- Doryphoros (sculpture by Polyclitus)
art fraud: The bronze Spear Bearer (c. 450–440 bce) by Greek sculptor Polyclitus, for example, achieved great renown for its perfect proportions and beauty. As a result, it was often copied in marble for Roman collectors in subsequent centuries. The copies, which are all that survived into the 21st…
- DOS (operating system)
MS-DOS, the dominant operating system for the personal computer (PC) throughout the 1980s. The acquisition and marketing of MS-DOS were pivotal in the Microsoft Corporation’s transition to software industry giant. American computer programmer Timothy Paterson, a developer for Seattle Computer
- DoS attack (computer science)
denial of service attack (DoS attack), type of cybercrime in which an Internet site is made unavailable, typically by using multiple computers to repeatedly make requests that tie up the site and prevent it from responding to requests from legitimate users. The first documented DoS-style attack
- Dos Cabezas (archaeological site, Peru)
Moche: In 1997 excavations at Dos Cabezas, a site inhabited from roughly 150 to 500 ce, revealed the first of three tombs containing the remains of three Moche elite. Each tomb was adjacent to a small compartment containing a miniature representation of the contents of the tomb, complete with a…
- Dos de Mayo Uprising (Napoleonic Wars [1808])
Dos de Mayo Uprising, also called the Battle of Madridan engagement of the Peninsular War that occurred on May 2, 1808. The French commanders in Spain were highly experienced and successful soldiers, but they completely misjudged the inflammatory nature of Spanish political, religious, and social
- Dos Fridas, Las (painting by Frida Kahlo)
The Two Fridas, double self-portrait painted by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in 1939 during her divorce from artist Diego Rivera. The large oil-on-canvas painting (5.69 × 5.68 feet [1.74 × 1.73 metres]) depicts two nearly identical female figures seated on the same bench and holding hands amid a
- Dos Hermanas (Spain)
Dos Hermanas, city, Sevilla provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Andalusia, southern Spain. It lies southeast of Sevilla city between the Guadaira and Guadalquivir rivers. The city was founded by Ferdinand III of Castile at the time of his conquest of Sevilla
- Dos libros (book by Monardes)
herbal: Nicolás Monardes’ Dos libros (1569), for example, contains the first published illustration of tobacco. A latinized version of an Aztec herbal (1552) contains formalized illustrations resembling European ones, suggesting that the artists were following the traditions of their Spanish masters rather than an indigenous style of drawing.…
- Dos Passos, John (American novelist)
John Dos Passos was an American writer, one of the major novelists of the post-World War I “lost generation.” His reputation as a social historian and as a radical critic of the quality of American life rests primarily on his trilogy U.S.A. The son of a wealthy lawyer of Portuguese descent, Dos
- Dos Pilas (ancient city, Guatemala)
Dos Pilas, ancient capital of the Petexbatún kingdom of the Maya, situated near the Salinas River in what is now Petén, west-central Guatemala, about 5 miles (8 km) east of the border with Mexico. At the height of its hegemony the kingdom covered an area of some 1,500 square miles (3,885 square
- dos Santos, José (president of Angola)
José dos Santos was an Angolan politician who served as president of Angola (1979–2017). In 1961 dos Santos, a militant nationalist, joined the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola; MPLA), which supported independence from Portugal. He was chosen
- dos Santos, José Eduardo (president of Angola)
José dos Santos was an Angolan politician who served as president of Angola (1979–2017). In 1961 dos Santos, a militant nationalist, joined the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola; MPLA), which supported independence from Portugal. He was chosen
- ¡Dos! (album by Green Day)
Green Day: …a trilogy—the separately released ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!—that found the band returning to the high-energy immediacy of its punk roots while also drawing inspiration from its classic-rock forebears. Green Day’s next release, Revolution Radio (2016), is a more-focused return to basics. Father of All… (2020) features throwback garage rock.
- Dosadi Experiment, The (novel by Herbert)
Frank Herbert: …The God Makers (1972), and The Dosadi Experiment (1977).
