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 undesirable unnecessary and harmful it is usually described alongside libertarian marxism as the libertarian wing libertarian socialism of the socialist movement and as having a historical association with anti capitalism and socialism the history of anarchism goes back to prehistory when humans arguably lived in anarchistic societies long before the establishment of formal states realms or empires with the rise of organised hierarchical bodies scepticism toward authority also rose but it was not until the th century that a self conscious political movement emerged during the latter half of the th and the first decades of the th 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 spanish civil war whose end marked the end of the classical era of anarchism in the last decades of the th and into the st 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 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 criticisms of anarchism include claims that it is internally inconsistent violent or utopian the etymological origin of anarchism is from the ancient greek anarkhia meaning without a ruler composed of the prefix an i e without and the word arkhos i e leader or ruler the suffix ism denotes the ideological current that favours anarchy anarchism appears in english from as anarchisme and anarchy from 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 th century such as william godwin and wilhelm weitling would contribute to the anarchist doctrines of the next generation but they did not use anarchist or anarchism in describing themselves or their beliefs the first political philosopher to call himself an anarchist was pierre joseph proudhon marking the formal birth of anarchism in the mid th century since the s and beginning in france libertarianism has often been used as a synonym for anarchism and its use as a synonym is still common outside the united states on the other hand some use libertarianism to refer to individualistic free market philosophy only referring to free market anarchism as libertarian anarchism 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 as well as extreme liberals primarily concerned with civil liberties additionally some anarchists use libertarian socialist to avoid anarchism s negative connotations and emphasise its connections with socialism matthew s adams and carl levy write that anarchism is used to describe the anti authoritarian wing of the socialist movement noam chomsky describes anarchism alongside libertarian marxism as the libertarian wing of socialism daniel gurin wrote a narchism is really a synonym for socialism the anarchist is primarily a socialist whose aim is to abolish the exploitation of man by man anarchism is only one of the streams of socialist thought that stream whose main components are concern for liberty and haste to abolish the state while opposition to the state is central to anarchist thought defining anarchism is not an easy task as there is a lot of discussion among scholars and anarchists on the matter and various currents perceive anarchism slightly differently hence it might be true to say that anarchism is a cluster of political philosophies opposing authority and hierarchical organisation including capitalism nationalism the state and all associated institutions in the conduct of all human relations in favour of a society based on decentralisation freedom and voluntary association however this definition has the same shortcomings as the definition based on anti authoritarianism which is an a posteriori conclusion anti statism anarchism is much more than that and etymology which is simply a negation of a ruler nonetheless major elements of the definition of anarchism 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 herbert l osgood claimed that anarchism is the extreme antithesis of authoritarian communism and state socialism peter marshall states that i n general anarchism is closer to socialism than liberalism anarchism finds itself largely in the socialist camp but it also has outriders in liberalism it cannot be reduced to socialism and is best seen as a separate and distinctive doctrine according to jeremy jennings i t is hard not to conclude that these ideas referring to anarcho capitalism are described as anarchist only on the basis of a misunderstanding of what anarchism is jennings adds that anarchism does not stand for the untrammelled freedom of the individual as the anarcho capitalists appear to believe but as we have already seen for the extension of individuality and community nicolas walter wrote that anarchism does derive from liberalism and socialism both historically and ideologically in a sense anarchists always remain liberals and socialists and whenever they reject what is good in either they betray anarchism itself we are liberals but more so and socialists but more so michael newman includes anarchism as one of many socialist traditions especially the more socialist aligned tradition following proudhon and mikhail bakunin brian morriss argues that it is conceptually and historically misleading to create a dichotomy between socialism and anarchism during the prehistoric era of mankind an established authority did not exist it was after the creation of towns and cities that institutions of authority were established and 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 i e the discussion on the legitimacy of the state was delineated by taoist philosophers zhuang zhou and laozi alongside stoicism taoism has been said to have had significant anticipations 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 nomos and associated authorities while trying to live according to nature physis stoics were supportive of a society based on unofficial and friendly relations among its citizens without the presence of a state during the middle ages there was no anarchistic activity except some ascetic religious movements in the muslim world or in christian europe this kind of tradition 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 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 th 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 s various anarchist schools of thought had become well defined and a wave of then unprecedented globalization occurred from to 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 workingmen s association a class worker union later known as the first international that formed in to unite diverse revolutionary currents the international became a significant political force with karl marx being a leading figure and a member of its general council bakunin s faction the jura federation and proudhon s followers the mutualists opposed state socialism advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings after bitter disputes the bakuninists were expelled from the international by the marxists at the hague congress anarchists were treated similarly in the second international being ultimately expelled in bakunin famously predicted that if revolutionaries gained power by marx s terms they would end up the new tyrants of workers in response to their expulsion from the first international anarchists formed the st imier international under the influence of peter kropotkin a russian philosopher and scientist anarcho communism overlapped with collectivism anarcho communists who drew inspiration from the paris commune advocated for free federation and for the distribution of goods according to one s 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 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 stabilized 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 anarchists and syndicalists cnt and fai 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 at the end of world war ii the anarchist movement was severely weakened however the s 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 s 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 st 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 wto 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 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 th century and the post classical currents anarcha feminism green anarchism and post anarchism 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 it argues 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 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 authoritiy and decentralisation inceptive currents among classical anarchist currents were mutualism and individualism they were followed by the major currents of social anarchism collectivist communist and syndicalist they differ on organisational and economic aspects of their ideal society mutualism is an th 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 what is property proudhon first characterised his goal as a third form of society the synthesis of communism and property 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 it 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 it 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 th 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 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 st 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 however 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 e g monarchy representative democracy state socialism etc economic class systems e g capitalism bolshevism feudalism slavery etc autocratic religions e g fundamentalist islam roman catholicism etc patriarchy heterosexism white supremacy and imperialism however 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 they 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 th century focused more on strikes and militancy while contemporary anarchists use a broader array of approaches 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 s the early s and the s with some still occurring in the early s 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 perplexing and 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 argued 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 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 th 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 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 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 individuals 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 but anarchists have gone online in the world wide web to spread their message however 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 taz 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 as anarchism is a philosophy that embodies many diverse attitudes tendencies 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 similarly 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 as gender and sexuality carry along them dynamics of hierarchy anarchism is obliged to address analyse and oppose the suppression of one s autonomy because of the dynamics that gender roles traditionally impose sexuality was not often discussed by classical anarchists but the few that did felt that an anarchist society would lead to sexuality naturally developing however 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 and 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 pro choice utilising a contemporary term and had a similar agenda anarchist and non anarchist feminists differed on suffrage but they were nonetheless supportive of one another during the second half of the th 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 th 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 however some anarchists distanced themselves from this line of thinking suggesting that it leaned towards an individualism that was dropping the cause of social liberation 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 political justice and max stirner the false principle of our education attacked both state education and private education as another means by which the ruling class replicate their privileges in 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 education and culture also established a similar school with its founding principle being that for education to be effective it had to be free in a similar token a s neill founded what became the summerhill school in 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 will 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 th century and contemporary anarchist writers colin ward herbert read and paul goodman 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 have further argued 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 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 abolition the state also differ 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 argued 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 th century many prominent anarchists peter kropotkin emma goldman gustav landauer and camillo berneri 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 th century neo impressionist movement had an ecological aesthetic and offered an example of an anarchist perception of the road towards socialism in les chataigniers a osny by anarchist painter camille pissarro the blending of aestetic 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 p eace and war tariffs regulations of sanitary conditions and the sale of noxious drugs the preservation of a just system of distribution these among others are functions which could hardly be performed in a community in which there was no central government another common criticism of anarchism is that it fits a world of isolation in which only the small enough entities can be self governing colin ward responds that major anarchist thinkers advocated federalism philosophy lecturer andrew g fiala also believed that humans could not self govern and included it in his list of arguments against anarchism fiala s other critiques were that anarchism is innately related to violence and destruction not only in the pragmatic world i e 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 archiei 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 all talk and thoughts 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 arguing against three major philosophical anarchist principles which he finds fallacious edmundson claims 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 another criticism is that anarchism defies and fails to understand the biological inclination to authority as first articulated in an article for the north american review by frances l ferguson joseph raz argues 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 academic john molyneux writes in his book anarchism a marxist criticism that anarchism cannot win 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 argue 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 developmental 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 worsening 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 dsm combines forms of the condition including asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified pdd nos into the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder asd early behavioral interventions or speech therapy can help autistic children gain self care social and communication skills although there is no known cure there have been cases of children who recovered 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 million people in the s the number of people affected was estimated at per people worldwide in the developed countries about of children are diagnosed with asd from in in the united states it occurs four to five times more often in males than females the number of people diagnosed has increased dramatically since the s which may be partly due to changes in diagnostic practice the question of whether actual rates have increased is unresolved 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 deficits distinguish autism and the related autism spectrum disorders asd see classification 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 those with autism 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 about a third to a 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 echolalia 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 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 autistic individuals can display many forms of repetitive or restricted behavior which the repetitive behavior scale revised rbs r 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 autistic individuals may have symptoms that are independent of the diagnosis but that can affect the individual or the family an estimated to 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 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 for example walking into things than for over responsivity for example distress from loud noises or for sensation seeking for example rhythmic movements an estimated 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 gastrointestinal problems are one of the most commonly associated medical disorders 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 autistic adults can experience autistic burnout a syndrome characterized by chronic exhaustion loss of skills and function and reduced tolerance to stimulus burnout happens as a result of stress failed expectations and abilities without adequate support as well as masking autistic burnout typically lasts for months or more 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 for autism and as high as for asd and siblings of those with autism are about 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 single gene 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 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 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 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 agents that cause birth defects 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 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 uses essentially the same definition several diagnostic instruments are available two are commonly used in autism research the autism diagnostic interview revised adi r is a semistructured parent interview and the autism diagnostic observation schedule ados uses observation and interaction with the child the childhood autism rating scale cars is used widely in clinical environments to assess severity of autism based on observation of children the diagnostic interview for social and communication disorders disco 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 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 genome s copy number variations as new genetic tests are developed several ethical legal and social issues will emerge commercial availability of tests may precede adequate understanding of how to use test results given the complexity of autism s genetics metabolic and neuroimaging tests are sometimes helpful but are not routine asd can sometimes be diagnosed by age 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 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 autism is one of the five pervasive developmental disorders pdd which are characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication and 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 atypical autism 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 autism spectrum disorders asd or sometimes the autistic disorders whereas autism itself is often called autistic disorder childhood autism or infantile autism in this article autism refers to the classic autistic disorder in clinical practice though autism asd and pdd 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 autism can also be divided into syndromal and non syndromal autism the syndromal autism is associated with severe or profound intellectual disability or a congenital syndrome with physical symptoms such as tuberous sclerosis although individuals with asperger syndrome tend to perform better cognitively than autistic people the extent of the overlap between asperger syndrome hfa and non syndromal autism is unclear some studies have reported diagnoses of autism in children due to a loss of language or social skills as opposed to a failure to make progress typically from to months of age the validity of this distinction remains controversial it is possible that regressive autism is a specific subtype or that there is a continuum of behaviors between autism with and without regression 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 observable traits 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 sometimes the syndrome is divided into low medium or high functioning autism lfa mfa and hfa based on iq thresholds some researchers and autism rights activists have called for an end to the terms high functioning and low functioning due to lack of nuance and the potential for a person s needs or abilities to be overlooked about half of parents of children with asd notice their child s unusual behaviors by age months and about four fifths notice by age 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 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 and 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 m chat 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 chat on children aged months suggests that it is best used in a clinical setting and that it has low sensitivity many false negatives but good specificity few false positives 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 while infection with rubella during pregnancy causes fewer than of cases of autism vaccination against rubella can prevent many of those cases 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 aba 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 eibi 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 dsp 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 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 people with autism 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 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 children with autism 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 botched chelation therapy killed a five year old child with autism chelation is not recommended for people with asd since the associated risks outweigh any potential benefits another alternative medicine practice with no evidence is cease therapy a mixture of homeopathy supplements and vaccine detoxing although popularly used as an alternative treatment for people with autism as of there is no good evidence to recommend a gluten and casein free diet as a standard treatment a 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 in total all of them compared gluten and casein free diet versus normal diet with a control group double blind randomized controlled trials double blind crossover trial single blind trial in two of the studies whose duration was and months a significant improvement in asd symptoms efficacy rate was identified in the other two studies whose duration was 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 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 to 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 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 s with autism are not employed most recent reviews tend to estimate a prevalence of per for autism and close to per for asd as of a survey in the united states reported a rate of per children for asd globally autism affects an estimated million people while asperger syndrome affects a further million in the nhs estimated that the overall prevalence of autism among adults aged years and over in the uk was rates of pdd nos s has been estimated at per asperger syndrome at roughly per and childhood disintegrative disorder at per cdc estimates about out of for an increase from out of every children for the number of reported cases of autism increased dramatically in the s and early s 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 changing environmental factors instead of continuing to focus on genetics males are at higher risk for asd than females the sex ratio averages and is greatly modified by cognitive impairment it may be close to with intellectual disability and more than 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 year old boy who may have been severely autistic luther reportedly thought the boy was a soulless mass of flesh possessed by the devil and suggested that he be suffocated although a later critic has cast doubt on the veracity of this report the earliest well documented case of autism is that of hugh blair of borgue as detailed in a 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 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 henry cavendish the english scientist and philosopher who discovered hydrogen is believed by oliver sacks to have been autistic he lived a solitary life spoke to very few people and most of his discoveries were only known to the public after his death the new latin word autismus english translation autism was coined by the swiss psychiatrist eugen bleuler in as he was defining symptoms of schizophrenia he derived it from the greek word auts meaning self 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 and in german in the word autism first took its modern sense in when hans asperger of the vienna university hospital adopted bleuler s terminology autistic psychopaths in a lecture in german about child psychology asperger was investigating an asd now known as asperger syndrome though for various reasons it was not widely recognized as a separate diagnosis until leo kanner of the johns hopkins hospital first used autism in its modern sense in english when he introduced the label early infantile autism in a report of children with striking behavioral similarities almost all the characteristics described in kanner s first paper on the subject notably autistic aloneness and insistence on sameness are still regarded as typical of the autistic spectrum of disorders it is not known whether kanner derived the term independently of asperger donald triplett was the first person diagnosed with autism he was diagnosed by kanner after being first examined in and was labeled as case triplett was noted for his savant abilities particularly being able to name musical notes played on a piano and to mentally multiply numbers his father oliver described him as socially withdrawn but interested in number patterns music notes letters of the alphabet and u s president pictures by the age of he had the ability to recite the rd psalm and memorized questions and answers from the presbyterian catechism he was also interested in creating musical chords kanner s reuse of autism led to decades of confused terminology like infantile schizophrenia and child psychiatry s focus on maternal deprivation led to misconceptions of autism as an infant s response to refrigerator mothers starting in the late s autism was established as a separate syndrome as late as the mid s there was little evidence of a genetic role in autism while in 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 for the dsm iii to differentiate autism from childhood schizophrenia in the dsm iii r provided a checklist for diagnosing autism in may the dsm 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 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 organizations dedicated to promoting awareness of autism include autistic self advocacy network aspies for freedom autism national committee and autism society of america at the same time some organizations including autism speaks have been condemned by disability rights organizations for exploitative practices and for failing to support autistic people social science scholars study those with autism in hopes to learn more about autism as a culture transcultural comparisons and research on social movements while most autistic individuals do not have savant skills many have been successful in their fields 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 two other likewise distinct views the medical perspective that autism is caused by a genetic defect and should be addressed by targeting the autism gene s and 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 about half of autistics are unemployed and one third of those with graduate degrees may be unemployed among autistics 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 autistics 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 meaning whiteness is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation to corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation surface albedo is defined as the ratio of radiosity to the irradiance flux per unit area received by a 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 spectral albedo 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 between and m this spectrum includes visible light m which explains why surfaces with a low albedo appear dark e g trees absorb most radiation whereas surfaces with a high albedo appear bright e g snow reflects most radiation albedo is an important concept in climatology astronomy and environmental management e g as part of the leadership in energy and environmental design leed program for sustainable rating of buildings the average albedo of the earth from the upper atmosphere its planetary albedo is 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 work photometria any albedo in visible light falls within a range of about for fresh snow to about 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 to the average albedo of earth is about this is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds earth s surface albedo is regularly estimated via earth observation satellite sensors such as nasa s 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 e g these calculations are based on the bidirectional reflectance distribution function brdf 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 c if earth were frozen entirely and hence be more reflective the average temperature of the planet would drop below c if only the continental land masses became covered by glaciers the mean temperature of the planet would drop to about c 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 c for land surfaces it has been shown that the albedo at a particular solar zenith angle i can be approximated by the proportionate sum of two terms with being the proportion of direct radiation from a given solar angle and being the proportion of diffuse illumination the actual albedo also called blue sky albedo can then be given as this 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 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 phase 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 another notable high albedo body is eris with an albedo of many small objects in the outer solar system and asteroid belt have low albedos down to about a typical comet nucleus has an albedo of 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 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 v band geometric albedo measuring brightness when illumination comes from directly behind the observer and the bond albedo measuring total proportion of electromagnetic energy reflected 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 correlation between astronomical geometric albedo absolute magnitude and diameter is a or a is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the modern english alphabet and the iso basic latin alphabet its name in english is a pronounced plural aes 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 also written aleph the first letter of the phoenician alphabet which consisted entirely of consonants for that reason it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from a true alphabet 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 by bc the phoenician alphabet letter had a linear form that served as the base for some later forms its name is thought to have corresponded closely to the paleo hebrew or arabic aleph 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 th 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 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 th 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 th 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 italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest set in roman type there are some other cases aside from italic type where script a also called latin alpha is used in contrast with latin a such as in the international phonetic alphabet in modern english orthography the letter represents at least seven different vowel sounds the double sequence does not occur in native english words but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as aaron and aardvark however occurs in many common digraphs all with their own sound or sounds particularly and is the third most commonly used letter in english after and and the second most common in spanish and french in one study on average about of letters used in english texts tend to be while the number is in spanish and in french in most languages that use the latin alphabet denotes an open unrounded vowel such as or an exception is saanich in which and the glyph stands for a close mid front unrounded vowel in phonetic and phonemic notation in algebra the letter a along with other letters at the beginning of the alphabet is used to represent known quantities whereas the letters at the end of the alphabet x y z are used to denote unknown quantities 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 in english grammar a and its variant an is an indefinite article 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 deep south region of the southern 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 th largest by area and the th 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 the largest city by population is birmingham which has long been the most industrialized city the largest city by land area is huntsville the oldest city is mobile founded by french colonists in as the capital of french louisiana greater birmingham is alabama s largest urban economy its most populous urban area and its economic center from the american civil war until world war ii alabama like many states in the southern u s suffered economic hardship in part because of its continued dependence on agriculture similar to other former slave states alabamian legislators employed jim crow laws to disenfranchise and otherwise discriminate against african americans from the end of the reconstruction era up until at least the s despite the growth of major industries and urban centers white rural interests dominated the state legislature from to the s during this time urban interests and african americans were markedly under represented following world war ii alabama grew as the state s economy changed from one primarily based on agriculture to one with diversified interests the state s economy in the st 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 albaamo or variously albaama or albamo in different dialects the plural form is albaamaha 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 garcilaso de la vega used alibamo while the knight of elvas and rodrigo ranjel wrote alibamu and limamu respectively in transliterations of the term as early as the french called the tribe the alibamon with french maps identifying the river as rivire des alibamons other spellings of the name have included alibamu alabamo albama alebamon alibama alibamou alabamu allibamou sources disagree on the word s meaning some scholars suggest the word comes from the choctaw alba meaning plants or weeds and amo meaning to cut to trim or to gather the meaning may have been clearers of the thicket or herb gatherers 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 article in the jacksonville republican proposed it meant here we rest this notion was popularized in the s through the writings of alexander beaufort meek experts in the muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation 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 bcece and continued until european contact the agrarian mississippian culture covered most of the state from to 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 secc 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 alibamu chickasaw choctaw creek and koasati while part of the same large language family the muskogee tribes developed distinct cultures and languages with exploration in the th century the spanish were the first europeans to reach alabama the expedition of hernando de soto passed through mabila and other parts of the state in more than years later the french founded the region s first european settlement at old mobile in the city was moved to the current site of mobile in this area was claimed by the french from to 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 to 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 until the surrender of the spanish garrison at mobile to u s forces on april 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 s 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 part of the independent republic of west florida in and was finally added to the mississippi territory in 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 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 the yazoo lands were added to the territory in 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 before mississippi s admission to statehood on december 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 st stephens now abandoned served as the territorial capital from to alabama was admitted as the nd state on december with congress selecting huntsville as the site for the first constitutional convention from july to august delegates met to prepare the new state constitution huntsville served as temporary capital from to when the seat of government moved to cahaba in dallas county cahaba now a ghost town was the first permanent state capital from to 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 s and s 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 named for its dark productive soil 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 people in but it increased to more than people by 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 from to tuscaloosa served as alabama s capital on january 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 a new capitol building was erected under the direction of stephen decatur button of philadelphia the first structure burned down in but was rebuilt on the same site in this second capitol building in montgomery remains to the present day it was designed by barachias holt of exeter maine by the population had increased to people of which nearly half were enslaved african americans and were free people of color on january 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 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 coat tails this led to them being greeted with yellowhammer and the name later was applied to all alabama troops in the confederate army alabama s slaves were freed by the th amendment in alabama was under military rule from the end of the war in may until its official restoration to the union in from to 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 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 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 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 after disenfranchising most african americans and many poor whites in the constitution the alabama legislature passed more jim crow laws at the beginning of the th century to impose segregation in everyday life the new 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 whites through making voter registration difficult requiring a poll tax and literacy test the constitution required racial segregation of public schools by only african americans were registered in alabama although at least were literate this compared to more than african americans eligible to vote in the numbers dropped even more in later decades the state legislature passed additional racial segregation laws related to public facilities into the s jails were segregated in hospitals in toilets hotels and restaurants in and bus stop waiting rooms in 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 whites constituted a slight majority of those disenfranchised by these laws whites vs african americans nearly all african americans 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 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 the first rosenwald schools were built in alabama for african american children a total of schools seven teachers houses and several vocational buildings were completed by 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 th century as part of the great migration out of the south reflecting this emigration the population growth rate in alabama see historical populations table below dropped by nearly half from to 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 magic city by birmingham was the th 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 s 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 and more than 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 to 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 study noted that because of rural domination a minority of about 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 for the first time since 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 s and s to end disenfranchisement and segregation in the state through the civil rights movement including legal challenges in 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 s 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 and selma to montgomery marches these contributed to congressional passage and enactment of the civil rights act of and voting rights act of by the u s congress legal segregation ended in the states in but jim crow customs often continued until specifically challenged in court according to the new york times by many of alabama s african americans were living in alabama s cities such as birmingham and montgomery also the black belt region across central alabama is home to largely poor counties that are predominantly african american these counties include dallas lowndes marengo and perry alabama has made some changes since the late th century and has used new types of voting to increase representation in the s an omnibus redistricting case dillard v crenshaw county challenged the at large voting for representative seats of 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 jurisdictions use limited voting as in conecuh county in 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 alabama is the thirtieth largest state in the united states with of total area of the area is water making alabama rd 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 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 nearly half a mile in the northeast to wit mount cheaha at alabama s land consists of of forest or of 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 foot waterfall dismals canyon near phil campbell home to two waterfalls sixnatural bridges and allegedly served as a hideout for legendary outlaw jesse james stephens gap cave in jackson county boasts a 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 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 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 star wound because of the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered rock that can be found beneath the surface in christian koeberl with the institute of geochemistry university of vienna published evidence and established the site as the th recognized impact crater on earth the state is classified as humid subtropical cfa under the koppen climate classification the average annual temperature is f c 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 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 even 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 and 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 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 f and ef tornadoes of any state according to statistics from the national climatic data center for the period january to june several long tracked f ef tornadoes have contributed to alabama reporting more tornado fatalities since than any other state the state was affected by the super outbreak and was devastated tremendously by the super outbreak the super outbreak produced a record amount of tornadoes in the state the tally reached 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 snowstorm and the 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 in the unincorporated community of centerville the record low of occurred on january in new market 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 pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species indigenous animal species in the state include mammal species reptile species amphibian species roughly native freshwater fish species and bird species that spend at least part of their year within the state invertebrates include crayfish species and mollusk species of these mollusk species have never been collected outside the state the united states census bureau estimates the population of alabama was on july which represents an increase of or since the census this includes a natural increase since the last census of births minus deaths and an increase due to net migration of into the state immigration from outside the u s resulted in a net increase of people and migration within the country produced a net gain of people the state had foreign born of the state population of which an estimated were undocumented the center of population of alabama is located in chilton county outside the town of jemison according to the census alabama had a population of the racial composition of the state was white non hispanic white and hispanic white black or african american hispanic or latino of any race asian american indian and alaska native native hawaiian and other pacific islander from some other race and from two or more races in of alabama s population younger than age were minorities the largest reported ancestry groups in alabama are african english irish german and scots irish those citing american ancestry in alabama are generally of english or british ancestry many anglo americans identify as having american ancestry because their roots have been in north america for so long in some cases since the s demographers estimate that of people in alabama are of predominantly english ancestry and the figure is likely higher in the census of the people in alabama identified as being of english ancestry making them the largest ethnic group at the time based on historic migration and settlement patterns in the southern colonies and states demographers estimated there are more people in alabama of scots irish origins than self reported many people in alabama claim irish ancestry because of the term scots irish but based on historic immigration and settlement their ancestors were more likely protestant scots irish coming from the northern province of ulster where they had been for a few generations as part of the english colonization 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 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 for columbus day to be jointly celebrated as american indian heritage day most alabama residents of those five and older spoke only english at home in a minor decrease from in 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 earthworm peckerwood woodpecker snake doctor and snake feeder dragonfly tow sack burlap bag plum peach clingstone french harp harmonica and dog irons andirons in the american religious identification survey of alabama respondents reported their religion as christian including catholic with as having no religion the composition of other traditions is mormon jewish muslim buddhist and 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 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 this is followed by the united methodist church with adherents non denominational evangelical protestant with adherents and the catholic church with adherents many baptist and methodist congregations became established in the great awakening of the early th century when preachers proselytized across the south the assemblies of god had almost members the churches of christ had nearly members the presbyterian churches strongly associated with scots irish immigrants of the th century and their descendants had a combined membership around pca members in congregations pc usa members in congregations the cumberland presbyterian church members in congregations the cumberland presbyterian church in america members and fifty congregations plus the epc and associate reformed presbyterians with members and nine congregations in a survey nearly of respondents could name all four of the christian gospels of those who indicated a religious preference said they possessed a full understanding of their faith and needed no further learning in a poll 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 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 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 mosques built by 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 s 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 by paul k dealy who moved from chicago to fairhope bah centers in alabama exist in birmingham huntsville and florence a centers for disease control and prevention study in showed that obesity in alabama is a problem with most counties having more than of adults obese except for ten which had a rate between and 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 of adults on may 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 to years imprisonment and be the most restrictive abortion law in the country however on october 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 crop and animal production in alabama was valued at billion 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 s as land has been sold to developers timber companies and large farming conglomerates non agricultural employment in was in management occupations in business and financial operations in computer related and mathematical occupation in architecture and engineering in life physical and social sciences in community and social services in legal occupations in education training and library services in art design and media occupations in healthcare in fire fighting law enforcement and security in food preparation and serving in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance in personal care and services in sales in office and administration support in farming fishing and forestry in construction and mining gas and oil extraction in installation maintenance and repair in production and in transportation and material moving according to the u s bureau of economic analysis the total gross state product was billion or per capita alabama s gdp increased from the previous year the single largest increase came in the area of information in per capita income for the state was the state s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was in april this compared to a nationwide seasonally adjusted rate of alabama has no minimum wage and in february passed legislation preventing municipalities from setting one a birmingham city ordinance would have raised theirs to alabama has the sixth highest poverty rate among states in the u s in 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 the five employers that employed the most employees in alabama in april were the next twenty largest employers included 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 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 alabama s economic growth since the s has been due to the state s 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 the automobile industry has generated more than new jobs in the state alabama currently ranks th in the nation for vehicle exports automakers accounted for approximately a third of the industrial expansion in the state in the eight models produced at the state s auto factories totaled combined sales of vehicles for 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 people in may german steelmaker thyssenkrupp selected calvert in mobile county for a billion 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 the remaining portion of the thyssenkrupp plant had final bids submitted by arcelormittal and nippon steel for billion in march companhia siderrgica nacional submitted a combined bid for the mill at calvert plus a majority stake in the thyssenkrupp mill in brazil for billion in july 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 people it has been in operation since construction of an airbus a family aircraft assembly plant in mobile was formally announced by airbus ceo fabrice brgier from the mobile convention center on july the plans include a million factory at the brookley aeroplex for the assembly of the a a and a aircraft construction began in with plans for it to become operable by and produce up to aircraft per year by the assembly plant is the company s first factory to be built within the united states it was announced on february that airbus had hired alabama based hoar construction to oversee construction of the facility according to business insider alabama ranked th in most popular states to visit in an estimated million tourists visited the state in more than of them from other countries including canada the united kingdom germany and japan in million travellers spent billion providing an estimated jobs in the state 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 it was also host to the first formally organized mardi gras parade in the united states in a tradition that continues to this day mardi gras is an official state holiday in mobile and baldwin counties in mobile s mardi gras parade was the state s top event producing the most tourists with an attendance of the top attraction was the u s space rocket center in huntsville with an attendance of followed by the birmingham zoo with of the parks and natural destinations alabama s gulf coast topped the list with 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 selma big fish the final destination due date need for speed and many more 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 a 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 followed by unitedhealth group at 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 with the headquarters of bbva usa remaining in birmingham in november regions financial acquired amsouth bancorporation which was also headquartered in birmingham southtrust corporation another large bank headquartered in birmingham was acquired by wachovia in wells fargo has a regional headquarters an operations center campus and a million 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 telecommunications provider att 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 rust international has grown to include brasfield gorrie bek 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 rust international was acquired in by washington group international which was in turn acquired by san francisco based urs corporation in the foundational document for alabama s government is the alabama constitution which was ratified in at almost amendments and 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 members and the alabama senate with 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 most state legislatures require a two thirds majority to override a veto until 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 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 as the state already included in its constitution but had not implemented 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 th 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 state s constitution and applying the law in state criminal and civil cases the state s highest court is the supreme court of alabama alabama uses partisan elections to select judges since the s 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 trial court of general jurisdiction 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 supreme court has overturned 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 cases judges overturned sentences of life imprisonment without parole lwop that were voted unanimously by juries this judicial authority was removed in april taxes are collected by the alabama department of revenue sales tax rates for cities and counties are also added to purchases for example the total sales tax rate in mobile is and there is an additional restaurant tax of which means a diner in mobile would pay an tax on a meal sales and excise taxes in alabama account for of all state and local revenue compared with an average of about 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 alabama s income tax on poor working families is among the highest in the u s alabama is the only state that levies income tax on a family of four with income as low as which is barely one quarter the federal poverty line alabama s threshold is the lowest among the states and the district of columbia with income taxes the corporate income tax rate is currently 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 alabama had an annual budget deficit as high as million alabama has 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 jefferson lee mobile madison montgomery shelby and tuscaloosa 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 alabama constitutional commission legislative delegations retain certain powers over each county united states supreme court decisions in baker v carr required that both houses have districts established on the basis of population and redistricted after each census to implement the principle of one man one vote 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 th century failing to recognize the rise of industrial cities and urbanized areas 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 of the 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 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 a coalition of white democratic politicians passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise african american residents a process completed in provisions of the constitution provisions which disenfranchised blacks resulted in excluding many poor whites by more whites than blacks had been disenfranchised to 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 through the s 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 to meet equal representation alabama state politics gained nationwide and international attention in the s and s 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 and voting rights act of 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 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 republicans won control of both houses of the legislature for the first time in years there are a total of registered voters with active and the others inactive in the state with the disfranchisement of blacks in 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 th 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 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 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 with the resignation of the last democrat on the bench in the early st 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 republicans took large majorities of both chambers of the state legislature giving them control of that body for the first time in years the last remaining statewide democrat who served on the alabama public service commission was defeated in 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 present 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 county sheriffs are elected in partisan at large races and democrats still retain the narrow majority of those posts the current split is democrats 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 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 and re elected in but switched parties immediately following the november general election in the u s house of representatives the state is represented by seven members six of whom are republicans bradley byrne mike d rogers robert aderholt morris j brooks martha roby and gary palmer and one democrat terri sewell who represents the black belt as well as most of the predominantly black portions of birmingham tuscaloosa and montgomery public primary and secondary education in alabama is under the purview of the alabama state board of education as well as local oversight by county school boards and city boards of education together individual schools provide education for elementary and secondary students public school funding is appropriated through the alabama legislature through the education trust fund in fy alabama appropriated for primary and secondary education that represented an increase of over the previous fiscal year in more than percent of schools made adequate yearly progress ayp toward student proficiency under the national no child left behind law using measures determined by the state of alabama while alabama s public education system has improved in recent decades it lags behind in achievement compared to other states according to u s census data alabama s high school graduation rate is the fourth lowest in the u s after kentucky louisiana and mississippi 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 public school students paddled at least one time according to government data for the school year the rate of school corporal punishment in alabama is surpassed by only mississippi and arkansas alabama s programs of higher education include four year public universities two year community colleges and private undergraduate and graduate universities in the state are four medical schools as of fall university of alabama school of medicine university of south alabama and alabama college of osteopathic medicine and the edward via college of osteopathic medicine auburn campus two veterinary colleges auburn university and tuskegee university a dental school university of alabama school of dentistry an optometry college university of alabama at birmingham two pharmacy schools auburn university and samford university and five law schools university of alabama school of law birmingham school of law cumberland school of law miles law school and the thomas goode jones school of law 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 enrolled for fall troy university was the largest institution in the state in with an enrollment of students across four alabama campuses troy dothan montgomery and phenix city 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 accreditation of academic programs is through the southern association of colleges and schools sacs as well as other subject focused national and international accreditation agencies such as the association for biblical higher education abhe the council on occupational education coe and the accrediting council for independent colleges and schools acics according to the u s news world report alabama had three universities ranked in the top public schools in america university of alabama at auburn university at and university of alabama at birmingham at according to the u s news world report alabama had four tier one universities university of alabama auburn university university of alabama at birmingham and university of alabama in huntsville major newspapers include birmingham news mobile press register and montgomery advertiser major television network affiliates in alabama include 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 season alabama averaged over fans per game and auburn averaged over 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 and is the fifth largest stadium in america jordan hare stadium is the home field of the auburn football team and seats up to legion field is home for the uab blazers football program and the birmingham bowl it seats 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 dollar general bowl formerly godaddy com bowl and alabama mississippi all star classic the stadium seats in 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 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 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 to alabama has hosted several professional golf tournaments such as the and pga championship at shoal creek the barbasol championship pga tour the mobile lpga tournament of champions airbus lpga classic and yokohama tire lpga classic lpga