Bekesy \'ba-,ka-she\, Georg von (b. June 3, 1899, Budapest, Hung.—d. June 13, 1972, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. physicist and physiologist. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1947 and taught at Harvard University in 1947-66. He discovered that sound vibrations travel along a membrane in the cochlea in waves, peaking at different places, where nerve receptors determine pitch and loudness. His research resulted in greatly expanded understanding of the hearing process, partly through instrumentation Bekesy had helped design, and the differentia¬ tion of forms of deafness, which permitted the selection of proper treat¬ ment. He received a 1961 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
Bekhterev Vbyak-tir-yif\, Vladimir (Mikhaylovich) (b. Feb. 1, 1857, Sorali, Vyatka, Russia—d. Dec. 24, 1927, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian neurophysiologist and psychiatrist. A competitor of Ivan Pavlov, Bekhterev independently developed a theory of conditioned reflexes. His most lasting work was in brain structure research and descriptions of nervous symptoms and illnesses. He discovered the supe¬ rior vestibular nucleus (Bekhterev nucleus) and other brain formations and described spinal numbness (spondylitis deformans, or Bekhterev disease) and other diseases. He founded the first Russian journal on nervous dis¬ eases. His approach to the study of behaviour influenced the growing movement toward behaviourism in the U.S.
Bel Akkadian god of the atmosphere and member of a triad including Anu (An) and Ea (Enki). His Sumerian counterpart was Enlil. His breath brought both severe storms and gentle spring winds. He was the god of agriculture and as such was more important than the high god Anu. As Bel he was known as the god of order and destiny. As Enlil, he was ban¬ ished to the underworld for raping his consort Ninlil (Belit), in a myth that explains the cycle of the seasons.
Bel See Marduk
Belafonte V.bel-o-'fan-taV Harry orig. Harold George Belafonte, Jr, (b. March 1, 1927, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. singer, actor, and producer. He was born to immigrants from Martinique and Jamaica, and he lived with his mother in Jamaica from 1935 to 1940. In the early 1950s he initiated a fad for calypso music with songs such as “Day-O (Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell.” He starred in the films Carmen Jones (1954) and Island in the Sun (1957) and later became the first black television producer. In the 1960s and ’70s he was a promi¬ nent civil-rights activist. From the 1970s onward his singing career was a secondary occupation, and he acted in films such as Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Kansas City (1996).
Belarus Country, eastern Europe. Area: 80,200 sq mi (207,600 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 9,776,000. Capitaclass="underline" Minsk. The population is mainly Belarusian, with Russian and Ukrainian minorities. Languages: Belarusian, Russian (both official). Religion: Christianity (predominantly Eastern Orthodox; also Roman Catholic). Currency: rubel. The northern
part of the country is crossed by the West¬ ern Dvina (Dzvina) River; the Dnieper (Dnyapro) flows through eastern Belarus; the south has extensive marshy areas along the Pripet (Prypyats’) River; the upper course of the Neman (Nyoman) flows in the west; and the Bug (Buh) forms part of the boundary with Poland in the southwest. The chief cities, in addition to Minsk, are Homyel, Mahilyow, and Vitsyebsk. Agriculture, once the linchpin of the Belarusian economy, has diminished in importance, while manufacturing and the service sector have grown. Belarus is a republic with two legislative houses; its president is head of state and government. Although Belarusians share a distinct identity and language, they never previously enjoyed political sovereignty. The territory that is now Belarus underwent partition and changed hands often; as a result, its history is entwined with its neighbours’. In medieval times the region was ruled by Lithuanians and Poles. Following the Third Partition of Poland, Belarus was ruled by Russia. After World War I the western part was assigned to Poland, and the eastern part became Soviet territory. After World War II the Soviets expanded what had been the Belorussian S.S.R. by annexing more of Poland. Much of the area suffered radioactive con¬ tamination from the Chernobyl accident in 1986, which forced many to evacuate. Belarus declared its independence in 1991 and later joined the Commonwealth of Independent States. Amid increasing political turmoil in the 1990s, it moved toward closer union with Russia but continued to struggle economically and politically at the start of the 21st century.
Belarusian X.bya-b-'rU-se-onV language or Belarusan
\ l bya-b- , riis-3n\ language East Slavic language of Belarus, spoken by some 10.2 million people worldwide. Belarusian features begin to appear in Church Slavonic manuscripts from the 14th century (see Old Church Slavonic language). The chancery language of the grand duchy of Lithua¬ nia, used in the 15th—16th centuries, contains a substantial Belarusian ele¬ ment, mixed with Church Slavonic, Ukrainian, and Polish. Belarusian was not fully elaborated as a modern literary language until the early 20th century, when orthographic norms for writing it in Cyrillic were estab¬ lished. It has long struggled to maintain itself against Russian, particularly in Belarusian urban centres, where there is a high degree of Russification and Belarusian-Russian bilingualism.
Belasco \b9-'las-ko\, David (b. July 25, 1853, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.—d. May 14, 1931, New York, N.Y.) U.S. theatrical producer and playwright. He acted with traveling companies before becoming a theatre manager, first in San Francisco and later in New York City (from 1880). An independent producer from 1890, he built his own theatre in 1906; there he introduced changes in stage lighting, used realistic scenery, and demanded high production standards. He successfully fought against the
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192 I Belau ► Belgrade
monopolistic Theatrical Syndicate. He wrote or collaborated on numer¬ ous plays, including Madame Butterfly (1900) and The Girl of the Golden West (1905), which were made into operas by the Italian composer Gia¬ como Puccini.
Belau See Palau
Belem \be-'lem\ City (pop., 2000 prelim.: metro, area , 1,271,615), northern Brazil. The capital of Para state, the port of Belem lies on the Para River in the vast Amazon River delta 90 mi (145 km) from the Atlan¬ tic Ocean. It began in 1616 as a fortified settlement; as it gradually became established, it helped consolidate Portuguese supremacy in northern Bra¬ zil. It was made the state capital in 1772. It enjoyed prosperity in the late 19th century as the main exporting centre of the Amazon rubber indus¬ try. After the rubber era ended in 1912, it continued to be northern Bra¬ zil’s commercial centre and a main port for Amazon River craft.
belemnoid Vbel-om-.noidX or belemnite Member of an extinct group of cephalopods, possessing a large internal shell, that first appeared c.
345 million years ago, in the Early Carboniferous Period, and became extinct during the Eocene Epoch, which ended c. 36.6 million years ago. The internal shell of most spe¬ cies is straight, but that of some spe¬ cies is loosely coiled. The shell served for support and muscle attachment and enabled the animal to compensate for depth and its own body weight. See also ammonoid.
Belfast District, seaport, and capi¬ tal (pop., 1999 est.: 297,200) of Northern Ireland. On the River Lagan, the site was occupied in the Stone and Bronze ages, and the remains of Iron Age forts can still be seen. Bel¬ fast’s modern history began in the early 17th century when Sir Arthur Chichester developed a plan for colonizing the area with English and Scottish settlers. Having survived the Irish insurrection of 1641, the town grew in economic importance, especially after a large immigration of French Huguenots arrived after the rescinding of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and strengthened the linen trade. It became a centre of Irish Prot¬ estantism, setting the stage for sectarian conflict in the 19th-20th centu¬ ries. Fighting was renewed in the 1960s and did not subside until a peace agreement was reached in 1998. The city is Northern Ireland’s educational and commercial hub.