. Dajti National Park is equipped with a cable car and trails to some spectacular scenery is a popular retreat in the capital, Tirana.Environmental issues.Environmental issues in Albania include air and water pollution climate change waste management biodiversity loss and nature conservation. Climate change is predicted to have serious effects on the living conditions in Albania. The country is recognised as vulnerable to climate change impacts ranked 80 among 181 countries in the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index of 2019. Factors that account for the country's vulnerability to climate change risks include geological and hydrological hazards including earthquakes flooding fires landslides torrential rains river and coastal erosion.As a party to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement Albania is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 which along with national policies will help to mitigate the impacts of the climate change. The country has a moderate and improving performance in the Environmental Performance Index with an overall ranking of 62 out of 180 countries in 2020.Albania's ranking has however decreased since its highest placement at position 15 in the Environmental Performance Index of 2012. In 2019, Albania had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.77 from 10, ranking it 64th globally out of 172 countries.Governance.Albania is a parliamentary constitutional republic and sovereign state whose politics operate under a framework laid out in the constitution wherein the president functions as the head of state and the prime minister as the head of government. The sovereignty is vested in the Albanian people and exercised by the Albanian people through their representatives or directly.The government is based on the separation and balancing of powers among the legislative, judiciary and executive. The legislative power is held by the parliament and is elected every four years by a system of party-list proportional representation by the Albanian people on the basis of free, equal, universal and periodic suffrage by secret ballot.The civil law, codified and based on the Napoleonic Code, is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and administrative courts. The judicial power is vested in the supreme court, constitutional court, appeal court and administrative court. Law enforcement in the country is primarily the responsibility of the Albanian Police, the main and largest state law enforcement agency. It carries out nearly all general police duties including criminal investigation, patrol activity, traffic policing and border control.The executive power is exercised by the president and prime minister whereby the power of the president is very limited. The president is the commander-in-chief of the military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people. The tenure of the president depends on the confidence of the parliament and is elected for a five-year term by the parliament by a majority of three-fifths of all its members. The prime minister appointed by the president and approved by the parliament is authorized to constitute the cabinet. The cabinet is composed primarily of the prime minister inclusively its deputies and ministers.Foreign relations.In the time since the end of communism and isolationism, Albania has extended its responsibilities and position in continental and international affairs, developing and establishing friendly relations with other countries around the world. The country's foreign policy priorities are its accession into the European Union , the international recognition of Kosovo and the expulsion of Cham Albanians, as well as helping and protecting the rights of the Albanians in Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Italy and the Diaspora.Albania's admission into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was considered by Albanian politicians to be a significant ambition for the country's foreign policy. The country has been extensively engaged with the NATO and has maintained its position as a stability factor and a strong ally of the United States and the European Union (EU) in the region of the Balkans. Albania maintains strong ties with the United States ever after it supported the Albania's independence and democracy. Nowadays, both countries have signed a number of agreements and treaties. In 2007, Albania welcomed George W. Bush who became the first President of the United States ever to visit the country.Albania and Kosovo are culturally socially and economically very closely rooted due to the Albanian majority population in Kosovo. In 1998 the country contributed in supporting allied efforts to end the humanitarian tragedy in Kosovo and secure the peace after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.Albania has been an active member of the United Nations since 1955. They country took on membership for the United Nations Economic and Social Council from 2005 to 2007 as well as in 2012. It served as vice president of the ECOSOC in 2006 and 2013. In 2014, it also joined the United Nations Human Rights Council from 2015 to 2017 and was elected vice president in 2015. Albania is a full member of numerous international organisations inclusively the Council of Europe, International Organisation for Migration, World Health Organization, Union for the Mediterranean, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and La Francophonie.The Albanian Armed Forces consist of Land, Air and Naval Forces and constitute the military and paramilitary forces of the country. They are led by a commander-in-chief under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence and by the President as the supreme commander during wartime however, in times of peace its powers are executed through the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister.The chief purpose of the armed forces of Albania is the defence of the independence, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country, as well as the participation in humanitarian, combat, non-combat and peace support operations. Military service is voluntary since 2010 with the age of 19 being the legal minimum age for the duty.Albania has committed to increase the participations in multinational operations. Since the fall of communism the country has participated in six international missions but participated in only one United Nations mission in Georgia where it sent 3 military observers. Since February 2008 Albania has participated officially in NATO's Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean Sea. It was invited to join NATO on 3 April 2008 and it became a full member on 2 April 2009.Albania reduced the number of active troops from 65000 in 1988 to 14500 in 2009. The military now consists mainly of a small fleet of aircraft and sea vessels. In the 1990s the country scrapped enormous amounts of obsolete hardware from China such as tanks and SAM systems. Increasing the military budget was one of the most important conditions for NATO integration. Military spending has generally been low. As of 1996 military spending was an estimated 1.5% of the country's GDP only to peak in 2009 at 2% and fall again to 1.5%.Administrative divisions.Albania is defined within a territorial area of in the Balkan Peninsula. The country is divided into three regions, the Northern, Central and Southern Region, which consist of a number of counties and municipalities . The highest level of administrative divisions are the twelve constituent counties, all with the same status. They are further subdivided into 61 municipalities with each of them being responsible for geographical, economic, social and cultural purposes inside the counties.The counties were created on 31 July 2000 to replace the 36 former districts. The government introduced the new administrative divisions to be implemented in 2015 whereby municipalities were reduced to 61 while the rurals were abolished. The defunct municipalities are known as neighborhoods or villages. There are overall 2980 villages or communities in the entire country formerly known as localities. The municipalities are the first level of local governance responsible for local needs and law enforcement.The largest county in Albania, by population, is Tirana County with over 800,000 people. The smallest county, by population, is Gjirokastr County with over 70,000 people. The largest in the county, by area, is Kor County encompassing of the southeast of Albania. The smallest county, by area, is Durrs County with an area of in the west of Albania.The transition from a socialist planned economy to a capitalist mixed economy in Albania has been largely successful. The country has a developing mixed economy classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle income economy. In 2016, it had the 4th lowest unemployment rate in the Balkans with an estimated value of 14.7%. Its largest trading partners are Italy, Greece, China, Spain, Kosovo and the United States. The lek is the country's currency and is pegged at approximately 132,51 lek per euro.The cities of Tirana and Durrs constitute the economic and financial heart of Albania due to their high population modern infrastructure and strategic geographical location. The country's most important infrastructure facilities take course through both of the cities connecting the north to the south as well as the west to the east. Among the largest companies are the petroleum Tai Oil Albpetrol ARMO and Kastrati the mineral AlbChrome the cement Antea the investment BALFIN Group and the technology Albtelecom Vodafone Telekom Albania and others.In 2012 Albania's GDP per capita stood at 30% of the European Union average while GDP per capita was 35%. Albania was one of three countries in Europe to record an economic growth in the first quarter of 2010 after the global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund predicted 2.6% growth for Albania in 2010 and 3.2% in 2011. According to "Forbes" the Gross Domestic Product was growing at 2.8%. The country had a trade balance of −9.7% and unemployment rate of 14.7%. The Foreign direct investment has increased significantly in recent years as the government has embarked on an ambitious program to improve the business climate through fiscal and legislative reforms. The economy is expected to expand in the near term driven by a recovery in consumption and robust investments. Growth is projected to be 3.2% in 2016 3.5% in 2017 and 3.8% in 2018.Primary sector.Agriculture in the country is based on small to medium-sized family-owned dispersed units. It remains a significant sector of the economy of Albania. It employs 41% of the population and about 24.31% of the land is used for agricultural purposes. One of the earliest farming sites in Europe has been found in the southeast of the country. As part of the pre-accession process of Albania to the European Union farmers are being aided through IPA funds to improve Albanian agriculture standards.Albania produces significant amounts of fruits , vegetables , sugar beets, tobacco, meat, honey, dairy products, traditional medicine and aromatic plants. Further, the country is a worldwide significant producer of salvia, rosemary and yellow gentian. The countrys fishing industry has good potential to generate export earnings because prices in the nearby Greek and Italian markets are many times higher than those in the Albanian market. The fish available off the coasts of the country are carp, trout, sea bream, mussels and crustaceans.Albania has one of Europes region was one of the few places where vine was naturally grown during the ice age. The oldest found seeds in the region are 4,000 to 6,000 years old. In 2009, the nation produced an estimated 17,500 tonnes of wine. During the communist era, the production area expanded to some .Secondary sector.The secondary sector of Albania have undergone many changes and diversification, since the collapse of the communist regime in the country. It is very diversified, from electronics, manufacturing, textiles, to food, cement, mining, and energy. The Antea Cement plant in Fush-Kruj is considered one of the largest industrial greenfield investments in the country. Albanian oil and gas is represents of the most promising albeit strictly regulated sectors of its economy. Albania has the second largest oil deposits in the Balkan peninsula after Romania, and the largest oil reserves in Europe. The Albpetrol company is owned by the Albanian state and monitors the state petroleum agreements in the country. The textile industry has seen an extensive expansion by approaching companies from the European Union (EU) in Albania. According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) , the textile production marked an annual growth of 5.3% and an annual turnover of around 1.5 billion euros.Albania is a significant minerals producer and is ranked among the world's leading chromium producers and exporters. The nation is also a notable producer of copper, nickel and coal. The Batra mine, Bulqiz mine, and Thekna mine are among the most recognised Albanian mines that are still in operation.Tertiary sector.The tertiary sector represents the fastest growing sector of the countrys GDP. Ever since the end of the 20th century, the banking industry is a major component of the tertiary sector and remains in good conditions overall due to privatization and the commendable monetary policy.Previously one of the most isolated and controlled countries in the world, telecommunication industry represents nowadays another major contributor to the sector. It developed largely through privatisation and subsequent investment by both domestic and foreign investors. Eagle, Vodafone and Telekom Albania are the leading telecommunications service providers in the country.Tourism is recognised as an industry of national importance and has been steadily increasing since the beginnings of the 21st century. It directly accounted for 8.4% of GDP in 2016 though including indirect contributions pushes the proportion to 26%. In the same year, the country received approximately 4.74 million visitors mostly from across Europe and the United States as well.The increase of foreign visitors has been dramatic. Albania had only 500,000 visitors in 2005, while in 2012 had an estimated 4.2 million, an increase of 740 percent in only 7 years. In 2015, tourism in summer increased by 25 percent in contrast the previous year according to the country's tourism agency. In 2011, Lonely Planet named as a top travel destination, while The New York Times placed Albania as number 4 global touristic destination in 2014.The bulk of the tourist industry is concentrated along the Adriatic and Ionian Sea in the west of the country. However, the Albanian Riviera in the southwest has the most scenic and pristine beaches, and is often called the pearl of the Albanian coast. Its coastline has a considerable length of . The coast has a particular character because it is rich in varieties of virgin beaches, capes, coves, covered bays, lagoons, small gravel beaches, sea caves and many landforms. Some parts of this seaside are very clean ecologically, which represent in this prospective unexplored areas, which are very rare within the Mediterranean. Other attractions include the mountainous areas such as the Albanian Alps, Ceraunian Mountains and Korab Mountains but also the historical cities of Berat, Durrs, Gjirokastr, Sarand, Shkodr and Kor.Transportation in Albania is managed within the functions of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and entities such as the Albanian Road Authority , responsible for the construction and maintenance of the highways and motorways in Albania, as well as the Albanian Aviation Authority , with the responsibility of coordinating civil aviation and airports in the country.The international airport of Tirana is the premier air gateway to the country and is also the principal hub for Albania's national flag carrier airline Air Albania. The airport carried more than 3.3 million passengers in 2019 with connections to many destinations in other countries around Europe Africa and Asia. The country plans to progressively increase the number of airports especially in the south with possible locations in Sarand Gjirokastr and Vlor.The highways and motorways in Albania are properly maintained and often still under construction and renovation. The Autostrada 1 (A1) represents an integral transportation corridor in Albania and the longest motorway of the country. It will prospectively link Durrs on the Adriatic Sea across Pristina in Kosovo with the Pan-European Corridor X in Serbia. The Autostrada 2 (A2) is part of the Adriatic–Ionian Corridor as well as the Pan-European Corridor VIII and connects Fier with Vlor. The Autostrada 3 (A3) is currently under construction and will connect, after its completion, Tirana and Elbasan with the Pan-European Corridor VIII. When all three corridors are completed, Albania will have an estimated of highway linking it with all of its neighboring countries.Durrs is the busiest and largest seaport in the country, followed by Vlor, Shngjin and Sarand. , it is as one of the largest passenger ports on the Adriatic Sea with annual passenger volume of approximately 1.5 million. The principal ports serve a system of ferries connecting Albania with numerous islands and coastal cities in Croatia, Greece and Italy.The rail network is administered by the national railway company Hekurudha Shqiptare which was extensively promoted by the dictator Enver Hoxha. There has been a considerable increase in private car ownership and bus usage while rail use decreased since the end of communism. However, a new railway line from Tirana and its airport to Durrs is currently planned. The specific location of this railway, connecting the most populated urban areas in Albania, merely makes it an important economic development project.Infrastructure.In the country, education is secular, free, compulsory and based on three levels of education segmented in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The academic year is apportioned into two semesters beginning in September or October, and ending in June or July. Albanian serves as the primary language of instruction in all academic institutions across the country. The study of a first foreign language is mandatory and taught most often at elementary and bilingual schools. The languages taught in schools are English, Italian, French and German. The country has a school life expectancy of 16 years and a literacy rate of 98.7%, with 99.2% for males and 98.3% for females.Compulsory primary education is divided into two levels, elementary and secondary school, from grade one to five and six to nine, respectively. Pupils are required to attend school from the age of six until they turn 16. Upon successful completion of primary education, all pupils are entitled to attend high schools with specialising in any particular field including arts, sports, languages, sciences or technology.The country's tertiary education, an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education, has undergone a thorough reformation and restructuring in compliance with the principles of the Bologna Process. There is a significant number of private and public institutions of higher education well dispersed in the major cities of Albania. Studies in tertiary education are organized at three successive levels which include the bachelor, master and doctorate.The constitution of Albania guarantees equal free and universal health care for all its citizens. The health care system of the country is currently organised in three levels among others primary secondary and tertiary healthcare and is in a process of modernisation and development. The life expectancy at birth in Albania is at 77.8 years and ranks 37th in the world outperforming several developed countries. The average healthy life expectancy is at 68.8 years and ranks as well 37th in the world. The country's infant mortality rate is estimated at 12 per 1000 live births in 2015. In 2000 the country had the 55th best healthcare performance in the world as defined by the World Health Organization.Cardiovascular disease remain the principal cause of death in the country accounting 52% of total deaths. Accidents injuries malignant and respiratory diseases are other primary causes of death. Neuropsychiatric disease has also increased due to recent demographic social and economic changes in the country.In 2009, the country had a fruit and vegetable supply of 886 grams per capita per day, the fifth highest supply in Europe. In comparison to other developed and developing countries, Albania has a relatively low rate of obesity probably thanks to the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. According to World Health Organization data from 2016, 21.7% of adults in the country are clinically overweight, with a Body mass index (BMI) score of 25 or more.Due to its geographical location and natural resources, Albania has a wide variety of energy resources ranging from gas, oil and coal, to wind, solar and water as well as other renewable sources. Currently, the electricity generation sector of Albania is dependent on hydroelectricity simultaneously ranking fifth in the world in percentage terms. The Drin, located in the north, hosts four hydroelectric power stations, including Fierza, Koman, Skavica and Vau i Dejs. Two other power stations, such as the Banj and Moglic, are located along the Devoll in the south.Albania has considerably large deposits of oil. It has the 10th largest oil reserves in Europe and the 58th in the world. The country's main petroleum deposits are located around the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast and Myzeqe Plain within the Western Lowlands, where the country's largest reserve is located. Patos-Marinza, also located within the area, is the largest onshore oil field in Europe.After the completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Albania will be significantly connected to the planned Southern Gas Corridor that will transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea through Albania to Europe. Withal the TAP runs for across Albania's territory before entering the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast approximately northwest of Fier. In 2009 the company Enel announced plans to build an 800 MW coal-fired power plant in the country to diversify electricity sources.The water resources of Albania are particularly abundant in all the regions of the country and comprise lakes, rivers, springs and groundwater aquifers. The country's available average quantity of fresh water is estimated at per inhabitant per year, which is one of the highest rates in Europe. According to the data presented by the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation in 2015, about 93% of the country's total population had access to improved sanitation.Technology.After the fall of communism in 1991, human resources in sciences and technology in Albania have drastically decreased. As of various reports, during 1991 to 2005 approximately 50% of the professors and scientists of the universities and science institutions in the country have left Albania. In 2009, the government approved the National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation in Albania covering the period 2009 to 2015. It aims to triple public spending on research and development to 0.6% of GDP and augment the share of GDE from foreign sources, including the framework programmes for research of the European Union, to the point where it covers 40% of research spending, among others. Albania was ranked 83rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2019 and 2020.Telecommunication represents one of the fastest growing and dynamic sectors in Albania. Vodafone Albania Telekom Albania and Albtelecom are the three large providers of mobile and internet in Albania. As of the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority in 2018 the country had approximately 2.7 million active mobile users with almost 1.8 million active broadband subscribers. Vodafone Albania alone served more than 931000 mobile users Telekom Albania had about 605000 users and Albtelecom had more than 272000 users.Demography.As defined by the Institute of Statistics , the population of Albania was estimated in 2020 at 2,845,955. The country's total fertility rate of 1.51 children born per woman is one of the lowest in the world. Its population density stands at 259 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy at birth is 78.5 years; 75.8 years for males and 81.4 years for females. The country is the 8th most populous country in the Balkans and ranks as the 137th most populous country in the world. The country's population rose steadily from 2.5 million in 1979 until 1989, when it peaked at 3.1 million. It is forecast that the population will continue shrinking for the next decade at least, depending on the actual birth rate and the level of net migration.The explanation for the recent population decrease is the fall of communism in Albania in the late twentieth century. That period was marked by economic mass emigration from Albania to Greece Italy and the United States. Four decades of total isolation from the world combined with its disastrous economic social and political situation had caused this exodus. The external migration was prohibited outright during the communist era while internal migration was quite limited hence this was a new phenomenon. At least 900000 people left Albania during this period with about 600000 of them settling in Greece. The migration affected the country's internal population distribution. It decreased particularly in the north and south while it increased in the center within the cities of Tirana and Durrs.About 53.4% of the country's population lives in cities. The three largest counties by population account for half of the total population. Almost 30% of the total population is found in Tirana County followed by Fier County with 11% and Durrs County with 10%. Over 1 million people are concentrated in Tirana and Durrs, making it the largest urban area in Albania. Tirana is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula and ranks seventh with a population about 400,000. The second largest city in the country by population is Durrs, with a population of 113,000, followed by Vlor with a population of 104,513.Minorities.Issues of ethnicity are a delicate topic and subject to debate. Contrary to official statistics that show an over 97 per cent Albanian majority in the country, minority groups have frequently disputed the official numbers, asserting a higher percentage of the country's population. According to the disputed 2011 census, ethnic affiliation was as follows: Albanians 2,312,356 , Greeks 24,243 , Macedonians 5,512 , Montenegrins 366 , Aromanians 8,266 , Romani 8,301 , Balkan Egyptians 3,368 , other ethnicities 2,644 , no declared ethnicity 390,938 , and not relevant 44,144 . On the quality of the specific data the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities stated that .Albania recognises nine national or cultural minorities Aromanian Greek Macedonian Montenegrin Serb Roma Egyptian Bosnian and Bulgarian peoples. Other Albanian minorities are the Gorani people and Jews. Regarding the Greeks "it is difficult to know how many Greeks there are in Albania". The estimates vary between 60000 and 300000 ethnic Greeks in Albania. According to Ian Jeffries most of Western sources put the number at around 200000. The 300000 mark is supported by Greek government as well.&ltref name="RFE/RL Research Report Weekly Analyses from the RFE/RL Research Institute"&gt&lt/ref&gt The CIA World Factbook estimates the Greek minority to constitute 0.9% of the total population. The US State Department estimates that Greeks make up 1.17% and other minorities 0.23% of the population. The latter questions the validity of the census data about the Greek minority due to the fact that measurements have been affected by boycott.Macedonians and some Greek minority groups have sharply criticised Article 20 of the Census law, according to which a $1,000 fine will be imposed on anyone who will declare an ethnicity other than what is stated on his or her birth certificate. This is claimed to be an attempt to intimidate minorities into declaring Albanian ethnicity; according to them the Albanian government has stated that it will jail anyone who does not participate in the census or refuse to declare his or her ethnicity. Genc Pollo, the minister in charge has declared that: . The amendments criticized do not include jailing or forced declaration of ethnicity or religion; only a fine is envisioned which can be overthrown by court.Greek representatives form part of the Albanian parliament and the government has invited Albanian Greeks to register as the only way to improve their status. On the other hand nationalists various organisations and political parties in Albania have expressed their concern that the census might artificially increase the numbers of the Greek minority which might be then exploited by Greece to threaten Albania's territorial integrity.The official language of the country is Albanian which is spoken by the vast majority of the country's population. Its standard spoken and written form is revised and merged from the two main dialects Gheg and Tosk though it is notably based more on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin river is the rough dividing line between the two dialects. Also a dialect of Greek that preserves features now lost in standard modern Greek is spoken in areas inhabited by the Greek minority. Other languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Albania include Aromanian Serbian Macedonian Bosnian Bulgarian Gorani and Roma. Macedonian is official in the Pustec Municipality in East Albania. According to the 2011 population census 2765610 or 98.8% of the population declared Albanian as their mother tongue .In recent years, the shrinking number of pupils in schools dedicated to the Greek minority has caused problems for teachers. The Greek language is spoken by an important percentage in the southern part of the country, due to cultural and economic links with adjacent Greece. In a 2017 study carried out by Instat, the Albanian government statistical agency, 39.9% of the 25–64 years old is able to use at least one foreign language, with English first at 40.0%, followed by Italian with 27.8% and Greek with 22.9%. Among young people aged 25 or less, English, German and Turkish have seen rising interest after 2000. Italian and French have had a stable interest, while Greek has lost much of its previous interest. The trends are linked with cultural and economic factors.Greek is the second most-spoken language in the country, with 0.5 to 3% of the population speaking it as first language, and with two-thirds of mainly Albanian families having at least one member that speaks Greek, most having learned it in the post communist era due to private schools or migration to Greece. Outside of the small designated "minority area" in the south the teaching of Greek was banned during the communist era. As of 2003 Greek was offered at over 100 private tutoring centers all over Albania and at a private school in Tirana, the first of its kind outside Greece.Young people have shown a growing interest in German language in recent years. Some of them go to Germany for studying or various experiences. Albania and Germany have agreements for cooperating in helping young people of the two countries know both cultures better. Due to a sharp rise in economic relations with Turkey, interest in learning Turkish, in particular among young people, has been growing on a yearly basis. Young people, attracted by economic importance of Turkish investments and common values between the two nations, gain from cultural and academic collaboration of universities.As of the 2011 census, there were 1,587,608 Sunni Muslims, 280,921 Roman Catholics, 188,992 Eastern Orthodox, 58,628 Bektashi Muslims, 3,797 Evangelicals, 1,919 other Christians, 602 of other religions and 153,630 believers without denomination in Albania. 69,995 people were irreligious while 386,024 did not declare their religion. Albania is nevertheless ranked among the least religious countries in the world. Religion constitute an important role in the lives of only 39% of the country's population. In another report, 56% considered themselves religious, 30% considered themselves non-religious, while 9% defined themselves as convinced atheists. 80% believed in God and 40% believed in life after death. However, 40% believed in hell, while 42% believed in heaven.The preliminary results of the 2011 census seemed to give widely different results with 70% of respondents refusing to declare belief in any of the listed faiths. The Albanian Orthodox Church officially refused to recognize the results claiming that 24% of the total population adhered to its faith. Some Muslim Community officials expressed unhappiness with the data claiming that many Muslims were not counted and that the number of adherents numbered some 70% of the Albanian population. The Albanian Catholic Bishops Conference also cast doubts on the census complaining that many of its believers were not contacted. The Muslim Albanians are spread throughout the country. Orthodox and Bektashis are mostly found in the south whereas Catholics mainly live in the north. In 2008 there were 694 Catholic churches and 425 orthodox churches 568 mosques and 70 bektashi tekkes in the country.Albania is a secular and religiously diverse country with no official religion and thus, freedom of religion, belief and conscience are guaranteed under the country's constitution.During classical times, there are thought to have been about seventy Christian families in Durrs, as early as the time of the Apostles. The Archbishopric of Durrs was purportedly founded by Paul the Apostle, while preaching in Illyria and Epirus. Meanwhile, in medieval times, the Albanian people first appeared within historical records from the Byzantines. At this point, they were mostly Christianised. Islam arrived for the first time in the late 9th century to the region, when Arabs raided parts of the eastern banks of the Adriatic Sea. It later emerged as the majority religion, during centuries of Ottoman rule, though a significant Christian minority remained.During modern times, the Albanian republican, monarchic and later communist regimes followed a systematic policy of separating religion from official functions and cultural life. The country has never had an official religion either as a republic or as a kingdom. In the 20th century, the clergy of all faiths was weakened under the monarchy and ultimately eradicated during the 1950s and 1960s, under the state policy of obliterating all organised religion from the territories of Albania. The communist regime persecuted and suppressed religious observance and institutions and entirely banned religion. The country was then officially declared to be the world's first atheist state. Religious freedom has returned, however, since the end of communism.Islam survived communist era persecution and reemerged in the modern era as a practised religion in Albania. Some smaller Christian sects in Albania include Evangelicals and several Protestant communities including Seventh-day Adventist Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses. The first recorded Protestant of Albania was Said Toptani, who travelled around Europe and returned to Tirana in 1853, where he preached Protestantism. Due to that, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities in 1864. The first evangelical Protestants appeared in the 19th century and the Evangelical Alliance was founded in 1892. Nowadays, it has 160 member congregations from different Protestant denominations. Following mass emigration to Israel after the fall of communism, there are only 200 Albanian Jews left in the country.Albania shares many symbols associated with its history culture and belief. These include the colours red and black animals such as the golden eagle living across the country costumes such as the fustanella plis and opinga which are worn to special events and celebrations plants such as the olive and red poppy growing as well across the country.The flag of Albania is a red flag with a black double-headed eagle positioned in the centre. The red colour used in the flag symbolises the bravery, strength and valour of the Albanian people, while the black colour appears as a symbol of freedom and heroism. The eagle has been used by Albanians since the Middle Ages including the establishment of the Principality of Arbr and by numerous noble ruling families such as the Kastrioti, Muzaka, Thopia and Dukagjini. Gjergj Kastrioti Sknderbeu, who fought and began a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire which halted Ottoman advance into Europe for nearly 25 years, placed the double-headed eagle on his flag and seal.The country's national motto, .The artistic history of Albania has been particularly influenced by a multitude of ancient and medieval people traditions and religions. It covers a broad spectrum with mediums and disciplines that include painting pottery sculpture ceramics and architecture all of them exemplifying a great variety in style and shape in different regions and period.The rise of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empire in the Middle Ages was accompanied by a corresponding growth in Christian and Islamic art in the lands of Albania which are apparent in examples of architecture and mosaics throughout the country. Centuries later, the Albanian Renaissance proved crucial to the emancipation of the modern Albanian culture and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of literature and art whereas artists sought to return to the ideals of Impressionism and Romanticism. However, Onufri, Kol Idromeno, David Selenica, Kostandin Shpataraku and the Zografi Brothers are the most eminent representatives of Albanian art.The architecture of Albania reflects the legacy of various civilisations tracing back to the classical antiquity. Major cities in Albania have evolved from within the castle to include dwellings religious and commercial structures with constant redesigning of town squares and evolution of building techniques. Nowadays the cities and towns reflect a whole spectrum of various architectural styles. In the 20th century many historical as well as sacred buildings bearing the ancient influence were demolished during the communist era.Ancient architecture is found throughout Albania and most visible in Byllis, Amantia, Phoenice, Apollonia, Butrint, Antigonia, Shkodr and Durrs. Considering the long period of rule of the Byzantine Empire, they introduced castles, citadels, churches and monasteries with spectacular wealth of visible murals and frescos. Perhaps the best known examples can be found in the southern Albanian cities and surroundings of Kor, Berat, Voskopoj and Gjirokastr. Involving the introduction of Ottoman architecture there was a development of mosques and other Islamic buildings, particularly seen in Berat and Gjirokastr.A productive period of Historicism Art Nouveau and Neoclassicism merged into the 19th century best exemplified in Kor. The 20th century brought new architectural styles such as the modern Italian style which is present in Tirana such as the Skanderbeg Square and Ministries. It is also present in Shkodr Vlor Sarand and Durrs. Moreover other towns received their present-day Albania-unique appearance through various cultural or economic influences.Socialist classicism arrived during the communist era in Albania after the Second World War. At this period many socialist-styled complexes wide roads and factories were constructed while town squares were redesigned and numerous of historic and important buildings demolished. Notable examples of that style include the Mother Teresa Square Pyramid of Tirana Palace of Congresses and so on.Three Albanian archaeological sites are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These include the ancient remains of Butrint the medieval Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastr and Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region site shared with North Macedonia since 2019. Furthermore the royal Illyrian tombs the remains of Apollonia the ancient Amphitheatre of Durrs and the Fortress of Bashtov has been included on the tentative list of Albania.Throughout the centuries Albanian cuisine has been widely influenced by Albanian culture geography and history and as such different parts of the country enjoy specific regional cuisines. Cooking traditions especially vary between the north and the south owing to differing topography and climate that essentially contribute to the excellent growth conditions for a wide array of herbs fruits and vegetables.Albanians produce and use many varieties of fruits such as lemons, oranges, figs, and most notably, olives, which are perhaps the most important element of Albanian cooking. Spices and other herbs such as basil, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, and thyme are widely used, as are vegetables such as garlic, onions, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, as well as legumes of all types.With a coastline along the Adriatic and Ionian in the Mediterranean Sea, fish, crustaceans, and seafood are a popular and an integral part of the Albanian diet. Otherwise, lamb is the traditional meat for different holidays and religious festivals for both Christians and Muslims, although poultry, beef, and pork are also in plentiful supply.Tav kosi () is the national dish of Albania, consisting of lamb and rice baked under a thick, tart veil of yogurt. Frges is another national dish, made up of peppers, tomatoes, and cottage cheese. Pite is also popular, a baked pastry with a filling of a mixture of spinach and gjiz (curd) or mish (ground meat).Petulla, a traditional fried dough, is also a popular speciality, and is served with powdered sugar or feta cheese and different sorts of fruit jams. Flia consists of multiple crpe-like layers brushed with cream and served with sour cream. Krofne, similar to Berliner doughnuts, are filled with jam, or chocolate and often eaten during cold winter months.Coffee is an integral part of the Albanian lifestyle. The country has more coffee houses per capita than any other country in the world. Tea is also enjoyed both at home or outside at cafs, bars, or restaurants. aj Mali is enormously beloved, and a part of the daily routine for most Albanians. It is cultivated across Southern Albania and noted for its medicinal properties. Black tea with a slice of lemon and sugar, milk, or honey is also popular.Albanian wine is also common throughout the country and has been cultivated for thousands of years. Albania has a long and ancient history of wine production and belongs to the Old World of wine producing countries. Its wine is characterized by its sweet taste and traditionally indigenous varieties.The freedom of press and speech and the right to free expression is guaranteed in the constitution of Albania. Albania was ranked 84th on the Press Freedom Index of 2020 compiled by the Reporters Without Borders with its score steadily declining since 2003. Nevertheless in the 2020 report of Freedom in the World the Freedom House classified the freedoms of press and speech in Albania as partly free from political interference and manipulation.Radio Televizioni Shqiptar is the national broadcaster corporation of Albania operating numerous television and radio stations in the country. The three major private broadcaster corporations are Top Channel, Televizioni Klan and Vizion Plus whose content are distributed throughout Albania and beyond its territory in Kosovo and other Albanian-speaking territories.Albanian cinema has its roots in the 20th century and developed after the country's declaration of independence. The first movie theater exclusively devoted to showing motion pictures was built in 1912 in Shkodr by an Austrian distribution company with strong efforts by Albanian painter Kol Idromeno. The opening of other movie theaters followed by 1920 in Shkodr Berat Tirana and Vlor.During the Peoples Republic of Albania Albanian cinema developed rapidly with the inauguration of the Kinostudio Shqipria e Re in Tirana. In 1953 the Albanian-Soviet epic film the Great Warrior Skanderbeg was released chronicling the life and fight of the medieval Albanian hero Skanderbeg. It went on to win the international prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. In 2003 the Tirana International Film Festival was established the largest film festival in the country. Durrs is host to the Durrs International Film Festival the second largest film festival taking place at the Durrs Amphitheatre.Albanian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity, and continues to play a major part in overall Albanian music. Folk music can be divided into two stylistic groups, mainly the northern Gheg varieties, and southern Lab and Tosk varieties. Northern and southern traditions are contrasted by a rugged tone from the north, and the more relaxed southern form of music.Many songs concern events from Albanian history and culture, including traditional themes of honour, hospitality, treachery, and revenge. The first compilation of Albanian folk music was made by two Himariot musicians, Neo Muka and Koo akali, in Paris, during their work with Albanian soprano Tefta Tashko-Koo. Several gramophone compilations were recorded at the time by the three artists, which eventually led to the recognition of Albanian iso-polyphony as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.Festivali i Kngs is a traditional Albanian song contest organised by the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar . The festival is celebrated annually since its inauguration in 1962 and has launched the careers of some of Albania's most successful singers including Vae Zela and Parashqevi Simaku. It is significantly a music competition among Albanian performers presenting unreleased songs in premiere composed by Albanian authors and voted by juries or by public.Contemporary artists Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha, Era Istrefi, Dua Lipa, Ava Max, Bleona, Elvana Gjata, Ermonela Jaho, and Inva Mula have achieved international recognition for their music, while soprano Ermonela Jaho has been described by some as the . Albanian opera singer Saimir Pirgu was nominated for the 2017 Grammy Award.Traditional clothing.Every cultural and geographical region of Albania has its own specific variety of costume that vary in style material color shape detail and form. Presently national costumes are most often worn during special events and celebrations mostly at ethnic festivals religious holidays weddings and by performing dance groups. Some elderly people continue to wear traditional clothing in their daily lives. Clothing was traditionally made mainly from local materials such as leather wool linen hemp fibre and silk Albanian textiles are still embroidered in elaborate ancient patterns.Literature.The Albanian language comprises an independent branch and is a language isolate within the Indo-European family of languages; it is not connected to any other known living language in Europe. Its origin is conclusively unknown, but it is believed to have descended from an ancient Paleo-Balkan language.The cultural renaissance was first of all expressed through the development of the Albanian language in the area of church texts and publications, mainly of the Catholic region in the northern of Albania, but also of the Orthodox in the south. The Protestant reforms invigorated hopes for the development of the local language and literary tradition, when cleric Gjon Buzuku translated the Catholic liturgy into Albanian, trying to do for Albanian what Martin Luther had done for German. Meshari written by Gjon Buzuku was published in 1555 and is considered one of the first literary work of written Albanian during the Middle Ages. The refined level of the language and the stabilised orthography must be the result of an earlier tradition of written Albanian, a tradition that is not well understood. However, there is some fragmented evidence, pre-dating Buzuku, which indicates that Albanian was written from at least the 14th century.The earliest evidence dates from 1332 AD with a Latin report from the French Dominican Guillelmus Adae Archbishop of Antivari who wrote that Albanians used Latin letters in their books although their language was quite different from Latin. Other significant examples include a baptism formula ("Unte paghesont premenit Atit et Birit et spertit senit") from 1462 written in Albanian within a Latin text by the Bishop of Durrs Pal Engjlli a glossary of Albanian words of 1497 by Arnold von Harff a German who had travelled through Albania and a 15th-century fragment of the Bible from the Gospel of Matthew also in Albanian but written in Greek letters.Albanian writings from these centuries must not have been religious texts only, but historical chronicles too. They are mentioned by the humanist Marin Barleti, who in his book Siege of Shkodr from 1504, confirms that he leafed through such chronicles written in the language of the people as well as his famous biography of Skanderbeg Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis from 1508. The "History of Skanderbeg" is still the foundation of Skanderbeg studies and is considered an Albanian cultural treasure, vital to the formation of Albanian national self-consciousness.During the 16th and the 17th centuries the catechism from 1592 written by Lek Matrnga from 1618 and 1621 by Pjetr Budi the first writer of original Albanian prose and poetry an apology for George Castriot by Frang Bardhi who also published a dictionary and folklore creations the theological-philosophical treaty by Pjetr Bogdani the most universal personality of Albanian Middle Ages were published in Albanian. The most famous Albanian writer in the 20th and 21st century is probably Ismail Kadare. He has been mentioned as a possible recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature several times.Albania participated at the Olympic Games in 1972 for the first time. The country made their Winter Olympic Games debut in 2006. Albania missed the next four games, two of them due to the 1980 and 1984 boycotts, but returned for the 1992 games in Barcelona. Since then, Albania have participated in all games. Albania normally competes in events that include swimming, athletics, weightlifting, shooting and wrestling. The country have been represented by the National Olympic Committee of Albania since 1972. The nation has participated at the Mediterranean Games since the games of 1987 in Syria. The Albanian athletes have won a total of 43 (8 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze) medals from 1987 to 2013.Popular sports in Albania include Football weightlifting basketball volleyball tennis swimming rugby union and gymnastics. Football is by far the most popular sport in Albania. It is governed by the Football Association of Albania ( F.SH.F.) which was created in 1930 and has membership in FIFA and UEFA. Football arrived in Albania early in the 20th century when the inhabitants of the northern city of Shkodr were surprised to see a strange game being played by students at a Christian mission.The Albania national football team, ranking 51st in the World in 2017 have won the 1946 Balkan Cup and the Malta Rothmans International Tournament 2000, but had never participated in any major UEFA or FIFA tournament, until UEFA Euro 2016, Albanias football tournament. Albania scored their first ever goal in a major tournament and secured their first ever win in European Championship when they beat Romania by 1–0 in a UEFA Euro 2016 match on 19 June 2016. The most successful football clubs in the country are Sknderbeu, KF Tirana, Dinamo Tirana, Partizani and Vllaznia.Weightlifting is one of the most successful individual sport for the Albanians, with the national team winning medals at the European Weightlifting Championships and the rest international competitions. Albanian weightlifters have won a total of 16 medals at the European Championships with 1 of them being gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze. In the World Weightlifting Championships, the Albanian weightlifting team has won in 1972 a gold in 2002 a silver and in 2011 a bronze medal.Historically the Albanian people have established several communities in many regions throughout Southern Europe. The Albanian diaspora has been formed since the late Middle Ages when they emigrated to places such as Italy especially in Sicily and Calabria and Greece to escape either various socio-political difficulties or the Ottoman conquest of Albania. Following the fall of communism large numbers of Albanians have migrated to countries such as Australia Canada France Germany Greece Italy Scandinavia Switzerland United Kingdom and the United States. Albanian minorities are present in the neighbouring territories such as the west of North Macedonia the east of Montenegro Kosovo in its entirety and southern Serbia. In Kosovo Albanians make up the largest ethnic group in the country. Altogether the number of ethnic Albanian living abroad its territory is estimated to be higher than the total population inside the territory of Albania.