tour and the tradition champions tour major airports with sustained operations in alabama include birmingham shuttlesworth international airport bhm huntsville international airport hsv dothan regional airport dhn mobile regional airport mob montgomery regional airport mgm northwest alabama regional airport msl and northeast alabama regional airport gad 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 i travels north south roughly through the middle of the state i i travel from the central west mississippi state line to birmingham where i continues to the north east corner of the state and i continues east towards atlanta i originates in montgomery and travels east northeast to the georgia state line providing a main thoroughfare to atlanta and i traverses the southernmost portion of the state traveling from west to east through mobile i enters the state from mississippi and connects birmingham with memphis tennessee in addition there are currently five auxiliary interstate routes in the state i in mobile i in tuscaloosa i around birmingham i in decatur and huntsville and i in gadsden a sixth route i will be formed when i is rerouted along a new southern bypass of montgomery a proposed northern bypass of birmingham will be designated as i since a direct connection from i to i will not be possible i has been proposed as well several u s highways also pass through the state such as u s route us us us us us us us us us us us us us us us us us and us 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 alabama s only saltwater port is a large seaport on the gulf of mexico with inland waterway access to the midwest by way of the tennessee tombigbee waterway the port of mobile was ranked th by tons of traffic in the united states during the newly expanded container terminal at the port of mobile was ranked as the th busiest for container traffic in the nation during the state s 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 iliad 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 in the heel with an arrow later legends beginning with statius unfinished epic achilleid written in the st century ad 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 achilleus in the forms a ki re u and a ki re we the latter being the dative of the former the name grew more popular even becoming common soon after the seventh century bc and was also turned into the female form achillea attested in attica in the fourth century bc ig ii and in the form achillia on a stele in halicarnassus as the name of a female gladiator fighting an amazon achilles name can be analyzed as a combination of distress pain sorrow grief and people soldiers nation resulting in a proto form akh luos he who has the people distressed or he whose people have distress the grief or distress of the people is a theme raised numerous times in the iliad and frequently by achilles himself achilles role as the hero of grief or distress forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of him as the hero of glory usually in war furthermore las has been construed by gregory nagy following leonard palmer to mean a corps of soldiers 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 kpedis 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 ak point silence healing akm point edge zenith and oxs sharp pointed keen quick clever 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 whence acute some topical epitheta of achilles in the iliad point to this swift footedness namely podrks dos achilles swift footed divine achilles or even more frequently pdas ks achilles quick footed achilles 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 him 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 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 originally uttered by themis goddess of divine law 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 st 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 see achilles heel achilles tendon 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 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 i e the cypria the little iliad by lesches of pyrrha the aithiopis and iliou persis by arctinus of miletus 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 or in many cases arrows 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 among the appellations under which achilles is generally known are the following some post homeric sources claim that in order to keep achilles safe from the war thetis or in some versions peleus hid the young man at the court of lycomedes king of skyros there achilles was disguised as a girl and lived among lycomedes daughters perhaps under the name pyrrha the red haired girl with lycomedes daughter deidamia whom in the account of statius he raped achilles there fathered two sons neoptolemus also called pyrrhus after his father s possible alias and oneiros according to this story odysseus learned from the prophet calchas that the achaeans would be unable to capture troy without achilles aid odysseus went to skyros in the guise of a peddler selling women s clothes and jewellery and placed a shield and spear among his goods when achilles instantly took up the spear odysseus saw through his disguise and convinced him to join the greek campaign in another version of the story odysseus arranged for a trumpet alarm to be sounded while he was with lycomedes women while the women fled in panic achilles prepared to defend the court thus giving his identity away according to the iliad achilles arrived at troy with ships each carrying myrmidons he appointed five leaders each leader commanding myrmidons 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 cypria the part of the epic cycle that tells the events of the trojan war before achilles wrath when the achaeans desired to return home they were restrained by achilles who afterwards attacked the cattle of aeneas sacked neighbouring cities like pedasus and lyrnessus where the greeks capture the queen briseis and killed tenes a son of apollo as well as priam s son troilus in the sanctuary of apollo thymbraios however the romance between troilus and chryseis described in geoffrey chaucer s troilus and criseyde and in william shakespeare s troilus and cressida is a medieval invention in dares phrygius account of the destruction of troy the latin summary through which the story of achilles was transmitted to medieval europe as well as in older accounts troilus was a young trojan prince the youngest of king priam s and hecuba s five legitimate sons or according other sources another son of apollo despite his youth he was one of the main trojan war leaders a horse fighter or chariot fighter according to homer prophecies linked troilus fate to that of troy and so he was ambushed in an attempt to capture him yet achilles struck by the beauty of both troilus and his sister polyxena and overcome with lust directed his sexual attentions on the youth who refusing to yield instead found himself decapitated upon an altar omphalos of apollo thymbraios later versions of the story suggested troilus was accidentally killed by achilles in an over ardent lovers embrace in this version of the myth achilles death therefore came in retribution for this sacrilege ancient writers treated troilus as the epitome of a dead child mourned by his parents had troilus lived to adulthood the first vatican mythographer claimed troy would have been invincible however the motif is older and found already in plautus bacchides homer s iliad is the most famous narrative of achilles deeds in the trojan war achilles wrath mnis achills 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 and as he says later because he loves briseis 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 sirius a sign of evil during the cremation of patroclus he is compared to hesperus the evening western star venus while the burning of the funeral pyre lasts until phosphorus the morning eastern star also venus has set descended with the assistance of the god hermes argeiphontes 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 days with a burial on the th in the tradition of niobe s offspring the poem ends with a description of hector s funeral with the doom of troy and achilles himself still to come the aethiopis th century bc 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 unlike hector was also the son of a goddess many homeric scholars argued that episode inspired many details in the iliads 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 th century bc the aethiopis is now lost except for scattered fragments quoted by later authors the exact nature of achilles relationship with patroclus has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times in the iliad it appears to be the model of a deep and loyal friendship homer does not suggest that achilles and his close friend patroclus had sexual relations although there is no direct evidence in the text of the iliad that achilles and patroclus were lovers this theory was expressed by some later authors commentators from classical antiquity to the present have often interpreted the relationship through the lens of their own cultures in th century bce athens the intense bond was often viewed in light of the greek custom of paiderasteia in plato s symposium 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 to the heel according to statius 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 aethiopis as living after his death in the island of leuke at the mouth of the river danube another version of achilles death is that he fell deeply in love with one of the trojan princesses polyxena achilles asks priam for polyxena s hand in marriage priam is willing because it would mean the end of the war and an alliance with the world s 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 odyssey 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 of homer s odyssey odysseus sails to the underworld and converses with the shades one of these is achilles who when greeted as blessed in life blessed in death responds that he would rather be a slave to the worst of masters than be king of all the dead but achilles then asks odysseus of his son s exploits in the trojan war and when odysseus tells of neoptolemus 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 rd century bc achilles armour was the object of a feud between odysseus and telamonian ajax ajax the greater they competed for it by giving speeches on why they were the bravest after achilles to their trojan prisoners who after considering both men s 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 odyssey 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 bce by alexander the great who envisioned himself as the new achilles and carried the iliad with him but his court biographers do not mention the spear however it was shown in the time of pausanias in the nd century ce 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 petteia 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 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 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 ukrainian zmiinyi near kiliya ukraine early dedicatory inscriptions from the greek colonies on the black sea graffiti and inscribed clay disks these possibly being votive offerings from olbia the area of berezan island and the tauric chersonese 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 roughly lord of the sea or of the pontus euxinus 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 ad in his natural history mentions a port of the achi and an island of achilles famous for the tomb of that man situated somewhat nearby olbia and the dnieper bug estuary furthermore at roman miles from this island he places a peninsula which stretches forth in the shape of a sword obliquely called dromos achilleos achills drmos the race course of achilles and considered the place of the hero s exercise or of games instituted by him this last feature of pliny s account is considered to be the iconic spit called today tendra or kosa tendra and kosa djarilgatch situated between the mouth of the dnieper and karkinit bay but which is hardly roman miles c km away from the dnieper bug estuary as pliny states to the race course he gives a length of miles c km whereas the spit measures c km today in the following chapter of his book pliny refers to the same island as achillea and introduces two further names for it leuce or macaron from greek island of the blest the present day measures he gives at this point seem to account for an identification of achillea or leuce with today s snake island pliny s contemporary pomponius mela c ad tells that achilles was buried on an island named achillea situated between the borysthenes and the ister adding to the geographical confusion ruins of a square temple measuring meters to a side possibly that dedicated to achilles were discovered by captain kritzikly in on snake island a second exploration in showed that the construction of a lighthouse had destroyed all traces of this temple a fifth century bc black glazed lekythos inscription found on the island in reads glaukos son of poseidon dedicated me to achilles lord of leuke 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 leuce seems to go back to an account from the lost epic aethiopis according to which after his untimely death thetis had snatched her son from the funeral pyre and removed him to a mythical lek nsos white island already in the fifth century bc pindar had mentioned a cult of achilles on a bright island phaenn nsos of the black sea while in another of his works pindar would retell the story of the immortalized achilles living on a geographically indefinite island of the blest together with other heroes such as his father peleus and cadmus well known is the connection of these mythological fortunate isles makrn nsoi or the homeric elysium with the stream oceanus which according to greek mythology surrounds the inhabited world which should have accounted for the identification of the northern strands of the euxine with it guy hedreen has found further evidence for this connection of achilles with the northern margin of the inhabited world in a poem by alcaeus speaking of achilles lord of scythia 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 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 according to stephanus byzantinus 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 presumably from an older achileii 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 the roman emperor caracalla while on his way to war against parthia emulated alexander by holding games around achilles tumulus 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 revenge him the tragedian sophocles also wrote the lovers of achilles a play with achilles as the main character only a few fragments survive towards the end of the th 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 the philosopher zeno of elea centred one of his paradoxes on an imaginary footrace between swift footed 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 hippias minor a dialogue attributed to plato an arrogant man named hippias argues with socrates the two get into a discussion about lying they decide that a person who is intentionally false must be better 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 on 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 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 th 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 achilles has been frequently the subject of operas ballets and related genres in films achilles has been portrayed in the following films and television series in elisabeth of bavaria empress of austria had a summer palace built in corfu the building is named the achilleion after achilles its paintings and statuary depict scenes from the trojan war with particular focus on achilles abraham lincoln february april was an american statesman and lawyer who served as the th president of the united states from until his assassination in lincoln led the nation through the american civil war the country s greatest moral constitutional and political crisis he 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 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 becoming a leader in the new republican party and he reached a national audience in the debates against stephen douglas lincoln ran for president in 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 as the leader of moderate republicans lincoln had to navigate a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents on both sides war democrats rallied a large faction of former opponents into his moderate camp but they were countered by radical republicans who demanded harsh treatment of the southern traitors anti war democrats called copperheads despised him and irreconcilable pro confederate elements plotted his assassination lincoln managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity by carefully distributing political patronage and by appealing to the u s people his gettysburg address became a historic clarion call for nationalism republicanism equal rights liberty and democracy 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 and he averted british intervention by defusing the trent affair he engineered the end to slavery with his emancipation proclamation and his order that the army 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 just days after the war s end at appomattox lincoln was attending a play at ford s theatre with his wife mary when he was assassinated by confederate sympathizer john wilkes booth his marriage had produced four sons two of whom preceded him in death with severe emotional impact upon him and mary lincoln is remembered as the martyr hero of the united states and he is consistently ranked as one of the greatest presidents in american history abraham lincoln was born on february 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 the family then migrated west passing through new jersey pennsylvania and virginia lincoln s paternal grandparents his namesake captain abraham lincoln and wife bathsheba ne herring moved the family from virginia to jefferson county kentucky the captain was killed in an indian raid in 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 s 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 in washington county and moved to elizabethtown kentucky they had three children sarah abraham and thomas who died an infant thomas lincoln bought or leased farms in kentucky before losing all but of his land in court disputes over property titles in the family moved to indiana where the land surveys and titles were more reliable indiana was a free non slaveholding territory and they settled in an unbroken forest in hurricane township perry county indiana in 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 obtained clear title to in indiana an area which became the little pigeon creek community on october nancy lincoln succumbed to milk sickness leaving year old sarah in charge of a household including her father year old abraham and nancy s year old orphan cousin dennis hanks ten years later on january sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son devastating lincoln on december 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 at seventeen abraham left the family home for a while to work on a ferry across the anderson river near its junction with the ohio at nineteen he lost his sister sarah who died giving birth to her first child in april he signed a contract with james gentry a neighboring settler under which he was to bring a boat of agricultural products to new orleans the journey lasted three months during which he traveled with one of gentry s sons to ohio and then to mississippi where they had to face strong currents and an attack on their cargo back in indiana abraham gave his father the this contract earned him in march when abraham was thomas lincoln decided to move to the fertile lands of illinois on the edge of the sangamon river his son helped him clear his new land the following winter was harsh and the family remained stranded for several months by snow and ice lincoln was mostly self educated except for some schooling from itinerant teachers of less than months aggregate 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 lincoln was tall strong and athletic and became adept at using an ax 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 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 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 lincoln s first romantic interest was ann rutledge whom he met when he moved to new salem by they were in a relationship but not formally engaged she died on august most likely of typhoid fever in the early s he met mary owens from kentucky late in 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 he wrote owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship and she never replied in 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 was canceled at lincoln s request but they reconciled and married on november 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 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 and was the only child to live to maturity edward baker lincoln eddie born in died february probably of tuberculosis lincoln s third son willie lincoln was born on december and died of a fever at the white house on february the youngest thomas tad lincoln was born on april and survived his father but died of heart failure at age on july 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 in 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 neck and the seat of his trousers and tossed him lincoln finished eighth out of candidates the top four were elected though he received of the 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 he taught himself the law with blackstone s commentaries saying later of the effort i studied with nobody lincoln s second state house campaign in this time as a whig was a success over a powerful whig opponent then followed his four terms in the illinois house of representatives for sangamon county he championed construction of the illinois and michigan canal and later was a canal commissioner he voted to expand suffrage beyond white landowners to all white males but adopted a free soil stance opposing both slavery and abolition in he declared the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils he echoed henry clay s 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 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 began his practice with william herndon a studious young man true to his record lincoln professed to friends in to be an old line whig a disciple of henry clay their party favored economic modernization in banking tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads and urbanization in lincoln sought the whig nomination for illinois th 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 but also won 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 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 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 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 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 in his springfield practice lincoln handled every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer twice a year he appeared for consecutive weeks in county seats in the midstate county courts this continued for years lincoln handled transportation cases in the midst of the nation s western expansion particularly river barge conflicts under the many new railroad bridges as a riverboat man lincoln initially favored those interests but ultimately represented whoever hired him he later represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge in 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 cases he was sole counsel in cases of which were decided in his favor from to one of his largest clients was the illinois central railroad his legal reputation gave rise to the nickname honest abe lincoln argued in an criminal trial defending william duff armstrong who was on trial for the murder of james preston metzker the case is famous for lincoln s use of a fact established by judicial notice to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness after an opposing witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight lincoln produced a farmers almanac 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 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 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 a legislative package designed to address the issue in his eulogy for clay lincoln highlighted the latter s support for gradual emancipation and opposition to both extremes on the slavery issue as the slavery debate in the nebraska and kansas territories became particularly acrimonious illinois senator stephen a douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery the legislation alarmed many northerners who sought to prevent the resulting spread of slavery but douglas s kansas nebraska act narrowly passed congress in may lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his peoria speech in october 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 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 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 violent political confrontations in kansas continued and opposition to the kansas nebraska act remained strong throughout the north as the 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 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 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 dred scott v sandford 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 dred scott would end the dispute over slavery in the territories the decision sparked further outrage in the north lincoln denounced it as the product of a conspiracy of democrats to support the slave power he argued the decision was at variance with the declaration of independence he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect they believed all men were equal in certain inalienable rights among which are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness in 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 and lincoln s 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 accepting the nomination lincoln delivered his house divided speech with the biblical reference mark a house divided against itself cannot stand i believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free i do not expect the union to be dissolved i do not expect the house to fall but i do expect it will cease to be divided it will become all one thing or all the other the speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion the stage was then set for the election of the illinois legislature which would in turn select lincoln or douglas when informed of lincoln s nomination douglas stated lincoln is the strong man of the party and if i beat him my victory will be hardly won the senate campaign featured seven debates between the two 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 slave power was threatening the values of republicanism and accused douglas of distorting the founding fathers premise that all men are created equal douglas emphasized his freeport doctrine that local settlers were free to choose whether to allow slavery and accused lincoln of having joined the abolitionists lincoln s argument assumed a moral tone as he claimed douglas represented a conspiracy to promote slavery douglas s argument was more legal claiming that lincoln was defying the authority of the u s supreme court in the dred scott decision though the republican legislative candidates won more popular votes the democrats won more seats and the legislature re elected douglas lincoln s articulation of the issues gave him a national political presence in may lincoln purchased the illinois staats anzeiger a german language newspaper that was consistently supportive most of the state s german americans voted democratic but the german language paper mobilized republican support in the aftermath of the election newspapers frequently mentioned lincoln as a potential republican presidential candidate rivaled by william h seward salmon p chase edward bates and simon cameron while lincoln was popular in the midwest he lacked support in the northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office in january lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the nomination if offered and in the following months several local papers endorsed his candidacy on february powerful new york republicans invited lincoln to give a speech at cooper union in which he argued that the founding fathers had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery he insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong many in the audience thought he appeared awkward and even ugly but lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership that brought him into contention journalist noah brooks reported no man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a new york audience historian david herbert donald described the speech as a superb political move for an unannounced candidate to appear in one rival s seward own state at an event sponsored by the second rival s chase loyalists while not mentioning either by name during its delivery in response to an inquiry about his ambitions lincoln said the taste is in my mouth a little on may 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 clearing land and splitting fence rails lincoln s supporters adopted the label of the rail candidate in 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 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 s 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 lincoln s life story emphasizing his childhood poverty the goal was to demonstrate the power of free labor which allowed a common farm boy to work his way to the top by his own efforts the republican party s production of campaign literature dwarfed the combined opposition a chicago tribune writer produced a pamphlet that detailed lincoln s life and sold 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 whom would remain in that role during the presidency on november lincoln was elected the th 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 of the southern slave states and he won only two of counties in all the southern states an omen of the impending civil war lincoln received votes or 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 votes to for his opponents the south was outraged by lincoln s election and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the union before he took office in march on december south carolina took the lead by adopting an ordinance of secession by february 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 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 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 states lincoln 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 signaled that legislative compromise was impossible by march 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 union s fort sumter in charleston south carolina sent a request for provisions to washington and lincoln s order to meet that request was seen by the secessionists as an act of war on april 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 lincoln called on the states to send a total of volunteer troops to recapture forts protect washington and preserve the union 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 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 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 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 general john c frmont the 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 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 trent affair which threatened war with great britain the u s navy illegally intercepted a british mail ship the trent 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 techniques lincoln 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 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 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 stanton and lincoln virtually conducted the war together say thomas and hyman lincoln s war strategy embraced two priorities ensuring that washington was well defended and conducting an aggressive war effort for a prompt decisive victory twice a week lincoln met with his cabinet in the afternoon occasionally mary prevailed on him to take a carriage ride concerned that he was working too hard for his edification lincoln relied upon a book by his chief of staff general henry halleck entitled elements of military art and science halleck was a disciple of the european strategist antoine henri jomini lincoln began to appreciate the critical need to control strategic points such as the mississippi river lincoln saw the importance of vicksburg and understood the necessity of defeating the enemy s army rather than simply capturing territory 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 lincoln removed mcclellan for the general s continued inaction he elevated henry halleck in july and appointed john pope as head of the new army of virginia pope satisfied lincoln s 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 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 president s demand that he pursue lee s withdrawing army while general don carlos buell likewise refused orders to move the army of the ohio against rebel forces in eastern tennessee lincoln replaced buell with william rosecrans and after the midterm elections he replaced mcclellan with ambrose burnside the appointments were both politically neutral and adroit on lincoln s part burnside against presidential advice launched an offensive across the rappahannock river and was defeated by lee at fredericksburg in december desertions during came in the thousands and only increased after fredericksburg so lincoln replaced burnside with joseph hooker in the midterm elections the republicans suffered severe losses due to rising inflation high taxes rumors of corruption suspension of habeas corpus 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 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 the federal government s power to end slavery was limited by the constitution which before 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 as well as one by major general david hunter in may on the grounds that it was not within their power and would upset loyal border states in june congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory which lincoln signed in july the confiscation act of 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 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 and effective january affirmed the freedom of slaves in states not then under union control with exemptions specified for areas under such control lincoln s comment on signing the proclamation was i never in my life felt more certain that i was doing right than i do in signing this paper he spent the next 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 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 the bare sight of armed and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the mississippi would end the rebellion at once by the end of at lincoln s direction general lorenzo thomas had recruited 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 lincoln spoke at the dedication of the gettysburg battlefield cemetery on november in words and three minutes lincoln asserted that the nation was born not in but in conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal he defined the war as dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality for all he declared that the deaths of so many brave soldiers would not be in vain that slavery would end and the future of democracy would be assured that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth 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 grant s victories at the battle of shiloh and in the vicksburg campaign impressed lincoln responding to criticism of grant after shiloh lincoln had said i can t spare this man he fights with grant in command lincoln felt the union army could advance in multiple theaters while also including black troops meade s failure to capture lee s army after gettysburg and the continued passivity of the army of the potomac persuaded lincoln to promote grant to supreme commander grant then assumed command of meade s army lincoln was concerned that grant might be considering a presidential candidacy in he arranged for an intermediary to inquire into grant s political intentions and once assured that he had none lincoln promoted grant to the newly revived rank of lieutenant general a rank which had been unoccupied since george washington authorization for such a promotion with the advice and consent of the senate was provided by a new bill which lincoln signed the same day he submitted grant s name to the senate his nomination was confirmed by the senate on march grant in 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 which was considerable for its own sake lincoln s engagement became distinctly personal on one occasion in when confederate general jubal early raided washington d c legend has it that while lincoln watched from an exposed position union captain and future supreme court justice 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 grant nearly encircled petersburg in a siege the confederate government evacuated richmond and lincoln visited the conquered capital on april lee surrendered to grant at appomattox officially ending the war lincoln ran for reelection in 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 peace wing of the party and called the war a failure but their candidate mcclellan supported the war and repudiated the platform meanwhile lincoln emboldened grant with more troops and republican party support sherman s capture of atlanta in september and david farragut s capture of mobile ended defeatism the democratic party was deeply split with some leaders and most soldiers openly for lincoln the national union party was united by lincoln s support for emancipation state republican parties stressed the perfidy of the copperheads on november lincoln carried all but three states including percent of union soldiers on march lincoln delivered his second inaugural address in it he deemed the war casualties to be god s will historian mark noll places the speech among the small handful of semi sacred texts by which americans conceive their place in the world it is inscribed in the lincoln memorial lincoln said 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 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 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 wade davis bill which lincoln vetoed the radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from louisiana arkansas and tennessee lincoln s appointments were designed to harness both moderates and radicals to fill chief justice taney s seat on the supreme court he named the radicals 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 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 the republican unionist platform and after a house debate the second attempt passed on january with ratification it became the thirteenth amendment to the united states constitution on december lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen he signed senator charles sumner s freedmen s 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 that eric foner argues that 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 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 the sioux uprising in minnesota supported by the yankton indians killed hundreds of white settlers forced 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 sioux 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 sioux at wood lake by october pope considered the uprising to be ended hostilities ceased on december 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 execution warrants for santee dakota convicted of killing innocent farmers he commuted the sentences of all but 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 that he would have gotten more presidential election support had he executed all of the indians lincoln responded i could not afford to hang men for votes 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 we need the strongest men of the party in the cabinet we needed to hold our own people together i had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men then i had no right to deprive the country of their services goodwin described the group in her biography as a team of rivals lincoln adhered to the whig theory of a presidency focused on executing laws while deferring to congress responsibility for legislating lincoln vetoed only four bills particularly the wade davis bill with its harsh reconstruction program the homestead act made millions of acres of western government held land available for purchase at low cost the morrill land grant colleges act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state the pacific railway acts of and granted federal support for the construction of the united states first transcontinental railroad which was completed in 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 s there were two measures passed to raise revenues for the federal government tariffs a policy with long precedent and a federal income tax in lincoln signed the second and third morrill tariffs following the first enacted by buchanan he also signed the revenue act of creating the first u s income tax a flat tax of percent on incomes above in current dollar terms the revenue act of 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 congress created the department of agriculture in response to rumors of a renewed draft the editors of the new york world and the journal of commerce 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 th century it had been sporadically proclaimed by the federal government on irregular dates the prior proclamation had been during james madison s presidency years earlier in lincoln declared the final thursday in november of that year to be a day of thanksgiving in june lincoln approved the yosemite grant enacted by congress which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as yosemite national park 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 election and was an avowed abolitionist david davis was lincoln s campaign manager in 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 lincoln appointed judges to the united states district courts but no judges to the united states circuit courts during his time in office west virginia was admitted to the union on june nevada which became the third state in the far west of the continent was admitted as a free state on october 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 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 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 pm 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 am on april 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 was tracked to a farm in virginia and refusing to surrender he was mortally shot by sergeant boston corbett and died on april 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 the late president lay in state first in the east room of the white house and then in the capitol rotunda from april through april the caskets containing lincoln s body and the body of his son willie traveled for three weeks on the lincoln special funeral train the train followed a circuitous route from washington d c to springfield illinois stopping at many cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands bonfires and hymn singing or in silent grief poet walt whitman composed when lilacs last in the dooryard bloom d to eulogize him one of four poems he wrote about lincoln african americans were especially moved they had lost their moses in a larger sense the reaction was in response to the deaths of so many men in the war historians emphasized the widespread shock and sorrow but noted that some lincoln haters celebrated his death 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 s 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 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 in the s 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 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 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 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 b 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 s 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 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 reverence for the founding fathers the constitution the laws under it and the preservation of the republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism james g randall emphasizes his tolerance and moderation in his preference for orderly progress his distrust of dangerous agitation and his reluctance toward ill digested schemes of reform randall concludes that he was conservative in his complete avoidance of that type of so called radicalism which involved abuse of the south hatred for the slaveholder thirst for vengeance partisan plotting and ungenerous demands that southern institutions be transformed overnight by outsiders 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 a majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments is the only true sovereign of a free people the successful reunification of the states had consequences for how people view the country the term the united states has historically been used sometimes in the plural these united states 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 th century in surveys of u s scholars ranking presidents conducted since the top three presidents are lincoln washington and franklin delano roosevelt although the order varies between and lincoln john f kennedy and ronald reagan have been the top ranked presidents in eight surveys according to gallup a study found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked lincoln number one while legal scholars placed him second after george washington lincoln s assassination left him a national martyr he was viewed by abolitionists as a champion of human liberty republicans linked lincoln s name to their party many though not all in the south considered lincoln as a man of outstanding ability historians have said he was a classical liberal in the th century sense allen c guelzo states that lincoln was a classical liberal democrat an enemy of artificial hierarchy a friend to trade and business as ennobling and enabling and an american counterpart to mill cobden and bright whose portrait lincoln hung in his white house office schwartz argues that lincoln s american reputation grew slowly from the late th century until the progressive era s when he emerged as one of america s most venerated heroes even among white southerners the high point came in 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 s and s the memory of abraham lincoln was practically sacred and provided the nation with a moral symbol inspiring and guiding american life during the great depression he argues lincoln served as a means for seeing the world s disappointments for making its sufferings not so much explicable as meaningful franklin d roosevelt preparing america for war used the words of the civil war president to clarify the threat posed by germany and japan americans asked what would lincoln do however schwartz also finds that since world war ii lincoln s symbolic power has lost relevance and this fading hero is symptomatic of fading confidence in national greatness he suggested that postmodernism and multiculturalism have diluted greatness as a concept in the cold war years lincoln s image shifted to a symbol of freedom who brought hope to those oppressed by communist regimes by the late s some african american intellectuals led by lerone bennett jr rejected lincoln s role as the great emancipator bennett won wide attention when he called lincoln a white supremacist in 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 moral visionary 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 s 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 that lincoln s image suffered erosion fading prestige benign ridicule in the late th century on the other hand donald opined in his biography that lincoln was distinctly endowed with the personality trait of negative capability defined by the poet john keats and attributed to extraordinary leaders who were content in the midst of uncertainties and doubts and not compelled toward fact or reason in the st 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 lincoln s portrait appears on two denominations of united states currency the penny and the bill his likeness also appears on many postage stamps while he is usually portrayed bearded he didn t grow a beard until at the suggestion of year old grace bedell he was the first of 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 nation s capital and is one of the top five visited national park service sites in the country ford s theatre among the top sites in washington d c is across the street from petersen house where he died memorials in springfield illinois include abraham lincoln presidential library and museum lincoln s home as well as his tomb a portrait carving of lincoln appears with those of three other presidents on mount rushmore which receives about million visitors a year aristotle aristotls 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 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 c bc shortly after plato died aristotle left athens and at the request of philip ii of macedon tutored alexander the great beginning in 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 on physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship their influence 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 reproductive arm of the octopus were disbelieved until the th century his works contain the earliest known formal study of logic studied by medieval scholars such as peter abelard and john buridan aristotle s influence on logic also continued well into the th century he 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 his ethics though always influential gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics 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 bc in stagira chalcidice about km miles east of modern day thessaloniki his father nicomachus was the personal physician to king amyntas of macedon 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 plato s academy he probably experienced the eleusinian mysteries as he wrote when describing the sights one viewed at the eleusinian mysteries to experience is to learn aristotle remained in athens for nearly twenty years before leaving in bc the traditional story about his departure records that he was disappointed with the academy s direction after control passed to plato s nephew speusippus although it is possible that he feared the anti macedonian sentiments in athens at that time and left before plato died aristotle then accompanied xenocrates to the court of his friend hermias of atarneus in asia minor after the death of hermias aristotle travelled with his pupil theophrastus to the island of lesbos where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island and its sheltered lagoon while in lesbos aristotle married pythias either hermias s adoptive daughter or niece she bore him a daughter whom they also named pythias in 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 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 and 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 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 with the prior analytics aristotle is credited with the earliest study of formal logic and his conception of it was the dominant form of western logic until th century advances in mathematical logic kant stated in the critique of pure reason that with aristotle logic reached its completion what is today called aristotelian logic with its types of syllogism methods of logical argument aristotle himself would have labelled analytics the term logic he reserved to mean dialectics most of aristotle s work is probably not in its original form because it was most likely edited by students and later lecturers the logical works of aristotle were compiled into a set of six books called the organon around bc by andronicus of rhodes or others among his followers the books are the order of the books or the teachings from which they are composed 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 in the analytics and dialectics in the topics and sophistical refutations 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 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 physics as the contemplative theoretik philosophy which is theological and studies the divine he wrote in his metaphysics a aristotle examines the concepts of substance ousia and essence to ti n einai the what it was to be in his metaphysics book vii and he concludes that a particular substance is a combination of both matter and form a philosophical theory called hylomorphism in book viii he distinguishes the matter of the substance as the substratum or the stuff of which it is composed for example the matter of a house is the bricks stones timbers etc or whatever constitutes the potential house while the form of the substance is the actual house namely covering for bodies and chattels 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 like his teacher plato aristotle s philosophy aims at the universal aristotle s ontology places the universal katholou in particulars kath hekaston things in the world whereas for plato the universal is a separately existing form which actual things imitate for aristotle form is still what phenomena are based on but is instantiated 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 good 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 with regard to the change kinesis and its causes now as he defines in his physics and on generation and corruption b a 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 dynamis and actuality entelecheia 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 dynamei a plant and if it is not prevented by something it will become a plant potentially beings can either act poiein or be acted upon paschein which can be either innate or learned for example the eyes possess the potentiality of sight innate being acted upon while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning exercise acting actuality is the fulfilment of the end of the potentiality because the end telos 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 i e matter and form 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 matter and the actual one form are one and the same 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 or ideas 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 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 dianoia is either practical poetical or theoretical metaphysics b 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 in his on generation and corruption 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 b and natural motion such as of a falling object in on the heavens a 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 on the ground say require more force to make them move and objects pushed with greater force move faster this would imply the equation incorrect in modern physics natural motion depends on the element concerned the aether naturally moves in a circle around the heavens while the empedoclean elements move vertically up like fire as is observed or down like earth towards their natural resting places in the physics a aristotle effectively states a quantitative law that the speed v of a falling body is proportional say with constant c 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 s theory that bodies move towards their natural resting places metal boats can float if they displace enough water floating depends in archimedes scheme on the mass and volume of the object not as aristotle thought its elementary composition aristotle s writings on motion remained influential until the early modern period john philoponus in the middle ages and galileo are said to have shown by experiment that aristotle s claim that a heavier object falls faster than a lighter object is incorrect a contrary opinion is given by carlo rovelli who argues that aristotle s physics of motion is correct within its domain of validity that of objects in the earth s gravitational field immersed in a fluid such as air in this system heavy bodies in steady fall indeed travel faster than light ones whether friction is ignored or not 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 e g the ball leaves the thrower s hand 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 aristotle suggested that the reason for anything coming about can be attributed to four different types of simultaneously active factors his term aitia is traditionally translated as cause but it does not always refer to temporal sequence it might be better translated as explanation but the traditional rendering will be employed here aristotle describes experiments in optics using a camera obscura in problems book 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 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 those stars which are shaded by the earth from the sun s rays pointing out correctly that if the size of the sun is greater than that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the earth many times greater than that of the sun then the sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of them 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 lakes that had dried up and deserts that had become watered by rivers giving as examples the growth of the nile delta since the time of homer and the upheaving of one of the aeolian islands previous to a volcanic eruption aristotle also made many observations about the hydrologic cycle and meteorology including his major writings meteorologica 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 i have proved by experiment that salt water evaporated forms fresh and the vapor does not when it condenses condense into sea water again 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 history of animals generation of animals movement of animals and parts of animals 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 th 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 aristotle did not do experiments in the modern sense he used the ancient greek term pepeiramenoi to mean observations or at most investigative procedures like dissection in generation of animals he finds a fertilized hen s egg of a suitable stage and opens it to see the embryo s 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 terrestrial placental mammals that he studied among these correct predictions are the following brood size decreases with adult body mass so that an elephant has fewer young usually just one 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 aristotle distinguished about species of animals arranging these in the history of animals in a graded scale of perfection a scala naturae with man at the top his system had eleven grades of animal from highest potential to lowest expressed in their form at birth the highest gave live birth to hot and wet creatures the lowest laid cold dry mineral like eggs animals came above plants and these in turn were above minerals see also he grouped what the modern zoologist would call vertebrates as the hotter animals with blood and below them the colder invertebrates as animals without blood those with blood were divided into the live bearing mammals and the egg laying birds reptiles fish those without blood were insects crustacea non shelled cephalopods and shelled and the hard shelled molluscs bivalves and gastropods 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 aristotle s psychology given in his treatise on the soul peri psychs posits three kinds of soul psyches the vegetative soul the sensitive soul and the rational soul humans have a rational soul the human soul incorporates the powers of the other kinds like the vegetative soul it can grow and nourish itself like the sensitive soul it can experience sensations and move locally the unique part of the human rational soul is its ability to receive forms of other things and to compare them using the nous intellect and logos reason 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 or in the case of plants growth and chemical transformations which aristotle considers types of 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 on sleep and wakefulness 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 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 aristotle s practical philosophy covers areas such as ethics politics economics and rhetoric aristotelian just war theory is not well regarded in the present day especially his view that warfare was justified to enslave natural slaves in aristotelian philosophy the abolition of what he considers natural slavery would undermine civic freedom the pursuit of freedom is inseparable from pursuing mastery over those who deserve to be slaves according to the cambridge companion to aristotle s politics the targets of this aggressive warfare were non greeks noting aristotle s view that our poets say it is proper for greeks to rule non greeks aristotle generally has a favourable opinion of war extolling it as a chance for virtue and writing that the leisure that accompanies peace tends to make people arrogant war to avoid becoming enslaved to others is justified as self defence he writes that war compels people to be just and temperate however in order to be just war must be chosen for the sake of peace with the exception of wars of aggression discussed above 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 ergon 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 psuch soul in accordance with reason logos aristotle identified such an optimum activity the virtuous mean between the accompanying vices of excess or deficiency of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action eudaimonia generally translated as happiness or sometimes well being to have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character thik aret 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 politics aristotle considered the city to be a natural community moreover he considered the city to be prior in importance to the family which in turn is prior to the individual for the whole must of necessity be prior to the part he famously stated that man is by nature a political animal and argued that humanity s defining factor among others in the animal kingdom is its rationality aristotle conceived of politics as being like an organism rather than like a machine and as a collection of parts none of which can exist without the others aristotle s 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 states as 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 politics aristotle addresses the city property and trade his response to criticisms of private property in lionel robbins s view anticipated later proponents of private property among philosophers and economists as it related to the overall utility of social arrangements aristotle believed that although communal arrangements may seem beneficial to society and that although private property is often blamed for social strife such evils in fact come from human nature in politics 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 commensurable he goes on to state that money is also useful for future exchange making it a sort of security that is if we do not want a thing now we shall be able to get it when we do want it aristotle s rhetoric proposes that a speaker can use three basic kinds of appeals to persuade his audience ethos an appeal to the speaker s character pathos an appeal to the audience s emotion and logos an appeal to logical reasoning he also categorizes rhetoric into three genres epideictic ceremonial speeches dealing with praise or blame forensic judicial speeches over guilt or innocence and deliberative speeches calling on an audience to make a decision on an issue aristotle also outlines two kinds