all-or-none law: Bowditch in 1871. Describing the relation of response to stimulus, he stated, “An induction shock produces a contraction or fails to do so according to its strength; if it does so at all, it produces the greatest contraction that can be produced by any strength…

Nathaniel Bowditch was a self-educated American mathematician and astronomer, author of the best American book on navigation of his time and translator from the French of Pierre-Simon Laplace’s Celestial Mechanics. Bowditch’s formal education ended when he was 10 years old and family circumstances

Thomas Bowdler was an English doctor of medicine, philanthropist, and man of letters, known for his Family Shakspeare (1818), in which, by expurgation and paraphrase, he aimed to provide an edition of Shakespeare’s plays that he felt was suitable for a father to read aloud to his family without

Thomas Bowdler: The word bowdlerize, current by 1838 as a synonym for expurgate and now used in a pejorative sense, remains his most lasting memorial.

Bowdoin College, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Brunswick, Maine, U.S. Bowdoin is an undergraduate college with a traditional liberal arts curriculum. The college cosponsors study-abroad programs in Rome, Stockholm, Sri Lanka, and southern India. Important academic

James Bowdoin was a political leader in Massachusetts during the era of the American Revolution (1775–83) and founder and first president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1780). Bowdoin graduated from Harvard in 1745. A merchant by profession, he was president of the constitutional

The Grapes of Wrath: Cast:

boxing: Economic impetus: Spinks, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, Pernell Whitaker, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Jr., and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

stringed instrument: Bowed lutes: The principle of bowing is nearly always applied to stringed instruments of the lute class, though one occasionally finds it used with zithers or lyres. It is difficult, if not impossible, to make a clear-cut distinction between plucking with a plectrum and bowing,…

kite: Aerodynamics: Bowed kites with a bowline strung across the back do not require a tail, since the face takes on a curve, or dihedral angle, which acts much like the bowed hull of a sailboat utilized for self-correcting buoyancy. The box, compound, sled, delta, parafoil, and…

defecation, the act of eliminating solid or semisolid waste materials (feces) from the digestive tract. In human beings, wastes are usually removed once or twice daily, but the frequency can vary from several times daily to three times weekly and remain within normal limits. Muscular contractions

Sir Mackenzie Bowell was a publisher, political leader, and prime minister of Canada (1894–96). At age 10 Bowell moved with his parents to Belleville, Ont., where he became a printer’s apprentice at a local newspaper—the Intelligencer—which he came, eventually, to own. He joined the Orange Order

Bowen, town and port, northeastern Queensland, Australia. It lies along Port Denison, an inlet of the Coral Sea, between Mackay and Townsville. In 1859 Capt. H.D. Sinclair was commissioned by the government of New South Wales to locate a new harbour in the area. Before a settlement could be

skin cancer: Diagnosis and prognosis: …cell carcinoma in situ, or Bowen disease, and is confined to the epidermis. Stage I cancers are 2 cm (approximately 34 inch) or less in size; stage II, more than 2 cm. Neither has spread beyond the skin. Stage III cancers have spread to deeper layers of the skin, underlying…

magma: …expressed in the form of Bowen’s reaction series; early high-temperature crystals will tend to react with the liquid to form other minerals at lower temperatures. Two series are recognized: (1) a discontinuous reaction series, which from high to low temperatures is composed of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole, and

Catherine Bowen was an American historical biographer known for her partly fictionalized biographies. After attending the Peabody Institute and the Juilliard School of Music, she became interested in writing. Not surprisingly, her earliest works were inspired by the lives of musicians. Her

Elizabeth Bowen was a British novelist and short-story writer who employed a finely wrought prose style in fictions frequently detailing uneasy and unfulfilling relationships among the upper-middle class. The Death of the Heart (1938), the title of one of her most highly praised novels, might have

Elizabeth Bowen was a British novelist and short-story writer who employed a finely wrought prose style in fictions frequently detailing uneasy and unfulfilling relationships among the upper-middle class. The Death of the Heart (1938), the title of one of her most highly praised novels, might have

