chain drive: …in conveyor belts are commonly block chains, and consist of solid or laminated blocks connected by side plates and pins. The blocks engage with teeth on sprocket wheels. Depending on the material being moved, buckets, hooks, or other devices are connected to the blocks.

cryptology: Block and stream ciphers: In general, cipher systems transform fixed-size pieces of plaintext into ciphertext. In older manual systems these pieces were usually single letters or characters—or occasionally, as in the Playfair cipher, digraphs, since this was as large a unit as could feasibly be…

telecommunication: Convolutional encoding: …Hamming code is called a block code because information is blocked into bit sequences of finite length to which a number of redundant bits are added. When k information bits are provided to a block encoder, n − k redundancy bits are appended to the information bits to form a…

rubber: The rise of synthetic rubber: For example, block copolymers, in which a long sequence of one chemical unit is followed in the same molecule by a long sequence of another, were made, using many different units and sequence lengths. New oil-resistant and heat-resistant elastomers were introduced, including the styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers, the polysulfides,…

combinatorics: BIB (balanced incomplete block) designs: A design is a set of T = {1, 2, . . ., υ} objects called treatments and a family of subsets B1, B2, . . ., Bb of T, called blocks, such that the block Bi contains exactly ki treatments, all distinct.…

normal fault, type of fault in which lengthening, or extension, of a portion of Earth’s crust causes a block of rock above the fault (hanging wall) to move downward relative to the block below (footwall). The dip angle of the sliding surface on either side tends to be steep, often between 45° and

felsenmeer, (German: “sea of rock”), exposed rock surfaces that have been quickly broken up by frost action so that much rock is buried under a cover of angular shattered boulders. These mantles principally occur in Arctic regions and high mountain areas. Their continuity and depth varies with

fipple flute, any of several end-blown flutes having a plug (“block,” or “fipple”) inside the pipe below the mouth hole, forming a flue, duct, or windway that directs the player’s breath alternately above and below the sharp edge of a lateral hole. This arrangement causes the enclosed air column to

GPS: The Navstar system: …first satellite was an experimental Block I model launched in 1978. Nine more of these developmental satellites followed over the next decade, and 23 heavier and more-capable Block II production models were sent into space from 1989 to 1993. The launch of the 24th Block II satellite in 1994 completed…

GPS: The Navstar system: …and 23 heavier and more-capable Block II production models were sent into space from 1989 to 1993. The launch of the 24th Block II satellite in 1994 completed the GPS constellation, which now consists of two dozen Block II satellites (plus three spares orbiting in reserve) marching in single file…

Block Island, pear-shaped island coextensive with the town (township) of New Shoreham (inc. 1672), Washington county, southern Rhode Island, U.S., between Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Lying about 9 miles (14 km) south of the mainland, it is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 3.5 miles

lava: …of flow, known as a block lava flow. These resemble aa in having tops consisting largely of loose rubble, but the fragments are more regular in shape, most of them polygons with fairly smooth sides. Flows of more siliceous lava tend to be even more fragmental than block flows.

block mill, Earliest mechanized factory for mass production. It was conceived by Samuel Bentham, with machinery designed by Marc Brunel and built by Henry Maudslay, and built at England’s Portsmouth naval dockyard. By 1805 it was producing 130,000 pulley blocks per year. It remained in production

mining: Ore reserves: …the result is an economic block model. Some of the blocks in the model will eventually fall within the pit, but others will lie outside. Of the several techniques for determining which of the blocks should be included in the final pit, the most common is the floating cone technique.…

information processing: Dissemination of information: …of reproducing writing mechanically was block printing; it was developed in China during the T’ang dynasty (618–907). Ideographic text and illustrations were engraved in wooden blocks, inked, and copied on paper. Used to produce books as well as cards, charms, and calendars, block printing spread to Korea and Japan but…

landslide: Types of landslides: …mass, it is called a block slide. A translational slide is sometimes called a mud slide when it occurs along gently sloping, discrete shear planes in fine-grained rocks (such as fissured clays) and the displaced mass is fluidized by an increase in pore water pressure. In a rotational slide the…

Egyptian art and architecture: Refinements of the Middle Kingdom: …to its ultimate in the block statue, a uniquely Egyptian type that represents the subject squatting on the ground with knees drawn up close to his body. The arms and legs may be wholly contained within the cubic form, hands and feet alone discretely protruding. The 12th-dynasty block statue of…

computer programming language: ALGOL: ALGOL introduced block structure, in which a program is composed of blocks that might contain both data and instructions and have the same structure as an entire program. Block structure became a powerful tool for building large programs out of small components.

railroad: Signaling: In these so-called block systems, a train is prevented from entering a specific section of track until the train already in that section has left it.