Allah ( ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from "al-ilh" which means "the god" and is linguistically related to the Hebrew words "El" ("Elohim") "Elah" and the Aramaic word (Alh) for God.The word "Allah" has been used by Arabic people of different religions since pre-Islamic times. The origin of the title Allah goes back before Muhammad who found that the Meccans worshipped a supreme deity whom they called Allah. Along with Allah however they also worshipped a host of lesser gods and “daughters of Allah.” Later it has been used as a term for God by Muslims and even Arab Christians after the term "al-ilh" and "Allah" were used interchangeably in Classical Arabic by the majority of Arabs who had become Muslims. It is also often albeit not exclusively used in this way by Bbists Bahs Mandaeans Indonesian and Maltese Christians and Sephardi Jews. Similar usage by Christians and Sikhs in West Malaysia has recently led to political and legal controversies.The etymology of the word . The majority of modern scholars subscribe to the latter theory and view the loanword hypothesis with skepticism.Cognates of the name "Allh" exist in other Semitic languages including Hebrew and Aramaic. The corresponding Aramaic form is "Elah" but its emphatic state is "Elaha" . It is written as in Biblical Aramaic and in Syriac as used by the Assyrian Church both meaning simply "God". Biblical Hebrew mostly uses the plural form "Elohim" but more rarely it also uses the singular form "Eloah" .Pre-Islamic Arabians.Regional variants of the word "Allah" occur in both pagan and Christian pre-Islamic inscriptions. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in pre-Islamic polytheistic cults. According to the Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir Arab pagans considered Allah as an unseen God who created and controlled the Universe. Pagans believed worship of humans or animals who had lucky events in their life brought them closer to God. In Islam worshipping anyone other than God is considered as the greatest sin. Some authors have suggested that polytheistic Arabs used the name as a reference to a creator god or a supreme deity of their pantheon. The term may have been vague in the Meccan religion. According to one hypothesis which goes back to Julius Wellhausen Allah was a designation that consecrated the superiority of Hubal over the other gods. However there is also evidence that Allah and Hubal were two distinct deities. According to that hypothesis the Kaaba was first consecrated to a supreme deity named Allah and then hosted the pantheon of Quraysh after their conquest of Mecca about a century before the time of Muhammad. Some inscriptions seem to indicate the use of Allah as a name of a polytheist deity centuries earlier but nothing precise is known about this use. Some scholars have suggested that Allah may have represented a remote creator god who was gradually eclipsed by more particularized local deities. There is disagreement on whether Allah played a major role in the Meccan religious cult. No iconic representation of Allah is known to have existed. Allah is the only god in Mecca that did not have an idol. Muhammad's father's name was meaning "the slave of Allh".Christianity.Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God". The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah", except Jehovah's Witnesses who add the biblical name "Jehovah" () to the title "Allah". Similarly, the Aramaic word for "God" in the language of Assyrian Christians is "lh", or "Alaha". (Even the Arabic-descended Maltese language of Malta, whose population is almost entirely Catholic, uses "Alla" for "God".) Arab Christians, for example, use the terms ' () for God the Father, ' () for God the Son, and "" () for God the Holy Spirit. (See God in Christianity for the Christian concept of God.)Arab Christians have used two forms of invocations that were affixed to the beginning of their written works. They adopted the Muslim ' and also created their own Trinitized ' as early as the 8th century. The Muslim ' reads "In the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful." The Trinitized ' reads "In the name of Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit One God." The Syriac Latin and Greek invocations do not have the words "One God" at the end. This addition was made to emphasize the monotheistic aspect of Trinitarian belief and also to make it more palatable to Muslims.According to Marshall Hodgson, it seems that in the pre-Islamic times, some Arab Christians made pilgrimage to the Kaaba, a pagan temple at that time, honoring Allah there as God the Creator.Some archaeological excavation quests have led to the discovery of ancient pre-Islamic inscriptions and tombs made by Arab Christians in the ruins of a church at Umm el-Jimal in Northern Jordan which initially according to Enno Littman contained references to Allah as the proper name of God. However on a second revision by Bellamy et al. the 5-versed-inscription was re-translated as "This was set up by colleagues of Ulayh son of Ubaydah secretary of the cohort Augusta Secunda Philadelphiana may he go mad who effaces it."The syriac word can be found in the reports and the lists of names of Christian martyrs in South Arabia, as reported by antique Syriac documents of the names of those martyrs from the era of the Himyarite and Aksumite kingdomsIn Ibn Ishaq's biography there is a Christian leader named Abd Allah ibn Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, who was martyred in Najran in 523, as he had worn a ring that said "Allah is my lord".In an inscription of Christian martyrion dated back to 512, references to 'l-ilah can be found in both Arabic and Aramaic. The inscription starts with the statement "By the Help of 'l-ilah".In pre-Islamic Gospels the name used for God was "Allah" as evidenced by some discovered Arabic versions of the New Testament written by Arab Christians during the pre-Islamic era in Northern and Southern Arabia. However most recent research in the field of Islamic Studies by Sydney Griffith et al. David D. Grafton Clair Wilde &amp ML Hjlm et al. assert that "all one can say about the possibility of a pre-Islamic Christian version of the Gospel in Arabic is that no sure sign of its actual existence has yet emerged." Additionally ML Hjlm in her most recent research inserts that "manuscripts containing translations of the gospels are encountered no earlier than the year 873"Irfan Shahd quoting the 10th-century encyclopedic collection Kitab al-Aghani notes that pre-Islamic Arab Christians have been reported to have raised the battle cry (O slaves of Allah) to invoke each other into battle. According to Shahid on the authority of 10th-century Muslim scholar Al-Marzubani was also mentioned in pre-Islamic Christian poems by some Ghassanid and Tanukhid poets in Syria and Northern Arabia.According to Islamic belief Allah is the most common word to represent God and humble submission to his will divine ordinances and commandments is the pivot of the Muslim faith. Allah doesn't depend on anything. God is not a part of the Christian Trinity. God has no parents and no children.The concept correlates to the Tawhid, where chapter 112 of the Qur'an (, The Sincerity) reads:"Allah! There is no deity but "Him" the Alive the Eternal.Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh "Him".Unto belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth.Who could intercede in permission? knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them,while they encompass nothing of "His" knowledge except what "He" wills."His" throne includeth the heavens and the earth,and is never weary of preserving them.
In Islamic tradition, there are 99 Names of God , each of which evoke a distinct characteristic of Allah. All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name. Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Merciful" and "the Compassionate" , including the forementioned above "al-Aad" and "al-Wid" .Most Muslims use the untranslated Arabic phrase ' after references to future events. Muslim discursive piety encourages beginning things with the invocation of ' . There are certain phrases in praise of God that are favored by Muslims including " " " or sometimes "l ilha ill inta/ huwa"" and "" as a devotional exercise of remembering God .In a Sufi practice known as "dhikr Allah" , the Sufi repeats and contemplates the name "Allah" or other associated divine names to Him while controlling his or her breath. For example, in countless references in the context from the Qur'an forementioned above:1) Allah is referred to in the second person pronoun in Arabic as ""Inta" (Arabic َِْ)" like the English ""You" or commonly in the third person pronoun "Huwa" (Arabic َُ)" like the English ""He" and uniquely in the case pronoun of the oblique form "Hu/ Huw" (Arabic /-ُ)" like the English "Him" which rhythmically resonates and is chanted as considered a sacred sound or echo referring Allah as the "Absolute Breath or Soul of Life" - "Al-Nafs al-Hayyah" (Arabic ّ "an-Nafsu 'l-ayyah") - notably among the 99 names of God "the Giver of Life" ("al-Muy") and "the Bringer of Death" ("al-Mumiyt")2) Allah is neither male or female , but who is the essence of the ;3) Allah is the originator of both before and beyond the cycle of creation, destruction and time, - notably among the 99 names of God, "the First, Beginning-less" , "the End/ Beyond / Endless" and "the Timeless" .According to Gerhard Bwering in contrast with pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism God in Islam does not have associates and companions nor is there any kinship between God and jinn. Pre-Islamic pagan Arabs believed in a blind powerful inexorable and insensible fate over which man had no control. This was replaced with the Islamic notion of a powerful but provident and merciful God.According to Francis Edward Peters, . Peters states that the Qur'an portrays Allah as both more powerful and more remote than Yahweh, and as a universal deity, unlike Yahweh who closely follows Israelites.Pronunciation.The word is generally pronounced exhibiting a heavy lm a velarized alveolar lateral approximant a marginal phoneme in Modern Standard Arabic. Since the initial alef has no hamza the initial is elided when a preceding word ends in a vowel. If the preceding vowel is the lm is light as in for instance the Basmala.As a loanword.English and other European languages.The history of the name seems to imply that it is different from that of the Jewish and Christian theologies.Languages which may not commonly use the term (Arabic: ). This phrase literally means (in the sense of ). The German poet Mahlmann used the form as the title of a poem about the ultimate deity, though it is unclear how much Islamic thought he intended to convey.Some Muslims leave the name "Allh" untranslated in English, rather than using the English translation "God". The word has also been applied to certain living human beings as personifications of the term and concept.Malaysian and Indonesian language.Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia use "Allah" to refer to God in the Malaysian and Indonesian languages . Mainstream Bible translations in the language use "Allah" as the translation of Hebrew "Elohim" . This goes back to early translation work by Francis Xavier in the 16th century. The first dictionary of Dutch-Malay by Albert Cornelius Ruyl Justus Heurnius and Caspar Wiltens in 1650 recorded "Allah" as the translation of the Dutch word "". Ruyl also translated the Gospel of Matthew in 1612 into the Malay language (an early Bible translation into a non-European languagemade a year after the publication of the King James Version), which was printed in the Netherlands in 1629. Then he translated the Gospel of Mark, published in 1638.The government of Malaysia in 2007 outlawed usage of the term "Allah" in any other but Muslim contexts but the Malayan High Court in 2009 revoked the law ruling it unconstitutional. While "Allah" had been used for the Christian God in Malay for more than four centuries the contemporary controversy was triggered by usage of "Allah" by the Roman Catholic newspaper "The Herald". The government appealed the court ruling and the High Court suspended implementation of its verdict until the hearing of the appeal. In October 2013 the court ruled in favor of the government's ban. In early 2014 the Malaysian government confiscated more than 300 bibles for using the word to refer to the Christian God in Peninsular Malaysia. However the use of "Allah" is not prohibited in the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. The main reason it is not prohibited in these two states is that usage has been long-established and local Alkitab have been widely distributed freely in East Malaysia without restrictions for years. Both states also do not have similar Islamic state laws as those in West Malaysia.In reaction to some media criticism the Malaysian government has introduced a "10-point solution" to avoid confusion and misleading information. The 10-point solution is in line with the spirit of the 18- and 20-point agreements of Sarawak and Sabah.Typography.The word ' is always written without an to spell the ' vowel. This is because the spelling was settled before Arabic spelling started habitually using ' to spell '. However, in vocalized spelling, a small diacritic ' is added on top of the ' to indicate the pronunciation.In the pre-Islamic Zabad inscription, God is referred to by the term , that is, alif-lam-alif-lam-ha. This presumably indicates .Many Arabic type fonts feature special ligatures for Allah.Unicode has a code point reserved for ' = U+FDF2 in the Arabic Presentation Forms-A block which exists solely for "compatibility with some older legacy character sets that encoded presentation forms directly" this is discouraged for new text. Instead the word ' should be represented by its individual Arabic letters while modern font technologies will render the desired ligature.The calligraphic variant of the word used as the Coat of arms of Iran is encoded in Unicode, in the Miscellaneous Symbols range, at code point U+262B .
Algorithms is a monthly peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal of mathematics covering design analysis and experiments on algorithms. The journal is published by MDPI and was established in 2008. The founding editor-in-chief was Kazuo Iwama . From May 2014 to September 2019 the editor-in-chief was Henning Fernau . The current editor-in-chief is Frank Werner .Abstracting and indexing.The journal is abstracted and indexed inJournals with similar scope includeAzerbaijan (, ; ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region, and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city.The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918 and became the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state taking its name from the adjacent region of northwestern Iran for political reasons.&ltref name="Sochineniya vol II/1"&gt&lt/ref&gt In 1922 the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan SSR.The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same year. In September 1991, the ethnic Armenian majority of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region seceded to form the Republic of Artsakh. The region and seven surrounding districts, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan pending a solution to the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh through negotiations facilitated by the OSCE, became independent with the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994.Following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the seven districts and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh were returned to Azerbaijani control.Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is one of six independent Turkic states and an active member of the Turkic Council and the TRKSOY community. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 182 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations including the United Nations the Council of Europe the Non-Aligned Movement the OSCE and the NATO PfP program. It is one of the founding members of GUAM the CIS and the OPCW. Azerbaijan is also an observer state of the WTO.The vast majority of the country's population is Muslim but the constitution does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secularist. Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks 88th on the Human Development Index. It has a high rate of economic development literacy and a low rate of unemployment. The ruling party the New Azerbaijan Party in power since 1993 has been accused of authoritarian leadership and the deterioration of the country's human rights record including increasing restrictions on civil liberties particularly on press freedom and political repression.According to a modern etymology, the term .The name . On that basis Iran protested the newly adopted country name.During the Soviet rule, the country was also spelled in Latin from the Russian transliteration as "Azerbaydzhan" . The country's name was also spelled in Cyrillic script from 1940 to 1991 as "".The earliest evidence of human settlement in the territory of Azerbaijan dates back to the late Stone Age and is related to the Guruchay culture of Azykh Cave.Early settlements included the Scythians during the 9th century BC. Following the Scythians Iranian Medes came to dominate the area to the south of the Aras river. The Medes forged a vast empire between 900 and 700 BC which was integrated into the Achaemenid Empire around 550 BC. The area was conquered by the Achaemenids leading to the spread of Zoroastrianism.From the Sasanid period to the Safavid period.The Sasanian Empire turned Caucasian Albania into a vassal state in 252, while King Urnayr officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. Despite Sassanid rule, Albania remained an entity in the region until the 9th century, while fully subordinate to Sassanid Iran, and retained its monarchy. Despite being one of the chief vassals of the Sasanian emperor, the Albanian king had only a semblance of authority, and the Sasanian marzban held most civil, religious, and military authority.In the first half of the 7th century, Caucasian Albania, as a vassal of the Sasanians, came under nominal Muslim rule due to the Muslim conquest of Persia. The Umayyad Caliphate repulsed both the Sasanians and Byzantines from Transcaucasia and turned Caucasian Albania into a vassal state after Christian resistance led by King Javanshir, was suppressed in 667. The power vacuum left by the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate was filled by numerous local dynasties such as the Sallarids, Sajids, and Shaddadids. At the beginning of the 11th century, the territory was gradually seized by the waves of Oghuz Turks from Central Asia, who adopted a Turkoman ethnonym at the time. The first of these Turkic dynasties established was the Seljuk Empire, which entered the area now known as Azerbaijan by 1067.The pre-Turkic population that lived on the territory of modern Azerbaijan spoke several Indo-European and Caucasian languages, among them Armenian and an Iranian language, Old Azeri, which was gradually replaced by a Turkic language, the early precursor of the Azerbaijani language of today. Some linguists have also stated that the Tati dialects of Iranian Azerbaijan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, like those spoken by the Tats, are descended from Old Azeri.Locally, the possessions of the subsequent Seljuk Empire were ruled by Eldiguzids, technically vassals of the Seljuk sultans, but sometimes "de facto" rulers themselves. Under the Seljuks, local poets such as Nizami Ganjavi and Khaqani gave rise to a blossoming of Persian literature on the territory of present-day Azerbaijan.The local dynasty of the Shirvanshahs became a vassal state of Timur's Empire and assisted him in his war with the ruler of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh. Following Timur's death two independent and rival states emerged Kara Koyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu. The Shirvanshahs returned maintaining for numerous centuries to come a high degree of autonomy as local rulers and vassals as they had done since 861. In 1501 the Safavid dynasty of Iran subdued the Shirvanshahs and gained its possessions. In the course of the next century the Safavids converted the formerly Sunni population to Shia Islam as they did with the population in what is modern-day Iran. The Safavids allowed the Shirvanshahs to remain in power under Safavid suzerainty until 1538 when Safavid king Tahmasp I completely deposed them and made the area into the Safavid province of Shirvan. The Sunni Ottomans briefly managed to occupy parts of present-day Azerbaijan as a result of the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578–1590 by the early 17th century they were ousted by Safavid Iranian ruler Abbas I . In the wake of the demise of the Safavid Empire Baku and its environs were briefly occupied by the Russians as a consequence of the Russo-Persian War of 1722–1723. Despite brief intermissions such as these by Safavid Iran's neighboring rivals the land of what is today Azerbaijan remained under Iranian rule from the earliest advent of the Safavids up to the course of the 19th century.Contemporary history.After the Safavids, the area was ruled by the Iranian Afsharid dynasty. After the death of Nader Shah , many of his former subjects capitalized on the eruption of instability. Numerous self-ruling khanates with various forms of autonomy emerged in the area. The rulers of these khanates were directly related to the ruling dynasties of Iran and were vassals and subjects of the Iranian shah. The khanates exercised control over their affairs via international trade routes between Central Asia and the West.Thereafter the area was under the successive rule of the Iranian Zands and Qajars. From the late 18th century Imperial Russia switched to a more aggressive geo-political stance towards its two neighbors and rivals to the south namely Iran and the Ottoman Empire. Russia now actively tried to gain possession of the Caucasus region which was for the most part in the hands of Iran. In 1804 the Russians invaded and sacked the Iranian town of Ganja sparking the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. The militarily superior Russians ended the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 with a victory.Following Qajar Iran's loss in the 1804–1813 war it was forced to concede suzerainty over most of the khanates along with Georgia and Dagestan to the Russian Empire per the Treaty of Gulistan.The area to the north of the river Aras amongst which territory lies the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan was Iranian territory until Russia occupied it in the 19th century. About a decade later in violation of the Gulistan treaty the Russians invaded Irans disintegration subsequently became part of the border between Iran and the Azerbaijan Republic.Qajar Iran was forced to cede its Caucasian territories to Russia in the 19th century which thus included the territory of the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic while as a result of that cession the Azerbaijani ethnic group is nowadays parted between two nations Iran and Azerbaijan.Despite the Russian conquest throughout the entire 19th century preoccupation with Iranian culture literature and language remained widespread amongst Shia and Sunni intellectuals in the Russian-held cities of Baku Ganja and Tiflis . Within the same century in post-Iranian Russian-held East Caucasia an Azerbaijani national identity emerged at the end of the 19th century.After the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I, the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was declared, constituting the present-day republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.It was followed by the March Days massacres that took place between 30 March and 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire. When the republic dissolved in May 1918 the leading Musavat party declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopting the name of for the new republic a name that prior to the proclamation of the ADR was solely used to refer to the adjacent northwestern region of contemporary Iran. The ADR was the first modern parliamentary republic in the Muslim world. Among the important accomplishments of the Parliament was the extension of suffrage to women making Azerbaijan the first Muslim nation to grant women equal political rights with men. Another important accomplishment of ADR was the establishment of Baku State University which was the first modern-type university founded in the Muslim East.By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia would attack Baku. Vladimir Lenin said that the invasion was justified as Soviet Russia could not survive without Baku's oil. Independent Azerbaijan lasted only 23 months until the Bolshevik 11th Soviet Red Army invaded it, establishing the Azerbaijan SSR on 28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formed Azerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Armenian revolt that had just broken out in Karabakh, Azerbaijanis did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 Azerbaijani soldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russian reconquest. Within the ensuing early Soviet period, the Azerbaijani national identity was finally forged.On 13 October 1921 the Soviet republics of Russia Armenia Azerbaijan and Georgia signed an agreement with Turkey known as the Treaty of Kars. The previously independent Republic of Aras would also become the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Azerbaijan SSR by the treaty of Kars. On the other hand Armenia was awarded the region of Zangezur and Turkey agreed to return Gyumri .During World War II, Azerbaijan played a crucial role in the strategic energy policy of the Soviet Union, with 80 percent of the Soviet Union's oil on the Eastern Front being supplied by Baku. By the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan were awarded orders and medals. Operation Edelweiss carried out by the German Wehrmacht targeted Baku because of its importance as the energy dynamo of the USSR. A fifth of all Azerbaijanis fought in the Second World War from 1941 to 1945. Approximately 681,000 people with over 100,000 of them women, went to the front, while the total population of Azerbaijan was 3.4 million at the time. Some 250,000 people from Azerbaijan were killed on the front. More than 130 Azerbaijanis were named Heroes of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijani Major-General Azi Aslanov was twice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union.Independence.Following the politics of and restored the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as the state flag. As a consequence of the failed coup which occurred in August in Moscow on 18 October 1991 the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence which was affirmed by a nationwide referendum in December 1991 while the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on 26 December 1991. The country now celebrates its Independence Day on 18 October.The early years of independence were overshadowed by the First Nagorno-Karabakh war with the ethnic Armenian majority of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia. By the end of the hostilities in 1994 Armenians controlled up to 14–16 percent of Azerbaijani territory including Nagorno-Karabakh itself. During the war many atrocities were committed including the massacres at Malibeyli and Gushchular the Garadaghly massacre and the Khojaly massacres. Furthermore an estimated 30000 people have been killed and more than a million people have been displaced more than 800000 Azerbaijanis and 300000 Armenians. Four United Nations Security Council Resolutions demand for "the immediate withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan." Many Russians and Armenians left and fled Azerbaijan as refugees during the 1990s. According to the 1970 census there were 510000 ethnic Russians and 484000 Armenians in Azerbaijan.Heydar Aliyev, 1993-today.In 1993 democratically elected president Abulfaz Elchibey was overthrown by a military insurrection led by Colonel Surat Huseynov which resulted in the rise to power of the former leader of Soviet Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. In 1994 Surat Huseynov by that time the prime minister attempted another military coup against Heydar Aliyev but he was arrested and charged with treason. A year later in 1995 another coup was attempted against Aliyev this time by the commander of the OMON special unit Rovshan Javadov. The coup was averted resulting in the killing of the latter and disbanding of Azerbaijan's OMON units. At the same time the country was tainted by rampant corruption in the governing bureaucracy. In October 1998 Aliyev was reelected for a second term. Despite the much improved economy particularly with the exploitation of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field and Shah Deniz gas field Aliyev's presidency was criticized due to suspected election frauds high levels of economic inequality and domestic corruption.Ilham Aliyev, Heydar Aliyev's son, became chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party as well as President of Azerbaijan when his father died in 2003. He was reelected to a third term as president in October 2013. On 27 September 2020, new clashes in the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resumed along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact. Both the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia reported military and civilian casualties. The Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement and the end of the six-week war between Azerbaijan and Armenia was seen as a victory and was widely celebrated in Azerbaijan.Geographically, Azerbaijan is located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia, straddling Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It lies between latitudes 38° and 42° N, and longitudes 44° and 51° E. The total length of Azerbaijan's land borders is , of which 1,007 kilometers are with Armenia, 756 kilometers with Iran, 480 kilometers with Georgia, 390 kilometers with Russia and 15 kilometers with Turkey. The coastline stretches for , and the length of the widest area of the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea is . The territory of Azerbaijan extends from north to south, and from west to east.Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan the Caspian Sea whose shoreline forms a natural boundary to the east the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north and the extensive flatlands at the country's center. There are also three mountain ranges the Greater and Lesser Caucasus and the Talysh Mountains together covering approximately 40% of the country. The highest peak of Azerbaijan is Mount Bazardz while the lowest point lies in the Caspian Sea . Nearly half of all the mud volcanoes on Earth are concentrated in Azerbaijan these volcanoes were also among nominees for the New7Wonders of Nature.The main water sources are surface waters. Only 24 of the 8,350 rivers are greater than in length. All the rivers drain into the Caspian Sea in the east of the country. The largest lake is Sarysu , and the longest river is Kur , which is transboundary with Armenia. Azerbaijan has several islands along the Caspian sea, mostly located in the Baku Archipelago.Since the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991 the Azerbaijani government has taken measures to preserve the environment of Azerbaijan. National protection of the environment accelerated after 2001 when the state budget increased due to new revenues provided by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Within four years protected areas doubled and now make up eight percent of the country's territory. Since 2001 the government has set up seven large reserves and almost doubled the sector of the budget earmarked for environmental protection.Azerbaijan is home to a wide variety of landscapes. Over half of Azerbaijans terrain consists of plains and lowlands. Hypsometric marks within the Caucasus region vary from about −28 meters at the Caspian Sea shoreline up to 4466 meters .The formation of climate in Azerbaijan is influenced particularly by cold arctic air masses of Scandinavian anticyclone temperate air masses of Siberian anticyclone and Central Asian anticyclone. Azerbaijan's diverse landscape affects the ways air masses enter the country. The Greater Caucasus protects the country from direct influences of cold air masses coming from the north. That leads to the formation of subtropical climate on most foothills and plains of the country. Meanwhile plains and foothills are characterized by high solar radiation rates.9 out of 11 existing climate zones are present in Azerbaijan. Both the absolute minimum temperature and the absolute maximum temperature were observed in Julfa and Ordubad – regions of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The maximum annual precipitation falls in Lankaran and the minimum in Absheron .Rivers and lakes form the principal part of the water systems of Azerbaijan, they were formed over a long geological timeframe and changed significantly throughout that period. This is particularly evidenced by remnants of ancient rivers found throughout the country. The countrys water systems. In terms of water supply, Azerbaijan is below the average in the world with approximately per year of water per square kilometer. All big water reservoirs are built on Kur. The hydrography of Azerbaijan basically belongs to the Caspian Sea basin.The Kura and Aras are the major rivers in Azerbaijan. They run through the Kura-Aras Lowland. The rivers that directly flow into the Caspian Sea originate mainly from the north-eastern slope of the Major Caucasus and Talysh Mountains and run along the Samur–Devechi and Lankaran lowlands.Yanar Dag, translated as "burning mountain", is a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku, which itself is known as the "land of fire." Flames jet out into the air from a thin, porous sandstone layer. It is a tourist attraction to visitors to the Baku area.Biodiversity.The first reports on the richness and diversity of animal life in Azerbaijan can be found in travel notes of Eastern travelers. Animal carvings on architectural monuments ancient rocks and stones survived up to the present times. The first information on flora and fauna of Azerbaijan was collected during the visits of naturalists to Azerbaijan in the 17th century.There are 106 species of mammals, 97 species of fish, 363 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians, and 52 species of reptiles which have been recorded and classified in Azerbaijan. The national animal of Azerbaijan is the Karabakh horse, a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse endemic to Azerbaijan. The Karabakh horse has a reputation for its good temper, speed, elegance, and intelligence. It is one of the oldest breeds, with ancestry dating to the ancient world, but today the horse is an endangered species.Azerbaijan's flora consists of more than 4500 species of higher plants. Due to the unique climate in Azerbaijan the flora is much richer in the number of species than the flora of the other republics of the South Caucasus. 66 percent of the species growing in the whole Caucasus can be found in Azerbaijan. The country lies within four ecoregions Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests Caucasus mixed forests Eastern Anatolian montane steppe and Azerbaijan shrub desert and steppe. Azerbaijan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.55/10 ranking it 72nd globally out of 172 countries.Government and politics.The structural formation of Azerbaijan provisions.The Constitution of Azerbaijan states that it is a presidential republic with three branches of power – Executive Legislative and Judicial. The legislative power is held by the unicameral National Assembly and the Supreme National Assembly in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The Parliament of Azerbaijan called Milli Majlis consists of 125 deputies elected based on majority vote with a term of 5 years for each elected member. The elections are held every five years on the first Sunday of November. The Parliament is not responsible for the formation of the government but the Constitution requires the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers by Milli Majlis. The New Azerbaijan Party and independents loyal to the ruling government currently hold almost all of the Parliament's 125 seats. During the 2010 Parliamentary election the opposition parties Musavat and Azerbaijani Popular Front Party failed to win a single seat. European observers found numerous irregularities in the run-up to the election and on election day.The executive power is held by the President who is elected for a seven-year term by direct elections and the Prime Minister. The president is authorized to form the Cabinet a collective executive body accountable to both the President and the National Assembly. The Cabinet of Azerbaijan consists primarily of the prime minister his deputies and ministers. The president does not have the right to dissolve the National Assembly but has the right to veto its decisions. To override the presidential veto the parliament must have a majority of 95 votes. The judicial power is vested in the Constitutional Court Supreme Court and the Economic Court. The president nominates the judges in these courts. The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice report refers to the Azerbaijani justice model on the selection of new judges as best practice reflecting the particular features and the course of development towards ensuring the independence and quality of the judiciary in a new democracy.Azerbaijan's system of governance nominally can be called two-tiered. The top or highest tier of the government is the Executive Power headed by President. The President appoints the Cabinet of Ministers and other high-ranking officials. The Local Executive Authority is merely a continuation of Executive Power. The Provision determines the legal status of local state administration in Azerbaijan on Local Executive Authority () adopted 16 June 1999. In June 2012 the President approved the new Regulation which granted additional powers to Local Executive Authorities strengthening their dominant position in Azerbaijan's local affairs Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic addresses major issues of local self-government such as the legal status of municipalities types of local self-government bodies their basic powers and relationships to other official entities. The other nominal tier of governance is municipalities () and members of municipalities are elected by a general vote in Municipal elections every five years. Currently there are 1607 municipalities across the country. The Law on Municipal Elections and the Law on the Status of Municipalities were the first to be adopted in the field of local government (2 July 1999). The Law on Municipal Service regulates the activities of municipal employees their rights duties labor conditions and social benefits and outlines the structure of the executive apparatus and the organization of municipal service. The Law on the Status of Municipalities regulates the role and structure of municipal bodies and outlines state guarantees of legal and financial autonomy. The law pays special attention to the adoption and execution of municipal programs concerning social protection social and economic development and the local environment.The Security Council is the deliberative body under the president and he organizes it according to the Constitution. It was established on 10 April 1997. The administrative department is not a part of the president's office but manages the financial technical and pecuniary activities of both the president and his office.Although Azerbaijan has held several elections since regaining its independence and it has many of the formal institutions of democracy, it remains classified as On 17 March 2016, the President of Azerbaijan signed a decree pardoning more than a dozen of the persons regarded as political prisoners by some NGOs. This decree was welcomed as a positive step by the US State Department. On 16 March 2017 another pardon decree was signed, which led to the release of additional persons regarded as political prisoners.Azerbaijan has been harshly criticized for bribing foreign officials and diplomats to promote its causes abroad and legitimize its elections at home, a practice termed Caviar diplomacy. However, on 6 March 2017, ESISC published a report called , in which it attacked human rights NGOs and research organisations criticising human rights violations and corruption in Azerbaijan.ESISC in that report asserted that the "Caviar Diplomacy" report elaborated by ESI aimed to create a climate of suspicion based on slander to form a network of MPs that would engage in a political war against Azerbaijan and that the network composed of European PMs Armenian officials and some NGOs (Human Rights Watch Amnesty International "Human Rights House Foundation" "Open Dialog European Stability Initiative and Helsinki Committee for Human Rights) was financed by the Soros Foundation. According to Robert Coalson (Radio Free Europe) ESISC is a part of Baku's lobbying efforts to extend the use of front think tanks to shift public opinion. Freedom Files Analytical Centre said that "The report is written in the worst traditions of authoritarian propaganda".Foreign relations.The short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic succeeded in establishing diplomatic relations with six countries sending diplomatic representatives to Germany and Finland. The process of international recognition of Azerbaijan's independence from the collapsing Soviet Union lasted roughly one year. The most recent country to recognize Azerbaijan was Bahrain on 6 November 1996. Full diplomatic relations including mutual exchanges of missions were first established with Turkey Pakistan the United States Iran and Israel. Azerbaijan has placed a particular emphasis on its "special relationship" with Turkey.Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries so far and holds membership in 38 international organizations. It holds observer status in the Non-Aligned Movement and World Trade Organization and is a correspondent at the International Telecommunication Union. On 9 May 2006 Azerbaijan was elected to membership in the newly established Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly. The term of office began on 19 June 2006. Azerbaijan was first elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2011 with the support of 155 countries.Foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan include, first of all, the restoration of its territorial integrity; elimination of the consequences of occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other regions of Azerbaijan surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh; integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structure; contribution to international security; cooperation with international organizations; regional cooperation and bilateral relations; strengthening of defense capability; promotion of security by domestic policy means; strengthening of democracy; preservation of ethnic and religious tolerance; scientific, educational, and cultural policy and preservation of moral values; economic and social development; enhancing internal and border security; and migration, energy, and transportation security policy.Azerbaijan is an active member of international coalitions fighting international terrorism. Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to offer support after the September 11 attacks. The country is contributing to peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo Afghanistan and Iraq. Azerbaijan is an active member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. It also maintains good relations with the European Union and could potentially one day apply for membership.On 1 July 2021 the US Congress advanced legislation that will have an impact on the military aid that Washington has sent to Azerbaijan since 2012. This was due to the fact that the packages to Armenia instead are significantly smaller.The history of the modern Azerbaijan army dates back to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 when the National Army of the newly formed Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was created on 26 June 1918. When Azerbaijan gained independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan were created according to the Law on the Armed Forces of 9 October 1991. The original date of the establishment of the short-lived National Army is celebrated as Army Day in today's Azerbaijan.As of 2021, Azerbaijan had 126,000 active personnel in its armed forces. There are also 17,000 paramilitary troops and 330,00 reserve personnel. The armed forces have three branches: the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Navy. Additionally the armed forces embrace several military sub-groups that can be involved in state defense when needed. These are the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Border Service, which includes the Coast Guard as well. The Azerbaijan National Guard is a further paramilitary force. It operates as a semi-independent entity of the Special State Protection Service, an agency subordinate to the President.Azerbaijan adheres to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and has signed all major international arms and weapons treaties. Azerbaijan closely cooperates with NATO in programs such as Partnership for Peace and Individual Partnership Action Plan/pfp and ipa. Azerbaijan has deployed 151 of its Peacekeeping Forces in Iraq and another 184 in Afghanistan.The defense budget of Azerbaijan for 2011 was set at US$3.1 billion. In addition to that, $1.36 billion was planned to be used for the needs of the defense industry, which bring up the total military budget to 4.6 billion. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on 26 June 2011 that the defence spending reached $3.3 billion that year.Azerbaijan's defense budget for 2013 is $3.7 billion.Azerbaijani defense industry manufactures small arms, artillery systems, tanks, armors and noctovision devices, aviation bombs, UAV'S/unmanned aerial vehicle, various military vehicles and military planes and helicopters.Administrative divisions.Azerbaijan is divided into 10 economic regions; 66 rayons and 77 cities of which 12 are under the direct authority of the republic. Moreover, Azerbaijan includes the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan. The President of Azerbaijan appoints the governors of these units, while the government of Nakhchivan is elected and approved by the parliament of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic."Note: The cities under the direct authority of the republic in italics".After gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan became a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. The banking system of Azerbaijan consists of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, commercial banks, and non-banking credit organizations. The National Bank was created in 1992 based on the Azerbaijan State Savings Bank, an affiliate of the former State Savings Bank of the USSR. The Central Bank serves as Azerbaijan's central bank, empowered to issue the national currency, the Azerbaijani manat, and to supervise all commercial banks. Two major commercial banks are UniBank and the state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan, run by Abbas Ibrahimov.Pushed up by spending and demand growth, the 2007 Q1 inflation rate reached 16.6%. Nominal incomes and monthly wages climbed 29% and 25% respectively against this figure, but price increases in the non-oil industry encouraged inflation. Azerbaijan shows some signs of the so-called because of its fast-growing energy sector, which causes inflation and makes non-energy exports more expensive.In the early 2000s, chronically high inflation was brought under control. This led to the launch of a new currency, the new Azerbaijani manat, on 1 January 2006, to cement the economic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstable economy.In 2008 Azerbaijan was cited as one of the top 10 reformers by the World Bank's Doing Business Report.Azerbaijan is also ranked 57th in the Global Competitiveness Report for 2010–2011, above other CIS countries. By 2012 the GDP of Azerbaijan had increased 20-fold from its 1995 level.According to World Bank's Doing Business report 2019 Azerbaijan improved its position in the Ease of doing business rank from 57 to 25. As a result of implementing a record number of reforms mainly involving institutional changes among the 10 top improvers to do business in Azerbaijan became easier such as time and cost to get construction permit reduced significantly process of connecting electricity grid rationalized as well as getting credit simplified.Energy and natural resources.Two-thirds of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas.The history of the oil industry of Azerbaijan dates back to the ancient period. Arabian historian and traveler Ahmed Al-Belaruri discussed the economy of the Absheron peninsula in antiquity mentioning its oil in particular. There are many pipelines in Azerbaijan. The goal of the Southern Gas Corridor which connects the giant Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan to Europe is to reduce European Union's dependency on Russian gas.The region of the Lesser Caucasus accounts for most of the country's gold, silver, iron, copper, titanium, chromium, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, complex ore and antimony. In September 1994, a 30-year contract was signed between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic and 13 oil companies, among them Amoco, BP, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and Equinor. As Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development. Meanwhile, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established as an extra-budgetary fund to ensure macroeconomic stability, transparency in the management of oil revenue, and safeguarding of resources for future generations.Access to biocapacity in Azerbaijan is less than world average. In 2016, Azerbaijan had 0.