- dosage (medicine)
pharmaceutical industry: Dosage form development: Drugs are rarely administered to a patient solely as a pure chemical entity. For clinical use they are almost always administered as a formulation designed to deliver the drug in a manner that is safe, effective, and acceptable to the patient. One…
- dosage (radiation)
poison: Ionizing radiation: Thus, a physical dose of alpha particles does not produce the same amount of damage as that produced by the same dose of beta particles, gamma rays, or X rays.
- dose (medicine)
pharmaceutical industry: Dosage form development: Drugs are rarely administered to a patient solely as a pure chemical entity. For clinical use they are almost always administered as a formulation designed to deliver the drug in a manner that is safe, effective, and acceptable to the patient. One…
- dose (radiation)
poison: Ionizing radiation: Thus, a physical dose of alpha particles does not produce the same amount of damage as that produced by the same dose of beta particles, gamma rays, or X rays.
- dose commitment (physics)
radiation: Units for measuring ionizing radiation: …of radiation is called the committed dose, or dose commitment.
- dose equivalent (physics)
poison: Ionizing radiation: …particles does not produce the same amount of damage as that produced by the same dose of beta particles, gamma rays, or X rays.
- dose-dependent drug reaction (pharmacology)
pharmaceutical industry: Adverse reactions: …many individuals will experience a dose-dependent drug reaction. For example, if a person being treated for high blood pressure (hypertension) accidentally takes a drug dose severalfold higher than prescribed, this person will probably experience low blood pressure (hypotension), which could result in light-headedness and fainting. Other dose-dependent drug reactions occur…
- dose-independent drug reaction (pharmacology)
pharmaceutical industry: Adverse reactions: Dose-independent adverse reactions are less common than dose-dependent ones. They are generally caused by allergic reactions to the drug or in some cases to other ingredients present in the dosage form. They occur in patients who were sensitized by a previous exposure to the drug…
- dose-response curve (pharmacology)
dose-response relationship, effect on an organism or, more specifically, on the risk of a defined outcome produced by a given amount of an agent or a level of exposure. A dose-response relationship is one in which increasing levels of exposure are associated with either an increasing or a
- dose-response relationship (pharmacology)
dose-response relationship, effect on an organism or, more specifically, on the risk of a defined outcome produced by a given amount of an agent or a level of exposure. A dose-response relationship is one in which increasing levels of exposure are associated with either an increasing or a
- Doshi, B.V. (Indian architect)
Balkrishna Doshi was an Indian architect, the first from that country to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize (2018). In a career spanning about seven decades, Doshi completed more than 100 projects, many of which were public institutions based in India: schools, libraries, art centres, and
- Doshi, Balkrishna (Indian architect)
Balkrishna Doshi was an Indian architect, the first from that country to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize (2018). In a career spanning about seven decades, Doshi completed more than 100 projects, many of which were public institutions based in India: schools, libraries, art centres, and
- Doshi, Balkrishna Vithaldas (Indian architect)
Balkrishna Doshi was an Indian architect, the first from that country to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize (2018). In a career spanning about seven decades, Doshi completed more than 100 projects, many of which were public institutions based in India: schools, libraries, art centres, and
- Dōshisha Daigaku (university, Kyōto, Japan)
Kyōto: Education: Dōshisha University, the leading private educational institution, was founded in 1875 by Niijima Jō (also called Joseph Hardy Neesima), who was the first Japanese to graduate from a Western college (Amherst College in 1870). Major Buddhist universities include Ryūkoku, Ōtani, and the smaller Hanazano.
- Dōshisha University (university, Kyōto, Japan)
Kyōto: Education: Dōshisha University, the leading private educational institution, was founded in 1875 by Niijima Jō (also called Joseph Hardy Neesima), who was the first Japanese to graduate from a Western college (Amherst College in 1870). Major Buddhist universities include Ryūkoku, Ōtani, and the smaller Hanazano.
