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(1735). There he became the first to develop principles for defining gen¬ era and species of organisms and to create a uniform system for naming them, binomial nomenclature. Linnae¬ us’s system was based mainly on flower parts, which tend to remain unchanged during evolution. Though artificial, such a system was valuable in that it enabled students to place a plant rapidly in a named category.
Linnaeus not only systematized the plant and animal kingdoms, but he also classified the mineral kingdom and wrote a study of the diseases known in his day. His manuscripts, herbarium, and collections are pre¬ served by London’s Linnaean Soci¬ ety. His works include Systema Naturae (1735), Fundamenta Botan- ica (1736), and Species Plantarum
(1753).
linoleum Smooth-surfaced floor covering made from a mixture of oxi¬ dized linseed oil, resins, and other substances such as binder, fillers, and pigments, applied to a felt or canvas backing. Linoleum is flexible, warm, and unaffected by ordinary floor temperatures, and it does not readily burn. It is specially hardened to resist indentation and is not susceptible to damage from fats, oils, greases, or organic solvents.
Linotype Vll-na-.tlpV Trademark name for a typesetting machine by which characters are cast in type metal as a complete line, rather than as indi¬ vidual characters (as on the Monotype typesetting machine). It was pat¬ ented in 1884 by Ottmar Mergenthaler. It has now been almost entirely supplanted by photocomposition. In Linotype, a keyboard is manipulated to compose each line of text. The slugs produced by the machine are rect¬ angular solids of type metal (an alloy of lead, antimony, and tin) with raised characters that are a mirror image of the desired printed line. After hot-metal casting, the slug of type, air-cooled briefly, is placed in a “stick” for insertion in the proper position into the press form being made up. See also letterpress printing, printing.
Linux \'li-naks\ Nonproprietary operating system (OS) for digital com¬ puters. In 1991 Linus Torvalds of Finland began asking for volunteer pro¬ grammers over the Internet to collaborate on the development of a UNIX- like OS for personal computers; the “1.0” release of Linux was in 1994. A true multiuser, multitasking system, Linux contained features (e.g., vir¬ tual memory, shared libraries, memory management, and TCP/IP net¬ working) formerly only found on mainframe computers. With its source code freely available, thousands of volunteers, as well as several compa¬ nies that sell prepackaged Linux products, have contributed to the OS. A reliable, fast-performing system with good security features, Linux is popular for corporate computer network and Web servers.
Linz \Tints\ ancient Lentia City (pop., 2001: 183,504), north-central Austria. Located on the Danube River west of Vienna and on the direct rail route between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, it originated as a Roman for¬ tress. An important medieval trading centre, it was noted for its fairs in the 15th century. Linz was badly damaged in World War II. It is now a cultural centre and the seat of Johannes Kepler University.
lion Large, powerfully built cat (Panthera leo ), the proverbial “king of beasts.” It is now found mainly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, though about two hundred constitute an Asi¬ atic race living under strict protec¬ tion in India. Lions inhabit grassy plains and open savanna. The male is 6-7 ft (1.8-2.1 m) long, excluding the 3-ft (1-m) tail, stands about 4 ft (1.2 m) high at the shoulder, and weighs 370-500 lbs (170-230 kg).
The female, or lioness, is consider¬ ably smaller. The male’s coat is usu¬
ally buff yellow or orange-brown; lionesses are more consistently tawny or sandy. The male’s outstanding characteristic is his mane. Lions are unique among cats in that they live in a group, or pride, often consisting of about 15 individuals. Lionesses are the chief hunters. They prey on animals of all sizes, including hippopotamuses, but prefer wildebeests, antelopes, and zebras. After eating, a lion may rest for a week.
Lion, Gulf of Gulf of the Mediterranean Sea, extending along the coast of southern France from the Spanish border to Toulon. Major ports along the gulf are Marseille and Sete.
lionfish Any of several species of showy Indo-Pacific fish of the scorpion-fish family (Scorpaenidae), noted for their venomous fin spines, which can inflict painful, though rarely fatal, puncture wounds. Lionfish have enlarged pectoral fins and elongated dorsal fin spines, and each spe¬ cies bears a particular pattern of bold stripes. When disturbed, the fish spread and display their fins, and, if further pressed, present and attack with the dorsal spines. Pterois volitans, sometimes kept by fish fanciers, is striped with red, brown, and white and grows to about 12 in. (30 cm) long. Several smaller Indo-Pacific species of the genus Dendrochirus are also known as lionfish.
Lions Clubs, International Association of Civilian service club. The largest such organization in the world, it was founded in Dallas, Texas, U.S. in 1917 to foster a spirit of “generous consideration” among peoples of the world and to promote good government, good citizenship, and active interest in civic, social, commercial, and moral welfare. Its activities include general community welfare projects, aid to the blind, promotion of knowledge, and support for the UN. Lions Clubs operate in some 190 countries.
Lipari Islands See Eolie Islands
Lipchitz Vlip-shits\, Jacques orig. Chaim Jacob Lipchitz (b. Aug. 10, 1891, Druskininkai, Lithuania, Russian Empire —d. May 26, 1973, Capri, Italy) Lithuanian-bom French sculptor, he was also active in the U.S. Trained as an engineer in Vilnius, he turned to sculpture after mov¬ ing to Paris in 1909. His early work was Cubist in style. Around 1925 he began producing a series of works known as “transparents,” open-spaced, curvilinear bronzes, such as Harpist (1928), which would greatly influ¬ ence the course of sculpture in the following quarter-century. After set¬ tling near New York City in 1941, he produced such massive works as The Prayer (1943) and Bellerophon Taming Pegasus (1966).
lipid \'lip-3d\ Any of a diverse class of organic compounds, found in all living things, that are greasy and insoluble in water. One of the three large classes of substances in foods and living cells, lipids contain more than twice as much energy (calories) per unit of weight as the other two (pro¬ teins and carbohydrates). They include the fats and edible oils (e.g., but¬ ter, olive oil, corn oil), which are primarily triglycerides; phospholipids (e.g., lecithin), which are important in cell structure and metabolism; WAXes of animal or plant origin; and sphingolipids, complex substances found in various tissues of the brain and nervous system. Since insolubility is the defining characteristic, cholesterol and related steroids, carotenoids (see carotene), prostaglandins, and various other compounds are also clas¬ sifiable as lipids.
lipid storage disease Any of a group of relatively rare hereditary disorders of fat metabolism in which enzyme defects cause distinctive types of lipids to accumulate. They include Tay-Sachs disease, Gaucher disease, Niemann-Pick disease, and Fabry disease. Several are unbeatable and cause death before age five; others occur in adulthood.
Lipizzaner or Lippizaner V.li-pot-'sa-noiA Breed of light horse named for the Austrian imperial stud at Lipizza, near Trieste, formerly part of Austria-Hungary. The founding of the breed, which has six strains, dates to 1580. Lipizzaners have a long back and a short, thick neck, average 15-16 hands (about 60-64 in., or 152-164 cm) in height and 1,000-1,300 lbs (450-585 kg) in weight, and are usually gray. Some are found in countries that were originally part of Austria-Hungary; a few have been exported to the U.S. The best known are those trained at Vienna’s Span¬ ish Riding School.