blindness, transient or permanent inability to see any light at all (total blindness) or to retain any useful vision despite attempts at vision enhancement (functional blindness). Less-severe levels of vision impairment have been categorized, ranging from near-normal vision to various degrees of

Gael García Bernal: …following year he starred in Blindness—a film adaptation of José Saramago’s novel Ensaio sobre a cegueira (1995; Blindness)—and Rudo y Cursi (“Tough and Corny”), which centred on two brothers who play professional football (soccer). His subsequent films included the social drama Mammoth (2009), Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control (2009),…

Paul de Man: Life and career: …published articles; the work, titled Blindness and Insight (1971), became widely influential. Initially hired by the university as a professor of French, de Man later joined and became chairman of the department of comparative literature and was elevated to the rank of Sterling Professor of the Humanities.

Maurice Gee: …during New Zealand’s 1935 elections; Blindsight (2005), which delves into the fracture of the relationship between a scientist and her brother; and Access Road (2009), which reflects on the fraught history of three siblings who gravitate toward their childhood home in their dotage.

blind snake, (superfamily Typhlopoidea), any of several nonvenomous snakes characterized by degenerate eyes that lie beneath opaque head scales. Blind snakes belong to the families Anomalepidae, Leptotyphlopidae, and Typhlopidae in superfamily Typhlopoidea. Since these three families are the only

Helen Hunt: …also appeared in the show Blindspotting (2021– ), which was inspired by the 2018 movie of the same name; the series centres on a young mother whose life is upended after her boyfriend is sentenced to prison.

slowworm, (Anguis fragilis), a legless lizard of the family Anguidae. It lives in grassy areas and open woodlands from Great Britain and Europe eastward to the Urals and Caspian Sea. Adults reach 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 inches) in body length, but the tail can be up to two times the length from snout

Sofia Coppola: …and in 2013 she released The Bling Ring. In May 2016 she staged her first opera, Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, in collaboration with fashion designer Valentino at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. In 2017 Coppola became the second woman to win the best director award at the Cannes film festival.…

human behaviour: The newborn infant: …with his eyes and will blink or close them at the sudden appearance of a bright light or at a sharp, sudden sound nearby. The newborn infant will suck a nipple or almost any other object (e.g., a finger) inserted into his mouth or touching his lips. He will also…

Zoë Kravitz: Directing: Blink Twice: …made her directorial debut with Blink Twice, which she also cowrote. The psychological thriller touches on themes of the Me Too movement, including sexual assault and the power dynamics between men and women. Blink Twice starred Channing Tatum (who became engaged to Kravitz in 2023) as a disgraced tech billionaire…

Malcolm Gladwell: Books: …seller, as did its successor, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), which extols the untold virtues of snap judgment.

Antony Blinken is an American government official best known as the 71st U.S. secretary of state (2021–25). U.S. president-elect Joe Biden nominated Blinken in November 2020, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 2021. He held foreign policy adviser roles for three U.S.

Antony Blinken is an American government official best known as the 71st U.S. secretary of state (2021–25). U.S. president-elect Joe Biden nominated Blinken in November 2020, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 2021. He held foreign policy adviser roles for three U.S.

human eye: The protective mechanisms: Lid closure and opening are accomplished by the orbicularis oculi and levator palpebri muscles; the orbicularis oculi operates on both lids, bringing their margins into close apposition in the act of lid closure. Opening results from relaxation of the orbicularis muscle and contraction of the…

James Blish was an American author and critic of science fiction best known for the Cities in Flight series (1950–62) and the novel A Case of Conscience (1958). His work, which often examined philosophical ideas, was part of the more sophisticated science fiction that arose in the 1950s. Blish had

James Blish was an American author and critic of science fiction best known for the Cities in Flight series (1950–62) and the novel A Case of Conscience (1958). His work, which often examined philosophical ideas, was part of the more sophisticated science fiction that arose in the 1950s. Blish had

Salma Hayek: In the sci-fi dramedy Bliss (2021), Hayek was cast as a woman who believes the world is a computer simulation. Also in 2021 she starred as the immortal Ajak in Eternals, an action film that was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition, Hayek lent her voice to…

Peter Carey: His novels Bliss (1981; filmed 1985), Illywhacker (1985), and Oscar and Lucinda (1988; filmed 1997) are more realistic, though Carey used black humour throughout all three. The later novels are based on the history of Australia, especially its founding and early days.

