apse: …nearest the focus is the pericentre, or periapsis, and that farthest from it is the apocentre, or apoapsis. Specific terms can be used for individual bodies: if the Sun is the centre, the specific terms perihelion and aphelion are generally used; if the Earth, perigee and apogee. Periastron and apastron…

perichondritis, rare inflammation of the perichondrium, the membrane that covers the cartilage of the outer ear. Perichondritis may result from swimming in contaminated water or from injury. It may also follow a surgical procedure such as radical mastoidectomy, or it may occur as a complication of

connective tissue: Cartilage: …inner chondrogenic layer of the perichondrium. In addition, the young chondrocytes retain the capacity to divide even after they become isolated in lacunae within the matrix. The daughter cells of these divisions secrete new matrix between them and move apart in separate lacunae. The capacity of cartilage for both appositional…

periclase, magnesium oxide mineral (MgO) that occurs as colourless to grayish, glassy, rounded grains in marble and in some dolomitic limestones, where it formed by the metamorphosis of dolomite at high temperatures. Rocks containing periclase have been identified at Monte Somma and Predazzo,

Pericles was an Athenian statesman largely responsible for the full development, in the later 5th century bce, of both the Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece. His achievements included the construction of the Acropolis, begun in 447.

Anatolia: Caria, Lycia, and Cilicia in the Achaemenian period: The Lycian king Pericles ruled over eastern Lycia between about 380 and 362. Toward the end of his reign Pericles was at war with Mausolus of Caria, who, in all probability, was given western Lycia as a reward for his betrayal of the satraps. It is uncertain whether…

Pericles: Pericles, however, discovers the truth about King Antiochus’s incestuous love for his own daughter and flees, leaving the loyal Helicanus to rule Tyre in his absence. After aiding the starving people of Tarsus, Pericles is shipwrecked near Pentapolis, where he wins the hand of the…

Pericles, play in five acts by William Shakespeare, written about 1606–08 and published in a quarto edition in 1609, a defective and at times nearly unintelligible text that shows signs of having been memorially reconstructed. The editors of the First Folio of 1623 did not include Pericles in that

Athens: Athens at its zenith: …Acropolis, next to the theatre, Pericles built an odeum, a large enclosed concert hall, its roof supported by a forest of columns. Of the theatre itself there are no identifiable remains, but the arrangements were no doubt quite simple, and it is known that a theatre existed on this spot…

Boboli Gardens: …di Raffaello de’ Pericoli detto Tribolo, who had been commissioned by Eleonora de Toledo, wife of Cosimo I, to create a setting that would be appropriate for vast pageants and Medici court entertainments.

Jesus: Sources for the life of Jesus: …the Synoptic Gospels moved the pericopes around, altering the contexts to suit their own editorial policies—for example, by arranging the pericopes according to subject matter. In chapters 8 and 9, Matthew collects 10 healing pericopes, with a few other passages interspersed. Mark and Luke contain most of those passages, but…

minivet, any of the 10 bird species of the Asian genus Pericrocotus, belonging to the family Campephagidae (q.v.). Males of most species are black and red, females yellowish and gray. Minivets live in forests from Afghanistan to Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Small flocks, constantly

root: Morphology and growth: …and is surrounded by the pericycle, a layer of cells that gives rise to branch roots. The conductive tissues of the vascular cylinder are usually arranged in a star-shaped pattern. The xylem tissue, which carries water and dissolved minerals, comprises the core of the star; the phloem tissue, which carries…

tissue: Plants: …a secondary dermal tissue (periderm) that replaces the epidermis along older stems and roots.

Peridinium, genus of cosmopolitan freshwater dinoflagellates in the family Peridiniaceae, consisting of at least 62 species. Most are found in freshwater lakes, ponds, and pools, though some inhabit brackish environments. The genus was initially described in the early 1830s by German scientist

Basidiomycota: …a nest containing eggs (peridioles). The peridioles carry the spores when they disperse at maturity.

