Titan Vtl-tonX In Greek mythology, any of the children of Uranus and Gaea and their descendants. There were 12 original Titans: the brothers Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Oceanus, and the sisters Mnemo¬ syne, Phoebe, Rhea, Tethys, Thea, and Themis. Encouraged by Gaea, the Titans rebelled against their father. Cronus deposed Uranus by castrating him, and became king himself. Cronus’ son Zeus rebelled against his father, launching a struggle in which most of the Titans sided with Cro¬ nus. Zeus and his siblings finally won after 10 years, and Zeus impris¬ oned the Titans in a cavity below Tartarus.
Titan \'tl-t 3 n\ Largest moon of Saturn. Titan is the only satellite in the solar system known to have clouds and a dense atmosphere. It makes one rotation on its axis (about every 16 days) for each revolution around Sat¬ urn, thus always keeping the same hemisphere toward the planet. With a diameter of 3,200 mi (5,150 km), Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system; only Jupiter’s Ganymede is larger. Its density (about 1.9 times that of water) implies that its interior is a mixture of rocky and icy materials, the latter likely being mostly water ice mixed with frozen ammonia and methane. Its atmosphere is about 95% nitrogen. Its surface, veiled in a thick brownish red haze, was largely a mystery until the arrival at Saturn in 2004 of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, which revealed a complex topography shaped by rains, winds, flowing liquids, and other processes similar to those acting on Earth’s surface.
Titan rocket Any of a series of U.S. liquid-fueled rockets originally developed as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) but also used as space launch vehicles. Titan I missiles (used 1962-65), designed to deliver a four-megaton nuclear warhead over 5,000 mi (8,000 km) to targets in the former Soviet Union, were stored in underground silos but had to be raised to ground level and fueled for launch. By 1965 they had been replaced by the much larger Titan II, which could be launched directly from its silo. With a nine-megaton warhead, Titan II was the principal weapon in the land-based U.S. nuclear arsenal until the 1980s, when it was replaced by solid-fueled ICBMs (e.g., Minuteman missiles). NASA used the Titan II to launch Gemini spacecraft in the 1960s; deactivated Titan II missiles refurbished as space launchers continued to be used into the 21st century. The Titan IV, developed in the late 1980s, has larger engines to lift heavy space cargo such as that carried by the space shuttle. Coupled with the Centaur upper-stage vehicle, it is the largest and most powerful expendable launch vehicle in the U.S.
Titanic British luxury passenger liner that sank on April 15, 1912, en route to New York from Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage. Over 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers were lost. The largest and most luxu¬ rious ship afloat, it had a double-bottomed hull divided into 16 watertight compartments. Because four of these could be flooded without endanger¬ ing its buoyancy, it was considered unsinkable. Shortly before midnight on April 14, it collided with an iceberg southeast of Cape Race, New¬ foundland; five compartments ruptured and the ship sank. As a result, new rules were drawn up requiring that the number of places in lifeboats equal the number of passengers (the Titanic had only 1,178 lifeboat places for 2,224 passengers) and that all ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch for distress signals (a ship less than 20 mi [32 km] away had not heard the Titanic ’s distress signal because no one had been on duty). The Interna¬ tional Ice Patrol was established to monitor icebergs in shipping lanes. In 1985 the wreck was found lying upright in two pieces at a depth of 13,000 ft (4,000 m) and was explored by American and French scientists using an unmanned submersible (see Robert Ballard).
I I 11 1
The Titanic.
THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
titanium \tI-'ta-ne-om\ Metallic chemical element, one of the transition elements, chemical symbol Ti, atomic number 22. A silvery gray, light¬ weight, high-strength, low-corrosion structural metal, it is found combined in almost all rocks and soils and in plants and animals, natural waters, and deep-sea dredgings. Its chief commercial ores are ilmenite and rutile. Its alloys are used for parts for high-speed aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, and ships; in electrodes; in chemical, desalination, and food-handling equip¬ ment; and in prostheses. Its compounds, in which it has valence 2, 3, or 4, include titanium trichloride (used as a catalyst in polypropylene pro-
Tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor ).
DAN SUDIA-THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY COLLECTION
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Titchener ► tlachtli I 1915
duction), titanium dioxide (extensively used as a pigment— with the great¬ est hiding power of all white pigments —in paints, enamels, and lacquers), and titanium tetrachloride (used in skywriting, smoke screens, and as a catalyst).
Titchener, Edward Bradford (b. Jan. 11, 1867, Chichester, Sussex, Eng.—d. Aug. 3, 1927, Ithaca, N.Y., U.S.) British-U.S. psychologist. Trained in Leipzig under Wilhelm Wundt, he later taught at Cornell Uni¬ versity (1892-1927). He helped establish experimental psychology in the U.S., and he also became the foremost proponent of structural psychol¬ ogy, a field concerned with the components and arrangement of mental states and processes. His principal work is Experimental Psychology
(1901-05).
tithe Contribution of a tenth of one’s income for religious purposes. The practice of tithing was established in the Hebrew scriptures and was adopted by the Western Christian church. It was enjoined by eccesiasti- cal law from the 6th century and enforced in Europe by secular law from the 8th century. After the Reformation, tithes continued to be imposed for the benefit of both the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. Tithes were eventually repealed in France (1789), Ireland (1871), Italy (1887), and England (1936). In Germany support for churches is collected through the personal income tax and distributed according to the individual’s reli¬ gious affiliation. Tithing was never part of U.S. law, but members of cer¬ tain churches (e.g., the Mormons) are required to tithe, and members of other churches may tithe voluntarily. Tithing was never accepted by the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Titian \'ti-shon\ orig. Tiziano Vecellio (b. 1488/90, Pieve di Cadore, Republic of Venice—d. Aug. 27, 1576, Venice) Italian painter active in Venice. As a young man he was taught by the Bellini family and worked closely with Giorgione. His early works are so similar in style to Gior¬ gione’s as to be indistinguishable, but soon after Giorgione’s early death Titian established himself as the leading painter of the Republic of Ven¬ ice. Among his most important religious paintings is the revolutionary and monumental Assumption (1516-18) for Santa Maria dei Frari, in which the Virgin ascends to heaven in a blaze of colour accompanied by a semi¬ circle of angels. Titian was also interested in mythological themes, and his many depictions of Venus display his work’s sheer beauty and inher¬ ent eroticism. Bacchus and Ariadne (1520-23), with its pagan abandon, is one of the greatest works of Renaissance art. Titian was sought after for his psychologically penetrating portraits, which include portrayals of leading Italian aristocrats, religious figures, and Emperor Charles V. He reached the height of his powers in The Rape ofEuropa (c. 1559-62), one of several paintings done for Philip II of Spain. He was recognized as supremely gifted in his lifetime, and his reputation has never declined.
Titicaca V.te-te-'ka-kaV Lake South American lake, the world’s highest lake navigable to large vessels. Located in the Altiplano, a high basin of the Andes Mountains, and on the border between Peru and Bolivia, it lies at an elevation of about 12,500 ft (3,810 m). The second largest lake in South America, it covers some 3,200 sq mi (8,300 sq km) and is 120 mi (190 km) long by 50 mi (80 km) wide. A narrow strait joins the lake’s two bodies of water, which have 41 islands, some densely populated. The remains of one of the oldest known American civilizations have been found in the area. Temple ruins on Titicaca Island mark the spot where, according to legend, the founders of the Inca were sent down to earth by the sun.