Catalonia: Catalonia from ancient Rome to the War of the Spanish Succession: …it retained its autonomy and Generalitat (assembly), by the 17th century its conflict of interest with Castile, along with the decline of the Spanish monarchy’s prestige, led to the first of a series of Catalan separatist movements. In 1640 Catalonia revolted against Spain and placed itself under the protection of…

généralité, the basic administrative unit of 17th- and 18th-century France. It was first established in the late 14th century to organize the collection of royal revenues. In the 15th century, four généralités covered most of France. An edict of 1542 established their number at 16, each under a

Russia: Anna (1730–40): …foiled by top-level officials (the generalitet—i.e., those with the service rank of general or its equivalent), in alliance with the rank-and-file service nobility. While the former wanted to be included in the ruling oligarchy (and Golitsyn seemed to have been ready to concede them this right), the latter opposed any…

generalization, in psychology, the tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli. For example, a dog conditioned to salivate to a tone of a particular pitch and loudness will also salivate with considerable regularity in response to tones of higher and lower pitch. The

anxiety disorder: Generalized anxiety disorder: People with generalized anxiety disorder have persistent worry and anxiety symptoms for at least a six-month period. The condition affects women more than men, with the average age of onset being about 30 years. It tends to run a chronic course. Generalized…

set theory: Present status of axiomatic set theory: … (CH) and its extension, the generalized continuum hypothesis (GCH), are also of profound importance. In the following discussion of these questions, ZF denotes Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory without AC. The first finding was obtained by Kurt Gödel in 1939. He proved that AC and GCH are consistent relative to ZF (i.e.,…

Joseph-Louis Lagrange, comte de l’Empire: …number of particles, or “generalized coordinates.” It also led to the so-called Lagrangian equations for a classical mechanical system in which the kinetic energy of the system is related to the generalized coordinates, the corresponding generalized forces, and the time. The book was typically analytic; he stated in his…

generalized exchange, type of social exchange system in which the rewards that an individual receives from others do not depend on the resources provided by that individual. Generalized exchange can occur between persons, organizations, countries, or other social groups. Participants in generalized

optics: Theory: …of the so-called generalized or Fourier transform hologram. Here the reference beam is added coherently to a Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of the object or formed by a lens (as in the first stage of Figure 9).

Lars Peter Hansen: …development of the GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) technique, a very flexible econometric method that allows complex economic models to be tested against empirical data with a minimum of assumptions. The use of the GMM technique led to the development of better models in macroeconomics, labour economics, and finance,…

mechanics: Lagrange’s and Hamilton’s equations: It begins by defining a generalized momentum p i , which is related to the Lagrangian and the generalized velocity q̇ i by p i = ∂L/∂q̇ i . A new function, the Hamiltonian, is then defined by H = Σi q̇ i p i − L. From this point…

epilepsy: Generalized-onset seizures: Generalized seizures are the result of abnormal electrical activity in most or all of the brain. This type of seizure is characterized by convulsions, short absences of consciousness, generalized muscle jerks (clonic seizures), and loss of muscle tone (tonic seizures), with falling.

epilepsy: Generalized-onset seizures: …to by the older term grand mal, are commonly known as convulsions. A person undergoing a convulsion loses consciousness and falls to the ground. The fall is sometimes preceded by a shrill scream caused by forcible expiration of air as the respiratory and laryngeal muscles suddenly contract. After the fall,…

mechanics: Lagrange’s and Hamilton’s equations: ) and generalized velocities (written as q̇ 1, q̇ 2, . . . q̇ i , . . . ), just as, for the rigid body, 3N coordinates were reduced to six independent generalized coordinates (each of which has an associated velocity). The Lagrangian, then, may be…

epilepsy: Generalized-onset seizures: Generalized seizures are the result of abnormal electrical activity in most or all of the brain. This type of seizure is characterized by convulsions, short absences of consciousness, generalized muscle jerks (clonic seizures), and loss of muscle tone (tonic seizures), with falling.