- Dōshō (Japanese Buddhist priest)
Dōshō was a Japanese priest who helped introduce Buddhism into his country. Dōshō served as a temple priest at Gangō Temple, one of the great temples at Nara, until he left for China about 653. There he studied for eight years under the Buddhist monk Hsüan-tsang (Pinyin: Xuanzang), the founder of
- Dōshun (Japanese scholar)
Hayashi Razan was a Japanese scholar who, with his son and grandson, established the thought of the great Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi as the official doctrine of the Tokugawa shogunate (the hereditary military dictatorship through which the Tokugawa family ruled Japan from 1603 to
- dosimeter (measurement instrument)
dosimeter, instrument that measures exposure to ionizing radiation over a given period. There are three types of dosimeters worn by persons who work with or near sources of radiation. The film badge is the most popular and inexpensive. In it, photographic or dental X-ray film, wrapped in
- Dosítheos (patriarch of Jerusalem)
Dosítheos was the patriarch of Jerusalem, an important church politician and theologian of the Greek church who staunchly supported Eastern orthodoxy over Roman Catholicism. Ordained deacon in 1652, he became archdeacon of Jerusalem in 1661. He subsequently was made archbishop of Caesarea
- Dositheus (patriarch of Jerusalem)
Dosítheos was the patriarch of Jerusalem, an important church politician and theologian of the Greek church who staunchly supported Eastern orthodoxy over Roman Catholicism. Ordained deacon in 1652, he became archdeacon of Jerusalem in 1661. He subsequently was made archbishop of Caesarea
- Dosoftei (Romanian author, scholar, and theologian)
Romanian literature: The old period: A Moldavian metropolitan, Dosoftei, a great scholar and theologian, fled to Poland during the fighting between Poland and Turkey and in 1673 published there the first Romanian metrical psalter, which was also the first poetry to be written in Romanian. He returned to Moldavia in 1675 and in…
- Dosparth Byrr (primer by Robert)
Celtic literature: The Counter-Reformation: As a result there appeared Dosparth Byrr (“A Short Rationale”), the earliest printed Welsh primer, the work of Gruffydd Robert (c. 1522–c. 1610), and several religious works, many of which were published on the Continent.
- Dossena, Alceo (Italian forger)
forgery: Forgery in the visual arts: The work of the Italian Alceo Dossena belongs in this class. He very competently forged works that were acquired by collectors and museums throughout the world. From 1916 to 1928 he produced hundreds of forgeries created as original expressions of archaic Greek, medieval, and Renaissance sculptors.
- Dossinia marmorata (plant)
jewel orchid: sikkimensis, Dossinia marmorata, Ludisia discolor, and Macodes petola are found in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and feature spikes of small white flowers. These species have wide green or brownish green leaves with red or gold veins borne near the base of the plant.
- Dosso (Niger)
Dosso, town, southwestern Niger, situated about 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Niger’s capital, Niamey. Dosso is the traditional headquarters of the Zarma people, who are sedentary farmers. The town is connected by road to Niamey in the west and Tahoua in the northeast. There is also an airfield at
- Dosso Dossi (Italian painter)
Dosso Dossi was a late Italian Renaissance painter and leader of the Ferrarese school in the 16th century. Very little is known about his early life, and his artistic influences and training have long been open to speculation. His byname comes from the name of the family estate near his place of
- Dōst Moḥammad Khān (ruler of Afghanistan)
Dōst Moḥammad Khān was the ruler of Afghanistan (1826–63) and founder of the Bārakzay dynasty, who maintained Afghan independence during a time when the nation was a focus of political struggles between Great Britain and Russia. Dōst Moḥammad was one of a number of sons of Pāyenda Khān, head of the
- Dostoevsky’s Last Night (novel by Peri Rossi)
Cristina Peri Rossi: …última noche de Dostoievski (1992; Dostoevsky’s Last Night), Desastres íntimos (1997; Intimate Disasters), and El amor es una droga dura (1999; “Love Is a Strong Drug”).
