McGraw-Hill concise encyclopedia of science & technology

2661 Pages·2005·53.22 MB·English

by  McGraw-Hill

McGRAW-HILL
CONCISE
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
FIFTH EDITION
McGRAW-HILL
CONCISE
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
FIFTH EDITION
McGraw-Hill
NewYork Chicago SanFrancisco Lisbon London Madrid MexicoCity
Milan NewDelhi SanJuan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
McGraw-Hillconciseencyclopediaofscience&technology.—5thed.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-07-142957-3
1.Science—Encyclopedias. 2.Technology—
Encyclopedias. I.Title:Conciseencyclopediaofscience&
technology.
Q121.M29 2004
503—dc22 2004054909
ThismaterialwasextractedfromtheMcGraw-HillEncyclopediaof
Science&Technology,NinthEdition,(cid:1)c 2002,EighthEdition,
(cid:1)c 1997,SeventhEdition,(cid:1)c 1992,SixthEdition,(cid:1)c 1987,Fifth
Edition,(cid:1)c 1982byTheMcGraw-HillCompanies,Inc.Allrights
reserved.
McGRAW-HILLCONCISEENCYCLOPEDIAOFSCIENCE&
TECHNOLOGY,FifthEdition,copyright(cid:1)c 2005byTheMcGraw-Hill
Companies,Inc.Allrightsreserved.PrintedintheUnitedStatesof
America.ExceptaspermittedundertheUnitedStatesCopyrightAct
of1976,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedordistributed
inanyformorbyanymeans,orstoredinadatabaseorretrieval
system,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
1234567890 DOW/DOW 010987654
Thisbookwasprintedonacid-freepaper.
ItwassetinHelveticaBlackandSouvenirLightbyTechBooks,
Fairfax,Virginia.
ThebookwasprintedandboundbyRRDonnelley,TheLakeside
Press.
Contents
Staff .........................................................................vi
Consulting Editors .........................................................vii
Preface ......................................................................ix
Organization of the Encyclopedia ..........................................xi
Articles A–Z ...........................................................1–2421
Appendix ...........................................................2425–2569
Bibliographies..................................................................2425
U.S.CustomarySystemandthemetricsystem...............................2449
InternationalSystem...........................................................2449
Conversionfactorsforthemeasurementsystems.............................2449
Unitsoftemperatureinmeasurementsystems................................2454
Symbolsforthechemicalelements............................................2454
Chemicalnomenclature.......................................................2454
Symbolsinscientificwriting...................................................2455
Mathematicalsignsandsymbols..............................................2458
Mathematicalnotation.........................................................2458
Fundamentalconstants........................................................2460
Fundamentalparticles.........................................................2463
Geologictimescaleandrelatedaspects.......................................2464
Biographicallisting.............................................................2465
Contributors .......................................................2489–2569
ContributorInitials.............................................................2489
ContributorAffiliations.........................................................2513
Index .....................................................................2571
Editorial Staff
Mark D. Licker, Publisher
Elizabeth Geller, ManagingEditor
Jonathan Weil, SeniorStaffEditor
David Blumel, Editor
Alyssa Rappaport, Editor
Charles Wagner, Manager,DigitalContent
Renee Taylor, EditorialAssistant
Editing, Design, and
Production Staff
Roger Kasunic, VicePresident—Editing,Design,andProduction
Joe Faulk, EditingManager
Frank Kotowski, Jr., SeniorEditingSupervisor
Ron Lane, ArtDirector
Vincent Piazza, AssistantArtDirector
Thomas G. Kowalczyk, ProductionManager
Pamela A. Pelton, SeniorProductionSupervisor
vi
Consulting Editors
Dr.MiltonB.Adesnik. DepartmentofCellBiology,NewYork Dr.MichaelR.Descour. OpticalSciencesCenter,University
UniversitySchoolofMedicine,NewYork.CELLBIOLOGY. ofArizona,Tucson.ELECTROMAGNETICRADIATIONANDOPTICS.