Malpighiales: Ungrouped families: Peridiscaceae consists of three small genera of the tropics: Peridiscus is found in Amazonian Brazil and Venezuela; Whittonia is restricted to Guyana in northeastern South America; and Soyauxia is native to West Africa.

peridot, gem-quality, transparent green olivine in the forsterite–fayalite series (q.v.). Gem-quality olivine has been valued for centuries; the deposit on Jazīrat Zabarjad (Saint Johns Island), Egypt, in the Red Sea that is mentioned by Pliny in his Natural History (ad 70) still produces fine

peridotite, a coarse-grained, dark-coloured, heavy, intrusive igneous rock that contains at least 10 percent olivine, other iron- and magnesia-rich minerals (generally pyroxenes), and not more than 10 percent feldspar. It occurs in four main geologic environments: (1) interlayered with iron-,

Hecataeus of Miletus: …of the Periodos gēs or Periēgēsis (“Tour Round the World”); it was written in two parts—one covering Europe, the other “Asia” (which included Egypt and North Africa). The work describes the peoples who would be met in voyages around the Mediterranean and Black seas, in a clockwise direction, beginning with…

Pausanias: …geographer whose Periegesis Hellados (Description of Greece) is an invaluable guide to ancient ruins.

Casimir Perier was a French banker and statesman who exercised a decisive influence on the political orientation of the reign of King Louis-Philippe. Perier was the son of a manufacturer and financier. After service with the staff of the French army in Italy (1798–1801), he returned to France and

Franz Hellens: …is notable as a cofounder—with Odilon-Jean Périer and Henri Michaux—of Le Disque vert (“The Green Disk”), a literary journal that introduced new poets to the public.

František Langer: Periferie (1925; “The Outskirts”), a psychological drama, deals with a murderer who is frustrated in his attempts to be legally condemned. Of his later writing, only Jízdní hlídka (1935; “The Cavalry Watch”) compared with his earlier successes; it was based upon his experiences with the…

human eye: The retina: …parafovea, in turn, is the perifovea, its outermost edge being 2,750 microns from the centre of the fovea; here the density of cones is still further diminished, the number being only 12 per hundred microns compared with 50 per hundred microns in the most central region of the fovea. In…

apse: …generally used; if the Earth, perigee and apogee. Periastron and apastron refer to an orbit around a star, and perijove and apojove refer to an orbit around Jupiter.

supermoon, a full moon that occurs when the Moon is at perigee (the closest point to Earth in its orbit). The Moon is typically about 12 percent (or about 43,000 km [27,000 miles]) closer to Earth at perigee than at apogee, and thus a full moon at perigee would be about 25 percent brighter than one

Ernst Haeckel: Haeckel’s views on evolution: …basis in a work entitled Die Perigenesis der Plastidule (“The Generation of Waves in the Small Vital Particles”). Here again he traced a branching scheme, this time to illustrate the mechanism of heredity and to show the influence of outer conditions on the inherited undulatory motion he attributed to the…

glacial landform: Periglacial landforms: In the cold, or periglacial (near-glacial), areas adjacent to and beyond the limit of glaciers, a zone of intense freeze-thaw activity produces periglacial features and landforms. This happens because of the unique behaviour of water as it changes from the liquid to the…

periglaciology, study of the large areas of the Earth that were adjacent to but not covered by ice during the glacial periods. Modern representatives of these areas are the sub-Arctic tundra and permafrost regions located in the Northern Hemisphere. All of the conditions derived from such a

Dominique-Catherine, marquis de Pérignon was a general and marshal of France, active during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. A retired officer of the royal army, Pérignon resumed active service in 1792. Operations against the Spaniards won him the rank of general and, in 1794, command of the

Périgord, historical and cultural region encompassing the Dordogne and part of Lot-et-Garonne départements, Aquitaine région, southern France. It is roughly coextensive with the former county of Périgord. The area was originally inhabited by the Gallic tribe of the Petrocorii, or Petragorici, whose

truffle: Major species: …in French cuisine is the Périgord (Tuber melanosporum), which is said to have first gained favour toward the end of the 15th century. It is brown or black, rounded, and covered with polygonal wartlike protrusions having a depression at their summit; the flesh (gleba) is first white, then brown or…