Richard Knolles: His Generall Historie of the Turkes, from the first beginning of that Nation appeared in 1603 after 12 years of labour. One of the earliest discussions in English of Turkey, the work became popular and appeared in numerous editions throughout the 17th century. Knolles’s prose was…

American literature: The 17th century: …A True Relation of…Virginia…(1608) and The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624). Although these volumes often glorified their author, they were avowedly written to explain colonizing opportunities to Englishmen. In time, each colony was similarly described: Daniel Denton’s Brief Description of New York (1670), William…

Thomas Churchyard: …but a passage in his Generall rehearsall of warres (1579) offended Elizabeth, and Churchyard fled to Scotland. He was restored to favour about 1584 and received a small pension in 1593.

accounting: Measurement standards: …the principles are embodied in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which represent partly the consensus of experts and partly the work of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), a private body. Within the United States, however, the principles or standards issued by the FASB or any other accounting board can…

food preservation: Control of microbial contamination: …chemicals, known as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe), includes compounds such as benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, propionic acid, sorbic acid, and sodium diacetate.

thought: Algorithms and heuristics: …of the problem-solving heuristics, the generate-and-test method involves generating alternative courses of action, often in a random fashion, and then determining for each course whether it will solve the problem. In plotting the route from New York City to Boston, one might generate a possible route and see whether it…

combinatorics: Recurrence relations and generating functions: …the origin, is called the generating function of fn

Generation Alpha, term used to describe the generation of people born (or who will be born) between 2010 and 2025. Some researchers, however, consider slightly different ranges. The term was introduced by Australian social researcher Mark McCrindle in a 2008 report on the subject. Generation Alpha

David Simon: …writer on the HBO miniseries Generation Kill (2008), a chronicle of a U.S. Marine battalion during the early weeks of the Iraq War. In 2010 he cocreated (and served as an executive producer and a writer for) the HBO series Treme, which follows a group of people living in New…

Generation of 1898, in Spain, the novelists, poets, essayists, and thinkers active at the time of the Spanish-American War (1898), who reinvigorated Spanish letters and restored Spain to a position of intellectual and literary prominence that it had not held for centuries. The shock of Spain’s

Generation of 1927, in Spain, a group of poets and other writers who rose to prominence in the late 1920s and who derived their collective name from the year in which several of them produced important commemorative editions of the poetry of Luis de Góngora y Argote on the tercentenary of his

Aristotle: Travels: …the Parts of Animals and On the Generation of Animals. Although Aristotle did not claim to have founded the science of zoology, his detailed observations of a wide variety of organisms were quite without precedent. He—or one of his research assistants—must have been gifted with remarkably acute eyesight, since some…

population ecology: Calculating population growth: …can grow is the mean generation time (T). Generation time is the average interval between the birth of an individual and the birth of its offspring. To determine the mean generation time of a population, the age of the individuals (x) is multiplied by the proportion of females surviving to…

Generation X, a term typically used to describe the generation of Americans born between 1965 and 1980, although some sources use slightly different ranges. It has sometimes been called the “middle child” generation, as it follows the well-known baby boomer generation and precedes the millennial

Douglas Coupland: Coupland’s first published novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991), describes the lives of three affluent, disaffected Californians in their 20s by way of a series of stories supplemented with cartoons and dictionary-style definitions of cultural buzzwords. The novel became widely popular, and its title was soon…

millennial, term used to describe a person born between 1981 and 1996, though different sources can vary by a year or two. It was first used in the book Generations (1991) by William Strauss and Neil Howe, who felt it was an appropriate name for the first generation to reach adulthood in the new

Generation Z, term used to describe Americans born during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some sources give the specific year range of 1997–2012, although the years spanned are sometimes contested or debated because generations and their zeitgeists are difficult to delineate. Generation Z follows

Andrzej Wajda: His debut feature, Pokolenie (1955; A Generation), together with Kanał (1957; “Canal”) and Popiół i diament (1958; Ashes and Diamonds), constituted a popular trilogy that is considered to have launched the Polish film school. The movies deal in symbolic imagery with sweeping social and political changes in Poland during the…

spontaneous generation, the hypothetical process by which living organisms develop from nonliving matter; also, the archaic theory that utilized this process to explain the origin of life. According to that theory, pieces of cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a dark corner, for example,

Jakob Frohschammer: …of their expressed views on generationism, a condemned theory stating that the human soul is created from unliving matter in the act of procreation. Though Frohschammer’s generationist views were moderate, he was early suspected by the church.

