bachelor’s degree: ), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), and Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech. or B.T.). The American education system distinguishes between the major, or primary, field of study and the minor field of study, which does not necessarily need to be related to the former. For instance, in a…

bachelor’s degree: ) as well as the Bachelor of Literature (B.Lit.), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), and Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech. or B.T.). The American education system distinguishes between the major, or primary, field of study and the minor field of study, which does not necessarily need to be related to the former.…

degree: and the B.S., to which the signature of a special field may be added (e.g., B.S.Pharm., or Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy). These special fields have their corresponding designations at the graduate levels.

bachelor’s degree: ), and Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech. or B.T.). The American education system distinguishes between the major, or primary, field of study and the minor field of study, which does not necessarily need to be related to the former. For instance, in a B.A. program, a student can…

Tom Hanks: …leads in other comedies, including Bachelor Party (1984), Volunteers (1985), and The Money Pit (1986). He successfully mixed comedy with drama in Nothing in Common (1986) and Punchline (1988), and his portrayal of a boy in an adult body in Big (1988) earned him an Academy Award

Delbert Mann: Feature films: Mann then adapted The Bachelor Party (1957) for the big screen. The caustic drama—with Carolyn Jones, Don Murray, and E.G. Marshall—follows the attendees of a bachelor party where the celebrating turns to self-reflection.

cornflower, (Centaurea cyanus), herbaceous annual plant of the Asteraceae family. Native to Europe, cornflowers are widely cultivated in North America as garden plants and have naturalized as an invasive species in some areas outside of their native range. They were once frequent weeds in fields of

bachelor’s degree, undergraduate academic degree conferred on college or university students upon completing coursework, typically over a span of three to six years, depending on the country, field of study, and conditions of the learner. It is usually a prerequisite for those wishing to pursue

Thomas Edison: Menlo Park: …him were two key associates, Charles Batchelor and John Kruesi. Batchelor, born in Manchester in 1845, was a master mechanic and draftsman who complemented Edison perfectly and served as his “ears” on such projects as the phonograph and telephone. He was also responsible for fashioning the drawings that Kruesi, a…

Ivan Turgenev: Early life and works: Of these, The Bachelor (1849) was the only one staged at this time, the others falling afoul of the official censors. Others of a more intimately penetrating character, such as One May Spin a Thread Too Finely (1848), led to the detailed psychological studies in his dramatic…

Television in the United States: Reality TV: …seasons with shows such as The Bachelor (ABC, begun 2002), Temptation Island (Fox, 2001 and 2003), Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska (Fox, 2002), Joe Millionaire (Fox, 2003), and Average Joe (NBC, 2003–05). Survivor-like challenge shows included The Mole (ABC, 2001–04 and 2008), The Amazing Race (CBS, begun 2001), and…

bachelor’s degree, undergraduate academic degree conferred on college or university students upon completing coursework, typically over a span of three to six years, depending on the country, field of study, and conditions of the learner. It is usually a prerequisite for those wishing to pursue

United Kingdom: Simon de Montfort and the Barons’ War: …a group calling itself the Community of Bachelors, which seems to have claimed to represent the lesser vassals and knights, petitioned for the fulfillment of the promises of the magnates and king to remedy its grievances. As a result the Provisions of Westminster were duly published, comprising detailed legal measures…

number game: Pioneers and imitators: …was that of the Frenchman Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac, one of the earliest pioneers in this field, who is remembered for two mathematical works: his Diophanti, the first edition of a Greek text on the theory of numbers (1621), and his Problèmes plaisans et delectables qui se font par les…

tapestry: 16th century: …(1510–63), Il Bronzino (1503–72), and Bachiacca (1494–1557), who designed the Grotesques (c. 1550), one of the most famous and influential tapestry sets produced by the Arrazeria Medicea.