Perigordian industry, tool tradition of prehistoric men in Upper Paleolithic Europe that followed the Mousterian industry, was contemporary in part with the Aurignacian, and was succeeded by the Solutrean. Perigordian tools included denticulate (toothed) tools of the type used earlier in the

Périgueux, town, Dordogne département, Nouvelle-Aquitaine région, southwestern France. It lies on the right bank of the Isle River, east-northeast of Bordeaux and southwest of Paris. Originally settled by a Gaulish tribe, the Petrocorii, the town fell to the Romans, who called it Vesuna after a

automobile racing: Early history: …first closed-circuit road race, the Course de Périgueux, was run in 1898, a distance of 145 km on one lap. Such racing, governed by the Automobile Club de France (founded in 1895), came to prevail in Europe except for England, Wales, and Scotland. By 1900 racers had achieved speeds of…

Cyperaceae: Characteristic morphological features: …in a sac called a perigynium, a modified tubular bract. The perigynium may tightly envelop the achene or it may be inflated like a bladder, flattened and scalelike, or even fleshy and edible. Many woodland species of Carex have food bodies (elaiosomes) at the base of the perigynium for ants,…

angiosperm: The gynoecium: In perigynous flowers, a hypanthium (a floral tube formed from the fusion of the stamens, petals, and sepals) is attached to the receptacle below the gynoecium and surrounds the ovary; the ovary is superior, and the free parts of the petals, sepals, and stamens are attached…

relativity: Experimental evidence for general relativity: …that on each orbit the perihelion—the point of closest approach to the Sun—moves to a slightly different angle. Newton’s law of gravity could not explain this perihelion shift, but general relativity gave the correct orbit.

Mountains of Perijá, mountain chain, the northward extension of the Andean Cordillera Oriental, forming part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The range extends for 190 miles (306 km) from the vicinity of Ocaña, Colombia, northward to the Guajira Peninsula. Its crest line rises to

insurance: Underwriting principles: …adverse selection by analyzing the hazards that surround the risk. Three basic types of hazards have been identified as moral, psychological, and physical. A moral hazard exists when the applicant may either want an outright loss to occur or may have a tendency to be less than careful with property.…

Bob Woodward: Peril (2021; written with Robert Costa) focuses on Trump’s efforts to remain in office despite losing the 2020 election.

Miklós Zrínyi: …Hungarian literature, is his epic Szigeti Veszedelem (1645–46; Eng. trans., “The Peril of Sziget,” in Hungarian Poetry, 1955), which deals with the heroic defense of the fortress of Szigetvár (1566) against the armies of the sultan Süleyman II. The commander of the fortress, the central figure of the epic, was…

perilla oil, drying oil obtained from the seeds of Asiatic mint plants of the genus Perilla. Perilla oil is used along with synthetic resins in the production of varnishes. Perilla oil dries in less time than linseed oil and on drying forms a film that is harder and yellows more than that formed by

insurance: Perils clause: Until 1978 the main insuring clause of modern ocean marine policies was preserved almost unchanged from the original 1779 Lloyd’s of London form. The clause is as follows:

Pearl White: The Perils of Pauline was the most successful example of its genre—the short-episode serial that emphasized suspense, danger, and the cliff-hanger ending that aimed at bringing the audience back for the next sequel. The Perils of Pauline made White an international movie star whose fame…

human ear: Inner ear: …is the watery fluid called perilymph. It is derived from blood plasma and resembles but is not identical with the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain and the aqueous humour of the eye. Like most of the hollow organs, the membranous labyrinth is lined with epithelium (a sheet of specialized cells…

human ear: Structure of the cochlea: …aqueduct, through which passes the perilymphatic duct. This duct connects the interior of the cochlea with the subdural space in the posterior cranial fossa (the rear portion of the floor of the cranial cavity).