Australian literature: Literature from 1940 to 1970: Judith Wright’s The Generations of Men (1959) is a family history, just as Mary Durack’s Kings in Grass Castles (1959) is the story of her ancestors as well as a social history. Martin Boyd’s Day of My Delight (1965) defines his family in its historical and moral…

Vasily Aksyonov: Pokolenie zimy (1994; Generations of Winter) chronicles the fate of a family of intellectuals at the hands of the Soviet regime during the period of Joseph Stalin’s rule.

alternation of generations, in biology, the alternation of a sexual phase and an asexual phase in the life cycle of an organism. The two phases, or generations, are often morphologically, and sometimes chromosomally, distinct. In algae, fungi, and plants, alternation of generations is common. It is

Lucille Clifton: Generations: A Memoir (1976) is a prose piece celebrating her origins, and Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir, 1969–1980 (1987) collects some of her previously published verse. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton: 1965–2010 (2012) aggregated much of her oeuvre, including a substantial number of…

What is news literacy (and why does it matter)?: Developing habits to detect misinformation: Generative AI tools have made it easier than ever to create and spread false information. As powerful and impressive as these tools are, they also have significant limitations and pitfalls. AI chatbots have a tendency to make up false information and use copyrighted material without…

When you think about artificial intelligence, or AI, what immediately comes to mind? For many, the answer is ChatGPT. The promise of generative AI—embodied by applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Alphabet’s (GOOG) Gemini—is captivating for many Internet users. Use cases for AI have been

Latin American art: Trends, c. 1950–c. 1970: …Argentina, a founding member of Generative Art in 1959 in Buenos Aires (with Miguel Angel Vidal and later Ary Brizzi), created paintings that gave the illusion of volume with intersecting geometric lines. MacEntyre’s acrylics on canvas recall early 20th-century Constructivist sculpture of Plexiglas, but their lack of tangible scale makes…

What is news literacy (and why does it matter)?: Developing habits to detect misinformation: Generative AI tools have made it easier than ever to create and spread false information. As powerful and impressive as these tools are, they also have significant limitations and pitfalls. AI chatbots have a tendency to make up false information and use copyrighted material without…

generative grammar, a precisely formulated set of rules whose output is all (and only) the sentences of a language—i.e., of the language that it generates. There are many different kinds of generative grammar, including transformational grammar as developed by Noam Chomsky from the mid-1950s.

plant reproductive system: Angiosperms: …involves formation of a small generative cell and a tube cell. The generative cell may divide to form two sperm cells before the pollen grain (developing male gametophyte) is shed or while the pollen tube is growing during germination. The pollen grains of angiosperms have variously, and often elaborately, ornamented…

linguistics: Modifications in Chomsky’s grammar: One school of linguists, called generative semanticists, accepted the general principles of transformational grammar but challenged Chomsky’s conception of deep structure as a separate and identifiable level of syntactic representation. In their opinion, the basic component of the grammar should consist of a set of rules for the generation of…

machine: …other machines, such as electric generators, hydraulic pumps, or air compressors. All three of the latter devices may be classified as generators; their outputs of electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic energy can be used as inputs to electric, hydraulic, or air motors. These motors can be used to drive machines with…

electric generator: Generator rating: The capacity of a synchronous generator is equal to the product of the voltage per phase, the current per phase, and the number of phases. It is normally stated in megavolt-amperes (MVA) for large generators or kilovolt-amperes (kVA) for small generators. Both the…

electric generator, any machine that converts mechanical energy to electricity for transmission and distribution over power lines to domestic, commercial, and industrial customers. Generators also produce the electrical power required for automobiles, aircraft, ships, and trains. The mechanical

cone: The generatrix of a cone is assumed to be infinite in length, extending in both directions from the vertex. The cone so generated, therefore, has two parts, called nappes or sheets, that extend infinitely. A finite cone has a finite, but not necessarily fixed, base, the…

