Reagan Vra-g9n\, Ronald W(ilson) (b. Feb. 6, 1911, Tampico, Ill., U.S.—d. June 5, 2004, Los Angeles, Calif.) 40th president of the U.S. (1981-89). He attended Eureka College and worked as a radio sports announcer before going to Hollywood in 1937. In his career as a movie actor, he appeared in more than 50 films and was twice president of the Screen Actors Guild (1947-52, 1959-60). In the mid-1950s he became a spokesman for the General Electric Co.; he hosted its television theatre program from 1954 to 1962. Having gradually changed his political affili¬ ation from liberal Democrat to conservative Republican, he was elected governor of California in 1966 and served two terms. In 1980 he defeated incumbent Pres. Jimmy Carter to become president. Shortly after taking office, he was wounded in an assassination attempt. His administration adopted policies based on supply-side economics in an effort to promote rapid economic growth and reduce the federal deficit. Congress approved many of his proposals (1981), which succeeded in lowering inflation but doubled the national debt by 1986. He began the largest peacetime mili¬ tary buildup in U.S. history; in 1983 he proposed construction of the Stra¬ tegic Defense Initiative. His administration concluded a treaty with the Soviet Union to restrict intermediate-range nuclear weapons, conducted a proxy war against Nicaragua through its support of the Contras, and invaded Grenada ostensibly to prevent the island nation from becoming a Soviet outpost. He was reelected by a large margin in 1984. Beginning in 1986, the Iran-Contra Affair temporarily weakened his presidency. Though his intellectual capacity for governing was often disparaged by his critics, his affability and artful communication skills enabled him to pursue numerous conservative policies with conspicuous success, and his tough stance toward the Soviet Union is often credited with contributing to the demise of Soviet communism. In 1994 he revealed that he had Alzheimer disease.
real and personal property Basic types of property in English common law, roughly corresponding to the division between immovables and movables in civil law. Real property consists of land, buildings, crops, W and other resources, improvements, or fixtures still attached to the land.
™ Personal property is essentially all property other than real property,
including goods, animals, money, and vehicles.
real number In mathematics, a quantity that can be expressed as a finite or infinite decimal expansion. The counting numbers, integers, ratio- Jj nal numbers, and irrational numbers are all real numbers. Real numbers are
used in measuring continuously varying quantities (e.g., size, time), in contrast to measurements that result from counting. The word real dis¬ tinguishes them from the imaginary numbers.
realism In the visual arts, an aesthetic that promotes accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of close observation of outward appear¬ ances. It was a dominant current in French art between 1850 and 1880. In the early 1830s the painters of the Barbizon school espoused realism in their faithful reproduction of the landscape near their village. Gustave Courbet was the first artist to proclaim and practice the realist aesthetic; his Burial at Ornans and The Stone Breakers (1849) shocked the public and critics with their frank depiction of peasants and labourers. In his satirical cari¬ catures, Honore Daumier used an energetic linear style and bold detail to criticize the immorality he saw in French society. Realism emerged in the U.S. in the work of Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. In the 20th century German artists associated with the Neue Sachlichkeit worked in a realist style to express their disillusionment after World War I. The Depression-era movement known as Social Realism adopted a similarly harsh realism to depict the injustices of U.S. society. See also naturalism.
realism In literature, the theory or practice of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of everyday life. The 18th-century works of Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and Tobias Smol¬ lett are among the earliest examples of realism in English literature. It was consciously adopted as an aesthetic program in France in the mid- 19th century, when interest arose in recording previously ignored aspects of contemporary life and society; Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1857) established the movement in European literature. The realist emphasis on detachment and objectivity, along with lucid but restrained social criticism, became integral to the novel in the late 19th century. The word has also been used critically to denote excessive minuteness of detail or preoccupation with trivial, sordid, or squalid subjects. See also natu¬ ralism.
realism In philosophy, any viewpoint that accords to the objects of human knowledge an existence that is independent of whether they are being perceived or thought about. In the metaphysical debate concerning universals, realism is opposed to nominalism, which denies that universals have any reality at all (except as words), and to conceptualism, which grants universals reality but only as concepts in the mind. Against ideal¬ ism and phenomenalism, realism asserts the independent existence of mate¬ rial objects and their qualities. Similarly, moral realism holds that the moral qualities of things and actions (such as being good or bad, right or wrong) belong to the things or actions themselves and are not to be explained in terms of the subject’s feelings of approval or disapproval. In opposition to conventionalism, realism holds that scientific theories are objectively true (or false) based on their correspondence (or lack of it) to an inde¬ pendently existing reality.
realpolitik Politics based on practical objectives rather than on ideals. The word does not mean “real” in the English sense but rather connotes “things”—hence a politics of adaptation to things as they are. Realpolitik thus suggests a pragmatic, no-nonsense view and a disregard for ethical considerations. In diplomacy it is often associated with relentless, though realistic, pursuit of the national interest.
reamer Rotary cutting tool of cylindrical or conical shape, used for enlarging and finishing to accurate dimensions holes that have been drilled, bored, or cored. A reamer cannot be used to start a hole. All ream¬ ers have lengthwise flutes or grooves; either the sides of the tool or the tip may be used for cutting. Reamers are made from high-carbon steel, high-speed steel, or cemented carbides.
reaper Any farm machine that cuts grain (cereal). Early reapers simply cut the crop and dropped it unbound. Modern machines include harvest¬ ers, combines (see combine harvester), and binders, which also perform other harvesting operations. See also Cyrus H. McCormick.
reason, practical See practical reason
Reaumur \ra-o-'mtEr,\ English \ 1 ra-o-'myur\, Rene-Antoine Fer- chault de (b. Feb. 28, 1683, La Rochelle, France—d. Oct. 17, 1757, Saint-Julien-du-Terroux) French physicist and entomologist. He invented the thermometric scale that bears his name (see thermometry); on the Reau¬ mur scale, 0° marks the freezing point of water and 80° marks the boil¬ ing point. He invented the opaque white glass known as Reaumur porcelain, improved techniques for making iron and steel, discovered that crayfish can regenerate lost appendages, and isolated gastric juice. His Memoirs Serving as a Natural History of Insects (1734—42), though unfin¬ ished, was a milestone in entomological history.
rebate Retroactive refund or credit given to a buyer who has purchased a product or service. Fair and equitable rebates are used simply as incen¬ tives available to all customers. So-called deferred (or exclusive- patronage) rebates are used by large vendors of perishables and consumer durable goods. To receive such a rebate, the purchaser must agree to buy certain goods or services exclusively from a particular vendor for a fixed period of time. Rebating was a common pricing tactic in the 19th century, often used by large companies to undercut competition from smaller firms. The U.S. railroad industry practiced price discrimination by granting secret rebates to important customers; the rebates granted to Standard Oil Co. helped it acquire a monopoly over the oil industry. Governments occa¬ sionally sponsor rebates on previously paid taxes such as property, income, or sales taxes. Tax rebates can be used to stimulate the economy, to return excess revenue to taxpayers, or to encourage specific actions such as energy conservation.