Parsiism See Zoroastrianism and Parsiism
parsley Hardy biennial herb ( Petroselinum crispum) of the family Api- aceae, or Umbelliferae, native to Mediterranean lands. The compound leaves are used in cooking. The family Apiaceae, sometimes called the parsley family, contains 300-400 genera of plants found in a wide vari¬ ety of habitats, mostly in northern temperate regions. Most are aromatic herbs with feathery leaves. The flowers are often arranged in a conspicu¬ ous umbel (a flat-topped cluster). Many species are poisonous, including poison hemlock. Popular members of the family include carrot, celery, parsnip, and fennel. Species used as herbs and spices include anise, dill, coriander, caraway, and cumin ( Cuminum cyminum).
parsnip Plant (. Pastinaca sativa) of the parsley family, cultivated for its large, tapering, fleshy, edible white root, which has a distinctive, sweet flavour and is usually served as a cooked vegetable. At the end of sum¬ mer the solids of the root consist largely of starch, but a period of low temperature changes much of the starch to sugar. The root is hardy and not damaged by hard freezing of the soil. Native to Britain, Europe, and temperate Asia, the parsnip has become extensively naturalized in North America.
Parsons, Sir Charles Alger¬ non (b. June 13, 1854, London,
Eng.—d. Feb. 11, 1931, Kingston Harbour, Jam.) British mechanical engineer. He began work at the Arm¬ strong engineering works in New¬ castle upon Tyne in 1877 and formed his own company to manufacture turbines and other heavy machinery in 1889. He developed the multiple- stage turbine in 1884 and had intro¬ duced it in power plants to generate electricity by 1891. Modern steam and nuclear power plants still use turbines of this type to turn their gen¬ erators. He demonstrated his marine turbine in Turbinia, a vessel that attained a speed of over 34 knots in 1897; Parsons turbines made high¬ speed ocean liners possible.
Parsons, Elsie Clews orig. Elsie Worthington Clews (b. Nov. 27, 1875, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Dec. 19, 1941, New York City) U.S. sociologist, anthropologist, and folklorist. She was trained in sociology. Her early works, advocating women’s rights, included The Family (1906) and The Old-Fashioned Woman (1913). She later turned to anthropology under the influence of Franz Boas and Alfred L. Kroeber. Her Pueblo Indian Religion (1936) and Mitla (1936) remain standard studies of Pueblo and Zapotec Indian cultures. She also produced notable collections of West Indian and African American folklore.
Parsons, Talcott (b. Dec. 13, 1902, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S.—d. May 8, 1979, Munich, W.Ger.) U.S. sociologist. Parsons taught at Har¬ vard University from 1927 to 1973. He advocated a structural-functional analysis, a study of the ways that interrelated and interacting units form¬ ing the structures of a social system contribute to the system’s develop¬ ment and maintenance. He was largely responsible for introducing the work of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber to American sociologists. His major work is The Structure of Social Action (1937). See also functionalism.
Parson's Cause Dispute involving English clergy in colonial Virginia over payment of salaries. When the British vetoed colonial laws that sub¬ stituted currency for tobacco as payment for clerical salaries (1759), the clergy sued for back pay. In the most publicized case (1763), Patrick Henry defended a colonial parish against a suit by a clergyman, citing interfer¬ ence by the British and convincing a jury to return only one penny in damages. The clergy soon gave up their protest.
Part, Arvo (b. Sept. 11, 1935, Paide, Est.) Estonian composer. After years of experimentation, he began in the late 1970s to produce his own distinctive music. A devoutly Orthodox Christian, he developed a style based on the slow modulation of sounds such as those produced by bells and pure voice tones, a technique reminiscent of the medieval Notre-Dame school and the sacred music of Eastern Orthodoxy. His major works include the violin concerto Tabula Rasa (1977), Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (1977), Magnificat-Antiphones (1988), and The Beati¬ tudes (1991).
Partch, Harry (b. June 24, 1901, Oakland, Calif., U.S.—d. Sept. 3, 1974, San Diego, Calif.) U.S. composer and instrument maker. He grew up in Arizona and was largely self-taught musically. During the Great Depression, he traveled as a hobo, conceiving many of his musical ideas while doing so. About 1930 he began building original percussion and string instruments, tunable to 43 divisions of the octave. His works often involve theatrical elements, reflecting his interest in African, Japanese, and Native American ritual. They include Barstow — 8 Hitchhiker Inscrip-
(family Scaridae) of slender, blunt-
Parrot fish (Calotomus).
DOUGLAS FAULKNER
Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa).
G.R. ROBERTS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
parterre ► parturition I 1453
dons from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California (1941), US High¬ ball (1943), and And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell on Petaluma (1966).
parterre \par-'ter\ Division of garden beds in an ornamental pattern. The parterre grew out of the knot garden, a medieval form of bed in which various plant types were separated from each other by hedges. In the 16th century, the hedges were replaced by wooden or leaden shapes or by lines of shells or coal, and the areas between were filled with colored sand or stone chips. The naturalistic English garden of the 18th century displaced the elaborate parterre.
Parthenon Vpar-tho-.nanV Chief temple of Athena on the Acropolis at Athens. Built 447-432 bc by Ictinus and Callicrates under Pericles, it is considered the culmination of the Doric order. Though the white marble temple has suffered damage over the centuries, including the loss of most of its sculpture, its basic structure remains intact. The colonnade supports an entablature consisting of a plain architrave, a frieze of alternating tri¬ glyphs (grooved blocks) and metopes (plain blocks with relief sculpture) and, at the two ends, a triangular pediment. The colonnade consists of eight columns on the ends and 17 on the sides, enclosing a cella; the inte¬ rior originally held a great gold-and-ivory statue by Phidias. Such archi¬ tectural devices as entasis of the columns and an upward curvature of the base are used to correct optical illusions. Its sculpture rivaled its archi¬ tecture. The pediment sculptures represent the birth of Athena and her battle with Poseidon; a continuous frieze shows the annual Panathenaic procession of citizens honoring Athena. The entire work is a marvel of harmony and clarity. See also Elgin Marbles.
Parthenon, on the Acropolis, Athens, by Ictinus and Callicrates, 447-432 bc
ALISON FRANTZ
Parthia Ancient land, southwestern Asia. Corresponding roughly to modern northeastern Iran, it formed a province of the Persian Achaeme- nian dynasty and later of the empire of Alexander the Great. After the dis¬ solution of the Seleucid dynasty c. 250 bc, a new Parthian kingdom was founded by Arsaces. The Arsacid dynasty ruled until it was overthrown by the Sasanian dynasty c. ad 226. At its height in the early 1st century bc, it was known as the Parthian empire and included the area between the Euphrates and Indus rivers and between the Amu Darya and the Arabian Sea. It was weakened by internal disorder and by conflict with Rome in the 1st century bc. One of its later capitals was Hecatompylos. The ruins of Ctesiphon, another major Parthian city, are in modem Iraq, near Bagh¬ dad. The Parthians were famous as horsemen and archers.
Parti Quebecois \par-te-ka-be-'kwa\ Provincial Canadian political party founded in 1968 by Rene Levesque and other French-Canadian sepa¬ ratists in the province of Quebec. In the 1976 provincial election it won a majority in the Quebec assembly, which then decreed French as the province’s only official language of government and business. After a separatist referendum on independence failed (1980), the party lost mem¬ bership. The party revived in the 1990s, winning the provincial election in 1994. In 1995 the party held another referendum on secession, which was narrowly defeated.