agreement. The act redistributed seats in the Commons and lowered the electoral qualifications to allow voting by small property owners (much of the middle class).
Reform Bill of 1867 British parliamentary act that extended the vote to many workingmen in the towns and cities, creating a major working- class constituency for the first time. It was largely conceived by Benjamin Disraeli, who hoped to expand his base of potential supporters.
Reform Bill of 1884-85 British parliamentary act that gave the vote to agricultural workers. In 1885 the Redistribution Act equalized repre¬ sentation on the basis of 50,000 voters for each member of parliament. Together the two acts tripled the electorate and prepared the way for uni¬ versal male suffrage.
Reform Judaism Religious movement that has modified or abandoned many traditional Jewish beliefs and practices in an effort to adapt Juda¬ ism to the modern world. It originated in Germany in 1809 and spread to the U.S. in the 1840s under the leadership of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Reform Judaism permits men and women to sit together in the synagogue, incorporates choir and organ music in the service, holds a confirmation ceremony for girls parallel to the boys’ Bar Mitzvah, and does not observe daily public worship, strict dietary laws, or the restriction of normal activi¬ ties on the Sabbath. Its principles, initially enunciated in the Pittsburgh Platform (1885), were revised in the Columbus Platform (1937) to support traditional customs and ceremonies and the liturgical use of Hebrew. The Reform movement continues to move toward Orthodox Judaism without embracing all its strictures.
Reform Party Political movement in Canada in the 1830s and ’40s. Reformers in Upper Canada (later Ontario) led by Robert Baldwin urged that provincial governments be made accountable to elected legislative assemblies (“responsible government”). An extremist group led by Wil¬ liam L. Mackenzie opposed the government in the rebellion of 1837. Reformers in Lower Canada (later Quebec) joined Louis Papineau and his Patriote Party. Reform Party candidates were elected premier (1842-43, 1848-54) in the province of Canada (union of Upper and Lower Canada). In the 1850s the party split between a moderate group, which allied with John Macdonald’s Progressive Conservative Party, and a radical faction, the Clear Grits, from which the Liberal Party emerged.
Reforma, La (1854-76) Liberal political and social revolution in Mexico under the principal leadership of Benito Juarez. It began with the removal of the dictator Antonio Santa Anna and went on to abolish spe¬ cial privileges of the church and the military, confiscate church lands, suppress monasteries, institute civil marriage, establish a liberal federal¬ ist constitution, and place the army under civilian control. Confiscated church property was to be allocated to the landless, but this policy proved to be La Reforma’s outstanding failure; in fact, the number and wealth of large landholders increased. La Reforma came to a close when Porfirio Diaz seized power in 1876.
Reformation or Protestant Reformation Break with Roman Catholicism and the establishment of Protestant churches in the 16th cen¬ tury. Though reformers such as Jan Hus and John Wycliffe attacked abuses in the Roman Catholic church in the late medieval period, the Reforma¬ tion is usually dated from 1517, when, according to tradition, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. Vari¬ ous Protestant denominations were soon founded by more radical reform¬ ers, such as Huldrych Zwingli and the Anabaptists. John Calvin established a theocracy in Geneva after his conversion to the Protestant cause. The Reformation spread to other European countries and soon dominated northern Europe. Spain and Italy remained resistant to Protestantism and became centres of the Counter-Reformation. In England, where Henry VIII founded the Church of England in 1534, the Reformation’s roots were primarily political rather than religious, motivated by the pope’s refusal to grant Henry a divorce. In Scotland the Calvinist John Knox led in the establishment of the Presbyterian church (see Presbyterianism).
Reformed church Any of several Protestant groups strongly influ¬ enced by Calvinism. They are often called by national names (Swiss Reformed, Dutch Reformed, etc.). The name was originally used by all the Protestant churches that arose out of the 16th-century Reformation but was later confined to the Calvinistic churches of continental Europe, most of which use a Presbyterian form of church government. The Calvinistic churches of the British Isles became known as Presbyterian churches (see Presbyterianism).
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1602 I refraction ► Reggio di Calabria
refraction Change in direction of a wave as it leaves one medium and enters another. Waves, such as sound and light waves, travel at different speeds in different media. When a wave enters a new medium at an angle of less than 90°, the change in speed occurs sooner on one side of the wave than on the other, causing the wave to bend, or refract. When water waves approach shallower water at an angle, they bend and become par¬ allel to the shore. Refraction explains the apparent bending of a pencil when it is partly immersed in water and viewed from above the surface. It also causes the optical illusion of the mirage.
refractory Material that is not deformed or damaged by high tempera¬ tures, used to make crucibles, incinerators, insulation, and furnaces, particu¬ larly metallurgical furnaces. Refractories are produced in several forms: molded bricks of various shapes, bulk granular materials, plastic mixtures consisting of moistened aggregates that are rammed into place, castables composed of dry aggregates and a binder that can be mixed with water and poured like concrete, and mortars and cements for laying brickwork.
refrigeration Process of removing heat from an enclosed space or from a substance in order to lower the temperature. In industrialized nations and prosperous regions in the developing world, refrigeration is used chiefly to store foodstuffs at low temperatures, thus inhibiting the destruc¬ tive action of bacteria, yeasts, and molds. Many perishable products can be frozen, permitting them to be kept for months and even years with little loss in nutrition or flavour or change in appearance. See also air- conditioning; cooling system; heat exchanger.
Components of a refrigerator. A compressor pressurizes the refrigerant gas, heating it and forcing it through the system. The gas cools and liquefies in the condenser, giving up its heat to the outside air. The liquid's pressure is lowered when it passes through an expansion valve, and there is an associated further drop in tempera¬ ture. The cold liquid then passes into the evaporator coils, where heat drawn from the warmer refrigerator compartment causes it to vaporize. The gas is then returned to the compressor to repeat the cycle.
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refugee Person involuntarily displaced from his or her homeland. Until the late 19th century and the emergence of fixed and closed national boundaries, refugees were always absorbed by neighbouring countries. Later, immigration restrictions and increasing numbers of refugees neces¬
sitated special action to aid them. In 1921 Fridtjof Nansen created a League of Nations Passport to allow refugees to move freely across national boundaries. Refugee status at that time was accorded only if the migrant’s departure was involuntary and asylum was sought in another country. In 1938 the definition of refugee was expanded to include per¬ sons with a well-founded fear of persecution because of ethnicity, reli¬ gion, nationality, group membership, or political opinion. Later the definition was expanded again to include persons who have fled from their homes to other places in their own countries. Refugee status ceases to apply when the migrant either is resettled or returns home. At the begin¬ ning of the 21st century there were some 16 million refugees, including nearly 4 million Palestinians; much of the rest of the world’s refugees were in Asia (particularly Afghanistan) and Africa, though conflict in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere in post-Cold War Europe significantly increased the number of refugees in those regions. See also International Refugee Organization; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.