Heitor Villa-Lobos: …of his best-known works is Bachianas brasileiras (written 1930–45), a set of nine pieces for various instrumental and vocal groups, in which a contrapuntal technique in the manner of Bach is applied to themes of Brazilian origin. A similar series of 14 works, composed between 1920 and 1929, bears the…

Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2, orchestral suite by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, the second of a set of nine suites (1930–45) for various combinations of voices and instruments, in which contrapuntal and harmonic techniques in the manner of J.S. Bach are applied to themes of Brazilian

Charles Bachman was an American computer scientist and winner of the 1973 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour in computer science, for “his outstanding contributions to database technology.” At the time of Bachman’s birth, his father was the head football coach at Kansas Agriculture College in

Charles Bachman was an American computer scientist and winner of the 1973 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour in computer science, for “his outstanding contributions to database technology.” At the time of Bachman’s birth, his father was the head football coach at Kansas Agriculture College in

Hannah Bachman Einstein was an American social worker who launched a successful campaign to establish municipal, state, and national boards and associations for child welfare. Hannah Bachman married William Einstein in 1881. She developed an interest in charitable work, and from its founding in

John Bachman was a naturalist and Lutheran minister who helped write the text of works on North American birds and mammals by renowned naturalist and artist John James Audubon. Ordained in 1814, Bachman obtained a parish in Charleston, S.C., the following year. Long a natural-history enthusiast, he

Burton Cummings: The Guess Who years: Cummings teamed with guitarist-singer Randy Bachman to become one of the most prolific and popular songwriting duos of the era, churning out classic songs such as “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” “No Time,” “No Sugar Tonight,” and “American Woman” (the first song by a Canadian band to hit number one on…

the Guess Who: Post-Bachman years: …Brave Belt, which evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Two guitarists, Winter—who became Cummings’s primary songwriting partner—and Leskiw, replaced Bachman. The first album with this new lineup, Share the Land (1970), featured several hits, including Winter’s “Hand Me Down World” and “Bus Rider,” along with Cummings’s title track and the Cummings-Winter collaboration…

Ingeborg Bachmann was an Austrian author whose sombre, surreal writings often dealt with women in failed love relationships, the nature of art and humanity, and the inadequacy of language. Bachmann grew up in Kärnten during World War II and was educated at the Universities of Graz, Innsbruck, and

Michele Bachmann is an American politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (2007–15). She sought the Republican nomination for president in 2012. Michele Amble spent her young childhood in Iowa, but as an adolescent she moved with her family to the northern suburbs of

Stephen King is an American novelist and short-story writer whose books are credited with reviving the genre of horror fiction in the late 20th century. King is the second of two sons born to Donald and Nellie Ruth (née Pillsbury) King. His parents separated when he was very young. King and his

Johann Jakob Bachofen was a Swiss jurist and early anthropological writer whose book Das Mutterrecht (1861; “Mother Right”) is regarded as a major contribution to the development of modern social anthropology. Bachofen was a professor of the history of Roman law at the University of Basel (1841–45)

Kailash Satyarthi: …in 1980 founded the nonprofit Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA; “Save the Childhood Movement”). Agnivesh, with whom Satyarthi retained an alternatingly close and antagonistic relationship, founded the more legislatively focused Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM; “Bonded Labor Liberation Front”) in 1981.

Elijah Bokher Levita was a German-born Jewish grammarian whose writings and teaching furthered the study of Hebrew in European Christendom at a time of widespread hostility toward the Jews. Levita went to Italy early in life and in 1504 settled at Padua. There he wrote a manual of Hebrew (1508)

Laos: Daily life and social customs: …ethnic Lao ritual of the baci, in which strings are tied around a person’s wrist to preserve good luck, has indeed been elevated in Laos to the place of a national custom. The baci is associated with transitions, namely, giving birth, getting married, entering the monkhood, going away, returning, beginning…

Baciccio was a leading Roman Baroque painter of the second half of the 17th century. At Genoa, Baciccio was a student of Luciano Borzone, but he was also influenced by the works of Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Bernardo Strozzi. He moved to Rome about 1660, visiting Parma (1669) to study the frescoes of