Katherine Mansfield: …with others, were collected in Bliss (1920), which secured her reputation and is typical of her art.

Bliss Classification, bibliographic system devised by Henry Evelyn Bliss, of the College of the City of New York, and published in 1935 under the title A System of Bibliographic Classification; the full, second edition appeared in 1940–53. The system is utilized most extensively in British

Sir Arthur Bliss was one of the leading English composers of the first half of the 20th century, noted both for his early, experimental works and for his later, more subjective compositions. Bliss studied under Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. Up to the early 1920s, his music was frequently

Margaret Taylor: …social appearances to her daughter Betty Bliss. Margaret’s avoidance of public appearances led to many unfounded rumors, including a persistent story that she was an unsophisticated frontier woman who smoked a pipe. Her grandson pointed out, however, that she could not tolerate the smell of smoke (which made her “actively…

El Paso: Fort Bliss (home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Center), the William Beaumont General Hospital, and nearby White Sands Missile Range (in New Mexico) augment El Paso’s economy.

Gilbert Ames Bliss was a U.S. mathematician and educator known for his work on the calculus of variations. He received his B.S. degree in 1897 from the University of Chicago and remained to study mathematical astronomy under F.R. Moulton. He received his M.S. degree in 1898 and two years later his

library: The Bliss system: …bibliographic classification system invented by Henry E. Bliss of the College of the City of New York (published in 1935 as A System of Bibliographic Classification) has made important contributions to the theory of classification, particularly in Bliss’s acute perception of the role of synthesis and his insistence that a…

Nathaniel Bliss was Britain’s fourth Astronomer Royal. Bliss graduated from Pembroke College, Oxford (B.A., 1720; M.A., 1723), and became rector of St. Ebbe’s, Oxford, in 1736. He succeeded Edmond Halley as Savilian professor of geometry at the University of Oxford in 1742 and was elected a fellow

Ray Charles Bliss was an American politician who worked behind the scenes to reinforce the strength of the Republican Party, serving as both Ohio state chairman (1949–65) and national chairman (1965–69) of the party. During Bliss’s national chairmanship, the Republicans defeated the Democrats in

Sir Arthur Bliss was one of the leading English composers of the first half of the 20th century, noted both for his early, experimental works and for his later, more subjective compositions. Bliss studied under Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. Up to the early 1920s, his music was frequently

Tasker Howard Bliss was a U.S. military commander and statesman who directed the mobilization effort upon the United States’ entry into World War I. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1875, Bliss served in various military assignments, including that of instructor at

William D.P. Bliss was an American social reformer and organizer of Christian Socialist societies. The son of American missionaries in Turkey, Bliss was educated at the Hartford Theological Seminary (Hartford, Connecticut). First as a Congregationalist and later as an Episcopalian, he held several

William D.P. Bliss was an American social reformer and organizer of Christian Socialist societies. The son of American missionaries in Turkey, Bliss was educated at the Hartford Theological Seminary (Hartford, Connecticut). First as a Congregationalist and later as an Episcopalian, he held several

warship: Torpedoes: (This Bliss-Leavitt torpedo remained in extensive use until World War II.) By 1914, torpedoes were usually 18 or 21 inches in diameter and could reach almost 4,000 yards at 45 knots or 10,000 yards at close to 30 knots.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul: …films were Sud sanaeha (2002; Blissfully Yours), a diptych that concerns the problems of illegal immigrants and shifts into what seems to be a real-time picnic; and, as co-director with Thai American artist Michael Shaowanasai, Hua jai tor ra nong (2003; The Adventure of Iron Pussy), a tongue-in-cheek Asian soap…

chinch bug: The hairy chinch bug (Blissus hirtus) does not migrate. This short-winged insect, sometimes a lawn pest, is controlled by fertilizing, watering, and cutting grass. The false chinch bug (Nysius ericae) is brownish gray and resembles the chinch bug. It feeds on many plants but is rarely…

chinch bug, (Blissus leucopterus), important grain and corn pest belonging to the insect family Lygaeidae (order Heteroptera). Though a native of tropical America, the chinch bug has extended its range to include much of North America. It is a small bug, not more than 5 mm (0.2 inch) long. The

