picker Machine for harvesting a crop (e.g., com, cotton) and preparing it for storage. The mechanical picker removes mainly the desired portion of the plant (e.g., grain and cobs of com, bolls of cotton) rather than har¬ vesting the entire plant.
pickerel Any of several North American pikes (family Esocidae), dis¬ tinguished from the northern pike and muskellunge by their smaller size, completely scaled cheeks and gill covers, and banded or chainlike mark¬ ings. The chain pickerel ( Esox niger) grows to about 2 ft (0.6 m) and a weight of about 3 lbs (1.4 kg). The barred ( E. americanus ) and grass (E. vermiculcitus ) pickerels reach a maximum weight of about 1 lb (0.5 kg).
Pickering, Timothy (b. July 17, 1745, Salem, Mass.—d. Jan. 29, 1829, Salem, Mass., U.S.) U.S. politician. He joined the militia in 1766 and served in the American Revolution under George Washington, becom¬ ing adjutant general (1777-78) and quartermaster general (1780-85). He later served as U.S. postmaster general (1791-95), secretary of war (1795), and secretary of state (1795-1800). He served in the U.S. Senate from 1803 to 1811 and in the House of Representatives from 1813 to 1817. A leader of the Federalist Party, he was a member of the Essex Junto, and he opposed the War of 1812. After retiring from politics, he turned to experimental farming and education.
picketing Act by workers of standing in front of or near a workplace to call attention to their grievances, discourage patronage, and, during strikes, to discourage strikebreakers. Picketing is also used in non-work- related protests. The U.S. Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932) made it easier for workers to picket by restricting the use of court injunctions against strikes, but the Taft-Hartley Act (1947) outlawed mass picketing.
Pickett, George E(dward) (b. Jan. 25, 1825, Richmond, Va., U.S.—d. July 30, 1875, Norfolk, Va.) U.S. and Confederate army officer. He graduated from West Point and served in the Mexican War. In 1861 he resigned his commission to enter the Confederate army. He rose to major general and commanded a division at the Battle of Fredericksburg. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he led the climactic attack known as Pickett’s Charge, in which 4,300 men of his division constituted almost half the attacking force under James Longstreet. The attempt to breach the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge was repulsed with the loss of about 60% of his men. Though criticized for his leadership, he retained his command.
Pickford, Mary orig. Gladys Mary Smith (b. April 9, 1893, Tor¬ onto, Ont., Can.—d. May 28, 1979, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) Canadian- born U.S. film actress. She acted with a stock company from age 5, went on tour at 8, and was performing on Broadway by 18. She starred in D.W. Griffith’s The Lonely Villa (1909) and by 1913 was acting in movies exclusively. One of the first movie stars, she became a symbol of inno¬ cence and was known as “America’s sweetheart.” Her silent films include Tess of the Storm Country (1914), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917), Poor Little Rich Girl (1917), and Pollyanna (1920). A shrewd business¬ woman, she formed United Artists Corp. (1919) with her second husband, Douglas Fairbanks, and others. She received an Academy Award for her first sound film, Coquette (1929). She retired from acting in 1933 and received a special Academy Award in 1975.
Pico Bolivar See Bolivar Peak
Pico della Mirandola Vpe-ko-.dal-la-me-'ran-do-.laV Giovanni, conte (count) di Concordia (b. Feb. 24, 1463, Mirandola, duchy of Ferrara—d. Nov. 17, 1494, Florence) Italian scholar, philosopher, and humanist. He settled in Florence in 1484 as a protege of Lorenzo de' Med¬ ici and Marsilio Ficino. In 1486 he posted in Rome a list of 900 theses on logic, mathematics, physics, and other subjects that he proposed to defend against any opponent. His Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486), which accompanied the posting, epitomizes Renaissance humanism. Accused of heresy by the pope, he was later cleared, and he was later reconverted to orthodoxy by Girolamo Savonarola. Pico was the first Christian scholar to use Kabbalistic doctrine (see Kabbala) in support of Christian theology. His other works include Heptaplus (a seven-point exposition of the Book of Genesis) and a synoptic treatment of Plato and Aristotle, of which Of Being and Unity is a portion. He died at age 31.
picornavirus \pe-,k6r-n9-'vl-r9s\ Any of a group of the smallest known animal viruses. ( Pico refers to their small size, rna to their core of RNA.)
This group of spheroidal viruses includes viruses that attack the verte¬ brate intestinal tract and often invade the central nervous system as well (such as polioviruses), viruses that infect tissues in the vertebrate nose (rhinoviruses), and the virus agent of foot-and-mouth disease.
Piet Vpikt\ Any member of an ancient people of what is now eastern and northeastern Scotland. The name (from Latin picti, “painted”) referred to their body painting or tattooing. They were probably descended from pre- Celtic peoples. They attacked Hadrian's Wall in 297 and warred constantly with the Romans. They united their two kingdoms by the 7th century and converted to Christianity, and in 843 Kenneth I, king of the Scots, included them in the kingdom of Alba, later Scotland.
pictography \pik-‘ta-gr9-fe\ Expression of words and ideas through drawings (pictographs), considered a forerunner of true writing. Picto- graphs are drawn in a standardized way, omitting unnecessary details. A pictograph that stands for a specific idea or meaning is an ideogram; one that stands for an individual word is a logogram.
picturesque Artistic concept and style of the late 18th and early 19th century characterized by a preoccupation with architecture and landscape in pictorial combination with each other. In Britain, the picturesque was defined as an aesthetic quality marked by pleasing variety, irregularity, asymmetry, and interesting textures; medieval ruins in a natural landscape were thought to be picturesque. John Nash produced some of the most exemplary works embodying the concept. See also folly.
Picus Vpl-k9s\ In Roman mythology, a woodpecker sacred to Mars. A minor agricultural deity associated with the fertilization of the soil, Picus was widely worshiped in ancient Italy. Later versions of the myth made him an early king of Italy, whose bride, Circe, changed him into a wood¬ pecker. In art he was shown as a woodpecker mounted on a pillar, and later as a youth with a woodpecker on his head. The woodpecker was also an important bird in augury.
pidgin Vpi-jsnV Language with a very limited vocabulary and a simpli¬ fied grammar. Pidgins usually arise to permit communication between groups with no language in common; if a pidgin becomes established as the native language of a group, it is known as a creole. Pidgins such as Chinese Pidgin English and Melanesian Pidgin English arose through contact between English-speaking traders and inhabitants of East Asia and the Pacific islands. Other pidgins appeared with the slave trade in Africa and with the importation of West African slaves to Caribbean plantations. Most of the small vocabulary of a pidgin language (Melanesian Pidgin has only 2,000 words, Chinese Pidgin English only 700) is usually drawn from a single language (Melanesian Pidgin, for example, has an English word stock of more than 90%).
Piedmont \'ped-,mant\ Italian Piemonte \pya-'mon-ta\ Autonomous region (pop., 2001 prelim.: 4,166,442), northwestern Italy. With its capi¬ tal at Turin, Piedmont borders France and Switzerland; it has an area of 9,807 sq mi (25,399 sq km). In Roman times its passes connected Italy with the transalpine provinces of Gaul. In the Middle Ages the house of Savoy was the region’s most important power. It was a centre during the 19th-century Risorgimento that united Italy. Victor Emmanuel II, originally king of Piedmont and Sardinia, became modern Italy’s first king in 1861. Surrounded by mountains, Piedmont is centred on the Po River valley, which contains some of Italy’s best farmland, producing wheat, rice, and wines. Its hydroelectric plants supply energy for much of northern Italy.