of rhetorical proofs enthymeme proof by syllogism and paradeigma proof by example aristotle writes in his poetics that epic poetry tragedy comedy dithyrambic poetry painting sculpture music and dance are all fundamentally acts of mimesis imitation each varying in imitation by medium object and manner he applies the term mimesis both as a property of a work of art and also as the product of the artist s intention and contends that the audience s realisation of the mimesis is vital to understanding the work itself aristotle states that mimesis is a natural instinct of humanity that separates humans from animals and that all human artistry follows the pattern of nature because of this aristotle believed that each of the mimetic arts possesses what stephen halliwell calls highly structured procedures for the achievement of their purposes 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 poetics originally comprised two books one on comedy and one on tragedy only the portion that focuses on tragedy has survived aristotle taught that tragedy is composed of six elements plot structure character style thought spectacle and lyric poetry the characters in a tragedy are merely a means of driving the story and the plot not the characters is the chief focus of tragedy tragedy is the imitation of action arousing pity and fear and is meant to effect the catharsis of those same emotions aristotle concludes poetics 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 aristotle s analysis of procreation describes an active ensouling masculine element bringing life to an inert passive female element on this ground proponents of feminist metaphysics have accused aristotle of misogyny and sexism however aristotle gave equal weight to women s happiness as he did to men s and commented in his rhetoric that the things that lead to happiness need to be in women as well as men more than 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 aristotle s pupil and successor theophrastus wrote the history of plants a pioneering work in botany some of his technical terms remain in use such as carpel from carpos fruit and pericarp from pericarpion seed chamber theophrastus was much less concerned with formal causes than aristotle was instead pragmatically describing how plants functioned 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 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 and after the rise of christianity natural theology would remain central to biological thought essentially until the th and th centuries ernst mayr states that there was nothing of any real consequence in biology after lucretius and galen until the renaissance 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 aristotle s views on the eternity of the world movement and other elements of aristotelian thought philoponus questioned aristotle s 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 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 with the loss of the study of ancient greek in the early medieval latin west aristotle was practically unknown there from c ad to c except through the latin translation of the organon made by boethius in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries interest in aristotle revived and latin christians had translations made both from arabic translations such as those by gerard of cremona and from the original greek such as those by james of venice and william of moerbeke after the scholastic thomas aquinas wrote his summa theologica working from moerbeke s translations and calling aristotle the philosopher 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 having a cautionary medieval tale held that aristotle advised his pupil alexander to avoid the king s seductive mistress phyllis but was himself captivated by her and allowed her to ride him phyllis had secretly told alexander what to expect and he witnessed phyllis proving that a woman s charms could overcome even the greatest philosopher s 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 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 body s heat as aristotle thought galileo used more doubtful arguments to displace aristotle s physics proposing that bodies all fall at the same speed whatever their weight the th 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 natural slaves and the natural superiority virtue arete 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 to go under over and beyond it with his system of algebraic logic in his book the laws of thought 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 during the th century aristotle s work was widely criticized the philosopher bertrand russell argued that almost every serious intellectual advance has had to begin with an attack on some aristotelian doctrine russell called aristotle s ethics repulsive and labelled his logic as definitely antiquated as ptolemaic astronomy 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 proceed ing so readily to frame a theory of such a general character on limited evidence from their senses in the biologist peter medawar could still state in pure seventeenth century tones that aristotle had assembled a strange and generally speaking rather tiresome farrago of hearsay imperfect observation wishful thinking and credulity amounting to downright gullibility by the start of the st century however aristotle was taken more seriously kukkonen noted that in the best th 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 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 the works of aristotle that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission are collected in the corpus aristotelicum these texts as opposed to aristotle s lost works are technical philosophical treatises from within aristotle s school reference to them is made according to the organization of immanuel bekker s royal prussian academy edition aristotelis opera edidit academia regia borussica berlin which in turn is based on ancient classifications of these works aristotle wrote his works on papyrus scrolls the common writing medium of that era his writings are divisible into two groups the exoteric intended for the public and the esoteric for use within the lyceum school aristotle s lost works stray considerably in characterization from the surviving aristotelian corpus whereas the lost works appear to have been originally written with a view to subsequent publication the surviving works mostly resemble lecture notes not intended for publication cicero s description of aristotle s literary style as a river of gold must have applied to the published works not the surviving notes a major question in the history of aristotle s works is how the exoteric writings were all lost and how the ones now possessed came to be found the consensus is that andronicus of rhodes collected the esoteric works of aristotle s 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 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 meteorology the existence of a landmass in the southern high latitude region and called it antarctica aristoteles is a crater on the moon bearing the classical form of aristotle s name 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 it was inspired by the time that gershwin had spent in paris and evokes the sights and energy of the french capital in the annes folles walter damrosch had asked gershwin to write a full concerto following the success of rhapsody in blue 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 in carnegie hall with damrosch conducting the new york philharmonic he completed the orchestration on november less than four weeks before the work s premiere he collaborated on the original program notes with critic and composer deems taylor 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 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 why be a second rate ravel when you can be a first rate gershwin 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 fee for the tour an enticement gershwin knew would be important to ravel gershwin greeted ravel in new york in march 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 gershwin based an american in paris on a melodic fragment called very parisienne written in on his first visit to paris as a gift to his hosts robert and mabel schirmer gershwin called it a rhapsodic ballet it is written freely and in a much more modern idiom than his prior works gershwin explained in musical america my purpose here is to portray the impressions of an american visitor in paris as he strolls about the city listens to the various street noises and absorbs the french atmosphere 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 an american in paris was better crafted than his 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 an american in paris was originally scored for flutes rd doubling on piccolo oboes english horn clarinets in b flat bass clarinet in b flat bassoons contrabassoon horns in f trumpets in b flat trombones tuba timpani snare drum bass drum triangle wood block ratchet cymbals low and high tom toms xylophone glockenspiel celesta taxi horns labeled as a b c and d with circles around them alto saxophone tenor saxophone baritone saxophone all saxophones doubling soprano saxophones and strings although most modern audiences have heard the taxi horns using the notes a b c and d it has recently come to light that gershwin s intention was to have used the notes a b d and a 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 when gershwin specialist jack gibbons made his own restoration of the original orchestration of an american in paris working directly from gershwin s original manuscript including the restoration of gershwin s soprano saxophone parts removed in campbell watson s revision gibbons restored orchestration of an american in paris was performed at london s queen elizabeth hall on july 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 on september 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 such as the restatement of the blues theme after the faster bar blues section or if the score would document changes in the orchestration during gershwin s composition process the score to an american in paris was scheduled to be issued first in a series of scores to be released the entire project was expected take to years to complete but an american in paris 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 the changes made by campbell watson were withdrawn in both editions in the extended urtext bars of music were re integrated conductor walter damrosch had cut them shortly before the first performance on september 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 orchestration except that it upheld the deletion of the contrabassoon part an alteration usually attributed to f campbell watson an american in paris has been frequently recorded the first recording was made for the victor talking machine company in 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 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 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 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 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 album one night stand recorded live at the aragon ballroom in chicago columbia gl and cl in metro goldwyn mayer released the musical film an american in paris featuring gene kelly and leslie caron winning the best picture oscar and numerous other awards the film was directed by vincente minnelli featured many tunes of gershwin and concluded with an extensive elaborate dance sequence built around the an american in paris symphonic poem arranged for the film by johnny green costing 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 for the th academy awards this change resulted from the art director s branch of the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ampas being renamed the designer s branch since the award is shared with the set decorator s it is awarded to the best interior design in a film the films below are listed with their production year for example the academy award for best art direction is given to a film from 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 famous and prestigious awards in the entertainment industry given annually by the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ampas 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 academy award of merit although more commonly referred to by its nickname the oscar 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 at a private dinner hosted by douglas fairbanks in the hollywood roosevelt hotel in what would become known as the st academy awards the academy awards ceremony was first broadcast by radio in and was televised for the first time in 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 they are widely cited as the most famous and prestigious competitive awards in the field of entertainment the nd academy awards ceremony honoring the best films of was held on february as with the previous ceremony there was no host the ceremony was broadcast on abc it took place at the dolby theatre in los angeles california for the th consecutive year this ceremony marked the first time in oscar history that more than three films had received ten or more nominations a total of oscar statuettes have been awarded since its inception in the first academy awards presentation was held on may at a private dinner function at the hollywood roosevelt hotel with an audience of about people the post awards party was held at the mayfair hotel the cost of guest tickets for that night s ceremony was in dollars fifteen statuettes were awarded honoring artists directors and other participants in the film making industry of the time for their works during the period the ceremony ran for minutes winners were announced to media three months earlier that was changed for the second ceremony in since then for the rest of the first decade the results were given to newspapers for publication at pm on the night of the awards this method was used until when the los angeles times announced the winners before the ceremony began as a result the academy has since used a sealed envelope to reveal the names of the winners the first best actor awarded was emil jannings for his performances in the last command and the way of all flesh 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 th ceremony held in 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 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 th academy awards in bemused host david niven quipped isn t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings later evidence arose suggesting that opel s appearance was facilitated as a publicity stunt by the show s producer jack haley jr robert metzler the show s business manager believed that the incident had been planned in some way during the dress rehearsal niven had asked metzler s 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 th academy awards held in presented the first academy award for best animated feature since all academy awards ceremonies have ended with the academy award for best picture traditionally the previous year s winner for best actor and best supporting actor present the awards for best actress and best supporting actress while the previous year s winner for best actress and best supporting actress present the awards for best actor and best supporting actor parasite became the first foreign language film to win best picture at the february award ceremony tom hanks announced at the oscar ceremony the opening of the academy museum of motion pictures on december the museum development started in 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 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 academy president david rubin and ceo dawn hudson announced that for the 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 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 in cm tall weighs lb kg and depicts a knight rendered in art deco style holding a crusader s 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 who also did the muse fountain at the hollywood bowl 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 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 at the c w shumway sons foundry in batavia illinois which also contributed to casting the molds for the vince lombardi trophy and emmy award s statuettes from to approximately oscars in a tin alloy with gold plating were made each year in chicago by illinois manufacturer r s owens company it would take between three and four weeks to manufacture statuettes in 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 oscar the statuettes retain their modern era dimensions and black pedestal cast in liquid bronze from d printed ceramic molds and polished they are then electroplated in karat gold by brooklyn new york based epner technology the time required to produce 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 however the origin of the nickname is disputed one biography of bette davis who was a president of the academy in 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 said the statuette reminded her of uncle oscar a nickname for her cousin oscar pierce columnist sidney skolsky who was present during herrick s naming in 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 which was written about that year s th academy awards the 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 winners returned their statuettes to the academy and had to wait several weeks to have their names inscribed on their respective oscars since 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 prior to 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 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 michael todd s grandson tried to sell todd s best picture oscar for his production of around the world in days to a movie prop collector the academy earned enforcement of its statuette contract by gaining a permanent injunction against the sale in harold russell consigned his oscar for best supporting actor for the best years of our lives to auction in order 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 for today 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 orson welles oscar for citizen kane academy award for best original screenplay was put up for auction after his heirs won a court decision contending that welles did not sign any agreement to return the statue to the academy on december it sold in an online auction for us million today some buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the academy which keeps them in its treasury in addition to the academy award of merit oscar award there are nine honorary non competitive awards presented by the academy from time to time except for the academy honorary award the technical achievement award and the student academy awards which are presented annually the academy also awards nicholl fellowships in screenwriting since academy award nomination results have been announced to the public in mid january prior to that the results were announced in early february the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ampas a professional honorary organization maintains a voting membership of over academy membership is divided into different branches with each representing a different discipline in film production actors constitute the largest voting bloc numbering members percent of the academy s composition votes have been certified by the auditing firm pricewaterhousecoopers and its predecessor price waterhouse since the th academy awards in 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 press releases have announced the names of those who have been invited to join the release also stated that it has just under voting members while the membership had been growing stricter policies have kept its size steady since then in the results of a study conducted by the los angeles times were published describing the demographic breakdown of approximately of ampas voting membership of the active voters confirmed were caucasian were male and were found to be over the age of of voting members are former nominees and winners in may the academy sent a letter advising its or so voting members that an online system for oscar voting would be implemented in according to rules and of the official academy awards rules a film must open in the previous calendar year from midnight at the start of january to midnight at the end of december 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 pm and pm local time 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 regardless of any public exhibition or distribution or a 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 awards in short film categories best documentary short subject best animated short film and best live action short film have noticeably different eligibility rules from most other competitive awards first the qualifying period for release does not coincide with a calendar year instead covering a one year period starting on october and ending on september 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 a number of 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 documentary category for that award and animation narrative alternative or international for the other awards 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 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 for example the best picture winner the hurt locker was actually first released in but did not qualify for the awards as it did not play its oscar qualifying run in los angeles until mid thus qualifying for the 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 states that a film must be feature length defined as a minimum of minutes except for short subject awards and it must exist either on a mm or mm film print or in frame s or frame s progressive scan digital cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of by pixels since the th academy awards presented in 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 the academy s announcement of the new rule made no direct mention of that film 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 in late december ballots and copies of the reminder list of eligible releases are mailed to around active members for most categories members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories i e only directors vote for directors writers for writers actors for actors etc 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 ten for best picture 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 the best picture winner has been chosen by instant runoff voting since 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 so as 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 best picture nominee the hurt locker 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 the hurt locker eventually won 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 artists who recorded the nominees for best original song quite often perform those songs live at the awards ceremony and the fact that they are performing is often used to promote the television broadcast 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 by nbc which continued to broadcast the event until when abc took over televising the festivities including the first color broadcast of the event in through nbc regained the rights for five years then abc resumed broadcast duties in and its current contract with the academy runs through 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 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 countries a decade later the rights were already being sold to countries and by the tv rights to the awards were licensed in countries the ceremonies were moved up from late march early april to late february since 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 in and abc s regained oscars were moved from tuesday to monday and went directly opposite nbc s ncaa title game 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 wins and nominations overall since that award s own launch in after many years of being held on mondays at pm eastern p m pacific since the ceremonies it was moved to sundays at pm et 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 the academy contemplated moving the ceremony even further back into january citing tv viewers fatigue with the film industry s 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 as opposed to traditionally receiving the films and ballots in the mail furthermore a january ceremony on sunday would clash with national football league playoff games in the academy announced that the ceremony would be moved from late february to mid february beginning with the nd academy awards in originally scheduled for april the th academy awards ceremony was postponed for two days because of the assassination of dr martin luther king jr on march the rd academy awards was postponed for one day after the shooting of president ronald reagan and others in washington d c in an in memoriam segment was introduced honoring those who had made a significant contribution to cinema who had died in the preceding months a selection compiled by a small committee of academy members this segment has drawn criticism over the years for the omission of some names criticism was also levied for many years regarding another aspect with the segment having a popularity contest 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 lasted minutes at the other end of the spectrum the ceremony lasted four hours and twenty three minutes in the organizers of the academy awards announced winners acceptance speeches must not run past 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 in a further effort to streamline speeches winners dedications were displayed on an on screen ticker during the 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 a reward won by mark bridges when accepting his best costume design award for phantom thread the wall street journal analyzed the average minutes spent across the telecasts as follows on song performances on the hosts speeches on prerecorded clips and on the awards themselves broken into on the introduction and announcement on winners walking to the stage and on their acceptance speeches although still dominant in ratings the viewership of the academy awards has steadily dropped the th academy awards were the lowest rated in the past eight years although with increases in male and viewership while the show itself also faced mixed reception following the show variety 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 ampas extended its contract with abc through the contract neither contains any notable changes nor gives abc any further creative control over the telecast historically the telecast s viewership is higher when box office hits are favored to win the best picture award more than million viewers tuned to the telecast for the th academy awards in the year of titanic which generated a box office haul during its initial run of us million in the us a box office record that would remain unsurpassed for years the th academy awards ceremony in which pre telecast box office earnings of us million received awards including best picture drew million viewers the most watched ceremony based on nielsen ratings to date however was the nd academy awards best picture midnight cowboy which drew a household rating on april by contrast ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings despite how much critically acclaimed those films have been the th academy awards which awarded low budget independent film crash with a pre oscar gross of us million generated an audience of million with a household rating of in the th academy awards telecast was watched by million viewers on average with an household rating the lowest rated and least watched ceremony at the time in spite of celebrating years of the academy awards the best picture winner of that particular ceremony was another independent film no country for old men the nd academy awards drew an average of million viewers a new low the academy film archive holds copies of every academy awards ceremony since the oscars and material on many prior ceremonies along with ancillary material related to more recent shows copies are held on a variety of film video and digital formats in the first academy awards were presented at a banquet dinner at the hollywood roosevelt hotel from to the ceremony alternated between two venues the ambassador hotel on wilshire boulevard and the biltmore hotel in downtown los angeles grauman s chinese theatre in hollywood then hosted the awards from to followed by the shrine auditorium in los angeles from to the st academy awards in were held at the academy award theatre at what had been the academy s headquarters on melrose avenue in hollywood from to the awards were presented at hollywood s pantages theatre with the advent of television the awards from to 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 by 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 s and early s the ceremony returned to the shrine in hollywood s dolby theatre previously known as the kodak theatre became the presentation s current venue in the first year of the awards the best directing award was split into two categories drama and comedy at times the best original score award has also been split into separate categories drama and comedy musical from the s through the s the art direction now production design cinematography and costume design awards were likewise split into two categories black and white films and color films prior to the production design award was called art direction while the makeup and hairstyling award was called makeup in august 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 categories live this followed a number of proposals among them the introduction of a popular film category that the academy had announced but did not implement the board of governors meets each year and considers new award categories to date the following categories have been proposed 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 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 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 awards a 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 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 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 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 which shows us that only of academy award nominees have been non white and since of nominees have been non white with the rate of winners being even more polarizing more white actresses have won oscars for yellowface portrayals of asian characters than actual asian actresses the th awards ceremony became the target of a boycott popularized on social media with the hashtag 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 actually awarded or presented as a career honor to recognize a distinguished nominee s entire body of work following the st academy awards in february in which the netflix broadcast film roma 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 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 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 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 best writing in for the informer nichols boycotted the th academy awards ceremony because of conflicts between the academy and the writers guild nichols eventually accepted the award three years later at the ceremony nichols was nominated for three further academy awards during his career george c scott became the second person to refuse his award best actor in for patton at the rd 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 best actor for s the godfather citing the film industry s discrimination and mistreatment of native americans at the th academy awards ceremony brando sent actress and civil rights activist sacheen littlefeather to read a page speech detailing his criticisms which there was booing and cheering by the audience at the th academy awards ceremony warren beatty and faye dunaway mistakenly announced la la land as the recipient of the best picture award instead of moonlight the actual winner beatty had been given the wrong envelope and after hesitating during the announcement handed the envelope to dunaway which listed emma stone as best actress for la la land and led to the confusion the proper winner was announced after the acceptance speeches by la la land producers fred berger jordan horowitz and marc platt the following year beatty and dunaway were invited back as presenters of the best picture award which they accomplished without error nine films have been disqualified before an official award ceremony because they violated the regulations one film was disqualified after winning the award and had the winner return the oscar the following events are closely associated with the annual academy awards 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 the value was reported to be as high as us 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 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 the adult products retailer adam 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 from onwards results are live sd all previous years are live viewing the term oscar 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 catalan actrius is a catalan language spanish drama film produced and directed by ventura pons and based on the award winning stage play e r by josep maria benet i jornet the film has no male actors with all roles played by females the film was produced in in order to prepare herself to play a role commemorating the life of legendary actress empar ribera young actress merc pons interviews three established actresses who had been the ribera s pupils the international diva glria marc nria espert the television star assumpta roca rosa maria sard and dubbing director maria caminal anna lizaran actrius screened in 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 it was also shown at the stockholm international film festival animalia is an illustrated children s book by graeme base it was originally published in followed by a tenth anniversary edition in and a th anniversary edition in over four million copies have been sold worldwide a special numbered and signed anniversary edition was also published in with an embossed gold jacket animalia 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 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 as an additional challenge the author has hidden a picture of himself as a child in every picture julia macrae books published an animalia colouring book in 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 feet in length in which the author created new riddles for each letter the great american puzzle factory created a piece jigsaw puzzle based on the book s cover 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 et the australian children s television foundation released a teaching resource dvd rom in to accompany the tv series with teaching aids for classroom use in 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 for best picture story book the children s book council of australia designated animalia a honour book kid s own australian literature awards named animalia the picture book winner international atomic time tai from the french name is a high precision atomic coordinate time standard based on the notional passage of proper time on earth s geoid it is the principal realisation of terrestrial time with a fixed offset of epoch it is also the basis for coordinated universal time utc which is used for civil timekeeping all over the earth s surface when another leap second was added tai is exactly seconds ahead of utc the seconds results from the initial difference of seconds at the start of plus leap seconds in utc since 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 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 atomic clocks in over national laboratories worldwide the majority of the clocks involved are caesium clocks the international system of units si 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 npl in the utc form where npl in this case identifies the national physical laboratory uk the tai form may be denoted tai npl the latter is not to be confused with ta npl 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 bipm france 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 circular t and is the canonical tai this time scale is expressed in the form of tables of differences utc utc k equivalent to tai tai k for each participating institution k the same circular also gives tables of tai ta k 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 tt 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 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 scale on september using an atomichron commercial atomic clock followed by the nbs a scale at the national bureau of standards boulder colorado on october the international time bureau bih began a time scale tm or am in july using both local caesium clocks and comparisons to distant clocks using the phase of vlf radio signals the bih scale a and nbs a were defined by an epoch at the beginning of the procedures used by the bih evolved and the name for the time scale changed a in and ta bih in the si second was defined in terms of the caesium atom in from to 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 tai in the s 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 january corrections were applied to the output of all participating clocks so that tai would correspond to proper time at mean sea level the geoid 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 eal echelle atomique libre meaning free atomic scale the instant that the gravitational correction started to be applied serves as the epoch for barycentric coordinate time tcb geocentric coordinate time tcg and terrestrial time tt which represent three fundamental time scales in the solar system all three of these time scales were defined to read jd january exactly at that instant tai was henceforth a realisation of tt with the equation tt tai tai s the continued existence of tai was questioned in a letter from the bipm to the itu r which stated in the case of a redefinition of utc without leap seconds the cctf would consider discussing the possibility of suppressing tai as it would remain parallel to the continuous 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 through december the adjustments were made regularly in fractional leap seconds so that utc approximated ut afterward these adjustments were made only in whole seconds to approximate ut 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 ut 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 traditions and secular worldviews though the concept of others toward whom concern should be directed can 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 coined 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 e g pleasure and quality of life time probability of survival or reproduction 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 in that whilst the latter is predicated upon social relationships 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 intrinsic rewards 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 concept has a long history in philosophical and ethical thought the term was originally coined in the th century by the founding sociologist and philosopher of science auguste comte and has become a major topic for psychologists especially evolutionary psychology researchers 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 marcel mauss s essay the gift contains a passage called note on alms this note describes the evolution of the notion of alms and by extension of altruism 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 in the science of ethology the study of animal behaviour 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 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 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 book and moral philosopher peter singer in his book a darwinian left 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 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 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 s 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 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 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 egoism to ultimately benefit the other person altruism to benefit a group collectivism or to uphold a moral principle principlism 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 empathy altruism hypothesis 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 the bystander effect 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 year period and found that of those who did not belong to a volunteer organization experienced a major illness while only of those who did volunteer experienced one a study on adults ages found that during the four year study period people who volunteered for two or more organizations had a lower likelihood of dying after controlling for prior health status it was determined that volunteerism accounted for a 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 although positive effects were still significant 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 a conscious focus on gratitude led to reductions in negative affect and increases in optimistic appraisals positive affect offering emotional support sleep quality and well being 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 the term pathological altruism was popularised by the book pathological altruism 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 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 dalai lama still the notion of altruism is modified in such a world view since the belief is that such a practice promotes our own happiness the more we care for the happiness of others the greater our own sense of well being becomes dalai lama in the context of larger ethical discussions on moral action and judgment buddhism is characterized by the belief that negative unhappy 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 ahimsa 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 ego 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 major vows in thought speech and action the degree to which these principles are practiced is different for householders and monks they are the great vows mahavrata are prescribed for monks and limited vows anuvrata 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 god in jainism 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 altruism is central to the teachings of jesus found in the gospel especially in the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain from biblical to medieval christian traditions tensions between self affirmation and other regard were sometimes discussed under the heading of disinterested love as in the pauline phrase love seeks not its own interests in his book indoctrination and self deception roderick hindery tries to shed light on these tensions by contrasting them with impostors of authentic self affirmation and altruism by analysis of other regard within creative individuation of the self and by contrasting love for the few with love for the many love confirms others in their freedom shuns propaganda and masks assures others of its presence and is ultimately confirmed not by mere declarations from others but by each person s experience and practice from within as in practical arts the presence and meaning of love becomes validated and grasped not by words and reflections alone but in the making of the connection st thomas aquinas interprets you should love your neighbour as yourself as meaning that love for ourselves is the exemplar of love for others considering that the love with which a man loves himself is the form and root of friendship and quotes aristotle that the origin of friendly relations with others lies in our relations to ourselves 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 john states that for one to love god one must love his fellowman and that hatred of one s fellowman is the same as hatred of god thomas jay oord has argued in several books that altruism is but one possible form of love an altruistic action is not always a loving action oord defines altruism as acting for the other s good and he agrees with feminists who note that sometimes love requires acting for one s own good when the other s 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 motivated by a powerful feeling of security strength and inner salvation of the invincible fullness of one s own life and existence another way is merely one of the many modern substitutes for love nothing but the urge to turn away from oneself and to lose oneself in other people s business at its worst scheler says love for the small the poor the weak and the oppressed is really disguised hatred repressed envy an impulse to detract etc directed against the opposite phenomena wealth strength power largesse in islam the concept thr altruism is the notion of preferring others to oneself for sufis this means devotion to others through complete forgetfulness of one s own concerns where concern for others is deemed as a demand made by allah i e god on the human body considered to be property of allah alone the importance of thr lies in sacrifice for the sake of the greater good islam considers those practicing thr as abiding by the highest degree of nobility this is similar to the notion of chivalry but unlike that european concept in thr 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 yaratlan severiz yaratandan tr that is we love the creature because of the creator for many muslims thr must be practiced as a religious obligation during specific islamic holidays however thr 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 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 what were you doing and why asked the guru i was giving water to the wounded because i saw your face in all of them replied bhai kanhaiya the guru responded then you should also give them ointment to heal their wounds you were practicing what you were coached in the house of the guru 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 atmatyag love prema kindness daya and forgiveness kshama 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 swami vivekananda the legendary hindu monk has said jive prem kare jeijon seijon sebiche iswar whoever loves any living being is serving god mass donation of clothes to poor people vastraseva or blood donation camp or mass food donation annaseva 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 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 achieving oneness with god through action nishkam karma 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 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 without specifying how this affects one s moral obligations 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 cd comt drd drd igf gabrb have been found to be candidate genes for altruism ayn rand born alisa zinovyevna rosenbaum march was a russian american writer and philosopher she is known for her two best selling novels the fountainhead and atlas shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she named objectivism born and educated in russia she moved to the united states in she had a play produced on broadway in and after two early novels that were initially unsuccessful she achieved fame with her novel the fountainhead in rand published her best known work the novel atlas shrugged afterward she turned to non fiction to promote her philosophy publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays until her death in rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge and 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 and statism as well as anarchism instead supporting laissez faire capitalism which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights including property rights 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 literary critics received rand s fiction with mixed reviews and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy though academic interest has increased in recent decades the objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas both to the public and in academic settings she has been a significant influence among libertarians and american conservatives rand was born alisa zinovyevna rosenbaum on february to a russian jewish bourgeois family living in saint petersburg she was the eldest of three daughters of zinovy zakharovich rosenbaum and anna borisovna ne kaplan her father was an upwardly mobile pharmacist and her mother was socially ambitious and religiously observant rand later said she found school unchallenging and began writing screenplays at the age of eight and novels at the age of ten at the prestigious her closest friend was vladimir nabokov s younger sister olga the two girls shared an intense interest in politics and would engage in debates at the nabokov mansion while olga defended constitutional monarchy alisa supported republican ideals she was twelve at the time of the february revolution of during which she 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 previously enjoyed her father s business was confiscated and the family fled to the crimean peninsula which was initially under control of the white army during the russian civil war while in high school she concluded that she was an atheist and valued reason above any other human virtue after graduating from high school in the crimea in june she returned with her family to petrograd as saint petersburg was renamed at that time where they faced desperate conditions on occasion nearly starving after 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 the age of 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 who would be her greatest influence and counter influence respectively she also studied the philosophical works of friedrich nietzsche able to read french german and russian she also discovered the writers fyodor dostoevsky victor hugo edmond rostand and friedrich schiller who became her perennial favorites along with many other bourgeois students she was purged from the university shortly before graduating after complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists however many of the purged students were allowed to complete their work and graduate which she did in october she then studied for a year at the state technicum for screen arts in leningrad for an assignment she 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 handwriting and she adopted the first name ayn either from a finnic name aino or from the hebrew word ayin meaning eye in late rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in chicago she departed on january when she arrived in new york city on february she was so impressed with the skyline of manhattan 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 whom 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 frank o connor the two were married on april she became a permanent american resident in july and an american citizen on march taking various jobs during the s to support her writing she worked for a time as the head of the costume department at rko studios she made several attempts to bring her parents and sisters to the united states but they were unable to acquire permission to emigrate rand s first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay red pawn to universal studios in although it was never produced this was followed by the courtroom drama night of january th first produced by e e clive in hollywood in and then successfully reopened on broadway in each night a jury was selected from members of the audience based on the jury s vote one of two different endings would be performed in paramount pictures produced a movie loosely based on the play rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result ideal is a novel and play written in which were first published in by her estate the heroine is an actress who embodies randian ideals rand s first published novel the semi autobiographical we the living was published in set in soviet russia it focused on the struggle between the individual and the state in a foreword to the novel rand stated that we the living is as near to an autobiography as i will ever write it is not an autobiography in the literal but only in the intellectual sense the plot is invented the background is not initial sales were slow and the american publisher let it go out of print although european editions continued to sell after the success of her later novels rand was able to release a revised version in that has since sold over three million copies in without rand s knowledge or permission the novel was made into a pair of italian films noi vivi and addio kira rediscovered in the s these films were re edited into a new version which was approved by rand and re released as we the living in her novella anthem was written during a break from the writing of 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 it was published in england in but rand initially could not find an american publisher as with we the living rand s later success allowed her to get a revised version published in which has sold more than million copies during the s rand became politically active she and her husband worked as full time volunteers for the presidential campaign of republican wendell willkie this work led to rand s first public speaking experiences she enjoyed fielding sometimes hostile questions from new york city audiences who had viewed pro willkie newsreels this activity brought her into contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free market capitalism she became friends with journalist henry hazlitt and his wife and hazlitt 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 rand as the most courageous man in america a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said man instead of woman rand also became friends with libertarian writer isabel paterson rand questioned paterson 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 with the fountainhead a romantic and philosophical novel that she wrote over a period of 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 it was rejected by twelve publishers before finally being accepted by the bobbs merrill company on 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 rand sold the rights for a film version to warner bros and she returned to hollywood to write the screenplay finishing her work on that screenplay she was hired by producer hal b wallis as a screenwriter and script doctor her work for wallis included the screenplays for the oscar nominated love letters and you came along rand also worked on other projects including a planned nonfiction treatment of her philosophy to be called the moral basis of individualism although the planned book was never completed a condensed version was published as an essay titled the only path to tomorrow in the january edition of reader s digest magazine rand extended her involvement with free market and anti communist activism while working in hollywood she became involved with the motion picture alliance for the preservation of american ideals a hollywood anti communist group and wrote articles on the group s behalf she also joined the anti communist american writers association a visit by isabel paterson to meet with rand s california associates led to a final falling out between the two when paterson made comments which rand considered rude to valued political allies in during the second red scare rand testified as a friendly witness before the united states house un american activities committee her testimony described the disparity between her personal experiences in the soviet union and the portrayal of it in the film song of russia rand argued that the film grossly misrepresented conditions in the soviet union portraying life there as much better and happier than it actually was she wanted to also criticize the lauded film the best years of our lives for what she interpreted as its negative presentation of the business world but she was not allowed to testify about it when asked after the hearings about her feelings on the effectiveness of the investigations rand described the process as futile after several delays the film version of the fountainhead was released in although it used rand s screenplay with minimal alterations she disliked the movie from beginning to end and complained about its editing acting and other elements in the years following the publication of the fountainhead rand received numerous letters from readers some of whom the book profoundly influenced in rand moved from los angeles to new york city where she gathered a group of these admirers around her this group jokingly designated the collective included 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 on weekends at her apartment to discuss philosophy she later began allowing them to read the drafts of her new novel atlas shrugged as the manuscript pages were written in rand s close relationship with the younger nathaniel branden turned into a romantic affair with the grudging consent of their spouses atlas shrugged published in was considered rand s magnum opus rand described the theme of the novel 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 mountainous hideaway where they build an independent free economy the novel s hero and leader of the strike john galt describes the strike as stopping the motor of the world by withdrawing the minds of the individuals most contributing to the nation s wealth and achievement 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 it contains an extended exposition of objectivism in the form of a lengthy monologue delivered by galt despite many negative reviews atlas shrugged became an international bestseller in an interview with mike wallace rand declared herself the most creative thinker alive however rand was discouraged and depressed by the reaction of intellectuals to the novel atlas shrugged was rand s last completed work of fiction it marked the end of her career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher in nathaniel branden established nathaniel branden lectures later incorporated as the nathaniel branden institute nbi to promote rand s philosophy collective members gave lectures for nbi and wrote articles for objectivist periodicals that she edited rand later published some of these articles in book form critics including some former nbi students and branden himself later described the culture of nbi as one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for rand with some describing nbi or the objectivist movement itself as a cult or religion rand expressed opinions on a wide range of topics from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair and some of her followers mimicked her preferences wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers however some former nbi students believed the extent of these behaviors was exaggerated and the problem was concentrated among rand s closest followers in new york rand was unimpressed with many of the nbi students and held them to strict standards sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her throughout the s and s 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 received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from lewis clark college on october she also began delivering annual lectures at the ford hall forum responding afterward to questions from the audience during these speeches and qa sessions she often took controversial stances on political and social issues of the day these included supporting abortion rights opposing the vietnam war and the military draft but condemning many draft dodgers as bums supporting israel in the yom kippur war of against a coalition of arab nations as civilized men fighting savages saying european colonists had the right to develop land taken from american indians and calling homosexuality immoral and disgusting while also advocating the repeal of all laws about it she also endorsed several republican candidates for president of the united states most strongly barry goldwater in whose candidacy she promoted in several articles for the objectivist newsletter in 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 though her romantic relationship with branden had already ended rand terminated her relationship with both brandens which led to the closure of nbi rand 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 after decades of heavy smoking in she retired from writing her newsletter and after her initial objections she allowed social worker evva pryor an employee of her attorney to enroll her in social security and medicare during the late s her activities within the objectivist movement declined especially after the death of her husband on november one of her final projects was work on a never completed television adaptation of atlas shrugged rand died of heart failure on march at her home in new york city and was interred in the kensico cemetery valhalla new york rand s funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers including alan greenspan a floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed near her casket in her will rand named leonard peikoff to inherit her estate rand called her philosophy objectivism describing its essence as the concept of man as a heroic being with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life with productive achievement as his noblest activity and reason as his only absolute 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 in epistemology she considered all knowledge to be based on sense perception the validity of which she considered axiomatic and reason which she described as the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man s senses she rejected all claims of non perceptual or a priori knowledge including instinct intuition revelation or any form of just knowing in her introduction to objectivist epistemology rand presented a theory of concept formation and rejected the analytic synthetic dichotomy in ethics rand argued for rational and ethical egoism rational self interest 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 she referred to egoism as the virtue of selfishness in her book of that title in which 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 that 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 and she considered laissez faire capitalism the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on the protection of those rights she opposed statism which she understood to include theocracy absolute monarchy nazism fascism communism democratic socialism and dictatorship rand believed that natural rights should be protected by a constitutionally limited government although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian she preferred the term radical for capitalism she worked with conservatives on political projects but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics she 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 selective re creation of reality according to an artist s metaphysical value judgments according to her art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be easily grasped thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness as a writer the art form rand focused on most closely was literature where she considered romanticism to be the approach that most accurately reflected the existence of human free will she described her own approach to literature as romantic realism rand acknowledged aristotle as her greatest influence and remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend three a s aristotle aquinas and ayn rand in a 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 however she also found early inspiration in friedrich nietzsche and scholars have found indications of his influence in early notes from rand s journals in passages from the first edition of we the living which rand later revised and in her overall writing style however by the time she wrote the fountainhead 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 the most evil man in mankind s history primarily for his philosophy regarding the limitations of reason rand said her most important contributions to philosophy were her theory of concepts ethics and discovery in politics that evil the violation of rights consists of the initiation