Western sculpture: Conservative reaction (1920s): included William Zorach, Chaim Gross, Adolph Block, Paul Manship, and Wheeler Williams.

Block Island: …later named for Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who visited there in 1614. Settlers from Massachusetts arrived in 1661, and Block Island was admitted to the colony of Rhode Island three years later.

Herblock was an American editorial cartoonist who won Pulitzer Prizes in 1942, 1954, and 1979. Herblock’s first cartoons appeared in the Chicago Daily News in 1929. He worked for the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) from 1933 to 1943 and joined The Washington Post in 1946. A leading cartoon

delay of gratification: Delay as a motivational tendency: …distinct ability, the American psychologists Jack Block and David Funder and their colleagues identified it as an expression of ego control—a person’s more-general tendency to inhibit impulses. On the low end of that continuum are the undercontrolled individuals who spontaneously act on their wants, without concern about the future. On…

disc jockey: …show’s potential was revealed when Martin Block broadcast his Make Believe Ballroom on station WNEW in New York City as filler between news coverage of the closely followed trial of the kidnapper of the Charles Lindbergh baby. Upon the request of thousands of listeners, the makeshift show was retained by…

philosophy of mind: Searle’s Chinese room: …that was raised earlier by Ned Block. This objection, which also (but only coincidentally) involves reference to China, applies not just to CRTT but to almost any functionalist theory of the mind.

continental landform: Orogenic geomorphic systems: …following set of special attributes:

blockade, an act of war whereby one party blocks entry to or departure from a defined part of an enemy’s territory, most often its coasts. Blockades are regulated by international law and custom and require advance warning to neutral states and impartial application. In a memorandum prepared for

William Dieterle: Warner Brothers: Dieterle then directed Blockade (1938), which starred Henry Fonda and Madeleine Carroll as lovers torn apart by the Spanish Civil War. The film generated controversy for what some claimed were leftist sympathies, and it failed at the box office. Dieterle returned to biopics with Juarez (1939). Although positioned…

criminal law: Protection against double jeopardy: Supreme Court in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304 (1932), the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one is whether each provision requires proof of a fact that the other does not. In continental European law, on the other…

Viacom: Viacom’s subsequent merger with Blockbuster added video rental and music retail operations to its considerable film, cable, television, and publishing holdings, making it one of the most diversified entertainment companies in the world.

Viacom: Viacom’s subsequent merger with Blockbuster added video rental and music retail operations to its considerable film, cable, television, and publishing holdings, making it one of the most diversified entertainment companies in the world.

blockchain, database technology that relies on a ledger that is distributed throughout a computer network and whose records are known as blocks. Blockchain was devised by the anonymous programmer or group of programmers Satoshi Nakamoto as part of the architecture for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in

Bonanza: …Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker), and Little Joe (Michael Landon). Adam, the eldest, was serious and responsible, while Hoss was gregarious and oafish, and Little Joe was rashly romantic. The plot in the early seasons often stemmed from personality conflicts between the brothers, but the show’s drama eventually…

