appanage Va-po-nij\ In France, primarily from the 13th to the 16th century, the giving of lands or pen¬ sions to children of the royal family.
Established to provide for the younger brothers and sisters of the king, appanages also helped develop royal administration within the lands con¬ cerned. The Ordinance of Moulins (1566) made royal lands inalienable, so all appanages would eventually revert to the crown. They were abol¬ ished during the French Revolution but were briefly reestablished between 1810 and 1832.
appeal Resort to a higher court to review the decision of a lower court, or to any court to review the order of an administrative agency. Its scope is usually limited. In the U.S., the higher court reviews only matters in the record of the original trial; no new evidence can be presented. The Supreme Court of the United States hears appellate cases that it regards as having important implications; otherwise, appeals generally stop with the United States Courts of Appeals. See also certiorari.
appeasement Foreign policy of pacifying an aggrieved nation through negotiation in order to prevent war. The prime example is Britain’s policy toward Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Neville Chamberlain sought to accommodate Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and took no action when Germany absorbed Austria in 1938. When Adolf Hitler pre¬ pared to annex ethnically German portions of Czechoslovakia, Chamber- lain negotiated the notorious Munich Agreement.
Appel \'a-pel\, Karel (b. April 25, 1921, Amsterdam, Neth.) Dutch painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. He attended Amsterdam’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts (1940-43) and was cofounder of the COBRA group of northern European Expressionists. In 1950 he moved to Paris; by the 1960s he had settled in New York City. An exponent of expressive abstrac¬ tion, he developed a painting style characterized by thick layering of pig¬ ment, violent colour and brushwork, and crude, reductive figures. His
figurative sculptures are executed in metal and wood. He painted portraits of jazz musicians and a number of public works, including a mural in the Paris UNESCO building.
appendix in full vermiform appendix Vestigial hollow tube attached to the cecum of the large intestine. The human appendix, usually 3-4 in. (8-10 cm) long and less than 0.5 in. (1.3 cm) wide, has no diges¬ tive function. Its muscular walls expel their own mucous secretions or any intestinal contents that enter it. Blockage of the opening may prevent expulsion and cause appendicitis: fluids collect, bacteria propagate, and the appendix becomes distended and inflamed; tissue in the appendix begins to die, and the organ may burst, causing peritonitis. Its symptoms may begin with moderate pain in the upper abdomen, about the navel, or all over the abdomen. Nausea and vomiting may then develop. The pain may shift to the right lower abdomen. Fever is usually present but is sel¬ dom high in the early phases. Differentiating acute appendicitis from other causes of abdominal pain requires careful examination. Treatment is removal of the appendix (appendectomy).
Appian Way Va-pe-3n\ Latin Via Appia. First and most famous of the ancient Roman roads, running from Rome to Campania and southern Italy. Begun in 312 bc by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, the road originally ran 132 mi (212 km) to ancient Capua; by 244 bc it extended 230 mi (370 km) to the port of Brundisium (Brindisi) in Italy’s heel. Built of smoothly fitted blocks of lava on a heavy stone foundation, the road provided a long-lasting surface for transporting merchandise to these sea¬ ports (and thence by ship to Greece and the eastern Mediterranean). Remains can be seen today outside Rome.
apple Fruit of the genus Malus, in the rose family, the most widely cul¬ tivated tree fruit. Malus species are native to the temperate zones of both hemispheres. They require a considerable period of dormancy, well- drained soil, careful pruning in early years of growth, and a rigorous pest- management program for mature trees. The apple is one of the pome (fleshy) fruits. Apples at harvest vary widely in size, shape, colour, and acidity, but most are fairly round and some shade of red or yellow. The thousands of varieties fall into three broad classes: cider, cooking, and dessert varieties. Varieties that ripen in late summer generally do not store well, but those that ripen in late autumn may be stored for as long as a year. The largest producers of apples are the U.S., China, France, Italy, and Turkey. Eaten fresh or cooked in various ways, apples provide vita¬ mins A and C, carbohydrates, and fibre.
Apple Computer, Inc. Microcomputer design and manufacturing company, the first successful personal-computer company. It was founded in 1976 by Steven P. Jobs and Stephen G. Wozniak, whose first computer was manufactured in the Jobs family’s garage. The Apple II (1977), with its plastic case and colour graphics, launched the company to success, earning Apple over $100 million by 1980, the year the company first offered stock to the public. The 1981 introduction of IBM’s PC, running a Microsoft Corp. operating system, marked the beginning of long-term competition for Apple in the personal-computer market. The Macintosh, introduced in 1984, was the first personal computer to use a graphical user interface and a mouse. The “Mac” initially sold poorly, and Jobs left the company in 1985, but eventually it found its niche in the desktop pub¬ lishing market. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows operating system eroded Apple’s market share. Apple recalled Jobs in 1997. He returned the company to profitability by introducing more innovative products, such as the iMac. Apple introduced iTunes, software for playing music that has been converted to the MP3 format, and the iPod portable MP3 music player in 2001; in 2003 the company began selling downloadable copies of major record company songs in MP3 format over the Internet.
apple scab Disease of apple trees caused by the fungus Venturia inaequalis , producing dark blotches or lesions on the leaves, fruit, and sometimes young twigs. Affected plants may drop their fruit prematurely, resulting in potentially high crop losses. Apple scab is found wherever apples are grown but is most severe where spring and summer are cool and moist. All apple species are affected. Regular spraying with fungicides is the most effective method of controlling the disease.
Appleseed, Johnny orig. John Chapman (b. Sept. 26, 1774, Leominster, Mass.—d. March 18?, 1845, near Ft. Wayne, Ind., U.S.) U.S. pioneer and folk hero. He was trained as a nurseryman and began c. 1800 collecting apple seeds from cider presses in Pennsylvania. He then trav¬ eled west to the Ohio River valley, planting apple seeds along the way. He tended 1,200 acres of his own orchards and was responsible for hun-
m > i
Appaloosa
SALLY ANNE THOMPSON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
applied psychology ► aquaculture I 91
dreds of square miles of others, having sold or given away thousands of apple seedlings to pioneers. His kind and generous nature, devout spiri¬ tuality, affinity for the Indians and the wilderness, and eccentric appear¬ ance (including bare feet, a coffee-sack shirt, and a mush pan for a hat) helped make him a figure of legend.
applied psychology Branch of psychology concerned with solving practical problems of human behaviour by using the findings and meth¬ ods of psychological science. Intelligence testing, legal problems, indus¬ trial efficiency, motivation, and delinquency were among the first areas of application in the early 20th century. World Wars I and II fostered work on vocational testing, teaching methods, evaluation of attitudes and morale, performance under stress, propaganda and psychological warfare, and rehabilitation. The aviation and aerospace industries were important for the development of engineering psychology, the study of human- machine relationships. Other areas include consumer psychology, school psychology, and community psychology. See also industrial-organizational psychology; psychometrics.