Languedoc: Blistelle is a sweet wine whose fermentation is artificially stopped; new cultures are then added and the wine is allowed to age. Regional cuisine relies heavily on olive oil and garlic; pork fat is widely used in the Cévennes. Soups include aigo bouillido, which is…

blister, a rounded elevation of the skin containing clear fluid, caused by a separation either between layers of the epidermis or between the epidermis and the dermis. Blisters are classified as vesicles if they are 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) or less in diameter and as bullae if they are larger. Blisters

chemical weapon: Blister agents: Blister agents were also developed and deployed in World War I. The primary form of blister agent used in that conflict was sulfur mustard, popularly known as mustard gas. Casualties were inflicted when personnel were attacked and exposed to blister agents like sulfur mustard…

blister beetle, (family Meloidae), any of approximately 2,500 species of beetles (insect order Coleoptera) that secrete an irritating substance, cantharidin, which is collected mainly from Mylabris and the European species Lytta vesicatoria, commonly called Spanish fly. Cantharidin is used

cave: Other types of lava caves: …plastic state to form small blister caves. These cavities consist of dome-shaped chambers somewhat resembling those of spatter cones. They are generally small, ranging from one to a few metres in diameter, but they often occur in great numbers in many lava flows rich in volatile components.

copper processing: Roasting, smelting, and converting: …remaining values), leaving a “blister” copper containing between 98.5 and 99.5 percent copper and up to 0.8 percent oxygen. The converter is rotated for skimming the slag and pouring the blister copper.

cultured pearl: …China have been almost exclusively blister pearls (hemispherical pearls formed attached to the mussel’s shell), which are filled with resin and capped with a flat piece of nacre (mother-of-pearl) to become a mabe pearl or pearl doublet.

blister rust, any of several diseases of pine trees caused by rust fungi of the genus Cronartium. Blister rust is found nearly worldwide and affects pines of all ages and sizes, including economically important timber trees. The disease can be lethal, and surviving trees are left vulnerable to

ribes: Physical description: …alternative hosts of the destructive blister rust fungus, which also attacks white pines, there are local prohibitions to growing Ribes near any white pine plantations.

steel: Blister steel: In order to convert wrought iron into steel—that is, increase the carbon content—a carburization process was used. Iron billets were heated with charcoal in sealed clay pots that were placed in large bottle-shaped kilns holding about 10 to 14 tons of metal and…

art conservation and restoration: Paintings on canvas: …a condition variously called “cleavage,” “flaking,” “blistering,” or “scaling.” The traditional method to address these problems is to reinforce the back of the canvas by attaching a new canvas to the old in a process called “lining,” also referred to as “relining.” A number of techniques and adhesives have…

Blitar, city and kabupaten (regency), Jawa Timur propinsi (East Java province), Java, Indonesia. It is located 70 miles (113 km) southwest of Surabaya, the provincial capital. The city lies at an elevation of 528 feet (161 m) above sea level. Linked by road and railway with Malang to the east and

Blithe Spirit, farce by Noël Coward, produced and published in 1941 and often regarded as Coward’s best work. This play about a man whose domestic life is disturbed by the jealous ghost of his first wife shows Coward’s humour at its ripest. The combination of drawing-room comedy and ghost story

Judi Dench: …II drama, and the comedy Blithe Spirit (both 2020), which was based on a Noël Coward play. For her performance in Branagh’s Belfast (2021), a drama inspired by his childhood during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Dench earned her eighth Oscar nomination, for best supporting actress.

David Lean: …was Coward’s classic supernatural comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), regarded as a good effort but little more than a stage play on celluloid. The last of the Coward vehicles, the romantic melodrama Brief Encounter (1945; based on Coward’s play Still Life), was a masterpiece and the first of many Lean films…

Claudette Colbert: …Bacall in the made-for-television movie Blithe Spirit (1956) and on the television miniseries and her last major project, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987), for which she won a best supporting actress Golden Globe). In 1989 she was honored with a Kennedy Center award for lifetime achievement.

