All his surviving sculptures were made for the Carthusian monastery of Champmol at Dijon, which Philip founded. Sluter moved beyond the prevailing French taste for graceful figures, delicate movement, and fluid falls of drapery and toward highly individual naturalistic forms. His works infuse realism with spiritual¬ ity and monumental grandeur. His influence was extensive among both painters and sculptors of 15th- century northern Europe.
Small Computer System Interface See SCSI
small intestine Long, narrow, convoluted tube in which most diges¬ tion takes place. It extends 22-25 ft (6.7-7.6 m), from the stomach to the arge intestine. The mesentery, a membrane structure, supports it and contains its blood supply, lymphat¬ ics, and insulating fat. The autonomic nervous system supplies it with para¬ sympathetic nerves that initiate peristalsis and sympathetic nerves that suppress it. It is lined with minute fingerlike projections (villi) that greatly increase its surface area for enzyme secretion and food absorption. Its three sections, the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, have distinct characteristics. Food takes three to six hours to pass through the small intestine unless a disorder such as gastroenteritis, diverticulosis, or obstruction impedes it.
smallpox or variola Wo-'ri-o-loV One of the world’s most dreaded plagues before 1980, when it was declared eradicated. It was known in ancient China, India, and Egypt. It came to the Western Hemisphere with Europeans in the 16th century and devastated the native population, which lacked resistance. An infectious viral disease only of humans, it causes fever and then a rash of variable severity that blisters and dries up, leav¬ ing scars. It is not spread easily, but the virus can survive for long peri-
(From left) Zechariah, Daniel, and Isa¬ iah from the "Well of Moses," marble sculpture by Sluter, 1395-1404/05; in the cloister of the Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, Fr.
FOTO MARBURG/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK CITY
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Smalls ► Smith I 1769
ods outside the body (e.g., in bedding). Edward Jenner developed a vaccine from cowpox. The World Health Organization’s eradication project reduced smallpox deaths from two million in 1967 to zero in 1977-80. The virus now exists only in laboratories; in some countries it may be under development for purposes of biological warfare.
Smalls, Robert (b. April 5, 1839, Beaufort, S.C., U.S.—d. Feb. 22, 1915, Beaufort) U.S. naval hero.
Born to plantation slaves, he was taken to Charleston, S.C., where he worked as a hotel waiter. In the American Civil War he was impressed into the Confederate navy to serve on the armed frigate Planter.
In 1862 he and 12 other slaves seized control of the ship in Charleston har¬ bour and turned it over to the Union navy. He served as the ship’s pilot and became its captain in 1863. After the war he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1875-79, 1881-
87).
Smallwood, Joey orig.
Joseph Roberts Smallwood
(b. Dec. 24, 1900, Gambo, Nfd.—d.
Dec. 17, 1991, St. Johns, Nfd., Can.)
Canadian politician. He worked for socialist publications in New York City (1921-25), then returned to New¬ foundland to become a union organizer and radio broadcaster. An advo¬ cate of confederation with Canada, he was elected to a convention to decide Newfoundland’s future (1946); his vigorous campaign helped effect its admission as a province (1948). He was elected Newfoundland’s first premier in 1949 and retained leadership of the government and the ruling Liberal Party until 1971.
smart bomb Bomb with a guidance system that directs its path toward a target. It is steered by fins or wings on the bomb that move in response to guidance commands. Guidance systems may be electro-optical, laser, infrared, or inertial. Electro-optical systems send pictures of the area so that the bomb can be guided onto the target. Laser-guided bombs follow the reflections of a laser beam trained onto the target by an aircraft or a spotter on the ground. Infrared guidance responds to radiation generated by warm areas of the target. Inertial navigation is based on inputting coordinates derived from radar systems or from Global Positioning Sys¬ tem satellites into the bomb’s gyroscopes. Smart bombs, initially used in the Vietnam War, offer far greater accuracy than traditional gravity, or “dumb,” bombs.
Smarta Orthodox Hindu sect consisting of members of higher castes who worship all the gods of the Hindu pantheon and adhere to rules of ritual and conduct laid down in ancient sutras. The sect was founded by Shankara. The head of the monastery he established at Sringeri is the spiritual authority of the Smartas and one of the chief religious person¬ ages of India. The Smartas regard five gods as primary: Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Surya, and Ganesha. Active in all branches of learning, they have earned the honorary title sastri (Sanskrit: “men of learning”).
Smeaton, John (b. June 8, 1724, Austhorpe, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Oct. 28, 1792, Austhorpe) British civil engineer. In 1756-59 he rebuilt the Eddystone Lighthouse (off Plymouth), during which he rediscovered hydraulic cement (lost since the fall of Rome) as the best mortar for underwater construction. He constructed the great Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland; built bridges at Perth, Banff, and Coldstream; and completed the harbour at Ramsgate, Kent. He was a leader in the transition from wind-and-water to steam power; with his improvements, Thomas New¬ comen’s atmospheric steam engine achieved its maximum performance. He designed atmospheric pumping engines for collieries, mines, and docks. In 1771 he founded the British Society of Civil Engineers (now the Smeatonian Society). He is regarded as the founder of the civil engineer¬ ing profession in Britain.
smelt Any of certain slender, silvery, carnivorous, food fishes (family Osmeridae) having a small fleshy fin. Smelts live in cold northern seas, and most species spawn a short distance upstream. The American smelt {Osmerus mordax), introduced from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes, is the largest smelt, about 15 in. (38 cm) long. The European smelt (O. eper-
lanus ) is similar. Among Pacific species are the rainbow herring, capelin, and eulachon, or candlefish, which is so oily at spawning time that it can be dried and burned as a candle. Silversides (see grunion) and other unre¬ lated fishes are sometimes called smelts.
smelting Process by which a metal is obtained from its ore, either as the element or as a simple compound, usually by heating beyond the melting point, ordinarily in the presence of reducing agents such as coke or oxi¬ dizing agents such as air (see oxidation-reduction). A metal whose ore is an oxygen compound (e.g., iron, zinc, or lead oxide) is heated (reduction smelting) in a blast furnace to a high temperature; the oxide combines with the carbon in the coke, escaping as carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide. Other impurities are removed by adding flux, with which they combine to form slag. If the ore is a sulfide mineral (e.g., copper, nickel, lead, or cobalt), air or oxygen is blasted through (matte smelting) to oxidize the sulfide to sulfur dioxide and any iron to oxide slag, leaving the metal. See also metallurgy; mineral processing.
Smetana Vsme-ffn-oV Bedrich (b. March 2, 1824, Leitomischl, Bohe¬ mia, Austrian Empire—d. May 12,1884, Prague) Czech (Bohemian) com¬ poser. He was determined to become a pianist, but his first concert (1847) ended his hopes, and he thereafter taught music, opening two schools of music. In the 1860s he turned to opera, becoming conductor of the national theatre in 1866. His second opera was The Bartered Bride (1866), which gained lasting success after many revisions. Dalibor (1868) fol¬ lowed and also became popular; he would complete five more operas. Though rendered deaf by syphilis in 1874, in his last decade he wrote some of his most beloved music, including the cycle My Country (1874- 79), which included the famous symphonic poem The Moldau, and the quartet From My Life (1876). He became insane in 1883 and died in an asylum. The strongly Czech character of his music made Smetana the preeminent Czech nationalist composer.