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, half the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Azerbaijan used 2.1 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use more biocapacity than Azerbaijan contains. As a result, Azerbaijan is running a biocapacity deficit.Azeriqaz, a sub-company of SOCAR, intends to ensure full gasification of the country by 2021.Azerbaijan is one of the sponsors of the east-west and north-south energy transport corridors. Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway line will connect the Caspian region with Turkey which is expected to be completed in July 2017. The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline will deliver natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas to Turkey and Europe.Azerbaijan extended the agreement on development of ACG until 2050 according to the amended PSA signed on 14 September 2017 by SOCAR and co-ventures .Agriculture.Azerbaijan has the largest agricultural basin in the region. About 54.9 percent of Azerbaijan is agricultural land. At the beginning of 2007 there were 4,755,100 hectares of utilized agricultural area. In the same year the total wood resources counted 136 million m3. Azerbaijan's agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, green vegetables, viticulture and wine-making, cotton growing and medicinal plants. In some areas it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton and tobacco. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm products. The Caspian fishing industry concentrates on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002 the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships.Some products previously imported from abroad have begun to be produced locally. Among them are Coca-Cola by Coca-Cola Bottlers LTD., beer by Baki-Kastel, parquet by Nehir and oil pipes by EUPEC Pipe Coating Azerbaijan.Tourism is an important part of the economy of Azerbaijan. The country was a well-known tourist spot in the 1980s. The fall of the Soviet Union and the First Nagorno-Karabakh War during the 1990s damaged the tourist industry and the image of Azerbaijan as a tourist destination.It was not until the 2000s that the tourism industry began to recover, and the country has since experienced a high rate of growth in the number of tourist visits and overnight stays. In the recent years, Azerbaijan has also become a popular destination for religious, spa, and health care tourism. During winter, the Shahdag Mountain Resort offers skiing with state of the art facilities.The government of Azerbaijan has set the development of Azerbaijan as an elite tourist destination as a top priority. It is a national strategy to make tourism a major, if not the single largest, contributor to the Azerbaijani economy. These activities are regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan.There are 63 countries which have a visa-free score.E-visa – for a visit of foreigners of visa-required countries to the Republic of Azerbaijan.According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015 of the World Economic Forum, Azerbaijan holds 84th place.According to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council, Azerbaijan was among the top ten countries showing the strongest growth in visitor exports between 2010 and 2016, In addition, Azerbaijan placed first among countries with the fastest-developing travel and tourism economies, with strong indicators for inbound international visitor spending last year.Transportation.The convenient location of Azerbaijan on the crossroad of major international traffic arteries such as the Silk Road and the south–north corridor highlights the strategic importance of the transportation sector for the country's economy. The transport sector in the country includes roads railways aviation and maritime transport.Azerbaijan is also an important economic hub in the transportation of raw materials. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline became operational in May 2006 and extends more than 1,774 kilometers through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. The BTC is designed to transport up to 50 million tons of crude oil annually and carries oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets. The South Caucasus Pipeline, also stretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, became operational at the end of 2006 and offers additional gas supplies to the European market from the Shah Deniz gas field. Shah Deniz is expected to produce up to 296 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Azerbaijan also plays a major role in the EU-sponsored Silk Road Project.In 2002 the Azerbaijani government established the Ministry of Transport with a broad range of policy and regulatory functions. In the same year the country became a member of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Priorities are upgrading the transport network and improving transportation services to better facilitate the development of other sectors of the economy.The 2012 construction of Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway was meant to improve transportation between Asia and Europe by connecting the railways of China and Kazakhstan in the east to the European railway system in the west via Turkey. In 2010 Broad-gauge railways and electrified railways stretched for and respectively. By 2010, there were 35 airports and one heliport.Science and technology.In the 21st century a new oil and gas boom helped improve the situation in Azerbaijan's science and technology sectors. The government launched a campaign aimed at modernization and innovation. The government estimates that profits from the information technology and communication industry will grow and become comparable to those from oil production.Azerbaijan has a large and steadily growing Internet sector, mostly uninfluenced by the financial crisis of 2007–2008; rapid growth is forecast for at least five more years. Azerbaijan was ranked 82nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2020, up from 84th in 2019.The country has also been making progress in developing its telecoms sector. The Ministry of Communications &amp; Information Technologies and an operator through its role in Aztelekom are both policy-makers and regulators. Public payphones are available for local calls and require the purchase of a token from the telephone exchange or some shops and kiosks. Tokens allow a call of indefinite duration. , there were 1,397,000 main telephone lines and 1,485,000 internet users. There are four GSM providers: Azercell, , Azerfon , Nakhtel mobile network operators and one CDMA.In the 21st century a number of prominent Azerbaijani geodynamics and geotectonics scientists inspired by the fundamental works of Elchin Khalilov and others designed hundreds of earthquake prediction stations and earthquake-resistant buildings that now constitute the bulk of The Republican Center of Seismic Service.The Azerbaijan National Aerospace Agency launched its first satellite AzerSat 1 into orbit on 7 February 2013 from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at orbital positions 46° East. The satellite covers Europe and a significant part of Asia and Africa and serves the transmission of TV and radio broadcasting as well as the Internet. The launching of a satellite into orbit is Azerbaijan's first step in realizing its goal of becoming a nation with its own space industry capable of successfully implementing more projects in the future.Demographics.As of January 2019 52.8% of Azerbaijan's total population of 9981457 is urban with the remaining 47.2% being rural. 50.1% of the total population is female. The sex ratio in the same year was 0.99 males per female.The 2011 population growth-rate was 0.85%, compared to 1.09% worldwide. A significant factor restricting population growth is a high level of migration. In 2011 Azerbaijan saw a migration of −1.14/1,000 people.The Azerbaijani diaspora is found in 42 countries and in turn there are many centers for ethnic minorities inside Azerbaijan, including the German cultural society "Karelhaus", Slavic cultural center, Azerbaijani-Israeli community, Kurdish cultural center, International Talysh Association, Lezgin national center "Samur", Azerbaijani-Tatar community, Crimean Tatars society, etc.In total, Azerbaijan has 78 cities, 63 city districts, and one special legal status city. 261 urban-type settlements and 4248 villages follow these.The ethnic composition of the population according to the 2009 population census 91.6% Azerbaijanis 2.0% Lezgins 1.4% Armenians 1.3% Russians 1.3% Talysh 0.6% Avars 0.4% Turks 0.3% Tatars 0.3% Tats 0.2% Ukrainians 0.1% Tsakhurs 0.1% Georgians 0.1% Jews 0.1% Kurds other 0.2%.The official language is Azerbaijani which is a Turkic language. Azerbaijani is spoken by approximately 92% of the population as a mother tongue. Russian and Armenian (only in Nagorno-Karabakh) are also spoken and each are the mother tongue of around 1.5% of the population respectively. There are a dozen other minority languages spoken natively in the country. Avar Budukh Georgian Juhuri Khinalug Kryts Lezgin Rutul Talysh Tat Tsakhur and Udi are all spoken by small minorities. Some of these language communities are very small and their numbers are decreasing. Armenian was the majority language in Nagorno-Karabakh with around 76% in 1989. After the first Nagorno-Karabakh war the population is almost exclusively Armenian at around 95%.Azerbaijan is considered the most secular Muslim-majority country. Around 97% of the population are Muslims. 85% of the Muslims are Shia and 15% Sunni; the Republic of Azerbaijan has the second-highest proportion of Shia Muslims of any country in the world. Other faiths are practised by the country's various ethnic groups. Under article 48 of its Constitution, Azerbaijan is a secular state and ensures religious freedom. In a 2006–2008 Gallup poll, only 21% of respondents from Azerbaijan stated that religion is an important part of their daily lives.Of the nation's religious minorities the estimated 280000 Christians are mostly Russian and Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic . In 2003 there were 250 Roman Catholics. Other Christian denominations as of 2002 include Lutherans Baptists and Molokans. There is also a small Protestant community. Azerbaijan also has an ancient Jewish population with a 2000-year history Jewish organizations estimate that 12000 Jews remain in Azerbaijan which is home to the only Jewish-majority town outside of Israel and the United States. Azerbaijan also is home to members of the Bah Hare Krishna and Jehovah's Witnesses communities as well as adherents of the other religious communities. Some religious communities have been unofficially restricted from religious freedom. A U.S. State Department report on the matter mentions detention of members of certain Muslim and Christian groups and many groups have difficulty registering with the SCWRA.A relatively high percentage of Azerbaijanis have obtained some form of higher education most notably in scientific and technical subjects. In the Soviet era literacy and average education levels rose dramatically from their very low starting point despite two changes in the standard alphabet from Perso-Arabic script to Latin in the 1920s and from Roman to Cyrillic in the 1930s. According to Soviet data 100 percent of males and females were literate in 1970. According to the United Nations Development Program Report 2009 the literacy rate in Azerbaijan is 99.5 percent.Since independence, one of the first laws that Azerbaijan's Parliament passed to disassociate itself from the Soviet Union was to adopt a modified-Latin alphabet to replace Cyrillic. Other than that the Azerbaijani system has undergone little structural change. Initial alterations have included the reestablishment of religious education and curriculum changes that have reemphasized the use of the Azerbaijani language and have eliminated ideological content. In addition to elementary schools, the education institutions include thousands of preschools, general secondary schools, and vocational schools, including specialized secondary schools and technical schools. Education through the ninth grade is compulsory.The culture of Azerbaijan has developed as a result of many influences; that's why Azerbaijanis are, in many ways, bi-cultural. Today, national traditions are well preserved in the country despite Western influences, including globalized consumer culture. Some of the main elements of the Azerbaijani culture are: music, literature, folk dances and art, cuisine, architecture, cinematography and Novruz Bayram. The latter is derived from the traditional celebration of the New Year in the ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism. Novruz is a family holiday.The profile of Azerbaijan's population consists, as stated above, of Azerbaijanis, as well as other nationalities or ethnic groups, compactly living in various areas of the country. Azerbaijani national and traditional dresses are the Chokha and Papakhi. There are radio broadcasts in Russian, Georgian, Kurdish, Lezgian and Talysh languages, which are financed from the state budget. Some local radio stations in Balakan and Khachmaz organize broadcasts in Avar and Tat. In Baku several newspapers are published in Russian, Kurdish , Lezgian and Talysh languages. Jewish society "Sokhnut" publishes the newspaper "Aziz".Music and folk dances.Music of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that reach back nearly a thousand years. For centuries Azerbaijani music has evolved under the badge of monody, producing rhythmically diverse melodies. Azerbaijani music has a branchy mode system, where chromatization of major and minor scales is of great importance. Among national musical instruments there are 14 string instruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind instruments. According to "The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", "in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion the Azerbaijani are musically much closer to Iran than Turkey."Mugham meykhana and ashiq art are among the many musical traditions of Azerbaijan. Mugham is usually a suite with poetry and instrumental interludes. When performing mugham the singers have to transform their emotions into singing and music. In contrast to the mugham traditions of Central Asian countries Azerbaijani mugham is more free-form and less rigid it is often compared to the improvised field of jazz. UNESCO proclaimed the Azerbaijani mugham tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003. Meykhana is a kind of traditional Azerbaijani distinctive folk unaccompanied song usually performed by several people improvising on a particular subject.Ashiq combines poetry storytelling dance and vocal and instrumental music into a traditional performance art that stands as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture. It is a mystic troubadour or traveling bard who sings and plays the saz. This tradition has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefs of ancient Turkic peoples. Ashiqss ashiq art was included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO on 30 September 2009.Since the mid-1960s, Western-influenced Azerbaijani pop music, in its various forms, that has been growing in popularity in Azerbaijan, while genres such as rock and hip hop are widely produced and enjoyed. Azerbaijani pop and Azerbaijani folk music arose with the international popularity of performers like Alim Qasimov, Rashid Behbudov, Vagif Mustafazadeh, Muslim Magomayev, Shovkat Alakbarova and Rubaba Muradova. Azerbaijan is an enthusiastic participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. Azerbaijan made its debut appearance at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The country's entry gained third place in 2009 and fifth the following year. Ell and Nikki won the first place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Running Scared", entitling Azerbaijan to host the contest in 2012, in Baku. They have qualified for every Grand Final up until the 2018 edition of the contest, entering with X My Heart by singer Aisel.There are dozens of Azerbaijani folk dances. They are performed at formal celebrations and the dancers wear national clothes like the Chokha which is well-preserved within the national dances. Most dances have a very fast rhythm.Literature.Among the medieval authors born within the territorial limits of modern Azerbaijani Republic was Persian poet and philosopher Nizami called Ganjavi after his place of birth Ganja who was the author of the Khamseh composed of five romantic poems including "The Treasure of Mysteries" "Khosrow and Shrn" and "Leyli and Mejnn."The earliest known figure in Azerbaijani literature was Izzeddin Hasanoglu, who composed a divan consisting of Persian and Turkic ghazals. In Persian ghazals he used his pen-name, while his Turkic ghazals were composed under his own name of Hasanoghlu.Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in the 14th century based on the various Early Middle Ages dialects of Tabriz and Shirvan. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin, Haqiqi , and Habibi. The end of the 14th century was also the period of starting literary activity of Imadaddin Nasimi, one of the greatest Turkic Hurufi mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries and one of the most prominent early divan masters in Turkic literary history, who also composed poetry in Persian and Arabic. The divan and ghazal styles were further developed by poets Qasem-e Anvar, Fuzuli and Khatai .The was introduced in this period and developed by Shah Ismail and later by his son and successor Shah Tahmasp I.In the span of the 17th and 18th centuries, Fuzuli's unique genres as well Ashik poetry were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, Shah Abbas Sani, , Nishat, Molla Vali Vidadi, Molla Panah Vagif, Amani, Zafar and others. Along with Turks, Turkmens and Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis also celebrate the Epic of Koroglu , a legendary folk hero. Several documented versions of Koroglu epic remain at the Institute for Manuscripts of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.Modern literature in Azerbaijan is based on the Shirvani dialect mainly while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one. The first newspaper in Azerbaijani was published in 1875. In the mid-19th century it was taught in the schools of Baku Ganja Shaki Tbilisi and Yerevan. Since 1845 it was also taught in the University of Saint Petersburg in Russia.Azerbaijanis have a rich and distinctive culture, a major part of which is decorative and applied art. This art form is represented by a wide range of handicrafts, such as chasing, jeweling, engraving in metal, carving in wood, stone, bone, carpet-making, lasing, pattern weaving and printing, and knitting and embroidery. Each of these types of decorative art, evidence of the endowments of the Azerbaijan nation, is very much in favor here. Many interesting facts pertaining to the development of arts and crafts in Azerbaijan were reported by numerous merchants, travelers, and diplomats who had visited these places at different times.The Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional handmade textile of various sizes with a dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbaijan's many carpet-making regions. In November 2010 the Azerbaijani carpet was proclaimed a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage by UNESCO.Azerbaijan has been since ancient times known as a center of a large variety of crafts. The archeological dig on the territory of Azerbaijan testifies to the well-developed agriculture stock raising metalworking pottery ceramics and carpet-weaving that date as far back as to the 2nd millennium BC. Archeological sites in Dashbulaq Hasansu Zayamchai and Tovuzchai uncovered from the BTC pipeline have revealed early Iron Age artifacts.Azerbaijani carpets can be categorized under several large groups and a multitude of subgroups. Scientific research of the Azerbaijani carpet is connected with the name of Latif Karimov a prominent scientist and artist. It was his classification that related the four large groups of carpets with the four geographical zones of Azerbaijan Guba-Shirvan Ganja-Kazakh Karabakh and Tabriz.The traditional cuisine is famous for an abundance of vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Fresh herbs, including mint, cilantro (coriander), dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leeks, chives, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress, are very popular and often accompany main dishes on the table. Climatic diversity and fertility of the land are reflected in the national dishes, which are based on fish from the Caspian Sea, local meat (mainly mutton and beef), and an abundance of seasonal vegetables and greens. Saffron-rice plov is the flagship food in Azerbaijan and black tea is the national beverage. Azerbaijanis often use traditional armudu (pear-shaped) glass as they have very strong tea culture. Popular traditional dishes include bozbash (lamb soup that exists in several regional varieties with the addition of different vegetables), qutab (fried turnover with a filling of greens or minced meat) and dushbara (sort of dumplings of dough filled with ground meat and flavor).Architecture.Azerbaijani architecture typically combines elements of East and West. Azerbaijani architecture has heavy influences from Persian architecture. Many ancient architectural treasures such as the Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the Walled City of Baku survive in modern Azerbaijan. Entries submitted on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list include the Ateshgah of Baku Momine Khatun Mausoleum Hirkan National Park Binagadi asphalt lake Lkbatan Mud Volcano Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve Baku Stage Mountain Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions Ordubad National Reserve and the Palace of Shaki Khans.Among other architectural treasures are Quadrangular Castle in Mardakan, Parigala in Yukhary Chardaglar, a number of bridges spanning the Aras River, and several mausoleums. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, little monumental architecture was created, but distinctive residences were built in Baku and elsewhere. Among the most recent architectural monuments, the Baku subways are noted for their lavish decor.The task for modern Azerbaijani architecture is diverse application of modern aesthetics, the search for an architects skyline and promotes its contemporary identity.Visual art.Azerbaijani art includes one of the oldest art objects in the world which were discovered as Gamigaya Petroglyphs in the territory of Ordubad District are dated back to the 1st to 4th centuries BC. About 1500 dislodged and carved rock paintings with images of deer goats bulls dogs snakes birds fantastic beings and people carriages and various symbols were found on basalt rocks. Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl was convinced that people from the area went to Scandinavia in about 100 AD took their boat building skills with them and transmuted them into the Viking boats in Northern Europe.Over the centuries Azerbaijani art has gone through many stylistic changes. Azerbaijani painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light as exemplified in the works of Azim Azimzade and Bahruz Kangarli and a preoccupation with religious figures and cultural motifs. Azerbaijani painting enjoyed preeminence in Caucasus for hundreds of years from the Romanesque and Ottoman periods and through the Soviet and Baroque periods the latter two of which saw fruition in Azerbaijan. Other notable artists who fall within these periods include Sattar Bahlulzade Togrul Narimanbekov Tahir Salahov Alakbar Rezaguliyev Mirza Gadim Iravani Mikayil Abdullayev and Boyukagha Mirzazade.The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography. Therefore it is not surprising that this apparatus soon showed up in Baku – at the start of the 20th century this bay town on the Caspian was producing more than 50 percent of the worlds cinema. This also influenced the creation of Azerbaijani animation.In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festival East-West was held in Baku. In December 2000, the former President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, signed a decree proclaiming 2 August to be the professional holiday of filmmakers of Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijani filmmakers are again dealing with issues similar to those faced by cinematographers prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1920. Once again, both choices of content and sponsorship of films are largely left up to the initiative of the filmmaker.Television.There are three state-owned television channels: AzTV, Idman TV and Medeniyyet TV. There is one public channel and 6 private channels: ctimai Television, Space TV, Lider TV, Azad Azerbaijan TV, , and ARB.Human rights in Azerbaijan.The Constitution of Azerbaijan claims to guarantee freedom of speech, but this is denied in practice. After several years of decline in press and media freedom, in 2014, the media environment in Azerbaijan deteriorated rapidly under a governmental campaign to silence any opposition and criticism, even while the country led the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe . Spurious legal charges and impunity in violence against journalists have remained the norm. All foreign broadcasts are banned in the country.According to the 2013 Freedom House Freedom of the Press report Azerbaijan's press freedom status is "not free" and Azerbaijan ranks 177th out of 196 countries.Christianity is officially recognized. All religious communities are required to register to be allowed to meet, under the risk of imprisonment. This registration is often denied. "Racial discrimination contributes to the country’s lack of religious freedom, since many of the Christians are ethnic Armenian or Russian, rather than Azeri Muslim."Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America are banned in Azerbaijan. Discrimination against LGBT people in Azerbaijan is widespread.During the last few years, three journalists were killed and several prosecuted in trials described as unfair by international human rights organizations. Azerbaijan had the biggest number of journalists imprisoned in Europe in 2015, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and is the 5th most censored country in the world, ahead of Iran and China. Some critical journalists have been arrested for their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan.A report by an Amnesty International researcher in October 2015 points to ... persecution of political dissent continued. Human rights organizations remained unable to resume their work. At least 18 prisoners of conscience remained in detention at the end of the year. Reprisals against independent journalists and activists persisted both in the country and abroad, while their family members also faced harassment and arrests. International human rights monitors were barred and expelled from the country. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment persisted."The Guardian" reported in April 2017 that "Azerbaijan's ruling elite operated a secret $2.9bn scheme to pay prominent Europeans, buy luxury goods and launder money through a network of opaque British companies ... Leaked data shows that the Azerbaijani leadership, accused of serial human rights abuses, systemic corruption and rigging elections, made more than 16,000 covert payments from 2012 to 2014. Some of this money went to politicians and journalists, as part of an international lobbying operation to deflect criticism of Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, and to promote a positive image of his oil-rich country." There was no suggestion that all recipients were aware of the source of the money as it arrived via a disguised route.Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Azerbaijan's national sport, in which Azerbaijan won up to fourteen medals, including four golds since joining the International Olympic Committee. Currently, the most popular sports include football and wrestling.Football is the most popular sport in Azerbaijan, and the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan with 9,122 registered players, is the largest sporting association in the country. The national football team of Azerbaijan demonstrates relatively low performance in the international arena compared to the nation football clubs. The most successful Azerbaijani football clubs are Neftchi Baku, Qaraba, and Gabala. In 2012, Neftchi Baku became the first Azerbaijani team to advance to the group stage of a European competition, beating APOEL of Cyprus 4–2 on aggregate in the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. In 2014, Qaraba became the second Azerbaijani club advancing to the group stage of UEFA Europa League. In 2017, after beating Copenhagen 2–2 in the play-off round of the UEFA Champions League, Qaraba became the first Azerbaijani club to reach the Group stage. Futsal is another popular sport in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan national futsal team reached fourth place in the 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship, while domestic club Araz Naxivan clinched bronze medals at the 2009–10 UEFA Futsal Cup and 2013–14 UEFA Futsal Cup. Azerbaijan was the main sponsor of Spanish football club Atltico de Madrid during seasons 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, a partnership that the club described should .Azerbaijan is one of the traditional powerhouses of world chess, having hosted many international chess tournaments and competitions and became European Team Chess Championship winners in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Notable chess players from the countrys home of Shamkir Chess a category 22 event and one of the highest rated tournaments of all time.Backgammon also plays a major role in Azerbaijani culture. The game is very popular in Azerbaijan and is widely played among the local public. There are also different variations of backgammon developed and analyzed by Azerbaijani experts.Azerbaijan Women's Volleyball Super League is one of the strongest women leagues in the world. Its women's national team came fourth at the 2005 European Championship. Over the last years, clubs like Rabita Baku and Azerrail Baku achieved great success at European cups. Azerbaijani volleyball players include likes of Valeriya Korotenko, Oksana Parkhomenko, Inessa Korkmaz, Natalya Mammadova and Alla Hasanova.Other Azerbaijani athletes are Namig Abdullayev Toghrul Asgarov Rovshan Bayramov Sharif Sharifov Mariya Stadnik and Farid Mansurov in wrestling Nazim Huseynov Elnur Mammadli Elkhan Mammadov and Rustam Orujov in judo Rafael Aghayev in karate Magomedrasul Majidov and Aghasi Mammadov in boxing Nizami Pashayev in Olympic weightlifting Azad Asgarov in pankration Eduard Mammadov in kickboxing and K-1 fighter Zabit Samedov.Azerbaijan has a Formula One race-track made in June 2012 and the country hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix on 19 June 2016 and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017 2018 2019 and 2021. Other annual sporting events held in the country are the Baku Cup tennis tournament and the Tour d'Azerbadjan cycling race.Azerbaijan hosted several major sport competitions since the late 2000s including the 2013 F1 Powerboat World Championship 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships 2010 European Wrestling Championships 2009 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships 2014 European Taekwondo Championships 2014 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships and 2016 World Chess Olympiad. On 8 December 2012 Baku was selected to host the 2015 European Games the first to be held in the competition's history. Baku also hosted the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017 and the 2019 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival and it is also one of the hosts of UEFA Euro 2020 which because of Covid-19 is being held in 2021.
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers make contributions in doing citizen science, such as by monitoring variable stars, double stars, sunspots, or occultations of stars by the Moon or asteroids, or by discovering transient astronomical events, such as comets, galactic novae or supernovae in other galaxies.Amateur astronomers do not use the field of astronomy as their primary source of income or support, and usually have no professional degree in astrophysics or advanced academic training in the subject. Most amateurs are hobbyists, while others have a high degree of experience in astronomy and may often assist and work alongside professional astronomers. Many astronomers have studied the sky throughout history in an amateur framework; however, since the beginning of the twentieth century, professional astronomy has become an activity clearly distinguished from amateur astronomy and associated activities.Amateur astronomers typically view the sky at night when most celestial objects and astronomical events are visible but others observe during the daytime by viewing the Sun and solar eclipses. Some just look at the sky using nothing more than their eyes or binoculars but more dedicated amateurs often use portable telescopes or telescopes situated in their private or club observatories. Amateurs can also join as members of amateur astronomical societies which can advise educate or guide them towards ways of finding and observing celestial objects. They can also promote the science of astronomy among the general public.Objectives.Collectively amateur astronomers observe a variety of celestial objects and phenomena. Common targets of amateur astronomers include the Sun the Moon planets stars comets meteor showers and a variety of deep sky objects such as star clusters galaxies and nebulae. Many amateurs like to specialise in observing particular objects types of objects or types of events which interest them. One branch of amateur astronomy amateur astrophotography involves the taking of photos of the night sky. Astrophotography has become more popular with the introduction of far easier to use equipment including digital cameras DSLR cameras and relatively sophisticated purpose built high quality CCD cameras.Most amateur astronomers work at visible wavelengths, but a small minority experiment with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. An early pioneer of radio astronomy was Grote Reber, an amateur astronomer who constructed the first purpose built radio telescope in the late 1930s to follow up on the discovery of radio wavelength emissions from space by Karl Jansky. Non-visual amateur astronomy includes the use of infrared filters on conventional telescopes, and also the use of radio telescopes. Some amateur astronomers use home-made radio telescopes, while others use radio telescopes that were originally built for astronomical research but have since been made available for use by amateurs. The One-Mile Telescope is one such example.Common tools.Amateur astronomers use a range of instruments to study the sky depending on a combination of their interests and resources. Methods include simply looking at the night sky with the naked eye using binoculars and using a variety of optical telescopes of varying power and quality as well as additional sophisticated equipment such as cameras to study light from the sky in both the visual and non-visual parts of the spectrum. Commercial telescopes are available new and used but it is also common for amateur astronomers to build their own custom telescopes. Some people even focus on amateur telescope making as their primary interest within the hobby of amateur astronomy.Although specialized and experienced amateur astronomers tend to acquire more specialized and more powerful equipment over time, relatively simple equipment is often preferred for certain tasks. Binoculars, for instance, although generally of lower power than the majority of telescopes, also tend to provide a wider field of view, which is preferable for looking at some objects in the night sky.Amateur astronomers also use star charts that, depending on experience and intentions, may range from simple planispheres through to detailed charts of very specific areas of the night sky. A range of astronomy software is available and used by amateur astronomers, including software that generates maps of the sky, software to assist with astrophotography, observation scheduling software, and software to perform various calculations pertaining to astronomical phenomena.Amateur astronomers often like to keep records of their observations which usually takes the form of an observing log. Observing logs typically record details about which objects were observed and when as well as describing the details that were seen. Sketching is sometimes used within logs and photographic records of observations have also been used in recent times. The information gathered is used to help studies and interactions between amateur astronomers in yearly gatherings. Although not professional information or credible it is a way for the hobby lovers to share their new sightings and experiences.The popularity of imaging among amateurs has led to large numbers of web sites being written by individuals about their images and equipment. Much of the social interaction of amateur astronomy occurs on mailing lists or discussion groups. Discussion group servers host numerous astronomy lists. A great deal of the commerce of amateur astronomy, the buying and selling of equipment, occurs online. Many amateurs use online tools to plan their nightly observing sessions, using tools such as the Clear Sky Chart.Common techniques.While a number of interesting celestial objects are readily identified by the naked eye, sometimes with the aid of a star chart, many others are so faint or inconspicuous that technical means are necessary to locate them. Although many methods are used in amateur astronomy, most are variations of a few specific techniques.Star hopping.Star hopping is a method often used by amateur astronomers with low-tech equipment such as binoculars or a manually driven telescope. It involves the use of maps to locate known landmark stars, and between them, often with the aid of a finderscope. Because of its simplicity, star hopping is a very common method for finding objects that are close to naked-eye stars.More advanced methods of locating objects in the sky include telescope mounts with which are fully automated telescopes that are capable of locating objects on demand .Mobile apps.The advent of mobile applications for use in smartphones has led to the creation of many dedicated apps. These apps allow any user to easily locate celestial objects of interest by simply pointing the smartphone device in that direction in the sky. These apps make use of the inbuilt hardware in the phone, such as GPS location and gyroscope. Useful information about the pointed object like celestial coordinates, the name of the object, its constellation, etc. are provided for a quick reference. Some paid versions give more information. These apps are gradually getting into regular use during observing, for the alignment process of telescopes.Setting circles.Setting circles are angular measurement scales that can be placed on the two main rotation axes of some telescopes. Since the widespread adoption of digital setting circles any classical engraved setting circle is now specifically identified as an . Although digital setting circles can be used to display a telescopes analog setting circles. As with go-to telescopes digital setting circle computers contain databases of tens of thousands of celestial objects and projections of planet positions.To find a celestial object in a telescope equipped with a DSC computer one does not need to look up the specific RA and Dec coordinates in a book or other resource and then adjust the telescope to those numerical readings. Rather the object is chosen from the electronic database which causes distance values and arrow markers to appear in the display that indicate the distance and direction to move the telescope. The telescope is moved until the two angular distance values reach zero indicating that the telescope is properly aligned. When both the RA and Dec axes are thus "zeroed out" the object should be in the eyepiece. Many DSCs like go-to systems can also work in conjunction with laptop sky programs.Computerized systems provide the further advantage of computing coordinate precession. Traditional printed sources are subtitled by the year, which refers to the positions of celestial objects at a given time to the nearest year (e.g., J2005, J2007). Most such printed sources have been updated for intervals of only about every fifty years (e.g., J1900, J1950, J2000). Computerized sources, on the other hand, are able to calculate the right ascension and declination of the to the exact instant of observation.GoTo telescopes.GOTO telescopes have become more popular since the 1980s as technology has improved and prices have been reduced. With these computer-driven telescopes, the user typically enters the name of the item of interest and the mechanics of the telescope point the telescope towards that item automatically. They have several notable advantages for amateur astronomers intent on research. For example, GOTO telescopes tend to be faster for locating items of interest than star hopping, allowing more time for studying of the object. GOTO also allows manufacturers to add equatorial tracking to mechanically simpler alt-azimuth telescope mounts, allowing them to produce an overall less expensive product. GOTO telescopes usually have to be calibrated using alignment stars in order to provide accurate tracking and positioning. However, several telescope manufacturers have recently developed telescope systems that are calibrated with the use of built-in GPS, decreasing the time it takes to set up a telescope at the start of an observing session.Remote-controlled telescopes.With the development of fast Internet in the last part of the 20th century along with advances in computer controlled telescope mounts and CCD cameras "Remote Telescope" astronomy is now a viable means for amateur astronomers not aligned with major telescope facilities to partake in research and deep sky imaging. This enables anyone to control a telescope a great distance away in a dark location. The observer can image through the telescope using CCD cameras. The digital data collected by the telescope is then transmitted and displayed to the user by means of the Internet. An example of a digital remote telescope operation for public use via the Internet is the Bareket observatory, and there are telescope farms in New Mexico, Australia and Atacama in Chile.Imaging techniques.Amateur astronomers engage in many imaging techniques including film DSLR LRGB and CCD astrophotography. Because CCD imagers are linear image processing may be used to subtract away the effects of light pollution which has increased the popularity of astrophotography in urban areas. Narrowband filters may also be used to minimize light pollution.Scientific research.Scientific research is most often not the "main" goal for many amateur astronomers unlike professional astronomers. Work of scientific merit is possible however and many amateurs successfully contribute to the knowledge base of professional astronomers. Astronomy is sometimes promoted as one of the few remaining sciences for which amateurs can still contribute useful data. To recognize this the Astronomical Society of the Pacific annually gives Amateur Achievement Awards for significant contributions to astronomy by amateurs.The majority of scientific contributions by amateur astronomers are in the area of data collection. In particular, this applies where large numbers of amateur astronomers with small telescopes are more effective than the relatively small number of large telescopes that are available to professional astronomers. Several organizations, such as the American Association of Variable Star Observers and the British Astronomical Association, exist to help coordinate these contributions.Amateur astronomers often contribute toward activities such as monitoring the changes in brightness of variable stars and supernovae helping to track asteroids and observing occultations to determine both the shape of asteroids and the shape of the terrain on the apparent edge of the Moon as seen from Earth. With more advanced equipment but still cheap in comparison to professional setups amateur astronomers can measure the light spectrum emitted from astronomical objects which can yield high-quality scientific data if the measurements are performed with due care. A relatively recent role for amateur astronomers is searching for overlooked phenomena in the vast libraries of digital images and other data captured by Earth and space based observatories much of which is available over the Internet.In the past and present amateur astronomers have played a major role in discovering new comets. Recently however funding of projects such as the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research and Near Earth Asteroid Tracking projects has meant that most comets are now discovered by automated systems long before it is possible for amateurs to see them.There are a large number of amateur astronomical societies around the world that serve as a meeting point for those interested in amateur astronomy. Members range from active observers with their own equipment to who are simply interested in the topic. Societies range widely in their goals and activities which may depend on a variety of factors such as geographic spread local circumstances size and membership. For example a small local society located in dark countryside may focus on practical observing and star parties whereas a large one based in a major city might have numerous members but be limited by light pollution and thus hold regular indoor meetings with guest speakers instead. Major national or international societies generally publish their own journal or newsletter and some hold large multi-day meetings akin to a scientific conference or convention. They may also have sections devoted to particular topics such as lunar observation or amateur telescope making.
Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 140 countries. It was originally developed by Morihei Ueshiba, as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy and religious beliefs. Ueshibas philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness. Morihei Ueshiba used the phrase to refer to this principle.Aikido's fundamental principles include: , , , and movements that redirect the opponent's attack momentum. Its curriculum comprises various techniques, primarily throws and joint locks. It also includes a weapons system encompassing the , and .Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Dait-ry Aiki-jjutsu but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the moto-ky religion. Ueshiba's early students' documents bear the term .Ueshiba's senior students have different approaches to aikido depending partly on when they studied with him. Today aikido is found all over the world in a number of styles with broad ranges of interpretation and emphasis. However they all share techniques formulated by Ueshiba and most have concern for the well-being of the attacker.Etymology and basic philosophy.The word is formed of three kanjiThe term does not readily appear in the Japanese language outside the scope of bud. This has led to many possible interpretations of the word. is mainly used in compounds to mean 'combine unite join together meet' examples being and . There is an idea of reciprocity and . is often used to describe a feeling or emotive action as in and it is used to mean energy or force as in and it can also refer to qualities or aspects of people or things as in . The characters aeteological history can be traced back to the much older Chinese character of that is used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine and acupunture.The term in Aikido is found in many other Japanese martial arts such as judo and kendo and in various non-martial arts such as Japanese calligraphy flower arranging and tea ceremony .Therefore from a purely literal interpretation aikido is the in which the term refers to the martial arts principle or tactic of blending with an attacker's movements for the purpose of controlling their actions with minimal effort. One applies by understanding the rhythm and intent of the attacker to find the optimal position and timing to apply a counter-technique.Aikido was created by , referred to by some aikido practitioners as . The term "aikido" was coined in the 20th century. Ueshiba envisioned aikido not only as the synthesis of his martial training, but as an expression of his personal philosophy of universal peace and reconciliation. During Ueshiba's lifetime and continuing today, aikido has evolved from the that Ueshiba studied into a variety of expressions by martial artists throughout the world.Initial development.Ueshiba developed aikido primarily during the late 1920s through the 1930s through the synthesis of the older martial arts that he had studied. The core martial art from which aikido derives is Dait-ry Aiki-jjutsu, which Ueshiba studied directly with Takeda Skaku, the reviver of that art. Additionally, Ueshiba is known to have studied Tenjin Shin'y-ry with Tozawa Tokusabur in Tokyo in 1901, Gotha Yagy Shingan-ry under Nakai Masakatsu in Sakai from 1903 to 1908, and judo with in Tanabe in 1911.The art of is the primary technical influence on aikido. Along with empty-handed throwing and joint-locking techniques Ueshiba incorporated training movements with weapons such as those for the spear short staff and possibly the . Aikido also derives much of its technical structure from the art of swordsmanship .Ueshiba moved to Hokkaid in 1912 and began studying under Takeda Sokaku in 1915 His official association with Dait-ry continued until 1937. However during the latter part of that period Ueshiba had already begun to distance himself from Takeda and the . At that time Ueshiba referred to his martial art as but it became the official name of the art in 1942 when the Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society was engaged in a government sponsored reorganization and centralization of Japanese martial arts.Religious influences.After Ueshiba left Hokkaid in 1919 he met and was profoundly influenced by Onisaburo Deguchi the spiritual leader of the moto-ky religion in Ayabe. One of the primary features of moto-ky is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This idea was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others. Aikido demonstrates this philosophy in its emphasis on mastering martial arts so that one may receive an attack and harmlessly redirect it. In an ideal resolution not only is the receiver unharmed but so is the attacker.In addition to the effect on his spiritual growth the connection with Deguchi gave Ueshiba entry to elite political and military circles as a martial artist. As a result of this exposure he was able to attract not only financial backing but also gifted students. Several of these students would found their own styles of aikido.International dissemination.Aikido was first introduced to the rest of the world in 1951 by Minoru Mochizuki with a visit to France, where he demonstrated aikido techniques to judo students. He was followed by Tadashi Abe in 1952, who came as the official Aikikai Hombu representative, remaining in France for seven years. Kenji Tomiki toured with a delegation of various martial arts through 15 continental states of the United States in 1953. Later that year, Koichi Tohei was sent by Aikikai Hombu to Hawaii for a full year, where he set up several dj. This trip was followed by several subsequent visits and is considered the formal introduction of aikido to the United States. The United Kingdom followed in 1955; Italy in 1964 by Hiroshi Tada; and Germany in 1965 by Katsuaki Asai. Designated the "Official Delegate for Europe and Africa" by Morihei Ueshiba, Masamichi Noro arrived in France in September 1961. Seiichi Sugano was appointed to introduce aikido to Australia in 1965. Today there are aikido dj throughout the world.Proliferation of independent organizations.The largest aikido organization is the Aikikai Foundation which remains under the control of the Ueshiba family. However aikido has developed into many styles most of which were formed by Morihei Ueshiba's major students.The earliest independent styles to emerge were Yoseikan Aikido, begun by Minoru Mochizuki in 1931, Yoshinkan Aikido, founded by Gozo Shioda in 1955, and Shodokan Aikido, founded by Kenji Tomiki in 1967. The emergence of these styles pre-dated Ueshiba's death and did not cause any major upheavals when they were formalized. Shodokan Aikido, however, was controversial, since it introduced a unique rule-based competition that some felt was contrary to the spirit of aikido.After Ueshibas chief instructor Koichi Tohei, in 1974. Tohei left as a result of a disagreement with the son of the founder, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, who at that time headed the Aikikai Foundation. The disagreement was over the proper role of development in regular aikido training. After Tohei left, he formed his own style, called Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, and the organization that governs it, the Ki Society .A final major style evolved from Ueshibas son Hitohiro Saito.Today, the major styles of aikido are each run by a separate governing organization, have their own in Japan, and are taught throughout the world.The study of is an important component of aikido. The term does not specifically refer to either physical or mental training, as it encompasses both. The kanji for was written in its older form as up until the Japanese governmental writing reforms after World War II, and now is more prevalently seen in its modern form of . This form has the removal of the eight directions denoting the pre and post natal energies of (Chinese – ) also known in the Art of Aikido as "Source energy".The character for is used in everyday Japanese terms such as or . has many meanings including largely follows Ueshiba proficiency in aikido techniques and development ranked separately.In aikido, as in virtually all Japanese martial arts, there are both physical and mental aspects of training. The physical training in aikido is diverse, covering both general physical fitness and conditioning, as well as specific techniques. Because a substantial portion of any aikido curriculum consists of throws, beginners learn how to safely fall or roll. The specific techniques for attack include both strikes and grabs; the techniques for defense consist of throws and pins. After basic techniques are learned, students study freestyle defense against multiple opponents, and techniques with weapons.Physical training goals pursued in conjunction with aikido include controlled relaxation correct movement of joints such as hips and shoulders flexibility and endurance with less emphasis on strength training. In aikido pushing or extending movements are much more common than pulling or contracting movements. This distinction can be applied to general fitness goals for the aikido practitioner.In aikido, specific muscles or muscle groups are not isolated and worked to improve tone, mass, or power. Aikido-related training emphasizes the use of coordinated whole-body movement and balance similar to yoga or pilates. For example, many djs begin each class with , which may include stretching and .Roles of and.Aikido training is based primarily on two partners practicing pre-arranged forms rather than freestyle practice. The basic pattern is for the receiver of the technique to initiate an attack against the person who applies the technique—the or also referred to as who neutralises this attack with an aikido technique.Both halves of the technique that of and that of are considered essential to aikido training. Both are studying aikido principles of blending and adaptation. learns to blend with and control attacking energy while learns to become calm and flexible in the disadvantageous off-balance positions in which places them. This of the technique is called . continuously seeks to regain balance and cover vulnerabilities while uses position and timing to keep off-balance and vulnerable. In more advanced training will sometimes apply to regain balance and pin or throw .refers to the act of receiving a technique. Good involves attention to the technique, the partner, and the immediate environment—it is considered an active part of the process of learning aikido. The method of falling itself is also important, and is a way for the practitioner to receive an aikido technique safely and minimize risk of injury.Initial attacks.Aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack so students must learn to deliver various types of attacks to be able to practice aikido with a partner. Although attacks are not studied as thoroughly as in striking-based arts attacks with intent are needed to study correct and effective application of technique.Many of the of aikido resemble cuts from a sword or other grasped object which indicate its origins in techniques intended for armed combat. Other techniques which explicitly appear to be punches are practiced as thrusts with a knife or sword. Kicks are generally reserved for upper-level variations reasons cited include that falls from kicks are especially dangerous and that kicks were uncommon during the types of combat prevalent in feudal Japan.Some basic strikes include:Beginners in particular often practice techniques from grabs both because they are safer and because it is easier to feel the energy and the direction of the movement of force of a hold than it is for a strike. Some grabs are historically derived from being held while trying to draw a weapon whereupon a technique could then be used to free oneself and immobilize or strike the attacker while they are grabbing the defender. The following are examples of some basic grabsBasic techniques.The following are a sample of the basic or widely practiced throws and pins. Many of these techniques derive from Dait-ry Aiki-jjutsu, but some others were invented by Morihei Ueshiba. The precise terminology for some may vary between organisations and styles; the following are the terms used by the Aikikai Foundation. Note that despite the names of the first five techniques listed, they are not universally taught in numeric order.Implementations.Aikido makes use of body movement to blend the movement of with the movement of . For example, an technique consists of movements inward towards , while a technique uses a pivoting motion.Additionally, an technique takes place in front of , whereas an technique takes place to their side; a technique is applied with motion to the front of , and a version is applied with motion towards the rear of , usually by incorporating a turning or pivoting motion. Finally, most techniques can be performed while in a seated posture . Techniques where both and are standing are called , techniques where both start off in are called , and techniques performed with standing and sitting are called .From these few basic techniques there are numerous of possible implementations. For example can be applied to an opponent moving forward with a strike or to an opponent who has already struck and is now moving back to reestablish distance . Specific aikido are typically referred to with the formula for example refers to any technique executed when is holding one wrist. This could be further specified as .are strikes employed during an aikido technique. Some view as attacks against meant to cause damage in and of themselves. For instance Gozo Shioda described using in a brawl to quickly down a gang's leader. Others consider especially to the face to be methods of distraction meant to enable other techniques a strike even if it is blocked can startle the target and break their concentration. Additionally the target may also become unbalanced while attempting to avoid a strike which may allow for an easier throw. Many sayings about are attributed to Morihei Ueshiba who considered them an essential element of technique.Weapons training in aikido traditionally includes the short staff , the wooden sword , and the knife . Some schools incorporate firearm-disarming techniques, where either weapon-taking and/or weapon-retention may be taught. Some schools, such as the Iwama style of Morihiro Saito, usually spend substantial time practicing with both and , under the names of , and , respectively.The founder developed many of the empty-handed techniques from traditional sword, spear and bayonet movements. Consequently, the practice of the weapons arts gives insight into the origin of techniques and movements, and reinforces the concepts of distance, timing, foot movement, presence and connectedness with one's training partner.Multiple attackers and.One feature of aikido is training to defend against multiple attackers, often called , or . Freestyle practice with multiple attackers called is a key part of most curricula and is required for the higher-level ranks. exercises a person's ability to intuitively perform techniques in an unstructured environment. Strategic choice of techniques, based on how they reposition the student relative to other attackers, is important in training. For instance, an technique might be used to neutralise the current attacker while turning to face attackers approaching from behind.In Shodokan Aikido, differs in that it is not performed with multiple persons with defined roles of defender and attacker, but between two people, where both participants attack, defend, and counter at will. In this respect it resembles judo .In applying a technique during training, it is the responsibility of to prevent injury to by employing a speed and force of application that is appropriate with their partner's proficiency in . When injuries occur, they are often the result of a misjudging the ability of to receive the throw or pin.A study of injuries in the martial arts showed that the type of injuries varied considerably from one art to the other. Soft tissue injuries are one of the most common types of injuries found within aikido as well as joint strain and stubbed fingers and toes. Several deaths from head-and-neck injuries caused by aggressive in a hazing context have been reported.Mental training.Aikido training is mental as well as physical, emphasizing the ability to relax the mind and body even under the stress of dangerous situations. This is necessary to enable the practitioner to perform the 'enter-and-blend' movements that underlie aikido techniques, wherein an attack is met with confidence and directness. Morihei Ueshiba once remarked that one "must be willing to receive 99% of an opponent's attack and stare death in the face" in order to execute techniques without hesitation. As a martial art concerned not only with fighting proficiency but with the betterment of daily life, this mental aspect is of key importance to aikido practitioners.Uniforms and ranking.Aikido practitioners (commonly called outside Japan) generally progress by promotion through a series of "grades" () followed by a series of "degrees" () pursuant to formal testing procedures. Some aikido organizations use belts to distinguish practitioners' grades often simply white and black belts to distinguish and grades although some use various belt colors. Testing requirements vary so a particular rank in one organization is not comparable or interchangeable with the rank of another. Some djs have an age requirement before students can take the rank exam.The uniform worn for practicing aikido is similar to the training uniform used in most other modern martial arts; simple trousers and a wraparound jacket, usually white. Both thick , and thin cotton tops are used. Aikido-specific tops are available with shorter sleeves which reach to just below the elbow.Most aikido systems add a pair of wide pleated black or indigo trousers known as . In many schools the wear of is reserved for practitioners with ranks or for instructors while others allow all practitioners to wear a regardless of rank.Aikido styles.Aikido styles vary in their intention as due to its holistic nature. The most common differences noted in aikido, when observed externally, relate to the intensity and realism of training. Stanley Pranin has observed that some criticism may stem from weak attacks from , allowing for a conditioned response from , resulting in underdevelopment of the skills needed for the safe and effective practice of both partners.To counteract this, some styles allow students to become less compliant over time, but, in keeping with the core philosophies, this is after having demonstrated proficiency in being able to protect themselves and their training partners. Shodokan Aikido addresses the issue by practicing in a competitive format. Conversely other post-war styles emphasis spiritual development, enlightenment, peace studies, or the study of traditional medicine for health studies.Reasons for the difference and diversity of teachings intention and forms of aikido can be traced to the shift in training focus after the end of Ueshiba's seclusion in Iwama from 1942 to the mid-1950s as he increasingly emphasized the spiritual and philosophical aspects of aikido. As a result strikes to vital points by entering and initiation of techniques by the distinction between and techniques and the use of weapons were all de-emphasized or eliminated from practice.Conversely some styles of aikido place less importance on the spiritual practices emphasized by Ueshiba. According to Minoru Shibata of "Aikido Journal"O-Sensei's aikido was not a continuation and extension of the old and has a distinct discontinuity with past martial and philosophical concepts.In other words, aikido practitioners who focus on aikido's roots in traditional or are said to be diverging from what Ueshiba taught, as some critics urge practitioners: transcendence to the spiritual and universal reality were the fundamentals of the paradigm that he demonstrated.
Art is a wide range of human activities that involve creative imagination and an aim to express technical proficiency beauty emotional power or conceptual ideas.There is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art and ideas have changed over time. The three classical branches of visual art are painting sculpture and architecture. Theatre dance and other performing arts as well as literature music film and other media such as interactive media are included in a broader definition of the arts. Until the 17th century "art" referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences. In modern usage after the 17th century where aesthetic considerations are paramount the fine arts are separated and distinguished from acquired skills in general such as the decorative or applied arts.The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. The resulting artworks are studied in the professional fields of art criticism and the history of art.In the perspective of the history of art, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art; however, some theorists feel that the typical concept of . However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.Over time, philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Kant, among others, questioned the meaning of art. Several dialogues in Plato tackle questions about art: Socrates says that poetry is inspired by the muses, and is not rational. He speaks approvingly of this, and other forms of divine madness in the "Phaedrus ", and yet in the 'Republic' wants to outlaw Homer's great poetic art, and laughter as well. In "Ion", Socrates gives no hint of the disapproval of Homer that he expresses in the "Republic". The dialogue "Ion" suggests that Homer's "Iliad" functioned in the ancient Greek world as the Bible does today in the modern Christian world: as divinely inspired literary art that can provide moral guidance, if only it can be properly interpreted.With regards to the literary art and the musical arts Aristotle considered epic poetry tragedy comedy Dithyrambic poetry and music to be mimetic or imitative art each varying in imitation by medium object and manner. For example music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone and poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy for instance is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly the forms differ in their manner of imitation—through narrative or character through change or no change and through drama or no drama. Aristotle believed that imitation is natural to mankind and constitutes one of mankind's advantages over animals.The more recent and specific sense of the word work of art.Within this latter sense, the word that are compelled by a personal drive and convey a message, mood, or symbolism for the perceiver to interpret . Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses. Works of art can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted on the basis of images or objects. For some scholars, such as Kant, the sciences and the arts could be distinguished by taking science as representing the domain of knowledge and the arts as representing the domain of the freedom of artistic expression.Often if the skill is being used in a common or practical way people will consider it a craft instead of art. Likewise if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way it may be considered commercial art instead of fine art. On the other hand crafts and design are sometimes considered applied art. Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine art and applied art has more to do with value judgments made about the art than any clear definitional difference. However even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and self-expression. The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas such as in politically spiritually or philosophically motivated art to create a sense of beauty to explore the nature of perception for pleasure or to generate strong emotions. The purpose may also be seemingly nonexistent.The nature of art has been described by philosopher Richard Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture". Art has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as "mimesis" or representation. Art as mimesis has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle. Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another. Benedetto Croce and R. G. Collingwood advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art therefore essentially exists in the mind of the creator. The theory of art as form has its roots in the philosophy of Kant, and was developed in the early 20th century by Roger Fry and Clive Bell. More recently, thinkers influenced by Martin Heidegger have interpreted art as the means by which a community develops for itself a medium for self-expression and interpretation. George Dickie has offered an institutional theory of art that defines a work of art as any artifact upon which a qualified person or persons acting on behalf of the social institution commonly referred to as "the art world" has conferred "the status of candidate for appreciation". Larry Shiner has described fine art as "not an essence or a fate but something we have made. Art as we have generally understood it is a European invention barely two hundred years old."Art may be characterized in terms of mimesis (its representation of reality) narrative (storytelling) expression communication of emotion or other qualities. During the Romantic period art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".A shell engraved by was determined to be between 430,000 and 540,000 years old. A set of eight 130,000 years old white-tailed eagle talons bear cut marks and abrasion that indicate manipulation by neanderthals, possibly for using it as jewelry. A series of tiny, drilled snail shells about 75,000 years old—were discovered in a South African cave. Containers that may have been used to hold paints have been found dating as far back as 100,000 years.Sculptures, cave paintings, rock paintings and petroglyphs from the Upper Paleolithic dating to roughly 40,000 years ago have been found, but the precise meaning of such art is often disputed because so little is known about the cultures that produced them.Many great traditions in art have a foundation in the art of one of the great ancient civilizations Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia Persia India China Ancient Greece Rome as well as Inca Maya and Olmec. Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in its art. Because of the size and duration of these civilizations more of their art works have survived and more of their influence has been transmitted to other cultures and later times. Some also have provided the first records of how artists worked. For example this period of Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature poise beauty and anatomically correct proportions.In Byzantine and Medieval art of the Western Middle Ages, much art focused on the expression of subjects about Biblical and religious culture, and used styles that showed the higher glory of a heavenly world, such as the use of gold in the background of paintings, or glass in mosaics or windows, which also presented figures in idealized, patterned forms. Nevertheless, a classical realist tradition persisted in small Byzantine works, and realism steadily grew in the art of Catholic Europe.Renaissance art had a greatly increased emphasis on the realistic depiction of the material world and the place of humans in it reflected in the corporeality of the human body and development of a systematic method of graphical perspective to depict recession in a three-dimensional picture space.In the east, Islamic art's rejection of iconography led to emphasis on geometric patterns, calligraphy, and architecture. Further east, religion dominated artistic styles and forms too. India and Tibet saw emphasis on painted sculptures and dance, while religious painting borrowed many conventions from sculpture and tended to bright contrasting colors with emphasis on outlines. China saw the flourishing of many art forms: jade carving, bronzework, pottery (including the stunning terracotta army of Emperor Qin), poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, drama, fiction, etc. Chinese styles vary greatly from era to era and each one is traditionally named after the ruling dynasty. So, for example, Tang dynasty paintings are monochromatic and sparse, emphasizing idealized landscapes, but Ming dynasty paintings are busy and colorful, and focus on telling stories via setting and composition. Japan names its styles after imperial dynasties too, and also saw much interplay between the styles of calligraphy and painting. Woodblock printing became important in Japan after the 17th century.The western Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century saw artistic depictions of physical and rational certainties of the clockwork universe, as well as politically revolutionary visions of a post-monarchist world, such as Blakes propagandistic paintings. This led to Romantic rejections of this in favor of pictures of the emotional side and individuality of humans, exemplified in the novels of Goethe. The late 19th century then saw a host of artistic movements, such as academic art, Symbolism, impressionism and fauvism among others.The history of 20th-century art is a narrative of endless possibilities and the search for new standards, each being torn down in succession by the next. Thus the parameters of Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, etc. cannot be maintained very much beyond the time of their invention. Increasing global interaction during this time saw an equivalent influence of other cultures into Western art. Thus, Japanese woodblock prints (themselves influenced by Western Renaissance draftsmanship) had an immense influence on impressionism and subsequent development. Later, African sculptures were taken up by Picasso and to some extent by Matisse. Similarly, in the 19th and 20th centuries the West has had huge impacts on Eastern art with originally western ideas like Communism and Post-Modernism exerting a powerful influence.Modernism, the idealistic search for truth, gave way in the latter half of the 20th century to a realization of its unattainability. Theodor W. Adorno said in 1970, "It is now taken for granted that nothing which concerns art can be taken for granted any more: neither art itself, nor art in relationship to the whole, nor even the right of art to exist." Relativism was accepted as an unavoidable truth, which led to the period of contemporary art and postmodern criticism, where cultures of the world and of history are seen as changing forms, which can be appreciated and drawn from only with skepticism and irony. Furthermore, the separation of cultures is increasingly blurred and some argue it is now more appropriate to think in terms of a global culture, rather than of regional ones.In "The Origin of the Work of Art", Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher and a seminal thinker, describes the essence of art in terms of the concepts of being and truth. He argues that art is not only a way of expressing the element of truth in a culture, but the means of creating it and providing a springboard from which "that which is" can be revealed. Works of art are not merely representations of the way things are, but actually produce a community's shared understanding. Each time a new artwork is added to any culture, the meaning of what it is to exist is inherently changed.Historically art and artistic skills and ideas have often been spread through trade. An example of this is the Silk Road where Hellenistic Iranian Indian and Chinese influences could mix. Greco Buddhist art is one of the most vivid examples of this interaction. The meeting of different cultures and worldviews also influenced artistic creation. An example of this is the multicultural port metropolis of Trieste at the beginning of the 20th century where James Joyce met writers from Central Europe and the artistic development of New York City as a cultural melting pot.Forms, genres, media, and styles.The creative arts are often divided into more specific categories, typically along perceptually distinguishable categories such as media, genre, styles, and form. Art form refers to the elements of art that are independent of its interpretation or significance. It covers the methods adopted by the artist and the physical composition of the artwork, primarily non-semantic aspects of the work , such as color, contour, dimension, medium, melody, space, texture, and value. Form may also include visual design principles, such as arrangement, balance, contrast, emphasis, harmony, proportion, proximity, and rhythm.In general there are three schools of philosophy regarding art focusing respectively on form content and context. Extreme Formalism is the view that all aesthetic properties of art are formal . Philosophers almost universally reject this view and hold that the properties and aesthetics of art extend beyond materials techniques and form. Unfortunately there is little consensus on terminology for these informal properties. Some authors refer to subject matter and content – i.e. denotations and connotations – while others prefer terms like meaning and significance.Extreme Intentionalism holds that authorial intent plays a decisive role in the meaning of a work of art, conveying the content or essential main idea, while all other interpretations can be discarded. It defines the subject as the persons or idea represented, and the content as the artists representation of Napoleon as .Finally, the developing theory of post-structuralism studies art's significance in a cultural context, such as the ideas, emotions, and reactions prompted by a work. The cultural context often reduces to the artist's techniques and intentions, in which case analysis proceeds along lines similar to formalism and intentionalism. However, in other cases historical and material conditions may predominate, such as religious and philosophical convictions, sociopolitical and economic structures, or even climate and geography. Art criticism continues to grow and develop alongside art.Skill and craft.Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium. Art can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language to convey meaning with immediacy or depth. Art can be defined as an act of expressing feelings thoughts and observations.There is an understanding that is reached with the material as a result of handling it which facilitates one's thought processes.A common view is that the , particular in its elevated sense, requires a certain level of creative expertise by the artist, whether this be a demonstration of technical ability, an originality in stylistic approach, or a combination of these two. Traditionally skill of execution was viewed as a quality inseparable from art and thus necessary for its success; for Leonardo da Vinci, art, neither more nor less than his other endeavors, was a manifestation of skill. Rembrandts most recognized and peripatetic iconoclast, Pablo Picasso, was completing a traditional academic training at which he excelled.A common contemporary criticism of some modern art occurs along the lines of objecting to the apparent lack of skill or ability required in the production of the artistic object. In conceptual art Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" is among the first examples of pieces wherein the artist used found objects and exercised no traditionally recognised set of skills. Tracey Emin's "My Bed" or Damien Hirst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" follow this example and also manipulate the mass media. Emin slept in her bed before placing the result in a gallery as work of art. Hirst came up with the conceptual design for the artwork but has left most of the eventual creation of many works to employed artisans. Hirst's celebrity is founded entirely on his ability to produce shocking concepts. The actual production in many conceptual and contemporary works of art is a matter of assembly of found objects. However there are many modernist and contemporary artists who continue to excel in the skills of drawing and painting and in creating "hands-on" works of art.Art has had a great number of different functions throughout its history making its purpose difficult to abstract or quantify to any single concept. This does not imply that the purpose of Art is but that it has had many unique different reasons for being created. Some of these functions of Art are provided in the following outline. The different purposes of art may be grouped according to those that are non-motivated and those that are motivated .Non-motivated functions.The non-motivated purposes of art are those that are integral to being human transcend the individual or do not fulfill a specific external purpose. In this sense Art as creativity is something humans must do by their very nature and is therefore beyond utility.Motivated functions.Motivated purposes of art refer to intentional conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. These may be to bring about political change to comment on an aspect of society to convey a specific emotion or mood to address personal psychology to illustrate another discipline to sell a product or simply as a form of communication.The functions of art described above are not mutually exclusive as many of them may overlap. For example art for the purpose of entertainment may also seek to sell a product i.e. the movie or video game.Public access.Since ancient times, much of the finest art has represented a deliberate display of wealth or power, often achieved by using massive scale and expensive materials. Much art has been commissioned by political rulers or religious establishments, with more modest versions only available to the most wealthy in society.Nevertheless, there have been many periods where art of very high quality was available, in terms of ownership, across large parts of society, above all in cheap media such as pottery, which persists in the ground, and perishable media such as textiles and wood. In many different cultures, the ceramics of indigenous peoples of the Americas are found in such a wide range of graves that they were clearly not restricted to a social elite, though other forms of art may have been. Reproductive methods such as moulds made mass-production easier, and were used to bring high-quality Ancient Roman pottery and Greek Tanagra figurines to a very wide market. Cylinder seals were both artistic and practical, and very widely used by what can be loosely called the middle class in the Ancient Near East. Once coins were widely used, these also became an art form that reached the widest range of society.Another important innovation came in the 15th century in Europe when printmaking began with small woodcuts mostly religious that were often very small and hand-colored and affordable even by peasants who glued them to the walls of their homes. Printed books were initially very expensive but fell steadily in price until by the 19th century even the poorest could afford some with printed illustrations. Popular prints of many different sorts have decorated homes and other places for centuries.In 1661 the city of Basel in Switzerland opened the first public museum of art in the world the Kunstmuseum Basel. Today its collection is distinguished by an impressively wide historic span from the early 15th century up to the immediate present. Its various areas of emphasis give it international standing as one of the most significant museums of its kind. These encompass paintings and drawings by artists active in the Upper Rhine region between 1400 and 1600 and on the art of the 19th to 21st centuries.Public buildings and monuments, secular and religious, by their nature normally address the whole of society, and visitors as viewers, and display to the general public has long been an important factor in their design. Egyptian temples are typical in that the most largest and most lavish decoration was placed on the parts that could be seen by the general public, rather than the areas seen only by the priests. Many areas of royal palaces, castles and the houses of the social elite were often generally accessible, and large parts of the art collections of such people could often be seen, either by anybody, or by those able to pay a small price, or those wearing the correct clothes, regardless of who they were, as at the Palace of Versailles, where the appropriate extra accessories could be hired from shops outside.Special arrangements were made to allow the public to see many royal or private collections placed in galleries, as with the Orleans Collection mostly housed in a wing of the Palais Royal in Paris, which could be visited for most of the 18th century. In Italy the art tourism of the Grand Tour became a major industry from the Renaissance onwards, and governments and cities made efforts to make their key works accessible. The British Royal Collection remains distinct, but large donations such as the Old Royal Library were made from it to the British Museum, established in 1753. The Uffizi in Florence opened entirely as a gallery in 1765, though this function had been gradually taking the building over from the original civil servants' offices for a long time before. The building now occupied by the Prado in Madrid was built before the French Revolution for the public display of parts of the royal art collection, and similar royal galleries open to the public existed in Vienna, Munich and other capitals. The opening of the Muse du Louvre during the French Revolution (in 1793) as a public museum for much of the former French royal collection certainly marked an important stage in the development of public access to art, transferring ownership to a republican state, but was a continuation of trends already well established.Most modern public museums and art education programs for children in schools can be traced back to this impulse to have art available to everyone. However museums do not only provide availability to art but do also influence the way art is being perceived by the audience as studies found. Thus the museum itself is not only a blunt stage for the presentation of art but plays an active and vital role in the overall perception of art in modern society.Museums in the United States tend to be gifts from the very rich to the masses. But despite all this, at least one of the important functions of art in the 21st century remains as a marker of wealth and social status.There have been attempts by artists to create art that can not be bought by the wealthy as a status object. One of the prime original motivators of much of the art of the late 1960s and 1970s was to create art that could not be bought and sold. It is In the decades since these ideas have been somewhat lost as the art market has learned to sell limited edition DVDs of video works invitations to exclusive performance art pieces and the objects left over from conceptual pieces. Many of these performances create works that are only understood by the elite who have been educated as to why an idea or video or piece of apparent garbage may be considered art. The marker of status becomes understanding the work instead of necessarily owning it and the artwork remains an upper-class activity. "With the widespread use of DVD recording technology in the early 2000s artists and the gallery system that derives its profits from the sale of artworks gained an important means of controlling the sale of video and computer artworks in limited editions to collectors."Controversies.Art has long been controversial, that is to say disliked by some viewers, for a wide variety of reasons, though most pre-modern controversies are dimly recorded, or completely lost to a modern view. Iconoclasm is the destruction of art that is disliked for a variety of reasons, including religious ones. Aniconism is a general dislike of either all figurative images, or often just religious ones, and has been a thread in many major religions. It has been a crucial factor in the history of Islamic art, where depictions of Muhammad remain especially controversial. Much art has been disliked purely because it depicted or otherwise stood for unpopular rulers, parties or other groups. Artistic conventions have often been conservative and taken very seriously by art critics, though often much less so by a wider public. The iconographic content of art could cause controversy, as with late medieval depictions of the new motif of the Swoon of the Virgin in scenes of the Crucifixion of Jesus. The by Michelangelo was controversial for various reasons, including breaches of decorum through nudity and the Apollo-like pose of Christ.The content of much formal art through history was dictated by the patron or commissioner rather than just the artist, but with the advent of Romanticism, and economic changes in the production of art, the artists' vision became the usual determinant of the content of his art, increasing the incidence of controversies, though often reducing their significance. Strong incentives for perceived originality and publicity also encouraged artists to court controversy. Thodore Gricault's "Raft of the Medusa" , was in part a political commentary on a recent event. douard Manet's "Le Djeuner sur l'Herbe" , was considered scandalous not because of the nude woman, but because she is seated next to men fully dressed in the clothing of the time, rather than in robes of the antique world. John Singer Sargent's "Madame Pierre Gautreau " , caused a controversy over the reddish pink used to color the woman's ear lobe, considered far too suggestive and supposedly ruining the high-society model's reputation.The gradual abandonment of naturalism and the depiction of realistic representations of the visual appearance of subjects in the 19th and 20th centuries led to a rolling controversy lasting for over a century.In the 20th century Pablo Picasso's (1937) used arresting cubist techniques and stark monochromatic oils to depict the harrowing consequences of a contemporary bombing of a small ancient Basque town. Leon Golub's (1981) depicts a female nude hooded detainee strapped to a chair her legs open to reveal her sexual organs surrounded by two tormentors dressed in everyday clothing. Andres Serrano's (1989) is a photograph of a crucifix sacred to the Christian religion and representing Christs own urine. The resulting uproar led to comments in the United States Senate about public funding of the arts.Before Modernism, aesthetics in Western art was greatly concerned with achieving the appropriate balance between different aspects of realism or truth to nature and the ideal; ideas as to what the appropriate balance is have shifted to and fro over the centuries. This concern is largely absent in other traditions of art. The aesthetic theorist John Ruskin, who championed what he saw as the naturalism of J. M. W. Turner, saw art's role as the communication by artifice of an essential truth that could only be found in nature.The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches to assessing the aesthetic value of art the Realist whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view the Objectivist whereby it is also an absolute value but is dependent on general human experience and the Relativist position whereby it is not an absolute value but depends on and varies with the human experience of different humans.Arrival of Modernism.The arrival of Modernism in the late 19th century lead to a radical break in the conception of the function of art, and then again in the late 20th century with the advent of postmodernism. Clement Greenberg's 1960 article . Greenberg originally applied this idea to the Abstract Expressionist movement and used it as a way to understand and justify flat abstract painting:After Greenberg, several important art theorists emerged, such as Michael Fried, T. J. Clark, Rosalind Krauss, Linda Nochlin and Griselda Pollock among others. Though only originally intended as a way of understanding a specific set of artists, Greenberg's definition of modern art is important to many of the ideas of art within the various art movements of the 20th century and early 21st century.Pop artists like Andy Warhol became both noteworthy and influential through work including and possibly critiquing popular culture, as well as the art world. Artists of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s expanded this technique of self-criticism beyond "high art" to all cultural image-making, including fashion images, comics, billboards and pornography.Duchamp once proposed that art is any activity of any kind-everything. However the way that only certain activities are classified today as art is a social construction. There is evidence that there may be an element of truth to this. In Larry Shiner examines the construction of the modern system of the arts i.e. fine art. He finds evidence that the older system of the arts before our modern system (fine art) held art to be any skilled human activity for example Ancient Greek society did not possess the term art but techne. Techne can be understood neither as art or craft the reason being that the distinctions of art and craft are historical products that came later on in human history. Techne included painting sculpting and music but also cooking medicine horsemanship geometry carpentry prophecy and farming etc.New Criticism and the .Following Duchamp during the first half of the 20th century a significant shift to general aesthetic theory took place which attempted to apply aesthetic theory between various forms of art including the literary arts and the visual arts to each other. This resulted in the rise of the New Criticism school and debate concerning . At issue was the question of whether the aesthetic intentions of the artist in creating the work of art whatever its specific form should be associated with the criticism and evaluation of the final product of the work of art or if the work of art should be evaluated on its own merits independent of the intentions of the artist.In 1946 William K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley published a classic and controversial New Critical essay entitled "The Intentional Fallacy" in which they argued strongly against the relevance of an author's intention or "intended meaning" in the analysis of a literary work. For Wimsatt and Beardsley the words on the page were all that mattered importation of meanings from outside the text was considered irrelevant and potentially distracting.In another essay "The Affective Fallacy" which served as a kind of sister essay to "The Intentional Fallacy" Wimsatt and Beardsley also discounted the reader's personal/emotional reaction to a literary work as a valid means of analyzing a text. This fallacy would later be repudiated by theorists from the reader-response school of literary theory. Ironically one of the leading theorists from this school Stanley Fish was himself trained by New Critics. Fish criticizes Wimsatt and Beardsley in his 1970 essay "Literature in the Reader".As summarized by Gaut and Livingston in their essay "The Creation of Art": "Structuralist and post-structuralists theorists and critics were sharply critical of many aspects of New Criticism, beginning with the emphasis on aesthetic appreciation and the so-called autonomy of art, but they reiterated the attack on biographical criticisms' assumption that the artist's activities and experience were a privileged critical topic." These authors contend that: "Anti-intentionalists, such as formalists, hold that the intentions involved in the making of art are irrelevant or peripheral to correctly interpreting art. So details of the act of creating a work, though possibly of interest in themselves, have no bearing on the correct interpretation of the work."Gaut and Livingston define the intentionalists as distinct from formalists stating that "Intentionalists unlike formalists hold that reference to intentions is essential in fixing the correct interpretation of works." They quote Richard Wollheim as stating that "The task of criticism is the reconstruction of the creative process where the creative process must in turn be thought of as something not stopping short of but terminating on the work of art itself." and its debate.The end of the 20th century fostered an extensive debate known as the linguistic turn controversy or the "innocent eye debate" in the philosophy of art. This debate discussed the encounter of the work of art as being determined by the relative extent to which the conceptual encounter with the work of art dominates over the perceptual encounter with the work of art.Decisive for the linguistic turn debate in art history and the humanities were the works of yet another tradition, namely the structuralism of Ferdinand de Saussure and the ensuing movement of poststructuralism. In 1981, the artist Mark Tansey created a work of art titled came to hold that the conceptual encounter with the work of art predominated exclusively over the perceptual and visual encounter with the work of art during the 1960s and 1970s. He was challenged on the basis of research done by the Nobel prize winning psychologist Roger Sperry who maintained that the human visual encounter was not limited to concepts represented in language alone (the linguistic turn) and that other forms of psychological representations of the work of art were equally defensible and demonstrable. Sperry's view eventually prevailed by the end of the 20th century with aesthetic philosophers such as Nick Zangwill strongly defending a return to moderate aesthetic formalism among other alternatives.Classification disputes.Disputes as to whether or not to classify something as a work of art are referred to as classificatory disputes about art. Classificatory disputes in the 20th century have included cubist and impressionist paintings, Duchamp's "Fountain", the movies, superlative imitations of banknotes, conceptual art, and video games. Philosopher David Novitz has argued that disagreement about the definition of art are rarely the heart of the problem. Rather, "the passionate concerns and interests that humans vest in their social life" are "so much a part of all classificatory disputes about art." According to Novitz, classificatory disputes are more often disputes about societal values and where society is trying to go than they are about theory proper. For example, when the "Daily Mail" criticized Hirst's and Emin's work by arguing "For 1,000 years art has been one of our great civilising forces. Today, pickled sheep and soiled beds threaten to make barbarians of us all" they are not advancing a definition or theory about art, but questioning the value of Hirst's and Emin's work. In 1998, Arthur Danto, suggested a thought experiment showing that "the status of an artifact as work of art results from the ideas a culture applies to it, rather than its inherent physical or perceptible qualities. Cultural interpretation (an art theory of some kind) is therefore constitutive of an object's arthood."Anti-art is a label for art that intentionally challenges the established parameters and values of art; it is term associated with Dadaism and attributed to Marcel Duchamp just before World War I, when he was making art from found objects. One of these, "Fountain" , an ordinary urinal, has achieved considerable prominence and influence on art. Anti-art is a feature of work by Situationist International, the lo-fi Mail art movement, and the Young British Artists, though it is a form still rejected by the Stuckists, who describe themselves as anti-anti-art.Architecture is often included as one of the visual arts however like the decorative arts or advertising it involves the creation of objects where the practical considerations of use are essential in a way that they usually are not in a painting for example.Value judgment.Somewhat in relation to the above the word "art" is also used to apply judgments of value as in such expressions as "that meal was a work of art" (the cook is an artist) or "the art of deception" (the highly attained level of skill of the deceiver is praised). It is this use of the word as a measure of high quality and high value that gives the term its flavor of subjectivity. Making judgments of value requires a basis for criticism. At the simplest level a way to determine whether the impact of the object on the senses meets the criteria to be considered "art" is whether it is perceived to be attractive or repulsive. Though perception is always colored by experience and is necessarily subjective it is commonly understood that what is not somehow aesthetically satisfying cannot be art. However "good" art is not always or even regularly aesthetically appealing to a majority of viewers. In other words an artist's prime motivation need not be the pursuit of the aesthetic. Also art often depicts terrible images made for social moral or thought-provoking reasons. For example Francisco Goya's painting depicting the Spanish shootings of 3 May 1808 is a graphic depiction of a firing squad executing several pleading civilians. Yet at the same time the horrific imagery demonstrates Goya's keen artistic ability in composition and execution and produces fitting social and political outrage. Thus the debate continues as to what mode of aesthetic satisfaction if any is required to define 'art'.The assumption of new values or the rebellion against accepted notions of what is aesthetically superior need not occur concurrently with a complete abandonment of the pursuit of what is aesthetically appealing. Indeed the reverse is often true that the revision of what is popularly conceived of as being aesthetically appealing allows for a re-invigoration of aesthetic sensibility and a new appreciation for the standards of art itself. Countless schools have proposed their own ways to define quality yet they all seem to agree in at least one point once their aesthetic choices are accepted the value of the work of art is determined by its capacity to transcend the limits of its chosen medium to strike some universal chord by the rarity of the skill of the artist or in its accurate reflection in what is termed the "zeitgeist". Art is often intended to appeal to and connect with human emotion. It can arouse aesthetic or moral feelings and can be understood as a way of communicating these feelings. Artists express something so that their audience is aroused to some extent but they do not have to do so consciously. Art may be considered an exploration of the human condition that is what it is to be human. By extension it has been argued by Emily L. Spratt that the development of artificial intelligence especially in regard to its uses with images necessitates a re-evaluation of aesthetic theory in art history today and a reconsideration of the limits of human creativity.Art and law.An essential legal issue are art forgeries, plagiarism, replicas and works that are strongly based on other works of art.The trade in works of art or the export from a country may be subject to legal regulations. Internationally there are also extensive efforts to protect the works of art created. The UN UNESCO and Blue Shield International try to ensure effective protection at the national level and to intervene directly in the event of armed conflicts or disasters. This can particularly affect museums archivesart collections and excavation sites. This should also secure the economic basis of a country, especially because works of art are often of tourist importance. The founding president of Blue Shield International, Karl von Habsburg, explained an additional connection between the destruction of cultural property and the cause of flight during a mission in Lebanon in April 2019:
Agnostida is an order of arthropod which first developed near the end of the Early Cambrian period and thrived during the Middle Cambrian. They are present in the Lower Cambrian fossil record along with trilobites from the Redlichiida, Corynexochida, and Ptychopariida orders. The last agnostids went extinct in the Late Ordovician.Systematics.The Agnostida are divided into two suborders — Agnostina and Eodiscina — which are then subdivided into a number of families. As a group, agnostids are isopygous, meaning their pygidium is similar in size and shape to their cephalon. Most agnostid species were eyeless.The systematic position of the order Agnostida within the class Trilobita remains uncertain and there has been continuing debate whether they are trilobites or a stem group. The challenge to the status has focused on Agnostina partly due to the juveniles of one genus have been found with legs differing dramatically from those of adult trilobites suggesting they are not members of the lamellipedian clade of which trilobites are a part. Instead the limbs of agnostids closely resemble those of stem group crustaceans although they lack the proximal endite which defines that group. They are likely the sister taxon to the crustacean stem lineage and as such part of the clade Crustaceomorpha. Other researchers have suggested based on a cladistic analyses of dorsal exoskeletal features that Eodiscina and Agnostida are closely united and the Eodiscina descended from the trilobite order Ptychopariida.Scientists have long debated whether the agnostids lived a pelagic or a benthic lifestyle. Their lack of eyes, a morphology not well-suited for swimming, and their fossils found in association with other benthic trilobites suggest a benthic mode of life. They are likely to have lived on areas of the ocean floor which received little or no light and fed on detritus which descended from upper layers of the sea to the bottom. Their wide geographic dispersion in the fossil record is uncharacteristic of benthic animals, suggesting a pelagic existence. The thoracic segment appears to form a hinge between the head and pygidium allowing for a bivalved ostracodan-type lifestyle. The orientation of the thoracic appendages appears ill-suited for benthic living. Recent work suggests that some agnostids were benthic predators, engaging in cannibalism and possibly pack-hunting behavior.They are sometimes preserved within the voids of other organisms, for instance within empty hyolith conchs, within sponges, worm tubes and under the carapaces of bivalved arthropods, presumably in order to hide from predators or strong storm currents; or maybe whilst scavenging for food. In the case of the tapering worm tubes "Selkirkia", trilobites are always found with their heads directed towards the opening of the tube, suggesting that they reversed in; the absence of any moulted carapaces suggests that moulting was not their primary reason for seeking shelter.
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion" and occurs in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnancies. When deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently "induced miscarriage". The unmodified word "abortion" generally refers to an induced abortion.When properly done, abortion is one of the safest procedures in medicine, but unsafe abortion is a major cause of maternal death, especially in the developing world, while making safe abortion legal and accessible reduces maternal deaths. It is safer than childbirth, which has a 14 times higher risk of death in the United States.Modern methods use medication or surgery for abortions. The drug mifepristone in combination with prostaglandin appears to be as safe and effective as surgery during the first and second trimester of pregnancy. The most common surgical technique involves dilating the cervix and using a suction device. Birth control such as the pill or intrauterine devices can be used immediately following abortion. When performed legally and safely on a woman who desires it induced abortions do not increase the risk of long-term mental or physical problems. In contrast unsafe abortions cause 47000 deaths and 5 million hospital admissions each year. The World Health Organization states that "access to legal safe and comprehensive abortion care including post-abortion care is essential for the attainment of the highest possible level of sexual and reproductive health".Around 56 million abortions are performed each year in the world, with about 45% done unsafely. Abortion rates changed little between 2003 and 2008, before which they decreased for at least two decades as access to family planning and birth control increased. , 37% of the world's women had access to legal abortions without limits as to reason. Countries that permit abortions have different limits on how late in pregnancy abortion is allowed. Abortion rates are similar between countries that ban abortion and countries that allow it.Historically, abortions have been attempted using herbal medicines, sharp tools, forceful massage, or through other traditional methods. Abortion laws and cultural or religious views of abortions are different around the world. In some areas, abortion is legal only in specific cases such as rape, fetal defects, poverty, risk to a woman's health, or incest. There is debate over the moral, ethical, and legal issues of abortion. Those who oppose abortion often argue that an embryo or fetus is a person with a right to life, and thus equate abortion with murder. Those who support the legality of abortion often argue that it is part of a woman's right to make decisions about her own body. Others favor legal and accessible abortion as a public health measure.Approximately 205 million pregnancies occur each year worldwide. Over a third are unintended and about a fifth end in induced abortion. Most abortions result from unintended pregnancies. In the United Kingdom 1 to 2% of abortions are done due to genetic problems in the fetus. A pregnancy can be intentionally aborted in several ways. The manner selected often depends upon the gestational age of the embryo or fetus which increases in size as the pregnancy progresses. Specific procedures may also be selected due to legality regional availability and doctor or a woman's personal preference.Reasons for procuring induced abortions are typically characterized as either therapeutic or elective. An abortion is medically referred to as a therapeutic abortion when it is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman to prevent harm to the woman's physical or mental health to terminate a pregnancy where indications are that the child will have a significantly increased chance of mortality or morbidity or to selectively reduce the number of fetuses to lessen health risks associated with multiple pregnancy. An abortion is referred to as an elective or voluntary abortion when it is performed at the request of the woman for non-medical reasons. Confusion sometimes arises over the term generally refers to all scheduled surgery whether medically necessary or not.Spontaneous.Miscarriage, also known as spontaneous abortion, is the unintentional expulsion of an embryo or fetus before the 24th week of gestation. A pregnancy that ends before 37 weeks of gestation resulting in a live-born infant is a . Premature births and stillbirths are generally not considered to be miscarriages, although usage of these terms can sometimes overlap.Only 30% to 50% of conceptions progress past the first trimester. The vast majority of those that do not progress are lost before the woman is aware of the conception, and many pregnancies are lost before medical practitioners can detect an embryo. Between 15% and 30% of known pregnancies end in clinically apparent miscarriage, depending upon the age and health of the pregnant woman. 80% of these spontaneous abortions happen in the first trimester.The most common cause of spontaneous abortion during the first trimester is chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo or fetus, accounting for at least 50% of sampled early pregnancy losses. Other causes include vascular disease (such as lupus), diabetes, other hormonal problems, infection, and abnormalities of the uterus. Advancing maternal age and a woman's history of previous spontaneous abortions are the two leading factors associated with a greater risk of spontaneous abortion. A spontaneous abortion can also be caused by accidental trauma; intentional trauma or stress to cause miscarriage is considered induced abortion or feticide.Medical abortions are those induced by abortifacient pharmaceuticals. Medical abortion became an alternative method of abortion with the availability of prostaglandin analogs in the 1970s and the antiprogestogen mifepristone (also known as RU-486) in the 1980s.The most common early first-trimester medical abortion regimens use mifepristone in combination with misoprostol up to 10 weeks gestational age, methotrexate in combination with a prostaglandin analog up to 7 weeks gestation, or a prostaglandin analog alone. Mifepristone–misoprostol combination regimens work faster and are more effective at later gestational ages than methotrexate–misoprostol combination regimens, and combination regimens are more effective than misoprostol alone. This regimen is effective in the second trimester. Medical abortion regimens involving mifepristone followed by misoprostol in the cheek between 24 and 48 hours later are effective when performed before 70 days' gestation.In very early abortions, up to 7 weeks gestation, medical abortion using a mifepristone–misoprostol combination regimen is considered to be more effective than surgical abortion , especially when clinical practice does not include detailed inspection of aspirated tissue. Early medical abortion regimens using mifepristone, followed 24–48 hours later by buccal or vaginal misoprostol are 98% effective up to 9 weeks gestational age; from 9 to 10 weeks efficacy decreases modestly to 94%. If medical abortion fails, surgical abortion must be used to complete the procedure.Early medical abortions account for the majority of abortions before 9 weeks gestation in Britain France Switzerland United States and the Nordic countries.Medical abortion regimens using mifepristone in combination with a prostaglandin analog are the most common methods used for second-trimester abortions in Canada, most of Europe, China and India, in contrast to the United States where 96% of second-trimester abortions are performed surgically by dilation and evacuation.A 2020 Cochrane Systematic Review concluded that providing women with medications to take home to complete the second stage of the procedure for an early medical abortion results in an effective abortion. Further research is required to determine if self-administered medical abortion is as safe as provider-administered medical abortion, where a health care professional is present to help manage the medical abortion. Safely permitting women to self-administer abortion medication has the potential to improve access to abortion. Other research gaps that were identified include how to best support women who choose to take the medication home for a self-administered abortion.Up to 15 weeks' gestation, suction-aspiration or vacuum aspiration are the most common surgical methods of induced abortion. uses an electric pump. These techniques can both be used very early in pregnancy. MVA can be used up to 14 weeks but is more often used earlier in the U.S. EVA can be used later.MVA also known as only when suction aspiration is unavailable.Dilation and evacuation , used after 12 to 16 weeks, consists of opening the cervix and emptying the uterus using surgical instruments and suction. D&amp;E is performed vaginally and does not require an incision. Intact dilation and extraction refers to a variant of D&amp;E sometimes used after 18 to 20 weeks when removal of an intact fetus improves surgical safety or for other reasons.Abortion may also be performed surgically by hysterotomy or gravid hysterectomy. Hysterotomy abortion is a procedure similar to a caesarean section and is performed under general anesthesia. It requires a smaller incision than a caesarean section and can be used during later stages of pregnancy. Gravid hysterectomy refers to removal of the whole uterus while still containing the pregnancy. Hysterotomy and hysterectomy are associated with much higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality than D&ampE or induction abortion.First-trimester procedures can generally be performed using local anesthesia while second-trimester methods may require deep sedation or general anesthesia.Labor induction abortion.In places lacking the necessary medical skill for dilation and extraction or where preferred by practitioners an abortion can be induced by first inducing labor and then inducing fetal demise if necessary. This is sometimes called . This procedure may be performed from 13 weeks gestation to the third trimester. Although it is very uncommon in the United States more than 80% of induced abortions throughout the second trimester are labor-induced abortions in Sweden and other nearby countries.Only limited data are available comparing this method with dilation and extraction. Unlike D&amp;E, labor-induced abortions after 18 weeks may be complicated by the occurrence of brief fetal survival, which may be legally characterized as live birth. For this reason, labor-induced abortion is legally risky in the United States.Other methods.Historically, a number of herbs reputed to possess abortifacient properties have been used in folk medicine. Among these are: tansy, pennyroyal, black cohosh, and the now-extinct silphium.In 1978 one woman in Colorado died and another developed organ damage when they attempted to terminate their pregnancies by taking pennyroyal oil.Because the indiscriminant use of herbs as abortifacients can cause serious—even lethal—side effects such as multiple organ failure such use is not recommended by physicians.Abortion is sometimes attempted by causing trauma to the abdomen. The degree of force, if severe, can cause serious internal injuries without necessarily succeeding in inducing miscarriage. In Southeast Asia, there is an ancient tradition of attempting abortion through forceful abdominal massage. One of the bas reliefs decorating the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia depicts a demon performing such an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the underworld.Reported methods of unsafe, self-induced abortion include misuse of misoprostol and insertion of non-surgical implements such as knitting needles and clothes hangers into the uterus. These and other methods to terminate pregnancy may be called . Such methods are rarely used in countries where surgical abortion is legal and available.The health risks of abortion depend principally upon whether the procedure is performed safely or unsafely. The World Health Organization defines unsafe abortions as those performed by unskilled individuals, with hazardous equipment, or in unsanitary facilities. Legal abortions performed in the developed world are among the safest procedures in medicine. In the United States as of 2012, abortion was estimated to be about 14 times safer for women than childbirth. CDC estimated in 2019 that US pregnancy-related mortality was 17.2 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, while the US abortion mortality rate is 0.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 procedures. In the UK, guidelines of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists state that In Indonesia in 2000 it was estimated that 2 million pregnancies ended in abortion, 4.5 million pregnancies were carried to term, and 14-16 percent of maternal deaths resulted from abortion.In the US from 2000 to 2009, abortion had a lower mortality rate than plastic surgery, and a similar or lower mortality rate than running a marathon. Five years after seeking abortion services, women who gave birth after being denied an abortion reported worse health than women who had either first or second trimester abortions. The risk of abortion-related mortality increases with gestational age, but remains lower than that of childbirth. Outpatient abortion is as safe from 64 to 70 days' gestation as it before 63 days.There is little difference in terms of safety and efficacy between medical abortion using a combined regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol and surgical abortion (vacuum aspiration) in early first trimester abortions up to 10 weeks gestation. Medical abortion using the prostaglandin analog misoprostol alone is less effective and more painful than medical abortion using a combined regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol or surgical abortion.Vacuum aspiration in the first trimester is the safest method of surgical abortion, and can be performed in a primary care office, abortion clinic, or hospital. Complications, which are rare, can include uterine perforation, pelvic infection, and retained products of conception requiring a second procedure to evacuate. Infections account for one-third of abortion-related deaths in the United States. The rate of complications of vacuum aspiration abortion in the first trimester is similar regardless of whether the procedure is performed in a hospital, surgical center, or office. Preventive antibiotics are typically given before abortion procedures, as they are believed to substantially reduce the risk of postoperative uterine infection; however, antibiotics are not routinely given with abortion pills. The rate of failed procedures does not appear to vary significantly depending on whether the abortion is performed by a doctor or a mid-level practitioner.Complications after second-trimester abortion are similar to those after first-trimester abortion and depend somewhat on the method chosen. The risk of death from abortion approaches roughly half the risk of death from childbirth the farther along a woman is in pregnancy from one in a million before 9 weeks gestation to nearly one in ten thousand at 21 weeks or more . It appears that having had a prior surgical uterine evacuation correlates with a small increase in the risk of preterm birth in future pregnancies. The studies supporting this did not control for factors not related to abortion or miscarriage and hence the causes of this correlation have not been determined although multiple possibilities have been suggested.Some purported risks of abortion are promoted primarily by anti-abortion groupsbut lack scientific support. For example, the question of a link between induced abortion and breast cancer has been investigated extensively. Major medical and scientific bodies have concluded that abortion does not cause breast cancer.In the past even illegality has not automatically meant that the abortions were unsafe. Referring to the U.S. historian Linda Gordon states "In fact illegal abortions in this country have an impressive safety record." According to Rickie SolingerAuthors Jerome Bates and Edward Zawadzki describe the case of an illegal abortionist in the eastern U.S. in the early 20th century who was proud of having successfully completed 13,844 abortions without any fatality.In 1870s New York City the famous abortionist/midwife Madame Restell appears to have lost very few women among her more than 100000 patients—a lower mortality rate than the childbirth mortality rate at the time. In 1936 the prominent professor of obstetrics and gynecology Frederick J. Taussig wrote that a cause of increasing mortality during the years of illegality in the U.S. was thatMental health.Current evidence finds no relationship between most induced abortions and mental health problems other than those expected for any unwanted pregnancy. A report by the American Psychological Association concluded that a woman's first abortion is not a threat to mental health when carried out in the first trimester with such women no more likely to have mental-health problems than those carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term the mental-health outcome of a woman's second or greater abortion is less certain. Some older reviews concluded that abortion was associated with an increased risk of psychological problems however they did not use an appropriate control group.Although some studies show negative mental-health outcomes in women who choose abortions after the first trimester because of fetal abnormalities, more rigorous research would be needed to show this conclusively. Some proposed negative psychological effects of abortion have been referred to by anti-abortion advocates as a separate condition called , but this is not recognized by medical or psychological professionals in the United States.A long term-study among US women found that about 99% of women felt that they made the right decision five years after they had an abortion. Relief was the primary emotion with few women feeling sadness or guilt. Social stigma was a main factor predicting negative emotions and regret years later.Unsafe abortion.Women seeking an abortion may use unsafe methods, especially when it is legally restricted. They may attempt self-induced abortion or seek the help of a person without proper medical training or facilities. This can lead to severe complications, such as incomplete abortion, sepsis, hemorrhage, and damage to internal organs.Unsafe abortions are a major cause of injury and death among women worldwide. Although data are imprecise, it is estimated that approximately 20 million unsafe abortions are performed annually, with 97% taking place in developing countries. Unsafe abortions are believed to result in millions of injuries. Estimates of deaths vary according to methodology, and have ranged from 37,000 to 70,000 in the past decade; deaths from unsafe abortion account for around 13% of all maternal deaths. The World Health Organization believes that mortality has fallen since the 1990s. To reduce the number of unsafe abortions, public health organizations have generally advocated emphasizing the legalization of abortion, training of medical personnel, and ensuring access to reproductive-health services. In response, opponents of abortion point out that abortion bans in no way affect prenatal care for women who choose to carry their fetus to term. The Dublin Declaration on Maternal Health, signed in 2012, notes, A major factor in whether abortions are performed safely or not is the legal standing of abortion. Countries with restrictive abortion laws have higher rates of unsafe abortion and similar overall abortion rates compared to those where abortion is legal and available. For example, the 1996 legalization of abortion in South Africa had an immediate positive impact on the frequency of abortion-related complications, with abortion-related deaths dropping by more than 90%. Similar reductions in maternal mortality have been observed after other countries have liberalized their abortion laws, such as Romania and Nepal. A 2011 study concluded that in the United States, some state-level anti-abortion laws are correlated with lower rates of abortion in that state. The analysis, however, did not take into account travel to other states without such laws to obtain an abortion. In addition, a lack of access to effective contraception contributes to unsafe abortion. It has been estimated that the incidence of unsafe abortion could be reduced by up to 75% if modern family planning and maternal health services were readily available globally. Rates of such abortions may be difficult to measure because they can be reported variously as miscarriage, "induced miscarriage", "menstrual regulation", "mini-abortion", and "regulation of a delayed/suspended menstruation".Forty percent of the world's women are able to access therapeutic and elective abortions within gestational limits while an additional 35 percent have access to legal abortion if they meet certain physical mental or socioeconomic criteria. While maternal mortality seldom results from safe abortions unsafe abortions result in 70000 deaths and 5 million disabilities per year. Complications of unsafe abortion account for approximately an eighth of maternal mortalities worldwide though this varies by region. Secondary infertility caused by an unsafe abortion affects an estimated 24 million women. The rate of unsafe abortions has increased from 44% to 49% between 1995 and 2008. Health education access to family planning and improvements in health care during and after abortion have been proposed to address this phenomenon.There are two commonly used methods of measuring the incidence of abortionIn many places, where abortion is illegal or carries a heavy social stigma, medical reporting of abortion is not reliable. For this reason, estimates of the incidence of abortion must be made without determining certainty related to standard error.The number of abortions performed worldwide seems to have remained stable in recent years with 41.6 million having been performed in 2003 and 43.8 million having been performed in 2008. The abortion rate worldwide was 28 per 1000 women per year though it was 24 per 1000 women per year for developed countries and 29 per 1000 women per year for developing countries. The same 2012 study indicated that in 2008 the estimated abortion percentage of known pregnancies was at 21% worldwide with 26% in developed countries and 20% in developing countries.On average the incidence of abortion is similar in countries with restrictive abortion laws and those with more liberal access to abortion. However restrictive abortion laws are associated with increases in the percentage of abortions performed unsafely. The unsafe abortion rate in developing countries is partly attributable to lack of access to modern contraceptives according to the Guttmacher Institute providing access to contraceptives would result in about 14.5 million fewer unsafe abortions and 38000 fewer deaths from unsafe abortion annually worldwide.The rate of legal induced abortion varies extensively worldwide. According to the report of employees of Guttmacher Institute it ranged from 7 per 1000 women per year to 30 per 1000 women per year in countries with complete statistics in 2008. The proportion of pregnancies that ended in induced abortion ranged from about 10% to 30% in the same group though it might be as high as 36% in Hungary and Romania whose statistics were deemed incomplete.An American study in 2002 concluded that about half of women having abortions were using a form of contraception at the time of becoming pregnant. Inconsistent use was reported by half of those using condoms and three-quarters of those using the birth control pill 42% of those using condoms reported failure through slipping or breakage. The Guttmacher Institute estimated that .The abortion rate may also be expressed as the average number of abortions a woman has during her reproductive years; this is referred to as "total abortion rate" (TAR).Gestational age and method.Abortion rates also vary depending on the stage of pregnancy and the method practiced. In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 26% of reported legal induced abortions in the United States were known to have been obtained at less than 6 weeks' gestation, 18% at 7 weeks, 15% at 8 weeks, 18% at 9 through 10 weeks, 10% at 11 through 12 weeks, 6% at 13 through 15 weeks, 4% at 16 through 20 weeks and 1% at more than 21 weeks. 91% of these were classified as having been done by "curettage" , 8% by "medical" means , &gt;1% by "intrauterine instillation" , and 1% by "other" . According to the CDC, due to data collection difficulties the data must be viewed as tentative and some fetal deaths reported beyond 20 weeks may be natural deaths erroneously classified as abortions if the removal of the dead fetus is accomplished by the same procedure as an induced abortion.The Guttmacher Institute estimated there were 2,200 intact dilation and extraction procedures in the US during 2000; this accounts for &lt;0.2% of the total number of abortions performed that year. Similarly, in England and Wales in 2006, 89% of terminations occurred at or under 12 weeks, 9% between 13 and 19 weeks, and 2% at or over 20 weeks. 64% of those reported were by vacuum aspiration, 6% by D&amp;E, and 30% were medical. There are more second trimester abortions in developing countries such as China, India and Vietnam than in developed countries.Motivation.The reasons why women have abortions are diverse and vary across the world. Some of the reasons may include an inability to afford a child domestic violence lack of support feeling they are too young and the wish to complete education or advance a career. Additional reasons include not being able or willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incestSome abortions are undergone as the result of societal pressures. These might include the preference for children of a specific sex or race, disapproval of single or early motherhood, stigmatization of people with disabilities, insufficient economic support for families, lack of access to or rejection of contraceptive methods, or efforts toward population control . These factors can sometimes result in compulsory abortion or sex-selective abortion.Maternal and fetal health.An additional factor is maternal health which was listed as the main reason by about a third of women in 3 of 27 countries and about 7% of women in a further 7 of these 27 countries.In the U.S., the Supreme Court decisions in "Roe v. Wade" and "Doe v. Bolton": "ruled that the state's interest in the life of the fetus became compelling only at the point of viability, defined as the point at which the fetus can survive independently of its mother. Even after the point of viability, the state cannot favor the life of the fetus over the life or health of the pregnant woman. Under the right of privacy, physicians must be free to use their "medical judgment for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." On the same day that the Court decided Roe, it also decided Doe v. Bolton, in which the Court defined health very broadly: "The medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age—relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health. This allows the attending physician the room he needs to make his best medical judgment."Public opinion shifted in America following television personality Sherri Finkbines life was at risk, 57% when birth defects were present and 59% for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.The rate of cancer during pregnancy is 0.02–1%, and in many cases, cancer of the mother leads to consideration of abortion to protect the life of the mother, or in response to the potential damage that may occur to the fetus during treatment. This is particularly true for cervical cancer, the most common type of which occurs in 1 of every 2,000–13,000 pregnancies, for which initiation of treatment "cannot co-exist with preservation of fetal life (unless neoadjuvant chemotherapy is chosen)". Very early stage cervical cancers (I and IIa) may be treated by radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection, radiation therapy, or both, while later stages are treated by radiotherapy. Chemotherapy may be used simultaneously. Treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy also involves fetal considerations, because lumpectomy is discouraged in favor of modified radical mastectomy unless late-term pregnancy allows follow-up radiation therapy to be administered after the birth.Exposure to a single chemotherapy drug is estimated to cause a 7.5–17% risk of teratogenic effects on the fetus with higher risks for multiple drug treatments. Treatment with more than 40 Gy of radiation usually causes spontaneous abortion. Exposure to much lower doses during the first trimester especially 8 to 15 weeks of development can cause intellectual disability or microcephaly and exposure at this or subsequent stages can cause reduced intrauterine growth and birth weight. Exposures above 0.005–0.025 Gy cause a dose-dependent reduction in IQ. It is possible to greatly reduce exposure to radiation with abdominal shielding depending on how far the area to be irradiated is from the fetus.The process of birth itself may also put the mother at risk. History and religion.Since ancient times abortions have been done using a number of methods including herbal medicines sharp tools with force or through other traditional methods. Induced abortion has a long history and can be traced back to civilizations as varied as ancient China ancient India since its Vedic age ancient Egypt with its Ebers Papyrus and the Roman Empire in the time of Juvenal . One of the earliest known artistic representations of abortion is in a bas relief at Angkor Wat . Found in a series of friezes that represent judgment after death in Hindu and Buddhist culture it depicts the technique of abdominal abortion.Some medical scholars and abortion opponents have suggested that the Hippocratic Oath forbade Ancient Greek physicians from performing abortions other scholars disagree with this interpretation and state that the medical texts of Hippocratic Corpus contain descriptions of abortive techniques right alongside the Oath. The physician Scribonius Largus wrote in 43 CE that the Hippocratic Oath prohibits abortion as did Soranus although apparently not all doctors adhered to it strictly at the time. According to Soranus' 1st or 2nd century CE work .In Christianity Pope Sixtus V was the first Pope before 1869 to declare that abortion is homicide regardless of the stage of pregnancy and his pronouncement of 1588 was reversed three years later by Pope Gregory XIV. Through most of its history the Catholic Church was divided on whether it believed that early abortion was murder and it did not begin vigorously opposing abortion until the 19th century. Several historians have written that prior to the 19th century most Catholic authors did not regard termination of pregnancy before as an abortion. From 1750 excommunication became the punishment for abortions. Statements made in 1992 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the codified summary of the Church's teachings opposed abortion.A 2014 Guttmacher survey of US abortion patients found that many reported a religious affiliation—24% were Catholic while 30% were Protestant.A 1995 survey reported that Catholic women are as likely as the general population to terminate a pregnancy Protestants are less likely to do so and Evangelical Christians are the least likely to do so. Islamic tradition has traditionally permitted abortion until a point in time when Muslims believe the soul enters the fetus considered by various theologians to be at conception 40 days after conception 120 days after conception or quickening.&ltref name=&gt&lt/ref&gt However abortion is largely heavily restricted or forbidden in areas of high Islamic faith such as the Middle East and North Africa.In Europe and North America, abortion techniques advanced starting in the 17th century. However, conservatism by most physicians with regards to sexual matters prevented the wide expansion of safe abortion techniques. Other medical practitioners in addition to some physicians advertised their services, and they were not widely regulated until the 19th century, when the practice was banned in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Church groups as well as physicians were highly influential in anti-abortion movements. In the US, according to some sources, abortion was more dangerous than childbirth until about 1930 when incremental improvements in abortion procedures relative to childbirth made abortion safer. However, other sources maintain that in the 19th century early abortions under the hygienic conditions in which midwives usually worked were relatively safe.In addition some commentators have written that despite improved medical procedures the period from the 1930s until legalization also saw more zealous enforcement of anti-abortion laws and concomitantly an increasing control of abortion providers by organized crime.Soviet Russia , Iceland , and Sweden were among the first countries to legalize certain or all forms of abortion. In 1935, Nazi Germany, a law was passed permitting abortions for those deemed , while women considered of German stock were specifically prohibited from having abortions. Beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, abortion was legalized in a greater number of countries.Society and culture.Abortion debate.Induced abortion has long been the source of considerable debate. Ethical, moral, philosophical, biological, religious and legal issues surrounding abortion are related to value systems. Opinions of abortion may be about fetal rights, governmental authority, and women's rights.In both public and private debate arguments presented in favor of or against abortion access focus on either the moral permissibility of an induced abortion or justification of laws permitting or restricting abortion. The World Medical Association Declaration on Therapeutic Abortion notes . Generally the former position argues that a human fetus is a human person with a right to live making abortion morally the same as murder. The latter position argues that a woman has certain reproductive rights especially the right to decide whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term.Modern abortion law.Current laws pertaining to abortion are diverse. Religious, moral, and cultural factors continue to influence abortion laws throughout the world. The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to security of person, and the right to reproductive health are major issues of human rights that sometimes constitute the basis for the existence or absence of abortion laws.In jurisdictions where abortion is legal certain requirements must often be met before a woman may obtain a safe legal abortion . These requirements usually depend on the age of the fetus often using a trimester-based system to regulate the window of legality or as in the U.S. on a doctor's evaluation of the fetus' viability. Some jurisdictions require a waiting period before the procedure prescribe the distribution of information on fetal development or require that parents be contacted if their minor daughter requests an abortion. Other jurisdictions may require that a woman obtain the consent of the fetus' father before aborting the fetus that abortion providers inform women of health risks of the procedure—sometimes including "risks" not supported by the medical literature—and that multiple medical authorities certify that the abortion is either medically or socially necessary. Many restrictions are waived in emergency situations. China which has ended their one-child policy and now has a two child policy has at times incorporated mandatory abortions as part of their population control strategy.Other jurisdictions ban abortion almost entirely. Many, but not all, of these allow legal abortions in a variety of circumstances. These circumstances vary based on jurisdiction, but may include whether the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, the fetus' development is impaired, the woman's physical or mental well-being is endangered, or socioeconomic considerations make childbirth a hardship. In countries where abortion is banned entirely, such as Nicaragua, medical authorities have recorded rises in maternal death directly and indirectly due to pregnancy as well as deaths due to doctors' fears of prosecution if they treat other gynecological emergencies. Some countries, such as Bangladesh, that nominally ban abortion, may also support clinics that perform abortions under the guise of menstrual hygiene. This is also a terminology in traditional medicine. In places where abortion is illegal or carries heavy social stigma, pregnant women may engage in medical tourism and travel to countries where they can terminate their pregnancies. Women without the means to travel can resort to providers of illegal abortions or attempt to perform an abortion by themselves.The organization Women on Waves has been providing education about medical abortions since 1999. The NGO created a mobile medical clinic inside a shipping container, which then travels on rented ships to countries with restrictive abortion laws. Because the ships are registered in the Netherlands, Dutch law prevails when the ship is in international waters. While in port, the organization provides free workshops and education; while in international waters, medical personnel are legally able to prescribe medical abortion drugs and counseling.Sex-selective abortion.Sonography and amniocentesis allow parents to determine sex before childbirth. The development of this technology has led to sex-selective abortion, or the termination of a fetus based on its sex. The selective termination of a female fetus is most common.Sex-selective abortion is partially responsible for the noticeable disparities between the birth rates of male and female children in some countries. The preference for male children is reported in many areas of Asia and abortion used to limit female births has been reported in Taiwan South Korea India and China. This deviation from the standard birth rates of males and females occurs despite the fact that the country in question may have officially banned sex-selective abortion or even sex-screening. In China a historical preference for a male child has been exacerbated by the one-child policy which was enacted in 1979.Many countries have taken legislative steps to reduce the incidence of sex-selective abortion. At the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 over 180 states agreed to eliminate conditions also condemned by a PACE resolution in 2011. The World Health Organization and UNICEF along with other United Nations agencies have found that measures to reduce access to abortion are much less effective at reducing sex-selective abortions than measures to reduce gender inequality.Anti-abortion violence.In a number of cases, abortion providers and these facilities have been subjected to various forms of violence, including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, stalking, assault, arson, and bombing. Anti-abortion violence is classified by both governmental and scholarly sources as terrorism. In the U.S. and Canada, over 8,000 incidents of violence, trespassing, and death threats have been recorded by providers since 1977, including over 200 bombings/arsons and hundreds of assaults. The majority of abortion opponents have not been involved in violent acts.In the United States four physicians who performed abortions have been murdered David Gunn (1993) John Britton (1994) Barnett Slepian (1998) and George Tiller (2009). Also murdered in the U.S. and Australia have been other personnel at abortion clinics including receptionists and security guards such as James Barrett Shannon Lowney Lee Ann Nichols and Robert Sanderson. Woundings (e.g. Garson Romalis) and attempted murders have also taken place in the United States and Canada. Hundreds of bombings arsons acid attacks invasions and incidents of vandalism against abortion providers have occurred. Notable perpetrators of anti-abortion violence include Eric Robert Rudolph Scott Roeder Shelley Shannon and Paul Jennings Hill the first person to be executed in the United States for murdering an abortion provider.Legal protection of access to abortion has been brought into some countries where abortion is legal. These laws typically seek to protect abortion clinics from obstruction vandalism picketing and other actions or to protect women and employees of such facilities from threats and harassment.Far more common than physical violence is psychological pressure. In 2003 Chris Danze organized anti-abortion organizations throughout Texas to prevent the construction of a Planned Parenthood facility in Austin. The organizations released the personal information online of those involved with construction sending them up to 1200 phone calls a day and contacting their churches. Some protestors record women entering clinics on camera.Non-human examples.Spontaneous abortion occurs in various animals. For example in sheep it may be caused by stress or physical exertion such as crowding through doors or being chased by dogs. In cows abortion may be caused by contagious disease such as brucellosis or "Campylobacter" but can often be controlled by vaccination. Eating pine needles can also induce abortions in cows.Several plants, including broomweed, skunk cabbage, poison hemlock, and tree tobacco, are known to cause fetal deformities and abortion in cattle and in sheep and goats. In horses, a fetus may be aborted or resorbed if it has lethal white syndrome . Foal embryos that are homozygous for the dominant white gene are theorized to also be aborted or resorbed before birth. In many species of sharks and rays, stress-induced abortions occur frequently on capture.Viral infection can cause abortion in dogs. Cats can experience spontaneous abortion for many reasons, including hormonal imbalance. A combined abortion and spaying is performed on pregnant cats, especially in trap–neuter–return programs, to prevent unwanted kittens from being born.Female rodents may terminate a pregnancy when exposed to the smell of a male not responsible for the pregnancy, known as the Bruce effect.Abortion may also be induced in animals in the context of animal husbandry. For example abortion may be induced in mares that have been mated improperly or that have been purchased by owners who did not realize the mares were pregnant or that are pregnant with twin foals. Feticide can occur in horses and zebras due to male harassment of pregnant mares or forced copulation although the frequency in the wild has been questioned. Male gray langur monkeys may attack females following male takeover causing miscarriage.