Baciccio was a leading Roman Baroque painter of the second half of the 17th century. At Genoa, Baciccio was a student of Luciano Borzone, but he was also influenced by the works of Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Bernardo Strozzi. He moved to Rome about 1660, visiting Parma (1669) to study the frescoes of

Czechoslovak history: The growing reform movement: …moved into power in Slovakia; Karol Bacílek, who was compromised by the purges in the 1950s, was replaced as first secretary of the Slovak Communist Party by Alexander Dubček. When the rehabilitated Slovaks, among whom was Gustav Husák, began to clamour for a federal solution to their problem, Novotný could…

algae: Annotated classification: and Thalassiosira (centrics) and Bacillaria, Navicula and Nitzschia (pennates). Class Bicosoecaceae May be included in the Chrysophyceae or in the protozoan group Zoomastigophora; colourless flagellate cells in vase-shaped loricas (wall-like coverings); cell

diatom, (class Bacillariophyceae), any member of the algal class Bacillariophyceae (division Chromophyta), with about 16,000 species found in sediments or attached to solid substances in all the waters of Earth. Diatoms are among the most important and prolific microscopic sea organisms and serve

shigellosis, infection of the gastrointestinal tract by bacteria of the genus Shigella. The illness produces cramplike abdominal pain as well as diarrhea consisting of either watery stools or scant stools containing mucus and blood. Fever and dehydration are other common symptoms. Shigellosis

BCG vaccine, vaccine against tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine is prepared from a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis, a bacteria closely related to M. tuberculosis, which causes the disease. The vaccine was developed over a period of 13 years, from 1908 to 1921, by French bacteriologists Albert

bacillus, (genus Bacillus), any of a genus of rod-shaped, gram-positive, aerobic or (under some conditions) anaerobic bacteria widely found in soil and water. The term bacillus has been applied in a general sense to all cylindrical or rodlike bacteria. The largest known Bacillus species, B.

bacillite, in geology, a type of crystallite

bacillus, (genus Bacillus), any of a genus of rod-shaped, gram-positive, aerobic or (under some conditions) anaerobic bacteria widely found in soil and water. The term bacillus has been applied in a general sense to all cylindrical or rodlike bacteria. The largest known Bacillus species, B.

bacteria: Diversity of structure of bacteria: (coccus), rodlike (bacillus), or curved (vibrio, spirillum, or spirochete). Considerable variation is seen in the actual shapes of bacteria, and cells can be stretched or compressed in one dimension. Bacteria that do not separate from one another after cell division form characteristic clusters that are helpful in…

bacillus, (genus Bacillus), any of a genus of rod-shaped, gram-positive, aerobic or (under some conditions) anaerobic bacteria widely found in soil and water. The term bacillus has been applied in a general sense to all cylindrical or rodlike bacteria. The largest known Bacillus species, B.

beekeeping: Diseases: …nonsporeforming bacterium, Streptococcus pluton, but Bacillus alvie and Acromobacter eurydice are often associated with Streptococcus pluton. This disease is similar in appearance to American foulbrood. In some instances it severely affects the colonies, but they recover so that colony destruction is not necessary. Terramycin can control the disease.

bacillus: In addition, strains of B. amyloliquefaciens bacteria, which occur in association with certain plants, are known to synthesize several different antibiotic substances, including bacillaene, macrolactin, and difficidin. These substances serve to protect the host plant from infection by fungi or other bacteria and have been studied for their usefulness…

anthrax: …animals and humans caused by Bacillus anthracis, a bacterium that under certain conditions forms highly resistant spores capable of persisting and retaining their virulence for many years. Although anthrax most commonly affects grazing animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and mules, humans can develop the disease by eating the…

BCG vaccine, vaccine against tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine is prepared from a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis, a bacteria closely related to M. tuberculosis, which causes the disease. The vaccine was developed over a period of 13 years, from 1908 to 1921, by French bacteriologists Albert

bacillus: For example, B. cereus sometimes causes spoilage in canned foods and food poisoning of short duration. B. subtilis is a common contaminant of laboratory cultures (it plagued Louis Pasteur in many of his experiments) and is often found on human skin. Most strains of Bacillus are not…