Perim Island, island in the Strait of Mandeb off the southwestern coast of Yemen, to which it belongs. A rocky volcanic island, lying just off the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Perim is 5 square miles (13 square km) in area and rises as high as 214 feet (65 m). It has a harbour on the

menopause: Menopause and ovarian function: …a transitional phase known as perimenopause which can begin as early as 10 years before menopause, first some follicles and later all follicles fail to rupture and release their ova. In the last one or two years of perimenopause, estrogen levels decline quickly.

human eye: The visual field: …field is measured on a perimeter, a device for ascertaining the point on a given meridian where a white spot just appears or disappears from vision when moved along this meridian. (A meridian is a curve on the surface of a sphere that is formed by the intersection of the…

meat processing: Skeletal muscle structure: …tissue sheath known as the perimysium. Clusters of fat cells, small blood vessels (capillaries), and nerve branches are found in the region between muscle bundles. Muscle bundles are further divided into smaller cylindrical muscle fibres (cells) of varying lengths that are individually wrapped with a thin connective tissue sheath called…

Bob Jones University v. United States: The Supreme Court’s ruling: …its landmark 1861 decision in Perin v. Carey:

The Four Feathers: …by an outstanding cast and Georges Périnal’s sweeping colour cinematography. Among the many other film versions of the tale, with assorted variations, are a 1955 production (Storm over the Nile) featuring Laurence Harvey and directed by Korda and Terence Young (director of the early James Bond films) and a 2002…

infant and toddler health: Infant mortality: Perinatal (within the first month of life) mortality rates have also declined, due to improvements in medical knowledge and technology and increased attention paid to prenatal care and infant health. In addition, the incidences of low-birth-weight newborns and short-gestational births have dropped in some countries,…

human reproductive system: The scrotum: …is continued back onto the perineum (the area between the legs and as far back as the anus). This arrangement indicates the bilateral origin of the scrotum from two genital swellings that lie one on each side of the base of the phallus, the precursor of the penis or clitoris…

nervous system: Types of neuroglia: In gray matter, perineuronal oligodendrocytes are located in close proximity to the somata of neurons. In the peripheral nervous system, neuroglia that are equivalent to oligodendrocytes are called Schwann cells.

White House press secretary: Press secretaries in the 21st century: In 2007 Dana Perino replaced Snow, becoming the second woman to serve as press secretary.

Philip II: Presidency of the Thessalian League: …Greek allies, the cities of Perinthus (later called Heraclea, present-day Marmaraereğlisi) and Byzantium, to review their position, and his coercion of them led to the two great sieges that showed the development of his artillery and allied arms, of which his son Alexander was to make greater use in Asia.

Livy: Livy’s history of Rome: …of contents (known as the Periochae) of the whole work. A note in the Periochae of Book 121 records that that book (and presumably those that followed) was published after Augustus’ death in ad 14. The implication is that the last 20 books dealing with the events from the Battle…

punctuation: Punctuation in English since 1600: …full point, full stop, or period. The period may also be used to mark abbreviations. The colon (:), which was once used like a full point and was followed by an uppercase letter, now serves mainly to indicate the beginning of a list, summary, or quotation. The semicolon (;) ranks…

Jeffrey C. Hall: …of the period gene product, PER, fluctuated in the fruit fly brain, with PER building up at night and declining during the day. The oscillations, they discovered, were the result of a negative feedback loop, whereby PER was produced until it reached a specific level, at which point it then…

chemical bonding: Arrangement of the elements: The horizontal rows of the periodic table are called periods. Each period corresponds to the successive occupation of the orbitals in a valence shell of the atom, with the long periods corresponding to the occupation of the orbitals of a d subshell. Successive periods down the table correspond to successively…

period, in geology, the basic unit of the geologic time scale; during these spans of time specific systems of rocks were formed. Originally, the sequential nature of defining periods was a relative one, originating from the superposition of corresponding stratigraphic sequences and the evidence

period, in music, a unit of melodic organization made up of two balanced phrases in succession; the first phrase, called the antecedent, comes to a point of partial completeness; it is balanced by the consequent, a phrase of the same length that concludes with a sense of greater completeness. The

menstruation, periodic discharge from the vagina of blood, secretions, and disintegrating mucous membrane that had lined the uterus. The biological significance of the process in humans can best be explained by reference to the reproductive function in other mammals. In a number of species of wild

period, in physics, the interval of time it takes for a motion to repeat. Such motion is called periodic motion and is performed, for example, by a rocking chair, a bouncing ball, a vibrating tuning fork, a swing in motion, Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and a water wave. Thus, the period of