Goddard Family: …credited with having originated the blockfront, or tub front (although the Townsends have an equally qualified claim to this style), a distinctive furniture front that is divided vertically through alternating convex (sides) and concave (centre) panels. His blockfront desks, secretaries, and cabinets usually have readily identifiable ogee bracket feet (also…

stepping, a complex synchronized dancelike performance that blends African folk traditions with popular culture. Stepping involves clapping, body slapping, vocalizations, and dramatic movements. Stepping was developed by African American fraternities and sororities in the mid-20th century and also

clothing and footwear industry: Blocking: Blocking consists of encompassing a form, block, or die with the garment with skintight precision. The item is blocked or pressed by superposing a complementary pressing form that sandwiches the shaped garment or section between the interlocked blocks. This process is used for such…

basketball: Rules: …in basketball include the following:

furniture: Wood: …axially, radially, or tangentially; by blocking the wood—i.e., glueing pieces of wood together in different directions—such differences are eliminated and equal strength is obtained both longitudinally and laterally. The characteristic feature of laminated board is that the veneer on both sides encloses a wooden board composed of narrow strips of…

allergy desensitization: …attributed to special antibodies, called blocking antibodies, that appear in the serum after treatment and combine preferentially with allergen. This prevents the reaction of allergen with allergic antibodies in the skin and precludes an allergic reaction. Desensitization can also be required when a penicillin-sensitive person, who may experience anaphylaxis after…

Superstorm Sandy: Origin and development of the superstorm: …strong high-pressure cell, called a blocking high, that stagnates over Greenland, and any eastward movement of storms behind the blocking high slows substantially.

Superstorm Sandy: Origin and development of the superstorm: …strong high-pressure cell, called a blocking high, that stagnates over Greenland, and any eastward movement of storms behind the blocking high slows substantially.

dating: Multiple ages for a single rock: the thermal effect: …the mineral cools below the blocking temperature. (This is the temperature below which a mineral becomes a closed chemical system for a specific radioactive decay series. Accordingly, the parent-daughter isotope ratio indicates the time elapsed since that critical threshold was reached.) In this case, the host mineral could have an…

stenciling: In one method, called the blockout-, or glue-cutout-, stencil method, those parts of the screen that are to be stopped are filled with water-soluble glue. Lines could be reserved in these parts by drawing with lithographic tusche (a greasy ink) or crayon, which could later be washed out of the…

Brocken, highest point (3,747 feet [1,142 m]) of the Harz Mountains, lying 8 miles (13 km) west-southwest of Wernigerode, Ger., within the Harz National Park. A huge, granite-strewn dome, the peak commands magnificent views in all directions, and a mountain railway (12 miles [19 km] long) reaches

William Baylebridge was a poet and short-story writer considered one of the leading writers of Australia in his day. The son of an auctioneer, he was educated in Brisbane, then at the age of 25 went to England, where he published his first booklet of verse, Songs o’ the South (1908). He also

Blodeuedd, in the Welsh collection of stories called the Mabinogion, a beautiful girl fashioned from flowers as a wife for Lleu Llaw Gyffes (see Lugus). Lleu’s mother had put a curse on him that he would have no wife, and Blodeuedd was created to subvert the curse; she was unfaithful, however, and

Blodeuedd, in the Welsh collection of stories called the Mabinogion, a beautiful girl fashioned from flowers as a wife for Lleu Llaw Gyffes (see Lugus). Lleu’s mother had put a curse on him that he would have no wife, and Blodeuedd was created to subvert the curse; she was unfaithful, however, and

Beloit, city, Rock county, southern Wisconsin, U.S. It lies along the Illinois state line at the confluence of the Rock River and Turtle Creek, about 15 miles (25 km) south of Janesville. The area had recently been inhabited by Ho-Chunk Nation (Winnebago) Indians when the first permanent settler,

Council of Troubles, (1567–74), special court in the Low Countries organized by the Spanish governor, the Duke of Alba, which initiated a reign of terror against all elements suspected of heresy or rebellion. Alba’s dispatch to the Netherlands at the head of a large army in the summer of 1567 had

Blood River, short stream in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, a tributary of the Buffalo (Mzinyathi) River. The river was the scene of a battle between the Zulu and the Voortrekker Boers on Dec. 16, 1838. The Zulu, under Dingane, were defeated by a Voortrekker commando force led by Andries

Abraham Bloemaert was an influential Dutch Mannerist painter and engraver. Bloemaert studied at Utrecht under eminent painters, spent three years in Paris, and then returned to settle finally at Utrecht, where he became dean of the Guild of St. Luke. He painted and etched historical and allegorical