- Dostoevsky, Fyodor Mikhaylovich (Russian author)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the darkest recesses of the human heart, together with his unsurpassed moments of illumination, had an immense influence on 20th-century fiction. Dostoyevsky is usually regarded as one of the
- Dostoyevsky, Fyodor (Russian author)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the darkest recesses of the human heart, together with his unsurpassed moments of illumination, had an immense influence on 20th-century fiction. Dostoyevsky is usually regarded as one of the
- Dostoyevsky, Fyodor Mikhaylovich (Russian author)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the darkest recesses of the human heart, together with his unsurpassed moments of illumination, had an immense influence on 20th-century fiction. Dostoyevsky is usually regarded as one of the
- DOT (United States government)
U.S. Department of Transportation, executive agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for programs and policies relating to transportation. Established in 1966, it controls the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
- Dot Com Blues (album by Smith)
Jimmy Smith: His 2001 album, Dot Com Blues (a reference to the then ongoing dot-com bubble and bust), marked a departure from his customary jazz style, incorporating blues elements and showcasing collaborations with guest artists that included Etta James and B.B. King. Smith’s last album, Legacy (2005), was released posthumously…
- dot matrix (technology)
computer: Output devices: …and graphics, hence the name dot matrix. Another early print technology, daisy-wheel printers, made impressions of whole characters with a single blow of an electromagnetic printhead, similar to an electric typewriter.
- dot product (mathematics)
mechanics: Vectors: …scalar product, or sometimes the inner product) is an operation that combines two vectors to form a scalar. The operation is written A · B. If θ is the (smaller) angle between A and B, then the result of the operation is A · B = AB cos θ. The…
- Dot Records (American company)
Los Angeles 1950s overview: …emerged to rival the majors—Dot and Liberty.
- dot-com bubble (stock market [1995–2000])
dot-com bubble, period (1995–2000) of large, rapid, and ultimately unsustainable increases in the valuation of stock market shares in Internet service and technology companies, then commonly referred to as “dot-com” companies, including fledgling businesses, or “start-ups,” with little or no record
- dot-matrix printer (printing device)
printer: Most impact printers are dot-matrix printers, which have a number of pins on the print head that emerge to form a character. Non-impact printers fall into three main categories: laser printers use a laser beam to attract toner to an area of the paper; ink-jet printers spray a jet…
- dōtaku (Japanese bronze forms)
dōtaku, thin elongated bell-shaped bronze forms, evidence of a short-lived bronze culture, localized in the centre of Japan, from the middle of the Yayoi period (c. 300 bce–c. 250 ce) into the Tumulus period (c. 250–c. 500 ce). Dōtaku are sometimes decorated with domestic and hunting scenes
- Dotcom, Kim (German entrepreneur)
Megaupload: …computer service created by entrepreneur Kim Schmitz that was shut down in 2012 by the United States government after its founders were charged for violating antipiracy laws. It was based in Hong Kong.
- Dothan (Alabama, United States)
Dothan, city, Houston and Dale counties, seat (1903) of Houston county, southeastern Alabama, U.S., about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Montgomery. Originally settled as Poplar Head in the early 1800s, the name was changed to Dothan (for a biblical location) in 1885. Cotton was the main crop until
- Dothard v. Rawlinson (law case)
disparate impact: Evolution of disparate impact theory: …year the Supreme Court, in Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977), addressed Title VII’s “bona fide occupational qualification” exception in sex-discrimination cases. Here a class of women challenged a state’s height and weight requirements for prison guards at male correctional facilities. The requirements excluded approximately 40 percent of all women but only…
- Dothideales (order of fungi)
fungus: Annotated classification: Order Dothideales Forms lichens; asci borne in clusters in a locule; included in subclass Dothideomycetidae; example genera include Dothidea, Dothiora, Sydowia, and Stylodothis. Order Hysteriales Found on woody branches of trees; stroma is boat-shaped, opening by a longitudinal slit that renders it apothecium-like; asci borne
- Dothideomycetes (class of fungi)
fungus: Annotated classification: Class Dothideomycetes Pathogenic, endophytic, or epiphytic on plants, saprotrophic in soil, parasitic on fungi and animals, or symbiotic with algae to form lichens; spores undergo ascolocular development (in special hyphae pockets); includes subclasses Dothideomycetidae and Pleosporomycetidae; contains 10 orders. Order Capnodiales (sooty molds
- Doting on Dodder
Explore other Botanize! episodes and read more about dodder and other parasitic plants. Hello, and welcome to this episode of Botanize! I’m your host, Melissa Petruzzello, Encyclopædia Britannica’s plant and environmental science editor. Thanks for joining in. Today we’re going to be talking about
- Doto, Giuseppe Antonio (American crime boss)
Joe Adonis was a major American crime-syndicate boss in New York and New Jersey. Born near Naples, Adonis came to America as a child and in the 1920s became a follower of Lucky Luciano. He was one of the assassins of crime czar Giuseppe Masseria in 1931, leading to Luciano’s supremacy in organized
- Dotombori (street, Ōsaka, Japan)
Ōsaka-Kōbe metropolitan area: Street patterns: Dotombori, at the south end of Shinsaibashi-suji, is a crowded theatre and restaurant area.