of force she believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered the advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy stating i am not primarily an advocate of capitalism but of egoism and i am not primarily an advocate of egoism but of reason if one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently all the rest follows during rand s lifetime her work evoked both extreme praise and condemnation rand s first novel we the living was admired by the literary critic h l mencken her broadway play night of january th was both a critical and popular success and the fountainhead was hailed by the new york times reviewer lorine pruette as masterful rand s novels were derided by some critics when they were first published as being long and melodramatic however they became bestsellers largely through word of mouth the first reviews rand received were for night of january th reviews of the production were largely positive but rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer rand believed that her first novel we the living was not widely reviewed but rand scholar michael s berliner writes it was the most reviewed of any of her works with approximately different reviews being published in more than publications overall these reviews were more positive than the reviews she received for her later work her novella anthem received little attention from reviewers 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 rand a writer of great power who wrote brilliantly beautifully and bitterly and stated that 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 as either not understanding her message or as being from unimportant publications some negative reviews focused on the length of the novel such as one that called it a whale of a book and another that 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 rand s novel atlas shrugged was widely reviewed and many of the reviews were strongly negative in national review conservative author whittaker chambers called the book sophomoric and remarkably silly he described the tone of the book as shrillness without reprieve and accused rand of supporting a godless system which he related to that of the soviets claiming from almost any page of atlas shrugged a voice can be heard from painful necessity commanding to a gas chamber go atlas shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications including praise from the noted book reviewer john chamberlain but rand scholar mimi reisel gladstein later wrote that reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put downs calling it execrable claptrap and a nightmare they also said it was written out of hate and showed remorseless hectoring and prolixity rand s nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels had the tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book for the new intellectual was similar to that for atlas shrugged with philosopher sidney hook likening her certainty to the way philosophy is written in the soviet union and author gore vidal calling her viewpoint nearly perfect in its immorality her subsequent books got progressively less attention from reviewers in on the th anniversary of rand s birth edward rothstein writing for the new york times referred to her fictional writing as quaint utopian retro fantasy and programmatic neo romanticism of the misunderstood artist while criticizing her characters isolated rejection of democratic society in book critic leslie clark described her fiction as romance novels with a patina of pseudo philosophy in gqs critic columnist tom carson described her books as capitalism s version of middlebrow religious novels such as and the left behind series reviewing the posthumously published novel ideal the new york times chief book critic michiko kakutani assessed rand s didactic ideological work as stylistically having a great deal in common with the message minded socialist realism produced in the soviet union which she left in the mid s and vociferously denounced in a survey conducted for the library of congress and the book of the month club asked club members what the most influential book in the respondent s life was rand s atlas shrugged was the second most popular choice after the bible rand s books continue to be widely sold and read with over million copies sold with about of that total purchased for free distribution to schools by the ayn rand institute in modern library readers voted atlas shrugged the th century s finest work of fiction followed by the fountainhead in second place anthem in seventh and we the living eighth none of the four appeared on the critics list although rand s influence has been greatest in the united states there has been international interest in her work rand s contemporary admirers included fellow novelists such as ira levin kay nolte smith and l neil smith and later writers such as erika holzer and terry goodkind have been influenced by her 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 bbt and ed snider of comcast spectacor have funded the promotion of rand s ideas while mark cuban owner of the dallas mavericks as well as john p mackey ceo of whole foods among others have said they consider rand crucial to their success rand and her works have been referred to in a variety of media on television shows including animated sitcoms live action comedies dramas and game shows as well as in movies and video games she or a character based on her figures prominently in positive and negative lights in literary and science fiction novels by prominent american authors one such depiction is found in the character anna granite with her philosophy of definitivism in mary gaitskill s novel two girls fat and thin nick gillespie editor in chief of reason has remarked that rand s is a tortured immortality one in which she s as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist and that jibes at rand as cold and inhuman run through the popular culture two movies have been made about rand s life a documentary film was nominated for the academy award for best documentary feature the passion of ayn rand a television adaptation of the book of the same name won several awards rand s image also appears on a u s postage stamp illustrated by artist nick gaetano a satirical film by artist and scholar zach blas called jubilee exhibited primarily in art galleries and museums features a young ayn rand and alan greenspan traveling through time to visit a dystopian silicon valley whose success and ruin is attributed to rand s technologist followers such as peter thiel although she rejected the labels conservative and libertarian rand has had continuing influence on right wing politics and libertarianism jim powell a senior fellow at the cato institute considers rand one of the three most important women along with rose wilder lane and isabel paterson of modern american libertarianism and david nolan one of the founders of the libertarian party stated that without ayn rand the libertarian movement would not exist in his history of the libertarian movement journalist brian doherty described her as the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large and biographer jennifer burns referred to her as the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right economist and ayn rand student george reisman wrote ayn rand in particular must be cited as providing a philosophical foundation for the case of capitalism and as being responsible probably more than anyone else for the current spread of pro capitalist ideas she faced intense opposition from william f buckley jr and other contributors for the national review magazine they published numerous criticisms in the s and s by whittaker chambers garry wills and m stanton evans nevertheless her influence among conservatives forced buckley and other national review contributors to reconsider how traditional notions of virtue and christianity could be integrated with support for capitalism the political figures who cite rand as an influence are usually conservatives often members of the republican party despite rand taking some positions that are atypical for conservatives such as being pro choice and an atheist a article in the new york times referred to her as the reagan administration s novelist laureate republican congressmen and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and have recommended her novels the financial crisis of spurred renewed interest in her works especially atlas shrugged which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis opinion articles compared real world events with the plot of the novel during this time signs mentioning rand and her fictional hero john galt appeared at tea party protests there was also increased criticism of her ideas especially from the political left with critics blaming the economic crisis on her support of selfishness and free markets particularly through her influence on alan greenspan for example mother jones remarked that rand s particular genius has always been her ability to turn upside down traditional hierarchies and recast the wealthy the talented and the powerful as the oppressed while equating randian individual well being with that of the volk according to goebbels corey robin of the nation alleged similarities between the moral syntax of randianism and fascism during rand s lifetime her work received little attention from academic scholars when the first academic book about rand s philosophy appeared in its author declared writing about rand a treacherous undertaking that could lead to guilt by association for taking her seriously a few articles about rand s ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in many of them in the personalist one of these was on the randian argument by libertarian philosopher robert nozick who argued that her meta ethical argument is unsound and fails to solve the is ought problem posed by david hume other philosophers writing in the same publication argued that nozick misstated rand s case academic consideration of rand as a literary figure during her life was even more limited academic mimi gladstein was unable to find any scholarly articles about rand s novels when she began researching her in and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the s since rand s death interest in her work has gradually increased in historian jennifer burns identified three overlapping waves of scholarly interest in rand including an explosion of scholarship since the year however as of that same year few universities included rand or objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area with many literature and philosophy departments dismissing her as a pop culture phenomenon rather than a subject for serious study writing in the edition of the routledge encyclopedia of philosophy political theorist chandran kukathas summarizes the mainstream philosophical reception to her work in two parts her ethical argument he says is viewed by most commentators as an unconvincing variant of aristotle s ethics her political theory he says is of little interest marred by an ill thought out and unsystematic effort to reconcile her hostility to the state with her rejection of anarchism libertarian philosopher michael huemer argues that very few people find rand s ideas convincing especially her ethics which he believes are difficult to interpret and may lack logical coherence he attributes the attention she receives to her being a compelling writer especially as a novelist noting that atlas shrugged outsells rand s non fiction works as well as the works of other philosophers of classical liberalism such as ludwig von mises friedrich hayek or frederic bastiat several critics claim that the novel what is to be done by russian author nikolay chernyshevsky is an embodiment of rational egoism and one of the sources of inspiration for rand s thought for example the book s main character lopuhov says i am not a man to make sacrifices and indeed there are no such things one acts in the way that one finds most pleasant regarding rand s particular disdain for the philosophy of immanuel kant philosophers george walsh and fred seddon have argued that she misinterpreted kant and exaggerated their differences political scientist charles murray while praising rand s literary accomplishments criticizes her claim that her only philosophical debt was to aristotle instead asserting that her ideas were derivative of previous thinkers such as john locke and friedrich nietzsche although rand maintained that objectivism was an integrated philosophical system philosopher robert h bass argues that her central ethical ideas are inconsistent and contradictory to her central political ideas in the literary encyclopedia entry for rand written in john david lewis declared that rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation some scholars focus specifically on rand s work in allan gotthelf george walsh and david kelley co founded the ayn rand society a group affiliated with the american philosophical association gladstein harry binswanger allan gotthelf john hospers edwin a locke wallace matson leonard peikoff chris matthew sciabarra and tara smith have taught her work in academic institutions sciabarra co edits the journal of ayn rand studies a nonpartisan peer reviewed journal dedicated to the study of rand s philosophical and literary work in a interview in the chronicle of higher education sciabarra commented i know they laugh at rand while forecasting a growth of interest in her work in the academic community in the university of pittsburgh press launched an ayn rand society philosophical studies series based on the proceedings of the society smith has written several academic books and papers on rand s ideas including ayn rand s normative ethics the virtuous egoist a volume on rand s ethical theory published by cambridge university press rand s ideas have also been made subjects of study at clemson and duke universities scholars of english and american literature have largely ignored her work although attention to her literary work has increased since the s rand scholars douglas den uyl and douglas b rasmussen while stressing the importance and originality of her thought describe her style as literary hyperbolic and emotional political writer and rand scholar jack wheeler writes 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 rand s intellectual heir leonard peikoff established the ayn rand institute a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting rand s ideas and works in after an ideological disagreement with peikoff philosopher david kelley founded the institute for objectivist studies now known as the atlas society in historian john mccaskey organized the anthem foundation for objectivist scholarship which provides grants for scholarly work on objectivism in academia the charitable foundation of bbt corporation has also given grants for teaching rand s ideas or works the university of texas at austin the university of pittsburgh and university of north carolina at chapel hill are among the schools that have received grants in some cases these grants have been controversial due to their requiring research or teaching related to rand other fiction non fiction alain connes born april 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 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 s 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 s 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 connes was awarded the fields medal in the crafoord prize in and the gold medal of the cnrs in he was an invited speaker at the icm in at vancouver and in at berkeley and a plenary speaker at the icm in 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 december was a pioneering canadian born american motion picture director producer and screenwriter 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 by ferry from windsor to detroit according to his naturalization petition of august 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 dwan began working part time in hollywood while still in new york in 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 to july flying a was one of the first motion pictures studios in california history on august 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 robin hood dwan directed gloria swanson in eight feature films and one short film made in the short lived sound on film process phonofilm this short also featuring thomas meighan and henri de la falaise was produced as a joke for the april lambs gambol 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 the wizard of oz and gone with the wind and marshall neilan who became an actor director writer and producer over a long career spanning almost years dwan directed motion pictures some of which were highly acclaimed such as the box office hit sands of iwo jima he directed his last movie in he died in los angeles at the age of and is interred in the san fernando mission cemetery mission hills california dwan has a star on the hollywood walk of fame at 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 print e book algeria berber lezzayer officially the people s democratic republic of algeria is a country in the maghreb region of north africa the capital and most populous city is algiers located in the far north of the country on the mediterranean coast with an area of algeria is the tenth largest country in the world and the largest by area in the african union and the arab world with an estimated population of over million it is the ninth most populous country in africa algeria is bordered to the northeast by tunisia to the east by libya to the southeast by niger to the southwest by mali mauritania and the western saharan territory to the west by morocco and to the north by the mediterranean sea the country has a semi arid geography with most of the population living in the fertile north and the sahara dominating the geography of the south this arid geography makes the country very vulnerable to climate change pre algeria has known 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 most of the 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 has a semi presidential republic with local constituencies consisting of provinces and communes algeria is a regional and middle power 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 th largest oil reserves in the world and the second largest in africa while it has the ninth largest reserves of natural gas sonatrach the national oil company is the largest company in africa supplying large amounts of natural gas to europe algeria has one of the largest militaries in africa and the largest defence budget 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 abbreviated as radp the country s name derives from the city of algiers which in turn derives from the arabic the islands a truncated form of the older islands of the mazghanna tribe employed by medieval geographers such as al idrisi in the region of ain hanech sada province early remnants bc of hominid occupation in north africa were found neanderthal tool makers produced hand axes in the levalloisian and mousterian styles bc 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 bc are called aterian after the archaeological site of bir el ater south of tebessa the earliest blade industries in north africa are called iberomaurusian located mainly in the oran region this industry appears to have spread throughout the coastal regions of the maghreb between and bc neolithic civilization animal domestication and agriculture developed in the saharan and mediterranean maghreb perhaps as early as bc or as late as between and 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 bc a phoenician presence existed at tipasa east of cherchell hippo regius modern annaba and rusicade modern skikda 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 th century bc berbers formed the single largest element of the carthaginian army in the revolt of the mercenaries berber soldiers rebelled from to 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 bc the city of carthage was destroyed as carthaginian power waned the influence of berber leaders in the hinterland grew by the nd 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 civilization unequaled until the coming of the almohads and almoravids more than a millennium later was reached during the reign of masinissa in the nd century bc after masinissa s death in bc the berber kingdoms were divided and reunited several times masinissa s line survived until 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 modern day annaba algeria located in the roman province of africa the germanic vandals of geiseric moved into north africa in and by 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 after negligible resistance from the locals muslim arabs of the umayyad caliphate conquered algeria in the early th 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 th century and muslims only became a vast majority some time in the th 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 th century and the th the last were evacuated to sicily by the normans and the few remaining died out in the th 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 abu madyan 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 fatimids 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 as under the fatimids 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 for example sanhadja houara zenata masmouda kutama awarba and berghwata 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 banu ifran maghrawa almoravid hammadid almohad merinid abdalwadid wattasid meknassa and hafsid dynasties there reigned in ifriqiya current tunisia a berber family zirid somehow recognising the suzerainty of the fatimid caliph of cairo probably in the zirid ruler or viceroy el mu izz decided to end this suzerainty the fatimid state was too weak to attempt a punitive expedition the viceroy el mu izz also found another means of revenge between the nile and the red sea were living bedouin tribes expelled from arabia for their disruption and turbulent influence both banu hilal and banu sulaym among others whose presence disrupted farmers in the nile valley since the nomads would often loot the then fatimid vizier devised to relinquish control of the maghreb and obtained the agreement of his sovereign this not only prompted the bedouins to leave but the fatimid treasury even gave them a light expatriation cash allowance whole tribes set off with women children ancestors 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 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 field the flood was still rising and in the arabs spread on the high plains of constantine where they gradually choked qalaa of banu hammad as they had done in kairouan a few decades ago from there they gradually gained the upper algiers and oran plains some were forcibly taken by the almohads in the second half of the th century we can say that in the th century the arabs were in all of north africa with the exception of the main mountain ranges and certain coastal regions which remained entirely berber 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 in the early th century spain constructed fortified outposts presidios on or near the algerian coast spain took control of few coastal towns like mers el kebir in oran in and tlemcen mostaganem and tns in in the same year a few merchants of algiers ceded one of the rocky islets in their harbour to spain which built a fort on it the presidios in north africa turned out to be a costly and largely ineffective military endeavour that did not guarantee access for spain s merchant fleet the region of algeria was partially ruled by ottomans for three centuries from to in the turkish 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 but eventually assumed control over the city and the surrounding region forcing the previous ruler abu hamo musa iii of the bani ziyad dynasty to flee when aruj was killed in 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 janissaries with the aid of this force hayreddin conquered the whole area between constantine and oran although the city of oran remained in spanish hands until the next beylerbey was hayreddin s son hasan who assumed the position in until the area was governed by officers who served terms with no fixed limits subsequently with the institution of a regular ottoman administration governors with the title of pasha ruled for three year terms the pasha was assisted by janissaries known in algeria as the ojaq and led by an agha discontent among the ojaq rose in the mid s 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 plague had repeatedly struck the cities of north africa algiers lost from to inhabitants to the plague in and suffered high fatalities in and in the taifa rebelled killed the agha and placed one of its own in power the new leader received the title of dey after 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 th century it had become the dey s instrument in the dey persuaded the sultan to recognise him and his successors as regent replacing the pasha in that role although algiers remained a part of the ottoman empire the dey was in effect a constitutional autocrat the dey was elected for a life term but in the years that the system survived fourteen of the twenty nine deys were assassinated despite usurpation military coups and occasional mob rule the day to day operation of ottoman 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 kabylie 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 th to th century pirates captured million to 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 for example hayreddin barbarossa captured the island of ischia taking prisoners and enslaved some inhabitants of lipari almost the entire population in 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 th century allowed them to branch out into the atlantic in july 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 pirate ships from algeria raided the faroe islands barbary raids in the mediterranean continued to attack spanish merchant shipping and as a result the spanish navy bombarded algiers in and for the attack in the spanish fleet was to be joined by ships from such traditional enemies of algiers as naples portugal and the knights of malta over cannonballs were fired much of the city and its fortifications were destroyed and most of the algerian fleet was sunk in the th century the pirates forged affiliations with caribbean powers paying a licence tax in exchange for safe harbour of their vessels piracy on american vessels in the mediterranean resulted in the united states initiating the first and second barbary wars following those wars algeria was weaker and europeans with an anglo dutch fleet commanded by the british lord exmouth attacked algiers after a nine hour bombardment they obtained a treaty from the dey that reaffirmed the conditions imposed by captain later commodore stephen decatur u s navy concerning the demands of tributes in addition the dey agreed to end the practice of enslaving christians despite being removed from algeria in the th century spain retained a presence in morocco algeria consistently opposed spanish fortresses and control in nearby morocco through the th century under the pretext of a slight to their consul the french invaded and captured algiers in historian ben kiernan wrote on the french conquest of algeria by the french conquest was complete the war had killed approximately indigenous algerians since french losses from to were dead in the hospital and only killed in action the population of algeria which stood at about million in reached nearly million in french policy was predicated on civilizing the country the slave trade and piracy in algeria ceased following the french conquest the conquest of algeria by the french took some time and resulted in considerable bloodshed a combination of violence and disease epidemics caused the indigenous algerian population to decline by nearly one third from to on september napoleon iii declared our first duty is to take care of the happiness of the three million arabs whom the fate of arms has brought under our domination during this time only kabylia resisted the kabylians were not colonized until after the mokrani revolt in from until independence france administered the whole mediterranean region of algeria as an integral part and dpartement of the nation one of france s longest held overseas territories algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of european immigrants who became known as colons and later as pied noirs between and 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 th century they formed a majority of the population in both cities during the late th and early th 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 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 on july the british royal navy attacked the french navy s fleet at mers el kbir killing nearly men with the goal of preventing the french warships from falling into german hands on november allied forces launched operation torch landing in various places across french north africa gradually dissatisfaction among the muslim population which lacked political and economic status in the colonial system gave rise to demands for greater political autonomy and eventually independence from france in may 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 when the first violent events of what was later called the algerian war began historians have estimated that between and harkis and their dependants were killed by the front de libration nationale fln 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 million deaths claimed by the algerian government after independence horne estimated algerian casualties during the span of eight years to be around the war uprooted more than million algerians the war against french rule concluded in when algeria gained complete independence following the march evian agreements and the july self determination referendum some estimates put the algerian death toll during the french colonial rule at over million the number of european pied noirs who fled algeria totaled more than between and the exodus to mainland france accelerated after the oran massacre of 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 fln leader ahmed ben bella morocco s claim to portions of western algeria led to the sand war in ben bella was overthrown in 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 oil crisis in the s and s 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 s oil glut economic recession caused by the crash in world oil prices resulted in algerian social unrest during the s by the end of the decade bendjedid introduced a multi party system political parties developed such as the islamic salvation front fis a broad coalition of muslim groups in december the islamic salvation front dominated the first of two rounds of legislative elections fearing the election of an islamist government the authorities intervened on january 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 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 a hijacking perpetrated by the armed islamic group the armed islamic group declared a ceasefire in october algeria held elections in 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 january the ais disbanded and levels of insurgent violence fell rapidly the groupe salafiste pour la prdication et le combat gspc a splinter group of the armed islamic group continued a terrorist campaign against the government bouteflika was re elected in the april 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 it offered amnesty to most guerrillas and government security forces in november 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 presidential elections and he was re elected in april during his election campaign and following his re election bouteflika promised to extend the programme of national reconciliation and a 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 december inspired by similar protests across the middle east and north africa on february the government lifted algeria s 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 bouteflika promised further constitutional and political reform however elections are routinely criticized by opposition groups as unfair and international human rights groups say that media censorship and harassment of political opponents continue on april bouteflika resigned from the presidency after mass protests against his candidacy for a fifth term in office since the breakup of 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 and n a small area is north of n and south of n and longitudes w and 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 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 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 foxes 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 aleppo pine juniper and evergreen oak 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 forest landscape integrity index mean score of ranking it th globally out of countries camels are used extensively the desert also abounds with venomous and nonvenomous snakes scorpions and numerous insects elected politicians have relatively little sway over algeria instead a group of unelected civilian and military dcideurs deciders known as le pouvoir the power 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 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 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 november removed this limitation the next presidential election was planned to be in april but widespread protests erupted on february against the president s decision to participate in the election which resulted in president bouteflika announcing his resignation on april algeria has universal suffrage at 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 members who are directly elected for five year terms while the upper house the council of the nation has members serving six year terms of which members are chosen by local assemblies and are appointed by the president according to the constitution no political association may be formed if it is based on differences in religion language race gender profession or region in addition political campaigns must be exempt from the aforementioned subjects parliamentary elections were last held in may and were judged to be largely free by international monitors though local groups alleged fraud and irregularities in the elections the fln won seats the military backed national rally for democracy won and the islamist green algeria alliance won algeria is included in the european union s european neighbourhood policy enp 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 eni that came into force in it has a budget of billion and provides the bulk of funding through a number of programmes in the french government agreed to compensate victims of nuclear tests in algeria defense minister herve morin stated that it s time for our country to be at peace with itself at peace thanks to a system of compensation and reparations 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 but which has carried little practical weight the military of algeria consists of the people s national army anp the algerian national navy mra and the algerian air force qjj plus the territorial air defence forces it is the direct successor of the national liberation army arme de libration nationale or aln the armed wing of the nationalist national liberation front which fought french colonial occupation during the algerian war of independence total military personnel include active reserve and paramilitary staff estimate service in the military is compulsory for men aged for a total of months the military expenditure was of the gross domestic product gdp in algeria has the second largest military in north africa with the largest defence budget in africa billion most of algeria s weapons are imported from russia with whom they are a close ally in the algerian air force signed a deal with russia to purchase mig smt and mig ubt at an estimated cost of billion russia is also building two type diesel submarines for algeria algeria has been categorized by freedom house as not free since it began publishing such ratings in with the exception of and when the country was labeled partly free in december 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 criticize the ruling government some media organizations licenses are cancelled independent and autonomous trade unions face routine harassment from the government with many leaders imprisoned and protests suppressed in a number of unions many of which were involved in the 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 human rights watch has accused the algerian authorities of using the covid 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 algeria is divided into provinces wilayas districts daras and municipalities baladiyahs 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 since they are algeria is classified as an upper middle income country by the world bank algeria s currency is the dinar dzd 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 prompted the algerian government to offer more than billion in public grants and retroactive salary and benefit increases public spending has increased by annually during the past years the public investment programme will cost us billion of which will go to human development the algerian economy grew by in driven by public spending in particular in the construction and public works sector and by growing internal demand if hydrocarbons are excluded growth has been estimated at growth of is expected in rising to in the rate of inflation was and the budget deficit of gdp the current account surplus is estimated at of gdp and at the end of december official reserves were put at us billion inflation the lowest in the region has remained stable at on average between and in algeria announced a budgetary surplus of billion increase in comparison to surplus in general the country exported billion worth of commodities while it imported billion thanks to strong hydrocarbon revenues algeria has a cushion of billion in foreign currency reserves and a large hydrocarbon stabilization fund in addition algeria s external debt is extremely low at about of gdp the economy remains very dependent on hydrocarbon wealth and despite high foreign exchange reserves us billion equivalent to three years of imports current expenditure growth makes algeria s budget more vulnerable to the risk of prolonged lower hydrocarbon revenues in the agricultural sector and services recorded growth of and respectively about of the labor force are employed in the agricultural sector fiscal policy in remained expansionist and made it possible to maintain the pace of public investment and to contain the strong demand for jobs and housing algeria has not joined the wto despite several years of negotiations in march russia agreed to erase billion of algeria s soviet era debt during a visit by russian president vladimir putin to the country the first by a russian leader in half a century in return algerian president abdelaziz bouteflika agreed to buy billion worth of combat planes air defence systems and other arms from russia according to the head of russia s state arms exporter rosoboronexport dubai based conglomerate emarat dzayer group said it had signed a joint venture agreement to develop a billion steel factory in algeria algeria whose economy is reliant on petroleum has been an opec member since its crude oil production stands at around 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 of budget revenues of gdp and over of export earnings algeria has the th largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the sixth largest gas exporter the u s energy information administration reported that in algeria had of proven natural gas reserves it also ranks th in oil reserves non hydrocarbon growth for was projected at 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 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 million tonnes to million tonnes between and nevertheless the sector accounted for of the total volume of exports in against in and of budgetary receipts or us 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 algeria had global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory much less than the world average of global hectares per person in algeria used global hectares of biocapacity per person their ecological footprint of consumption this means they use just under times as much biocapacity as algeria contains as a result algeria is running a biocapacity deficit algeria has invested an estimated 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 research professors at various universities and over research labs with state set goals to expand to besides solar energy areas of research in algeria include space and satellite telecommunications nuclear power and medical research despite a decline in total unemployment youth and women unemployment is high unemployment particularly affects the young with a jobless rate of among the age group the overall rate of unemployment was in but remained higher among young people with a rate of for those aged between and the government strengthened in the job programmes introduced in in particular in the framework of the programme to aid those seeking work dispositif d aide l insertion professionnelle the development of the tourism sector in algeria had previously been hampered by a lack of facilities but since 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 qal a of beni hammad the first capital of the hammadid empire tipasa a phoenician and later roman town and djmila and timgad both roman ruins m zab valley a limestone valley containing a large urbanized oasis and the casbah of algiers an important citadel the only natural world heritage site is the tassili n ajjer a mountain range the algerian road network is the densest in africa its length is estimated at of highways with more than structures and a paving rate of this network will be complemented by the east west highway a major infrastructure project currently under construction it is a 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 in january algeria s population was an estimated million who are mainly arab berber ethnically at the outset of the th century its population was approximately four million about of algerians live in the northern coastal area the inhabitants of the sahara desert are mainly concentrated in oases although some million remain nomadic or partly nomadic of algerians are under the age of women make up of the country s lawyers and of its judges and also dominate the field of medicine increasingly women are contributing more to household income than men of university students are women according to university researchers between and sahrawis from western sahara live in the sahrawi refugee camps in the western algerian sahara desert there are also more than palestinian refugees who are well integrated and have not asked for assistance from the united nations high commissioner for refugees unhcr in chinese migrant workers lived in algeria the largest concentration of algerian migrants outside algeria is in france which has reportedly over million algerians of up to the second generation indigenous berbers as well as phoenicians romans 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 th 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 th 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 in european population who became known as pied noirs 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 darja 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 may kabyle the predominant berber language is taught and is partially co official with a few restrictions in parts of kabylie in february the algerian constitution passed a resolution that would make berber an official language alongside arabic although french has no official status algeria is the second largest francophone country in the world in terms of speakers and french is widely used in government media newspapers radio local television and both the education system from primary school onwards and academia due to algeria s colonial history it can be regarded as a lingua franca of algeria in million algerians could read and write in french an abassa institute study in april found that of households could speak and understand french or million in a population of million then after an earlier period during which the algerian government tried to phase out french in recent decades the government has backtracked and reinforced the study of french and some television programs are broadcast in the language algeria emerged as a bilingual state after colloquial algerian arabic is spoken by about of the population and berber by islam is the predominant religion in algeria with its adherents mostly sunnis accounting for of the population according to a cia world factbook estimate and according to pew research in there are about ibadis in the m zab valley in the region of ghardaia estimates of the christian population range from to 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 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 algeria had inadequate numbers of physicians per people nurses per people and dentists per people access to improved water sources was limited to of the population in urban areas and of the population in the rural areas some of algerians living in urban areas but only 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 given algeria s young population policy favors preventive health care and clinics over hospitals in keeping with this policy the government maintains an immunization 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 and began adding muslims living in the south to their vital record database in during french rule since the s 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 and years who have the ability to track their learning through the facilities built since independence now the literacy rate is around since 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 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 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 in the illiteracy rate for people over was for men and for women the province with the lowest rate of illiteracy was algiers province at while the province with the highest rate was djelfa province at algeria has universities and institutions of higher education which must accommodate a million algerians and foreign students in the university of algiers founded in is the oldest it offers education in various disciplines law medicine science and letters 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 th and th row in africa below is a list of the most important algerian cities modern algerian literature split between arabic tamazight and french has been strongly influenced by the country s recent history famous novelists of the th century include mohammed dib albert camus kateb yacine and ahlam mosteghanemi while assia djebar is widely translated among the important novelists of the s were rachid mimouni later vice president of amnesty international and tahar djaout murdered by an islamist group in for his secularist views malek bennabi and frantz fanon are noted for their thoughts on decolonization augustine of hippo was born in tagaste modern day souk ahras 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 mdaourouch 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 colonization 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 m hamed issiakhem mohammed khadda and bachir yelles appeared on the scene of algerian painting abandoning figurative classical painting to find new pictorial ways in order to adapt algerian paintings to the new realities of the country through its struggle and its aspirations mohammed khadda and m hamed issiakhem have been notable in recent years the historic roots of algerian literature go back to the numidian and roman african era when apuleius wrote the golden ass 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 revolutionized 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 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 algerian trilogy of mohammed dib or even nedjma 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 s 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 the swallows of kabul and the attack of yasmina khadra the oath of barbarians of boualem sansal memory of the flesh of ahlam mosteghanemi and the last novel by assia djebar nowhere in my father s house chabi music is a typically algerian musical genre characterized by specific rhythms and of qacidate popular poems 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 poems 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 million eur 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 fdatic and the algerian agency for cultural influence aarc plays a key role in the promotion of national production between and fdatic subsidised films feature films documentaries and short films in mid aarc had already supported a total of films including feature films short films and documentaries according to the european audiovisual observatory s lumiere database algerian films were distributed in europe between and films in this repertoire were algerian french co productions days of glory and outside the law recorded the highest number of admissions in the european union and respectively algeria won the palme d or for chronicle of the years of fire two oscars for z and other awards for the italian algerian movie the battle of algiers algerian cuisine is rich and diverse the country was considered as the granary of rome 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 chess variant playing cards checkers and chess games are part of algerian culture racing fantasia and rifle shooting are part of cultural recreation of the algerians the first algerian and african gold medalist is boughera el ouafi in olympics of amsterdam in the marathon the second algerian medalist was alain mimoun in summer olympics in melbourne several men and women were champions in athletics in the s 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 salah assad and djamel zidane the algeria national football team qualified for the fifa world cup fifa world cup fifa world cup and 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 this is a list of characters in ayn rand s novel atlas shrugged the following are major characters from the novel 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 is one of the central characters in atlas shrugged an owner by inheritance of the world s largest copper mining operation he is a childhood friend and the first love of dagny taggart a child prodigy of exceptional talents francisco was dubbed the climax of the d anconia line an already prestigious family of skilled industrialists he was a classmate of john galt and ragnar danneskjld and student of both hugh akston and robert stadler he began working while still in school proving that he could have made a fortune without the aid of his family s wealth and power later francisco bankrupts the d anconia business to put it out of others reach his full name is given as francisco domingo carlos andres sebastin d anconia john galt is the primary male hero of atlas shrugged he initially appears as an unnamed menial worker for taggart transcontinental who often dines with eddie willers in the employees cafeteria and leads eddie to reveal important information about dagny taggart and taggart transcontinental only eddie s side of their conversations is given in the novel later in the novel the reader discovers this worker s 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 known as hank 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 edwin eddie 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 one of galt s first followers and world famous as a pirate who seizes relief ships sent from the united states to the people s states of europe he works to ensure that once those espousing galt s philosophy are restored to their rightful place in society they have enough capital to rebuild the world kept in the background for much of the book danneskjld makes a personal appearance to encourage rearden to persevere in his increasingly difficult situation and gives him a bar of gold as compensation for the income taxes he has paid over the last several years danneskjld is married to the actress kay ludlow their relationship is kept hidden from the outside world which only knows of ludlow as a retired film star considered a misfit by galt s other adherents he views his actions as a means to speed the world along in understanding galt s 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 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 dagny taggart or hank rearden except for a brief paragraph in the very last chapter 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 the unsupportive wife of hank rearden who dislikes his habits and secretly at first 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 persuade 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 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 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 xylophone he is killed when cuffy meigs see below drunkenly overloads the circuits of project x causing it to destroy itself and every structure and living thing in a 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 man who knew better but chose not to act for the good 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 which by restricting the number of businesses each person may own to one forces hank to divest most of his companies 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 the following secondary characters also appear in the novel anthropology is the scientific study of humanity concerned with human behavior human biology and societies 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 linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans visual anthropology which is usually considered to be a part of social anthropology can mean both ethnographic film where photography film and new media are used for study as well as the study of visuals including art visual images cinema etc oxford bibliographies describes visual anthropology as the anthropological study of the visual and the visual study of the anthropological archaeology which studies human activity through investigation of physical evidence is considered a branch of anthropology in the united states and canada while in europe it is viewed as a discipline in its own right or grouped under other related disciplines such as history a key distinguishing factor between archeology and anthropology is the focus on analyzing material remains in archaeology the abstract noun 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 th century in 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 to describe the natural history or paleontology of man based on comparative anatomy and the creation of a chair in anthropology and ethnography in 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 ethnology was formed in its members were primarily anti slavery activists when slavery was abolished in france in the socit was abandoned meanwhile the ethnological society of new york currently the american ethnological society was founded on its model in as well as the ethnological society of london in 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 th 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 anthropologists generally regard herodotus a greek historian who lived in the s bc as the first thinker to write widely on concepts that would later become central to anthropology darwin and wallace unveiled evolution in the late s 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 when he read darwin he became an immediate convert to transformisme as the french called evolutionism his definition now became the study of the human group considered as a whole in its details and in relation to the rest of nature 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 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 the british ethnologists in 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 nd 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 the anthropological society of vienna the italian society of anthropology and ethnology and many others subsequently the majority of these were evolutionist 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 th 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 educational institutions in countries had some curriculum in anthropology none of the faculty members were under a department named anthropology this meager statistic expanded in the th 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 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 th and early th 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 th 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 th century biological or physical anthropology social cultural or sociocultural anthropology and archaeology plus anthropological linguistics these fields frequently overlap but tend to use different methodologies and techniques european countries with overseas colonies tended to practice more ethnology a term coined and defined by adam f kollr in 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 late th century interdisciplinary fields such as cognitive science global studies and various ethnic studies according to clifford geertz sociocultural anthropology has been heavily influenced by structuralist and postmodern theories as well as a shift toward the analysis of modern societies during the s and s 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 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 make sense of the world around them while social anthropology is the study of the relationships among individuals and groups cultural anthropology is more related to philosophy literature and the arts how one s culture affects the experience for self and group contributing to a more complete understanding of the people s 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 conceptual vs etic or technical 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 which is also the object of study in linguistic anthropology comparison across cultures is a key element of method in sociocultural anthropology including the industrialized and de industrialized west the standard cross cultural sample sccs includes such cultures 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 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 anthropology not to be confused with anthropological linguistics 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 one of the central problems in the anthropology of art concerns the universality of art as a cultural phenomenon several anthropologists have noted that the western categories of painting sculpture or literature conceived as independent artistic activities do not exist or exist in a significantly different form in most non western contexts to surmount this difficulty anthropologists of art have focused on formal features in objects which without exclusively being artistic have certain evident aesthetic qualities boas primitive art claude lvi strauss the way of the masks or geertz s art as cultural system are some examples in this trend to transform the anthropology of art into an anthropology of culturally specific aesthetics media anthropology also known as the anthropology of media or mass media 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 e g ethnographies of newsrooms in newspapers journalists in the field film 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 s ethnomusicology is an academic field encompassing various approaches to the study of music broadly defined 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 th and th centuries it was formally introduced as ethnomusicology by dutch scholar jaap kunst around 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 s 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 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 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 and post 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 distinct from the more critical anthropology of development anthropology of development tends to view development from a critical 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 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 one s social relations during development 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 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 archeological biological cultural linguistic 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 european and american feminists historically such peripheral perspectives have sometimes been marginalized and regarded as less valid or important than knowledge from the western world feminist anthropologists have claimed that their research helps to correct this systematic bias in mainstream feminist theory feminist anthropologists are centrally concerned with the construction of gender across societies feminist anthropology is inclusive of birth anthropology as a specialization the first african american female anthropologist and caribbeanist is said to be vera mae green who studied ethnic and family relations in the caribbean as well as the united states and thereby tried to improve the way black life experiences and culture were studied 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 fields other subjects that have become central to medical anthropology worldwide are violence and social suffering farmer beneduce 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 cultural psychiatry and transcultural psychiatry or ethnopsychiatry 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 either in terms of human development or traditional western models for any given group of people 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 especially experimental psychology and evolutionary biology 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 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 asc 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 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 s and is still unfolding anthropologists started increasingly to study more complex social settings in which the presence of states bureaucracies and markets entered both ethnographic accounts and analysis of local phenomena the turn towards complex societies meant that political themes were taken up at two main levels firstly anthropologists continued to study political organization and political phenomena that lay outside the state regulated sphere as in patron client relations or tribal political organization secondly anthropologists slowly started to develop a disciplinary concern with states and their institutions and on the relationship between formal and informal political institutions an anthropology of the state developed and it is a most thriving field today geertz comparative work on negara the balinese state is an early famous example legal anthropology or anthropology of law specializes in the cross cultural study of social ordering 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 demonstrate the ability of anthropology and anthropologists to effectively address problems beyond the discipline illuminating larger social issues of our times as well as encouraging broad public conversations about them with the explicit goal of fostering social change cyborg anthropology originated as a sub focus group within the american anthropological association s annual meeting in the sub group was very closely related to sts and the society for the social studies of science donna haraway s 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 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 organizing participation or indirectly articles documentaries books ethnographies such is the case with environmental justice advocate melissa checker and her relationship with the people of hyde park 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 s 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 the latter being the habitual focus of attention of anthropologists 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 anthrozoology also known as human animal