George Roy Hill: Film directing: Period of Adjustment (1962) was a light but pleasant romantic comedy starring Jane Fonda, Anthony Franciosa, and Jim Hutton, and Toys in the Attic (1963; based on Lillian Hellman’s drama) featured the unlikely cast of Dean Martin, Geraldine Page, and Wendy Hiller.

Russia: The lands of Rus: …often been called the “Period of Feudal Partition.” This phrase is misleading: feudal is hardly more applicable to the widely varying institutions of this time than to those of the Kievan period, and partition implies a former unity of which there is insufficient evidence. The distinctiveness of the character…

galaxy: The problem of the Magellanic Clouds: …he made use of the period-luminosity (P-L) relation discovered by Henrietta Leavitt of the Harvard College Observatory. In 1912 Leavitt had found that there was a close correlation between the periods of pulsation (variations in light) and the luminosities (intrinsic, or absolute, brightnesses) of a class of stars called Cepheid…

contraception: Fertility awareness techniques: Three procedures can be followed to predict ovulation so that, during the approximately six days of a woman’s most fertile monthly phase, sexual intercourse can be avoided. Their effectiveness is typically about 80 percent but may reach as high as 99 percent,…

space group, in crystallography, any of the ways in which the orientation of a crystal can be changed without seeming to change the position of its atoms. These changes may involve displacement of the whole structure along a crystallographic axis (translation), as well as the point group operations

reproductive behaviour: Natural selection and reproductive behaviour: …favourable rather than less favourable period will eventually dominate succeeding generations. This is the basis for the seasonality of reproduction among most animal species.

periodical cicada, (genus Magicicada), genus of seven species of cicadas known for their unusual highly synchronized life cycles and raucous choruses. Periodical cicadas are native to the eastern and midwestern United States but are not present aboveground every year. In what are among the longest

comet: General considerations: …after the name of a periodic comet denoted its order among comets discovered by that individual or group, but for new comets there would be no such distinguishing number.

election, the formal process of selecting a person for public office or of accepting or rejecting a political proposition by voting. It is important to distinguish between the form and the substance of elections. In some cases, electoral forms are present but the substance of an election is

trigonometry: Trigonometric functions of an angle: …that the trigonometric functions are periodic and have a period of 360° or 180°.

brick and tile: Firing and cooling: In so-called periodic kilns the bricks are placed with sufficient air space to allow the heat from the fires to reach all surfaces. They are placed directly from the drier, and heat is gradually increased until the optimum firing temperature is reached. When they are sufficiently fired,…

atom: Atomic weights and the periodic table: …paper of 1869 introducing the periodic law, he credited Cannizzaro for using “unshakeable and indubitable” methods to determine atomic weights.

periodic motion, in physics, motion repeated in equal intervals of time. Periodic motion is performed, for example, by a rocking chair, a bouncing ball, a vibrating tuning fork, a swing in motion, the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and a water wave. In each case the interval of time for a

periodic paralysis, any of the forms of a rare disorder that is characterized by relatively short-term, recurrent attacks of muscle weakness. Usually the disorder is inherited; it occurs three times more often in males than in females. Hypokalemic paralysis (often referred to as familial) is caused

celestial mechanics: Examples of perturbations: …longitude of the node are periodic perturbations (periodically changing their direction), which are revealed by the fact that the rate of secular regression of the node is not constant in time. The Sun causes a secular increase in the longitude of the lunar perigee (Ω + ω in Figure 2)…

continental landform: The concept of periodic random dominance: The concept of periodic random dominance as an aspect of landform evolution carries with it the implication of polygenetic landforms and landscapes where geomorphic system dominance fails to develop. Indeed, dominance becomes the special case because it is dependent on a particular juxtaposition of tectonic and/or climatic elements…