The Blithedale Romance, minor novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1852. The novel, about a group of people living in an experimental community, was based in part on Hawthorne’s disillusionment with the Brook Farm utopian community near Boston in the

space debris: …2013, the Russian laser-ranging satellite BLITS (Ball Lens in the Space) experienced a sudden change in its orbit and its spin, which caused scientists to abandon the mission. The culprit was believed to have been a collision with a piece of Fengyun-1C debris. Fragments from Fengyun-1C, Iridium 33, and Cosmos…

Steve McQueen: Films: …period in the feature film Blitz (2024), starring Saoirse Ronan as a mother caring for her son during Germany’s air assault on Great Britain.

the Blitz, (September 7, 1940–May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. The attacks were authorized by Germany’s chancellor,

Wolf Blitzer is an American journalist and anchor for the Cable News Network (CNN). In 1990–91 he garnered national attention for his reporting on the Persian Gulf War. Upon graduating from Kenmore West Senior High School in Buffalo, Blitzer entered the University of Buffalo, where he received a

Wolf Blitzer is an American journalist and anchor for the Cable News Network (CNN). In 1990–91 he garnered national attention for his reporting on the Persian Gulf War. Upon graduating from Kenmore West Senior High School in Buffalo, Blitzer entered the University of Buffalo, where he received a

blitzkrieg, military tactic calculated to create psychological shock and resultant disorganization in enemy forces through the employment of surprise, speed, and superiority in matériel or firepower. Blitzkrieg is most commonly associated with Nazi Germany during World War II even though numerous

the Ramones: …Ramones songs such as “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” and “I Wanna Be Sedated” contrasted sharply with the complex, carefully orchestrated mainstream rock of the era. In ripped jeans and black leather jackets, the Ramones made their reputation with almost-nonstop touring and energetic live performances, notably at…

Dunkirk evacuation: Blitzkrieg and the Allied collapse: On May 10 the German blitzkrieg attack on the Netherlands began with the capture by parachutists of key bridges deep within the country, with the aim of opening the way for mobile ground forces. The Dutch defenders fell back westward, and by noon on May 12 German tanks were on…

Marc Blitzstein was an American pianist, playwright, and composer known for his unorthodox operas and plays. As a child, Blitzstein was a musical prodigy, performing at age 5, composing at 7, and at 15 being introduced as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In the 1920s he studied piano with

biblical literature: Scandinavian versions: …readers, but the version of E. Blix (New Testament, 1889; complete Bible, 1921) is in New Norwegian. A revised Bible in this standardized form of the language, executed by R. Indrebö, was published by the Norwegian Bible Society in 1938.

Hans Blix is a Swedish diplomat who was director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA; 1981–97) and served as the chief weapons inspector for the United Nations (UN; 2000–03) during the lead-up to the Iraq War (2003–11). Blix studied at Uppsala University in Sweden and Columbia

Isak Dinesen was a Danish writer whose finely crafted stories, set in the past and pervaded with an aura of supernaturalism, incorporate the themes of eros and dreams. Educated privately and at the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Dinesen married her cousin, Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke, in 1914 and

blizzard, severe weather condition that is distinguished by low temperatures, strong winds, and large quantities of either falling or blowing snow. The National Weather Service of the United States defines a blizzard as a storm with winds of more than 56 km (35 miles) per hour for at least three

Activision Blizzard, Inc.: The history of Blizzard: Blizzard Entertainment was founded in 1991 as Silicon & Synapse by Allen Adham, Michael Morhaime, and Frank Pearce, three UCLA graduates with an interest in electronic gaming. The company’s early projects were conversions of existing titles for a variety of home computer systems, but…

American literature: Autobiographical approaches: …with Dark Harbor (1993) and Blizzard of One (1998). Other strongly autobiographical poets working with subtle technique and intelligence in a variety of forms included Philip Levine, Charles Simic, Robert Pinsky, Gerald Stern, Louise Glück, and