- Dotremont, Christian (Belgian author)
Christian Dotremont was a Belgian poet and energetic cultural figure who is probably best known as one of the founders of the experimental art group, COBRA. Dotremont was influenced by late 1930s Belgian Surrealism. While in Paris during World War II, he cofounded the group La Main à Plume,
- DOTS (medicine)
Hiroshi Nakajima: …approach to tuberculosis treatment, the directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS), which had been shown to increase cure rates in India. DOTS required that doctors observe patients while the patients took prescribed tuberculosis medications. It also required the active participation of individual governments and demanded political commitment and government financing for…
- Dots and dollars: The Fed dot plot, explained
For interest rate projections, read between the dots.When the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announces changes to the Fed funds rate target, we all know how significantly it can sway the market’s direction. You want to be on the right side of that movement. Perhaps that’s why the cardinal
- Dott, Robert H. (American petrologist)
sedimentary rock: Classification of sandstones: …that of the American petrologist Robert H. Dott (1964), which is based on the concepts of P.D. Krynine and F.J. Pettijohn. Another popular classification is that of R.L. Folk (1974). Although these classifications were not intended to have tectonic significance, the relative proportions of quartz, feldspar, and fragments are good…
- dotted manner (printmaking)
printmaking: Dotted print (criblé): A traditional technique of the goldsmith long before engraving for printing purposes was developed, criblé was also used to make the earliest metal prints on paper. Criblé was a method of dotting the plate with a hand punch; with punch and hammer; with a…
- dotted print (printmaking)
printmaking: Dotted print (criblé): A traditional technique of the goldsmith long before engraving for printing purposes was developed, criblé was also used to make the earliest metal prints on paper. Criblé was a method of dotting the plate with a hand punch; with punch and hammer; with a…
- dotterel (bird)
dotterel, any of several species of birds of the plover family, Charadriidae (order Charadriiformes), especially the Eurasian dotterel (Eudromias morinellus). The Eurasian dotterel is mottled brown above, with a broad, white eye stripe and a narrow, white band separating its breast, which is gray,
- Dottore (stock theater character)
Dottore, stock character of the Italian theatrical form known as the commedia dell’arte, who was a loquacious caricature of pedantic learning. The Dottore’s professional affiliation was imprecise. He was at times a legal scholar, ready with advice for any occasion, whose bungled and inept courtroom
- Doty, James Duane (American entrepreneur)
Madison: It was founded by James Duane Doty, a former federal district judge and a land speculator who held large holdings in the area, in 1836 (a year of frenzied land speculation in the newly created Territory of Wisconsin) and was named for President James Madison, who had died that…
- dou (Chinese vessel)
dou, type of ancient Chinese bronze vessel used to contain food. The dou is usually a circular bowl supported on a short stem rising from a flaring base. The rim has two ring-shaped handles at opposite sides of the bowl, and another shallow bowl serves as a lid. While there may be a predecessor
- dou (Chinese architecture)
Chinese architecture: The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bce): …showing a spreading block (dou) placed upon a column to support the beam above more broadly, and in depictions of curved arms (gong) attached near the top of the columns, parallel to the building wall, extending outward and up to help support the beam; however, the block and arms…
- Dou Jiande (Chinese rebel)
China: Foreign affairs under Yangdi: … in the area around Luoyang, Dou Jiande in the northeast, Xue Ju in the far northwest, and Li Yuan (who remained nominally loyal but had established a local position of great power) in Shanxi. At the beginning of 617, Li Yuan inflicted a great defeat on the eastern Turks and…
- Dou Xian (Chinese general)
Ban Gu: …the staff of the general Dou Xian and accompanied him in successful campaigns against the northern Xiongnu tribes. The following victory inscription composed by Ban Gu was carved in stone some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) beyond the frontier:
- Dou’e yuan (play by Guan Hanqing)