I.S. Bowen was an American astrophysicist whose explanation of the strong green emission from nebulae (clouds of rarefied gas) led to major advances in the study of celestial composition. This emission, which was unlike that characteristic of any known element, had previously been attributed to a

I.S. Bowen was an American astrophysicist whose explanation of the strong green emission from nebulae (clouds of rarefied gas) led to major advances in the study of celestial composition. This emission, which was unlike that characteristic of any known element, had previously been attributed to a

John Bowen was a British playwright and novelist noted for examining the complexity and ambivalence of human motives and behaviour. Bowen was the son of a British business manager working in India. He spent much of his childhood in England but returned to India during World War II, serving as a

John Bowen was a British playwright and novelist noted for examining the complexity and ambivalence of human motives and behaviour. Bowen was the son of a British business manager working in India. He spent much of his childhood in England but returned to India during World War II, serving as a

Modern Family: Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen), Jay’s daughter from his first marriage, is married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell). Claire is a stay-at-home mother who, like her brother Mitchell, is somewhat uptight, while Phil is a goofy real estate agent and amateur magician who thinks he’s a “cool dad.”…

Norman L. Bowen was a Canadian geologist who was one of the most important pioneers in the field of experimental petrology (i.e., the experimental study of the origin and chemical composition of rocks). He was widely recognized for his phase-equilibrium studies of silicate systems as they relate to

Norman L. Bowen was a Canadian geologist who was one of the most important pioneers in the field of experimental petrology (i.e., the experimental study of the origin and chemical composition of rocks). He was widely recognized for his phase-equilibrium studies of silicate systems as they relate to

Bowenia, genus of two species of palmlike cycads in the family Stangeriaceae, endemic to Queensland, Australia. Both the Byfield fern (Bowenia serrulata) and B. spectabilis are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals in greenhouses and outdoors in warmer climates. Two extinct species, B. eocenica and

Bowenia: Both the Byfield fern (Bowenia serrulata) and B. spectabilis are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals in greenhouses and outdoors in warmer climates. Two extinct species, B. eocenica and B. papillosa, known from fossilized leaflet fragments from Victoria and New South Wales respectively, date to the Eocene Epoch

Bowenia: …Byfield fern (Bowenia serrulata) and B. spectabilis are sometimes cultivated as ornamentals in greenhouses and outdoors in warmer climates. Two extinct species, B. eocenica and B. papillosa, known from fossilized leaflet fragments from Victoria and New South Wales respectively, date to the Eocene Epoch (56 to 33.9 million years ago).

arbor: …between an arbor and a bower, it is that the bower is an entirely natural recess whereas an arbor is only partially natural.

B.M. Bower was an American author and screenwriter known for her stories set in the American West. She was born Bertha Muzzy. She moved as a small child with her family from Minnesota to Montana, where she gained the firsthand experience of ranch life that was central to her novels and screenplays.

crop circle: In 1991 Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, of Southampton, England, confessed to having made more than 200 crop circles since the late 1970s with nothing more complex than ropes and boards. They had initially been inspired by a 1966 account of a UFO sighting near Tully, Queensland,…

Frederick Orpen Bower was an English botanist whose study of primitive land plants, especially the ferns, contributed greatly to a modern emphasis on the study of the origins and evolutionary development of these plants. He is best known for his interpolation theory explaining the evolution of the

Toronto Maple Leafs: …and centre George Armstrong, goaltender Johnny Bower, centre Red Kelly, centre Dave Keon, defenseman Tim Horton, left wing Frank Mahovlich, left wing Bob Pulford, and defenseman Allan Stanley) won three Stanley Cups in a row from 1961–62 to 1963–64 and one more during

Walter Bower was the author of the Scotichronicon, the first connected history of Scotland, which expands and continues the work of John of Fordun. Bower probably entered the church at St. Andrews and became abbot of Inchcolm, an island in the Firth of Forth, in 1417, after which he was named in