studies 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 anthropology is the scientific exploration of the relationships between human biology and culture physical anthropologists throughout the first half of the th 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 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 forensic refers to the application of this subfield of science to a court of law 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 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 its members are anthropologists from around the globe in 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 especially historians and scientists engaged in field research have over time assisted state policies and projects especially colonialism some commentators have contended 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 mutilation including circumcision and subincision and torture topics like racism slavery and human sacrifice attract anthropological attention and theories ranging from nutritional deficiencies to genes to acculturation have been proposed not to mention theories of colonialism and many others as root causes of man s inhumanity to man to illustrate the depth of an anthropological approach one can take just one of these topics such as racism and find thousands of anthropological references stretching across all the major and minor sub fields 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 s many of boas anthropologist contemporaries were active in the allied war effort against the axis powers nazi germany fascist italy and imperial japan many served in the armed forces while others worked in intelligence for example office of strategic services and the office of war information 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 students and teachers 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 aaa 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 asa has called certain scholarship ethically dangerous the principles of professional responsibility issued by the american anthropological association and amended through november 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 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 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 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 s and s 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 behaviors ideas or concepts shared by virtually all human cultures they use many different methods of study but modern population genetics participant observation and other techniques often take anthropologists into the field which means traveling to a community in its own setting to do something called fieldwork 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 time based and cultural regions space based anthropologists have developed various kinds of comparative method a central part of their science because anthropology developed from so many different enterprises see history of anthropology 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 past societies and space non european non western societies 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 s 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 s 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 s 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 veterinary science but not animal science is often excluded from the definition the three terms are often confused however they cover different concepts agricultural sciences include research and development on agricultural biotechnology is a specific area of agricultural science involving the use of scientific tools and techniques including genetic engineering molecular markers molecular diagnostics vaccines and tissue culture to modify living organisms plants animals and microorganisms in the th century johann friedrich mayer conducted experiments on the use of gypsum hydrated calcium sulphate as a fertilizer in 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 in the united states a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the hatch act of which used the term agricultural science the hatch act was driven by farmers interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer the smith hughes act of shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots but the scientific foundation had been built after public expenditures on agricultural research in the us exceeded private expenditures for the next years alchemy from arabic al kmiy is an ancient branch of natural philosophy a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout europe africa china and throughout asia observable in chinese text from around bce and greco roman egypt in 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 the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease and the development of an alkahest a universal solvent the perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and in the hellenistic and western mystery tradition the achievement of gnosis in europe the creation of a philosopher s stone was variously connected with all of these projects in english the term is often limited to descriptions of european alchemy but similar practices existed in the far east the indian subcontinent and the muslim world in europe following the th century renaissance produced by the translation of medieval islamic works on science and the rediscovery of aristotelian philosophy alchemists played a significant role in early modern science particularly chemistry and medicine islamic and european alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques theory terminology and experimental method some of which are still in use today however they continued antiquity s belief in four elements and guarded their work in secrecy including cyphers and cryptic symbolism their work was guided by hermetic principles related to magic mythology and religion 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 holmyard and 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 despite this split which von franz believes has existed since the western traditions origin in a mix of greek philosophy that was mixed with egyptian and mesopotamian technology numerous sources have stressed an integration of esoteric and exoteric approaches to alchemy as far back as pseudo democritus s first century ad on physical and mystical matters although alchemy is popularly associated with magic historian lawrence m principe argues that recent historical research has revealed that medieval and early modern alchemy embraced a much more diverse set of ideas goals techniques and practices most readers probably are aware of several common claims about alchemy for example that it is akin to magic or that its practice then or now is essentially deceptive these ideas about alchemy emerged during the eighteenth century or after while each of them might have limited validity within a narrow context none of them is an accurate depiction of alchemy in general the word alchemy comes from old french alquemie alkimie used in medieval latin as alchymia this name was itself brought from the arabic word al kmiy or composed of two parts the late greek term khmea also spelled khumeia and khma 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 rd th centuries who derived it from the name of a book the khemeu hermanm diels argued in that it rather derived from used to describe metallic objects formed by casting others trace its roots to the egyptian name kme hieroglyphic khmi meaning black earth which refers to the fertile and 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 science borrowing from the coptic word for egypt kme or its equivalent in the mediaeval bohairic dialect of coptic khme 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 egypt was the black land by contrast with the red land the surrounding desert 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 genetic 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 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 fl c ce can however 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 tend to emphasizes 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 final abstinence also known as the final count zosimos explains that the ancient practice of tinctures the technical greek name for the alchemical arts had been taken over by certain demons who taught the art only to those who offered them sacrifices since zosimos also called the demons gardians of places and those who offered them sacrifices priests it is fairly clear that he was referring to the gods of egypt and their priests while critical of the kind 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 or thrice great hermes 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 bc many writings were lost when the emperor diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in alexandria ad few original egyptian documents on alchemy have survived most notable among them the stockholm papyrus and the leyden papyrus x dating from ad 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 or pseudo democritus 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 th th 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 greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors by the middle of the th 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 th and th centuries the nd 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 agniyoga and salts extracted from fertile soils and plant remains yavakshara such as saltpetre nitre perfume making different qualities of perfumes are mentioned granulated refined sugar buddhist texts from the nd to th 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 th century persian chemist and physician ab rayhn brn who visited gujarat as part of the court of mahmud of ghazni reported that they the goals of alchemy in india included the creation of a divine body sanskrit divya deham and immortality while still embodied sanskrit jvan mukti 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 th century two famous early indian alchemical authors were ngrjuna siddha and nityantha siddha ngrjuna siddha was a buddhist monk his book rasendramangalam is an example of indian alchemy and medicine nityantha siddha wrote rasaratnkara also a highly influential work in sanskrit rasa translates to mercury 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 the contents of 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 of himl various works on rasastra and ratnastra or various works on alchemy and gems gives brief details of a further six hundred and fifty five 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 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 th and early th centuries through syriac translations and scholarship in the late ninth and early tenth centuries the arabic works attributed to jbir ibn hayyn latinized as geber or geberus 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 jabir s ultimate goal was takwin the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory up to and including human life he analyzed each aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of hotness coldness dryness and moistness according to jabir in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior for example lead was externally cold and dry while gold was hot and moist thus jabir theorized by rearranging the qualities of one metal a different metal would result by this reasoning the search for the philosopher s stone was introduced to western alchemy jabir developed an elaborate numerology whereby the root letters of a substance s name in arabic when treated with various transformations held correspondences to the element s 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 aether air earth fire and water in addition to two chemical elements representing the metals sulphur the stone which burns 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 th to th 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 however 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 th century texts and used in fireworks in china by the th century it was used in cannons by 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 and in europe by the th 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 chiefly the elite and upper class 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 the aforementioned tai chi chuan mastering of the qi etc the introduction of alchemy to latin europe may be dated to february with the completion of robert of chester s translation of the arabic book of the composition of alchemy although european craftsmen and technicians pre existed robert notes in his preface that alchemy though here still referring to the elixir rather than to the art itself was unknown in latin europe at the time of his writing the translation of arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in th 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 th century st anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a christian context in the early th century peter abelard followed anselm s work laying down the foundation for acceptance of aristotelian thought before the first works of aristotle had reached the west in the early th century robert grosseteste used abelard s 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 th and th 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 th 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 th century more than 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 however confirmed the theoretical thought experiment and bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine in later european legend however bacon 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 summa perfectionis 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 th 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 man s soul was divided within himself after the fall of adam by purifying the two parts of man s soul man could be reunited with god in the th 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 edict spondent quas non exhibent forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo alchemists in henry iv of england banned the practice of multiplying metals although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically and a number were granted by henry vi and edward iv these critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy which continued with an increasingly christian tone the th 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 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 s stone his work spends a great deal of time describing the processes and reactions but never actually gives the formula for carrying out the transmutations most of his work was aimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had existed before him especially as regarded the philosopher s stone through the th and th centuries alchemists were much like flamel they concentrated on looking for the philosophers stone bernard trevisan and george ripley made similar contributions their cryptic allusions and symbolism led to wide variations in interpretation of the art 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 th 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 de occulta philosophia 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 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 july december 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 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 th 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 th 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 betrger 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 chemia and alchemia 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 an alchemist better known for his astronomical and astrological investigations had a laboratory built at his uraniborg observatory research institute michael sendivogius micha sdziwj 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 sendivogious taught his technique to cornelius drebbel who in 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 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 ancient wisdom although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the th century alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years and in fact may have reached its peak in the th century as late as james price claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold early modern european alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity of theories practices and purposes scholastic and anti aristotelian paracelsian and anti paracelsian hermetic neoplatonic mechanistic vitalistic and more plus virtually every combination and compromise thereof 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 th and th centuries based on revolutionary discoveries of lavoisier and john dalton beginning around a rigid distinction began to be drawn for the first time between alchemy and chemistry by the s alchemy was now restricted to the realm of gold making leading to the popular belief that alchemists were charlatans and the tradition itself nothing more than a fraud in order to protect the developing science of modern chemistry from the negative censure to which alchemy was being subjected academic writers during the th century scientific enlightenment attempted for the sake of survival to divorce and separate the new chemistry from the old practices of alchemy this move was mostly successful and the consequences of this continued into the th th and st centuries during the occult revival of the early th century alchemy received new attention as an occult science the esoteric or occultist school which arose during the th century held and continues to hold 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 th 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 no modern art or chemistry notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims has any thing in common with alchemy atwood s work influenced subsequent authors of the occult revival including eliphas levi arthur edward waite and rudolf steiner hitchcock in his remarks upon alchymists 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 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 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 later known as euthica the arab and isis the prophetess also played a role in early alchemical texts the first alchemist whose name we know is said to have been mary the jewess c a d early sources claim that mary or maria 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 especially in france as the bain marie is said to have been invented or at least improved by her essentially a double boiler it was and is used in chemistry for processes that require gentle heating the tribikos a modified distillation apparatus and the kerotakis a more intricate apparatus used especially for sublimations 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 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 exeseso the european society for the study of western esotericism esswe 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 th 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 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 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 th 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 or code words 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 today 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 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 c ad 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 alchemical formulas were like a veil hiding their true spiritual philosophy in the neo hermeticist interpretation both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea are held to symbolize evolution from an imperfect diseased corruptible and ephemeral state toward a perfect healthy incorruptible and everlasting state so the philosopher 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 alchemical catechism thodore henri de tschudi denotes that the usage of the metals was merely symbolic 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 th 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 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 the secret of the golden flower a chinese alchemical text by his friend richard wilhelm jung discovered a direct correlation or parallels between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the inner symbolic images coming up in dreams visions or imaginations during the psychic processes of transformation occurring in his patients a process which he called process of individuation he regarded the alchemical images as symbols expressing aspects of this process of individuation of which the creation of the gold or lapis within were symbols for its origin and goal together with his alchemical mystica soror jungian swiss analyst marie louise von franz jung began collecting all the old alchemical texts available compiled a lexicon of key phrases with cross references and pored over them the volumes of work he wrote brought new light into understanding the art of transubstantiation and renewed alchemy s popularity as a symbolic process of coming into wholeness as a human being where opposites brought into contact and inner and outer spirit and matter are reunited in the hieros gamos or divine marriage his writings are influential in psychology and for persons who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams symbols and the unconscious archetypal forces archetypes 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 of his collected works mysterium coniunctionis 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 th 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 subtances 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 an 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 by analyzing the data 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 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 astronomer and astrophysicist 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 number of professional astronomers in the united states is actually quite small the american astronomical society which is the major organization of professional astronomers in north america has approximately 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 members from 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 ccd 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 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 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 iana 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 on october with the first meeting of the american standards association s asa now the american national standards institute or ansi x subcommittee the first edition of the standard was published in underwent a major revision during and experienced its most recent update during compared to earlier telegraph codes the proposed bell code and ascii were both ordered for more convenient sorting i e alphabetization of lists and added features for devices other than teleprinters the use of ascii format for network interchange was described in that document was formally elevated to an internet standard in originally based on the english alphabet ascii encodes 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 to lowercase letters a to z uppercase letters a to z and punctuation symbols in addition the original ascii specification included 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 i would be represented in the ascii encoding by binary hexadecimal i is the ninth letter decimal the american standard code for information interchange ascii was developed under the auspices of a committee of the american standards association asa called the x committee by its x later xl subcommittee and later by that subcommittee s x working group now incits the asa became the united states of america standards institute usasi and ultimately the american national standards institute ansi with the other special characters and control codes filled in ascii was published as asa x leaving 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 the ccitt working party on the new telegraph alphabet proposed to assign lowercase characters to sticks and and international organization for standardization tc sc voted during october to incorporate the change into its draft standard the x task group voted its approval for the change to ascii at its may meeting locating the lowercase letters in sticks and 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 x committee made other changes including other new characters the brace and vertical bar characters renaming some control characters som became start of header soh and moving or removing others ru was removed ascii was subsequently updated as usas x then usas x ansi x and finally ansi x revisions of the ascii standard in the x standard the x committee also addressed how ascii should be transmitted least significant bit first and how it should be recorded on perforated tape they proposed a track standard for magnetic tape and attempted to deal with some punched card formats the x 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 i e graphemes and control characters 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 alphabetic characters numerical digits and from to special graphic symbols to include all these and control characters compatible with the comit consultatif international tlphonique et tlgraphique ccitt international telegraph alphabet no ita standard of fieldata and early ebcdic more than codes were required for ascii ita were in turn based on the bit telegraph code mile baudot invented in and patented in the committee debated the possibility of a shift function like in ita which would allow more than 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 octets 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 with octets as the native data type that did not use parity checking typically set the eighth bit to 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 positions were reserved for control characters the space character had to come before graphics to make sorting easier so it became position hex for the same reason many special signs commonly used as separators were placed before digits the committee decided it was important to support uppercase character alphabets and chose to pattern ascii so it could be reduced easily to a usable 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 hex to match the draft of the corresponding british standard the digits are prefixed with but the remaining 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 mechanical typewriters not electric typewriters mechanical typewriters followed the standard set by the remington no the first typewriter with a shift key and the shifted values of were some common characters were not included notably while were included as diacritics for international use and lt gt for mathematical use together with the simple line characters in addition to common the symbol was not used in continental europe and the committee expected it would be replaced by an accented in the french variation so the was placed in position hex 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 who are you wru are you ru a reserved device control dc synchronous idle sync and acknowledge ack these were positioned to maximize the hamming distance between their bit patterns ascii code order is also called asciibetical order collation of data is sometimes done in this order rather than standard alphabetical order collating sequence the main deviations in ascii order are an intermediate order converts uppercase letters to lowercase before comparing ascii values ascii reserves the first codes numbers decimal for control characters codes originally intended not to represent printable information but rather to control devices such as printers that make use of ascii or to provide meta information about data streams such as those stored on magnetic tape for example character represents the line feed function which causes a printer to advance its paper and character represents backspace 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 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 s less costly and in some ways less fragile than magnetic tape in particular the teletype model machine assignments for codes control q dc also known as xon control s dc also known as xoff and delete became de facto standards the model was also notable for taking the description of control g code bel meaning audibly alert the operator 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 from ascii which had this character instead of underscore a noncompliant use of code control o shift in interpreted as delete previous character was also adopted by many early timesharing systems but eventually became neglected when a teletype asr equipped with the automatic paper tape reader received a control s xoff an abbreviation for transmit off it caused the tape reader to stop receiving control q xon transmit on 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 asr also could be configured to employ control r dc and control t dc 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 the teletype could not move the head backwards so it did not put a key on the keyboard to send a bs backspace instead there was a key marked that sent code del 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 by default sent the del code for the key marked backspace while the key marked delete sent an escape sequence while many other terminals sent bs for the backspace key the unix terminal driver could only use one code to erase the previous character this could be set to bs or del but not both resulting in a long period of annoyance where users had to correct it depending on what terminal they were using shells that allow line editing such as ksh bash and zsh understand both the assumption that no key sent a bs caused control h to be used for other purposes such as the help 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 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 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 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 which moves the printhead to the beginning of the line and line feed which advances the paper one line without moving the printhead 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 returned to the right in order to position the left margin of the paper for the next line dec operating systems os rt rsx rsts tops 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 until the introduction of pc dos in ibm had no hand in this because their s 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 lf 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 cr alone as a line terminator however since apple replaced these operating systems with the unix based macos operating system they now use line feed lf as well the radio shack trs also used a lone cr to terminate lines computers attached to the arpanet included machines running operating systems such as tops 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 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 network virtual terminal 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 the pdp monitor and its pdp successor tops used control z sub 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 etx 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 zero other representations might be used by specialist equipment for example iso graphics or hexadecimal numbers codes hex to ehex known as the printable characters represent letters digits punctuation marks and a few miscellaneous symbols there are printable characters in total code hex 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 fhex corresponds to the non printable delete del 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 ehex and the left arrow instead of the underscore fhex animation 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 cgi computer animation can be very detailed d animation while d computer animation which may have the look of traditional 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 the effect of animation is achieved by a rapid succession of sequential 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 the computer techniques like animated gif and flash animation were developed animation is more pervasive than many people realize apart from 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 in 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 animators are artists who specialize in creating animation the word animation stems from the latin animtin stem of animti meaning a bestowing of life the primary meaning of the english word is liveliness and has been in use much longer than the meaning of moving image medium hundreds of years before the introduction of true animation people from 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 th century through the first half of the th century featured lifelike projections of moving ghosts and other frightful imagery in motion in the stroboscopic disc better known as the phnakisticope 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 th century animation contained about 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 seems to have been charles mile reynaud who between and had much success with his to minute long pantomimes lumineuses when cinematography eventually broke through in 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 often traced from live action footage for adapted toy magic lanterns intended for kids to use at home it would take some more years before animation reached movie theatres after earlier experiments by movie pioneers j stuart blackton arthur melbourne cooper segundo de chomn and edwin s porter among others blackton s the haunted hotel 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 fantasmagorie 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 and by winsor mccay with detailed drawn animation in films such as little nemo and gertie the dinosaur during the s 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 became the first animated superstar in steamboat willie featuring mickey mouse and minnie mouse popularized film with synchronized sound and put walt disney s studio at the forefront of the animation industry in disney also introduced the innovation of full colour in flowers and trees as part of a three year long exclusive deal with technicolor the enormous success of mickey mouse is seen as the start of the golden age of american animation that would last until the s 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 walt disney productions goofy and donald duck warner bros cartoons looney tunes characters like daffy duck bugs bunny tweety sylvester the cat wile e coyote and road runner fleischer studios paramount cartoon studios betty boop popeye superman and casper mgm cartoon studio s tom and jerry and droopy walter lantz productions universal studio cartoons woody woodpecker terrytoons th century fox s mighty mouse and united artists pink panther in italian argentine director quirino cristiani made the first feature length film el apstol now lost which became a critical and commercial success it was followed by cristiani s sin dejar rastros in 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 the oldest extant animated feature in 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 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 both and fleischer studios second animated feature mr bug goes to town failed at the box office for decades afterwards 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 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 produced films including shorts per year on average and reached titles in 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 animation became very popular on television since the s 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 s 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 the flintstones the first prime time animated series scooby doo since and belgian co production the smurfs the constraints of american television programming and the demand for an enormous quantity resulted in cheaper and quicker limited animation methods and much more formulaic scripts quality dwindled until more daring animation surfaced in the late s and in the early s with hit series such as the simpsons since as part of a renaissance 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 s and european producers looking for affordable cel animators relatively often started co productions with japanese studios resulting in hit series such as barbapapa the netherlands japan france wickie und die starken mnner vicky the viking austria germany japan and il tait une fois once upon a time france japan computer animation was gradually developed since the s d wireframe animation started popping up in the mainstream in the s with an early short appearance in the sci fi thriller futureworld the rescuers down under 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 caps developed by the walt disney company in collaboration with pixar in the late s the so called d style more often associated with computer animation has become extremely popular since pixar s toy story the first computer animated feature in this style most of the cel animation studios switched to producing mostly computer animated films around the s as it proved cheaper and more profitable not only the very popular d 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 in the animation market was worth us billion animated feature length films returned the highest gross margins around of all film genres between and animation as an art and industry continues to thrive as of the early s 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 the public of 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 kills bugs dead commercials in which were very successful for the company 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 children s writing tablet in their mickey mouse mascot has been depicted on an enormous amount of products as have many other disney characters this may have influenced some pejorative use of mickey s name but licensed disney products sell well and the so called disneyana has many avid collectors and even a dedicated disneyana fanclub since disneyland opened in 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 has 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 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 during the th academy awards function the first winner of the academy award was the short flowers and trees a production by walt disney productions the academy award for a feature length animated motion picture was only instituted for the year and awarded during the th academy awards in it was won by the film shrek produced by dreamworks and pacific data images disney animation and pixar has produced the most films either to win or be nominated for the award beauty and the beast was the first animated film nominated for best picture up and toy story 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 since bafta award for best animated film since csar award for best animated film since golden rooster award for best animation since goya award for best animated film since japan academy prize for animation of the year since national film award for best animated film since also since the asia pacific screen award for best animated feature film has been awarded at the asia pacific screen awards since 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 to create a new field for best animated feature the s winners were dominated by walt disney however newer studios led by pixar dreamworks have now begun to consistently vie for this award the list of awardees is as follows 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 although the task of rendering slightly different takes has been made less tedious by modern computer animation 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 s 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 i e real time improvisation 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 s teams of about to people of whom to 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 s animation studios began hiring professional screenwriters to write screenplays while also continuing to use story departments and screenplays had become commonplace for animated films by the late s traditional animation also called cel animation or hand drawn animation was the process used for most animated films of the th 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 st 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 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 years some animation producers have used the term tradigital a play on the words traditional and digital to describe cel animation that uses significant computer technology examples of traditionally animated feature films include pinocchio united states animal farm united kingdom lucky and zorba italy and the illusionist british french traditionally animated films produced with the aid of computer technology include the lion king us the prince of egypt us akira japan spirited away japan the triplets of belleville france and the secret of kells irish french belgian 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 the little mermaid beauty and the beast aladdin the lion king 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 us the iron giant us and nocturna spain fully animated films are animated at frames per second with a combination of animation on ones and twos meaning that drawings can be held for one frame out of or two frames out of 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 yellow submarine uk 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 is a technique patented by max fleischer in where animators trace live action movement frame by frame the source film can be directly copied from actors outlines into animated drawings as in the lord of the rings us or used in a stylized and expressive manner as in waking life us and a scanner darkly us some other examples are fire and ice us heavy metal and aku no hana 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 alice comedies in which a live action girl enters an animated world other examples include allegro non troppo italy who framed roger rabbit us volere volare italy space jam us and osmosis jones us 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 d animation techniques tend to focus on image manipulation while d techniques usually build virtual worlds in which characters and objects move and interact d animation can create images that seem real to the viewer final line advection animation is a technique used in d 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 paperman john kahrs said that our animators can change things actually erase away the cg underlayer if they want and change the profile of the arm 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 d 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 ephebe or a beardless athletic youth 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 kourotrophos 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 ephebeia 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 mousike apollo presides over all music songs dance and poetry he is the inventor of string music and the frequent companion of the muses functioning as their chorus leader in celebrations the lyre is a common attribute of apollo in hellenistic times especially during the th century bce as apollo helios 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 st century ce apollo and helios sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the th century ce apollo attic ionic and homeric greek apolln doric apelln arcadocypriot apeiln aeolic aploun the name apollo unlike the related older name paean is generally not found in the linear b mycenean greek texts although there is a possible attestation in the lacunose form pe rjo linear b on the kn e 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 apellon is more archaic as it is derived from an earlier it probably is a cognate to the doric month apellaios 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 apollymi to destroy plato in cratylus connects the name with apolysis redemption with apolousis purification and with h aploun simple in particular in reference to the thessalian form of the name and finally with aeiballon ever shooting hesychius connects the name apollo with the doric apella which means assembly so that apollo would be the god of political life and he also gives the explanation sekos fold in which case apollo would be the god of flocks and herds in the ancient macedonian language pella means stone and some toponyms may be derived from this word pella the capital of ancient macedonia and pelln pallene a number of non greek etymologies have been suggested for the name the hittite form apaliunas d is attested in the manapa tarhunta letter perhaps related to hurrian and certainly the etruscan aplu a god of plague in turn likely from akkadian aplu enlil meaning simply the son of enlil a title that was given to the god nergal who was linked to shamash babylonian god of the sun the role of apollo as god of plague is evident in the invocation of apollo smintheus mouse apollo by chryses the trojan priest of apollo with the purpose of sending a plague against the greeks the reasoning behind a god of the plague becoming a god of healing is apotropaic meaning that the god responsible for bringing the plague must be appeased in order to remove the plague 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 d note the labiovelar in place of the labial p found in pre doric j and hittite apaliunas a luwian etymology suggested for apaliunas makes apollo the one of entrapment perhaps in the sense of hunter apollo s chief epithet was phoebus phoibos 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 apollo s birthplace was mount cynthus on the island of delos delphi and actium were his primary places of worship 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 th century bce the delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to artemis apollo s twin sister at delphi apollo was venerated as the slayer of python for the greeks apollo was all the gods in one and through the centuries he acquired different functions which could originate from different gods in archaic greece he was the prophet the oracular god who in older times was connected with healing in classical greece he was the god of light and of music but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil walter burkert discerned three components in the prehistory of apollo worship which he termed a dorian northwest greek component a cretan minoan component and a syro hittite component from his eastern origin apollo brought the art of inspection of symbols and omina smeia kai terata and of the observation of the omens of the days the inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced from anatolia the ritualism belonged to apollo from the beginning the greeks created the legalism the supervision of the orders of the gods and the demand for moderation and harmony apollo became the god of shining youth ideal beauty fine arts philosophy moderation spiritual life the protector of music divine law and perceptible order the improvement of the old anatolian god and his elevation to an intellectual sphere may be considered an achievement of the greek people the function of apollo as a healer is connected with paean the physician of the gods in the iliad who seems to come from a more primitive religion paen is probably connected with the mycenaean pa ja wo ne linear b but this is not certain he did not have a separate cult but he was the personification of the holy magic song sung by the magicians that was supposed to cure disease later the greeks knew the original meaning of the relevant song paean the magicians were also called seer doctors and they used an ecstatic prophetic art which was used exactly by the god apollo at the oracles 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 the god who sends a disease can also prevent it therefore when it stops they make a purifying ceremony and offer him a hecatomb to ward off evil when the oath of his priest appeases they pray and with a song they call their own god the paean some common epithets of apollo as a healer are paion literally healer or helper epikourios succouring oulios healer baleful and loimios of the plague in classical times his strong function in popular religion was to keep away evil and was therefore called apotropaios averting evil and alexikakos keeping off ill from v n in later writers the word usually spelled paean becomes a mere epithet of apollo in his capacity as a god of healing 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 th 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 the connection with the dorians and their initiation festival apellai is reinforced by the month apellaios in northwest greek calendars the family festival was dedicated to apollo doric apellaios is the month of these rites and apellon is the megistos kouros the great kouros however it can explain only the doric type of the name which is connected with the ancient macedonian word pella pella stone stones played an important part in the cult of the god especially in the oracular shrine of delphi omphalos the homeric hymn represents apollo as a northern intruder his arrival must have occurred during the dark ages that followed the destruction of the mycenaean civilization and his conflict with gaia mother earth was represented by the legend of his slaying her daughter the serpent python the earth deity had power over the ghostly world and it is believed that she was the deity behind the oracle the older tales mentioned two dragons who were perhaps intentionally conflated a female dragon named delphyne cf womb and a male serpent typhon from to smoke the adversary of zeus in the titanomachy who the narrators confused with python python was the good daemon of the temple as it appears in minoan religion but she was represented as a dragon as often happens in northern european folklore as well as in the east apollo and his sister artemis can bring death with their arrows the conception that diseases and death come from invisible shots sent by supernatural beings or magicians is common in germanic and norse mythology in greek mythology artemis was the leader hegemon of the nymphs who had similar functions with the nordic elves the elf shot originally indicated disease or death attributed to the elves but it was later attested denoting stone arrow heads which were used by witches to harm people and also for healing rituals the vedic rudra has some similar functions with apollo the terrible god is called the archer 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 it seems an oracular cult existed in delphi from the mycenaean age in historical times the priests of delphi were called lab r yadai the double axe men which indicates minoan origin the double axe labrys was the holy symbol of the cretan labyrinth the homeric hymn adds that 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 worshiped in crete and in the islands apollo s sister artemis who was the greek goddess of hunting is identified with britomartis diktynna the minoan mistress of the animals in her earliest depictions she is accompanied by the master of the animals a male god of hunting who had the bow as his attribute his original name is unknown but it seems that he was absorbed by the more popular apollo who stood by the virgin mistress of the animals becoming her brother the old oracles in delphi seem to be connected with a local tradition of the priesthood and there is not clear evidence that a kind of inspiration prophecy existed in the temple this led some scholars to the conclusion that pythia carried on the rituals in a consistent procedure through many centuries according to the local tradition in that regard the mythical seeress sibyl of anatolian origin with her ecstatic art looks unrelated to the oracle itself however the greek tradition is referring to the existence of vapours and chewing of laurel leaves which seem to be confirmed by recent studies plato describes the priestesses of delphi and dodona as frenzied women obsessed by mania frenzy a greek word he connected with mantis prophet frenzied women like sibyls from whose lips the god speaks are recorded in the near east as mari in the second millennium bc although crete had contacts with mari from bc there is no evidence that the ecstatic prophetic art existed during the minoan and mycenean ages it is more probable that this art was introduced later from anatolia and regenerated an existing oracular cult that was local to delphi and dormant in several areas of greece 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 existed some of the oldest oracular shrines omens symbols purifications and exorcisms appear in old assyro babylonian texts and these rituals were spread into the empire of the hittites a hittite text mentions that the king invited a babylonian priestess for a certain purification a similar story is mentioned by plutarch he writes that the cretan seer epimenides purified athens after the pollution brought by the alcmeonidae and that the seer s expertise in sacrifices and reform of funeral practices were of great help to solon in his reform of the athenian state the story indicates that epimenides was probably heir to the shamanic religions of asia and proves together with the homeric hymn that crete had a resisting religion up to historical times it seems that these rituals were dormant in greece and they were reinforced when the greeks migrated to anatolia 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 sibutu indicates a babylonian origin the late bronze age from to 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 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 the apollo of delphi 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 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 apollodorus or apollonios and cities named apollonia testify to his popularity oracular sanctuaries to apollo were established in other sites in the nd and rd century ce those at didyma and claros pronounced the so called theological oracles in which apollo confirms that all deities are aspects or servants of an all encompassing highest deity in the rd century apollo fell silent julian the apostate tried to revive the delphic oracle but failed 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 abaeus apollon abaios was important enough to be consulted by croesus his oracular shrines include oracles were also given by sons 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 th and the th 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 zeus wife hera discovered that leto was pregnant she banned leto from giving birth on terra firma leto sought shelter in many lands only to be rejected by them finally the voice of unborn apollo informed his mother about a floating island named delos which had once been asteria leto s 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 yards or meters 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 the 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 the time 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 hebdomagenes 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 that artemis was born on the island of ortygia and that she helped leto cross the sea to delos the next day to give birth to apollo 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 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 gaea 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 iphigenia in aulis gives an account of his fight with python and the events 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 s conflict with gaea and zeus 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 gaea gaea wanted apollo to be banished to tartarus as a punishment zeus didn t agree and instead exiled his son from olympus and instructed him to get purified apollo had to serve as a slave for nine years after the servitude was over as per his father s 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 gaea according to a variation apollo had also travelled to crete where carmanor purified him apollo later established the pythian games to appropriate gaea 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 s mere presence is said to have made the cattle give birth to twins apollo helped admetus win the hand of alcestis the daughter of king pelias by taming a lion and a boar to draw admetus chariot he was present during their wedding to give his blessings when admetus angered the goddess artemis by forgetting to give her the due offerings apollo came to the rescue and calmed his sister when apollo learnt of admetus 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 niobids 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 generations once apollo and poseidon served under the trojan king laomedon in accordance to zeus words apollodorus states that the gods willingly went to the king disguised as humans in order to check his hubris apollo guarded the cattle of laomedon in the valleys of mount ida while poseidon built the walls of troy other versions make both apollo and poseidon the builders of the wall in ovid s 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 i e his son telamon joined heracles when he sieged the city during laomedon s rule later his great grandson neoptolemus was present in the wooden horse that lead to the downfall of troy 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 who would later be saved by heracles 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 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 greeks complied indirectly causing the anger of achilles which is the theme of the iliad 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 the rouser of armies 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 hypnos and death thanatos 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 who according to some was the god s own son by hecuba 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 achilles attempt to mutilate hector s 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 then named alcides 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 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 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 boetians 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 name unknown 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 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 homopolon before the homo was replaced by a apollo s harmonious music delivered people from their pain and hence like dionysus he is also called the liberator the swans which were considered to be the most musical among the birds were believed to be the singers of apollo 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 leader of muses 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 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 apollo s cows and took them to a cave in the woods near pylos covering their tracks in the cave he found a tortoise and killed it then removed the insides he used one of the cow s 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 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 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 his apollo hair is smooth and made into tufts and curls that fall about his brow and hang before his face his body is fair from head to foot his limbs shine bright his tongue gives oracles and he is equally eloquent in prose or verse propose which you will what of his robes so fine in texture so soft to the touch aglow with purple what of his lyre that flashes gold gleams white with ivory and shimmers with rainbow gems what of his song so cunning and so sweet nay all these allurements suit with naught save luxury to virtue they bring shame alone 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 do whatever he wanted 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 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 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 the embarker 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 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 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 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 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 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 lighting his shield and his helm with starry gleam 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 apollo killed the giants python and tityos who had assaulted his mother leto 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 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 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 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 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 prometheus liver which would then grow back overnight to be eaten again the next day seeing his plight apollo pleaded zeus to release the kind titan while artemis and leto stood behind him with tears in their eyes zeus moved by apollo s words and the tears of the goddesses finally sent heracles to free prometheus 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 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 whose parentage varies she 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 gaea 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 hymen by either terpsichore or clio or calliope 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 troy 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 in euripides play ion 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 hyacinth or hyacinthus was one of apollo s favorite lovers he was a spartan prince beautiful and athletic 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 fired with love for admetus plutarch lists admetus as one of apollo s lovers and says that apollo served admetus because he doted upon him latin poet ovid in his ars amatoria said that even though he was a god apollo forsook his pride and stayed in as a servant for the sake of admetus tibullus desrcibes apollo s love to the king as servitium amoris slavery of love 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 include apollo 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 apollo s zeus killed him for bringing back the dead but upon apollo s 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 daughters apollonis borysthenis and cephisso who formed a group of minor muses the musa apollonides 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 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 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 daphne was sacred to both artemis daphnaia 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 due to his wise and artistic nature in the trojan war as zeus executive apollo is seen holding the aegis like athena usually does apollo s decisions were usually approved by his sister athena and they both worked to establish the law and order set forth by zeus in aeschylus oresteia trilogy clytemnestra kills her husband king agamemnon because he had sacrificed their daughter iphigenia to proceed forward with the trojan war apollo gives an order through the oracle at delphi that agamemnon s 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 female personifications of vengeance 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 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 s 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 bce the ludi apollinares apollonian games 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 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 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 symbolizing music and song ravens hawks crows apollo had hawks and crows as his messengers snakes referencing apollo s function as the god of prophecy 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 hawk keepers 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 horus 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 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 possibly a folk etymology 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 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 agalma 