Vincent gingivitis: …caused by the symbiotic microorganisms Bacillus fusiformis and Borrelia vincentii. The chief symptoms are painful, swollen, bleeding gums; small, painful ulcers covering the gums and tooth margins; and characteristic fetid breath. The ulcers may spread to the throat and tonsils. Fever and malaise may also be present. Vincent gingivitis can…

beekeeping: Diseases: …caused by a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus larvae, is the most serious brood disease. It occurs throughout the world wherever bees are kept and affects workers, drones, and queens. The spores are highly resistant to heat and chemicals. A comb containing brood severely infected with this disease has a mottled appearance…

bacillus: The largest known Bacillus species, B. megaterium, is about 1.5 μm (micrometres; 1 μm = 10−6 m) across by 4 μm long. Bacillus frequently occur in chains.

baking: Bacteria: … associated with bread spoilage include Bacillus mesentericus, responsible for “ropy” bread, and the less common but more spectacular Micrococcus prodigiosus, causative agent of “bleeding bread.” Neither ropy bread nor bleeding bread is particularly toxic. Enzymes secreted by B. mesentericus change the starch inside the loaf into a gummy substance stretching…

rice bacterial blight: causal agent, the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae (also referred to as Xoo), was identified in 1911, at that time having been named Bacillus oryzae. Thriving in warm, humid environments, bacterial blight has been observed in rice-growing regions of Asia, the western coast of Africa, Australia, Latin America, and…

Yersinia pestis, bacterium in the family Yersiniaceae (order Enterobacterales) that causes plague. Yersinia pestis is classified as a Gram-negative coccobacillus, being spherical to cylindrical in shape and having a thin peptidoglycan cell wall surrounded by an outer lipopolysaccharide membrane. It

Japanese beetle: …control is a disease-inducing bacterium, Bacillus popilliae, which causes milky disease in larvae; its use has reduced Japanese beetle infestations in some areas.

antibiotic: Aztreonam, bacitracin, and vancomycin: …by a special strain of Bacillus subtilis. Because of its severe toxicity to kidney cells, its use is limited to the topical treatment of skin infections caused by Streptococcus and Staphylococcus and for eye and ear infections.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), soil-dwelling bacterium that naturally produces a toxin that is fatal to certain herbivorous insects. The toxin produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been used as an insecticide spray since the 1920s and is commonly used in organic farming. Bt is also the source

antibiotic: Aztreonam, bacitracin, and vancomycin: Aztreonam is a synthetic antibiotic that works by inhibiting cell wall synthesis, and it is naturally resistant to some β-lactamases. Aztreonam has a low incidence of toxicity, but it must be administered parenterally.

rugby: Backs: It was not until the early 1880s that specialized positions began to appear, particularly among the backs, with Allen Rotherham of Oxford and England establishing the position of halfback, named for a player who took up a position between the scrum and the rest…

stringed instrument: Lutes: …the resonator is called the back. The portion between the back and belly is the side, or rib. A lute may be plucked with the fingers or a plectrum or may be bowed, but the means of sound production do not affect the essential morphological identity of plucked, struck, and…

Virginia Beach: Back Bay is a brackish lagoon and a national wildlife refuge that occupies about 39 square miles (101 square km) and parallels the ocean at the south end of the city. Founded in 1887, Virginia Beach developed as a resort following construction of a hotel…

Mumbai: City site: …lies the shallow expanse of Back Bay. On a slightly raised strip of land between the head of Back Bay and the harbor is an area called the Fort, the site of the 17th-century British fortifications (little of which remains standing) within and around which the city grew; the area…

Boston: Area of the colonial town: …and known collectively as the Back Bay. The Charles River flowed through the Back Bay to Boston Harbor and separated the peninsula from the mainland to the north and west. To the east, Town Cove indented Boston’s harbour front and divided the city into the North End and the South…

organometallic compound: Zero-oxidation-state metal carbonyls: …carbonyl ligand, which is called back π bonding.