James Scott Bowerbank was a British naturalist and paleontologist best known for his studies of British sponges. Bowerbank devoted much time to the study of natural history while running a family business, Bowerbank and Company, distillers, in which he was an active partner until 1847. He lectured

moss animal: Size range and diversity of structure: …such as in the gymnolaemates Bowerbankia and Membranipora, is the digestive tract visible. The internal living parts of each zooid—i.e., the nervous and muscular systems, the tentacles, and the digestive tract—are called the polypide.

bowerbird, any of approximately 20 bird species that constitute the family Ptilonorhynchidae of the order Passeriformes. Bowerbirds are birds of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands that build more or less elaborate structures on the ground. Some are called catbirds, gardeners, and

Canadian literature: Fiction: George Bowering’s Burning Water (1980), which focuses on the 18th-century explorer George Vancouver, and Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter (1976), the story of the jazz musician Buddy Bolden, mingle history with autobiography in self-reflexive narratives that enact the process of writing. Ranging

Phil Knight: Early life and education: …was headed by legendary coach Bill Bowerman, who was known for modifying his runners’ shoes to enhance performance.

Santa Ana: Notable local attractions include the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art (1936), which features Pacific coast history and artifacts, and the Santa Ana Zoo, located in Prentice Park. Inc. city, 1886. Pop. (2010) 324,528; Santa Ana–Anaheim–Irvine Metro Division, 3,010,232; (2020) 310,227; Anaheim–Santa Ana–Irvine Metro Division, 3,186,989.

Bowers v. Hardwick, legal case, decided on June 30, 1986, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld (5–4) a Georgia state law banning sodomy. The ruling was overturned by the court 17 years later in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down a Texas state law that had criminalized homosexual sex

Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician who was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2008 and began representing New Hampshire the following year. She was the first woman to serve as governor of the state (1997–2003). Shaheen grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, where her father

Antarctica: Discovery of the Antarctic poles: Wilson, H.R. Bowers, Lawrence E.G. Oates, and Edgar Evans—traveled on foot using the Beardmore Glacier route and perished on the Ross Ice Shelf.

American Protective Association: …Protective Association was founded by Henry F. Bowers at Clinton, Iowa, in 1887. It was a secret society that played upon the fears of rural Americans about the growth and political power of immigrant-populated cities.

the Bowery, street and section of Lower Manhattan, New York City, U.S., extending diagonally from Chatham Square to the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street. It follows a trail used by the Indians in their skirmishes with the Dutch, which later became the road leading to Gov. Peter

Edward Bowes was a pioneer American radio personality who was instrumental in launching many prominent entertainment careers on his variety radio program, the “Original Amateur Hour.” The show was presented from 1935 until his death in 1946 by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). It gave

Edward Bowes was a pioneer American radio personality who was instrumental in launching many prominent entertainment careers on his variety radio program, the “Original Amateur Hour.” The show was presented from 1935 until his death in 1946 by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). It gave

Elizabeth was the queen consort of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1936–52), wife of King George VI. She was credited with sustaining the monarchy through numerous crises, including the abdication of Edward VIII and the death of Princess Diana. The Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the

bowfin, (Amia calva), freshwater fish of the order Amiiformes (infraclass Holostei); it is the only recognized living representative of its family (Amiidae), which dates back to the Jurassic Period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago). The bowfin is a voracious fish found in sluggish waters in

John Skelton: …his time at court is Bowge of courte, a satire of the disheartening experience of life at court; it was not until his years at Diss that he attempted his now characteristic Skeltonics. The two major poems from this period are Phyllyp Sparowe, ostensibly a lament for the death of…

right whale: …right whale refers to the bowhead, or Greenland right whale (Balaena mysticetus), and to the whales of the genus Eubalaena (though originally only to E. glacialis). The bowhead has a black body, a white chin and throat, and, sometimes, a white belly. It can grow to a length of about…