In law, an abstract is a brief statement that contains the most important points of a long legal document or of several related legal papers.Abstract of title.The abstract of title used in real estate transactions is the more common form of abstract. An abstract of title lists all the owners of a piece of land a house or a building before it came into possession of the present owner. The abstract also records all deeds wills mortgages and other documents that affect ownership of the property. An abstract describes a chain of transfers from owner to owner and any agreements by former owners that are binding on later owners.Patent law.In the context of patent law and specifically in prior art searches searching through abstracts is a common way to find relevant prior art document to question to novelty or inventive step of an invention. Under United States patent law the abstract may be called "Abstract of the Disclosure".The American Revolutionary War also known as the Revolutionary War or the American War of Independence was initiated by delegates from thirteen American colonies of British America in Congress against Great Britain. The war was fought over the issue of U.S. independence from the British Empire. Engagements took place in North America the Caribbean Sea and in the seas surrounding England the North Sea the Irish Sea and the English Channel.From their founding in the 17th century, British North American colonies were largely left to govern themselves under charters granted by the English Stuart Kings and guaranteed by the English, then the British Parliament. They traded with the Mother Country primarily in Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Bermuda, Bahamas, and Jamaica, and with various other colonies and European powers via their Caribbean entrepts.The Stamp Act and Townshend Acts provoked colonial opposition and unrest, leading to the 1770 Boston Massacre and 1773 Boston Tea Party. In spring 1774 when Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by imposing punitive laws (dubbed by the Americans as the ) upon Massachusetts, twelve colonies sent delegates to the First Continental Congress (September 5 – October 26, 1774) to draft a Petition to the King and organize a boycott of British goods. Fighting broke out on 19 April 1775: the British army stationed at Boston was harassed by the Massachusetts militia at Lexington and Concord after destroying colonial Assembly powder stores. In June, the Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington to create a Continental Army and oversee the capture of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776). The Patriots sent the Olive Branch Petition (signed July 8, 1775) to the King and Parliament, both of whom rejected it. In response, they invaded British Quebec but were repulsed. In July 1776, Congress unanimously passed the Declaration of Independence.Hopes of a quick settlement were supported by American sympathizers within Parliament who opposed Lord North's "coercion policy" in the colonies. However after the British were driven out of Boston the new British commander-in-chief General Sir William Howe launched a counter-offensive and captured New York City. After crossing the Delaware Washington engaged and routed Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton and the British at the Battle of Princeton. After British General Burgoyne surrendered at the Battles of Saratoga in October 1777 Howe's 1777–1778 Philadelphia campaign captured that city. Washington retreated to Valley Forge during the winter of 1777–1778 where Prussian allied General von Steuben drilled the largely untrained Continental Army into an organized fighting unit.French Foreign Minister Vergennes saw the war as a way to create an America economically and militarily dependent on France and not Great Britain. Although talks on a formal alliance began in late 1776 they proceeded slowly until the Patriot victory at Saratoga in October 1777. Fears Congress might come to an early settlement with Great Britain resulted in France and the United States signing two treaties in February 1778. The first was a commercial treaty the second a Treaty of Alliance in return for a French guarantee of U.S. independence Congress agreed to join the war against Great Britain and defend the French West Indies. Although Spain refused to join the Franco-American alliance in the 1779 Treaty of Aranjuez they agreed to support France in its global war with Britain hoping to regain losses incurred in 1713.In other fronts in North America, Governor of Spanish Louisiana Bernardo Glvez routed British forces from Louisiana. The Spanish, along with American privateers supplied the 1779 American conquest of Western Quebec . Glvez then expelled British forces from Mobile during the Battle of Fort Charlotte and the siege of Pensacola, cutting off British military aid to their American Indian allies in the interior southeast. Howe's replacement, General Sir Henry Clinton, then mounted a 1778 "Southern strategy" from Charleston. After capturing Savannah, defeats at the Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of Cowpens forced Cornwallis to retreat to Yorktown, where his army was besieged by an allied French and American force. An attempt to resupply the garrison was repulsed by the French navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake, and Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781.Although their war with France and Spain continued for another two years the British fight against the U.S. ended with the Battle of Yorktown. The North Ministry was replaced by Lord Rockingham who accepted office on the basis George III agreed to U.S. independence. Preliminary articles were signed in November 1782 and in April 1783 Congress accepted British terms these included independence evacuation of British troops cession of territory up to the Mississippi River and navigation to the sea as well as fishing rights in the Newfoundland Colony. On September 3 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed between Great Britain and the United States then ratified the following spring.Prelude to revolution.The French and Indian War and the wider conflict known as the Seven Years' War ended with the 1763 Peace of Paris which expelled France from North America. At the same time the British rescinded provisions of colonial charters claiming to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific the Mississippi River became the dividing line between British and Spanish possessions in the Americas with free navigation on it . More American territory changed hands in 1763 than any settlement before or after destabilizing existing alliances and trade networks and leading to conflict between settlers and American Natives.The Proclamation Line of 1763 was intended to refocus colonial expansion north into Nova Scotia or south into Florida while separating American Natives and colonials by restricting settlement in the west. Both sides agreed with the principle but disagreed on where to set the border; keeping the peace required garrisons of regular troops along the frontier, and led to disputes with the colonial legislatures over who should bear the expense.Taxation and legislation.Although directly administered by the Crown, acting through a local Governor, the colonies were largely governed by native-born property owners. While external affairs were managed by London, colonial militia were funded locally but with the ending of the French threat in 1763, the legislatures expected less taxation, not more. At the same time, the huge costs of the Seven Years' War meant Parliament expected the colonies to fund their own defense. The outcome was a series of disputes as to how these expenses should be paid.The 1763 to 1765 Grenville ministry began by instructing the Royal Navy to stop the trade of smuggled goods and enforce customs duties levied in American ports. The most important was the 1733 Molasses Act routinely ignored prior to 1763 it had a significant economic impact since 85% of New England rum exports were manufactured from imported molasses. These measures were followed by the Sugar Act and Stamp Act which imposed additional taxes on the colonies to pay for defending the western frontier. In July 1765 the Whigs formed the First Rockingham ministry which repealed the Stamp Act and reduced tax on foreign molasses to help the New England economy but re-asserted Parliamentary authority in the Declaratory Act.However this did little to end the discontent in 1768 a riot started in Boston when the authorities seized the sloop on suspicion of smuggling. Tensions escalated further in March 1770 when British troops fired on rock-throwing civilians killing five in what became known as the Boston Massacre. The Massacre coincided with the partial repeal of the Townshend Acts by the Tory-based North Ministry which came to power in January 1770 and remained in office until 1781. North insisted on retaining duty on tea to enshrine Parliament's right to tax the colonies the amount was minor but ignored the fact it was that very principle Americans objected to.Tensions escalated following the destruction of a customs vessel in the June 1772 Gaspee Affair, then came to a head in 1773. A banking crisis led to the near-collapse of the East India Company, which dominated the British economy; to support it, Parliament passed the Tea Act, giving it a trading monopoly in the Thirteen Colonies. Since most American tea was smuggled by the Dutch, the Act was opposed by those who managed the illegal trade, while being seen as yet another attempt to impose the principle of taxation by Parliament. Then, in December 1773, The Sons of Liberty protested the Tea Act by disguising themselves as Mohawk natives and dumping 342 crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. This event would be known as the Boston Tea Party. In response, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, also called the Intolerable Acts by the colonists. While aimed specifically at Massachusetts, many in America and within the Whig opposition considered them a threat to liberty in general; it led to increased sympathy for the Patriot cause locally, as well as in Parliament and the London press.Break with the British Crown.Over the course of the 18th century, the elected lower houses in the colonial legislatures gradually wrested power from their Royal Governors. Dominated by smaller landowners and merchants, these Assemblies now established ad hoc provincial legislatures, variously called Congresses, Conventions, and Conferences, effectively replacing Royal control. With the exception of Georgia, twelve colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress to agree on a unified response to the crisis. Many of the delegates feared that an all-out boycott would result in war and sent a Petition to the King calling for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts. However, after some debate, on September 17, 1774, Congress endorsed the Massachusetts Suffolk Resolves and on October 20 passed the Continental Association; based on a draft prepared by the First Virginia Convention in August, this instituted economic sanctions against Britain.While denying its authority over internal American affairs, a faction led by James Duane and future Loyalist Joseph Galloway insisted Congress recognize Parliament's right to regulate colonial trade. Expecting concessions by the North administration, Congress authorized the extralegal committees and conventions of the colonial legislatures to enforce the boycott; this succeeded in reducing British imports by 97% from 1774 to 1775. However, on February 9 Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion and instituted a blockade of the colony. In July, the Restraining Acts limited colonial trade with the British West Indies and Britain and barred New England ships from the Newfoundland cod fisheries. The increase in tension led to a scramble for control of militia stores, which each Assembly was legally obliged to maintain for defense. On April 19, a British attempt to secure the Concord arsenal culminated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord which began the war.Political reactions.After the Patriot victory at Concord moderates in Congress led by John Dickinson drafted the Olive Branch Petition offering to accept royal authority in return for George III mediating in the dispute. However since it was immediately followed by the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms Colonial Secretary Dartmouth viewed the offer as insincere he refused to present the petition to the king which was therefore rejected in early September. Although constitutionally correct since George could not oppose his own government it disappointed those Americans who hoped he would mediate in the dispute while the hostility of his language annoyed even Loyalist members of Congress. Combined with the Proclamation of Rebellion issued on August 23 in response to the Battle at Bunker Hill it ended hopes of a peaceful settlement.Backed by the Whigs, Parliament initially rejected the imposition of coercive measures by 170 votes, fearing an aggressive policy would simply drive the Americans towards independence. However, by the end of 1774 the collapse of British authority meant both North and George III were convinced war was inevitable. After Boston, Gage halted operations and awaited reinforcements; the Irish Parliament approved the recruitment of new regiments, while allowing Catholics to enlist for the first time. Britain also signed a series of treaties with German states to supply additional troops. Within a year it had an army of over 32,000 men in America, the largest ever sent outside Europe at the time.However, the use of German mercenaries and Catholics was opposed by many in Parliament and the Protestant-dominated colonial assemblies; combined with the lack of activity by Gage, it allowed the Patriots to take control of the legislatures. Support for independence was boosted by Thomas Paine's pamphlet committed by George III.On July 2, Congress voted for independence and published the declaration on July 4, which Washington read to his troops in New York City on July 9. At this point, the Revolution ceased to be an internal dispute over trade and tax policies and became a civil war. The states as represented in Congress were engaged in a struggle with Britain, but each in turn was split between Patriots and Loyalists. Patriots generally supported independence from Britain and a new national union in Congress, while Loyalists remained faithful to British rule. Estimates of numbers vary, one suggestion being the population as a whole was split evenly between committed Patriots, committed Loyalists and those who were indifferent. Others calculate the spilt as 40% Patriot, 40% neutral, 20% Loyalist, but with considerable regional variations.At the onset of the war, the Congress realized defeating Britain required foreign alliances and intelligence-gathering. The Committee of Secret Correspondence was formed for "the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain and other parts of the world". From 1775 to 1776, it shared information and built alliances through secret correspondence, as well as employing secret agents in Europe to gather intelligence, conduct undercover operations, analyze foreign publications and initiate Patriot propaganda campaigns. Paine served as secretary, while Silas Deane was instrumental in securing French aid in Paris.War breaks out.As the American Revolutionary War unfolded in North America there were two principal campaign theaters within the thirteen states and a smaller but strategically important one west of the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River and north to the Great Lakes. The full-on military campaigning began in the states north of Maryland and fighting was most frequent and severest there between 1775 and 1778. Patriots achieved several strategic victories in the South the British lost their first army at Saratoga and the French entered the war as an American ally.In the expanded Northern theater and wintering at Valley Forge, General Washington observed British operations coming out of New York at the 1778 Battle of Monmouth. He then closed off British initiatives by a series of raids that contained the British army in New York City. The same year, Spanish-supplied Virginia Colonel George Rogers Clark joined by Francophone settlers and their Indian allies conquered Western Quebec, the US Northwest Territory.Starting in 1779, the British initiated a southern strategy to begin at Savannah, gather Loyalist support, and reoccupy Patriot-controlled territory north to Chesapeake Bay. Initially the British were successful, and the Americans lost an entire army at the siege of Charleston, which caused a severe setback for Patriots in the region. But then British maneuvering north led to a combined American and French force cornering a second British army at Battle of Yorktown, and their surrender effectively ended the Revolutionary War.Early engagements.On April 14 1775 Sir Thomas Gage who was Commander-in-Chief North America from 1763 to 1775 and appointed Governor of Massachusetts in 1774 received orders from Britain to take action against the Patriots. Acting on intelligence Gage planned to destroy stores of militia ordnance at Concord by way of Lexington and to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams considered the two principal instigators of the rebellion. The operation was to commence before midnight on April 19 and surprise the militia while completing their objectives and retreating to Boston before multitudes of patriot militias could respond. However Patriot intelligence which Paul Revere had helped organize learned of Gage's intentions and Revere alerted Captain John Parker commander of the Concord militia. The first action of the war was a brief skirmish at Lexington followed by a full-scale battle during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. After suffering some 300 casualties British troops withdrew to Boston followed by local militia who laid siege to the city.The next month 4,500 British reinforcements arrived with generals William Howe, John Burgoyne, and Sir Henry Clinton. On June 17, they seized the Charlestown Peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill, a frontal assault in which they suffered over 1,000 casualties. Dismayed at the costly attack which had gained them little, Gage appealed to London to send a large army to suppress the revolt, but instead they replaced him and Howe took command.On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress officially assumed command of patriot forces in Boston, giving birth to the Continental Army, which now needed a Commander-in-Chief. To lead Patriot forces surrounding Boston, Congressional leader John Adams of Massachusetts nominated Virginia delegate George Washington for commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in June 1775. At this time the delegates were so impressed with Washington that his appointment was considered a done deal. On June 16, John Hancock officially announced that Washington was henceforth "General and Commander in Chief of the army of the United Colonies." Washington had previously commanded Virginia militia regiments in British combat commands during the French and Indian War. He proceeded to Boston to assume field command of the ongoing siege on July 3. Howe did not engage in a standoff with Washington, and Washington made no plan to assault the city; instead, the Americans fortified Dorchester Heights.In early March 1776, Colonel Henry Knox arrived with heavy artillery captured from a raid on Fort Ticonderoga. Under the cover of darkness Washington placed his artillery atop Dorchester Heights March 5, threatening Boston and the British ships in the harbor. Howe feared another battle like Bunker Hill, so he evacuated Boston. The British were permitted to withdraw without further casualties on March 17 , and they sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Washington then moved his army south to New York.Beginning in August 1775, American privateers began raiding villages in Nova Scotia, first at Saint John, then Charlottetown and Yarmouth. In 1776, John Paul Jones and Jonathan Eddy raided Canso and assaulted Fort Cumberland respectively.British officials in Quebec began negotiating with the Iroquois for their support, while the Americans urged them to maintain neutrality. Aware of Native American leanings toward the British and fearing an Anglo-Indian attack from Canada, Congress authorized an invasion of Quebec in April 1775.The second American expedition into the former French territory was defeated at the Battle of Quebec on December 31, and after a loose siege the Americans withdrew on May 6, 1776. A failed American counter-attack at Trois-Rivires on June 8 ended their operations in Quebec. However, British pursuit was blocked by American ships on Lake Champlain until they were cleared on October 11 at the Battle of Valcour Island. The American troops were forced to withdraw to Fort Ticonderoga, ending the campaign. In November 1776, a Massachusetts-sponsored uprising in Nova Scotia during the Battle of Fort Cumberland was dispersed. The cumulative failures cost the Patriots support in local public opinion, and aggressive anti-Loyalist policies in the New England colonies alienated the Canadians. The Patriots made no further attempts to invade north.In Virginia Royal Governor Lord Dunmore attempted to disarm the Assembly's militia as tensions increased although no fighting broke out. He issued a proclamation on November 7 1775 promising freedom for slaves who fled their Patriot masters to fight for the Crown. Dunmore's troops were repulsed at the Battle of Great Bridge and Dunmore fled to British ships anchored off the nearby port at Norfolk. The Third Virginia Convention refused to disband its militia or accept martial law. In the last Royal Virginia Assembly session speaker Peyton Randolph did not respond to Lord Dunmore concerning Parliament's Conciliatory Resolution. Negotiations failed in part because Randolph was also president of the first Virginia Conventions of Burgesses and he deferred to the First Continental Congress where he was also President. Dunmore ordered the ship's crews to burn Norfolk on January 1 1776.The siege of Savage's Old Fields began on November 19 in South Carolina between Loyalist and Patriot militias, and the Loyalists were subsequently driven out of the colony in the Snow Campaign. Loyalists were recruited in North Carolina to reassert colonial rule in the South, but they were decisively defeated in the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge and Loyalist sentiment was subdued. A British expedition sent to reconquer South Carolina launched an attack on Charleston in the Battle of Sullivan's Island on June 28, 1776, but it failed and left the South in Patriot control until 1780.Shortages in Patriot gunpowder led Congress to authorize an expedition against the Bahamas in the British West Indies to secure additional ordnance there. On March 3, 1776, the Americans landed and engaged the British at the Raid of Nassau, but the local militia offered no resistance. The expedition confiscated what supplies they could and sailed for home on March 17. A month later after a brief skirmish at the Battle of Block Island with the Royal Navy frigate , the squadron returned to the base of American naval operations during the Revolution at New London, Connecticut.British New York counter-offensive.After regrouping at Halifax Nova Scotia William Howe was determined to take the fight to the Americans. He sailed for New York in June 1776 and began landing troops on Staten Island near the entrance to New York Harbor on July 2. The Americans rejected Howe's informal attempt to negotiate peace on July 30 Washington knew that an attack on the city was imminent and realized that he needed advance information to deal with disciplined British regular troops. On August 12 1776 Patriot Thomas Knowlton was given orders to form an elite group for reconnaissance and secret missions. Knowlton's Rangers which included Nathan Hale became the Army's first intelligence unit. When Washington was driven off Long Island he soon realized that he would need more than military might and amateur spies to defeat the British. He was committed to professionalizing military intelligence and with the aid of Benjamin Tallmadge they launched the six-man Culper spy ring. The efforts of Washington and the Culper Spy Ring substantially increased effective allocation and deployment of Continental regiments in the field. Over the course of the war Washington spent more than 10 percent of his total military funds on intelligence operations.Washington split his army into positions on Manhattan Island and across the East River in western Long Island. On August 27 at the Battle of Long Island, Howe outflanked Washington and forced him back to Brooklyn Heights, but he did not attempt to encircle Washington's forces. Through the night of August 28, General Henry Knox bombarded the British. Knowing they were up against overwhelming odds, Washington ordered the assembly of a war council on August 29; all agreed to retreat to Manhattan. Washington quickly had his troops assembled and ferried them across the East River to Manhattan on flat-bottomed freight boats without any losses in men or ordnance, leaving General Thomas Mifflin's regiments as a rearguard.General Howe officially met with a delegation from Congress at the September Staten Island Peace Conference but it failed to conclude peace as the British delegates only had the authority to offer pardons and could not recognize independence. On September 15 Howe seized control of New York City when the British landed at Kips army on October 28 at the Battle of White Plains and instead attacked a hill that was of no strategic value.Washingtons disorganized army but he was first required to commit 6000 troops to capture Newport Rhode Island to secure the Loyalist port. General Charles Cornwallis pursued Washington but Howe ordered him to halt leaving Washington unmolested.The outlook was bleak for the American cause the reduced army had dwindled to fewer than 5000 men and would be reduced further when enlistments expired at the end of the year. Popular support wavered morale declined and Congress abandoned Philadelphia and moved to Baltimore. Loyalist activity surged in the wake of the American defeat especially in New York state.In London news of the victorious Long Island campaign was well received with festivities held in the capital. Public support reached a peak and King George III awarded the Order of the Bath to Howe. Strategic deficiencies among Patriot forces were evident Washington divided a numerically weaker army in the face of a stronger one his inexperienced staff misread the military situation and American troops fled in the face of enemy fire. The successes led to predictions that the British could win within a year. In the meantime the British established winter quarters in the New York City area and anticipated renewed campaigning the following spring.Two weeks after Congress withdrew to safer Maryland Washington crossed the ice-choked Delaware River about 30 miles upriver from Philadelphia on the night of December 25–26 1776. His approach over frozen trails surprised Hessian Colonel Johann Rall. The Continentals overwhelmed the Hessian garrison at Trenton New Jersey and took 900 prisoners. The celebrated victory rescued the American army's flagging morale gave new hope to the Patriot cause and dispelled much of the fear of professional Hessian "mercenaries". Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton but was repulsed at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek in the night of January 2 Washington outmaneuvered Cornwallis and defeated his rearguard in the Battle of Princeton the following day. The two victories helped to convince the French that the Americans were worthy military allies.Washington entered winter quarters from January to May 1778 at Morristown New Jersey and he received the Congressional direction to inoculate all Continental troops against smallpox. Although a Forage War between the armies continued until March Howe did not attempt to attack the Americans over the winter of 1776–1777.British northern strategy fails.The 1776 campaign demonstrated regaining New England would be a prolonged affair which led to a change in British strategy. This involved isolating the north from the rest of the country by taking control of the Hudson River allowing them to focus on the south where Loyalist support was believed to be substantial. In December 1776 Howe wrote to the Colonial Secretary Lord Germain proposing a limited offensive against Philadelphia while a second force moved down the Hudson from Canada. Germain received this on February 23 1777 followed a few days later by a memorandum from Burgoyne then in London on leave.Burgoyne supplied several alternatives, all of which gave him responsibility for the offensive, with Howe remaining on the defensive. The option selected required him to lead the main force south from Montreal down the Hudson Valley, while a detachment under Barry St. Leger moved east from Lake Ontario. The two would meet at Albany, leaving Howe to decide whether to join them. Reasonable in principle, this did not account for the logistical difficulties involved and Burgoyne erroneously assumed Howe would remain on the defensive; Germain's failure to make this clear meant he opted to attack Philadelphia instead.Burgoyne set out on June 14 1777 with a mixed force of British regulars German auxiliaries and Canadian militia and captured Fort Ticonderoga on July 5. As General Horatio Gates retreated his troops blocked roads destroyed bridges dammed streams and stripped the area of food. This slowed Burgoyne's progress and forced him to send out large foraging expeditions on one of these more than 700 British troops were captured at the Battle of Bennington on August 16. St Leger moved east and besieged Fort Stanwix despite defeating an American relief force at the Battle of Oriskany on August 6 he was abandoned by his Indian allies and withdrew to Quebec on August 22. Now isolated and outnumbered by Gates Burgoyne continued onto Albany rather than retreating to Fort Ticonderoga reaching Saratoga on September 13. He asked Clinton for support while constructing defenses around the town.Morale among his troops rapidly declined, and an unsuccessful attempt to break past Gates at the Battle of Freeman Farms on September 19 resulted in 600 British casualties. When Clinton advised he could not reach them, Burgoyne's subordinates advised retreat; a reconnaissance in force on October 7 was repulsed by Gates at the Battle of Bemis Heights, forcing them back into Saratoga with heavy losses. By October 11, all hope of escape had vanished; persistent rain reduced the camp to a "squalid hell" of mud and starving cattle, supplies were dangerously low and many of the wounded in agony. Burgoyne capitulated on October 17; around 6,222 soldiers, including German forces commanded by General Riedesel, surrendered their arms before being taken to Boston, where they were to be transported to England.After securing additional supplies Howe made another attempt on Philadelphia by landing his troops in Chesapeake Bay on August 24. He now compounded failure to support Burgoyne by missing repeated opportunities to destroy his opponent defeating Washington at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11 then allowing him to withdraw in good order. After dispersing an American detachment at Paoli on September 20 Cornwallis occupied Philadelphia on September 26 with the main force of 9000 under Howe based just to the north at Germantown. Washington attacked them on October 4 but was repulsed.To prevent Howe's forces in Philadelphia being resupplied by sea, the Patriots erected Fort Mifflin and nearby Fort Mercer on the east and west banks of the Delaware respectively, and placed obstacles in the river south of the city. This was supported by a small flotilla of Continental Navy ships on the Delaware, supplemented by the Pennsylvania State Navy, commanded by John Hazelwood. An attempt by the Royal Navy to take the forts in the October 20 to 22 Battle of Red Bank failed; a second attack captured Fort Mifflin on November 16, while Fort Mercer was abandoned two days later when Cornwallis breached the walls. His supply lines secured, Howe tried to tempt Washington into giving battle, but after inconclusive skirmishing at the Battle of White Marsh from December 5 to 8, he withdrew to Philadelphia for the winter.On December 19 the Americans followed suit and entered winter quarters at Valley Forge while Washington victory at Saratoga foreign observers such as Frederick the Great were equally impressed with Germantown which demonstrated resilience and determination. Over the winter poor conditions supply problems and low morale resulted in 2000 deaths with another 3000 unfit for duty due to lack of shoes. However Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben took the opportunity to introduce Prussian Army drill and infantry tactics to the entire Continental Army he did this by training in each regiment who then instructed their home units. Despite Valley Forge being only twenty miles away Howe made no effort to attack their camp an action some critics argue could have ended the war.Foreign intervention.Like his predecessors, French foreign minister Vergennes considered the 1763 Peace a national humiliation and viewed the war as an opportunity to weaken Britain. He initially avoided open conflict, but allowed American ships to take on cargoes in French ports, a technical violation of neutrality. Although public opinion favored the American cause, Finance Minister Turgot argued they did not need French help to gain independence and war was too expensive. Instead, Vergennes persuaded Louis XVI to secretly fund a government front company to purchase munitions for the Patriots, carried in neutral Dutch ships and imported through Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean.Many Americans opposed a French alliance fearing to "exchange one tyranny for another" but this changed after a series of military setbacks in early 1776. As France had nothing to gain from the colonies reconciling with Britain Congress had three choices making peace on British terms continuing the struggle on their own or proclaiming independence guaranteed by France. Although the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 had wide public support Adams was among those reluctant to pay the price of an alliance with France and over 20% of Congressmen voted against it. Congress agreed to the treaty with reluctance and as the war moved in their favor increasingly lost interest in it.Silas Deane was sent to Paris to begin negotiations with Vergennes, whose key objectives were replacing Britain as the United States' primary commercial and military partner while securing the French West Indies from American expansion. These islands were extremely valuable; in 1772, the value of sugar and coffee produced by Saint-Domingue on its own exceeded that of all American exports combined. Talks progressed slowly until October 1777, when British defeat at Saratoga and their apparent willingness to negotiate peace convinced Vergennes only a permanent alliance could prevent the "disaster" of Anglo-American rapprochement. Assurances of formal French support allowed Congress to reject the Carlisle Peace Commission and insist on nothing short of complete independence.On February 6, 1778, France and the United States signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce regulating trade between the two countries, followed by a defensive military alliance against Britain, the Treaty of Alliance. In return for French guarantees of American independence, Congress undertook to defend their interests in the West Indies, while both sides agreed not to make a separate peace; conflict over these provisions would lead to the 1798 to 1800 Quasi-War. Charles III of Spain was invited to join on the same terms but refused, largely due to concerns over the impact of the Revolution on Spanish colonies in the Americas. Spain had complained on multiple occasions about encroachment by American settlers into Louisiana, a problem that could only get worse once the United States replaced Britain.Although Spain ultimately made important contributions to American success in the Treaty of Aranjuez Charles agreed only to support France's war with Britain outside America in return for help in recovering Gibraltar Menorca and Spanish Florida. The terms were confidential since several conflicted with American aims for example the French claimed exclusive control of the Newfoundland cod fisheries a non-negotiable for colonies like Massachusetts. One less well-known impact of this agreement was the abiding American distrust of 'foreign entanglements' the US would not sign another treaty until the NATO agreement in 1949. This was because the US had agreed not to make peace without France while Aranjuez committed France to keep fighting until Spain recovered Gibraltar effectively making it a condition of US independence without the knowledge of Congress.To encourage French participation in the struggle for independence the US representative in Paris Silas Deane promised promotion and command positions to any French officer who joined the Continental Army. Although many proved incompetent one outstanding exception was Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette whom Congress appointed a major General. In addition to his military ability Lafayette showed considerable political skill in building support for Washington among his officers and within Congress liaising with French army and naval commanders and promoting the Patriot cause in France.When the war started Britain tried to borrow the Dutch-based Scots Brigade for service in America but pro-Patriot sentiment led the States General to refuse. Although the Republic was no longer a major power prior to 1774 they still dominated the European carrying trade and Dutch merchants made large profits shipping French-supplied munitions to the Patriots. This ended when Britain declared war in December 1780 a conflict that proved disastrous to the Dutch economy. The Dutch were also excluded from the First League of Armed Neutrality formed by Russia Sweden and Denmark in March 1780 to protect neutral shipping from being stopped and searched for contraband by Britain and France.The British government failed to take into account the strength of the American merchant marine and support from European countries, which allowed the colonies to import munitions and continue trading with relative impunity. While well aware of this, the North administration delayed placing the Royal Navy on a war footing for cost reasons; this prevented the institution of an effective blockade and restricted them to ineffectual diplomatic protests. Traditional British policy was to employ European land-based allies to divert the opposition, a role filled by Prussia in the Seven Years' War; in 1778, they were diplomatically isolated and faced war on multiple fronts.Meanwhile George III had given up on subduing America while Britain had a European war to fight. He did not welcome war with France but he believed the British victories over France in the Seven Years' War as a reason to believe in ultimate victory over France. Britain could not find a powerful ally among the Great Powers to engage France on the European continent. Britain subsequently changed its focus into the Caribbean theater and diverted major military resources away from America.Stalemate in the North.At the end of 1777 Howe resigned and was replaced by Sir Henry Clinton on May 24 1778 with French entry into the war he was ordered to consolidate his forces in New York. On June 18 the British departed Philadelphia with the reinvigorated Americans in pursuit the Battle of Monmouth on June 28 was inconclusive but boosted Patriot morale. Washington had rallied Charles Lee's broken regiments the Continentals repulsed British bayonet charges the British rear guard lost perhaps 50 per-cent more casualties and the Americans held the field at the end of the day. That midnight the newly installed Clinton continued his retreat to New York.A French naval force under Admiral Charles Henri Hector d'Estaing was sent to assist Washington; deciding New York was too formidable a target, in August they launched a combined attack on Newport, with General John Sullivan commanding land forces. The resulting Battle of Rhode Island was indecisive; badly damaged by a storm, the French withdrew to avoid putting their ships at risk. Further activity was limited to British raids on Chestnut Neck and Little Egg Harbor in October.In July 1779, the Americans captured British positions at Stony Point and Paulus Hook. Clinton unsuccessfully tried to tempt Washington into a decisive engagement by sending General William Tryon to raid Connecticut. In July, a large American naval operation, the Penobscot Expedition, attempted to retake Maine, then part of Massachusetts, but was defeated. Persistent Iroquois raids along the border with Quebec led to the punitive Sullivan Expedition in April 1779, destroying many settlements but failing to stop them.During the winter of 1779–1780, the Continental Army suffered greater hardships than at Valley Forge. Morale was poor, public support fell away in the long war, the Continental dollar was virtually worthless, the army was plagued with supply problems, desertion was common, and mutinies occurred in the Pennsylvania Line and New Jersey Line regiments over the conditions in early 1780.In June 1780, Clinton sent 6,000 men under Wilhelm von Knyphausen to retake New Jersey, but they were halted by local militia at the Battle of Connecticut Farms; although the Americans withdrew, Knyphausen felt he was not strong enough to engage Washington's main force and retreated. A second attempt two weeks later ended in a British defeat at the Battle of Springfield, effectively ending their ambitions in New Jersey. In July, Washington appointed Benedict Arnold commander of West Point; his attempt to betray the fort to the British failed due to incompetent planning, and the plot was revealed when his British contact John Andr was captured and later executed. Arnold escaped to New York and switched sides, an action justified in a pamphlet addressed "To the Inhabitants of America"; the Patriots condemned his betrayal, while he found himself almost as unpopular with the British.The war to the west of the Appalachians was largely confined to skirmishing and raids. In February 1778, an expedition of militia to destroy British military supplies in settlements along the Cuyahoga River was halted by adverse weather. Later in the year, a second campaign was undertaken to seize the Illinois Country from the British. Virginia militia, settlers, and Indian allies commanded by Colonel George Rogers Clark captured Kaskaskia on July 4 then secured Vincennes, though Vincennes was recaptured by Quebec Governor Henry Hamilton. In early 1779, the Virginians counterattacked in the siege of Fort Vincennes and took Hamilton prisoner. Clark secured western British Quebec as the American Northwest Territory in the Treaty of Paris concluding the war.On May 25, 1780, British Colonel Henry Bird invaded Kentucky as part of a wider operation to clear American resistance from Quebec to the Gulf coast. Their Pensacola advance on New Orleans was overcome by Spanish Governor Glvez's offensive on Mobile. Simultaneous British attacks were repulsed on St. Louis by the Spanish Lieutenant Governor de Leyba, and on the Virginia county courthouse at Cahokia by Lieutenant Colonel Clark. The British initiative under Bird from Detroit was ended at the rumored approach of Clark. The scale of violence in the Licking River Valley, such as during the Battle of Blue Licks, was extreme "even for frontier standards". It led to men of English and German settlements to join Clark's militia when the British and their auxiliaries withdrew to the Great Lakes. The Americans responded with a major offensive along the Mad River in August which met with some success in the Battle of Piqua but did not end Indian raids.French soldier Augustin de La Balme led a Canadian militia in an attempt to capture Detroit, but they dispersed when Miami natives led by Little Turtle attacked the encamped settlers on November 5. The war in the west had become a stalemate with the British garrison sitting in Detroit and the Virginians expanding westward settlements north of the Ohio River in the face of British-allied Indian resistance.War in the South.The was developed by Lord Germain based on input from London-based Loyalists like Joseph Galloway. They argued it made no sense to fight the Patriots in the north where they were strongest while the New England economy was reliant on trade with Britain regardless of who governed it. On the other hand duties on tobacco made the South far more profitable for Britain while local support meant securing it required small numbers of regular troops. Victory would leave a truncated United States facing British possessions in the south Canada to the north and Ohio on their western border with the Atlantic seaboard controlled by the Royal Navy Congress would be forced to agree to terms. However assumptions about the level of Loyalist support proved wildly optimistic.Germain accordingly ordered Augustine Prvost the British commander in East Florida to advance into Georgia in December 1778. Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell an experienced officer taken prisoner earlier in the war before being exchanged for Ethan Allen captured Savannah on December 29 1778. He recruited a Loyalist militia of nearly 1100 many of whom allegedly joined only after Campbell threatened to confiscate their property. Poor motivation and training made them unreliable troops as demonstrated in their defeat by Patriot militia at the Battle of Kettle Creek on February 14 1779 although this was offset by British victory at Brier Creek on March 3.In June Prvost launched an abortive assault on Charleston before retreating to Savannah an operation notorious for widespread looting by British troops that enraged both Loyalists and Patriots. In October a joint French and American operation under Admiral ds strategy he soon realized estimates of Loyalist support were considerably over-stated and he needed far larger numbers of regular forces.Reinforced by Clinton, his troops captured Charleston in May 1780, inflicting the most serious Patriot defeat of the war; over 5,000 prisoners were taken and the Continental Army in the south effectively destroyed. On May 29, Loyalist regular Banastre Tarleton defeated an American force of 400 at the Battle of Waxhaws; over 120 were killed, many allegedly after surrendering. Responsibility is disputed, Loyalists claiming Tarleton was shot at while negotiating terms of surrender, but it was later used as a recruiting tool by the Patriots.Clinton returned to New York leaving Cornwallis to oversee the south despite their success the two men left barely on speaking terms with dire consequences for the future conduct of the war. The Southern strategy depended on local support but this was undermined by a series of coercive measures. Previously captured Patriots were sent home after swearing not to take up arms against the king they were now required to fight their former comrades while the confiscation of Patriot-owned plantations led formerly neutral "grandees" to side with them. Skirmishes at Williamson's Plantation Cedar Springs Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock signaled widespread resistance to the new oaths throughout South Carolina.In July Congress appointed General Horatio Gates commander in the south he was defeated at the Battle of Camden on August 16 leaving Cornwallis free to enter North Carolina. Despite battlefield success the British could not control the countryside and Patriot attacks continued before moving north Cornwallis sent Loyalist militia under Major Patrick Ferguson to cover his left flank leaving their forces too far apart to provide mutual support. In early October Ferguson was defeated at the Battle of Kings Mountain dispersing organized Loyalist resistance in the region. Despite this Cornwallis continued into North Carolina hoping for Loyalist support while Washington replaced Gates with General Nathanael Greene in December 1780.Greene divided his army, leading his main force southeast pursued by Cornwallis; a detachment was sent southwest under Daniel Morgan, who defeated Tarleton's British Legion at Cowpens on January 17, 1781, nearly eliminating it as a fighting force. The Patriots now held the initiative in the south, with the exception of a raid on Richmond led by Benedict Arnold in January 1781. Greene led Cornwallis on a series of countermarches around North Carolina; by early March, the British were exhausted and short of supplies and Greene felt strong enough to fight the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15. Although victorious, Cornwallis suffered heavy casualties and retreated to Wilmington, North Carolina seeking supplies and reinforcements.The Patriots now controlled most of the Carolinas and Georgia outside the coastal areas; after a minor reversal at the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill, they recaptured Fort Watson and Fort Motte on April 15. On June 6, Brigadier General Andrew Pickens captured Augusta, leaving the British in Georgia confined to Charleston and Savannah. The assumption Loyalists would do most of the fighting left the British short of troops and battlefield victories came at the cost of losses they could not replace. Despite halting Greene's advance at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, Cornwallis withdrew to Charleston with little to show for his campaign.Western campaign.When Spain joined France's war against Britain in 1779 their treaty specifically excluded Spanish military action in North America. However from the beginning of the war Bernardo de Glvez the Governor of Spanish Louisiana allowed the Americans to import supplies and munitions into New Orleans then ship them to Pittsburgh. This provided an alternative transportation route for the Continental Army bypassing the British blockade of the Atlantic Coast.The trade was organized by Oliver Pollock, a successful merchant in Havana and New Orleans who was appointed US . It also helped support the American campaign in the west; in the 1778 Illinois campaign, militia under General George Rogers Clark cleared the British from what was then part of Quebec, creating Illinois County, Virginia.Despite official neutrality Glvez initiated offensive operations against British outposts. First he cleared British garrisons in Louisiana Fort Bute and Natchez Mississippi and captured five forts. In doing so Glvez opened navigation on the Mississippi River north to the American settlement in Pittsburg.In 1781 Galvez and Pollock campaigned east along the Gulf Coast to secure West Florida including British-held Mobile and Pensacola. The Spanish operations crippled the British supply of armaments to British Indian allies which effectively suspended a military alliance to attack settlers between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains.British defeat in the United States.Clinton spent most of 1781 based in New York City; he failed to construct a coherent operational strategy, partly due to his difficult relationship with Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot. In Charleston, Cornwallis independently developed an aggressive plan for a campaign in Virginia, which he hoped would isolate Greene's army in the Carolinas and cause the collapse of Patriot resistance in the South. This was approved by Lord Germain in London, but neither of them informed Clinton.Washington and Rochambeau now discussed their options the former wanted to attack New York the latter Virginia where Cornwallis' forces were less well-established and thus easier to defeat. Washington eventually gave way and Lafayette took a combined Franco-American force into Virginia but Clinton misinterpreted his movements as preparations for an attack on New York. Concerned by this threat he instructed Cornwallis to establish a fortified sea base where the Royal Navy could evacuate his troops to help defend New York.When Lafayette entered Virginia, Cornwallis complied with Clinton's orders and withdrew to Yorktown, where he constructed strong defenses and awaited evacuation. An agreement by the Spanish navy to defend the French West Indies allowed Admiral de Grasse to relocate to the Atlantic seaboard, a move Arbuthnot did not anticipate. This provided Lafayette naval support, while the failure of previous combined operations at Newport and Savannah meant their co-ordination was planned more carefully. Despite repeated urging from his subordinates, Cornwallis made no attempt to engage Lafayette before he could establish siege lines. Even worse, expecting to be withdrawn within a few days he abandoned the outer defenses, which were promptly occupied by the besiegers and hastened British defeat.On August 31 a British fleet under Thomas Graves left New York for Yorktown. After landing troops and munitions for the besiegers on August 30 de Grasse had remained in Chesapeake Bay and intercepted him on September 5 although the Battle of the Chesapeake was indecisive in terms of losses Graves was forced to retreat leaving Cornwallis isolated. An attempted breakout over the York River at Gloucester Point failed due to bad weather. Under heavy bombardment with dwindling supplies Cornwallis felt his situation was hopeless and on October 16 sent emissaries to Washington to negotiate surrender after twelve hours of negotiations these were finalized the next day. Responsibility for defeat was the subject of fierce public debate between Cornwallis Clinton and Germain. Despite criticism from his junior officers Cornwallis retained the confidence of his peers and later held a series of senior government positions Clinton ultimately took most of the blame and spent the rest of his life in obscurity.Subsequent to Yorktown American forces were assigned to supervise the armistice between Washington and Clinton made to facilitate British departure following the January 1782 law of Parliament forbidding any further British offensive action in North America. British-American negotiations in Paris led to preliminaries signed November 1782 acknowledging US independence. The enacted Congressional war aim for British withdrawal from its North American claims to be ceded to the US was completed for the coastal cities in stages.In the South, Generals Greene and Wayne loosely invested the withdrawing British at Savanna and Charleston. There they observed the British finally taking off their regulars from Charleston December 14, 1782. Loyalist provincial militias of whites and free blacks, as well as Loyalists with their slaves were transported in a relocation to Nova Scotia and the British Caribbean. Native American allies of the British and some freed blacks were left to escape through the American lines unaided.Washington moved his army to New Windsor on the Hudson River about sixty miles north of New York City and there the substance of the American army was furloughed home with officers at half pay until the Treaty of Paris formally ended the war on September 3 1783. At that time Congress decommissioned the regiments of Washingtons replacement General Sir Guy Carleton.Strategy and commanders.To win their insurrection, the Americans needed to outlast the British will to continue the fight. To restore the empire, the British had to defeat the Continental Army in the early months, and compel the Congress to dissolve itself. Historian Terry M. Mays identifies three separate types of warfare, the first being a colonial conflict in which objections to Imperial trade regulation were as significant as taxation policy. The second was a civil war with all thirteen states split between Patriots, Loyalists and those who preferred to remain neutral. Particularly in the south, many battles were fought between Patriots and Loyalists with no British involvement, leading to divisions that continued after independence was achieved.The third element was a global war between France, Spain, the Dutch Republic and Britain, with America as one of a number of different theaters. After entering the war in 1778, France provided the Americans money, weapons, soldiers, and naval assistance, while French troops fought under US command in North America. While Spain did not formally join the war in America, they provided access to the Mississippi River and by capturing British possessions on the Gulf of Mexico denied bases to the Royal Navy, as well as retaking Menorca and besieging Gibraltar in Europe.Although the Dutch Republic was no longer a major power prior to 1774 they still dominated the European carrying trade and Dutch merchants made large profits by shipping French-supplied munitions to the Patriots. This ended when Britain declared war in December 1780 and the conflict proved disastrous to their economy. The Dutch were also excluded from the First League of Armed Neutrality formed by Russia Sweden and Denmark in March 1780 to protect neutral shipping from being stopped and searched for contraband by Britain and France. While of limited effect these interventions forced the British to divert men and resources away from North America.American strategy.Congress had multiple advantages if the rebellion turned into a protracted war. Their prosperous state populations depended on local production for food and supplies rather than on imports from their mother country that lay six to twelve weeks away by sail. They were spread across most of the North American Atlantic seaboard stretching 1000 miles. Most farms were remote from the seaports and controlling four or five major ports did not give British armies control over the inland areas. Each state had established internal distribution systems.Each former colony had a long-established system of local militia combat-tested in support of British regulars thirteen years before to secure an expanded British Empire. Together they took away French claims in North America west to the Mississippi River in the French and Indian War. The state legislatures independently funded and controlled their local militias. In the American Revolution they trained and provided Continental Line regiments to the regular army each with their own state officer corps. Motivation was also a major asset each colonial capital had its own newspapers and printers and the Patriots had more popular support than the Loyalists. British hoped that the Loyalists would do much of the fighting but they fought less than expected.Continental Army.When the war began, Congress lacked a professional army or navy, and each colony only maintained local militias. Militiamen were lightly armed, had little training, and usually did not have uniforms. Their units served for only a few weeks or months at a time and lacked the training and discipline of more experienced soldiers. Local county militias were reluctant to travel far from home and they were unavailable for extended operations. To compensate for this, Congress established a regular force known as the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, the origin of the modern United States Army, and appointed Washington as commander-in-chief. However, it suffered significantly from the lack of an effective training program and from largely inexperienced officers and sergeants, offset by a few senior officers.Each state legislature appointed officers for both county and state militias and their regimental Continental Line officers; although Washington was required to accept Congressional appointments, he was still permitted to choose and command his own generals, such as Nathanael Greene, his chief of artillery, Henry Knox, and Alexander Hamilton, the chief of staff. One of Washington's most successful recruits to general officer was Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a veteran of the Prussian general staff who wrote the Revolutionary War Drill Manual. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress and Washington used both his regulars and state militia throughout the war; when properly employed, the combination allowed them to overwhelm smaller British forces, as at Concord, Boston, Bennington, and Saratoga. Both sides used partisan warfare, but the state militias effectively suppressed Loyalist activity when British regulars were not in the area.Washington designed the overall military strategy of the war in cooperation with Congress established the principle of civilian supremacy in military affairs personally recruited his senior officer corps and kept the states focused on a common goal. For the first three years until after Valley Forge the Continental Army was largely supplemented by local state militias. Initially Washington employed the inexperienced officers and untrained troops in Fabian strategies rather than risk frontal assaults against Britain's professional soldiers and officers. Over the course of the entire war Washington lost more battles than he won but he never surrendered his troops and maintained a fighting force in the face of British field armies and never gave up fighting for the American cause.By prevailing European standards, the armies in America were relatively small, limited by lack of supplies and logistics; the British in particular were constrained by the difficulty of transporting troops across the Atlantic and dependence on local supplies. Washington never directly commanded more than 17,000 men, while the combined Franco-American army at Yorktown was only about 19,000. At the beginning of 1776, Patriot forces consisted of 20,000 men, with two-thirds in the Continental Army and the other third in the various state militias. About 250,000 men served as regulars or as militia for the Revolutionary cause over eight years during wartime, but there were never more than 90,000 men under arms at one time.As a whole, American officers never equaled their opponents in tactics and maneuvers, and they lost most of the pitched battles. The great successes at Boston , Saratoga , and Yorktown were won from trapping the British far from base with a greater number of troops. Nevertheless, after 1778, Washington's army was transformed into a more disciplined and effective force, mostly by Baron von Steuben's training. Immediately after the Army emerged from Valley Forge, it proved its ability to match the British troops in action at the Battle of Monmouth, including a black Rhode Island regiment fending off a British bayonet attack then counter-charging for the first time in Washington's army. Here Washington came to realize that saving entire towns was not necessary, but preserving his army and keeping the revolutionary spirit alive was more important in the long run. Washington informed Henry Laurens "that the possession of our towns, while we have an army in the field, will avail them little."Although Congress was responsible for the war effort and provided supplies to the troops Washington took it upon himself to pressure the Congress and state legislatures to provide the essentials of war there was never nearly enough. Congress evolved in its committee oversight and established the Board of War which included members of the military. Because the Board of War was also a committee ensnared with its own internal procedures Congress also created the post of Secretary of War and appointed Major General Benjamin Lincoln in February 1781 to the position. Washington worked closely with Lincoln to coordinate civilian and military authorities and took charge of training and supplying the army.Continental Navy.During the first summer of the war, Washington began outfitting schooners and other small seagoing vessels to prey on ships supplying the British in Boston. Congress established the Continental Navy on October 13, 1775, and appointed Esek Hopkins as its first commander; for most of the war, it consisted of a handful of small frigates and sloops, supported by numerous privateers. On November 10, 1775, Congress authorized the creation of the Continental Marines, forefather of the United States Marine Corps.John Paul Jones became the first American naval hero by capturing HMS in a 45-minute duel while escorting Spanish gold from Havana to Congress. After Yorktown all US Navy ships were sold or given away it was the first time in America's history that it had no fighting forces on the high seas.Congress primarily commissioned privateers to reduce costs and to take advantage of the large proportion of colonial sailors found in the British Empire. Overall they included 1700 ships that successfully captured 2283 enemy ships to damage the British effort and to enrich themselves with the proceeds from the sale of cargo and the ship itself. About 55000 sailors served aboard American privateers during the war.At the beginning of the war, the Americans had no major international allies, as most nation-states watched and waited to see how developments would unfold in British North America. Over time, the Continental Army acquitted itself well in the face of British regulars and their German auxiliaries known to all European great powers. Battles such as the Battle of Bennington, the Battles of Saratoga, and even defeats such as the Battle of Germantown, proved decisive in gaining the attention and support of powerful European nations including France and Spain, and the Dutch Republic; the latter moved from covertly supplying the Americans with weapons and supplies to overtly supporting them.The decisive American victory at Saratoga convinced France, who was already a long-time rival of Britain, to offer the Americans the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The two nations also agreed to a defensive Treaty of Alliance to protect their trade and also guaranteed American independence from Britain. To engage the United States as a French ally militarily, the treaty was conditioned on Britain initiating a war on France to stop it from trading with the US. Spain and the Dutch Republic were invited to join by both France and the United States in the treaty, but neither made a formal reply.On June 13 1778 France declared war on Great Britain and it invoked the French military alliance with the US which ensured additional US privateer support for French possessions in the Caribbean. Washington worked closely with the soldiers and navy that France would send to America primarily through Lafayette on his staff. French assistance made critical contributions required to defeat General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.British strategy.The British military had considerable experience of fighting in North America, most recently during the Seven Years' War which forced France to give up New France in 1763. However, in previous conflicts they benefited from local logistics, as well as support from the colonial militia, which was not available in the American Revolutionary War. Reinforcements had to come from Europe, and maintaining large armies over such distances was extremely complex; ships could take three months to cross the Atlantic, and orders from London were often outdated by the time they arrived.Prior to the conflict the colonies were largely autonomous economic and political entities with no centralized area of ultimate strategic importance. This meant that unlike Europe where the fall of a capital city often ended wars that in America continued even after the loss of major settlements such as Philadelphia the seat of Congress New York and Charleston. British power was reliant on the Royal Navy whose dominance allowed them to resupply their own expeditionary forces while preventing access to enemy ports. However the majority of the American population was agrarian rather than urban supported by the French navy and blockade runners based in the Dutch Caribbean their economy was able to survive.The geographical size of the colonies and limited manpower meant the British could not simultaneously conduct military operations and occupy territory without local support. Debate persists over whether their defeat was inevitable one British statesman described it as "like trying to conquer a map". While Ferling argues Patriot victory was nothing short of a miracle Ellis suggests the odds always favored the Americans especially after Howe squandered the chance of a decisive British success in 1776 an "opportunity that would never come again". The US military history speculates the additional commitment of 10000 fresh troops in 1780 would have placed British victory "within the realm of possibility".British Army.The expulsion of France from North America in 1763 led to a drastic reduction in British troop levels in the colonies in 1775 there were only 8500 regular soldiers among a civilian population of 2.8 million. The bulk of military resources in the Americas were focused on defending sugar islands in the Caribbean Jamaica alone generated more revenue than all thirteen American colonies combined. With the end of the Seven Years' War the permanent army in Britain was also cut back which resulted in administrative difficulties when the war began a decade later.Over the course of the war, there were four separate British commanders-in-chief, the first of whom was Thomas Gage; appointed in 1763, his initial focus was establishing British rule in former French areas of Canada. Rightly or wrongly, many in London blamed the revolt on his failure to take firm action earlier, and he was relieved after the heavy losses incurred at Bunker Hill. His replacement was Sir William Howe, a member of the Whig faction in Parliament who opposed the policy of coercion advocated by Lord North; Cornwallis, who later surrendered at Yorktown, was one of many senior officers who initially refused to serve in North America.The 1775 campaign showed the British overestimated the capabilities of their own troops and underestimated the colonial militia, requiring a reassessment of tactics and strategy. However, it allowed the Patriots to take the initiative and British authorities rapidly lost control over every colony. Howe's responsibility is still debated; despite receiving large numbers of reinforcements, Bunker Hill seems to have permanently affected his self-confidence and lack of tactical flexibility meant he often failed to follow up opportunities. Many of his decisions were attributed to supply problems, such as the delay in launching the New York campaign and failure to pursue Washington's beaten army. Having lost the confidence of his subordinates, he was recalled after Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga.Following the failure of the Carlisle Commission, British policy changed from treating the Patriots as subjects who needed to be reconciled to enemies who had to be defeated. In 1778, Howe was replaced by Sir Henry Clinton, appointed instead of Carleton who was considered overly cautious. Regarded as an expert on tactics and strategy, like his predecessors Clinton was handicapped by chronic supply issues. As a result, he was largely inactive in 1779 and much of 1780; in October 1780, he warned Germain of "fatal consequences" if matters did not improve.In addition Clintons army was still outside New York City. After the surrender at Yorktown Clinton was relieved by Carleton whose major task was to oversee the evacuation of Loyalists and British troops from Savannah Charleston and New York City.German Troops.During the 18th century, all states commonly hired foreign soldiers, especially Britain; during the Seven Years' War, they comprised 10% of the British army and their use caused little debate. When it became clear additional troops were needed to suppress the revolt in America, it was decided to employ mercenaries. There were several reasons for this, including public sympathy for the Patriot cause, an historical reluctance to expand the British army and the time needed to recruit and train new regiments. An alternate source was readily available in the Holy Roman Empire, where many smaller states had a long tradition of renting their armies to the highest bidder. The most important was Hesse-Cassel, known as "the Mercenary State".The first supply agreements were signed by the North administration in late 1775 over the next decade more than 40000 Germans fought in North America Gibraltar South Africa and India of whom 30000 served in the American War. Often generically referred to as "Hessians" they included men from many other states including Hanover and Brunswick. Sir Henry Clinton recommended recruiting Russian troops whom he rated very highly having seen them in action against the Ottomans however negotiations with Catherine the Great made little progress.Unlike previous wars their use led to intense political debate in Britain France and even Germany where Frederick the Great refused to provide passage through his territories for troops hired for the American war. In March 1776 the agreements were challenged in Parliament by Whigs who objected to . The debates were covered in detail by American newspapers which reprinted key speeches and in May 1776 they received copies of the treaties themselves. Provided by British sympathizers these were smuggled into North America from London by George Merchant a recently released American prisoner.The prospect of mercenaries being used in the colonies bolstered support for independence more so than taxation and other acts combined the King was accused of declaring war on his own subjects leading to the idea there were now two separate governments. By apparently showing Britain was determined to go to war it made hopes of reconciliation seem naive and hopeless while the employment of became one of the charges levelled against George III in the Declaration of Independence. The Hessian reputation within Germany for brutality also increased support for the Patriot cause among German-American immigrants.The presence of over 150,000 German-Americans meant both sides felt these mercenaries might be persuaded to desert; one reason Clinton suggested employing Russians was that he felt they were less likely to defect. When the first German troops arrived on Staten Island in August 1776, Congress approved the printing of "handbills" promising land and citizenship to any willing to join the Patriot cause. The British launched a counter-campaign claiming deserters could well be executed for meddling in a war that was not theirs. Desertion among the Germans occurred throughout the war, with the highest rate of desertion occurring during the time between the surrender at Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris. German regiments were central to the British war effort; of the estimated 30,000 sent to America, some 13,000 became casualties.Revolution as civil war.Wealthy Loyalists convinced the British government that most of the colonists were sympathetic toward the Crown consequently British military planners relied on recruiting Loyalists but had trouble recruiting sufficient numbers as the Patriots had widespread support. Nevertheless they continued to deceive themselves on their level of American support as late as 1780 a year before hostilities ended.Approximately 25000 Loyalists fought for the British throughout the war. Although Loyalists constituted about twenty percent of the colonial population they were concentrated in distinct communities. Many of them lived among large plantation owners in the Tidewater region and South Carolina who produced cash crops in tobacco and indigo comparable to global markets in Caribbean sugar.When the British began probing the backcountry in 1777–1778, they were faced with a major problem: any significant level of organized Loyalist activity required a continued presence of British regulars. The available manpower that the British had in America was insufficient to protect Loyalist territory and counter American offensives. The Loyalist militias in the South were constantly defeated by neighboring Patriot militia. The most critical combat between the two partisan militias was at the Battle of Kings Mountain; the Patriot victory irreversibly crippled any further Loyalist militia capability in the South.When the early war policy was administered by General William Howe, the Crown's need to maintain Loyalist support prevented it from using the traditional revolt suppression methods. The British cause suffered when their troops ransacked local homes during an aborted attack on Charleston in 1779 that enraged both Patriots and Loyalists. After Congress rejected the Carlisle Peace Commission in 1778 and Westminster turned to "hard war" during Clinton's command, neutral colonists in the Carolinas often allied with the Patriots whenever brutal combat broke out between Tories and Whigs. Conversely, Loyalists gained support when Patriots intimidated suspected Tories by destroying property or tarring and feathering.A Loyalist militia unit—the British Legion—provided some of the best troops in British service that it received a commission in the British Army it was a mixed regiment of 250 dragoons and 200 infantry supported by batteries of flying artillery. It was commanded by Banastre Tarleton and gained a fearsome reputation in the colonies for "brutality and needless slaughter". In May 1779 the British Legion was one of five regiments that formed the American Establishment.Women played various roles during the Revolutionary War; they often accompanied their husbands when permitted to do so. For example, throughout the war Martha Washington was known to visit and provide aid to her husband George at various American camps, and Frederika Charlotte Riedesel documented the Saratoga campaign. Women often accompanied armies as camp followers to sell goods and perform necessary tasks in hospitals and camps. They were a necessary part of eighteenth-century armies, and numbered in the thousands during the war.Women also assumed military roles: aside from auxiliary tasks like treating the wounded or setting up camp, some dressed as men to directly support combat, fight, or act as spies on both sides of the Revolutionary War. Anna Maria Lane joined her husband in the Army and wore men's clothes by the time the Battle of Germantown happened. The Virginia General Assembly later cited her bravery: she fought while dressed as a man and .On April 26 1777 Sybil Ludington rode to alert militia forces of Putnam County New York and Danbury Connecticut to warn them of the British's approach she has been called the "female Paul Revere". A few others disguised themselves as men. Deborah Sampson fought until her gender was discovered and discharged as a result Sally St. Clair was killed in action during the war.African Americans.When war began, the population of the Thirteen Colonies included an estimated 500,000 slaves, predominantly used as labor on Southern plantations. In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation that promised freedom to any Patriot-owned slaves willing to bear arms. Although the announcement helped to fill a temporary manpower shortage, white Loyalist prejudice meant recruits were eventually redirected to non-combatant roles. The Loyalists' motive was to deprive Patriot planters of labor rather than to end slavery; Loyalist-owned slaves were returned.The 1779 Philipsburg Proclamation issued by Clinton extended the offer of freedom to Patriot-owned slaves throughout the colonies. It persuaded entire families to escape to British lines, many of which were employed on farms to grow food for the army by removing the requirement for military service. While Clinton organized the Black Pioneers, he also ensured fugitive slaves were returned to Loyalist owners with orders that they were not to be punished for their attempted escape. As the war progressed, service as regular soldiers in British units became increasingly common; black Loyalists formed two regiments of the Charleston garrison in 1783.Estimates of the numbers who served the British during the war vary from 25000 to 50000 excluding those who escaped during wartime. Thomas Jefferson estimated that Virginia may have lost 30000 slaves in total escapes. In South Carolina nearly 25000 slaves either fled migrated or died which significantly disrupted the plantation economies both during and after the war.Black Patriots were barred from the Continental Army until Washington convinced Congress in January 1778 that there was no other way to replace losses from disease and desertion. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment formed in February included former slaves whose owners were compensated; however, only 140 of its 225 soldiers were black and recruitment stopped in June 1788. Ultimately, around 5,000 African-Americans served in the Continental Army and Navy in a variety of roles, while another 4,000 were employed in Patriot militia units, aboard privateers, or as teamsters, servants, and spies. After the war, a small minority received land grants or Congressional pensions in old age; many others were returned to their masters post-war despite earlier promises of freedom.As a Patriot victory became increasingly likely, the treatment of Black Loyalists became a point of contention; after the surrender of Yorktown in 1781, Washington insisted all escapees be returned but Cornwallis refused. In 1782 and 1783, around 8,000 to 10,000 freed blacks were evacuated by the British from Charleston, Savannah, and New York; some moved onto London, while 3,000 to 4,000 settled in Nova Scotia, where they founded settlements such as Birchtown. White Loyalists transported 15,000 enslaved blacks to Jamaica and the Bahamas. The free Black Loyalists who migrated to the British West Indies included regular soldiers from Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, and those from Charleston who helped garrison the Leeward Islands.Native Americans.Most Native Americans east of the Mississippi River were affected by the war, and many tribes were divided over how to respond to the conflict. A few tribes were friendly with the colonists, but most Natives opposed the union of the Colonies as a potential threat to their territory. Approximately 13,000 Natives fought on the British side, with the largest group coming from the Iroquois tribes who deployed around 1,500 men.Early in July 1776, Cherokee allies of Britain attacked the short-lived Washington District of North Carolina. Their defeat splintered both Cherokee settlements and people, and was directly responsible for the rise of the Chickamauga Cherokee, who perpetuated the Cherokee–American wars against American settlers for decades after hostilities with Britain ended.Creek and Seminole allies of Britain fought against Americans in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1778, a force of 800 Creeks destroyed American settlements along the Broad River in Georgia. Creek warriors also joined Thomas Brown's raids into South Carolina and assisted Britain during the Siege of Savannah. Many Native Americans were involved in the fight between Britain and Spain on the Gulf Coast and along the British side of the Mississippi River. Thousands of Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws fought in major battles such as the Battle of Fort Charlotte, the Battle of Mobile, and the Siege of Pensacola.The Iroquois Confederacy was shattered as a result of the American Revolutionary War, whatever side they took; the Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes sided with the British; members of the Mohawks fought on both sides; and many Tuscarora and Oneida sided with the Americans. To retaliate against raids on American settlement by Loyalists and their Indian allies, the Continental Army dispatched the Sullivan Expedition on a punitive expedition throughout New York to cripple the Iroquois tribes that had sided with the British. Mohawk leaders Joseph Louis Cook and Joseph Brant sided with the Americans and the British respectively, which further exacerbated the split.In the western theater of the American Revolutionary War, conflicts between settlers and Native Americans led to lingering distrust. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, Great Britain ceded control of the disputed lands between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, but the Indian inhabitants were not a part of the peace negotiations. Tribes in the Northwest Territory joined as the Western Confederacy and allied with the British to resist American settlement, and their conflict continued after the Revolutionary War as the Northwest Indian War.Britain's "American war" and peace.Changing Prime Ministers.Lord North Prime Minister since 1770 delegated control of the war in North America to Lord George Germain and the Earl of Sandwich who was head of the Royal Navy from 1771 to 1782. Defeat at Saratoga in 1777 made it clear the revolt would not be easily suppressed especially after the Franco-American alliance of February 1778 and French declaration of war in June. With Spain also expected to join the conflict the Royal Navy needed to prioritize either the war in America or in Europe Germain advocated the former Sandwich the latter.British negotiators now proposed a second peace settlement to Congress. The terms presented by the Carlisle Peace Commission included acceptance of the principle of self-government. Parliament would recognize Congress as the governing body suspend any objectionable legislation surrender its right to local colonial taxation and discuss including American representatives in the House of Commons. In return all property confiscated from Loyalists would be returned British debts honored and locally enforced martial law accepted. However Congress demanded either immediate recognition of independence or the withdrawal of all British troops they knew the commission were not authorized to accept these bringing negotiations to a rapid end.When the commissioners returned to London in November 1778, they recommended a change in policy. Sir Henry Clinton, the new British Commander-in-Chief in America, was ordered to stop treating the rebels as enemies, rather than subjects whose loyalty might be regained. Those standing orders would be in effect for three years until Clinton was relieved.North initially backed the Southern strategy attempting to exploit divisions between the mercantile north and slave-owning south but after the defeat of Yorktown he was forced to accept the fact that this policy had failed. It was clear the war was lost although the Royal Navy forced the French to relocate their fleet to the Caribbean in November 1781 and resumed a close blockade of American trade. The resulting economic damage and rising inflation meant the US was now eager to end the war while France was unable to provide further loans Congress could no longer pay its soldiers.On February 27, 1782, a Whig motion to end the offensive war in America was carried by 19 votes. North now resigned, obliging the king to invite Lord Rockingham to form a government; a consistent supporter of the Patriot cause, he made a commitment to US independence a condition of doing so. George III reluctantly accepted and the new government took office on March 27, 1782; however, Rockingham died unexpectedly on July 1, and was replaced by Lord Shelburne who acknowledged American independence.American Congress signs a peace.When Lord Rockingham, the Whig leader and friend of the American cause was elevated to Prime Minister, Congress consolidated its diplomatic consuls in Europe into a peace delegation at Paris. All were experienced in Congressional leadership. The dean of the delegation was Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. He had become a celebrity in the French Court, but he was also an Enlightenment scientist with influence in the courts of European great powers in Prussia, England's former ally, and Austria, a Catholic empire like Spain. Since the 1760s he had been an organizer of British American inter-colony cooperation, and then a colonial lobbyist to Parliament in London. John Adams of Massachusetts had been consul to the Dutch Republic and was a prominent early New England Patriot. John Jay of New York had been consul to Spain and was a past president of the Continental Congress. As consul to the Dutch Republic, Henry Laurens of South Carolina had secured a preliminary agreement for a trade agreement. He had been a successor to John Jay as president of Congress and with Franklin was a member of the American Philosophical Society. Although active in the preliminaries, he was not a signer of the conclusive treaty.The Whig negotiators for Lord Rockingham and his successor Prime Minister Lord Shelburne included long-time friend of Benjamin Franklin from his time in London David Hartley and Richard Oswald who had negotiated Laurens' release from the Tower of London. The Preliminary Peace signed on November 30 met four key Congressional demands independence territory up to the Mississippi navigation rights into the Gulf of Mexico and fishing rights in Newfoundland.British strategy was to strengthen the US sufficiently to prevent France from regaining a foothold in North America and they had little interest in these proposals. However divisions between their opponents allowed them to negotiate separately with each to improve their overall position starting with the American delegation in September 1782. The French and Spanish sought to improve their position by creating the U.S. dependent on them for support against Britain thus reversing the losses of 1763. Both parties tried to negotiate a settlement with Britain excluding the Americans France proposed setting the western boundary of the US along the Appalachians matching the British 1763 Proclamation Line. The Spanish suggested additional concessions in the vital Mississippi River Basin but required the cession of Georgia in violation of the Franco-American alliance.Facing difficulties with Spain over claims involving the Mississippi River, and from France who was still reluctant to agree to American independence until all her demands were met, John Jay promptly told the British that he was willing to negotiate directly with them, cutting off France and Spain, and Prime Minister Lord Shelburne, in charge of the British negotiations, agreed. Key agreements for America in obtaining peace included recognition of United States independence, that she would gain all of the area east of the Mississippi River, north of Florida, and south of Canada; the granting of fishing rights in the Grand Banks, off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence; the United States and Great Britain were to each be given perpetual access to the Mississippi River.An Anglo-American Preliminary Peace was formally entered into in November 1782, and Congress endorsed the settlement on April 15, 1783. It announced the achievement of peace with independence; the . Ratified respectively by Congress and Parliament, the final versions were exchanged in Paris the following spring. On 25 November, the last British troops remaining in the US were evacuated from New York to Halifax.Washington expressed astonishment that the Americans had won a war against a leading world power, referring to the American victory as "little short of a standing miracle". The conflict between British subjects with the Crown against those with the Congress had lasted over eight years from 1775 to 1783. The last uniformed British troops departed their last east coast port cities in Savannah, Charleston, and New York City, by November 25, 1783. That marked the end of British occupation in the new United States.On April 9, 1783, Washington issued orders that he had long waited to give, that "all acts of hostility" were to cease immediately. That same day, by arrangement with Washington, General Carleton issued a similar order to British troops. British troops, however, were not to evacuate until a prisoner of war exchange occurred, an effort that involved much negotiation and would take some seven months to effect.As directed by a Congressional resolution of May 26, 1783, all non-commissioned officers and enlisted were furloughed , when they would be automatically discharged. The US armies were directly disbanded in the field as of Washington's General Orders on Monday, June 2, 1783. Once the conclusive Treaty of Paris was signed with Britain, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief at Congress, leaving for his Army retirement at Mount Vernon.The expanse of territory that was now the United States was ceded from its colonial Mother country alone. It included millions of sparsely settled acres south of the Great Lakes Line between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The tentative colonial migration west became a flood during the years of the Revolutionary War. Virginia's Kentucky County counted 150 men in 1775. By 1790 fifteen years later it numbered over 73000 and was seeking statehood in the United States.Britain's extended post-war policy for the US continued to try to establish an Indian buffer state below the Great Lakes as late as 1814 during the War of 1812. The formally acquired western American lands continued to be populated by a dozen or so American Indian tribes that had been British allies for the most part. Though British forts on their lands had been ceded to either the French or the British prior to the creation of the United States, Natives were not referred to in the British cession to the US.While tribes were not consulted by the British for the treaty, in practice the British refused to abandon the forts on territory they formally transferred. Instead, they provisioned military allies for continuing frontier raids and sponsored the Northwest Indian War , including erecting an additional British Fort Miami . British sponsorship of local warfare on the United States continued until the Anglo-American Jay Treaty went into effect. At the same time, the Spanish also sponsored war within the US by Indian proxies in its Southwest Territory ceded by France to Britain, then Britain to the Americans.Of the European powers with American colonies adjacent to the newly created United States, Spain was most threatened by American independence, and it was correspondingly the most hostile to it. Its territory adjacent to the US was relatively undefended, so Spanish policy developed a combination of initiatives. Spanish soft power diplomatically challenged the British territorial cession west to the Mississippi and the previous northern boundaries of Spanish Florida. It imposed a high tariff on American goods, then blocked American settler access to the port of New Orleans. Spanish hard power extended war alliances and arms to Southwestern Natives to resist American settlement. A former Continental Army General, James Wilkinson settled in Kentucky County Virginia in 1784, and there he fostered settler secession from Virginia during the Spanish-allied Chickamauga Cherokee war. Beginning in 1787, he received pay as Spanish Agent 13, and subsequently expanded his efforts to persuade American settlers west of the Appalachians to secede from the United States, first in the Washington administration, and later again in the Jefferson administration.Casualties and losses.The total loss of life throughout the conflict is largely unknown. As was typical in wars of the era diseases such as smallpox claimed more lives than battle. Between 1775 and 1782 a smallpox epidemic broke out throughout North America killing an estimated 130000 among all its populations during those years. Historian Joseph Ellis suggests that Washington's decision to have his troops inoculated against the disease was one of his most important decisions.Up to 70,000 American Patriots died during active military service. Of these, approximately 6,800 were killed in battle, while at least 17,000 died from disease. The majority of the latter died while prisoners of war of the British, mostly in the prison ships in New York Harbor. The number of Patriots seriously wounded or disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000.The French suffered 2,112 killed in combat in the United States. The Spanish lost a total of 124 killed and 247 wounded in West Florida.A British report in 1781 puts their total Army deaths at 6046 in North America . Approximately 7774 Germans died in British service in addition to 4888 deserters of the former it is estimated 1800 were killed in combat.The American Revolution established the United States with its numerous civil liberties and set an example to overthrow both monarchy and colonial governments. The United States has the world's oldest written constitution, and the constitutions of other free countries often bear a striking resemblance to the US Constitution, often word-for-word in places. It inspired the French, Haitian, Latin American Revolutions, and others into the modern era.Although the Revolution eliminated many forms of inequality it did little to change the status of women despite the role they played in winning independence. Most significantly it failed to end slavery which continued to be a serious social and political issue and caused divisions that would ultimately end in civil war. While many were uneasy over the contradiction of demanding liberty for some yet denying it to others the dependence of southern states on slave labor made abolition too great a challenge. Between 1774 and 1780 many of the states banned the importation of slaves but the institution itself continued.In 1782 Virginia passed a law permitting manumission and over the next eight years more than 10000 slaves were given their freedom. With support from Benjamin Franklin in 1790 the Quakers petitioned Congress to abolish slavery the number of abolitionist movements greatly increased and by 1804 all the northern states had outlawed it. However even many like Adams who viewed slavery as a 'foul contagion' opposed the 1790 petition as a threat to the Union. In 1808 Jefferson passed legislation banning the importation of slaves but allowed the domestic slave trade to continue arguing the federal government had no right to regulate individual states.Historiography.A large historiography concerns the reasons the Americans revolted and successfully broke away. The . Historians since the 1960s have emphasized that the Patriot constitutional argument was made possible by the emergence of a sense of American nationalism that united all 13 colonies. In turn that nationalism was rooted in a Republican value system that demanded consent of the governed and opposed aristocratic control. In Britain itself republicanism was a fringe view since it challenged the aristocratic control of the British political system. Political power was not controlled by an aristocracy or nobility in the 13 colonies and instead the colonial political system was based on the winners of free elections which were open to the majority of white men. In the analysis of the coming of the Revolution historians in recent decades have mostly used one of three approaches.The Atlantic history view places the American story in a broader context including revolutions in France and Haiti. It tends to reintegrate the historiographies of the American Revolution and the British Empire.The approach looks at community social structure to find cleavages that were magnified into colonial cleavages.The ideological approach that centers on republicanism in the United States. Republicanism dictated there would be no royalty, aristocracy or national church but allowed for continuation of the British common law, which American lawyers and jurists understood and approved and used in their everyday practice. Historians have examined how the rising American legal profession adopted British common law to incorporate republicanism by selective revision of legal customs and by introducing more choices for courts.Commemorations of the Revolutionary War.After the first U.S. postage stamp was issued in 1849 the U.S. Post Office frequently issued commemorative stamps celebrating the various people and events of the Revolutionary War. However it would be more than 140 years after the Revolution before any stamp commemorating that war was ever issued. The first such stamp was the 'Liberty Bell' issue of 1926.Bibliography.Further reading.These are some of the standard works about the war in general that are not listed above; books about specific campaigns, battles, units, and individuals can be found in those articles.Primary sources.In addition to this selection many primary sources are available at the Princeton University Law School Avalon Project and at the Library of Congress Digital Collections . Original editions for titles related to the American Revolutionary War can be found open-sourced online at Internet Archive and Hathi Trust Digital Library.