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 the evolution of the greek sculpture can be observed in his depictions from the almost static formal kouros type in early archaic period to the representation of motion in a relative harmonious whole in late archaic period in classical greece the emphasis is not given to the illusive imaginative reality represented by the ideal forms but to the analogies and the interaction of the members in the whole a method created by polykleitos finally praxiteles seems to be released from any art and religious conformities and his masterpieces are a mixture of naturalism with stylization the evolution of the greek art seems to go parallel with the greek philosophical conceptions which changed from the natural philosophy of thales to the metaphysical theory of pythagoras thales searched for a simple material form directly perceptible by the senses behind the appearances of things and his theory is also related to the older animism this was paralleled in sculpture by the absolute representation of vigorous life through unnaturally simplified forms pythagoras believed that behind the appearance of things there was the permanent principle of mathematics and that the forms were based on a transcendental mathematical relation the forms on earth are imperfect imitations eikones images of the celestial world of numbers his ideas had a great influence on post archaic art the greek architects and sculptors were always trying to find the mathematical relation that would lead to the esthetic perfection in classical greece anaxagoras asserted that a divine reason mind gave order to the seeds of the universe and plato extended the greek belief of ideal forms to his metaphysical theory of forms ideai ideas the forms on earth are imperfect duplicates of the intellectual celestial ideas the greek words oida i know and eidos species a thing seen have the same root as the word idea a thing to see indicating how the greek mind moved from the gift of the senses to the principles beyond the senses the artists in plato s time moved away from his theories and art tends to be a mixture of naturalism with stylization the greek sculptors considered the senses more important and the proportions were used to unite the sensible with the intellectual kouros male youth is the modern term given to those representations of standing male youths which first appear in the archaic period in greece this type served certain religious needs and was first proposed for what was previously thought to be depictions of apollo the first statues are certainly still and formal the formality of their stance seems to be related with the egyptian precedent but it was accepted for a good reason the sculptors had a clear idea of what a young man is and embodied the archaic smile of good manners the firm and springy step the balance of the body dignity and youthful happiness when they tried to depict the most abiding qualities of men it was because men had common roots with the unchanging gods the adoption of a standard recognizable type for a long time is probably because nature gives preference in survival of a type which has long be adopted by the climatic conditions and also due to the general greek belief that nature expresses itself in ideal forms that can be imagined and represented these forms expressed immortality apollo was the immortal god of ideal balance and order his shrine in delphi that he shared in winter with dionysius had the inscriptions gnthi seautn know thyself and mdn gan nothing in excess and egga pra d at make a pledge and mischief is nigh in the first large scale depictions during the early archaic period bc the artists tried to draw one s attention to look into the interior of the face and the body which were not represented as lifeless masses but as being full of life the greeks maintained until late in their civilization an almost animistic idea that the statues are in some sense alive this embodies the belief that the image was somehow the god or man himself a fine example is the statue of the sacred gate kouros which was found at the cemetery of dipylon in athens dipylon kouros the statue is the thing in itself and his slender face with the deep eyes express an intellectual eternity according to the greek tradition the dipylon master was named daedalus and in his statues the limbs were freed from the body giving the impression that the statues could move it is considered that he created also the new york kouros which is the oldest fully preserved statue of kouros type and seems to be the incarnation of the god himself the animistic idea as the representation of the imaginative reality is sanctified in the homeric poems and in greek myths in stories of the god hephaestus phaistos and the mythic daedalus the builder of the labyrinth that made images which moved of their own accord this kind of art goes back to the minoan period when its main theme was the representation of motion in a specific moment these free standing statues were usually marble but also the form rendered in limestone bronze ivory and terracotta 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 apollo ptoios boeotia alone the last stage in the development of the kouros type is the late archaic period bc in which the greek sculpture attained a full knowledge of human anatomy and used to create a relative harmonious whole ranking from the very few bronzes survived to us is the masterpiece bronze piraeus apollo it was found in piraeus the harbour of athens the statue originally held the bow in its left hand and a cup of pouring libation in its right hand it probably comes from north eastern peloponnesus the emphasis is given in anatomy and it is one of the first attempts to represent a kind of motion and beauty relative to proportions which appear mostly in post archaic art the statue throws some light on an artistic centre which with an independently developed harder simpler and heavier style restricts ionian influence in athens finally this is the germ from which the art of polykleitos was to grow two or three generations later at the beginning of the classical period it was considered that beauty in visible things as in everything else consisted of symmetry and proportions the artists tried also to represent motion in a specific moment myron which may be considered as the reappearance of the dormant minoan element anatomy and geometry are fused in one and each does something to the other the greek sculptors tried to clarify it by looking for mathematical proportions just as they sought some reality behind appearances polykleitos in his canon wrote that beauty consists in the proportion not of the elements materials but of the parts that is the interrelation of parts with one another and with the whole it seems that he was influenced by the theories of pythagoras the famous apollo of mantua and its variants are early forms of the apollo citharoedus statue type in which the god holds the cithara in his left arm the type is represented by neo attic imperial roman copies of the late st or early nd century modelled upon a supposed greek bronze original made in the second quarter of the th century bce in a style similar to works of polykleitos but more archaic the apollo held the cythara against his extended left arm of which in the louvre example a fragment of one twisting scrolling horn upright remains against his biceps though the proportions were always important in greek art the appeal of the greek sculptures eludes any explanation by proportion alone the statues of apollo were thought to incarnate his living presence and these representations of illusive imaginative reality had deep roots in the minoan period and in the beliefs of the first greek speaking people who entered the region during the bronze age just as the greeks saw the mountains forests sea and rivers as inhabited by concrete beings so nature in all of its manifestations possesses clear form and the form of a work of art spiritual life is incorporated in matter when it is given artistic form just as in the arts the greeks sought some reality behind appearances so in mathematics they sought permanent principles which could be applied wherever the conditions were the same artists and sculptors tried to find this ideal order in relation with mathematics but they believed that this ideal order revealed itself not so much to the dispassionate intellect as to the whole sentient self things as we see them and as they really are are one that each stresses the nature of the other in a single unity in the archaic pediments and friezes of the temples the artists had a problem to fit a group of figures into an isosceles triangle with acute angles at the base the siphnian treasury in delphi was one of the first greek buildings utilizing the solution to put the dominating form in the middle and to complete the descending scale of height with other figures sitting or kneeling the pediment shows the story of heracles stealing apollo s tripod that was strongly associated with his oracular inspiration their two figures hold the centre in the pediment of the temple of zeus in olympia the single figure of apollo is dominating the scene these representations rely on presenting scenes directly to the eye for their own visible sake they care for the schematic arrangements of bodies in space but only as parts in a larger whole while each scene has its own character and completeness it must fit into the general sequence to which it belongs in these archaic pediments the sculptors use empty intervals to suggest a passage to and from a busy battlefield the artists seem to have been dominated by geometrical pattern and order and this was improved when classical art brought a greater freedom and economy apollo as a handsome beardless young man is often depicted with a kithara as apollo citharoedus or bow in his hand or reclining on a tree the apollo lykeios and apollo sauroctonos types the apollo belvedere is a marble sculpture that was rediscovered in the late th century for centuries it epitomized the ideals of classical antiquity for europeans from the renaissance through the th century the marble is a hellenistic or roman copy of a bronze original by the greek sculptor leochares made between and bce the life size so called adonis found in on the site of a villa suburbana near the via labicana in the roman suburb of centocelle is identified as an apollo by modern scholars in the late nd century ce floor mosaic from el djem roman thysdrus 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 rd 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 apollo has often featured in postclassical art and literature 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 the canadian band rush released an album with songs in 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 carl jung s apollo archetype represents what he saw as the disposition in people to over intellectualise and maintain emotional distance charles handy in gods of management uses greek gods as a metaphor to portray various types of organisational culture apollo represents a role culture where order reason and bureaucracy prevail in spaceflight the s and s nasa program for orbiting and landing astronauts on the moon was named apollo andre kirk agassi born april is an american retired professional tennis player and former world no in singles agassi is an eight time grand slam champion and a olympic gold medalist as well as being a runner up in seven other grand slam tournaments during the open era agassi was the first male player to win four australian open titles a record that was later surpassed by novak djokovic when he won his fifth title in and then by roger federer in agassi is nd of five male singles players to achieve the career grand slam in the open era after rod laver and before federer nadal and djokovic and fifth of eight in history the first of two to achieve the career golden slam career grand slam and olympic gold medal the other being rafael nadal and the only man to win a career super slam all four majors plus the olympic gold medal plus at least one title at the atp tour world championships agassi was the first male player to win all four grand slam tournaments on three different surfaces hard clay and grass and the last american male to win both the french open in and the australian open in he also won atp masters series titles and was part of the winning davis cup teams in and agassi reached the world no ranking for the first time in but was troubled by personal issues during the mid to late s and sank to no in prompting many to believe that his career was over agassi returned to no in and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years during his plus year tour career agassi was known by the nickname the punisher after suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back a spondylolisthesis vertebral displacement and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve agassi retired from professional tennis on september after losing in the third round of the us open to benjamin becker he is the founder of the andre agassi charitable foundation which has raised over million for at risk children in southern nevada in the foundation opened the andre agassi college preparatory academy in las vegas a k public charter school for at risk children he has been married to fellow tennis player steffi graf since andre agassi was born in las vegas nevada to emmanuel mike agassi a former olympic boxer from iran and elizabeth betty agassi ne dudley his father is of armenian and assyrian heritage one of his ancestors changed his surname from armenian aghassian to less noticeable agassi as a skin saving measure during a time when turks frequently used armenians for target practice andre agassi s mother betty is a breast cancer survivor he has three older siblings rita last wife to pancho gonzales philip and tami andre was given the middle name kirk after kirk kerkorian an armenian american billionaire agassi a waiter at tropicana las vegas met kerkorian in agassi at the age of with his good friend and doubles partner roddy parks won the national indoor boys s doubles championship in chicago agassi describes more of his memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with roddy in his book open at the age of 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 agassi turned professional at the age of 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 agassi was ranked no he won his first top level singles title in at the sul american open in itaparica and ended the year ranked no he won six additional tournaments in memphis u s men s clay court championships forest hills wct stuttgart outdoor volvo international and livingston open and by december of that year he had surpassed us million in career prize money after playing in just tournaments the fastest anyone in history had reached that level during he also set the open era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager a record that stood for years until rafael nadal broke it in his year end ranking was no 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 in addition to not playing the australian open which later became his best grand slam event for the first eight years of his career agassi chose not to play at wimbledon from through and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event s traditionalism particularly its predominantly white 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 and made the us open semi finals in he began the s with a series of near misses he reached his first grand slam final in 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 the rivalry between these two american players became the biggest one in tennis over the rest of the decade agassi ended on high note as he helped the united states win its first davis cup in years and won his only tennis masters cup beating reigning wimbledon champion stefan edberg in the final in 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 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 s grand slam tournament breakthrough came at wimbledon not at the french open or the us open where he had previously enjoyed success in he defeated goran ivanievi in a five set final along the way agassi overcame two former wimbledon champions boris becker and john mcenroe no other baseliner would triumph at wimbledon until lleyton hewitt ten years later agassi was named the bbc overseas sports personality of the year in agassi once again played on the united states davis cup winning team in it was their second davis cup title in three years in 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 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 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 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 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 seeded players in agassi shaved his balding head breaking with his old image is everything style he competed in the 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 all on hardcourt with agassi winning three agassi won three masters series events in cincinnati key biscayne and the canadian open and seven titles total he compiled a career best 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 ranking for the first time in april he held that ranking until november for a total of weeks agassi skipped most of the fall indoor season which allowed sampras to surpass him and finish ranked no at the year end ranking in terms of win loss record was agassi s best year he won and lost 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 in 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 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 agassi won five titles and leapt from no to no the highest jump into the top 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 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 the first being years earlier in agassi entered the history books in 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 joining rod laver fred perry roy emerson and don budge these have since been joined by roger federer rafael nadal and novak djokovic 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 of only four the next being federer nadal and djokovic respectively male player in history to have won all four grand slam titles on three different surfaces clay grass and hard courts 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 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 rallying from a two sets to one deficit in the final overall during the year agassi won titles including two majors and the atp masters series in paris where he beat marat safin agassi ended as the no ending sampras s record of six consecutive year ending top rankings this was the only time agassi ended the year at no agassi was runner up to sampras at the year end tennis masters cup losing after thrashing sampras in the round robin he was the first male player to have reached four consecutive grand slam finals since rod laver achieved the grand slam in 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 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 in the history of tennis agassi then lost to gustavo kuerten in the final allowing kuerten to be crowned year end no 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 in the fifth set in the quarterfinals at the us open agassi lost a hour minute epic match with sampras with no breaks of serve during the game match despite the setback agassi finished ranked no becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top in three different decades s s s he was also the oldest player at the time age to finish in the top three since year old connors finished at no in in 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 in march he won his sixth career and third consecutive key biscayne title in the process surpassing his wife steffi graf who was a five time winner of the event the final was his th straight win in that tournament which broke the previous record of set by sampras from to agassi s winning streak continued to after winning his first two matches at the edition of that tournament before bowing to agustn calleri with the victory agassi became the youngest years old and oldest winner of the key biscayne tournament before djokovic and federer overtook him in and respectively on april he recaptured the no ranking after winning the u s men s clay court championship and regained it after a quarterfinal victory over xavier malisse at the queen s club championships to become the oldest top ranked male player since the atp rankings began at years and days the record was later surpassed by roger federer in he had held the no ranking for two weeks when lleyton hewitt took it back on may agassi then recaptured the no ranking once again on june which he held for weeks until september there he managed to reach the us open semi finals where he lost to juan carlos ferrero surrendering his no ranking to him during his career agassi held the ranking for a total of 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 and and finished the year ranked no in 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 match winning streak at the event he won the masters series event in cincinnati to bring his career total to top level singles titles and a record atp masters series titles having already won seven of the nine atp masters tournament all except the tournaments in monte carlo and hamburg at he became the second oldest singles champion in cincinnati tournament history the tournament began in tied with roger federer and surpassed only by ken rosewall who won the title in at age he finished the year ranked no one of the oldest players to finish in the top since the year old connors was no in at the time agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach career wins with his first round victory over alex bogomolov in countrywide classic in los angeles agassi s 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 rafael nadal agassi s was defined by an improbable run to the us open final after beating rzvan sabu and ivo karlovi in straight sets and tom berdych in four sets agassi won three consecutive five set matches to advance to the final the most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over james blake where he rallied from two sets down to win in the fifth set tie breaker his other five set victories were on xavier malisse in the fourth round and robby ginepri in the semi finals in the final agassi faced federer who was seeking his second consecutive us open title and his sixth grand slam title in two years federer defeated agassi in four sets agassi finished ranked no his th time in the year end top rankings which tied connors for the most times ranked in the top at year s end agassi had a poor start to 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 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 and eventual runner up 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 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 th 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 the rivalry has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the 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 times on the tour level with agassi trailing the us open was their first meeting in a grand slam tournament final agassi was favored as he was ranked no at the time compared to the no 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 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 where agassi was the defending champion and sampras was the newly minted world no agassi dug himself out from a two sets to love hole levelling the match at 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 the year should be considered the peak of the rivalry as together they won out of 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 times during the year all in the title matches including the australian open the newsweek champions cup now indian wells the lipton international players championships now miami open 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 match winning streak after agassi had taken most of the fall season off sampras took over the no ranking for the end of the season in the following 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 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 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 s they met three more times on the grand slam level offering three memorable contests in the top ranked agassi defeated no sampras in the semi finals of the australian open in five sets which was an important win for agassi who had lost of the previous matches against sampras in arguably their most memorable match ever sampras defeated agassi in the 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 us open which was their third meeting in a us open final but the first since the match was also notable because they had defeated several up and coming players en route to the final sampras had defeated no tommy haas in the fourth round and future no andy roddick in the quarterfinals while agassi had defeated no 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 michael chang was the opponent agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than sampras they met times on the tour level with agassi leading 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 s 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 of the us open and defeating chang the defending champion in the french open in a four set quarterfinal arguably their best match took place in the round of of the 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 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 at the miami open with chang being clearly past his prime boris becker and agassi played times with agassi leading becker won their first three matches in and before agassi reversed the rivalry in and won of their last matches they first played at indian wells in with becker prevailing their most notable match was the 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 on his way to his first grand slam title the intensity of the rivalry peaked in 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 which agassi won in three sets agassi and pat rafter played fifteen times with agassi leading the rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters because of the players contrasting styles of play with rafter using traditional serve volley methods against agassi s variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons agassi led on hard courts but rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at the rome masters they played four matches at wimbledon with both winning two matches each agassi won the first two in and while rafter took their and encounters both of the gruelling setters often being presented on the lists of best matches ever played agassi also won both their meetings at the australian open in and on his way to the title on both occasions rafter however took their only us open encounter in and went on to win the title agassi and roger federer played times and federer led their head to head series with the retirement of sampras the rivalry against the years younger federer who was another great server like sampras became agassi s main rivalry for the final years of his career agassi won their first three matches but then went on to lose eight consecutive ones they first met in just the third tournament of federer s career at the swiss indoors in federer s hometown with agassi prevailing over the year old agassi also defeated federer at the us open and the finals of the miami open in federer began to turn the tide at the masters cup in when he defeated agassi in both the round robin and the final they played a memorable quarterfinal match at the us open that spanned over two windy days with federer eventually prevailing in five sets at the dubai championships federer and agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost meters above sea level at the hotel burj al arab their final duel took place in the final of the 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 and ivan lendl played times and lendl led their head to head series agassi and stefan edberg played times and agassi led their head to head series agassi earned more than million in prize money during his career sixth only to djokovic federer nadal sampras and murray to date may he also earned more than million a year through endorsements during his career which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time since retiring after the us open agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity on september 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 at the 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 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 he also announced that he will not be playing the tour on a full time basis and played the tournament as a favor to long time friend jim courier agassi returned to the tour renamed for the powershares series in 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 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 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 us open quarterfinal he defeated blake again in portland to win the title of the cancer treatment centers of america championships in 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 in macau agassi and sampras met for the first time on court since the us open final sampras won the exhibition in three sets the rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in march after the two participated in the hit for haiti 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 other s expense which ended up with sampras intentionally striking a serve at agassi s 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 spectators as sampras defeated agassi in two sets on march 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 in the position of coach to novak djokovic for the french open agassi announced the end of the partnership on march stating that there were too many disagreements in the relationship 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 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 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 agassi established a limited liability company named andre agassi ventures formerly named agassi enterprises agassi along with five athlete partners including wayne gretzky joe montana shaquille o neal ken griffey jr and monica seles opened a chain of sports themed restaurant named official all star caf in april the restaurant closed down in in he paid million for a percent stake in nevada first bank and made a million profit when it was sold to western alliance bancorp in in 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 to start mina group inc and opened 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 million in one year later the group sold the hotel casino to landry s inc for million in cash and million in assumed debt in he sat on the board of meadows bank an independent bank in nevada he has invested in start up companies backed by allen company agassi and graf formed a company called agassi graf holdings they invested in pure a nightclub at caesars palace which opened in and sold it to angel management group in in august 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 due to difficult market conditions and delays they withdrew from the project in 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 and both serve as board members and advisors of the company in october village roadshow and investors including agassi and graf announced plans to build a new water park called wet n wild las vegas in las vegas village roadshow has a stake in the park while agassi graf and other private investors hold the remaining the park opened in may img managed agassi from the time he turned pro in through january before switching to sfx sports group his business manager lawyer and agent was childhood friend perry rogers but they have been estranged since in he and graf signed with caa agassi used prince graphite rackets early in his career he signed a million endorsement contract with belgian tennis racquet makers donnay he later switched to head ti radical racket and head s liquidmetal radical racket having signed a multimillion dollar endorsement deal with head in he renewed his contract in and in november he signed a lifetime agreement with head he also endorses penn tennis balls on july agassi left nike after years and signed an endorsement deal with adidas a major reason for agassi leaving nike was because nike refused to donate to agassi s charities and adidas was more than happy to do so on may agassi rejoined nike agassi was sponsored by dupont ebel mountain dew in mazda in kia motors in american express and deutsche bank in in he appeared in a television commercial for canon inc promoting the canon eos rebel camera between and 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 he was named the spokesman of aramis life a fragrance by aramis and signed a five year deal with the company in march he signed a ten year agreement worth million a year with hour fitness which will open five andre agassi fitness centers by year end prior to the australian open agassi and australian winemaker jacobs creek announced a three year partnership and created the open film series to share personal stories about the life defining moments that shaped his character on and off the court in watchmaker longines named agassi as their brand ambassador agassi and his mother appeared in a got milk advertisement in agassi has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with graf they both endorsed deutsche telekom in genworth financial and canon inc in lvmh in and nintendo wii and wii fit u and longines in in the early s after dating wendi stewart agassi dated american singer and entertainer barbra streisand he wrote about the relationship in his autobiography we agree that we re good for each other and so what if she s twenty eight years older we re sympatico and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection it makes our friendship feel forbidden taboo another piece of my overall rebellion dating barbra streisand is like wearing hot lava he was married to brooke shields from to he married steffi graf on october at their las vegas home the only witnesses were their mothers they have two children son jaden gil born and daughter jaz elle born 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 agassi and reyes introduced their own line of fitness equipment bilt by agassi and reyes in december agassi s childhood friend and former business manager perry rogers sued graf for in management fees he claimed that she owed him agassi s autobiography written with assistance from j r moehringer was published in november 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 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 on the new york times best seller list and received favorable reviews it won the autobiography category of the british sports book awards in the book was listed on esquire as one of the best sports books ever written and was also recommended by self help author tim ferriss who described it as very candid very amusing and very instructional in agassi appeared in the documentary film love means zero which highlighted the troubled relationship between his coach nick bollettieri and him agassi has donated more than to democratic candidates and to republicans on september when he appeared on daily wnyc public radio program the brian lehrer show he stated that he is registered as independent agassi founded the andre agassi charitable association in which assists las vegas young people he was awarded the atp arthur ashe humanitarian award in 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 girls club sees children throughout the year and boasts a world class junior tennis team it also has a basketball program the agassi stars and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics in 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 million to the school in the graduating class had a percent graduation rate and expected a 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 agassi donated funding to child haven for a six room classroom building now named the agassi center for education his foundation also provided to assist in the building of the andre agassi cottage for medically fragile children this bed facility opened in december and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases in 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 the andre agassi foundation for education formed a partnership with v foods to launch box budd es a line of kids healthy snacks all proceeds go to the foundation in february agassi remodeled the vacant university of phoenix building as a new school called the doral academy west through the canyon agassi charter school facilities fund doral academy opened in august the fund purchased a acre plot in henderson nevada to house the somerset academy of las vegas which will relocate from its campus inside a church by winning the french open agassi completed a men s singles career grand slam he is the th of male players in history after budge perry laver and emerson and before federer nadal and djokovic 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 s the austroasiatic languages also known as mon khmer are a large language family of mainland southeast asia also scattered throughout parts of india bangladesh nepal and southern china there are around million speakers of austroasiatic languages of these languages only vietnamese khmer and mon have a long established recorded history and only vietnamese and khmer have official status as modern national languages in vietnam and cambodia respectively 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 scheduled languages of india the rest of the languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status ethnologue identifies austroasiatic languages these form thirteen established families plus perhaps shompen which is poorly attested as a fourteenth which have traditionally been grouped into two as mon khmer and munda however one recent classification posits three groups munda nuclear mon khmer and khasi khmuic 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 autochthonous languages of mainland southeast asia excluding the andaman islands with the neighboring 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 normal voice and breathy lax 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 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 reconstructs the consonant inventory of proto mon khmer as follows this is identical to earlier reconstructions except for is better preserved in the katuic languages which sidwell has specialized in 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 between these families within austroasiatic are debated in addition to the traditional classification two recent proposals are given neither of which accepts traditional mon khmer 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 diffloth the chamic languages of vietnam and the land dayak languages of borneo adelaar 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 branching structure below 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 detail paul sidwell in a lexicostatistical comparison of languages which are well known enough to exclude loan words 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 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 blench suggest that khasic may have been an early offshoot of palaungic that had spread westward sidwell blench 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 a proposed that nicobarese subgroups with aslian just as how khasian and palaungic subgroup with each other a subsequent computational phylogenetic analysis of the austroasiatic language family by sidwell b 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 years before present integrating computational phylogenetic linguistics with recent archaeological findings paul sidwell c 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 c tentatively suggests that austroasiatic may have begun to split up years b p during the neolithic transition era of mainland southeast asia with all the major branches of austroasiatic formed by 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 b p cultivated rice and millet kept livestock such as dogs pigs and chickens and thrived mostly in estuarine rather than coastal environments at b p this neolithic package 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 b p and in southern indochina by b p however sidwell c 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 b p relatively young austroasiatic branches in indochina such as vietic katuic pearic and khmer were formed while the more internally diverse bahnaric branch dating to about b p 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 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 agriculture terms and words for cultural artifacts which are reconstructable in proto austroasiatic form part of the later stratum roger blench suggests that vocabulary related to aquatic subsistence strategies such as boats waterways river fauna and fish capture techniques can be reconstructed for proto austroasiatic blench finds widespread austroasiatic roots for river valley boat fish catfish sp eel prawn shrimp central austroasiatic crab tortoise turtle otter crocodile heron fishing bird and fish trap archaeological evidence for the presence of agriculture in northern indochina northern vietnam laos and other nearby areas dates back to only about years b p bc with agriculture ultimately being introduced from further up to the north in the yangtze valley where it has been dated to b p 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 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 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 th century the following are examples of past used alphabets or current alphabets of austroasiatic 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 several lexical resemblances are found between the hmong mien and austroasiatic language families ratliff some of which had earlier been proposed by haudricourt this could imply a relation or early language contact along the yangtze according to cai et al hmong mien is at least partially related to austroasiatic but was heavily influenced by sino tibetan especially tibeto burman 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 from mahabharata and the ngas suggests that haplogroup ob which is common in austroasiatic people and some other ethnic groups in southern china and haplogroup ob which is common in today japanese koreans and some manchu are the carriers of yangtze civilization baiyue another study suggests that the haplogroup ob is the major austroasiatic paternal lineage and ob the para austroasiatic lineage of the yayoi people according to chaubey et al austro asiatic speakers in india today are derived from dispersal from southeast asia followed by extensive sex specific admixture with local indian populations 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 years ago arunkumar et al suggest austroasiatic migrations from southeast asia occurred into northeast india kya and into east india kya afroasiatic afro asiatic also known as afrasian or hamito semitic or semito hamitic is a large language family of about languages that are spoken predominantly in west asia north africa the horn of africa and parts of the sahel afroasiatic languages have over million native speakers the fourth largest number of any language family after indo european sino tibetan and niger congo the phylum has six branches berber chadic cushitic egyptian omotic and semitic 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 million native speakers concentrated primarily in west asia 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 akkadian biblical hebrew and old aramaic all of which are from the semitic branch the original homeland of the afroasiatic family and when the parent language i e proto afroasiatic was spoken are yet to be agreed upon by historical linguists proposed locations include the horn of africa north africa the eastern sahara and the levant in the early th century linguists grouped the berber cushitic and egyptian languages within a hamitic phylum in acknowledgement of these languages genetic relation with each other and with those in the semitic phylum the terms hamitic and semitic were etymologically derived from the book of genesis which describes various biblical tribes descended from ham and shem two sons of noah by the s 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 often now spelled afro asiatic 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 tucker and lisramic hodge 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 scholars generally treat the afroasiatic language family as including the following five branches whereas omotic is disputed although there is general agreement on these six families linguists who study afroasiatic raise some points of disagreement in particular in descending order of number of speakers widely spoken afroasiatic languages include in the th century the hebrew grammarian judah ibn quraysh of tiaret in algeria was 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 th century europeans also began suggesting such relationships in theodor benfey suggested a language family consisting of semitic berber and cushitic calling the latter ethiopic 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 in his grundriss der sprachwissenschaft outline of linguistics 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 considered that hausa and nama were 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 that particular languages should be grouped together in carl meinhof published die sprachen der hamiten the languages of the hamites 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 into the s 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 a concept he introduced 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 hamitic subgroup and included hausa a chadic language in his comparative hamito semitic vocabulary finally joseph greenberg s work led to the widespread rejection of hamitic as a language category by linguists greenberg refuted meinhof s linguistic theories and rejected the use of racial and social evidence in dismissing the notion of a separate nilo hamitic language category in particular greenberg was returning to a view widely held a half century earlier he consequently rejoined meinhof s so called nilo hamitic languages with their appropriate nilotic siblings he also added and sub classified the chadic languages and proposed the new name afroasiatic for the family almost all scholars have accepted this classification as the new and continued consensus greenberg s model was fully developed in his book the languages of africa in which he reassigned most of meinhof s additions to hamitic to other language families notably nilo saharan following isaac schapera and rejecting meinhof he classified the khoekhoe language as a member of the khoisan languages a grouping that has since proven inaccurate and excessively motivated on the presence of click sounds to khoisan he also added the tanzanian hadza and sandawe though this view has been discredited as linguists working on these languages consider them to be linguistic isolates despite this greenberg s classification remains a starting point for modern work of many languages spoken in africa and the hamitic category and its extension to nilo hamitic has no part in this since the three traditional branches of the hamitic languages berber cushitic and egyptian have not been shown to form an exclusive monophyletic 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 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 glottolog 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 north omotic apart from the preceding ongota kujarge 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 afroasiatic is one of the four major language families spoken in africa identified by joseph greenberg in his book the languages of africa 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 the earliest written evidence of an afroasiatic language is an ancient egyptian inscription dated to c bc years ago symbols on gerzean naqada ii pottery resembling egyptian hieroglyphs date back to c 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 trombetti 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 bc years ago and approximately bc years ago according to igor m diakonoff n proto afroasiatic was spoken c bc christopher ehret asserts that proto afroasiatic was spoken c bc at the latest and possibly as early as c bc these dates are older than those associated with other proto languages the term afroasiatic urheimat urheimat meaning original homeland in german refers to 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 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 years there is no agreement when or where the original homeland of this language family existed the main theories of urheimat are the levant fertile crescent the eastern sahara north africa and the horn of africa 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 see the table at the start of this section 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 e g alternative feminine endings ay y corresponding vowel templates for verbal conjugations which can be reconstructed for a higher order proto language provisionally called proto berbero semitic by kossmann 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 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 out of thousands that represent a fragile consensus of present research 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 when it was transferred to the roman catholic diocese of urgell the present principality was formed by a charter in it is known as a principality as it is a diarchy headed by two princes the bishop of urgell in catalonia spain and the president of the french republic andorra is the sixth smallest nation 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 th smallest country in the world by land and the th 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 million visitors annually andorra is not a member of the european union but the euro is its official currency it has been a member of the united nations since in andorra had the highest life expectancy in the world at 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 the histories iii 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 handia 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 ur water another theory suggests that andorra may derive from meaning the thickly wooded place 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 land covered with bushes or scrubland the folk etymology holds that charlemagne had named the region as a reference to the biblical canaanite valley of endor or andor where the midianites had been defeated a name bestowed by his heir and son louis le debonnaire after defeating the moors in the wild valleys of hell la balma de la margineda found by archaeologists at sant juli de lria was settled in 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 the present day natural parc located in escaldes engordany declared unesco world heritage site as a permanent camp in 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 ordino and feixa del moro sant juli de lria both dated in 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 stone of the witches 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 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 th and nd 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 histories during the punic wars some of the most significant remains of this era are the castle of the roc d enclar part of the early marca hispanica l anxiu in les escaldes and roc de l oral in encamp the presence of roman influence is recorded from the nd century bc to the th 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 via romana strata ceretana also known as strata confluetana after the fall of the roman empire andorra came under the influence of the visigoths the kingdom of toledo and from the diocese of urgell the visigoths remained in the valleys for 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 charlemagne 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 cerdanya andorra remained part of the frankish marca hispanica the buffer zone between the frankish empire and the muslim territories andorra being part of the territory ruled by the count of urgell and eventually by the bishop of the diocese of urgell also tradition holds that it was guaranteed by the son of charlemagne louis the pious writing the carta de poblament or a local municipal charter circa in 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 acta de consagraci i dotaci de la catedral de la seu d urgell deed of consecration and endowment of the cathedral of la seu d urgell the old document dated from depicts the six old parishes of the andorran valleys and therefore the administrative division of the country before 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 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 ruled over andorra with the bishop of urgell in the th 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 with the mediation of the king of aragon peter ii 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 whose title would ultimately transfer to the french head of state and the bishop of urgell in catalonia this gave the principality its territory and political form a second parage was signed in 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 the political organization of the country named the figure of the syndic now spokesman and president of the parliament as representative of the andorrans to their co princes making possible the creation of local departments comuns quarts and venats after being ratified by bishop francesc tovia and count john i the consell de la terra or consell general de les valls general council of the valleys was founded in the second oldest parliament in europe the syndic andreu d als and the general council organized the creation of the justice courts la cort de justicia in with the co princes and the collection of taxes like foc i lloc literally fire and site a national tax active since then although there are remains of ecclesiastical works dating before the th century sant vicen d enclar or esglsia de santa coloma andorra developed exquisite romanesque art during the th through th centuries particularly in the construction of churches bridges religious murals and statues of the virgin and child our lady of meritxell being the most important nowadays the romanesque buildings that form part of andorra s cultural heritage stand out in a remarkable way with an emphasis on esglsia de sant esteve sant joan de caselles esglsia de sant miquel d engolasters 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 th 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 th 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 th century in the tribunal de corts high court of justice 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 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 communal councils form the sometent popular militia or army to deal with the rise of bandolerisme brigandage 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 th th centuries with a large production of metallurgy fargues a system similar to farga catalana and with the introduction of tobacco circa and import trade the fair of andorra la vella was ratified by the co princes in and 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 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 the manor house built in served as a noble fortress of the busquets family inside the parliament was placed the closet of the six keys armari de les sis claus 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 although professing to be a neutral country supported the catalans who saw their rights reduced in the reaction was the promotion of catalan writings in andorra with cultural works such as the book of privileges llibre de privilegis de manual digest by antoni fiter i rossell or the polit andorr by antoni puig after the french revolution napoleon i reestablished the co principate in and removed the french medieval title in 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 an imperial decree reestablished the independence and economy of andorra during this period andorra s late medieval institutions and rural culture remained largely unchanged in the syndic guillem d areny plandolit led the reformist group in a council general of 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 symbols such as the tricolor flag of 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 when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on december 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 to june 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 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 and andorra participated in the cultural movement of the catalan renaixena between and 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 s where he wrote and shared works related to the renaixena with writer and photographer joaquim de riba in fromental halvy had premiered the opera le val d andorre to great success in europe where the national consciousness of the valleys was exposed in the romantic work during the peninsular war andorra declared war on imperial germany during world war i but did not take part directly in the fighting some andorrans volunteered to take part in the conflict as part of the french legions it remained in an official state of belligerency until as it was not included in the treaty of versailles in france occupied andorra following social unrest which occurred before elections due to the revolution of and the fhasa strikes vagues de fhasa the revolt led by joves andorrans a labour union group related to the spanish cnt and fai 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 april joves andorrans seized the andorran parliament these actions were preceded by the arrival of colonel ren jules baulard with gendarmes and the mobilization of local militias or sometent led by the sndic francesc cairat on july 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 july 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 july he was arrested by the co prince and bishop just guitart i vilardeb and their authorities on july and ultimately expelled from spain from until 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 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 council s political and diplomatic actions as necessary for andorra s 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 mi helped almost fugitives among whom were allied military personnel the command remained active between and 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 s 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 s all in all a renovated hotel industry has developed in april a social health insurance system was created cass 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 and 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 andorran dream in relation to the american dream 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 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 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 a first separation of powers took place when instituting the govern d andorra under the name of executive board consell executiu chaired by the first prime minister scar ribas reig with the approval of the co princes in the principality signed an agreement with the european economic community to regularize trade relations its political system was modernized in after the andorran constitutional referendum when the constitution was drafted by the co princes and the general council and approved on march by of voters with a 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 participating in the st 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 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 catalonia spain 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 whereby the head of government is the chief executive and of a multi party system the current head of government is xavier espot zamora of the democrats for andorra da 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 and councillors the councillors serve for four year terms and elections are held between the th and th 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 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 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 an alarm is called and all able bodied men between and of andorran nationality must serve this is why all andorrans and especially the head of each house usually the eldest able bodied man of a 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 un the organization for security and co operation in europe osce and has a special agreement with the european union eu it also has observer status at the world trade organization wto on october andorra became the th member of the international monetary fund imf during the covid 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 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 despite not being involved in any fighting during the first world war andorra was technically the longest combatant as the country was left out of the versailles peace conference technically remaining at war with germany from its original declaration of war in until september when andorra officially declared peace with germany 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 brief civil disorder associated with the elections of 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 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 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 in the catalan pyrenees where citizens perished in andorra to help the population and establish a public order along with the local police units andorra maintains a small but modern and well equipped internal police force with around 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 the andorran fire brigade with headquarters at santa coloma operates from four modern fire stations and has a staff of around firefighters the service is equipped with heavy appliances fire tenders turntable ladders and specialist four wheel drive vehicles four light support vehicles cars and vans 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 serious fires which lasted for two days in december led to calls for a permanent fire service and the andorran fire brigade was formed on april 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 parishes 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 at andorra s lowest point of andorra s land area is 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 forest landscape integrity index mean score of ranking it th globally out of countries 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 may june and august are usually the rainiest months 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 andorra s tiny well to do economy accounts for roughly of gdp an estimated million tourists visit annually attracted by andorra s 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 million visitors annually and an estimated million euros per year sustaining direct and indirect jobs at present since the banking sector with its tax haven status also contributes substantially to the economy with revenues raised exclusively through import tariffs the financial and insurance sector accounts for approximately of gdp however during the european sovereign debt crisis of the st 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 january a business tax of was introduced followed by a sales tax of a year later which raised just over million euros in its first quarter agricultural production is limited only 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 no tariffs 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 december 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 december andorra negotiated to issue its own euro coins beginning in andorra has traditionally had one of the world s lowest unemployment rates in it stood