Interactive periodic tableModern version of the periodic table of the elements. To learn an element's name, atomic number, electron configuration, atomic weight, and more, select one from the table.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./ Patrick O'Neill Riley periodic table, in chemistry, the organized

Interactive periodic tableModern version of the periodic table of the elements. To learn an element's name, atomic number, electron configuration, atomic weight, and more, select one from the table.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./ Patrick O'Neill Riley periodic table, in chemistry, the organized

The Periodic Table, collection of memoirs by Primo Levi, published in Italian as Il sistema periodico in 1975 and regarded as his masterwork. It is a cycle of 21 autobiographical stories, each named after and inspired by a chemical element. To Levi, who was a chemist as well as a writer, each

property law: Landlord and tenant: …before the term expires (periodic tenancy). Thus, tenancies can be arranged, for example, from week to week, month to month, or year to year. It is also possible to have a tenancy for no fixed term but subject simply to the will of the landlord and tenant (tenancy at…

magazine, a printed or digitally published collection of texts (essays, articles, stories, poems), often illustrated, that is produced at regular intervals (excluding newspapers). A brief treatment of magazines follows. For full treatment, see publishing: Magazine publishing. The modern magazine

periodical cicada, (genus Magicicada), genus of seven species of cicadas known for their unusual highly synchronized life cycles and raucous choruses. Periodical cicadas are native to the eastern and midwestern United States but are not present aboveground every year. In what are among the longest

rhythm: Theories requiring “periodicity” as the sine qua non of rhythm are opposed by theories that include in it even nonrecurrent configurations of movement, as in prose or plainchant.

sound: The ear as spectrum analyzer: This effect, known as the missing fundamental, subjective fundamental, or periodicity pitch, is used by the ear to create the fundamental in sound radiating from a small loudspeaker that is not capable of providing low frequencies.

reproductive behaviour: Natural selection and reproductive behaviour: …favourable rather than less favourable period will eventually dominate succeeding generations. This is the basis for the seasonality of reproduction among most animal species.

amorphous solid: Distinction between crystalline and amorphous solids: …property called long-range order or translational periodicity; positions repeat in space in a regular array, as in Figure 2A. In an amorphous solid, translational periodicity is absent. As indicated in Figure 2B, there is no long-range order. The atoms are not randomly distributed in space, however, as they are in…

periodontal membrane, fleshy tissue between tooth and tooth socket that holds the tooth in place, attaches it to the adjacent teeth, and enables it to resist the stresses of chewing. It develops from the follicular sac that surrounds the embryonic tooth during growth. The periodontal membrane

periodontal membrane, fleshy tissue between tooth and tooth socket that holds the tooth in place, attaches it to the adjacent teeth, and enables it to resist the stresses of chewing. It develops from the follicular sac that surrounds the embryonic tooth during growth. The periodontal membrane

periodontics, dental specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of functional and structural diseases of the periodontal membrane and related tissues that surround and support the teeth. Degeneration or inflammation of these tissues can be caused by various systemic or local

periodontitis, inflammation of the soft tissues around the teeth, characterized by swollen tender gums (gingivitis), that may lead to the eventual loss of teeth. Periodontitis begins with the deposition of bacterial plaque on the teeth below the gum line, irritating and eroding the neighboring

periodontal membrane, fleshy tissue between tooth and tooth socket that holds the tooth in place, attaches it to the adjacent teeth, and enables it to resist the stresses of chewing. It develops from the follicular sac that surrounds the embryonic tooth during growth. The periodontal membrane

sports: Crete and Greece: …events were known as the periodos, and great athletes, such as Theagenes of Thasos, prided themselves on victories at all four sites. Although most of the events contested at Greek sacred games remain familiar, the most important competition was the chariot race. The extraordinary prestige accorded athletic triumphs brought with…

Hecataeus of Miletus: …of the Periodos gēs or Periēgēsis (“Tour Round the World”); it was written in two parts—one covering Europe, the other “Asia” (which included Egypt and North Africa). The work describes the peoples who would be met in voyages around the Mediterranean and Black seas, in a clockwise direction, beginning with…