Nicolaas Bloembergen was a Dutch-born American physicist, corecipient with Arthur Leonard Schawlow of the United States and Kai Manne Börje Siegbahn of Sweden of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Physics for their revolutionary spectroscopic studies of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with

Bloemfontein, city, capital of Free State province (formerly Orange Free State) and judicial capital of the Republic of South Africa. Founded by Major H. Douglas Warden in 1846 as a fort and residency, it became the seat of the British-administered Orange River Sovereignty (1848–54) and of the

blog, online journal where an individual, group, or corporation presents a record of activities, thoughts, or beliefs. Some blogs operate mainly as news filters, collecting various online sources and adding short comments and Internet links. Other blogs concentrate on presenting original material.

Evan Williams: …company that Williams had formed, Blogger.com, was bought in 2003 by Google.

blog, online journal where an individual, group, or corporation presents a record of activities, thoughts, or beliefs. Some blogs operate mainly as news filters, collecting various online sources and adding short comments and Internet links. Other blogs concentrate on presenting original material.

Blois, feudal countship that rose to great importance in medieval France as its holders came to possess not only the city of Blois itself and its immediate vicinity, the Blésois, but also other domains. Under Robert the Strong (d. 866), duke of the entire region between the Seine and Loire rivers

Blois, city, capital of Loir-et-Cher département, Centre région, central France, on the Loire River northeast of Tours. First mentioned in the 6th century by Gregory of Tours, it was by the early Middle Ages seat of the powerful counts of Blois, from whom descended the Capetian kings of France. At

François Mansart: Early years and works.: …to reconstruct his château at Blois, which had been built in the 15th and 16th centuries and used as a royal residence by three kings. Mansart proposed rebuilding it entirely, but only the north wing facing the gardens was reconstructed. The main building, flanked by pavilions, is subtly articulated by…

Franciscus Ludovicus Blosius was a Benedictine monastic reformer and mystical writer. Of noble birth, he was a page at the court of the future emperor Charles V and received his early education from the future pope Adrian VI. In 1520 he entered the Benedictine Order at Liessies, becoming abbot in

Claude Of France: …of French hands, caused the Treaty of Blois to be concluded, which assured the hand of Claude to Charles of Austria (the future emperor Charles V) and promised him Brittany, Burgundy, and the county of Blois. This unpopular treaty was broken, however, and Claude was instead betrothed (1506) to Francis…

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok was a poet and dramatist, the principal representative of Russian Symbolism, a modernist literary movement that was influenced by its European counterpart but was strongly imbued with indigenous Eastern Orthodox religious and mystical elements. Blok was born into a

Dynamo Kyiv: …Footballer of the Year award: Oleg Blokhin in 1975 and Igor Belanov in 1986.

propaganda: Connotations of the term propaganda: …was called Bloknot agitatora (The Agitator’s Notebook).

Frans Ferdinand Blom was a Danish archaeologist who was an authority on Mayan culture. He spent much of his life in the jungles of Chiapas state (adjoining Guatemala) where his explorations led to the discovery of several long-lost cities attributed to the “classical period” (ad 300–900) in the

Breyten Breytenbach was a South African writer who was a leading Afrikaner poet and critic of apartheid. He spent seven years in prison (1975–82) on terrorism charges, and during a self-imposed exile he became a naturalized French citizen. Born into an Afrikaner Cape Province family, Breytenbach

Werner von Blomberg was a German general and minister of war (1933–38) in the National Socialist government of Adolf Hitler. A career soldier before the Nazi seizure of power, he was one of Hitler’s most loyal officers among the old-line officer corps before being abruptly dismissed from office.

Werner von Blomberg was a German general and minister of war (1933–38) in the National Socialist government of Adolf Hitler. A career soldier before the Nazi seizure of power, he was one of Hitler’s most loyal officers among the old-line officer corps before being abruptly dismissed from office.