Bowie, city, Prince George’s county, central Maryland, U.S., an eastern suburb of Washington, D.C. The first significant settlement at the site was Belair, an estate built about 1745 for Governor Samuel Ogle. A small farming community called Huntington developed there. In the 1870s the site was

David Bowie: …era was the creation of Bowie Bonds, financial securities backed by the royalties generated by his pre-1990 body of work. The issuing of the bonds in 1997 earned Bowie $55 million, and the rights to his back catalog returned to him when the bonds’ term expired in 2007. His 1970s…

James Bowie: …is also associated with the Bowie knife, a weapon (sometimes called the “Arkansas toothpick”) invented by either him or his brother Rezin.

David Bowie was a British singer, songwriter, and actor who was most prominent in the 1970s and best known for his shifting personae and musical genre hopping. To call Bowie a transitional figure in rock history is less a judgment than a job description. Every niche he ever found was on a cusp, and

James Bowie was a popular hero of the Texas Revolution (1835–36) who is mainly remembered for his part in the Battle of the Alamo (February–March 1836). Bowie migrated with his parents to Missouri (1800) and then to Louisiana (1802). At 18 he left home, clearing land and sawing timber for a living.

James Bowie was a popular hero of the Texas Revolution (1835–36) who is mainly remembered for his part in the Battle of the Alamo (February–March 1836). Bowie migrated with his parents to Missouri (1800) and then to Louisiana (1802). At 18 he left home, clearing land and sawing timber for a living.

Portland Trail Blazers: …the second pick, they selected Sam Bowie (who would go on to play just four injury-riddled seasons with Portland) over future superstar Michael Jordan, who was chosen by the Bulls with the very next pick.

William Bowie was an American geodesist who investigated isostasy, a principle that rationalizes the tendency of dense crustal rocks to cause topographic depressions and of light crustal rocks to cause topographic elevations. Bowie was educated at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. (B.S., 1893), and

Richard Rogers Bowker was an editor and publisher who was important in the development of U.S. professional library standards. Bowker graduated from the City College of the City of New York and became literary editor of the New York Evening Mail and later of the New York Tribune. He founded the

Native American art: Far West, Northeast, Central South, and Southeast: Middle Mississippian culture diorite bowl found at Moundville, Alabama, been the only masterpiece to survive, however, no other proof of the artistic brilliance of these peoples would be required.

bowls: …a ball (known as a bowl) is rolled toward a smaller stationary ball, called a jack. The object is to roll one’s bowls so that they come to rest nearer to the jack than those of an opponent; this is sometimes achieved by knocking aside an opponent’s bowl or the…

BCS, former arrangement of five American college postseason football games that annually determined the national champion. The games involved were the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Game. In 2014 the BCS was replaced by the College

American football: Bowl games and the national championship: In 1995 the Bowl Coalition was replaced by the Bowl Alliance (involving six conferences, Notre Dame, and only three bowls), but the nonparticipation of the Rose Bowl, Big Ten, and Pac-10 continued to leave the scheme badly flawed. In 1998 the Rose Bowl and its two participating conferences…

iron processing: History: Bowl furnaces were constructed by digging a small hole in the ground and arranging for air from a bellows to be introduced through a pipe or tuyere. Stone-built shaft furnaces, on the other hand, relied on natural draft, although they too sometimes used tuyeres. In…

American football: Bowl games: In the 1920s and ’30s colleges and universities throughout the Midwest, South, and West, in alliance with local civic and business elites, launched campaigns to gain national recognition and economic growth through their football teams. They organized regional conferences—the Big Ten and the…

lyre: Bowl lyres have a rounded body with a curved back—often of tortoiseshell—and a skin belly; the arms are invariably constructed separately, as in the Greek lyra.

Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire, as his new Chicago-based band became known, won critical notice for its impressive command and fusion of early 20th-century musical idioms, drawing on traditions as varied as swing-era jazz, calypso, German cabaret, and Central European folk songs over the course of three…

John Bowlby was a British developmental psychologist and psychiatrist best known as the originator of attachment theory, which posits an innate need in very young children to develop a close emotional bond with a caregiver. Bowlby explored the behavioral and psychological consequences of both

John Bowlby was a British developmental psychologist and psychiatrist best known as the originator of attachment theory, which posits an innate need in very young children to develop a close emotional bond with a caregiver. Bowlby explored the behavioral and psychological consequences of both

dress: The 19th century: …“billycock” and, in America, the derby, was introduced about 1850 by the hatter William Bowler. The straw boater, originally meant to be worn on the river, became popular for all summer activities. The homburg felt hat, introduced in the 1870s and popularized by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward…

cricket: Bowling: Bowling can be right- or left-arm. For a fair delivery, the ball must be propelled, usually overhand, without bending the elbow. The bowler may run any desired number of paces as a part of his delivery (with the restriction, of course, that he not…

playa: Effects of wind action: Bowler, an Australian Quaternary stratigrapher, produced a precise chronology of playa development and associated eolian activity in the desert of western New South Wales, Australia. There, numerous small lakes reached their maximum extent 32,000 years ago, approximately coincident with the age of the first human…

Lake Mungo: …important archaeological sites when geologist Jim Bowler unearthed the remains of a young Aboriginal woman in 1968. The bones of the skeleton, referred to as Mungo Lady, had been burnt before burial, making them the world’s oldest evidence of cremation and ceremonial burial. In 1974 Bowler discovered the complete skeleton…

Chester Bowles was an American advertising entrepreneur, public official, and noted liberal politician. After graduating from Yale University in 1924, Bowles worked for a year as a reporter and then took a job in 1925 as an advertising copywriter. With William Benton he established the successful

Chester Bowles was an American advertising entrepreneur, public official, and noted liberal politician. After graduating from Yale University in 1924, Bowles worked for a year as a reporter and then took a job in 1925 as an advertising copywriter. With William Benton he established the successful

Jane Bowles was an American author whose small body of highly individualistic work enjoyed an underground reputation even when it was no longer in print. She was raised in the United States and was educated in Switzerland by French governesses. She married the composer-author Paul Bowles in 1938.

Jane Bowles was an American author whose small body of highly individualistic work enjoyed an underground reputation even when it was no longer in print. She was raised in the United States and was educated in Switzerland by French governesses. She married the composer-author Paul Bowles in 1938.

Paul Bowles was an American-born composer, translator, and author of novels and short stories in which violent events and psychological collapse are recounted in a detached and elegant style. His protagonists are often Europeans or Americans who are maimed by their contact with powerful traditional

Paul Bowles was an American-born composer, translator, and author of novels and short stories in which violent events and psychological collapse are recounted in a detached and elegant style. His protagonists are often Europeans or Americans who are maimed by their contact with powerful traditional

Sally Bowles, fictional character, the eccentric heroine of Christopher Isherwood’s novella Sally Bowles (1937) and of his collected stories Goodbye to Berlin (1939). Bowles is a young iconoclastic, minimally talented English nightclub singer in the Berlin of the Weimar Republic period (1919–33).

Emily Dickinson: Mature career of Emily Dickinson: …a few friends, most importantly Samuel Bowles, publisher and editor of the influential Springfield Republican. Gregarious, captivating, and unusually liberal on the question of women’s careers, Bowles had a high regard for Dickinson’s poems, publishing (without her consent) seven of them during her lifetime—more than appeared in any other outlet.…

French Lick: …was built in 1840 by William A. Bowles, who laid out the town in 1857. Thomas Taggart (1856–1929), three-time mayor of Indianapolis and later chairman of the Democratic National Committee, purchased the hotel in 1901 and was instrumental in French Lick’s development as a year-round health resort and convention centre.…

