consumption). He is generally con¬ sidered the major early influence on realism, or naturalism, in the novel and one of the greatest fiction writ¬ ers of all time.
Bamako Vba-ma-.koX City pop.,
1996: metro area, 809,552), capital of Mali. Located in southwestern Mali on the Niger River, it was a settlement of a few hundred inhabitants when it was occupied by the French in 1880.
It became the capital of the former colony of French Sudan in 1908.
Now spanning both sides of the river, it has several colleges and most of Mali’s industrial enterprises. The city more than tripled in size in the 1960s, largely because of rural migration from drought-stricken areas of the countryside.
Bambara \bam-'bar-3\ People of the upper Niger region of Mali who speak a Mande language of the Niger-Congo family. Numbering 3.4 mil¬ lion, the Bambara use the distinctive N’ko alphabet, which reads from right to left, and they are noted for their wood and metal sculptures. In the 17th—18th centuries the Bambara developed two separate empires, one based in Segou (and including Timbuktu) and the other in Kaarta.
bambocciati V.bam-bo-'chat-eV (Italian: “childishnesses”) Small, anec¬ dotal paintings of everyday life made in Rome in the mid-17th century. The genre’s originator and most noteworthy exponent was the Dutch painter Pieter van Laer (1599-1642); the word derives from his nickname, II Bam- boccio (“Little Clumsy One,” reflecting his physical deformity). Van Laer arrived in Rome from Haarlem c. 1625 and influenced various other north¬ ern European painters active in Rome. Their images depicting the lower classes in humorous or grotesque ways were condemned by the leading critics and painters. The bamboccianti (painters of bambocciati) influenced the Dutch genre painters Adriaen Brouwer and Adriaen van Ostade.
bamboo Any of the tall, treelike GRASSes, found in tropical and subtropi¬ cal to mild temperate regions, that make up the subfamily Bambusoideae, family Poaceae (or Gramineae). Bamboos are giant, fast-growing grasses with woody stems. A few species of the genus Arundinaria are native to the southern U.S., where they form dense canebrakes along riverbanks and in marshy areas. The woody, hollow aerial stems grow in branching clus¬ ters from a thick rhizome, often forming a dense undergrowth that excludes other plants. All parts of the bamboo are used, for purposes including food, livestock fodder, fine-quality paper, construction materials, and medi¬ cines. Bamboos also have ornamental use in landscape gardens.
Bambuti \ba-em-'bu-te\ or Mbuti A number of Pygmy peoples of the Ituri Forest of eastern Congo (Kinshasa). Bambuti is a collective name for four populations of Ituri Pygmies—the Sua (Asua), Aka, Efe, and Mbuti— each of which has formed a loose economic and cultural interdependency with an agricultural group. They average under 4 ft 6 in. (137 cm) in height. Probably the earliest inhabitants of the region, they are nomadic hunters and gatherers living in small groups of from 10 to 100. They have no chiefs or formal councils of elders and believe in a benevolent forest deity. Their music, complex in rhythm and harmony, is often accompanied by dance or mime. Today they number in the tens of thousands.
banana Fruit of the genus Musa (family Musaceae), a gigantic herba¬ ceous plant spread by rhizomes, and one of the most important food crops of the world. The banana is consumed extensively throughout the trop¬ ics, where it is grown, and is also valued in the temperate zone for its flavour, nutritional value, and constant availability. Hundreds of varieties are cultivated. Perhaps the most important species is the common banana, M. sapientum. The ripe fruit is high in carbohydrates (mainly sugar), potassium, and vitamins C and A, and it is low in protein and fat. Though usually eaten fresh, bananas may also be cooked. The U.S. imports more bananas than does any other country. See also plantain.
Banbridge District (pop., 2001: 41,392), Northern Ireland, established in 1973. The area includes the Legananny Hills, which reach an altitude of 1,745 ft (532 m) in eastern Banbridge district and slope southwestward to lowlands that are bisected by the River Bann. Located on the Bann is
Honore de Balzac, daguerreotype,
J.E. BULLOZ
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
160 I Banco ► bandicoot
the town of Banbridge, established in 1712; it is the district seat and the main agricultural and population centre of the region.
Banco, Nanni di See Nanni di Banco
Bancroft, George (b. Oct. 3, 1800, Worcester, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 17, 1891, Washington, D.C.) U.S. historian. Bancroft was educated at Harvard and several German univer¬ sities. He was minister to England (1846^19), Prussia (1867-71), and the German empire (1871-74). He was the first scholar to plan a com¬ prehensive study of the U.S. from the colonial days through the end of the Revolutionary War. His 10-volume History of the United States (1834—
40, 1852-74) reflected his belief that the U.S. represented humanity’s closest approximation yet to the per¬ fect state and earned him his reputa¬ tion as the “father of U.S. history.”
band Type of human social organi¬ zation consisting of a small number of nuclear families (see family) or related subgroups who are loosely organized for purposes of subsistence or security. Bands may be integrated into a larger community or tribe. They generally exist in sparsely popu¬ lated areas and possess relatively simple technologies; their habitats range from the desert (Australian Aboriginals) to the African rainforest (Bambuti) to the North American tundra (Kaska). Bands may occasionally coalesce for broader community ceremonies, hunting, or warfare. See also hunt¬ ing AND GATHERING SOCIETY; SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION.
band Musical ensemble that generally excludes stringed instruments. Ensembles of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments originated in 15th-century Germany, taking on a particularly military role; these spread to France, Britain, and eventually the New World. In the 15th—18th cen¬ turies, many European towns had town musicians, or waits, who per¬ formed especially for ceremonial occasions in wind bands often consisting primarily of shawms and sackbuts (trombones). In the 18th—19th centu¬ ries, the English amateur brass band, largely consisting of the many newly developed brass instruments, took on the important nonmilitary function of representing organizations of all kinds. In the U.S., Patrick Gilmore’s virtuoso band became famous in the mid-19th century; his greatest suc¬ cessor, John Philip Sousa, bequeathed a repertory of marches that has remained very popular. The “big band,” under leaders such as Duke Elling¬ ton and Count Basie, was central to American popular music in the 1930s and ’40s. In the rock band, unlike most other bands, stringed instruments (electric guitars and electric bass) are paramount.
band theory In chemistry and physics, a theoretical model describing the states of electrons in solid materials, which can have energy values only within certain specific ranges, called bands. Ranges of energy between two allowed bands are called forbidden bands. As electrons in an atom move from one energy level to another, so can electrons in a solid move from an energy level in one band to another in the same band or in another band. The band theory accounts for many of the electrical and thermal properties of solids and forms the basis of the technology of devices such as semicon¬ ductors, heating elements, and capacitors (see capacitance).
Banda, Hastings (Kamuzu) (b. c. 1898, near Kasungu [Malawi]—d. Nov. 25, 1997, Johannesburg, S.Af.) First president of Malawi (1963-94). Educated as a physician in the U.S., Banda moved to Scotland and practiced medicine there. He became involved in politics when white settlers demanded the federation of Nyasaland (later Malawi) and the Rhodesias in 1949. In the 1950s he toured the country making antifederation speeches, for which he was imprisoned by British colonial officials. In 1963, when the federation was dissolved, he became prime minister. He concentrated on building his country’s infrastructure and increasing agricultural productivity. Declared president for life in 1971, his rule became increasingly autocratic and austere. He was voted out of office in 1994.