Soleri \so-'ler-e\, Paolo (b. June 21, 1919, Turin, Italy) Italian-born U.S. architect. After receiving a doctorate from Turin Polytechnic, he worked under Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona (1947-49). In 1959 he began to draw up plans for a series of compact urban centres that would extend vertically into space rather than horizontally along the ground. These megastructures were designed to conserve energy and resources (partly through reliance on solar energy and elimination of automobile use within the city), preserve natural surroundings, and condense human activities within integrated total environments. Soleri coined the term arcology (from “architecture” and “ecology”) to describe his utopian constructions, which he delineated in drawings of great beauty and imagination. In 1970 he began constructing a prototype town called Arcosanti, for a population of 5,000, between Phoenix and Flagstaff, Ariz. The work, by students and volunteers, is still in progress.
Dover sole (Solea solea)
JACQUES SIX
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solfeggio ► Solomon's seal I 1781
solfeggio See solmization
Solferino X.sal-fs-'re-noX, Battle of (June 24, 1859) Engagement fought in Lombardy between Austria and an allied French and Piedmon¬ tese army. After its defeat at the Battle of Magenta, the Austrian army retreated eastward, where it unexpectedly met the allied army commanded by Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II. The battle developed in a confused fashion until the French eventually broke the Austrian centre line, but vigorous delaying actions left the allied army too exhausted to pursue the defeated Austrians. The battle left 14,000 Austrians and 15,000 French and Piedmontese killed or wounded. The costly battle influenced Napo¬ leon III to seek a truce (the Peace of Villafranca), which contributed to the unification of Italy.
Soli Vso-,li\ Ancient seaport, Anatolia. Located in what is now south- central Turkey, it was founded by Greek colonists from Rhodes and was a principle city of Cilicia. It was later conquered by Alexander the Great (333 bc). Destroyed in the 1st century bc by Tigranes II of Armenia, it was rebuilt by the Roman general Pompey the Great. Traces of the port’s artificial harbour and a portion of a long colonnade remain.
solicitation In criminal law, the act of asking, inducing, or directing someone to commit a crime. The person soliciting another becomes an accomplice to the crime. The term also refers to the act of obtaining bribes, as well as to the crime of a prostitute who offers sexual relations in exchange for money.
solicitor British lawyer who advises clients, represents them in the lower courts, and prepares cases for barristers to try in higher courts. The edu¬ cation required of a solicitor includes a law school course and five years of apprenticeship with a practicing solicitor. In the U.S. the solicitor gen¬ eral represents the federal government in court, especially the Supreme Court of the United States.
solid One of the three basic states of matter. A solid forms from either a liquid or a gas (the other two states of matter) because, as the energy of the atoms decreases, they coalesce in the relatively ordered, three- dimensional structure of a solid. All solids have the ability to support loads applied either perpendicular (normal) or parallel (shear) to a surface. Sol¬ ids can be crystalline (as in metals), amorphous (as in glass), or quasi¬ crystalline (as in certain metal alloys), depending on the degree of order in the arrangement of the atoms.
solid solution Solid form of a liquid solution. As with liquids, a ten¬ dency for mutual solubility exists between any two coexisting solids (i.e., each can mix with the other); depending on the chemical similarities of the solids, mutual solubility of two substances may be 100% (as between silver and gold), or it may be near 0 (as between copper and bismuth).
solid-state device Electronic device that operates on the basis of the electric, magnetic, or optical properties of a solid material, especially one that uses a solid crystal in which an orderly three-dimensional arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules is repeated throughout the entire crystal. Syn¬ thetic crystals of elements such as silicon, gallium arsenide, and germanium are used in transistors, rectifiers, and integrated circuits. The first solid-state device was the “cat’s whisker” (1906), in which a fine wire was moved across a solid crystal to detect a radio signal. See also semiconductor.
solid-state physics Branch of physics concerned with the physical properties of solid materials. It deals with the properties of crystal-lattice arrangements of atoms, and dislocations and defects in the arrangements. These structures are especially important in the study of the conductance of heat and electricity through solid materials.
Solidarity Polish Solidarnosc Polish trade union. A workers’ strike in 1980 at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk inspired other labour strikes in Poland and compelled the government to agree to the workers’ demands for independent unions. Solidarity was founded to unite the regional trade unions, and Lech Walesa was elected chairman. The movement won eco¬ nomic reforms and free elections before pressure from the Soviet Union forced the Polish government to suppress the union in 1981. The focus of worldwide attention, it continued as an underground organization until 1989, when the government recognized its legality. In the free elections of 1989, Solidarity candidates won most of the contested seats in the assembly and formed a coalition government. In the 1990s the union’s role diminished as new political parties emerged in a free Poland.
soliloquy \so- , li-l9- l kwe\ Dramatic monologue that gives the illusion of being a series of unspoken reflections. An accepted dramatic convention
in the 16th— 17th centuries, it was used artfully by William Shakespeare to reveal the minds of his characters. Pierre Corneille emphasized its lyricism, while Jean Racine favoured it for dramatic effect. Overused in English Restoration plays (1660-85), it fell into disfavour. Rejected by prose dra¬ matists such as Henrik Ibsen, it was seldom used in late 19th-century natu¬ ralist drama. Many 20th-century dramatists also avoided the soliloquy as artificial, though Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, among others, adapted it by introducing narrators who alternately mused on the action and took part in it. It has been used by contemporary playwrights such as John Guare and Brian Friel, and the illusion that the characters are con¬ fiding in the audience has proved acceptable to a culture accustomed to the interview and the documentary film.
solmization V.sal-ms-'za-shonN or solfeggio \sal-'fe-je-o\ System of designating musical notes by syllable names. It may have been invented by the 1 lth-century Italian monk Guido d’Arezzo when training his cathedral singers. The syllables— ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la —were derived from the first syllables of the lines of a hymn, each phrase of which began one note higher than the previous phrase. This six-note series, or hexachord, facilitated the sight-reading of music by allowing the singer always to associate a given musical interval with any two syllables. The syllables are still in use, though ut is usually replaced by the more singable do, and ti or si has been added for the seventh scale degree. Compare shape-note singing.
Solo River Longest river in Java, Indonesia. It rises on the slope of Mount Lawu volcano and flows 335 mi (539 km) north and east to dis¬ charge into the Java Sea. It is navigable for small craft in much of its upper course; its marshy delta is used for fish ponds.
Solomon (fl. 10th century bc) Son and successor of David. Nearly all that is known about him comes from the Bible (1 Kings 1-11 and 2 Chronicles 1-9). Through the efforts of his mother, Bathsheba, and the prophet Nathan, Solomon was anointed king while David was still alive. On accession to the throne, he liquidated his opponents ruthlessly and installed friends in key posts. He established Israelite colonies outside his kingdom’s borders, cooperating with such friendly rulers as the Queen of Sheba to increase commerce. Fortification of his far-flung empire neces¬ sitated a vast building program, the crowning achievement of which was the Temple of Jerusalem. He reorganized the nation into 12 tribes with 12 administrative districts. He is said to have had a harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines. After the ascension to the throne of his son Rehoboam, the northern tribes seceded and formed their own kingdom of Israel, bring¬ ing an end to Solomon’s empire. His legendary wisdom is recorded in the Book of Proverbs, and he is traditionally named as the author of the bib¬ lical Song of Solomon. He was regarded as the greatest king of Israel.