Ozzy Osbourne: Going solo: …of guitarist Randy Rhoads, was Blizzard of Ozz (1980). A multiplatinum success, thanks in part to the standout single “Crazy Train,” it was followed by the equally popular Diary of a Madman (1981), which sold more than five million copies. A defining moment in Osbourne’s career came on the tour…

Vladimir Sorokin: Metel (2010; The Blizzard) chronicles the travails of a doctor journeying to a zombie-afflicted village with a lifesaving vaccine.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior. It was established in 1946 through the consolidation of the General Land Office (created in 1812) and the U.S. Grazing Service (1934). The BLM is responsible for managing hundreds of millions of acres of public land,

Black Lives Matter (BLM), international social movement, formed in the United States in 2013, dedicated to fighting racism and anti-Black violence, especially in the form of police brutality. The name Black Lives Matter signals condemnation of the unjust killings of Black people by police (Black

Panchen Lama: …Lama declared that his tutor, Blo-bzang chos-kyi-rgyal-mtshan (1570–1662), who was the current Panchen Lama, would be reincarnated in a child. He thus became the first of the line of reincarnated lamas, reappearing as Blo-bzang-ye-shes (1663–1737), Blo-bzang-dpal-ldan-ye-shes (1737–80), Blo-bzang-bstan-pa’i-nyi-ma (1781–1854), Bstan-pa’i-dbang-phyug (1854–82), and Chos-kyi Nyi-ma (1883–1937). They were each regarded as…

bloat, disorder of ruminant animals involving distention of the rumen, the first of the four divisions of the stomach, with gas of fermentation. Bloated cattle are restless and noticeably uncomfortable and have distended left flanks. Bloat often occurs in cattle that have grazed young, lush legumes

The Blob, American horror film, released in 1958, that is one of the genre’s most popular low-budget movies of the 1950s, especially well liked by teenagers and drive-in audiences. A meteorite containing a tiny gelatinous creature crashes near a small town. As the slow-moving blob eats every human

Günter Blobel was a German-born American cellular and molecular biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1999 for his discovery that proteins have signals that govern their movement and position in the cell. Blobel received a medical degree at Eberhard-Karl University

Bloc National, right-wing coalition elected to the French Chamber of Deputies (lower house of the legislature) on a wave of nationalist sentiment at the end of World War I; it controlled the French government until 1924. The Bloc gained about three-fourths of the seats in the elections of November

Bloc Québécois, regional political party in Canada, supporting the independence of predominantly French-speaking Quebec. The Bloc Québécois has informal ties with the Parti Québécois, which has controlled Quebec’s provincial assembly for much of the period since the mid-1970s, and it represents the

France: The prewar years: …and centre parties (the so-called Bloc Républicain) provided France with stable government. The cabinets headed by Waldeck-Rousseau in 1899–1902 and Émile Combes in 1902–05 managed to liquidate the Dreyfus Affair and to carry through the anticlerical reforms that culminated in the separation of church and state. The Entente Cordiale and…

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: …with the opening of the Bloch Building (165,000 square feet [15,329 square metres]). Largely underground, the innovative building is topped by glass cubes that channel light into the subterranean galleries.

language: Definitions of language: ” The American linguists Bernard Bloch and George L. Trager formulated the following definition: “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group cooperates.” Any succinct definition of language makes a number of presuppositions and begs a number of questions. The first,…

Ernest Bloch was a composer whose music reflects Jewish cultural and liturgical themes as well as European post-Romantic traditions. His students included Roger Sessions and Randall Thompson. Bloch studied with noted Swiss composer Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and in Belgium with violinist Eugène Ysaÿe.

Ernst Bloch was a German Marxist philosopher whose Philosophie der Hoffnung (“Philosophy of Hope”) was intended to complete what he considered Marxism’s partial outlook on reality. Having begun his career at the University of Leipzig (1918), Bloch fled from Nazi Germany to Switzerland (1933), then

Felix Bloch was a Swiss-born American physicist who shared (with E.M. Purcell) the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1952 for developing the nuclear magnetic resonance method of measuring the magnetic field of atomic nuclei. Bloch’s doctoral dissertation (University of Leipzig, 1928) promulgated a quantum