Homo sapiens: Behavioral influences: At Blombos Cave, near Africa’s southern tip, was found an ochre plaque more than 70,000 years old that is engraved with an unmistakably geometric motif. This and other early African sites have produced engraved ostrich eggshells and snail shells pierced for stringing and bodily adornment; these…

garden and landscape design: 19th century: The architect Sir Reginald Blomfield advocated a return to the formal garden, but to this, insofar as it required dressed stonework, there were economic objections. More successful and more in tune with the escapist needs of the increasing number of urban dwellers were the teaching and practice…

Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom: Other works are Blommorna (1812; “The Flowers”), a cycle of poems envisioning eternal life beyond death; the unfinished Fågel blå (1814; “The Blue Bird”); and Svenska siare och skalder (1841–55; “Swedish Prophets and Poets”), a book that earned Atterbom the rank of Sweden’s first great literary historian. In…

coordination compound: History of coordination compounds: …(1869) of the Swedish chemist Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand, as modified and developed by the Danish chemist Sophus Mads Jørgensen. Jørgensen’s extensive preparations of numerous complexes provided the experimental foundation not only for the Blomstrand-Jørgensen chain theory but for Alsatian-born Swiss chemist Alfred Werner’s coordination theory (1893) as well.

Jakob Christof Le Blon was a German-born painter and engraver who was the first to make use of several metal plates (each for an individual colour) for making prints with continuous gradations of colour. His colour theory formed the foundation for modern colour printing. Le Blon lived in Rome,

Jakob Christof Le Blon was a German-born painter and engraver who was the first to make use of several metal plates (each for an individual colour) for making prints with continuous gradations of colour. His colour theory formed the foundation for modern colour printing. Le Blon lived in Rome,

Limousin: Geography: Farther north are the Blond Mountains, which rise above the Limoges Plateau to more than 1,600 feet (500 metres), and the Ambazac Mountains, which rise to more than 2,300 feet (700 metres). Important rivers include the Creuse, Dordogne, Corrèze, Vienne, Gartempe, Maulde, and Taurion. Winters are harsh in the…

Ana de Armas: Blonde and Ghosted: …starred as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, which was based on Joyce Carol Oates’s fictional reimagining of the actress’s life. De Armas received an Academy Award nomination for best actress, thereby becoming the first Cuban actress to be nominated for the award. She followed up that film with the romantic comedy…

Roy Del Ruth: Early films: Del Ruth’s success continued with Blonde Crazy (1931), an enjoyable crime comedy that starred James Cagney at his quickest as a bellhop who teams with a chambermaid sidekick (played by Joan Blondell) to con a con artist (Louis Calhern); the film also featured the notable tune “When Your Lover Has…

Ludwig Tieck: …of Tieck’s best short novels, Der blonde Eckbert (“Fair Eckbert”), the fantastic story of an obsessive fear; this work won the praise of August and Friedrich von Schlegel, the leading critics of the Jena Romantics.

blonde lace, any of several light-coloured laces. Originally the term referred to continuous-thread bobbin laces made in France from unbleached Chinese silk beginning in the mid-18th century. Later the term blonde was extended to include laces of bleached silk (white blonde) and black-dyed silk

Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde and the Band: …some of Dylan’s finest work, Blonde on Blonde peaked at number nine in Billboard, was critically acclaimed, and pushed Dylan to the zenith of his popularity. He toured Europe with the Hawks (soon to reemerge as the Band) until the summer of 1966, when a motorcycle accident in Woodstock brought…

Marlene Dietrich: (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), Blonde Venus (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil Is a Woman (1935). She showed a lighter side in Desire (1936), directed by Frank Borzage, and Destry Rides Again (1939).

Édouard Manet: Later life and works of Édouard Manet: He followed these works with The Blonde with Bare Breasts (c. 1878), in which the pearl-white flesh tones gleam with light, and Chez le Père Lathuille (1879), another of Manet’s major works, set in a restaurant near the Café Guerbois in Clichy. The latter depicts a coquette somewhat past her…

Richard I: Imprisonment of Richard I: …that the famous romance of Blondel was woven in the 13th century.