at on may 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 bringing its taxation in line with international standards by the mid s the financial system comprised five banking groups one specialised credit entity eight investment undertaking management entities three asset management companies and insurance companies of which are branches of foreign insurance companies authorised to operate in the principality the population of andorra is estimated at the andorrans are a romance ethnic group of originally catalan descent the population has grown from in 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 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 catalan 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 together with france monaco and turkey that have never signed the council of europe framework convention on national minorities according to the observatori social d andorra the linguistic usage in andorra is as follows the population of andorra is predominantly catholic their patron saint is our lady of meritxell though it is not an official state religion the constitution acknowledges a special relationship with the catholic church offering some special privileges to that group other christian denominations include the anglican church the unification church the new apostolic church and jehovah s witnesses the small muslim community is primarily made up of north african immigrants there is a small community of hindus and bah s and roughly jews live in andorra see history of the jews in andorra children between the ages of and 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 of andorran children attend andorran schools attend french schools and spanish schools the universitat d andorra uda is the state public university and is the only university in andorra it was established in 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 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 centre d estudis virtuals at the university runs approximately 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 th 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 to the spanish border near sant juli de lria and the cg 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 andorra s borders but there are however heliports in la massana cam heliport arinsal and escaldes engordany with commercial helicopter services and an airport located in the neighbouring spanish comarca of alt urgell south of the andorran spanish border since july andorra la seu d urgell airport has operated commercial flights to madrid and palma de mallorca and is the main hub for air andorra and andorra airlines as of july 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 from andorra and lleida spain from andorra the largest nearby airports are at toulouse france from andorra and barcelona spain from andorra there are hourly bus services from both barcelona and toulouse airports to andorra the nearest railway station is l hospitalet prs l andorre east of andorra which is on the gauge line from latour de carol southeast of andorra to toulouse and on to paris by the french high speed trains this line is operated by the sncf latour de carol has a scenic trainline to villefranche de conflent as well as the sncf s gauge line connecting to perpignan and the renfe s gauge line to barcelona there are also direct intercits de nuit trains between l hospitalet prs l andorre and paris on certain dates in andorra mobile and fixed telephone and internet services are operated exclusively by the andorran national telecommunications company som also known as andorra telecom sta the same company also manages the technical infrastructure for national broadcasting of digital television and radio in andorra became the first country to provide a direct optical fiber link to all homes ftth and businesses the first commercial radio station to broadcast was radio andorra which was active from to on october the general council established radio and television as essential public services creating and managing the entity orta becoming on april in the public company rdio i televisi d andorra rtva in the public radio was founded on the radio nacional d andorra as an autochthonous television channel there is only the national public television network andorra televisi created in additional tv and radio stations from spain and france are available via digital terrestrial television and iptv there are three national newspapers diari d andorra el peridic d andorra and bondia as well as several local newspapers the history of the andorran press begins in the period between and with the appearance of several periodicals papers such as les valls d andorra nova andorra and andorra agrcola in the poble andorr became the first regular newspaper in andorra there is also an amateur radio society and news agency ana with independent management the official and historic language is catalan thus the culture is catalan with its own specificity 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 anne s dance in escaldes engordany andorra s national holiday is our lady of meritxell day september among the more important festivals and traditions are the canlich gathering in may the roser d ordino in july the meritxell day national day of andorra 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 and 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 neighbors 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 mushrooms 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 social and political 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 also the madriu perafita claror valley became andorra s first and to date its only unesco world heritage site in with a small extension in andorra is famous for the practice of winter sports andorra has the largest territory of ski slopes in the pyrenees hectares and about km of slopes 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 andorra was the host country to the 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 october against moldova football is governed in andorra by the andorran football federation founded in it organizes the national competitions of association football primera divisi copa constituci and supercopa and futsal andorra was admitted to uefa and fifa in the same year fc andorra a club based in andorra la vella founded in 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 s when the andorran team bc andorra played in the top league of spain liga acb after years the club returned to the top league in other sports practised in andorra include cycling volleyball judo australian rules football handball swimming gymnastics tennis and motorsports in 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 the country has appeared in every winter olympic games since andorra competes in the games of the small states of europe being twice the host country in and 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 stress on first and third syllables of arithmetic or simply the mean or the average when the context is clear 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 values that are very much larger or smaller than most of the values for skewed distributions such as the distribution of income for which a few people s incomes are substantially greater than most people s the arithmetic mean may not coincide with one s notion of middle and robust statistics such as the median may provide better description of central tendency given a data set the arithmetic mean or mean or average denoted read bar is the mean of the values 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 then the arithmetic mean is defined by the formula for an explanation of the summation operator see summation for example consider the monthly salary of employees of a firm the arithmetic mean is if the data set is a statistical population i e consists of every possible observation and not just a subset of them then the mean of that population is called the population mean and denoted by the greek letter if the data set is a statistical sample a subset of the population then we call the statistic resulting from this calculation a sample mean which for a data set is denoted as 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 coefficients sum to it can be defined on a convex space not only a vector space the arithmetic mean has several properties that make it useful especially as a measure of central tendency these include 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 the average is as is the median however when we consider a sample that cannot be arranged so as to increase arithmetically such as the median and arithmetic average can differ significantly in this case the arithmetic average is while the median is 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 s the median income in the united states has increased more slowly than the arithmetic average of income 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 for example the arithmetic mean of and is or equivalently in contrast a weighted mean in which the first number receives for example twice as much weight as the second perhaps because it is assumed to appear twice as often in the general population from which these numbers were sampled would be calculated as here the weights which necessarily sum to the value one are and the former being twice the latter the arithmetic mean sometimes called the unweighted average or equally weighted average can be interpreted as a special case of a weighted average in which all the weights are equal to each other equal to in the above example and equal to in a situation with numbers being averaged if a numerical property and any sample of data from it could take on any value from a continuous range instead of for example just integers then the probability of a number falling into some range of possible values can be described by integrating a continuous probability distribution across this range even when the naive probability for a sample number taking one certain value from infinitely many is zero the analog of a weighted average in this context in which there are an infinite number of possibilities for the precise value of the variable in each range is called the mean of the probability distribution a most widely encountered probability distribution is called the normal distribution it has the property that all measures of its central tendency including not just the mean but also the aforementioned median and the mode the three m s are equal to each other this equality does not hold for other probability distributions as illustrated for the lognormal distribution here particular care must be taken when using cyclic data such as phases or angles naively taking the arithmetic mean of and yields a result of this is incorrect for two reasons in general application such an oversight will lead to the average value artificially moving towards the middle of the numerical range a solution to this problem is to use the optimization formulation viz define the mean as the central point the point about which one has the lowest dispersion and redefine the difference as a modular distance i e the distance on the circle so the modular distance between and is not the arithmetic mean is often denoted by a bar for example as in read bar some software text processors web browsers may not display the x symbol properly for example the x symbol in html is actually a combination of two codes the base letter x plus a code for the line above amp in some texts such as pdfs the x symbol may be replaced by a cent symbol unicode the american football conference afc is one of the two conferences of the national football league nfl the highest professional level of american football in the united states this conference currently contains teams organized into divisions as does its counterpart the national football conference nfc both conferences were created as part of the merger between the national footbal league and the american football league afl 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 teams in each conference the current afc champions are the kansas city chiefs who defeated the buffalo bills in the afc championship game for their second consecutive conference championship like the nfc the conference has teams organized into four divisions each with four teams east north south and west this chart of the season standings displays an application of the nfl scheduling formula the chiefs in highlighted in green finished in first place in the afc west thus in the chiefs are scheduled to play two games against each of its division rivals highlighted in light blue one game against each team in the afc north and nfc east highlighted in yellow and one game each against the first place finishers in the afc east and afc south highlighted in orange currently the thirteen opponents each team faces over the game regular season schedule are set using a pre determined formula each afc team plays the other teams in their respective division twice home and away during the regular season in addition to other games assigned to their schedule by the nfl two of these games are assigned on the basis of a particular team s final divisional standing from the previous season the remaining games are split between the roster of two other nfl divisions this assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle using the regular season schedule as an example each team in the afc west plays against every team in the afc north and nfc south in this way non divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents the exception being the two games assigned based on the team s prior season divisional standing at the end of each season the four division winners and three wild cards non division winners with best regular season record 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 the afl began play in with eight teams and added two more expansion clubs the miami dolphins in and the cincinnati bengals in 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 was moved from the nfl to become the new afc central upon the completion of the merger of the afl and nfl in the newly minted american football conference had already agreed upon their divisional setup along mostly geographical lines for the season the national football conference however could not agree upon their setup and one was chosen from a fishbowl on january since the merger five expansion teams have joined the afc and two have left thus making the current total when the seattle seahawks and the tampa bay buccaneers joined the league in 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 realignment the expansion jacksonville jaguars joined the afc in there have been five teams that have relocated at least once in the baltimore colts relocated to indianapolis in 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 back to oakland in and then to las vegas in while the san diego chargers returned to los angeles in after years in san diego the houston oilers moved to tennessee in 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 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 and the afc has sent only half of its teams to the super bowl new england patriots times denver broncos times pittsburgh steelers times baltimore ravens times indianapolis colts times kansas city chiefs time las vegas raiders time and tennessee titans time by contrast the nfc has sent of the 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 of the last afc champions have started one of just three quarterbacks tom brady peyton manning and ben roethlisberger in the super bowl the afc has started quarterbacks in the last super bowls while the nfc has started 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 to the nfl season introduced an updated afc logo with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars leaving four representing the four divisions of the afc and moving the stars inside the letter similar to the nfc logo nbc aired the afc s sunday afternoon and playoff games from through the season from to 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 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 select afc playoffs games have been seen on abc or espn animal farm is an allegorical novella by george orwell first published in england on august 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 however 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 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 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 animal farm a fairy story but u s publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published in and only one of the translations during orwell s lifetime kept it other titular variations include subtitles like a satire and a contemporary satire orwell suggested the title for the french translation which abbreviates to ursa the latin word for bear a symbol of russia it also played on the french name of the soviet union orwell wrote the book between november and february 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 best english language novels to it also featured at number on the modern library list of best th century novels and number on the bbc s the big read poll it won a retrospective hugo award in and is included in the great books of the western world selection 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 later dubbed the battle of the cowshed 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 napoleon accuses 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 claim 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 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 in addition to boxer many of the animals who participated in the rebellion are dead or old mr jones having moved away after giving up on reclaiming his farm has also died 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 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 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 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 george orwell wrote the manuscript between november and february after his experiences during the spanish civil war which he described in homage to catalonia in the preface of a 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 the manuscript was almost lost when a german v flying bomb destroyed his london home orwell spent hours sifting through the rubble to find the pages intact 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 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 who was a director of the firm 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 watson in read the typescript and deutsch was convinced that nicholson 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 april 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 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 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 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 warburg in illustrated by john driver was abandoned but the folio society published an edition in illustrated by quentin blake and an edition illustrated by the cartoonist ralph steadman was published by secker warburg in 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 most editions of the book have not included it secker and warburg published the first edition of animal farm in 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 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 september 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 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 new republic magazine george soule expressed his disappointment in the book writing that it puzzled and saddened me it seemed on the whole dull the allegory turned out to be a creaking machine for saying in a clumsy way things that have been said better directly soule believed that the animals were not consistent enough with their real world inspirations and said it seems to me that the failure of this book commercially it is already assured of tremendous success arises from the fact that the satire deals not with something the author has experienced but rather with stereotyped ideas about a country which he probably does not know very well the guardian on august 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 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 to 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 best english language novels to it also featured at number on the modern library list of best th century novels it won a retrospective hugo award in and is included in the great books of the western world selection popular reading in schools animal farm was ranked the nation s favourite book from school in a uk 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 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 the government made the decision to censor all online posts about or referring to animal farm however the book itself as of remains sold in stores amy hawkins and jeffrey wasserstrom of the atlantic stated in 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 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 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 drinking alcohol sleeping in beds trading 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 four legs good two legs bad 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 bolded no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets no animal shall drink alcohol to excess no animal shall kill any other animal without cause eventually 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 orwell biographer jeffrey meyers has written virtually every detail has political significance in this allegory orwell himself wrote in of course i intended it primarily as a satire on the russian revolution and that kind of revolution violent conspiratorial revolution led by unconsciously power hungry people can only lead to a change of masters revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert in a preface for a ukrainian edition he stated for the past ten years i have been convinced that the destruction of the soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the socialist movement on my return from spain in 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 orwell s analogy with the october bolshevik revolution the battle of the cowshed has been said to represent the allied invasion of soviet russia in and the defeat of the white russians in the russian civil war the pigs rise to preeminence mirrors the rise of a stalinist bureaucracy in the ussr just as napoleon s emergence as the farm s sole leader reflects stalin s emergence the pigs appropriation of milk and apples for their own use the turning point of the story as orwell termed it in a letter to dwight macdonald stands as an analogy for the crushing of the left wing kronstadt revolt against the bolsheviks and the difficult efforts of the animals to build the windmill suggest the various five year plans the puppies controlled by napoleon parallel the nurture of the secret police in the stalinist structure and the pigs treatment of the other animals on the farm recalls the internal terror faced by the populace in the s in chapter seven when the animals confess their non existent crimes and are killed orwell directly alludes to the purges confessions and show trials of the late s these contributed to orwell s 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 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 skrypnyk and stalin when snowball comes to the crucial points in his speeches he is drowned out by the sheep ch v just as in the party congress in above at stalin s instigation pleas for the opposition were drowned in the continual hysterically intolerant uproar from the floor isaac deutscher other connections that writers have suggested illustrate orwell s telescoping of russian history from to include the wave of rebelliousness that ran through the countryside after the rebellion which stands for the abortive revolutions in hungary and in germany ch iv the conflict between napoleon and snowball ch v 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 ch vi paralleling the treaty of rapallo and frederick s forged bank notes parallelling the hitler stalin pact of august 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 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 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 s and s animal farm has been adapted to film twice both differ from the novel and have been accused of taking significant liberties including sanitising some aspects in an hfr d version of animal farm potentially directed by andy serkis was announced a bbc radio version produced by rayner heppenstall was broadcast in january 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 who had not read the book grasped what was happening after a few minutes a further radio production again using orwell s own dramatisation of the book was broadcast in january on bbc radio tamsin greig narrated and the cast included nicky henson as napoleon toby jones as the propagandist squealer and ralph ineson as boxer a theatrical version with music by richard peaslee and lyrics by adrian mitchell was staged at the national theatre london on april directed by peter hall it toured nine cities in a solo version adapted and performed by guy masterson premired at the traverse theatre edinburgh in january and has toured worldwide since a new theatrical stage adaptation is in development alan menken and glenn slater will write songs for the musical with the book written by james graham in norman pett and his writing partner don freeman were secretly hired by the information research department ird a secret wing of the british foreign office to adapt animal farm 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 the frogs and toads urodela the salamanders and apoda the caecilians the number of known amphibian species is approximately of which nearly are frogs the smallest amphibian and vertebrate in the world is a frog from new guinea paedophryne amauensis with a length of just the largest living amphibian is the south china giant salamander andrias sligoi but this is dwarfed by the extinct prionosuchus from the middle permian of brazil the study of amphibians is called batrachology while the study of both reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology the word amphibian is derived from the ancient greek term amphbios which means both kinds of life meaning of both kinds and meaning life 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 sensu lato 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 amphibian species of the world the numbers of species cited above follows frost and the total number of known amphibian species as of march is exactly 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 the frogs and toads caudata or urodela the salamanders and gymnophiona or apoda the caecilians 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 the first major groups of amphibians developed in the devonian period around 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 ichthyostega was one of the first primitive amphibians with nostrils and more efficient lungs it had four sturdy limbs a neck a tail with fins and a skull very similar to that of the lobe finned fish eusthenopteron amphibians evolved adaptations that allowed them to stay out of the water for longer periods their lungs improved and their skeletons became heavier and stronger better able to support the weight of their bodies on land they developed hands and feet 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 million years ago 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 ichthyostega 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 to million years ago 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 to million years ago 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 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 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 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 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 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 the largest species of salamanders don t go through a metamorphosis amphibians that lay eggs on land often go through the whole metamorphosis inside the egg an anamniotic terrestrial egg is less than 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 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 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 cold blooded 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 a type of granular gland 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 n 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 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 conraua goliath of west africa to the paedophryne amauensis first described in papua new guinea in 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 extant species of frog are neobatrachians the order caudata from the latin cauda meaning tail 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 andrias davidianus 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 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 of all salamander species the family salamandridae includes the true salamanders and the name newt 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 the order gymnophiona from the greek gymnos meaning naked and ophis meaning serpent or apoda comprises the caecilians these are long cylindrical limbless animals with a snake or worm like form the adults vary in length from to centimetres to inches with the exception of thomson s caecilian caecilia thompsoni which can reach a caecilian s 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 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 often called warts 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 cutaneous respiration 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 occupying the deepest layer the guanophores forming an intermediate layer and containing many granules producing a blue green colour and the lipophores yellow the most superficial layer 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 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 frogs usually dig backwards into the soil 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 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 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 papilla amphibiorum 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 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 in internal structures called fat bodies 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 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 such as the axolotl retaining gills as aquatic adults 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 fejervarya raja 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 pelophylax esculentus reported in 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 epipedobates tricolor around the neck they remain in amplexus with their cloacae positioned close together while the female lays the eggs and the male covers them with sperm roughened nuptial pads on the male s hands aid in retaining grip often the male collects and retains the egg mass forming a sort of basket with the hind feet an exception is the granular poison frog oophaga granulifera where the male and female place their cloacae in close proximity while facing in opposite directions and then release eggs and sperm simultaneously the tailed frog ascaphus truei exhibits internal fertilisation the tail 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 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 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 rana sylvatica 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 ensatina attaches its similar clusters by stalks to underwater stems and roots the greenhouse frog eleutherodactylus planirostris 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 physalaemus pustulosus 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 plethodontidae 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 salamandra atra and some of the african live bearing toads nectophrynoides spp 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 such as nannophrys ceylonensis are semi terrestrial and live among wet rocks tadpoles have cartilaginous skeletons gills for respiration external gills at first internal gills later 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 t over stimulate the spectacular apoptosis programmed cell death of the cells of the larval gills tail and fins 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 osteopilus septentrionalis 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 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 ambystoma gracile 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 ambystoma tigrinum 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 neotenic salamanders including species of necturus proteus and amphiuma and many examples of 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 ensatinas 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 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 siphonops annulatus 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 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 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 colostethus subpunctatus 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 alytes obstetricans 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 rheobatrachus spp 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 assa darlingtoni 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 pipa pipa raises its young in pores on its back where they remain until metamorphosis the granular poison frog oophaga granulifera 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 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 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 siren spp often ingest aquatic plant material with the invertebrates on which they feed and a brazilian tree frog xenohyla truncata includes a large quantity of fruit in its diet the mexican burrowing toad rhinophrynus dorsalis 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 rana clamitans 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 ambystoma tigrinum is typical of the frogs and salamanders that hide under cover ready to ambush unwary invertebrates others amphibians such as the bufo spp toads actively search for prey while the argentine horned frog ceratophrys ornata 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 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 dicamptodon ensatus 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 osteopilus septentrionalis produces a rain call when there is rainfall during daylight hours 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 plethodon cinereus has been much studied of marked individuals that were later recaptured were within a metre yard 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 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 xenopus laevis which gives the frogs an opportunity to escape caecilians have been little studied in this respect but the cayenne caecilian typhlonectes compressicauda 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 taricha granulosa from north america and other members of its genus contain the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin ttx 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 thamnophis sirtalis 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 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 salamandra salamandra 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 bombina spp 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 allobates zaparo 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 blarina brevicauda 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 drosophila virilis salamanders chose the larger of vs and vs frogs can distinguish between low numbers vs vs but not vs and large numbers vs vs but not vs 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 dramatic declines in amphibian populations including population crashes and mass localized extinction have been noted since the late s from locations all over the world and amphibian declines are thus perceived to be one of the most critical threats to global biodiversity in the international union for conservation of nature iucn reported stating that currently birds mammals and amphibians extinction rates were at minimum times greater than natural extinction rates possibly times higher in there were believed to be species of amphibians that depended on water at some stage during their life cycle of these were considered to be threatened and this figure is likely to be an underestimate because it excludes 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 ultraviolet radiation has shown to be especially damaging to the skin eyes and eggs of amphibians 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 thamnophis elegans in california is largely aquatic and depends heavily on two species of frog that are decreasing in numbers the yosemite toad bufo canorus and the mountain yellow legged frog rana muscosa 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 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 u s state on the northwest extremity of the country s west coast just across the bering strait a semi exclave of the u s it borders the canadian province of british columbia and territory of yukon to the east and southeast and has a maritime border with russia s chukotka autonomous okrug to the west 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 texas california and montana combined and 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 th parallel with an estimated population of as of 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 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 th 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 for us million or approximately two cents per acre km the area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on may it was admitted as the th state of the u s on january 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 parks and wildlife refuges the indigenous population of alaska is proportionally the highest of any u s state at over 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 which figuratively refers to the mainland literally it means object to which the action of the sea is directed alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the united states and 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 canada 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 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 making it the only state to border a canadian territory 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 sub national division in the world and if it was an independent nation would be the th largest country in the world there are no officially defined borders demarcating the various regions of alaska but there are six widely accepted regions 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 rest of the united 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 as only three communities haines hyder and skagway 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 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 see below 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 utqiagvik 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 more than 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 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 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 it is the most perfect volcanic cone on earth even more symmetrical than japan s mount fuji 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 mostly in northern western and southwest flatlands glacier ice covers about of alaska the bering glacier is the largest glacier in north america covering alone according to an october report by the united states bureau of land management approximately 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 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 organized boroughs 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 regional and scores of local native corporations created under the alaska native claims settlement act ancsa of 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 were repealed before they could take effect effectively the corporations hold title including subsurface title in many cases a privilege denied to individual alaskans 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 the climate in southeast alaska is a mid latitude oceanic climate kppen climate classification cfb in the southern sections and a subarctic oceanic climate kppen cfc in the northern parts on an annual basis 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 i e the region around kotzebue sound 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 s f the low to mid s 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 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 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 utqiagvik 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 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 river 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 river sun site in 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 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 th through the mid th century with the most devastating epidemics occurring in the s and s resulting in high fatalities and social disruption the aleutian islands are still home to the aleut people s seafaring society although they were the first native alaskans to be exploited by the russians western and southwestern alaska are home to the yup ik while their cousins the alutiiq sugpiaq lived in what is now southcentral alaska the gwich in 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 some researchers believe the first russian settlement in alaska was established in the th century according to this hypothesis in 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 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 st gabriel under the authority of the surveyor m s gvozdev and assistant navigator i fyodorov on august during an expedition of siberian cossack a f shestakov and russian explorer dmitry pavlutsky another european contact with alaska occurred in when vitus bering led an expedition for the russian navy aboard the st peter 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 between and spain sent several expeditions to alaska to assert its claim over the pacific northwest in 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 th century sitka renamed new archangel from to 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 southeast alaska william h seward the united states secretary of state negotiated the alaska purchase also known as seward s folly with the russians in for million russia s contemporary ruler tsar alexander ii the emperor of the russian empire king of poland and grand duke of finland also planned the sale the purchase was made on march six months later the commissioners arrived in sitka and the formal transfer was arranged the formal flag raising took place at fort sitka on october in the ceremony uniformed u s soldiers marched to the governor s house at castle hill 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 alaska was loosely governed by the military initially and was administered as a district starting in with a governor appointed by the president of the united states a federal district court was headquartered in sitka for most of alaska s first decade under the united states flag sitka was the only community inhabited by american settlers they organized a provisional city government which was alaska s first municipal government but not in a legal sense legislation allowing alaskan communities to legally incorporate as cities did not come about until and home rule for cities was extremely limited or unavailable until statehood took effect in starting in the s and stretching in some places to the early s 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 alaska s capital which had been in sitka until 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 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 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 congress on july alaska was officially proclaimed a state on january in the census bureau reported alaska s population as white black and american indian and alaska native on march the massive good friday earthquake killed 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 more than a thousand times as powerful as the san francisco earthquake the time of day pm time of year spring and location of the epicenter were all cited as factors in potentially sparing thousands of lives particularly in anchorage the discovery of oil at prudhoe bay and the completion of the trans alaska pipeline system led to an oil boom royalty revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from onward that same year not coincidentally alaska repealed its state income tax in 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 the alaska heritage resources survey ahrs is a restricted inventory of all reported historic and prehistoric sites within the 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 sites have been reported the united states census bureau estimates that the population of alaska was on july a increase since the united states census in alaska ranked as the th state by population ahead of north dakota vermont and wyoming and washington d c 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 per capita income the state s unemployment rate was it is one of u s states that still have only one telephone area code according to the united states census alaska had a population of in terms of race and ethnicity the state was white non hispanic white american indian and alaska native asian black or african american native hawaiian and other pacific islander from some other race and from two or more races hispanics or latinos of any race made up of the population of alaska s population younger than one year of age belonged to minority groups i e did not have two parents of non hispanic white ancestry according to the american community survey of people over the age of five spoke only english at home about spoke spanish at home spoke another indo european language about spoke an asian language including tagalog and about spoke other languages at home the alaska native language center at the university of alaska fairbanks claims that at least 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 e g haida or have not yet been classified e g tsimshianic nearly all of alaska s native languages were classified as either threatened shifting moribund nearly extinct or dormant languages a total of of alaskans speak one of the state s indigenous languages known locally as native languages in october the governor of alaska signed a bill declaring the state s 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 languages that were included in the bill are according to statistics collected by the association of religion data archives from about of alaska residents were members of religious congregations people identified as evangelical protestants as roman catholic and as mainline protestants roughly are mormon are jewish are muslim are buddhist are bah and are hindu the largest religious denominations in alaska were the catholic church with adherents non denominational evangelical protestants with adherents the church of jesus christ of latter day saints with adherents and the southern baptist convention with 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 in 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 by percentage of any state in there were jews in alaska for whom observance of halakha may pose special problems alaskan hindus often share venues and celebrations with members of other asian religious communities including sikhs and jains in 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 hindus in alaska the vast majority of hindus live in anchorage or fairbanks estimates for the number of muslims in alaska range from to the islamic community center of anchorage began efforts in the late s to construct a mosque in anchorage they broke ground on a building in south anchorage in and were nearing completion in late 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 the gross state product was billion th in the nation its per capita personal income for was ranking th in the nation according to a study by phoenix marketing international alaska had the fifth largest number of millionaires per capita in the united states with a ratio of percent the oil and gas industry dominates the alaskan economy with more than of the state s revenues derived from petroleum extraction alaska s main export product excluding oil and natural gas 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 ans and cook inlet basins but according to the energy information administration by february 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 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 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 e g with special low cost electric interties were judged uneconomical at the time of the report due to low less than gal 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 the alaska permanent fund is a constitutionally authorized appropriation of oil revenues established by voters in 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 prudhoe bay lease sale out of fear that the legislature would spend the entire proceeds of the sale which amounted to 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 the fund has grown to 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 dividends from the fund s annual growth have been paid out each year to eligible alaskans ranging from an initial in equal to three years payout as the distribution of payments was held up in a lawsuit over the distribution scheme to in which included a one time resource rebate every year the state legislature takes out from the earnings puts back into the principal for inflation proofing and the remaining is distributed to all qualifying alaskans to qualify for the permanent fund dividend one must have lived in the state for a minimum of 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 the cost of goods in alaska has long been higher than in the contiguous states federal government employees particularly united states postal service usps workers and active duty military members receive a cost of living allowance usually set at 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 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 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 recent years with the highest percentage increase in the nation in growth in farmers markets in compared to 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 with the alaska state fair in palmer the largest 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 outside 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 per pound kg 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 in many villages where per capita income can be 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 alaska has few road connections compared to the rest of the u s the state s road system covers 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 miles 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 the tunnel is the longest combination road and rail tunnel in north america built around the alaska railroad arr played a key role in the development of alaska through the th 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 the railbelt in recent years the ever improving paved highway system began to eclipse the railroad s importance in alaska s 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 s 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 british columbia and yukon territory 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 bbc television series great little railways the alaska rail network is not connected to outside the nearest link to the north american railway network is the northwest terminus of the canadian national railway at prince rupert british columbia several hundred miles to the southeast in the u s congress authorized million to study the feasibility of a rail link between alaska canada and the lower some private companies provides car float service between whittier and seattle 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 known as the alaska marine highway 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 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 in alaska received almost two million visitors 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 sometimes in combination cargo and passenger boeing s 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 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 alaska had the highest number of pilots per capita of any u s state another alaskan transportation method is the dogsled in modern times that is any time after the mid late s 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 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 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 snow machine as it is commonly referred to in alaska 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 alaska communications advertised that it has two fiber optic paths to the lower and two more across alaska in january it was reported that a billion project to connect asia and rural alaska was being planned aided in part by million in stimulus from the federal 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 people statewide the alaska legislature consists of a member house of representatives and a 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 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 although in its early years of statehood alaska was a democratic state since the early s 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 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 alaska s voter initiative making marijuana legal took effect on february placing alaska alongside colorado and washington as the first three u s states where recreational marijuana is legal the new law means people over can consume small amounts of pot the first legal marijuana store opened in valdez in october 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 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 municipalities collect a local sales tax from to typically other local taxes levied include raw fish taxes hotel motel and bed and breakfast bed taxes severance taxes liquor and tobacco taxes gaming pull tabs taxes tire taxes and fuel transfer taxes a part of the revenue collected from certain state taxes and license fees such as petroleum aviation motor fuel telephone cooperative is shared with municipalities in alaska the fall in oil prices after the fracking boom in the early s has decimated alaska s state treasury which has historically received about 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 billion in to under million by in alaska s state government budget was billion while projected government revenues were only billion 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 while the and elections were close since however republicans have carried the state by large margins in republican john mccain defeated democrat barack obama in alaska to 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 but he captured of the state s vote in that election making him the first democrat to do so since 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 election cycle alaskan voters approved ballot measure bipartisan coalitions led the campaigns for and against the bill the measure passed by a margin of or about votes supporters of the measure claim that it will reduce dark money in alaskan elections by requiring anyone giving over to a campaign to disclose the true source of such contributions and all intermediaries the measure also establishes non partisan blanket primaries for statewide elections like in washington state and california and ranked choice voting like in maine 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 senate election in which lisa murkowski will run for re election alaska is not divided into counties as most of the other u s states but it is divided into boroughs many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of alaska s boroughs which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states however unlike county equivalents in the other 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 census areas solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation a recording district is a mechanism for administration of the public record in alaska the state is divided into 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 of alaska s area has this status with of the population anchorage merged the city government with the greater anchorage area borough in 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 the fairbanks north star borough and municipality the city of fairbanks the state s most populous city is anchorage home to people in of whom live in the urbanized area the richest location in alaska by per capita income is halibut cove yakutat city sitka juneau and anchorage are the four largest cities in the u s by area as reflected in the united states census alaska has a total of incorporated cities and census designated places cdps 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 the bush and are unconnected to the contiguous north american road network the table at the bottom of this section lists the largest cities and census designated places in alaska in population order of alaska s census population figure of people or 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 census clover pass herring cove ketchikan east mountain point north tongass highway pennock island and saxman east 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 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 month training programs in areas as diverse as information technology welding nursing and mechanics alaska has had a problem with a brain drain 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 of alaska high school graduates via the alaska scholars program the alaska state troopers are alaska s statewide police force they have a long and storied history but were not an official organization until 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 years old in four out of five cases the suspects were relatives friends or acquaintances 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 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 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 it celebrates the flag of alaska 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 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 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 disney movie never cry wolf was at least partially shot in alaska the film white fang based on jack london s novel and starring ethan hawke was filmed in and around haines steven seagal s on deadly ground starring michael caine was filmed in part at the worthington glacier near valdez the john sayles film limbo starring david strathairn mary elizabeth mastrantonio and kris kristofferson was filmed in juneau the psychological thriller insomnia starring al pacino and robin williams was shot in canada but was set in alaska the film directed by sean penn into the wild 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 many films and television shows set in alaska are not filmed there for example northern exposure set in the fictional town of cicely alaska was filmed in roslyn washington the horror feature days of night is set in barrow alaska but was filmed in new zealand many reality television shows are filmed in alaska in the anchorage daily news found ten set in the state agriculture is the science and art 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 years ago nascent farmers began to plant them around years ago pigs sheep and cattle were domesticated over years ago plants were independently cultivated in at least regions of the world industrial agriculture based on large scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output though about billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture into the twenty first modern agronomy plant breeding agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers and technological developments have sharply increased yields while causing widespread 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 genetically modified organisms are widely used although some are banned in certain countries 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 fungi and eggs over one third of the world s workers are employed in agriculture second only to the service sector although the number of agricultural workers in developed countries has decreased significantly over the centuries the word agriculture is a late middle english adaptation of latin agricultra from ager field and cultra cultivation or growing while agriculture usually refers to human activities certain species of ant termite and beetle have been cultivating crops for up to 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 separate centres of origin wild grains were collected and eaten from at least years ago from around 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 and bc with the earliest known cultivation from bc followed by mung soy and azuki beans sheep were domesticated in mesopotamia between and years ago cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern turkey and pakistan some years ago pig production emerged in eurasia including europe east asia and southwest asia where wild boar were first domesticated about years ago in the andes of south america the potato was domesticated between and years ago along with beans coca llamas alpacas and guinea pigs sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in new guinea around years ago sorghum was domesticated in the sahel region of africa by years ago cotton was domesticated in peru by years ago and was independently domesticated in eurasia in mesoamerica wild teosinte was bred into maize by 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 in eurasia the sumerians started to live in villages from about bc relying on the tigris and euphrates rivers and a canal system for irrigation ploughs appear in pictographs around bc seed ploughs around 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 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 bc soon followed by sheep and goats cattle sheep and goats were domesticated in mehrgarh culture by bc cotton was cultivated by the th th millennium bc archeological evidence indicates an animal drawn plough from bc in the indus valley civilisation in china from the th century bc there was a nationwide granary system and widespread silk farming water powered grain mills were in use by the st century bc followed by irrigation by the late nd century heavy ploughs had been developed with iron ploughshares and mouldboards these spread westwards across eurasia asian rice was domesticated 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 oryza rufipogon 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 apart from teosinte include squash beans and cocoa cocoa was being domesticated by the mayo chinchipe of the upper amazon around 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 bc coca was domesticated in the andes as were the peanut tomato tobacco and pineapple cotton was domesticated in peru by 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 chenopodium wild foods including wild rice and maple sugar were harvested the domesticated strawberry is a hybrid of a chilean and a north american species developed by breeding in europe and north america the indigenous people of the southwest and the pacific northwest practiced forest gardening and fire stick farming the natives controlled fire on a regional scale to create a low intensity fire ecology that sustained a low density agriculture in loose rotation a sort of wild permaculture a system of companion planting called the three sisters was developed on the great plains the three crops were