Jean-Richard Bloch was a French essayist, novelist, and playwright active in the cause of socialism. In 1910, while teaching in Poitiers, Bloch started L’Effort libre, a “review of revolutionary civilization.” His essay Naissance d’une culture (1936; “Birth of a Culture”) called for an art that

Joseph Samuel Bloch was an Austrian rabbi, politician, journalist, and crusader against antisemitism, particularly the so-called blood accusation, or blood libel—the allegation that Jews use the blood of Christians in the Passover ritual. After serving as a rabbi in several small communities, Bloch

Konrad E. Bloch was a German-born American biochemist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Feodor Lynen for their discoveries concerning the natural synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids. After receiving a chemical engineering degree in 1934 at the Technische

Konrad E. Bloch was a German-born American biochemist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Feodor Lynen for their discoveries concerning the natural synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids. After receiving a chemical engineering degree in 1934 at the Technische

Marc Bloch was a French medieval historian, editor, and Resistance leader known for his innovative work in social and economic history. Bloch, the son of a professor of ancient history, grandson of a school principal, and great-grandson of a combatant in the French Revolution, descended from a

Marc Bloch was a French medieval historian, editor, and Resistance leader known for his innovative work in social and economic history. Bloch, the son of a professor of ancient history, grandson of a school principal, and great-grandson of a combatant in the French Revolution, descended from a

Marcel Dassault was a French aircraft designer and industrialist whose companies built the most successful military aircraft in Europe in the decades after World War II. The son of a Jewish physician, Bloch obtained degrees in aeronautical design and electrical engineering and worked as an aircraft

Swiss People’s Party: …internecine strife when its leader, Christoph Blocher, was not reelected to the Federal Council and was replaced there by Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, from the party’s moderate wing. In protest, the party withdrew from the country’s governing coalition. By going into opposition, the party suspended Switzerland’s consensus style of government, which had…

agglomerate: …sort agglomerates into either bombs, blocks, or breccia. Bombs and blocks are generally larger than 32 mm (1.25 inches) in size; although bombs are ejected in a molten state (becoming rounded upon solidification), blocks are erupted as solid angular or subangular fragments. Upon accumulation, blocks form breccia, which are solid…

Bitcoin: …put together in groups called blocks. The blocks are organized in a chronological sequence called the blockchain. Blocks are added to the chain using a mathematical process that makes it extremely difficult for an individual user to hijack the blockchain. The blockchain technology that underpins Bitcoin has attracted considerable attention,…

Precambrian: Occurrence and distribution of Precambrian rocks: shields, provinces, or blocks. Some examples include: the North Atlantic craton that incorporates northwestern Scotland, central Greenland, and Labrador; the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwean cratons in southern Africa; the Dharwar craton in India

construction: Stone construction in Egypt: …Egyptians were able to move blocks weighing up to 1,000,000 kilograms from quarries to distant building sites. This was an amazing accomplishment, as their only machinery was levers and crude wooden sledges worked by masses of men and draft animals. There were no wheeled vehicles before 1500 bce, and they…

gasoline engine: Cylinder block: The main structural member of all automotive engines is a cylinder block that usually extends upward from the centre line of the main support for the crankshaft to the junction with the cylinder head. The block serves as the structural framework of the engine…

block and tackle, combination of a flexible rope, or cable, and pulleys commonly used to augment pulling force; it can be used to lift heavy weights or to exert large forces in any direction. In the Figure there are four freely rotating pulleys, two on the upper block, which remains fixed, and two

William Stewart Halsted: By self-experimentation he developed (1885) conduction, or block, anesthesia (the production of insensibility of a part by interrupting the conduction of a sensory nerve leading to that region of the body), brought about by injecting cocaine into nerve trunks. He fell into a drug addiction that required two years to…

block book, book printed from wooden blocks on which the text and illustration for each page had to be painstakingly cut by hand. Such books were distinct from printed books after the invention of movable type, in which words were made up of individual letters each of which could be reused as often

mining: Mining massive deposits: …for such deposits is called panel/block caving. It is used under the following conditions: (1) large ore bodies of steep dip, (2) massive ore bodies of large vertical extension, (3) rock that will cave and break into manageable fragments, and (4) surface that permits subsidence.