Tosefta \,to-sef-'ta, to-'sef-toV Supplements to the Mishna compiled c. ad 300. The Tosefta consists of laws attributed to the authorities named in the Mishna and generally follows the topical program and organization of the Mishna. Both works were the effort of Jewish scholars, working mostly in Palestine, who gathered, evaluated, and correlated the most important traditions from a vast and heterogeneous mass of material that had developed since the time of Ezra (c. 450 bc). The Tosefta may have been meant to complement the Mishna by preserving material that appeared marginal or contradictory.
Tostig \'tas-tig\ (d. Sept. 25, 1066, Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire, Eng.) Anglo-Saxon earl of Northumbria. He had strong ties with Norway and became earl of Northumbria in 1055; his severity in subduing the wild northern district stirred revolt in 1065. The rebels won the support of Tostig’s brother Earl Harold (later Harold II) at Oxford, and Tostig went into exile. He gave his services to William I (the Conqueror) and harried the English coast, then joined Norway’s king Harald III Sigurdsson in his invasion of England. Tostig was killed when his brother Harold defeated the invading army at Stamford Bridge.
total internal reflection Complete reflection of a ray of light in a medium such as water or glass, from the surrounding surfaces back into the medium. It occurs when the angle of incidence is greater than a cer¬ tain limiting angle, called the critical angle. In general, it takes place at the boundary between two transparent media when a ray of light in a medium of higher index of refraction approaches another medium of lower index of refraction at more than the critical angle. At all angles less than the critical angle, both reflection and refraction occur. Total internal reflection is responsible for rainbows, atmospheric halos, the sparkle of a diamond, and the path of light through optical fibres.
Galapagos tortoise (Geochelone ele- phantopus).
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1926 I Total Quality Control ► Toulouse-Lautrec
Total Quality Control (TQC) System for optimizing production based on ideas developed by Japanese industries from the 1950s on. The system, which blends Western and Eastern ideas, began with the concept of quality circles, in which groups of 10-20 workers were given respon¬ sibility for the quality of the products they produced. It gradually evolved into various techniques involving both workers and managers to maxi¬ mize productivity and quality, including close monitoring of staff and excellent customer service. The concept of kaizen, the notion that improvement must involve all members of a company, is central to TQC. See also production management.
Total Quality Management (TQM) Management practices designed to improve the performance of organizational processes in busi¬ ness and industry. Based on concepts developed by statistician and man¬ agement theorist W. Edwards Deming, TQM includes techniques for achieving efficiency, solving problems, imposing standardization and sta¬ tistical control, and regulating design, housekeeping, and other aspects of business or production processes. See also International Organization for Standardization (ISO); Total Quality Control (TQC).
total war Military conflict in which the contenders mobilize all of their civilian and military resources in order to obtain a complete victory. It is distinguished from the partial commitment of lives and resources in lim¬ ited war. The modem concept of total war is traced to Carl von Clause- witz, who stressed the importance of crushing the adversary’s forces in battle and described wars as tending constantly to escalate in violence toward a theoretical absolute. The classic 20th-century work is Erich Ludendorff’s The Total War (1935). World Wars I and II are usually regarded as total wars. After World War II, especially during the Cold War, the prospect of an all-out nuclear war made the major powers reluc¬ tant to engage in full-scale international warfare or allow their client states to do so.
totalitarianism Form of government that subordinates all aspects of its citizens’ lives to the authority of the state, with a single charismatic leader as the ultimate authority. The term was coined in the early 1920s by Benito Mussolini, but totalitarianism has existed throughout history throughout the world (e.g., Qin dynasty China). It is distinguished from dictatorship and authoritarianism by its supplanting of all political institu¬ tions and all old legal and social traditions with new ones to meet the state’s needs, which are usually highly focused. Large-scale, organized violence may be legitimized. The police operate without the constraint of laws and regulations. Where pursuit of the state’s goal is the only ideo¬ logical foundation for such a government, achievement of the goal can never be acknowledged. Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) is the standard work on the subject.
totem pole Carved and painted vertical log, constructed by many Northwest Coast Indian peoples. The poles display mythological images, usually animal spirits, whose significance is their association with the lin¬ eage. Each figure represents a type of family crest. Some poles relate a family legend in the form of pictographs. Poles are erected to identify the owner of a house or other property, welcome visitors, indicate a portal or passageway, mark a gravesite, and even to ridicule an important person who failed in some way. See also symbol; totemism.
totemism Complex of ideas and practices based on the belief in kin¬ ship or mystical relationship between a group (or individual) and a natu¬ ral object, such as an animal or plant. The term derives from the Ojibwa word ototeman, signifying a blood relationship. A society exhibits totemism if it is divided into an apparently fixed number of clans, each of which has a specific relationship to an animate or inanimate species (totem). A totem may be a feared or respected hunted animal or an edible plant. Very commonly connected with origin myths and with instituted morality, the totem is almost always hedged about with taboos of avoid¬ ance or of strictly ritualized contact. Totem, taboo, and exogamy seem to be inextricably intertwined. See also totem pole.
Totonac V.to-to-'nakV North American Indians of east-central Mexico. Some live on cool, rainy high mesas, others in the hot, humid lowlands. Both groups are farmers, but the highlanders sometimes engage in ped¬ dling and wage labour as well and often work on lowland farms in the off-season. Most farm their own land and also perform required labour on land collectively owned by the village. They profess Roman Catholicism but have adapted it to their traditional beliefs.
toucan Vtu-,kan\ Any of about 40 species (family Ramphastidae) of large-billed, long-tailed Central and South American birds. Many species are black with a bold breast colour; their thick, saw-edged bills are brightly and distinctively coloured.
Bands of toucans emit loud barks, bugling calls, and harsh croaks. They eat fruit, insects, lizards, and nestling birds. Toucans deposit two to four eggs in an unlined natural tree cav¬ ity or an abandoned woodpecker hole. Ramphastos species are up to 24 in. (60 cm) long, a third of which may be the bill. Smaller species (tou- canets) are 10-14 in. (25-35 cm) long.