Putnam, Hilary (b. July 31, 1926, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) U.S. philoso¬ pher. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1951 he taught at Northwestern Uni¬ versity, Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard. Early in his career he was a defender of scientific realism. In the 1960s he extended the causal theory of reference to natural-kind and other scientific terms. He is known as the originator of functionalism in the philosophy of mind, though he later rejected that approach (see phi¬ losophy of language). Beginning in the mid-1970s he gradually aban¬ doned his earlier scientific realism in favour of a pragmatically oriented view he called “internal realism.” According to this view, scientific theo¬ ries are not true absolutely but only relative to large-scale conceptual schemes. Among his many works are Philosophical Papers (3 vol., 1975— 83), Reason, Truth, and History (1981), and Pragmatism (1995).
Putnam, Israel (b. Jan. 7, 1718, Salem Village, Mass.—d. May 29, 1790, Pomfret, Conn., U.S.) American Revolutionary army officer. He was a prosperous farmer in Connecticut from 1740. He served throughout the French and Indian War and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1759. Appointed a major general in the Continental Army in 1775, he fought with distinction at Bunker Hill, but his troops were defeated at the Battle of Long Island. He was charged with the defense of the Hudson highlands
but abandoned Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton to the British. He served in lesser commands until suffering a stroke in 1779.
Putnam, Rufus (b. April 9, 1738, Sutton, Mass.—d. May 4, 1824, Marietta, Ohio, U.S.) American Revolutionary army officer. A cousin of Israel Putnam, he fought in the French and Indian War. Entering the Con¬ tinental Army in 1775, he organized fortifications in Boston and New York (1776-77) and at West Point (1778), and he fought at the Battle of Saratoga. In 1783 he was promoted to brigadier general. After the war he helped found the Ohio Company of Associates to obtain a land grant for settlement by war veterans; he led the group that founded Marietta, Ohio (1788). From 1796 to 1803 he was U.S. surveyor general.
putting-out system See domestic system
Putumayo X.pu-tii-'ma-yoV River River, northwestern South America. Rising in southwestern Colombia, it is about 980 mi (1,575 km) long and flows southeast through tropical rainforests, where it forms a large sec¬ tion of the border between Peru and Colombia. It crosses the border into Brazil, where it is known as the Iqa and empties into the Amazon River. It is navigable for almost its entire length and is a major transport route, especially for the rubber produced in the region.
Puvis de Chavannes NpiE-'ve-do-sha-'vanV Pierre (-Cecile) (b.
Dec. 14, 1824, Lyon, France—d. Oct. 24, 1898, Paris) French painter. He studied briefly with Eugene Delacroix in Paris and exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons. He is best known for his large canvas paintings for the walls of public buildings in Paris, including the Pantheon (1874-78, 1893-98), the Sorbonne (1889-91), and the Hotel de Ville (1891—94), as well as the museum in Amiens (1880-82). He also decorated the staircase of the Boston Public Library (1895-96). His works are usually idealized depictions of antiquity or allegorical representations of abstract themes, in simplified forms and pale, flat, frescolike colours. The leading French mural painter of the later 19th century, he exerted a strong influence on the Post-Impressionists.
The Poor Fisherman, oil on canvas by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1881; in the Lou¬ vre, Paris.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEE DU LOUVRE, PARIS; PHOTOGRAPH, MARC GARANGER
PVC in full polyvinyl chloride Synthetic resin, an organic polymer made by treating vinyl chloride monomers with a peroxide. It may be blended with more rubbery polymers or copolymerized with other vinyls to obtain products with desired properties. PVC resin mixed with plasticizers (see Waldo Semon), stabilizers, and pigments is made into flexible articles (e.g., raincoats, toys, containers). Nonplasticized resin has been used for rigid products (e.g., water pipes, plumbing fittings, phonograph records). Concern over leaching of vinyl chloride into foods has resulted in restric¬ tions on its use in food containers; its decomposition into hydrogen chlo¬ ride when burned has also raised concerns. Today it is produced in larger quantities than any other plastic except polyethylene.
Pydna Vpid-noX, Battle of (June 22, 168 bc) Decisive confrontation in the Roman victory over Perseus and Macedonia in the Third Macedonian
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pyelonephritis ► pyrimidine I 1569
War. It took place on a plain near Pydna (present-day Kitros, Greece). The Roman general Lucius Paullus (b. c. 229-d. 160 bc) adroitly outma- neuvered the Macedonians; their phalanx was penetrated by the Roman legions, whose short swords were more effective than the Macedonian pikes. When defeat was imminent, Perseus fled. The Romans ended the Macedonian monarchy and divided the country into four republics.
pyelonephritis N.pI-o-lo-ni-'frI-tosN Infection (usually bacterial) and inflammation of kidney tissue and the renal pelvis. Acute pyelonephritis is usually localized and may have no apparent cause. Symptoms include fever, chills, lower-back pain, and bacteria and white blood cells in the urine. Treatment with antibiotics requires one to three weeks. Scar tissue forms, but kidney function is usually not impaired. Chronic pyelonephri¬ tis results from repeated bacterial infections, which may have no symp¬ toms but destroy more and more tissue over years. If it is diagnosed before too much function is lost, surgery may help, but uremia, severe infections, and heart and blood-vessel disorders can lead to death. Dialysis or kidney transplant sometimes prolongs life.
Pygmalion In Greek mythology, a king of Cyprus who fell in love with a statue of Aphrodite. The goddess took pity on him and brought the statue to life, and he married her. In some versions of the myth Pygmalion was a sculptor who carved the statue himself because he was disgusted with the faults of ordinary women, and when it was brought to life he gave it the name Galatea.
Pygmy Member of any human group whose adult males grow to less than 59 in. (150 cm) in average height. The name is also sometimes loosely applied to the San of southern Africa and the so-called Negrito peoples of Asia (such as the Philippine Ilongot). Besides their short stat¬ ure, Pygmies are notable in having the highest basal-metabolism rate in the world and a high incidence of sickle-cell anemia. The Bambuti of the Ituri Forest are a well-studied example. See also race.
Pyle \'pll\, Ernie orig. Ernest Taylor Pyle (b. Aug. 3, 1900, near Dana, Ind., U.S.—d. April 18, 1945, le Shima, Ryukyu Islands) U.S. jour¬ nalist. Pyle left Indiana University to become a reporter for a small-town newspaper. Later he acquired a roving assignment for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain; his experiences provided material for a column that appeared in as many as 200 newspapers before World War II. His report¬ ing of the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France won a Pulitzer Prize in 1944. He was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire dur¬ ing the Okinawa campaign. Compilations of his columns include Ernie Pyle in England (1941), Brave Men (1944), and Last Chapter (1946).