Tim Rice: Later career: Chess, Disney, and Elton John: …Oliver on the stage production Blondel (1983) and with Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, both veterans of the pop group ABBA, on the musical Chess (1984, first staged in 1986). The latter show yielded the pop hits “I Know Him So Well” and “One Night in Bangkok.” In the 1990s…

Blondel de Nesle was an early lyric poet-musician, or trouvère, of northern France. Nothing is known about Blondel outside of his poetry. He was probably from Nesle, in Picardy, but the name Blondel may be a nickname, and it is uncertain how many of the 25 songs attributed to him are actually his.

André-Eugène Blondel was a French physicist known for his invention of the oscillograph and for his development of a system of photometric units of measurement. Blondel became a professor of electrotechnology at the School of Bridges and Highways and the School of Mines in Paris. In 1893 he

Pope Joan: …but it was the Calvinist David Blondel who made the first determined attempt to destroy the myth, in his Éclaircissement familier de la question: si une femme a été assise au siège papal de Rome (1647; “Familiar Enlightenment of the Question: Whether a Woman Has Been Seated on the Papal…

Georges Blondel was a historian and juridical scholar, the leading French authority on Germany and Austria before 1914. After receiving his doctorate in 1881 and the rank of agrégé (highest teaching degree) in 1883, he was appointed to a chair of law at Lyon in 1884 and 10 years later was named

Jacques-François Blondel was an architect best known for his teaching and writing, which contributed greatly to architectural theory and the taste of his time. His art school in Paris was the first such institution to teach architecture. Blondel was born into a famous architectural family and was

Maurice Blondel was a French dialectical philosopher who formulated a “philosophy of action” that integrated classical Neoplatonic thought with modern pragmatism in the context of a Christian philosophy of religion. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure under Léon Ollé-Laprune and first

Maurice Blondel was a French dialectical philosopher who formulated a “philosophy of action” that integrated classical Neoplatonic thought with modern pragmatism in the context of a Christian philosophy of religion. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure under Léon Ollé-Laprune and first

Lloyd Bacon: Warner Brothers: …the chemistry between Powell and Joan Blondell and the presence of the Mills Brothers. Bacon finished 1935 with two more Cagney vehicles, the sentimental boxing film The Irish in Us and Frisco Kid, a drama set in San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Warner Brothers assigned Bacon just three productions in 1936:…

baseball: Women in baseball: …it into two teams, the Blondes and the Brunettes, and charged admission to see them play. In the early 20th century, barnstorming teams known as “Bloomer Girls” were formed in various parts of the United States and took on amateur and semiprofessional teams that included both men and women.

Blondie, American rock group known for incorporating varied influences, including avant-garde, reggae, and hip-hop, into the new wave sound of the 1970s and ’80s. Blondie was formed in 1974 by vocalist Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The pair—also longtime romantic partners—recruited

Blondie and Dagwood: …and husband who appeared in Blondie, an American newspaper comic strip created by Chic Young in 1930. Originally, Blondie Boopadoop was a flighty flapper and Dagwood Bumstead was the bumbling playboy son of a millionaire industrialist. The two were married, and Dagwood was promptly disinherited from the family fortune. Blondie…

Blondie and Dagwood, wife and husband who appeared in Blondie, an American newspaper comic strip created by Chic Young in 1930. Originally, Blondie Boopadoop was a flighty flapper and Dagwood Bumstead was the bumbling playboy son of a millionaire industrialist. The two were married, and Dagwood was

Blondin was a French tightrope walker and acrobat who owed his celebrity and fortune to his feat of crossing the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope 1,100 feet (335 metres) long, 160 feet (49 metres) above the water. When he was five years old, he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon, and,

Flavio Biondo was a humanist historian of the Renaissance and author of the first history of Italy that developed a chronological scheme providing an embryonic notion of the Middle Ages. Biondo was well educated and trained as a notary before he moved in 1433 to Rome, where he was appointed

blood, fluid that transports oxygen and nutrients to the cells and carries away carbon dioxide and other waste products. Technically, blood is a transport liquid pumped by the heart (or an equivalent structure) to all parts of the body, after which it is returned to the heart to repeat the process.

blood, a literary term of British origin referring to a lurid work of fiction, especially a cheap and ill-written book of adventure or crime. The word is a short form of “blood-and-thunder