Prof. P. W. Atkins. Department of Chemistry, Lincoln Col- Dr. M. E. EI-Hawary. Associate Dean of Engineering, Dal-
lege/OxfordUniversity,Oxford,England.THERMODYNAMICS. housieUniversity,Halifax,NovaScotia,Canada.ELECTRICAL
A.EarleBailey. Deceased;formerly,SuperintendentofElec- POWERENGINEERING.
tricalScience,NationalPhysicalLaboratory,London.ELEC- Prof. Turgay Ertekin. Chairman, Department of Petroleum
TRICITYANDELECTROMAGNETISM. andNaturalGasEngineering,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity,
Prof. William P. Banks. Chairman,DepartmentofPsychol- UniversityPark.PETROLEUMENGINEERING.
ogy,PomonaCollege,Claremont,California.PHYSIOLOGICAL Prof. Alton M. Ferendeci. Department of Electrical and
ANDEXPERIMENTALPSYCHOLOGY. ComputerEngineeringandComputerScience,Universityof
Prof.TedBarnes. PhysicsDivision,OakRidgeNationalLabo- Cincinnati,Ohio.PHYSICALELECTRONICS.
ratory,OakRidge,Tennessee.ELEMENTARYPARTICLEPHYSICS. Barry A. J. Fisher. Director,ScientificServicesBureau,Los
Dr. Paul Barrett. DepartmentofPalaeontology,TheNatural Angeles County Sheriff’sDepartment, California. FORENSIC
HistoryMuseum,London.VERTEBRATEPALEONTOLOGY. SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY.
Prof.RayBenekohal. DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmen- Peter A. Gale. Chief Naval Architect, John J. McMullen As-
talEngineering,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign. sociates, Inc., Arlington, Virginia. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE AND
TRANSPORTATIONENGINEERING. MARINEENGINEERING.
Prof. Carrol Bingham. Department of Physics, University Dr.RichardL.Greenspan. TheCharlesStarkDraperLabo-
of Tennessee, Knoxville. NUCLEAR AND ELEMENTARY PARTICLE ratory,Cambridge,Massachusetts.NAVIGATION.
PHYSICS. Dr.JohnP.Harley. DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,East-
MichaelL.Bosworth. Vienna,Virginia.NAVALARCHITECTURE ernKentuckyUniversity,Richmond.MICROBIOLOGY.
ANDMARINEENGINEERING. Prof.TerryHarrison. DepartmentofAnthropology,Paleoan-
Dr.ChaimBraun. Retired;formerly,AltosManagementCon- thropologyLaboratory,NewYorkUniversity,NewYork.AN-
sultants,Inc.,LosAltos,California.NUCLEARENGINEERING. THROPOLOGYANDARCHEOLOGY.
Robert D. Briskman. Technical Executive, Sirius Satellite Dr. Ralph E. Hoffman. AssociateProfessor,YalePsychiatric
Radio,NewYork.TELECOMMUNICATIONS. Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven,
Prof. Richard O. Buckius. Department of Mechanical Connecticut.PSYCHIATRY.
and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana- Dr. Gary C. Hogg. Chair, Department of Industrial Engi-
Champaign.MECHANICALENGINEERING. neering,ArizonaStateUniversity.INDUSTRIALANDPRODUCTION
Prof. Laurie J. Butler. DepartmentofChemistry,University ENGINEERING.
ofChicago.PHYSICALCHEMISTRY. Prof.GordonHolloway.DepartmentofMechanicalEngineer-
Dr.MarkChase. MolecularSystematicsSection,JodrellLab- ing,UniversityofNewBrunswick,Canada.FLUIDMECHANICS.
oratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, Dr. S. C. Jong. SeniorStaffScientistandProgramDirector,
UnitedKingdom.PLANTTAXONOMY. MycologyandProtistologyProgram,AmericanTypeCulture
Prof.Wai-FahChen. Dean,CollegeofEngineering,University Collection,Manassas,Virginia.MYCOLOGY.
ofHawaii,Honolulu.CIVILENGINEERING. Dr. Peter M. Kareiva. Director of Conservation and Policy
Dr.JohnF.Clark. Director,GraduateStudies,andProfessor, Projects, Environmental Studies Institute, Santa Clara Uni-
SpaceSystems,SpaceportGraduateCenter,FloridaInstitute versity,SantaClara,California.ECOLOGYANDCONSERVATION.
ofTechnology,SatelliteBeach.SPACETECHNOLOGY. Prof. Gabriel N. Karpouzian. Aerospace Engineering
Dr. J. John Cohen. Department of Immunology, University Department, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.
ofColoradoSchoolofMedicine,Denver.IMMUNOLOGY. AEROSPACEENGINEERINGANDPROPULSION.