William Lisle Bowles was an English poet, critic, and clergyman, noted principally for his Fourteen Sonnets (1789), which expresses with simple sincerity the thoughts and feelings inspired in a mind of delicate sensibility by the contemplation of natural scenes. Bowles was educated at Trinity

bowline, knot forming a loop at the end of a rope, used for mooring boats, hoisting, hauling, and fastening one rope to another. It will not slip or jam, even under strain, but can be easily loosened by pushing with a finger. A bowline is made by laying the rope’s end over its standing part to form

cricket: Bowling: Bowling can be right- or left-arm. For a fair delivery, the ball must be propelled, usually overhand, without bending the elbow. The bowler may run any desired number of paces as a part of his delivery (with the restriction, of course, that he not…

bowling, game in which a heavy ball is rolled down a long, narrow lane toward a group of objects known as pins, the aim being to knock down more pins than an opponent. The game is quite different from the sport of bowls, or lawn bowls, in which the aim is to bring the ball to rest near a stationary

communitarianism: The common good versus individual rights: …with contemporary social-scientific data in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), by the American political scientist Robert Putnam.

cricket: Field of play, equipment, and dress: …creases at each wicket: the bowling crease is a line drawn through the base of the stumps and extending 4.33 feet (1.32 metres) on either side of the centre stump; the return crease is a line at each end of and at right angles to the bowling crease, extending behind…

Michael Moore: …ratings—Moore achieved major success with Bowling for Columbine (2002). The film, which profiles gun violence in the United States, won the Academy Award for best documentary. In his next documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Moore criticized U.S. Pres. George W. Bush’s handling of the September 11 attacks and the administration’s

Bowling Green, city, seat (1796) of Warren county, south-central Kentucky, U.S. It lies along the Barren River, 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Nashville, Tennessee. It was settled in 1780 by Robert and George Moore, and tradition suggests that their sport of bowling wooden balls across the green

Bowling Green, city, seat (1866) of Wood county, northwestern Ohio, U.S., about 25 miles (40 km) south of Toledo. The site, originally a swamp wilderness, was first settled by Elisha Martindale in 1832. The town was laid out in 1835 and named for Bowling Green, Ky. The swampland, drained by German

Western Kentucky University: Bowling Green College of Commerce was added in 1963. Three years later Western Kentucky was elevated to university standing.

Bowling Green State University, public, coeducational institution of higher education in Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S. The university is composed of the colleges of arts and sciences, business administration, education and human development, health and human services, musical arts, and technology.

bowling: Lanes and equipment: The U.S. game of tenpins is played according to the rules and specifications of the American Bowling Congress. The game is played indoors on wooden or synthetic lanes with maximum dimensions of 62 feet 10 1116 inches (19.17 metres) in length and…

bowling: Lanes and equipment: The pins are 15 inches (38 centimetres) tall and arranged in a triangle formation with the point or No. 1 pin at the head of the formation facing the bowler. The centres of the pin spots are 12 inches (30.5 centimetres) apart. The pins have a…

bowling: Professional bowling: …of the game was the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America, founded in 1932. In addition to its trade association functions, it is affiliated with a number of tournaments, most notably the All-Star tournament, a match game event begun in 1941 that in 1971 became the U.S. Open and a part…

bowls, outdoor game in which a ball (known as a bowl) is rolled toward a smaller stationary ball, called a jack. The object is to roll one’s bowls so that they come to rest nearer to the jack than those of an opponent; this is sometimes achieved by knocking aside an opponent’s bowl or the jack. A

Bowman’s capsule, double-walled cuplike structure that makes up part of the nephron, the filtration structure in the mammalian kidney that generates urine in the process of removing waste and excess substances from the blood. Bowman’s capsule encloses a cluster of microscopic blood

Stanley Matthews: In Bowman v. Chicago and North Western Railway Company he declared that a state prohibition of common carriers transporting liquor into the state was unconstitutional because it constituted state regulation of interstate commerce. His most important opinion, given for the court in Yick Wo v. Hopkins…