winter squash maize and climbing beans aldous leonard huxley july november was an english writer and philosopher he wrote nearly fifty 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 oxford poetry 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 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 seven times and was elected companion of literature by the royal society of literature in huxley was a pacifist he grew interested in philosophical mysticism and universalism addressing these subjects with works such as the perennial philosophy which illustrates commonalities between western and eastern mysticism and the doors of perception which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline in his most famous novel brave new world and his final novel island he presented his vision of dystopia and utopia respectively huxley was born in godalming surrey england in he was the third son of the writer and schoolmaster leonard huxley who edited 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 darwin s bulldog 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 contemplated the strangeness of things according to his cousin and contemporary gervas huxley he had an early interest in drawing huxley s education began in his father s 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 when he was his father later remarried he contracted the eye disease keratitis punctata in this left him practically blind for two to three years this ended his early dreams of becoming a doctor in october huxley entered balliol college oxford where he studied english literature he volunteered for the british army in january for the great war however he was rejected on health grounds being half blind in one eye his eyesight later partly recovered he edited oxford poetry in 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 who was to take the pen name george orwell 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 s 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 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 unpublished novel at the age of 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 s he was also a contributor to vanity fair and british vogue magazines 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 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 s where huxley would visit his friend d h lawrence following lawrence s death in huxley edited lawrence s letters works of this period included important novels on the dehumanising aspects of scientific progress most famously brave new world and on pacifist themes for example eyeless in gaza in brave new world set in a dystopian london huxley portrays a society operating on the principles of mass production and pavlovian conditioning huxley was strongly influenced by f matthias alexander and included him as a character in eyeless in gaza beginning in this period huxley began to write and edit non fiction works on pacifist issues including ends and means an encyclopedia of pacifism and pacifism and philosophy and was an active member of the peace pledge union in 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 ends and means published in the book contains tracts on war religion nationalism and ethics heard introduced huxley to vedanta upanishad centered philosophy meditation and vegetarianism through the principle of ahimsa in huxley befriended jiddu krishnamurti whose teachings he greatly admired huxley and krishnamurti entered into an enduring exchange sometimes edging on debate 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 the first and last freedom 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 the novel won huxley a british literary award the 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 per week approximately in dollars 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 huxley s friend anita loos a novelist and screenwriter put him in touch with metro goldwyn mayer mgm which hired him for madame curie which was originally to star greta garbo and be directed by george cukor eventually the film was completed by mgm in with a different director and cast 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 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 book hopousia or the sexual and economic foundations of a new society on october huxley wrote to george orwell author of nineteen eighty four congratulating him on how fine and how profoundly important the book is in his letter to orwell he predicted huxley had deeply felt apprehensions about the future the developed world might make for itself from these he made some warnings in his writings and talks in a televised interview conducted by journalist mike wallace huxley outlined several major concerns the difficulties and dangers of world overpopulation the tendency towards distinctly hierarchical social organisation the crucial importance of evaluating the use of technology in mass societies susceptible to persuasion the tendency to promote modern politicians to a naive public as well marketed commodities in the fall semester of huxley was invited by professor huston smith to be the carnegie visiting professor of humanities at the massachusetts institute of technology mit as part of the mit centennial program of events organised by the department of humanities huxley presented a series of lectures titled what a piece of work is a man which concerned history language and art in 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 huxley turned down an offer of a knight bachelor by the macmillan government without putting forward a reason his brother julian had been knighted in while another brother andrew would be knighted in beginning in and continuing until his death in 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 huxley wrote the introduction to the bhagavad gita the song of god translated by swami prabhavananda and christopher isherwood which was published by the vedanta society of southern california from until huxley contributed articles to vedanta and the west published by the society he also served on the editorial board with isherwood heard and playwright john van druten from through 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 nonetheless huxley s agnosticism together with his speculative propensity made it difficult for him to fully embrace any form of institutionalised religion in the spring of 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 huxley encountered the bates method in which he was instructed by margaret darst corbett in 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 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 u s uk 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 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 s 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 huxley s second wife laura archera later emphasised in her biographical account this timeless moment one of the great achievements of his life that of having regained his sight after revealing a letter she wrote to the los angeles times disclaiming the label of huxley as a poor fellow who can hardly see by walter c alvarez she tempered her statement with although i feel it was an injustice to treat aldous as though he were blind it is true there were many indications of his impaired vision for instance although aldous did not wear glasses he would quite often use a magnifying lens laura huxley proceeded to elaborate a few nuances of inconsistency peculiar to huxley s vision her account in this respect agrees with the following sample of huxley s own words from the art of seeing the most characteristic fact about the functioning of the total organism or any part of the organism is that it is not constant but highly variable nevertheless the topic of huxley s 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 huxley married maria nys september february a belgian he met at garsington oxfordshire in they had one child matthew huxley april february who had a career as an author anthropologist and prominent epidemiologist in maria huxley died of cancer in 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 documentary huxley on huxley huxley was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in in the years that followed with his health deteriorating he wrote the utopian novel island and gave lectures on human potentialities 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 a fire is at the library of the university of california los angeles some are also at the stanford university libraries on april 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 april 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 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 lsd g intramuscular according to her account of his death in this timeless moment she obliged with an injection at a m and a second dose an hour later huxley died aged at p m los angeles time on november 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 article for new york magazine titled the eclipsed celebrity death club christopher bonanos wrote this 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 it was led by his elder brother julian on october 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 stravinsky began variations in santa fe new mexico in july and completed the composition in hollywood on october it premiered in chicago on april by the chicago symphony orchestra conducted by robert craft algae singular alga 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 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 have chlorophyll as their primary photosynthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around their reproductive cells although cyanobacteria are often referred to as blue green 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 leaf like structures of bryophytes rhizoids in nonvascular plants and the roots leaves and other organs found in tracheophytes vascular plants 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 also called colorless or apochlorotic algae 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 to billion years ago the singular is the latin word for seaweed and retains that meaning in english the etymology is obscure although some speculate that it is related to latin be cold no reason is known to associate seaweed with temperature a more likely source is binding entwining the ancient greek word for seaweed was which could mean either the seaweed probably red algae or a red dye derived from it the latinization meant primarily the cosmetic rouge the etymology is uncertain but a strong candidate has long been some word related to the biblical paint if not that word itself 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 fucus appears in a number of taxa 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 phyceae for class phycideae for subclass ales for order inales for suborder aceae for family oidease for subfamily a greek based name for genus and a latin based name for species the primary classification of algae is based on certain morphological features the chief among these are a pigment constitution of the cell b chemical nature of stored food materials c kind number point of insertion and relative length of the flagella on the motile cell d chemical composition of cell wall and e presence or absence of a definitely organized nucleus in the cell or any other significant details of cell structure although carolus linnaeus included algae along with lichens in his th 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 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 follows the 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 species plantarum the starting point for modern botanical nomenclature recognized genera of algae of which only four are currently considered among algae in systema naturae linnaeus described the genera volvox and corallina and a species of acetabularia as madrepora among the animals in samuel gottlieb gmelin published the historia fucorum 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 rhodospermae brown algae melanospermae green algae chlorospermae and diatomaceae at this time microscopic algae were discovered and reported by a different group of workers e g o f mller and ehrenberg studying the infusoria microscopic organisms unlike macroalgae which were clearly viewed as plants microalgae were frequently considered animals because they are often motile even the nonmotile coccoid 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 cassin in further classifications the algae are seen as an artificial polyphyletic group throughout the th century most classifications treated the following groups as divisions or classes of algae cyanophytes rhodophytes chrysophytes xanthophytes bacillariophytes phaeophytes pyrrhophytes cryptophytes and dinophytes euglenophytes and chlorophytes later many new groups were discovered e g bolidophyceae and others were splintered from older groups charophytes and glaucophytes from chlorophytes many heterokontophytes e g synurophytes from chrysophytes or eustigmatophytes from xanthophytes haptophytes from chrysophytes and chlorarachniophytes from xanthophytes with the abandonment of plant animal dichotomous classification most groups of algae sometimes all 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 see ambiregnal protists some parasitic algae e g the green algae prototheca and helicosporidium parasites of metazoans or cephaleuros parasites of plants were originally classified as fungi sporozoans or protistans of incertae sedis while others e g the green algae phyllosiphon and rhodochytrium parasites of plants or the red algae pterocladiophila and gelidiocolax mammillatus parasites of other red algae or the dinoflagellates oodinium parasites of fish had their relationship with algae conjectured early in other cases some groups were originally characterized as parasitic algae e g chlorochytrium but later were seen as endophytic algae some filamentous bacteria e g beggiatoa 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 the first land plants probably evolved from shallow freshwater charophyte algae much like chara almost 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 million years ago 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 are in three lines even higher levels of organization have been reached with full tissue differentiation these are the brown algae some of which may reach m in length kelps the red algae and the green algae the most complex forms are found among the charophyte algae see charales and charophyta 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 the only widely accepted meaning is that they are generally composed of loosely to densely aggregated algal thalli less than about 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 listed 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 some species of algae form symbiotic relationships with other organisms in these symbioses the algae supply photosynthates organic substances 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 an association of a fungus and a photosynthetic symbiont resulting in a stable vegetative body having a specific structure 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 hence photobiont is the more accurate term 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 they can be experimentally isolated 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 aerophytes growing on exposed surfaces such as tree trunks and rocks and sometimes discoloring them coral reefs are accumulated from the calcareous exoskeletons of marine invertebrates of the order scleractinia stony corals 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 algal protists 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 hermatypic corals require endosymbiotic algae from the genus symbiodinium to be in a healthy condition the loss of symbiodinium from the host is known as coral bleaching a condition which leads to the deterioration of a reef endosymbiontic green algae live close to the surface of some sponges for example breadcrumb sponges halichondria panicea the alga is thus protected from predators the sponge is provided with oxygen and sugars which can account for to 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 located in the national museum of natural history consists of approximately dried specimens which although not exhaustive no exhaustive collection exists gives an idea of the order of magnitude of the number of algal species that number remains unknown estimates vary widely for example according to one standard textbook in the british isles the uk biodiversity steering group report estimated there to be algal species in the uk another checklist reports only about species regarding the difference of about 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 well and 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 algal species worldwide the distribution of algal species has been fairly well studied since the founding of phytogeography in the mid th 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 planktonic benthic marine freshwater lentic lotic terrestrial aerial subaerial lithophytic halophytic or euryhaline psammon thermophilic cryophilic epibiont epiphytic epizoic endosymbiont endophytic endozoic parasitic calcifilic or lichenic phycobiont in classical chinese the word is used both for algae and in the modest tradition of the imperial scholars for literary talent the third island in kunming lake beside the summer palace in beijing is known as the zaojian tang dao which thus simultaneously means island of the algae viewing hall and island of the hall for reflecting on literary talent 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 and wet tons of macrocystis are harvested annually in new mexico for alginate extraction and abalone feed to be competitive and independent from fluctuating support from local 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 for centuries seaweed has been used as a fertilizer george owen of henllys writing in the th century referring to drift weed in south wales today 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 it as a superfood they provide many vitamins including a b b b 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 chlorella and the vitamin c supplement from dunaliella high in beta carotene algae are national foods of many nations china consumes more than species including fat choy a cyanobacterium considered a vegetable japan over species such as nori and aonori 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 there exist popular forms of algae which are used in cuisine furthermore it contains all nine of the essential amino acids the body does not produce on its own the oils from some algae have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids for example parietochloris incisa is very high in arachidonic acid where it reaches up to of the triglyceride pool some varieties of algae favored by vegetarianism and veganism contain the long chain essential omega fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid dha and eicosapentaenoic acid epa fish oil contains the omega fatty acids but the original source is algae microalgae in particular 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 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 ala agricultural research service scientists found that of nitrogen runoff and of phosphorus runoff can be captured from manure effluents using a horizontal algae scrubber also called an algal turf scrubber ats scientists developed the ats which consists of shallow 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 the alga stichococcus bacillaris 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 carrageenan from the red alga chondrus crispus is used as a stabilizer in milk products analysis of variance anova is a collection of statistical models and their associated estimation procedures such as the variation among and between groups used to analyze the differences among means in a sample anova was developed by the statistician ronald fisher the 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 th 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 s around 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 rather than a total sum of squares by laplace was using least squares methods to address anova problems regarding measurements of atmospheric tides before astronomers had isolated observational errors resulting from reaction times the personal equation 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 full factorial experimental methods to which randomization and blinding were soon added an eloquent non mathematical explanation of the additive effects model was available in ronald fisher introduced the term variance and proposed its formal analysis in a article the correlation between relatives on the supposition of mendelian inheritance his first application of the analysis of variance was published in analysis of variance became widely known after being included in fisher s book statistical methods for research workers randomization models were developed by several researchers the first was published in polish by jerzy neyman in 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 explain the distribution of weights by dividing the dog population into groups based on those characteristics a successful grouping will split dogs such that a each group has a low variance of dog weights meaning the group is relatively homogeneous and b the mean of each group is distinct if two groups have the same mean then it isn t reasonable to conclude that the groups are in fact separate in any meaningful way in the illustrations to the right groups are identified as x x etc in the first illustration the dogs are divided according to the product interaction of two binary groupings young vs old and short haired vs long haired e g group is young short haired dogs group is young long haired dogs etc since the distributions of dog weight within each of the groups shown in blue 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 yellow orange 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 fair fit 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 and x 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 anova is a form of statistical hypothesis testing heavily used in the analysis of experimental data a test result calculated from the null hypothesis and the sample is called statistically significant if it is deemed unlikely to have occurred by chance assuming the truth of the null hypothesis a statistically significant result when a probability p value is less than a pre specified threshold significance level justifies the rejection of the null hypothesis but only if the a priori probability of the null hypothesis is not high in the typical application of anova the null hypothesis is that all groups are random samples from the same population for example when studying the effect of different treatments on similar samples of patients the null hypothesis would be that all treatments have the same effect perhaps none rejecting the null hypothesis is taken to mean that the differences in observed effects between treatment groups are unlikely to be due to random chance by construction hypothesis testing limits the rate of type i errors false positives to a significance level experimenters also wish to limit type ii errors false negatives the rate of type ii errors depends largely on sample size the rate is larger for smaller samples significance level when the standard of proof is high the chances of overlooking a discovery are also high and effect size a smaller effect size is more prone to type ii error the terminology of anova is largely from the statistical design of experiments the experimenter adjusts factors and measures responses in an attempt to determine an effect factors are assigned to experimental units by a combination of randomization and blocking to ensure the validity of the results blinding keeps the weighing impartial responses show a variability that is partially the result of the effect and is partially random error anova is the synthesis of several ideas and it is used for multiple purposes as a consequence it is difficult to define concisely or precisely in short anova is a statistical tool used in several ways to develop and confirm an explanation for the observed data as a result anova has long enjoyed the status of being the most used some would say abused statistical technique in psychological research anova is probably the most useful technique in the field of statistical inference anova is difficult to teach particularly for complex experiments with split plot designs being notorious in some cases the proper application of the method is best determined by problem pattern recognition followed by the consultation of a classic authoritative test condensed from the nist engineering statistics handbook section a glossary of doe terminology there are three classes of models used in the analysis of variance and these are outlined here 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 model class ii 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 a multi variable generalization of simple differences differ from the fixed effects model a mixed effects model class iii 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 department to find a good introductory textbook with each text considered a treatment the fixed effects model would compare a list of candidate texts the random effects model would determine whether important differences exist among a list of randomly selected texts the mixed effects model would compare the fixed incumbent texts to randomly selected alternatives defining fixed and random effects has proven elusive with competing definitions arguably leading toward a linguistic quagmire 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 the analysis of variance can be presented in terms of a linear model which makes the following assumptions about the probability distribution of the responses the 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 and 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 in its simplest form the assumption of unit treatment additivity states that the observed response from experimental unit when receiving treatment can be written as the sum of the unit s response and the treatment effect that is the assumption of unit treatment additivity implies that for every treatment the th treatment has exactly the same effect 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 kempthorne uses the randomization distribution and the assumption of unit treatment additivity to produce a derived linear model very similar to the textbook model discussed previously the test statistics of this derived linear model are closely approximated by the test statistics of an appropriate normal linear model according to approximation theorems and simulation studies however there are differences for example the randomization based analysis results in a small but strictly negative correlation between the observations in the randomization based analysis there is no assumption of a normal distribution and certainly no assumption of independence on the contrary the observations are dependent 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 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 subjective models as emphasized by ronald fisher and his followers in practice the estimates of treatment effects from observational studies generally are often inconsistent in practice statistical models and observational data are useful for suggesting hypotheses that should be treated very cautiously by the public the normal model based anova analysis assumes the independence normality and homogeneity of variances of the residuals the randomization based analysis assumes only the homogeneity of the variances of the residuals as a consequence of unit treatment additivity 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 that change variances rather than means called dispersion effects have been successfully conducted using anova there are no necessary assumptions for anova in its full generality but the f test used for anova hypothesis testing has assumptions and practical limitations 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 anova is used in the analysis of comparative experiments those in which only the difference in outcomes is of interest the statistical significance of the experiment is determined by a ratio of two variances this ratio is independent of several possible alterations to the experimental observations adding a constant to all observations does not alter significance multiplying all observations by a constant does not alter significance so anova statistical significance result is independent of constant bias and scaling errors as well as the units used in expressing observations in the era of mechanical calculation it was common to subtract a constant from all observations when equivalent to dropping leading digits to simplify data entry this is an example of data coding the calculations of anova can be characterized as computing a number of means and variances dividing two variances and comparing the ratio to a handbook value to determine statistical significance calculating a treatment effect is then trivial the effect of any treatment is estimated by taking the difference between the mean of the observations which receive the treatment and the general mean anova uses traditional standardized terminology the definitional equation of sample variance is where the divisor is called the degrees of freedom df the summation is called the sum of squares ss the result is called the mean square ms and the squared terms are deviations from the sample mean anova estimates sample variances a total variance based on all the observation deviations from the grand mean an error variance based on all the observation deviations from their appropriate treatment means and a treatment variance the treatment variance is based on the deviations of treatment means from the grand mean the result being multiplied by the number of observations in each treatment to account for the difference between the variance of observations and the variance of means the fundamental technique is a partitioning of the total sum of squares ss 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 df can be partitioned in a similar way one of these components that for error specifies a chi squared distribution which describes the associated sum of squares while the same is true for treatments 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 statistic in organic chemistry an alkane or paraffin a historical 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 cnhn the alkanes range in complexity from the simplest case of methane ch where n sometimes called the parent molecule to arbitrarily large and complex molecules like pentacontane ch or ethyl methyl methylethyl octane an isomer of tetradecane ch international union of pure and applied chemistry defines alkanes as acyclic branched or unbranched hydrocarbons having the general formula nn and therefore consisting entirely of hydrogen atoms and saturated carbon atoms however some sources use the term to denote any saturated hydrocarbon including those that are either monocyclic i e the cycloalkanes or polycyclic despite their having a distinct general formula i e cycloalkanes are cnhn in an alkane each carbon atom is sp hybridized with sigma bonds either c c or c h and each hydrogen atom is joined to one of the carbon atoms in a c h bond 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 satp for which the number of carbon atoms in the carbon backbone is greater than about with their repeated ch units the alkanes constitute a homologous series of organic compounds in which the members differ in molecular mass by multiples of u the total mass of each such methylene bridge unit which comprises a single carbon atom of mass u and two hydrogen atoms of mass u each 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 saturated hydrocarbons are hydrocarbons having only single covalent bonds between their carbons they can be according to the definition by iupac the former two are alkanes whereas the third group is called cycloalkanes saturated hydrocarbons can also combine any of the linear cyclic e g polycyclic and branching structures the general formula is where k is the number of independent loops alkanes are the acyclic loopless ones corresponding to k and isobutane are the two ch isomers cyclobutane and methylcyclopropane are the two ch alkane isomers bicyclobutane bicyclo butane is the only ch alkane and has no alkane isomer tetrahedrane below is the only ch alkane and so has no alkane isomer 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 n for normal although it is not necessarily the most common 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 alkanes branched alkanes can be chiral for example methylhexane and its higher homologues are chiral due to their stereogenic center at carbon atom number 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 cyclobutane and methylcyclopropane are isomers of each other but are not isomers of butane the iupac nomenclature systematic way of naming compounds 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 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 or yne one une for the hydrocarbons cnhn cnhn cnhn cnhn cnhn now the first three name hydrocarbons with single double and triple bonds one represents a ketone ol represents an alcohol or oh group oxy means an ether and refers to oxygen between two carbons so that methoxymethane is the iupac name for dimethyl ether it is difficult or impossible to find compounds with more than one iupac name this is because shorter chains attached to longer chains are prefixes and the convention includes brackets numbers in the name referring to which carbon a group is attached to should be as low as possible so that is implied and usually omitted from names of organic compounds with only one side group symmetric compounds will have two ways of arriving at the same name straight chain alkanes are sometimes indicated by the prefix n or n for normal where a non linear isomer exists although this is not strictly necessary the usage is still common in cases where there is an important difference in properties between the straight chain and branched chain isomers e g n butane rather than simply butane to distinguish it from isobutane alternative names for this group are linear paraffins or n paraffins the first six members of the series in terms of number of carbon atoms are named as follows the 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 a or o from the basic numerical term hence pentane ch hexane ch heptane ch octane ch etc the 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 simple branched alkanes often have a common name using a prefix to distinguish them from linear alkanes for example n 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 though technically distinct from the alkanes this class of hydrocarbons is referred to by some as the cyclic alkanes 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 ch is a cycloalkane with carbon atoms just like pentane ch 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 the trivial non systematic name for alkanes is paraffins together alkanes are known as the paraffin series 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 it is almost certain that the term paraffin stems from the petrochemical industry branched chain alkanes are called isoparaffins the use of the term 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 system some non iupac trivial names are occasionally used 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 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 forces under standard conditions from ch to ch alkanes are gaseous from ch to ch they are liquids and after ch 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 molecular weight of the molecule as a rule of thumb the boiling point rises 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 methylpropane and n butane butane which boil at and c and dimethylbutane and dimethylbutane which boil at and c respectively for the latter case two molecules dimethylbutane can lock into each other better than the cross shaped dimethylbutane hence the greater van der waals forces 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 the melting points of the alkanes follow a similar trend to boiling points for the same reason as outlined above that is all other things being equal 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 i e the blue line 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 looser 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 this is particularly true for isoalkanes methyl isomers which often have melting points higher than those of the linear analogues 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 repel 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 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 always sp hybridized that is to say that the valence electrons are said to be in four equivalent orbitals derived from the combination of the s orbital and the three p orbitals these orbitals which have identical energies are arranged spatially in the form of a tetrahedron the angle of cos between them an alkane has only c h and c c single bonds the former result from the overlap of an sp orbital of carbon with the s orbital of a hydrogen the latter by the overlap of two sp orbitals on adjacent carbon atoms the bond lengths amount to m for a c h bond and m for a c c bond the spatial arrangement of the bonds is similar to that of the four sp orbitals they are tetrahedrally arranged with an angle of between them structural formulae that represent the bonds as being at right angles to one another while both common and useful do not correspond with the reality 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 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 and 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 kj mol lower in energy more stable than the eclipsed conformation the least stable 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 ch group by relative to the other is of the order of 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 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 the carbon hydrogen stretching mode gives a strong absorption between and cm while the carbon carbon stretching mode absorbs between and cm the carbon hydrogen bending modes depend on the nature of the group methyl groups show bands at cm and cm while methylene groups show bands at cm and cm carbon chains with more than four carbon atoms show a weak absorption at around cm the proton resonances of alkanes are usually found at h the carbon resonances depend on the number of hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon c primary methyl ch secondary methylene ch tertiary methyne c h and quaternary the carbon 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 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 m is often absent and other fragments are often spaced by intervals of fourteen mass units corresponding to sequential loss of ch groups alkanes are only weakly reactive with most chemical compounds the acid dissociation constant pka values of all alkanes are estimated to range from to depending on the extrapolation method hence they are extremely weak acids that are practically inert to bases see carbon acids they are also extremely weak bases undergoing no observable protonation in pure sulfuric acid h although superacids that are at least millions of times stronger have been known to protonate them to give hypercoordinate alkanium ions see methanium ion similarly they only show reactivity with the strongest of electrophilic reagents e g dioxiranes and salts containing the nf cation by virtue of their strongly c h bonds kcal mol and c c bonds kcal mol but usually less sterically accessible 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 see below this inertness is the source of the term paraffins with the meaning here of lacking affinity 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 if present in sufficient quantity to satisfy the reaction stoichiometry 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 and alkyl alkyl steric interactions worth kcal mol and 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 tetramethylbutane is about 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 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 is in the absence of sufficient oxygen carbon monoxide or even soot can be formed as shown below for example methane see the alkane heat of formation table for detailed data the standard enthalpy change of combustion ch for alkanes increases by about kj mol per ch group branched chain alkanes have lower values of ch than straight chain alkanes of the same number of carbon atoms and so can be seen to be somewhat more stable alkanes react with halogens in a so called free radical halogenation 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 and can lead to an explosion these reactions are an important industrial route to halogenated hydrocarbons there are three steps experiments 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 usually solid acids such as silica alumina and zeolites which promote a heterolytic asymmetric 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 i e cracking and intra and intermolecular hydrogen transfer or hydride transfer in both types of processes the corresponding reactive intermediates radicals ions 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 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 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 sbf and fluorosulfonic acid hsof called magic acid can protonate alkanes alkanes form a small portion of the atmospheres of the outer gas planets such as jupiter methane ppm ethane saturn methane ppm ethane uranus methane ppm ethane and neptune methane ppm ethane titan methane a satellite of saturn was examined by the huygens probe which indicated that titan s atmosphere periodically rains liquid methane onto the moon s 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 traces of methane gas about or ppb 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 zooplankton and phytoplankton died and sank to the bottom of ancient seas and were covered with sediments in an 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 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 to 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 and 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 to usually peaking in the low to upper s 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 pristane tetramethylpentadecane ch they are important as pheromones chemical messenger materials on which insects depend for communication in some species e g the support beetle xylotrechus colonus pentacosane ch methylpentaicosane ch and methylpentaicosane ch are transferred by body contact with others like the tsetse fly glossina morsitans morsitans the pheromone contains the four alkanes methylheptadecane ch dimethylheptatriacontane ch dimethylheptatriacontane ch and trimethylheptatriacontane ch and acts by smell over longer distances waggle dancing honey bees produce and release two alkanes tricosane and pentacosane one example in which both plant and animal alkanes play a role is the ecological relationship between the sand bee andrena nigroaenea and the early spider orchid ophrys sphegodes the latter is dependent for pollination on the former sand bees use pheromones in order to identify a mate in the case of a nigroaenea the females emit a mixture of tricosane ch pentacosane ch and heptacosane ch in the ratio 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 pollen which will be dispersed after the departure of the frustrated male to other blooms 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 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 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 n butyllithium as a strong base gives the conjugate acid n butane as a side product however at times it may be desirable to make a section of a molecule into an alkane like functionality alkyl group 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 alkanes can be prepared from a variety of organic compounds these include alkenes alkynes haloalkanes alcohols aldehydes and ketones and carboxylic acids 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 alkanes can be produced from haloalkanes using different methods 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 when haloalkane is treated with dialkyl lithium cuprite which is otherwise known as gilman s reagent any higher alkane is obtained when haloalkanes are treated with metal hydride eg sodium hydride and lithium aluminium hydride when haloalkane is treated with zinc in ester alkane is obtained when aryl halide is treated with sodium in dry ether it forms biphenyl when aryl halide is treated with copper it forms biphenyl when aryl halide is treated with haloalkane we get alkyl benzene 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 lpg 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 trimethylpentane isooctane has an arbitrary value of 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 an alkane with sixteen carbon atoms 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 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 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 n 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 de novo 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 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 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 instead of 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 or claimant defendant third party intervenor or respondent appellee 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 an appeal as of right is one that is guaranteed by statute or some underlying constitutional or legal principle the appellate court cannot refuse to listen to the appeal an appeal by leave or permission 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 appellant s demand to appeal the lower court s 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 as of right and due to the double jeopardy principle the state or prosecution may never appeal a jury or bench verdict of acquittal but in some jurisdictions the state or prosecution may appeal as of right from a trial court s dismissal of an indictment in whole or in part or from a trial court s granting of a defendant s suppression motion likewise in some jurisdictions the state or prosecution may appeal an issue of law by leave 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 in some cases twice 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 many jurisdictions recognize two types of appeals particularly in the criminal context the first is the traditional direct 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 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 as of right 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 direct and collateral for example a criminal defendant may be convicted in state court and lose on direct appeal to higher state appellate courts and if unsuccessful mount a collateral action such as filing for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal courts generally speaking d irect appeal statutes afford defendants the opportunity to challenge the merits of a judgment and allege errors of law or fact collateral review on the other hand provide s an independent and civil inquiry into the validity of a conviction and sentence and as such are generally limited to challenges to constitutional jurisdictional or other fundamental violations that occurred at trial graham v borgen f d th cir no slip op at citation omitted 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 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 an appellant s claim s 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 the record is adequate to review the alleged claim of error the claim is of constitutional magnitude alleging the violation of a fundamental right the alleged constitutional violation clearly exists and clearly deprived the defendant of a fair trial if subject to harmless error analysis the state has failed to demonstrate harmlessness of the alleged constitutional violation beyond a reasonable doubt 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 a notice of appeal 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 days of the entry of either the judgment or the order being appealed or the right to appeal is forfeited 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 such as whether a defendant committed a particular act unless clearly erroneous and so will focus on the court s application of the law to those facts such as whether the act found by the court to have occurred fits a legal definition at issue if the appellate court finds no defect it affirms the judgment if the appellate court does find a legal defect in the decision below i e in the lower court it may modify the ruling to correct the defect or it may nullify reverse or vacate the whole decision or any part of it it may in addition send the case back remand or remit to the lower court for further proceedings to remedy the defect in some cases an appellate court may review a lower court decision de novo or completely 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 very 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 or respondent 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 de novo 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 trial de novo effectively erases the prior trial as if it had never taken place the supreme court of virginia has stated that this court has repeatedly held that the effect of an appeal to circuit court is to annul the judgment of the inferior tribunal as completely as if there had been no previous trial the only exception to this is that if a defendant appeals a conviction for a crime having multiple levels of offenses where they are convicted on a lesser offense the appeal is of the lesser offense the conviction represents an acquittal of the more serious offenses a trial on the same charges in the circuit court does not violate double jeopardy principles subject only to the limitation that conviction in the district court for an offense lesser included in the one charged constitutes an acquittal of the greater offense permitting 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 court s jurisdiction injecting bias into the proceeding or appearing to do so juror misconduct etc the failure to formally object at the time to what one views as improper action in the lower court may result in the affirmance of the lower court s judgment on the grounds that one did not preserve the issue for appeal 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 generally speaking an appellate court s judgment provides the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed setting out with specificity the court s determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed reversed remanded or modified some reviewing courts who have discretionary review may send a case back without comment other than review improvidently granted in other words after looking at the case they chose not to say anything the result for the case of review improvidently granted 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 optional pre answer motion to dismiss or demurrer if such a motion is unsuccessful the defendant must 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 responsa prudentium answers of the learned ones 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 changing the topic has been widely observed and is often seen as a failure to answer a question an appellate court commonly called an appeals court court of appeals american english appeal court british english 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 or court of last resort which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts a jurisdiction s supreme court is that jurisdiction s 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 court s judgment provides the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed setting out with specificity the court s determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed reversed remanded or modified while in 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 court of criminal appeals include 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 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 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 or court of errors and appeals 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 which existed from to the connecticut supreme court of errors which has been renamed the connecticut supreme court the kentucky court of errors renamed the kentucky supreme court and the mississippi high court of errors and appeals since renamed the supreme court of mississippi 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 guilty not guilty and the peremptory pleas or pleas in bar setting out reasons why a trial cannot proceed pleas of nolo contendere no contest and the alford plea are allowed in some circumstances in australia arraignment is the first of eleven 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 hours from the time of the arrest however police custody can last another 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 hours in certain cases involving terrorism drug trafficking or organised crime the police needs to have the consent of the prosecutor 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 at the first appearance the accused is 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 if they are not released after being charged they should be brought before a court as soon as practicable under the united states federal rules of criminal procedure arraignment shall consist of an open reading of the indictment to the defendant and call on him to plead thereto he she shall be given a copy of the indictment before he she is called upon to plead in federal courts arraignment takes place in two stages the first is called the initial arraignment and must take place within hours of an individual s arrest hours if the individual was arrested on the weekend and not able to go before a judge until monday during this arraignment 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 arraignment a post indictment arraignment pia the defendant is allowed to enter a plea in new york most people arrested must be released if they are not arraigned within hours in california arraignments must be conducted without unnecessary delay and in any event within hours of arrest excluding weekends and holidays the wording of the arraignment varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction however it generally conforms with the following principles video arraignment is the act of conducting the arraignment process using some form of videoconferencing technology use of video arraignment system allows the courts 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 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 or stood mute was subject to peine forte et dure law french for strong and hard punishment 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 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 bates originally wrote the words as a poem pikes peak first published in the fourth of july edition of the church periodical the congregationalist in at that time the poem was titled america for publication ward had originally written the music materna for the hymn o mother dear jerusalem in though it was not first published until ward s music combined with the bates poem was first published in and titled america the beautiful the song is one of the most popular of the many u s patriotic songs in at the age of bates an english professor at wellesley college had taken a train trip to colorado springs colorado to teach a short summer school session 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 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 the congregationalist to commemorate the fourth of july it quickly caught the public s fancy an amended version was published in the first known melody written for the song was sent in by silas pratt when the poem was published in the congregationalist by at least different melodies had been written a hymn tune composed in by samuel a ward the organist and choir director at grace church newark was generally considered the best music as early as and is still the popular tune today just as bates had been inspired to write her poem ward too was inspired the tune came to him while he was on a ferryboat trip from coney island back to his home in new york city after a leisurely summer day and he immediately wrote it down he composed the tune for the old hymn o mother dear jerusalem retitling the work materna ward s music combined with bates s poem were first published together in and titled america the beautiful ward died in 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 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 america the beautiful legal status either as a national hymn or as a national anthem equal to or in place of the star spangled banner but so far this has not succeeded proponents prefer america the beautiful for various reasons saying it is easier to sing more melodic and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as easily recognizable as the star spangled banner some prefer america the beautiful over the star spangled banner due to the latter s war oriented imagery others prefer the star spangled banner for the same reason while that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the national anthem america the beautiful continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of americans and was even being considered before as a candidate to become the national anthem of the united states bing crosby included the song in a medley on his album gang songs frank sinatra recorded the song with nelson riddle during the sessions for the concert sinatra in february for a projected single release the was not commercially issued however but the song was later added as a bonus track to the enhanced cd release of the concert sinatra in while the united states celebrated its bicentennial a soulful version popularized by ray charles peaked at number on the us rb chart three different renditions of the song have entered the hot country songs charts the first was by charlie rich which went to number in a second by mickey newbury peaked at number in 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 in july the song re entered the chart following the september attacks popularity of the song increased greatly following the september 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 winter olympics and summer olympics and for patriotic holidays in the tori amos song amber waves the america the beautiful lyric for amber waves of grain is appropriated to create a personification amos imagines amber waves as an exotic dancer like she by the same name portrayed by julianne moore in boogie nights lynn sherr s 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 biography katharine lee bates from sea to shining sea 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 assistive adaptive and rehabilitative devices for people with disability or the elderly population people with disability 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 social participation security and control and a greater chance to reduce institutional costs without significantly increasing household expenses adaptive technology and assistive technology are different assistive technology is something that is used to help disabled people while adaptive technology 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 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 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 muscle skeleton 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 traumatic or missing from birth congenital 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 keep this in mind as nomenclature is often interchanged the terms prosthetic and orthotic are adjectives used to describe devices such as a prosthetic knee the terms prosthetics and orthotics are used to describe the respective allied health fields 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 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 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 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 text to speech or braille refreshable braille displays 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 is 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 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 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 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 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 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 zoom in 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 assistive technology for navigation has exploded on the ieee xplore database since with over engineering articles written on assistive technologies and visual impairment in the past years and over articles on solving the problem of navigation for people who are blind or visually impaired as well over articles on augmented reality and visual impairment have appeared in the engineering literature since most of these articles were published within the past 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 s in the immediate vicinity and assistance in getting to a destination 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 include nightware prescription only watch application for ptsd fda approved zachary zdroik an application for apple watches that will vibrate to wake an individual up from a nightmare the watch monitors your heart rate and vibrates enough to wake an individual up from a deep sleep but not entirely awake it will disrupt the nightmare but still allow the individual to sleep personal emergency response systems pers or telecare uk term 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 for hypothermia risk flooding and unlit gas sensors for people with mild dementia 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 in human computer interaction computer accessibility also known as accessible computing 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 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 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 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 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 frequency modulation transmission ir infra red transmission il induction loop 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 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 to decibel is generally sufficient for mild hearing loss while a phone with to decibel is better for more severe hearing loss augmentative and alternative communication aac 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 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 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 in the moment information for fast and easy recall at a later time 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 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 tech 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 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 of the rehabilitation act of and the second being the individuals with disabilities education act idea which was first enacted in under the name the education for all handicapped children act in 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 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 tts 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 one of the largest problems that affect disabled people is discomfort with prostheses an experiment performed in massachusetts utilized 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 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 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 home school and community 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 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 