The ampere often shortened to amp is the base unit of electric current in the International System of Units . It is named after Andr-Marie Ampre French mathematician and physicist considered the father of electromagnetism along with the Danish physicist Hans Christian rsted.The International System of Units defines the ampere in terms of other base units by measuring the electromagnetic force between electrical conductors carrying electric current. The earlier CGS system had two different definitions of current, one essentially the same as the SI's and the other using electric charge as the base unit, with the unit of charge defined by measuring the force between two charged metal plates. The ampere was then defined as one coulomb of charge per second. In SI, the unit of charge, the coulomb, is defined as the charge carried by one ampere during one second.New definitions in terms of invariant constants of nature specifically the elementary charge took effect on 20 May 2019.Definition.The ampere is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the elementary charge to be 1.602 176 634 × 10−19 when expressed in the unit C which is equal to A⋅s where the second is defined in terms of the unperturbed ground state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom.The SI unit of charge, the coulomb, . Conversely, a current of one ampere is one coulomb of charge going past a given point per second:In general, charge is determined by steady current flowing for a time as .Constant, instantaneous and average current are expressed in amperes and the charge accumulated over a period of time is expressed in coulombs . The relation of the ampere to the coulomb is the same as that of the watt to the joule.The ampere is named for French physicist and mathematician Andr-Marie Ampre , who studied electromagnetism and laid the foundation of electrodynamics. In recognition of Ampre's contributions to the creation of modern electrical science, an international convention, signed at the 1881 International Exposition of Electricity, established the ampere as a standard unit of electrical measurement for electric current.The ampere was originally defined as one tenth of the unit of electric current in the centimetre–gram–second system of units. That unit now known as the abampere was defined as the amount of current that generates a force of two dynes per centimetre of length between two wires one centimetre apart. The size of the unit was chosen so that the units derived from it in the MKSA system would be conveniently sized.The was an early realization of the ampere, defined as the current that would deposit of silver per second from a silver nitrate solution. Later, more accurate measurements revealed that this current is .Since power is defined as the product of current and voltage the ampere can alternatively be expressed in terms of the other units using the relationship and thus 1 A = 1 W/V. Current can be measured by a multimeter a device that can measure electrical voltage current and resistance.Former definition in the SI.Until 2019 the SI defined the ampere as followsThe ampere is that constant current which if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length of negligible circular cross-section and placed one metre apart in vacuum would produce between these conductors a force equal to newtons per metre of length.Ampre's force law states that there is an attractive or repulsive force between two parallel wires carrying an electric current. This force is used in the formal definition of the ampere.The SI unit of charge the coulomb was then defined as . Conversely a current of one ampere is one coulomb of charge going past a given point per secondIn general, charge was determined by steady current flowing for a time as .Realisation.The standard ampere is most accurately realised using a Kibble balance, but is in practice maintained via Ohm's law from the units of electromotive force and resistance, the volt and the ohm, since the latter two can be tied to physical phenomena that are relatively easy to reproduce, the Josephson effect and the quantum Hall effect, respectively.Techniques to establish the realisation of an ampere have a relative uncertainty of approximately a few parts in 10 and involve realisations of the watt the ohm and the volt.
In mathematics and computer science an algorithm is a finite sequence of well-defined instructions typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing calculations data processing automated reasoning automated decision-making and other tasks. In contrast a heuristic is an approach to problem solving that may not be fully specified or may not guarantee correct or optimal results especially in problem domains where there is no well-defined correct or optimal result.As an effective method, an algorithm can be expressed within a finite amount of space and time, and in a well-defined formal language for calculating a function. Starting from an initial state and initial input , the instructions describe a computation that, when executed, proceeds through a finite number of well-defined successive states, eventually producing "output" and terminating at a final ending state. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic; some algorithms, known as randomized algorithms, incorporate random input.The concept of algorithm has existed since antiquity. Arithmetic algorithms such as a division algorithm were used by ancient Babylonian mathematicians c. 2500 BC and Egyptian mathematicians c. 1550 BC. Greek mathematicians later used algorithms in 240 BC in the sieve of Eratosthenes for finding prime numbers and the Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers. Arabic mathematicians such as al-Kindi in the 9th century used cryptographic algorithms for code-breaking based on frequency analysis.The word "algorithm" is derived from the name of the 9th-century Persian mathematician Muammad ibn Ms al-Khwrizm whose nisba was Latinized "as Algoritmi ."Muammad ibn Ms al-Khwrizm was a mathematician astronomer geographer and scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad whose name means 'the native of Khwarazm' a region that was part of Greater Iran and is now in Uzbekistan. About 825 al-Khwarizmi wrote an Arabic language treatise on the Hindu–Arabic numeral system which was translated into Latin during the 12th century. The manuscript starts with the phrase "Dixit Algorizmi" where "Algorizmi" was the translator's Latinization of Al-Khwarizmi's name. Al-Khwarizmi was the most widely read mathematician in Europe in the late Middle Ages primarily through another of his books the Algebra. In late medieval Latin "algorismus" English 'algorism' the corruption of his name simply meant the "decimal number system". In the 15th century under the influence of the Greek word 'number' the Latin word was altered to "algorithmus" and the corresponding English term 'algorithm' is first attested in the 17th century the modern sense was introduced in the 19th century.In English it was first used in about 1230 and then by Chaucer in 1391. English adopted the French term but it was not until the late 19th century that took on the meaning that it has in modern English.Another early use of the word is from 1240, in a manual titled composed by Alexandre de Villedieu. It begins with:which translates to:The poem is a few hundred lines long and summarizes the art of calculating with the new styled Indian dice or Hindu numerals.A partial formalization of the modern concept of algorithm began with attempts to solve the . Those formalizations included the Gdel–Herbrand–Kleene recursive functions of 1930, 1934 and 1935, Alonzo Churchs Turing machines of 1936–37 and 1939.Informal definition.An informal definition could be "a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations", which would include all computer programs , and any prescribed bureaucratic procedureor cook-book recipe.In general a program is only an algorithm if it stops eventually—even though infinite loops may sometimes prove desirable.A prototypical example of an algorithm is the Euclidean algorithm which is used to determine the maximum common divisor of two integers an example is described by the flowchart above and as an example in a later section.offer an informal meaning of the word in the following quotationNo human being can write fast enough or long enough or small enough† to list all members of an enumerably infinite set by writing out their names one after another in some notation. But humans can do something equally useful in the case of certain enumerably infinite sets They can give An "enumerably infinite set" is one whose elements can be put into one-to-one correspondence with the integers. Thus Boolos and Jeffrey are saying that an algorithm implies instructions for a process that "creates" output integers from an "arbitrary" "input" integer or integers that, in theory, can be arbitrarily large. For example, an algorithm can be an algebraic equation such as "y = m + n" , but various authors' attempts to define the notion indicate that the word implies much more than this, something on the order of :The concept of "algorithm" is also used to define the notion of decidability—a notion that is central for explaining how formal systems come into being starting from a small set of axioms and rules. In logic, the time that an algorithm requires to complete cannot be measured, as it is not apparently related to the customary physical dimension. From such uncertainties, that characterize ongoing work, stems the unavailability of a definition of "algorithm" that suits both concrete and abstract usage of the term.Most algorithms are intended to be implemented as computer programs. However, algorithms are also implemented by other means, such as in a biological neural network , in an electrical circuit, or in a mechanical device.Formalization.Algorithms are essential to the way computers process data. Many computer programs contain algorithms that detail the specific instructions a computer should perform—in a specific order—to carry out a specified task, such as calculating employees report cards. Thus, an algorithm can be considered to be any sequence of operations that can be simulated by a Turing-complete system. Authors who assert this thesis include Minsky , Savage and Gurevich :Minsky "But we will also maintain with Turing … that any procedure which could "naturally" be called effective can in fact be realized by a machine. Although this may seem extreme the arguments … in its favor are hard to refute".Gurevich .Turing machines can define computational processes that do not terminate. The informal definitions of algorithms generally require that the algorithm always terminates. This requirement renders the task of deciding whether a formal procedure is an algorithm impossible in the general case—due to a major theorem of computability theory known as the halting problem.Typically, when an algorithm is associated with processing information, data can be read from an input source, written to an output device and stored for further processing. Stored data are regarded as part of the internal state of the entity performing the algorithm. In practice, the state is stored in one or more data structures.For some of these computational processes, the algorithm must be rigorously defined: specified in the way it applies in all possible circumstances that could arise. This means that any conditional steps must be systematically dealt with, case-by-case; the criteria for each case must be clear .Because an algorithm is a precise list of precise steps, the order of computation is always crucial to the functioning of the algorithm. Instructions are usually assumed to be listed explicitly, and are described as starting "from the top" and going "down to the bottom"—an idea that is described more formally by "flow of control".So far, the discussion on the formalization of an algorithm has assumed the premises of imperative programming. This is the most common conception—one which attempts to describe a task in discrete, "mechanical" means. Unique to this conception of formalized algorithms is the assignment operation, which sets the value of a variable. It derives from the intuition of "memory" as a scratchpad. An example of such an assignment can be found below.For some alternate conceptions of what constitutes an algorithm see functional programming and logic programming.Expressing algorithms.Algorithms can be expressed in many kinds of notation including natural languages pseudocode flowcharts drakon-charts programming languages or control tables . Natural language expressions of algorithms tend to be verbose and ambiguous and are rarely used for complex or technical algorithms. Pseudocode flowcharts drakon-charts and control tables are structured ways to express algorithms that avoid many of the ambiguities common in the statements based on natural language. Programming languages are primarily intended for expressing algorithms in a form that can be executed by a computer but are also often used as a way to define or document algorithms.There is a wide variety of representations possible and one can express a given Turing machine program as a sequence of machine tables (see finite-state machine, state transition table and control table for more), as flowcharts and drakon-charts (see state diagram for more), or as a form of rudimentary machine code or assembly code called (see Turing machine for more).Representations of algorithms can be classed into three accepted levels of Turing machine description, as follows:For an example of the simple algorithm "Add m+n" described in all three levels, see Algorithm#Examples.Algorithm design refers to a method or a mathematical process for problem-solving and engineering algorithms. The design of algorithms is part of many solution theories of operation research, such as dynamic programming and divide-and-conquer. Techniques for designing and implementing algorithm designs are also called algorithm design patterns, with examples including the template method pattern and the decorator pattern.One of the most important aspects of algorithm design is resource efficiency the big O notation is used to describe e.g. an algorithm's run-time growth as the size of its input increases.Typical steps in the development of algorithmsComputer algorithms.In computer systems an algorithm is basically an instance of logic written in software by software developers to be effective for the intended "target" computer to produce "output" from given "input". An optimal algorithm even running in old hardware would produce faster results than a non-optimal algorithm for the same purpose running in more efficient hardware that is why algorithms like computer hardware are considered technology.""Elegant" programs "good" programs " The notion of "simplicity and elegance" appears informally in Knuth and precisely in ChaitinChaitin prefaces his definition with: "I'll show you can't prove that a program is 'elegant—such a proof would solve the Halting problem .Unfortunately there may be a tradeoff between goodness (speed) and elegance (compactness)—an elegant program may take more steps to complete a computation than one less elegant. An example that uses Euclid's algorithm appears below. relative to the capability of the agent.Minsky describes a more congenial variation of Lambek's ; thereafter the instruction IF Z=0 THEN GOTO xxx is unconditional. execute. Stone gives an example of this when computing the roots of a quadratic equation the computor must know how to take a square root. If they don't then the algorithm to be effective must provide a set of rules for extracting a square root.This means that the programmer must know a "language" that is effective relative to the target computing agent (computer/computor).But what model should be used for the simulation? Van Emde Boas observes instruction available rather than just subtraction .. Tausworthe augments the three Bhm-Jacopini canonical structures SEQUENCE IF-THEN-ELSE and WHILE-DO with two more DO-WHILE and CASE. An additional benefit of a structured program is that it lends itself to proofs of correctness using mathematical induction. in rectangles but only if a single exit occurs from the superstructure. The symbols and their use to build the canonical structures are shown in the diagram.Algorithm example.One of the simplest algorithms is to find the largest number in a list of numbers of random order. Finding the solution requires looking at every number in the list. From this follows a simple algorithm, which can be stated in a high-level description in English prose, as:"High-level description"
Written in prose but much closer to the high-level language of a computer program, the following is the more formal coding of the algorithm in pseudocode or pidgin code:Input A list of numbers "L".Output: The largest number in the list "L".if "L.size" = 0 return nullfor each , doEuclid's algorithm.In mathematics, the Euclidean algorithm, or Euclid's algorithm, is an efficient method for computing the greatest common divisor of two integers , the largest number that divides them both without a remainder. It is named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, who first described it in his . It is one of the oldest algorithms in common use. It can be used to reduce fractions to their simplest form, and is a part of many other number-theoretic and cryptographic calculations.Euclid poses the problem thus: successively ( times) along longer length , the integer-fractional part left over after the division.For Euclid's method to succeed, the starting lengths must satisfy two requirements: (i) the lengths must not be zero, AND (ii) the subtraction must be "proper"; i.e., a test must guarantee that the smaller of the two numbers is subtracted from the larger (or the two can be equal so their subtraction yields zero).Euclid algorithm.Computer language for Euclid's algorithm.Only a few instruction are required to execute Euclid's algorithm—some logical tests unconditional GOTO assignment and subtraction.An inelegant program for Euclid's algorithm.The following algorithm is framed as Knuth, but, rather than using division to find the remainder, it uses successive subtractions of the shorter length . The high-level description, shown in boldface, is adapted from Knuth 1973:2–4:[Into two locations L and S put the numbers that represent the two lengths]E0 [Ensure .]IF R &gt; S THENthe contents of L is the larger number so skip over the exchange-steps 4, 5 and 6:GOTO step 7swap the contents of R and S.E1: : Until the remaining length "r" in R is less than the shorter length "s" in S, repeatedly subtract the measuring number "s" in S from the remaining length "r" in R.IF S &gt; R THENdone measuring someasure again,E2 EITHER the last measure was exact the remainder in R is zero and the program can halt OR the algorithm must continue the last measure left a remainder in R less than measuring number in S.IF R = 0 THENGOTO step 15CONTINUE TO step 11,E3 The nut of Euclid's algorithm. Use remainder "r" to measure what was previously smaller number "s" L serves as a temporary location.
HALT END STOP.An elegant program for Euclid's algorithm.The flowchart of can be found at the top of this article. In the (unstructured) Basic language, the steps are numbered, and the instruction LET [] = [] is the assignment instruction symbolized by ←.5 REM Euclid's algorithm for greatest common divisor6 PRINT "Type two integers greater than 0"10 INPUT AB20 IF B=0 THEN GOTO 8030 IF A &gt; B THEN GOTO 6040 LET B=B-A60 LET A=A-B"How "Elegant" works" In place of an outer "Euclid loop" "Elegant" shifts back and forth between two "co-loops" an A &gt B loop that computes A ← A − B and a B ≤ A loop that computes B ← B − A. This works because when at last the minuend M is less than or equal to the subtrahend S the minuend can become "s" and the subtrahend can become the new "r" in other words the "sense" of the subtraction reverses.The following version can be used with programming languages from the C-family:// Euclid's algorithm for greatest common divisorint euclidAlgorithm {while A=A-B;Testing the Euclid algorithms.Does an algorithm do what its author wants it to do? A few test cases usually give some confidence in the core functionality. But tests are not enough. For test cases, one source uses 3009 and 884. Knuth suggested 40902, 24140. Another interesting case is the two relatively prime numbers 14157 and 5950.But "exceptional cases" must be identified and tested. Will "Inelegant" perform properly when R &gt; S, S &gt; R, R = S? Ditto for "Elegant": B &gt; A, A &gt; B, A = B? . What happens when one number is zero, both numbers are zero? What happens if "negative" numbers are entered? Fractional numbers? If the input numbers, i.e. the domain of the function computed by the algorithm/program, is to include only positive integers including zero, then the failures at zero indicate that the algorithm is a partial function rather than a total function. A notable failure due to exceptions is the Ariane 5 Flight 501 rocket failure .. Tausworthe proposes that a measure of the complexity of a program be the length of its correctness proof.Measuring and improving the Euclid algorithms. test that is needed only after the remainder is computed.—that is, it computes the function intended by its author—then the question becomes, can it be improved?The compactness of , at nine steps.The speed of computes the example-numbers faster whether this is always the case for any given A B and R S would require a detailed analysis.Algorithmic analysis.It is frequently important to know how much of a particular resource is theoretically required for a given algorithm. Methods have been developed for the analysis of algorithms to obtain such quantitative answers ; for example, an algorithm which adds up the elements of a list of "n" numbers would have a time requirement of "O", using big O notation. At all times the algorithm only needs to remember two values: the sum of all the elements so far, and its current position in the input list. Therefore, it is said to have a space requirement of "O", if the space required to store the input numbers is not counted, or "O" if it is counted.Different algorithms may complete the same task with a different set of instructions in less or more time space or 'effort' than others. For example a binary search algorithm (with cost "O") outperforms a sequential search (cost "O" ) when used for table lookups on sorted lists or arrays.Formal versus empirical.The analysis and study of algorithms is a discipline of computer science and is often practiced abstractly without the use of a specific programming language or implementation. In this sense algorithm analysis resembles other mathematical disciplines in that it focuses on the underlying properties of the algorithm and not on the specifics of any particular implementation. Usually pseudocode is used for analysis as it is the simplest and most general representation. However ultimately most algorithms are usually implemented on particular hardware/software platforms and their algorithmic efficiency is eventually put to the test using real code. For the solution of a "one off" problem the efficiency of a particular algorithm may not have significant consequences but for algorithms designed for fast interactive commercial or long life scientific usage it may be critical. Scaling from small n to large n frequently exposes inefficient algorithms that are otherwise benign.Empirical testing is useful because it may uncover unexpected interactions that affect performance. Benchmarks may be used to compare before/after potential improvements to an algorithm after program optimization.Empirical tests cannot replace formal analysis, though, and are not trivial to perform in a fair manner.Execution efficiency.To illustrate the potential improvements possible even in well-established algorithms a recent significant innovation relating to FFT algorithms (used heavily in the field of image processing) can decrease processing time up to 1000 times for applications like medical imaging. In general speed improvements depend on special properties of the problem which are very common in practical applications. Speedups of this magnitude enable computing devices that make extensive use of image processing (like digital cameras and medical equipment) to consume less power.Classification.There are various ways to classify algorithms, each with its own merits.By implementation.One way to classify algorithms is by implementation means.By design paradigm.Another way of classifying algorithms is by their design methodology or paradigm. There is a certain number of paradigms each different from the other. Furthermore each of these categories includes many different types of algorithms. Some common paradigms areOptimization problems.For optimization problems there is a more specific classification of algorithms; an algorithm for such problems may fall into one or more of the general categories described above as well as into one of the following:By field of study.Every field of science has its own problems and needs efficient algorithms. Related problems in one field are often studied together. Some example classes are search algorithms sorting algorithms merge algorithms numerical algorithms graph algorithms string algorithms computational geometric algorithms combinatorial algorithms medical algorithms machine learning cryptography data compression algorithms and parsing techniques.Fields tend to overlap with each other, and algorithm advances in one field may improve those of other, sometimes completely unrelated, fields. For example, dynamic programming was invented for optimization of resource consumption in industry but is now used in solving a broad range of problems in many fields.By complexity.Algorithms can be classified by the amount of time they need to complete compared to their input sizeSome problems may have multiple algorithms of differing complexity while other problems might have no algorithms or no known efficient algorithms. There are also mappings from some problems to other problems. Owing to this it was found to be more suitable to classify the problems themselves instead of the algorithms into equivalence classes based on the complexity of the best possible algorithms for them.Continuous algorithms.The adjective can mean:Legal issues.Algorithms by themselves are not usually patentable. In the United States a claim consisting solely of simple manipulations of abstract concepts numbers or signals does not constitute "processes" and hence algorithms are not patentable . However practical applications of algorithms are sometimes patentable. For example in Diamond v. Diehr the application of a simple feedback algorithm to aid in the curing of synthetic rubber was deemed patentable. The patenting of software is highly controversial and there are highly criticized patents involving algorithms especially data compression algorithms such as Unisys' LZW patent.Additionally some cryptographic algorithms have export restrictions .History: Development of the notion of .Ancient Near East.The earliest evidence of algorithms is found in the Babylonian mathematics of ancient Mesopotamia . A Sumerian clay tablet found in Shuruppak near Baghdad and dated to circa 2500 BC described the earliest division algorithm. During the Hammurabi dynasty circa 1800-1600 BC, Babylonian clay tablets described algorithms for computing formulas. Algorithms were also used in Babylonian astronomy. Babylonian clay tablets describe and employ algorithmic procedures to compute the time and place of significant astronomical events.Algorithms for arithmetic are also found in ancient Egyptian mathematics dating back to the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus circa 1550 BC. Algorithms were later used in ancient Hellenistic mathematics. Two examples are the Sieve of Eratosthenes which was described in the .Discrete and distinguishable symbols.Tally-marks: To keep track of their flocks, their sacks of grain and their money the ancients used tallying: accumulating stones or marks scratched on sticks or making discrete symbols in clay. Through the Babylonian and Egyptian use of marks and symbols, eventually Roman numerals and the abacus evolved . Tally marks appear prominently in unary numeral system arithmetic used in Turing machine and Post–Turing machine computations.Manipulation of symbols as for numbers algebra.Muhammad ibn Ms al-Khwrizm, a Persian mathematician, wrote the was originally used to refer to the sets of rules and techniques used by Al-Khwarizmi to solve algebraic equations, before later being generalized to refer to any set of rules or techniques. This eventually culminated in Leibniz's notion of the calculus ratiocinator (ca 1680):Cryptographic algorithms.The first cryptographic algorithm for deciphering encrypted code was developed by Al-Kindi a 9th-century Arab mathematician in . He gave the first description of cryptanalysis by frequency analysis the earliest codebreaking algorithm.Mechanical contrivances with discrete states."The clock" Bolter credits the invention of the weight-driven clock as "The key invention " in particular the verge escapement that provides us with the tick and tock of a mechanical clock. "The accurate automatic machine" led immediately to "mechanical automata" beginning in the 13th century and finally to "computational machines"—the difference engine and analytical engines of Charles Babbage and Countess Ada Lovelace mid-19th century. Lovelace is credited with the first creation of an algorithm intended for processing on a computer—Babbage's analytical engine the first device considered a real Turing-complete computer instead of just a calculator—and is sometimes called "history's first programmer" as a result though a full implementation of Babbage's second device would not be realized until decades after her lifetime."Logical machines 1870 – Stanley Jevons' "logical abacus" and "logical machine"": The technical problem was to reduce Boolean equations when presented in a form similar to what is now known as Karnaugh maps. Jevons describes first a simple "abacus" of "slips of wood furnished with pins, contrived so that any part or class of the ...". With this machine he could analyze a "syllogism or any other simple logical argument".This machine he displayed in 1870 before the Fellows of the Royal Society. Another logician John Venn however in his 1881 ."Jacquard loom Hollerith punch cards telegraphy and telephony – the electromechanical relay" Bell and Newell (1971) indicate that the Jacquard loom (1801) precursor to Hollerith cards (punch cards 1887) and "telephone switching technologies" were the roots of a tree leading to the development of the first computers. By the mid-19th century the telegraph the precursor of the telephone was in use throughout the world its discrete and distinguishable encoding of letters as "dots and dashes" a common sound. By the late 19th century the ticker tape (ca 1870s) was in use as was the use of Hollerith cards in the 1890 U.S. census. Then came the teleprinter (ca. 1910) with its punched-paper use of Baudot code on tape."Telephone-switching networks" of electromechanical relays was behind the work of George Stibitz the inventor of the digital adding device. As he worked in Bell Laboratories he observed the "burdensome' use of mechanical calculators with gears. "He went home one evening in 1937 intending to test his idea... When the tinkering was over Stibitz had constructed a binary adding device".Davis observes the particular importance of the electromechanical relay Mathematics during the 19th century up to the mid-20th century.But Heijenoort gives Frege this kudos: Frege's is . The work of Frege was further simplified and amplified by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell in their Principia Mathematica .: At the same time a number of disturbing paradoxes appeared in the literature, in particular, the Burali-Forti paradox , the Russell paradox , and the Richard Paradox. The resultant considerations led to Kurt Gdel's paper —he specifically cites the paradox of the liar—that completely reduces rules of recursion to numbers."Effective calculability": In an effort to solve the Entscheidungsproblem defined precisely by Hilbert in 1928, mathematicians first set about to define what was meant by an "effective method" or "effective calculation" or "effective calculability" . In rapid succession the following appeared: Alonzo Church, Stephen Kleene and J.B. Rosser's -calculus a finely honed definition of "general recursion" from the work of Gdel acting on suggestions of Jacques Herbrand and subsequent simplifications by Kleene. Church's proof that the Entscheidungsproblem was unsolvable, Emil Post's definition of effective calculability as a worker mindlessly following a list of instructions to move left or right through a sequence of rooms and while there either mark or erase a paper or observe the paper and make a yes-no decision about the next instruction. Alan Turing's proof of that the Entscheidungsproblem was unsolvable by use of his "a- machine"—in effect almost identical to Post's "formulation", J. Barkley Rosser's definition of "effective method" in terms of "a machine". Kleene's proposal of a precursor to "Church thesis" that he called "Thesis I", and a few years later Kleene's renaming his Thesis "Church's Thesis" and proposing "Turing's Thesis".Emil Post and Alan Turing .Emil Post described the actions of a "computer" as follows:His symbol space would beAlan Turing's work preceded that of Stibitz ; it is unknown whether Stibitz knew of the work of Turing. Turing's biographer believed that Turing's use of a typewriter-like model derived from a youthful interest: "Alan had dreamt of inventing typewriters as a boy; Mrs. Turing had a typewriter, and he could well have begun by asking himself what was meant by calling a typewriter 'mechanical'". Given the prevalence of Morse code and telegraphy, ticker tape machines, and teletypewriters we might conjecture that all were influences.Turing—his model of computation is now called a Turing machine—begins, as did Post, with an analysis of a human computer that he whittles down to a simple set of basic motions and "states of mind". But he continues a step further and creates a machine as a model of computation of numbers.Turing's reduction yields the following"It may be that some of these change necessarily invoke a change of state of mind. The most general single operation must, therefore, be taken to be one of the following:A few years later Turing expanded his analysis with this forceful expression of itJ.B. Rosser and S.C. Kleene .J. Barkley Rosser defined an 'effective method' in the following manner Rosser's footnote No. 5 references the work of Church and Kleene and their definition of -definability in particular Church's use of it in his "An Unsolvable Problem of Elementary Number Theory" Herbrand and Gdel and their use of recursion in particular Gdel's use in his famous paper "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems I" and Post and Turing in their mechanism-models of computation.Stephen C. Kleene defined as his now-famous "Thesis I" known as the Church–Turing thesis. But he did this in the following context :History after 1950.A number of efforts have been directed toward further refinement of the definition of "algorithm" and activity is on-going because of issues surrounding in particular foundations of mathematics and philosophy of mind . For more see Algorithm characterizations.