Prof. David L. Cowan. Chairman, Department of Physics Dr.BryanA.Kibble. NationalPhysicalLaboratory,Tedding-
andAstronomy,UniversityofMissouri,Columbia.CLASSICAL ton,Middlesex,UnitedKingdom.ELECTRICITYANDELECTRO-
MECHANICSANDHEAT. MAGNETISM.
Prof.MarkDavies. DepartmentofMechanical&Aeronautical Dr. Arnold G. Kluge. Division of Reptiles and Amphibians,
Engineering, University of Limerick, Ireland. AERONAUTICAL MuseumofZoology,AnnArbor,Michigan.SYSTEMATICS.
ENGINEERINGANDPROPULSION. Prof. Robert E. Knowlton. Department of Biological Sci-
Dr. Peter J. Davies. Professor,DepartmentofPlantBiology, ences, George Washington University, Washington, DC. IN-
CornellUniversity,Ithaca,NewYork.PLANTPHYSIOLOGY. VERTEBRATEZOOLOGY.
vii
Dr. Cynthia Larive. DepartmentofChemistry,Universityof Dr.RogerM.Rowell. USDA-ForestService,ForestProducts
Kansas,Lawrence.INORGANICCHEMISTRY. Laboratory,Madison,Wisconsin.FORESTRY.
Prof.Chao-JunLi. DepartmentofChemistry,TulaneUniver- Prof. John L. Safko. Department of Physics and Astron-
sity,NewOrleans,Louisiana.ORGANICCHEMISTRY. omy, University of South Carolina, Columbia. CLASSICAL
Dr. Donald W. Linzey. Wytheville Community College, MECHANICS.
Wytheville,Virginia.VERTEBRATEZOOLOGY. Dr.AndrewP.Sage. FoundingDeanEmeritusandFirstAmer-
icanBankProfessor,UniversityProfessor,SchoolofInforma-
Dr. Philip V. Lopresti. Retired; formerly, Engineering Re-
tionTechnologyandEngineering,GeorgeMasonUniversity,
search Center, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Princeton, New
Jersey.ELECTRONICCIRCUITS. Fairfax,Virginia.CONTROLANDINFORMATIONSYSTEMS.
Prof.IvanK.Schuller. DepartmentofPhysics,Universityof
Dr. Andrew D. Luster. Department of Medicine, Mas-
sachusettsGeneralHospital,Charlestown.IMMUNOLOGYAND California,SanDiego.CONDENSED-MATTERPHYSICS.
VIROLOGY. Richard P. Schulz. American Electric Power Co., Gahanna,
Prof. Barry M. McCoy. C. N. Yang Institute of Theoretical Ohio.ELECTRICALPOWERENGINEERING.
Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, State Uni- Dr.DavidM.Sherman. DepartmentofEarthSciences,Uni-
versityofNewYorkatStonyBrook.THEORETICALPHYSICS. versityofBristol,UnitedKingdom.MINERALOGY.
Prof. Scott M. McLennan. Chair, Department of Geo- Dr. Steven A. Slack. Associate Vice President for Agricul-
sciences,StateUniversityofNewYorkatStonyBrook.GE- turalAdministration,Director,OhioAgriculturalResearchand
OLOGY(PHYSICAL,HISTORICAL,ANDSEDIMENTARY). DevelopmentCenter,andAssociateDeanforResearch,Col-
legeofFood,Agricultural,andEnvironmentalSciences,Ohio
Dr. Philip L. Marston. Department of Physics, Washington
StateUniversity,Pullman.ACOUSTICS. StateUniversity,Wooster.PLANTPATHOLOGY.
Prof. Arthur A. Spector. DepartmentofBiochemistry,Uni-
Dr.RamonA.Mata-Toledo. AssociateProfessorofComputer
versityofIowa,IowaCity.BIOCHEMISTRY.
