Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann (b. Nov. 22, 1710, Weimar, Saxe- Weimar—d. July 1, 1784, Berlin) German composer and organist. Eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he was trained by his father. One of the finest organists of his time, he held important organist posts in Dresden (1723-46) and Halle (1746-64) but thereafter lived an unsettled life and drifted into drinking and poverty. Though he was a highly gifted com¬ poser, his compositions veered confusingly between the old contrapuntal style and the new pre-Classical styles. He wrote more than 30 church can¬ tatas, several keyboard concertos, and many solo keyboard works.
Bacharach Vbak-o-.rakN, Burt (b. May 12, 1928, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.) U.S. songwriter and pianist. He studied under Darius Milhaud, Bohuslav Martinu, and Henry Cowell. In the 1950s he wrote arrangements for Steve Lawrence and Vic Damone and later toured with Marlene Dietrich. In the late 1950s he began his long association with lyricist Hal David (b. 1921), which would produce many hits especially for singer Dionne Warwick (b. 1940), including “Walk On By,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” He and David wrote the successful musical Promises, Promises (1968) and the score for the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, Academy Award). Bacharach collaborated with singer-songwriter Elvis Costello (b. 1954) on the album Painted from Memory (1998).
Bachchan, Amitabh (b. Oct. 11, 1942, Allahabad, India) Indian film actor. Bachchan’s first film success was Zanjeer (1973); by the end of the 1970s he was something of a cultural phenonemon in India and was regarded as the most popular star in the history of Indian films. He is often compared to such American action stars as Clint Eastwood, although Bachchan’s talents also extend to singing, dancing, and comedy. After a brief stint in politics in the mid 1980s, Bachchan gained a new genera¬ tion of fans in the next decade as host of the television game show Kaun banega crorepati, the Indian version of the U.S. and U.K. hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
bachelor's button or cornflower Herbaceous, hardy annual plant (Centaurea cyanus) of the composite family, having flower heads with blue, pink, or white rays. It is native to the Mediterranean region and widely cultivated in North America. A common garden plant, it often also appears as a weed.
bacillus \b3-'si-l3s\ Any of the rod-shaped, gram-positive bacteria (see gram stain) that make up the genus Bacillus, widely found in soil and water. The term is sometimes applied to all rodlike bacteria. Bacilli fre¬ quently occur in chains and can form spores under unfavourable environ¬ mental conditions. Resistant to heat, chemicals, and sunlight, these spores may remain capable of growing and developing for long periods of time. One type sometimes causes spoilage in canned foods. Another, wide¬
spread bacillus contaminates laboratory cultures and is often found on human skin. Most strains do not cause disease in humans, infecting them only incidentally in their role as soil organisms; a notable exception is B. anthracis, which causes anthrax. Some bacilli produce antibiotics.
backbone See vertebral column
backgammon Two-person game played by moving counters (called stones) on a board or table, the movement of the counters being controlled by the throw of two dice. The board has four sections (called tables), each marked with six narrow wedges (points) in two alternating colors. Rep¬ resenting the two opposing sides are 15 white and 15 black stones. Stones are moved from point to point in opposite directions according to the number of points shown on the dice. On getting all 15 of his stones into his own home (inner) table, a player may begin “bearing off”—moving his stones to an imaginary point beyond the edge of the board. The player who first bears off all 15 stones wins the game. Backgammon is one of the most ancient board games, dating from 3000 bc.
backpacking Sport of hiking while carrying clothing, food, and camp¬ ing equipment in a pack on the back. In the early 20th century backpack¬ ing was primarily a means of getting to wilderness areas inaccessible by car or by day hike. It subsequently became associated with general tour¬ ing by foot in urban as well as wilderness settings. Types of packs range from the frameless rucksack to the contour frame pack, with a frame of aluminum tubing and often a waistband that transfers most of the pack’s weight to the hips.
Backus, John W(arner) (b. Dec. 3, 1924, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) U.S. mathematician. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University. He was head of a small group that in 1957 devel¬ oped the computer language FORTRAN for numerical analysis. He con¬ tributed to the development of ALGOL and developed a notation known as the Backus Normal, or Backus-Naur, Form for defining the syntax of a programmable language (1959). He received the Turing Award in 1977.
Bacolod \bo- , ko- l l6d\ City (pop., 2000: 429,076), south-central Philip¬ pines. It lies on the Guimaras Strait in the north of the island of Negros, opposite Guimaras Island. It is regarded as the Philippine sugar capital. Its port, to the south, is important for fishing.
Bacon, Francis (b. Oct. 28, 1909, Dublin, Ire.—d. April 28, 1992, Madrid, Spain) Irish-British painter. He lived in Berlin and Paris before settling in London (1929) to begin a career as an interior decorator. With no formal art training, he started painting, drawing, and participating in gallery exhibitions, with little success. In 1944 he achieved instant noto¬ riety with a series of controversial paintings, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. His mature style emerged completely with the series of works known as “The Screaming Popes” (1949-mid- 1950s), in which he converted Diego Velazquez’s famous Portrait of Pope Innocent X into a nightmarish icon of hysterical terror. Most of Bacon’s paintings depict isolated figures, often framed by geometric constructions, and ren¬ dered in smeared, violent colours. His imagery typically suggests anger, horror, and degradation.
Bacon, Francis, Viscount St. Albans (b. Jan. 22, 1561, London, Eng.—d. April 9, 1626, London) British statesman and philosopher, father of modem scientific method. He studied at Cambridge and at Gray’s Inn. A supporter of the Earl of Essex, Bacon turned against him when Essex was tried for treason. Under James I he rose steadily, becoming succes¬ sively solicitor general (1607), attorney general (1613), and lord chan¬ cellor (1618). Convicted of accepting bribes from those being tried in his court, he was briefly imprisoned and permanently lost his public offices; he died deeply in debt. He attempted to put natural science on a firm empirical foundation in the Novum Organum (1620), which sets forth his scientific method. His elaborate classification of the sciences inspired the 18th-century French Encyclopedists (see Encyclopedie), and his empiricism inspired 19th-century British philosophers of science. His other works include The Advancement of Learning (1605), History of Henry VII (1622), and several important legal and constitutional works.
Bacon, Nathaniel (b. Jan. 2, 1647, Suffolk, Eng.—d. October 1676, Virginia Colony) British-born American colonial planter, leader of Bacon’s Rebellion. He emigrated from England in 1673 and acquired land in Virginia, where he was appointed to the council of William Berkeley, the British governor. After a dispute over Indian policy, he defied Berkeley’s orders and organized an expedition against the Indians in 1676. He then
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Bacon ► Badlands I 147
turned his forces against Berkeley, captured Jamestown, and briefly controlled most of Virginia. His death at age 29 of influenza, at the height of his power, ended the rebel¬ lion.
Bacon, Roger (b. c. 1220, Ilches- ter, Somerset, or Bisley, Gloucester?,
Eng.—d. 1292, Oxford) English sci¬ entist and philosopher. He was edu¬ cated at Oxford and the University of Paris and joined the Franciscan order in 1247. He displayed a prodigious energy and zeal in the pursuit of experimental science; his studies eventually won him a place in popu¬ lar literature as a worker of wonders.