Chinese literature: Drama: His Dou’e yuan (“Injustice Suffered by Dou’e”) deals with the deprivations and injustices suffered by the heroine, Dou’e, which begin when she is widowed shortly after her marriage to a poor scholar and culminate in her execution for a crime she has not committed. Wang Shifu,…
- Dou, Gerard (Dutch painter)
Gerrit Dou was a Dutch Baroque painter, leading artist of the school of Leiden, especially known for his domestic genre paintings and portraits. Dou was first trained by his father, a glazier and glass engraver. From 1628 to 1631 he studied with Rembrandt, adopting the master’s choice of subject
- Dou, Gerrit (Dutch painter)
Gerrit Dou was a Dutch Baroque painter, leading artist of the school of Leiden, especially known for his domestic genre paintings and portraits. Dou was first trained by his father, a glazier and glass engraver. From 1628 to 1631 he studied with Rembrandt, adopting the master’s choice of subject
- Douai (France)
Douai, town, northern France, in the Nord département, Hauts-de-France région. It is situated in flat country on the Scarpe River, 24 miles (39 km) south of Lille and 13 miles southwest of the Belgian border. Douai was once a coal-mining centre with related chemical and engineering works; now its
- Douai, Merlin de (French jurist)
Philippe-Antoine, Count Merlin was one of the foremost jurists of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. As a deputy for the town of Douai in the revolutionary Constituent Assembly of 1789, he was instrumental in the passage of important legislation abolishing feudal and seignorial
- Douai-Reims Bible (Roman Catholic Bible)
Douai-Reims Bible, English translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible produced by Roman Catholic scholars in exile from England at the English College in Douai (then in the Spanish Netherlands but later part of France). The New Testament translation was published in 1582 at Reims, where the English
- Douala (Cameroon)
Douala, city and chief port of Cameroon. It is situated on the southeastern shore of the Wouri River estuary, on the Atlantic Ocean coast about 130 miles (210 km) west of Yaoundé. Douala served as the capital of the German Kamerun protectorate from 1884 to 1902. It again served as the capital of
- Douala (people)
Duala, Bantu-speaking people of the forest region of southern Cameroon living on the estuary of the Wouri River. By 1800 the Duala controlled Cameroon’s trade with Europeans, and their concentrated settlement pattern developed under this influence. Their system of chieftaincy was partly founded on
- Douanier, Le (French painter)
Henri Rousseau was a French painter who is considered the archetype of the modern naive artist. He is known for his richly colored and meticulously detailed pictures of lush jungles, wild beasts, and exotic figures. After exhibiting with the Fauves in 1905, he gained the admiration of avant-garde
- Douarnenez (France)
Douarnenez, town, Finistère département, Bretagne (Brittany) région, northwestern France. It lies at the mouth of Pouldavid Estuary on Douarnenez Bay of the Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the city of Quimper. Douarnenez is associated in Breton folklore with the legendary city of Ys, which was
- Douay (France)
Douai, town, northern France, in the Nord département, Hauts-de-France région. It is situated in flat country on the Scarpe River, 24 miles (39 km) south of Lille and 13 miles southwest of the Belgian border. Douai was once a coal-mining centre with related chemical and engineering works; now its
- double (baseball)
baseball: Getting on base: …to reach first base; the double, in which the batter reaches second; the triple, which sees the runner reach third base; and the home run, a hit that enables the batter to circle all the bases and score a run. A fair ball that flies over the outfield fence is…
- double acrostic (puzzle)
acrostic: Double acrostics are puzzles constructed so that not only the initial letters of the lines but in some cases also the middle or last letters form words. In the United States, the Double Crostic puzzle, devised by Elizabeth Kingsley for the Saturday Review in 1934,…
- double action (weaponry)
small arm: Revolvers: …ejection of spent cartridges and double-action cocking. By linking the trigger to the hammer-cocking and cylinder-revolving mechanisms, double action permitted a pistol to be fired with a simple pull of the trigger. This mechanism was first introduced on a cap-and-ball revolver, the English Beaumont-Adams of 1855, but it was quickly…
- double agent (espionage)
Aldrich Ames: …one of the most successful double agents for the Soviet Union and Russia.