Science,JamesMadisonUniversity,Harrisonburg,Virginia.
COMPUTERS. Dr. Bruce A. Stanley. Director, Scientific Programs, Sec-
tion of Technology Development and Research Resources,
Prof. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski. J. C. Warner Professor of
Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
NaturalSciences,DepartmentofChemistry,CarnegieMellon
PHYSIOLOGY.
University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. POLYMER SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING. Prof.AnthonyP.Stanton. CarnegieMellonUniversity,Pitts-
burgh,Pennsylvania.GRAPHICARTSANDPHOTOGRAPHY.
Dr. Henry F. Mayland. Soil Scientist, Northwest Irrigation
andSoilsResearchLaboratory,USDA-ARS,Kimberly,Idaho. Dr.TrentStephens. DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,Idaho
SOILS. StateUniversity,Pocatello.DEVELOPMENTALBIOLOGY.
Prof. Joel S. Miller. DepartmentofChemistry,Universityof Prof. John F. Timoney. Department of Veterinary Science,
Utah,SaltLakeCity.INORGANICCHEMISTRY. UniversityofKentucky,Lexington.VETERINARYMEDICINE.
Dr.OrlandoJ.Miller. ProfessorEmeritus,CenterforMolec- Prof. Sam Treiman. Deceased; formerly, Department of
ularMedicineandGenetics,WayneStateUniversitySchool Physics, Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University,
ofMedicine,Detroit,Michigan.GENETICSANDEVOLUTION. Princeton,NewJersey.THEORETICALPHYSICS.
Prof. Jay M. Pasachoff. Director, Hopkins Observatory, Dr. Bruce A. Voyles. Professor, Department of Biological
WilliamsCollege,Williamstown,Massachusetts.ASTRONOMY. Chemistry,GrinnellCollege,Iowa.VIROLOGY.
Prof. David J. Pegg. Department of Physics, University of Dr.SallyE.Walker. AssociateProfessorofGeologyandMa-
Tennessee,Knoxville.ATOMICANDMOLECULARPHYSICS. rineScience,UniversityofGeorgia,Athens.INVERTEBRATEPA-
LEONTOLOGY.
Prof.J.JeffreyPeirce. DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmen-
talEngineering,EdmundT.PrattJr.SchoolofEngineering, Prof.PaoK.Wang. DepartmentofAtmosphericandOceanic
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. ENVIRONMENTAL Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison. METEOROLOGY
ENGINEERING. ANDCLIMATOLOGY.
Dr. William C. Peters. ProfessorEmeritus,MiningandGe- Dr.NicoleY.Weekes. PomonaCollege,Claremont,Califor-
ological Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson. MINING nia.NEUROPSYCHOLOGY.
ENGINEERING. Prof. Frank M. White. DepartmentofMechanicalEngineer-
Prof.AllanD.Pierce. DepartmentofAerospace&Mechan- ing,UniversityofRhodeIsland,Kingston.FLUIDMECHANICS.
icalEngineering,BostonUniversity.ACOUSTICS. Prof.MaryAnneWhite. KillamResearchProfessorinMateri-
Prof.ArthurN.Popper. DepartmentofBiology,Universityof alsScience,DepartmentofChemistry,DalhousieUniversity,
Maryland,CollegePark.NEUROSCIENCE. Halifax,NovaScotia,Canada.MATERIALSSCIENCEANDMETAL-
LURGICENGINEERING.
Dr. Kenneth P. H. Pritzker. Pathologist-in-Chief and Direc-
tor,Head,ConnectiveTissueResearchGroup,andProfessor, Prof. Thomas A. Wikle. Head, Department of Geography,
LaboratoryMedicineandPathobiology,UniversityofToronto, OklahomaStateUniversity,Stillwater.PHYSICALGEOGRAPHY.
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. MEDICINE Dr. Gary Wnek. Department of Chemical Engineering, Vir-
ANDPATHOLOGY. giniaCommonwealthUniversity,Richmond.CHEMICALENGI-
Prof. Justin Revenaugh. Department of Geology and NEERING.
Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. GEO- Dr.JamesC.Wyant. UniversityofArizonaOpticalSciences
PHYSICS. Center,Tucson.ELECTROMAGNETICRADIATIONANDOPTICS.
viii
Preface
Formorethanfourdecades,theMcGraw-HillEncyclopediaof extensive detail. The articles retain the identity of the original
Science&Technologyhasbeenanindispensablescientificrefer- authors, all recognized experts, whose affiliations are included
enceworkforabroadrangeofreaders,fromstudentstoprofes- inacompletealphabeticallistingofContributors.
sionalsandinterestedgeneralreaders.Foundinmanythousands
oflibrariesaroundtheworld,its20volumesauthoritativelycover Thereaderwillfindover7300alphabeticallyarrangedentries,
everymajorfieldofscience.However,theneedsofmanyread- many illustrated with images or diagrams. Most include cross
ers will also be served by a concise work still covering the full references to other articles for background reading or further
breadthofscienceandtechnology. study. Dual measurement units (U.S. Customary and Interna-
tional System) are used throughout. The Appendix includes
Withthisinmind,theeditorsconceivedashorterversionofthe usefulinformationcomplementingthearticles.Finally,theIndex
multivolumeworkthatwouldretaintheauthoritativeness,accu- providesquickaccesstospecificinformationthereaderneeds.
racy, clarity, timeliness, quality, and coverage in a convenient,
conciseformat.TheresultistheMcGraw-HillConciseEncyclo- Thisconcisereferencewillfilltheneedforaccurate,currentsci-
pedia of Science & Technology, Fifth Edition. To achieve this entific and technical information in a convenient, economical
convenientsinglevolume,theeditorsextractedtheessentialtext format.Itcanserveasthestartingpointforresearchbyanyone
from each article in the parent work while retaining the same seriouslyinterestedinscience,evenprofessionalsseekinginfor-
proportionalitybetweensubjects.Thelengthofeacharticlegen- mationoutsidetheirownspecialty.Itshouldprovetobeamuch
erallysuitstheimportanceandcomplexityofthesubjectaswell usedandmuchtrustedadditiontothereader’s bookshelf.
as the current state of knowledge on this topic. The material
has been condensed so that it is appropriate to the likely re- MARKD.LICKER
quirements of the reader seeking helpful information without Publisher
ix
Organization of
the Encyclopedia
Alphabetization. The 7300 article titles are sequenced on a provided by the discussion in the Appendix, which also has
word-by-wordbasis,notletterbyletter.Hyphenatedwordsare handyconversiontables.
treated as separate words. In occasional inverted article titles,
Contributors.Theauthorshipofeacharticleisspecifiedatits
the comma provides a full stop. The Index is alphabetized on
conclusion, in the form of the contributor’sinitials for brevity.
the same principles. Readers can turn directly to the pages for
Thecontributor’sfullnameandaffiliationmaybefoundinthe
muchoftheirresearch.Anexampleofsequencingis:
“ContributorAffiliations”sectionatthebackofthevolume.
Appendix. Every user should explore the variety of succinct
Air Airpressure
informationsuppliedbytheAppendix,whichincludesmeasure-
Airbrake Air-trafficcontrol
menttables,mathematicalnotation,fundamentalconstants,and
Air-cushionvehicle Airborneradar
scientific notation; and a biographical listing of scientists. For
Airpollution Aircraft
userswishingtogobeyondthescopeofthisEncyclopedia,rec-
Airpollution,indoor Aistopoda
ommendedbooksandjournalsarelistedintheBibliographies
subsection of the Appendix; the titles are grouped by subject
Cross references. Virtually every article has cross references area.
set in CAPITALS AND SMALL CAPITALS. These references offer the
Index.The30,000-entryIndexoffersthereaderthetime-saving
user the option of turning to other articles in the volume for
convenienceofbeingabletoquicklylocatespecificinformation
relatedinformation.
inthetext,ratherthanapproachingtheEncyclopediaviaarticle
Measurementunits.SincesomereadersprefertheU.S.Cus- titles only. This elaborate breakdown of the volume’scontents
tomary system while others require the metric or International assures both the general reader and the professional of effi-
System of Units (SI), measurements in the Encyclopedia are cientuseoftheMcGraw-HillConciseEncyclopediaofScience
given in dual units. Insight into the measurement systems is &Technology.
xi