Ernst Haeckel: Haeckel’s views on evolution: His Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (1866; “General Morphology of Organisms”) presented many of his evolutionary ideas, but the scientific community was little interested. He set forth his ideas in popular writings, all of which were widely read though they were deplored by many of Haeckel’s scientific…

generic drug, therapeutic substance that is equivalent to a brand-name drug with respect to its intended use, its effects on the body, and its fate within the body. Every drug has a generic name; most, however, are marketed under a brand name almost exclusively until their patents expire. At that

toponymy: A generic name refers to a class of names such as river, mountain, or town. A specific name serves to restrict or modify the meaning of the place-name. Most of the world’s languages can be divided into two groups based on the general tendency to have…

género chico, (Spanish: “little genre”), Spanish literary genre of light dramatic or operatic one-act playlets, as contrasted with the género grande of serious drama or opera. Developed primarily in the theatres of Madrid during the later 19th century, género chico works usually dealt with Madrid’s

Pour le Mérite: This order superseded the Ordre de la Générosité (French: “Order of Generosity”) that was founded by Frederick I of Prussia in 1667.

charity, in Christian thought, the highest form of love, signifying the reciprocal love between God and man that is made manifest in unselfish love of one’s fellow men. St. Paul’s classical description of charity is found in the New Testament (I Cor. 13). In Christian theology and ethics, charity

Reynolds Price: … (1963), and in the novel A Generous Man (1966) her brother Milo experiences his sexual awakening while searching the backwoods for an intellectually disabled brother, a dog, and an escaped python. The third volume in the trilogy, Good Hearts (1988), resumes the story of Rosacoke in her middle age. Price’s…

gene, unit of hereditary information that occupies a fixed position (locus) on a chromosome. Genes achieve their effects by directing the synthesis of proteins. In eukaryotes (such as animals, plants, and fungi), genes are contained within the cell nucleus. The mitochondria (in animals) and the

Genesee, county, northwestern New York state, U.S., located in a lowland region with several swamps, midway between Buffalo and Rochester. It is drained by Tonawanda, Oak Orchard, and Oatka creeks. The major forest types are oak and hickory. Public lands include Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

Syracuse University, private, coeducational institution of higher education, located in Syracuse, New York, U.S. It offers more than 400 undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs through 13 colleges and schools. Research facilities include the Aging Studies Institute, the Center for

Genesee River, river mainly in New York state, U.S. The Genesee flows generally north from its headwaters in Pennsylvania, crosses the New York State Canal System, and bisects Rochester to enter Lake Ontario after a course of 158 miles (254 km). At Portageville, midway along its course, the river

Eduardo Kac: …infeasible, in 1999 Kac debuted Genesis, a work that represented his first foray into actual bio art. He translated a passage from the Christian Bible into Morse Code and then into the four-letter code that represented the base pairs of DNA. He commissioned the creation of synthetic DNA using that…

Poul Anderson: …a Million Years (1989), and Genesis (2000), which received the John W. Campbell Award in 2001.

Genesis, U.S. spacecraft that returned particles of the solar wind to Earth in 2004. Genesis was launched on Aug. 8, 2001. The spacecraft spent 884 days orbiting the first Lagrangian point, 1.5 million km (930,000 miles) from Earth, and capturing 10–20 micrograms of solar wind particles on

Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Its name derives from the opening words: “In the beginning….” Genesis narrates the primeval history of the world (chapters 1–11) and the patriarchal history of the Israelite people (chapters 12–50). The primeval history includes the familiar stories of the

Caedmon manuscript: It contains the poems Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, and Christ and Satan, originally attributed to Caedmon (q.v.) because these subjects correspond roughly to the subjects described in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History as having been rendered by Caedmon into vernacular verse. The whole, called Caedmon’s Paraphrase, was first published in 1655. Later…

Sega Corporation: …Master System (1986) and the Sega Genesis (1988)—beginning a serious competition with its main rival, the Nintendo console, for control of the video game market.