- Double Asteroid Redirection Test (United States space mission)
asteroid: Spacecraft exploration: The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was the first experiment in planetary defense, the possible redirection of a dangerous asteroid away from a collision with Earth. On September 26, 2022, DART collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits the larger asteroid Didymos. Dimorphos orbited Didymos…
- double bass (musical instrument)
double bass, stringed musical instrument, the lowest-pitched member of the orchestra, sounding an octave lower than the cello. It has two basic designs—one shaped like a viol (or viola da gamba) and the other like a violin—but there are other designs, such as that of a guitar. It varies
- double bond (chemical bonding)
covalent bond: …double lines (=) indicate a double bond between two atoms (i.e., involving two electron pairs), and triple lines (≡) represent a triple bond, as found, for example, in carbon monoxide (C≡O). Single bonds consist of one sigma (σ) bond, double bonds have one σ and one pi (π) bond, and…
- double bridle (riding equipment)
horsemanship: Bits: The double bridle is used for advanced schooling. It consists of a jointed snaffle and a straight bit placed together in the mouth, first the snaffle, then the bit, both functioning independently and attached to separate reins. The mouthpiece of the bit can have a port…
- double bypass (surgery)
coronary artery bypass: …though in the case of double bypass surgery one of the internal mammary arteries, which supply blood to the chest wall, can be diverted to supply the heart muscle. In some instances a vein from the wrist may be used.
- double chant (vocal music)
Anglican chant: The double chant (two successive verses set to different melodic formulas) traditionally dates from about 1700, but Robert Crowley’s psalter (1549) contains what is virtually the same thing. Triple and even quadruple forms also exist.
- double coconut (plant)
coco de mer, (Lodoicea maldivica), native palm of the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean. The flowers are borne in enormous fleshy spadices (spikes), the male and female on distinct plants. Coco de mer fruits, among the largest known, take about 10 years to ripen; they have a fleshy and fibrous
- Double Concerto (work by Carter)
Elliott Carter: The Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano, and two chamber orchestras (1961), which won rare praise from Igor Stravinsky, displayed Carter’s interest in unusual instrumentation and canonic texture (based on melodic imitation). The conflict generated between the two orchestral groups and the great difficulty of the concerto…
- Double Concerto (work by Martinů)
Bohuslav Martinů: The Double Concerto for two string orchestras (1940) is a powerful work expressing Czech suffering after the partition of Czechoslovakia (1938). His Memorial to Lidice (1943) is a short symphonic poem commemorating Czechs killed by the Nazis during their destruction of the village of Lidice in…
- double criminality (law)
extradition: Another common principle is double criminality, which stipulates that the alleged crime for which extradition is being sought must be criminal in both the demanding and the requested countries. Under the principle of specificity, the demanding state can prosecute the extraditee only for the offense for which the extradition…
- double cross (genetics)
origins of agriculture: Maize, or corn: The double cross was the basic technique used in developing modern hybrid maize and has been used by commercial firms since. Jones’s invention was to use four inbred lines instead of two in crossing. Simply, inbred lines A and B made one cross, lines C and…