Pearl Harbor attack: Investigations, accusations, and interpretations: …by those supporting the so-called “Back Door to War” theory. Among the earliest and most prominent exponents of this theory was Rear Adm. Robert A. Theobald, a Pacific task force commander whose career was sidelined after he clashed with superiors and failed to challenge the Japanese attacks on Attu and…

inductance: …greater opposing electromotive force (back emf) is present to choke the current.

Ludacris: …South, which repackaged Incognegro as Back for the First Time (2000). That major label debut ultimately reached number four in the Billboard 200.

André Gide: Great creative period: (1936; Return from the U.S.S.R.) and Retouches à mon retour de l’U.R.S.S. (1937; Afterthoughts on the U.S.S.R.).

agricultural technology: Primary tillage equipment: The ridge is called a back furrow. When two strips of land are finished, the last furrows cut leave a trench about twice the width of one bottom, called a dead furrow. When land is broken by continuous lapping of furrows, it is called flat broken. If land is broken…

AC/DC: The band’s next album, Back in Black (1980), sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone, and For Those About to Rock (1981) was also a million-seller. The early to mid-1980s was the band’s peak period as a live group; a number of personnel changes occurred…

Steve Winwood: …to the Night (1982) and Back in the High Life (1986), which contained the Grammy-winning song “Higher Love,” achieved platinum status. The following year, Winwood and producer Russ Titelman shared a Grammy Award for record of the year for their work on Back in the High Life, and Winwood won…

Gene Autry: …and his signature song, “Back in the Saddle Again” (1939). He recorded more than 600 songs altogether, many of which he wrote or cowrote. By 1940 he was one of the top movie and music stars in the country. The Gene Autry Show aired on television from 1950 to…

the MC5: …followed, including the Jon Landau-produced Back in the U.S.A. (1970), before the band broke up in 1972. Louder and brasher than the other political bands of their era, the MC5 were extremely influential despite their limited popularity, and their sound can be heard in heavy metal, punk rock, and grunge.

Paul McCartney: The Beatles: …such as “Lady Madonna,” “Back in the USSR,” and “Helter Skelter” (all 1968), but above all he has an extraordinary gift for melodies and sometimes tags an entirely new one on to the end of a song, as he did with “Hey Jude” (1968). This facility extends to his…

solar cell: Solar cell structure and operation: …of the device, and the back junction layer. Two additional electrical contact layers are needed to carry the electric current out to an external load and back into the cell, thus completing an electric circuit. The electrical contact layer on the face of the cell where light enters is generally…

heredity: Gene mutation: …wild type is called a back mutation or reversion.

Saul Alinsky: …Chicago; the result was the Back of the Yards Council, which became a prototype for a generation of community organizations. In 1940, Alinsky founded the Industrial Areas Foundation and trained cadres of organizers in his techniques. Following wartime service in several federal agencies, Alinsky and his IAF team carried their…

Lee “Scratch” Perry: (2008), Revelation (2010), and Back on the Controls (2014) were all nominated in that category.

back pain, discomfort or sometimes debilitating suffering associated with an injury or some other affliction of the back, the posterior (rear) portion of the body that extends from the shoulders to the hips. Back pain is a ubiquitous complaint and a leading cause of disability worldwide. To

organometallic compound: Zero-oxidation-state metal carbonyls: …carbonyl ligand, which is called back π bonding.

projection screen: …tiny beads on a canvas backing, the lenticular screen of tiny, uniformly spaced, cylindrical lenses.

Back River, river in northern Mackenzie and Keewatin districts, Nunavut, Canada, that rises from several small lakes northeast of Great Slave Lake. It flows northeastward through the Barren Grounds (a sub-Arctic prairie region) for 605 miles (975 km), widening to form Lakes Pelly, Garry,

the Jayhawks: ” The group’s next album, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels (2018), primarily a collection of songs that Louris had written for other artists, was the brainchild of Sony Music A&R (artists and repertoire) man John Jackson. Not only did Jackson conceive of and coproduce Back Roads, but he also joined…

the O’Jays: …Back Stabbers, with the album’s title track initiating a long string of hit singles, including “For the Love of Money” (1973) and the disco-influenced pop hit “I Love Music, Pt. 1” (1975).