Genesis, British progressive rock group noted for its atmospheric sound in the 1970s and extremely popular albums and singles of the 1980s and ’90s. The principal members were Peter Gabriel (b. February 13, 1950, Woking, Surrey, England), Tony Banks (b. March 27, 1950, East Hoathly, East Sussex),

Genesis Apocryphon, pseudepigraphal work (not accepted in any canon of scripture), one of the most important works of the Essene community of Jews, part of whose library was discovered in 1947 in caves at Qumrān, near the Dead Sea, in Palestine. The scroll, the last of seven scrolls discovered in

Harry Partch: …esoteric theories in a book, The Genesis of a Music. In 1953 he began issuing his own recordings, and in 1966 he won an award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

Thomas Mann: Later novels of Thomas Mann: …by Mann in 1949 in The Genesis of a Novel. Doktor Faustus exhausted him as no other work of his had done, and The Holy Sinner and The Black Swan, published in 1951 and 1953, respectively, show a relaxation of intensity in spite of their accomplished, even virtuoso style. Mann…

Genesis Rabbah, systematic exegesis of the book of Genesis produced by the Judaic sages about 450 ce, which sets forth a coherent and original account of that book. In Genesis Rabbah the entire narrative is formed so as to point toward the sacred history of Israel, meaning the Jewish people—their

Book of Jubilees, pseudepigraphal work (not included in any canon of scripture), most notable for its chronological schema, by which events described in Genesis on through Exodus 12 are dated by jubilees of 49 years, each of which is composed of seven cycles of seven years. The institution of a

Joseph Genesius was a Byzantine scholar whose history of Constantinople is one of the few known sources on the relatively obscure 9th-century period of Byzantine history. The details of Genesius’ life are unknown. He apparently composed his history between 945 and 959 at the order of Emperor

Edmond-Charles Genêt was a French emissary to the United States during the French Revolution who severely strained Franco-American relations by conspiring to involve the United States in France’s war against Great Britain. In 1781 Edmond succeeded his father, Edmé-Jacques Genêt, as head of the

Chauvet–Pont d’Arc: Discovery of the site: …then (from 2002 onward) of Jean-Michel Geneste (then director of the National Centre for Prehistory at Périgueux, Dordogne). It was the first time worldwide that such a complete scientific team was assembled to study a major rock art site.

genet, any of about 14 species of lithe catlike omnivorous mammals of the genus Genetta, family Viverridae (order Carnivora). Genets are elongate short-legged animals with long tapering tails, pointed noses, large rounded ears, and retractile claws. Coloration varies among species but usually is

Janet Flanner was an American writer who was the Paris correspondent for The New Yorker magazine for nearly half a century. Flanner was the child of Quakers. She attended the University of Chicago in 1912–14 and then returned to Indianapolis and took a job with the Indianapolis Star, becoming the

Atlas Mountains: Transportation: …is Tizi Ouzou, at the Genêt Pass, which has become in effect the capital of the massif. To surmount the obstacle formed by the Ouarsenis Massif, situated between Chelif Plain and the Sersou Plateau, it is necessary to pass by way of Theniet al-Haad. The passes of the Moroccan High…

Edmond-Charles Genêt was a French emissary to the United States during the French Revolution who severely strained Franco-American relations by conspiring to involve the United States in France’s war against Great Britain. In 1781 Edmond succeeded his father, Edmé-Jacques Genêt, as head of the

Jean Genet was a French criminal and social outcast turned writer who, as a novelist, transformed erotic and often obscene subject matter into a poetic vision of the universe and, as a dramatist, became a leading figure in the avant-garde theatre, especially the Theatre of the Absurd. Genet, an

astrology: Purposes of astrology: From this science, called genethlialogy (casting nativities), were developed the fundamental techniques of astrology. The main subdivisions of astrology that developed after genethlialogy are general, catarchic, and interrogatory.

genetic algorithm, in artificial intelligence, a type of evolutionary computer algorithm in which symbols (often called “genes” or “chromosomes”) representing possible solutions are “bred.” This “breeding” of symbols typically includes the use of a mechanism analogous to the crossing-over process

evolution: Genetic differentiation during speciation: Genetic changes underlie all evolutionary processes. In order to understand speciation and its role in evolution, it is useful to know how much genetic change takes place during the course of species development. It is of considerable significance to ascertain whether new species arise by…

genetic code, the sequence of nucleotides in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) that determines the amino acid sequence of proteins. Though the linear sequence of nucleotides in DNA contains the information for protein sequences, proteins are not made directly from DNA. Instead,

George Wells Beadle: …outlined in the landmark paper “Genetic Control of Biochemical Reactions in Neurospora” (1941), by Beadle and Tatum, opened up a new field of research with far-reaching implications. Their methods immediately revolutionized the manufacture of penicillin and provided insights into many biochemical processes.

animal breeding: Heritability and genetic correlations in breeding: Genetic correlation occurs when a single gene affects two traits. There may be many such genes that affect two or more traits. Genetic correlations can be positive or negative, which is indicated by assigning a number in the range from +1 to − 1, with…

genetic counseling, in medicine, process of communication in which a specially trained professional meets with an individual, couple, or family who is affected by a genetic disorder or who is at risk of passing on an inherited disorder. Some of the first genetic counseling clinics were established

metastasis: Genetic defects and metastasis: …is unlikely that a single genetic defect brings it about. It seems more reasonable to predict that a number of aberrant genes contribute to metastasis. The complexity of aberrant gene interactions associated with metastasis has been demonstrated by multiple studies. For example, in a study of breast cancer patients whose…

human genetic disease, any of the diseases and disorders that are caused by mutations in one or more genes of the human genome. With the increasing ability to control infectious and nutritional diseases in developed countries, there has come the realization that genetic diseases are a major cause

metastasis: Genetic defects and metastasis: …is unlikely that a single genetic defect brings it about. It seems more reasonable to predict that a number of aberrant genes contribute to metastasis. The complexity of aberrant gene interactions associated with metastasis has been demonstrated by multiple studies. For example, in a study of breast cancer patients whose…

evolution: Genetic differentiation during speciation: …identical in two populations, and genetic distance (D), which estimates the proportion of gene changes that have occurred in the separate evolution of two populations. The value of I may range between 0 and 1, which correspond to the extreme situations in which no or all genes are identical, respectively;…

genetic drift, a change in the gene pool of a small population that takes place strictly by chance. Genetic drift can result in genetic traits being lost from a population or becoming widespread in a population without respect to the survival or reproductive value of the alleles involved. A random

preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), the testing of embryos produced through in vitro fertilization (IVF) for genetic defects, in which testing is carried out prior to the implantation of the fertilized egg within the uterus. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) also may be performed on eggs

genetic engineering, the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms. The term genetic engineering is generally used to refer to methods of recombinant DNA technology, which emerged from

genetic epidemiology, the study of how genes and environmental factors influence human traits and human health and disease. Genetic epidemiology developed initially from population genetics, specifically human quantitative genetics, with conceptual and methodological contributions from

Jean Piaget: He argued for a “genetic epistemology,” a timetable established by nature for the development of the child’s ability to think, and he traced four stages in that development. He described the child during the first two years of life as being in a sensorimotor stage, chiefly concerned with mastering…

evolution: Genetic equilibrium: the Hardy-Weinberg law: Genetic variation is present throughout natural populations of organisms. This variation is sorted out in new ways in each generation by the process of sexual reproduction, which recombines the chromosomes inherited from the two parents during the formation of the…

mitochondrion: Research on human evolution: …can be traced to a single woman ancestor living an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. Scientists suspect that this woman lived among other women but that the process of genetic drift (chance fluctuations in gene frequency that affect the genetic constitution of small populations) caused her mtDNA to randomly…

cell: Genetic expression through RNA: The process of genetic expression takes place over several stages, and at each stage is the potential for further differentiation of cell types.