John M. Stahl: …made the hugely popular romance Back Street (1932), which was based on the Fannie Hurst novel. Boles portrayed an engaged man who falls in love with another woman (Irene Dunne); over the next 30 years, she makes numerous sacrifices in order to be his mistress. That was followed by Only…

Robert Stevenson: Early films: …followed it with the melodrama Back Street (1941), a fine adaptation of Fannie Hurst’s novel; it starred Charles Boyer and Margaret Sullavan as illicit lovers.

cricket: Batting: …this stroke becomes the drive); back stroke, in which the batsman moves his rear leg back before playing the ball; leg glance (or glide), in which the ball is deflected behind the wicket on the leg side; cut, in which the batsman hits a ball on the uprise (after it…

backswimmer, (family Notonectidae), any of a group of insects (order Heteroptera) that occur worldwide and are named for their ability to swim on their backs, which are shaped like the keel and sides of a boat. The backswimmer uses its long oarlike legs for propulsion and has an oval-shaped head

Christina Aguilera: …Etta James and Billie Holiday, Back to Basics (2006) paid tribute to Aguilera’s jazz and blues influences.

Edward Dmytryk: Golden era: Dmytryk then helmed Back to Bataan (1945), which featured John Wayne as a U.S. Army colonel leading Filipino guerrillas during World War II, and Till the End of Time (1946), a well-acted drama starring Robert Mitchum, Guy Madison, and Bill Williams as war veterans who have trouble readjusting…

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black: …songs on her next album, Back to Black, were written. Her singing on that album, more in the vein of Motown and 1960s and ’70s soul, delighted critics. The album’s hit singles include the dark and desperate title track, the bad-girl’s lament “You Know I’m No Good,” and the infectious…

the Ronettes: …released the charity single “Back to Black,” a cover of English singer Amy Winehouse’s song, as a tribute to Winehouse after her death from alcohol poisoning in July 2011. Proceeds from the single’s sales were donated to a substance abuse treatment center. The two singers were mutual fans of…

Tom Wolfe: Back to Blood (2012) investigates (and pokes fun at) the complexities of race relations in Miami. Wolfe returned to nonfiction with The Kingdom of Speech (2016), in which he sharply criticized Charles Darwin and Noam Chomsky as he argued that language was not a result…

George Bernard Shaw: Works after World War I: …plays under the collective title Back to Methuselah (1922). They expound his philosophy of creative evolution in an extended dramatic parable that progresses through time from the Garden of Eden to 31,920 ce.

Rodney Dangerfield: A late-blooming career: (1980), Easy Money (1983), and Back to School (1986). He also impressed critics with a much darker role in the American director Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994), in which he played an abusive father.

DeLorean DMC-12: …its role in the blockbusting Back to the Future film trilogy (1985–90), whose first installment appeared two years after the last DMC-12 was produced..

Rascal Flatts: Back to Us (2017) was the group’s 12th album to reach the Top Ten on that chart.

Bill Clinton: Life after the presidency of Bill Clinton: …in various worthy causes; and Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy (2011). He also wrote (with James Patterson) the thrillers The President Is Missing (2018) and The President’s Daughter (2021).

vowel: A back vowel—e.g., the u in “rule” and the o in “pole”—is produced with the back part of the tongue raised toward the soft palate (velum).

Olivia Newton-John: Career: In 1998 she released Back with a Heart, which featured songs reminiscent of her country-pop days.

collective behaviour: Hysterical contagion: psychologist Kurt W. Back found that the crisis came after a period during which the women employees had performed unusual amounts of overtime work. The women who became ill from the mysterious insect bites had generally worked more overtime than others and had serious family responsibilities…