Trajan, detail of a marble bust; in the British Museum.
COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
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sentative on earth. He strengthened defenses along the northern frontier and weakened the Praetorian Guard at Rome. He gave the Senate new authority, reduced taxes, supported the poor with government welfare, reformed provincial administration, and built public works, including a forum with Trajan’s Column, a structure commemorating his Dacian Wars. He added Dacia, Mesopotamia, and Parthia to the empire. He was campaigning in Asia when revolts broke out in conquered territories. Dis¬ couraged and ill, he died on his journey to Rome.
trampoline Resilient sheet or web (often of nylon) supported by springs in a metal frame and used as a springboard and landing area in tumbling. Trampolining is an individual sport of acrobatic movements performed after rebounding into the air from the trampoline. As a com¬ petitive sport, it was included in the Pan-American Games for the first time in 1955, and a world championship was established in 1964; com¬ petitors are scored on difficulty, execution, and form.
tranquilizer Drug used to reduce anxiety, fear, tension, agitation, and related disturbed mental states. Major tranquilizers (antipsychotic agents, or neuroleptics) are used to treat schizophrenia and other psychoses; phe- nothiazines, including chlorpromazine, are the best known. They are thought to block the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. Minor tranquilizers (antianxiety agents, or anxiolytics) are used to treat anxiety and tension; they are usually benzodiazepines, including diaz¬ epam (Valium) and chlordiazepoxide (Librium). They have a calming effect and reduce both physical and psychological effects of anxiety, fear, and stress by enhancing the action of the neurotransmitter gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain.
Trans-Alaska Pipeline or Alaska Pipeline Oil pipeline running 800 mi (1,300 km) north-south across Alaska, U.S. Completed in 1977, it transports crude oil from the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to an ice-free port at Valdez. To avoid thawing the adjacent perma¬ frost, about half of the line is elevated.
Trans-Canada Highway World’s longest national road, extending east-west for 4,860 mi (7,821 km) between Victoria, British Columbia, and St. John’s, Newfoundland. Completed in 1965, it links many major Canadian cities and provides access to important national and provincial parks.
Trans-Siberian Railroad Longest single rail system in Russia, run¬ ning from Moscow to Vladivostok, a distance of 5,778 mi (9,198 km). Conceived by Tsar Alexander III, its construction began in 1891 and pro¬ ceeded simultaneously along its entire length, which traversed a section of Manchuria. It was completed in 1904, but the impending Japanese takeover of Manchuria compelled construction of a parallel section within Russian territory, completed in 1916. The railroad opened large areas of Siberia to settlement and industrialization by means of spur lines linking outlying areas with the main line. The complete trip takes about eight days.
Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA) Former U.S. airline acquired by the AMR Corp. Formed in 1930 as Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc., from two smaller airlines, the company established the first coast-to-coast service that same year, flying from Newark, N.J., to Los Angeles in 36 hours. In 1946 TWA began flights between New York City and Paris, and it expanded by the 1950s to routes through Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It adopted its present name in 1950. Howard R. Hughes was its principal stockholder and guiding genius from 1939 to 1960-61, when he lost control to a group of investors. Financially troubled since the 1980s, TWA continued to operate despite twice landing in bankruptcy court in the 1990s. It was acquired by AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, in 2001.
transcendental argument In philosophy, a form of argument that is supposed to proceed from a fact to the necessary conditions of its pos¬ sibility. A transcendental argument is simply a form of deduction, with the typical pattern: Only if p then q; q is true; therefore, p is true. As this form of argument appears in philosophy, the interest, and the difficulty, reside not in the movement from premises to conclusions, which is rou¬ tine, but in the setting up of the major premises—that is, in the kinds of things that are taken as starting points. For example, Immanuel Kant tried to prove the principle of causality by showing that it is a necessary con¬ dition of the possibility of making empirically verifiable statements in natural science.
transcendental function In mathematics, a function not expressible as a finite combination of the algebraic operations of addition, subtrac¬ tion, multiplication, division, raising to a power, and extracting a root. Examples include the functions log x, sin x, cos x, e x and any functions containing them. Such functions are expressible in algebraic terms only as infinite series. In general, the term transcendental means nonalgebraic. See also transcendental number.
Transcendental Meditation (TM) Spiritual development technique developed and promoted by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a former Hindu ascetic. A movement that became popular in the West in the 1960s, it is based on specific meditation techniques and is not strictly connected with any religious tradition, though the perspective behind it has roots in Vedanta. Practice entails the mental repetition of a mantra in order to still the activity of thought and experience a deeper level of consciousness. Through this process, the practitioner finds deep relaxation, which can lead to inner joy, vitality, and creativity.
transcendental number Number that is not algebraic, in the sense that it is not the solution of an algebraic equation with rational-number coefficients. The numbers e and n, as well as any algebraic number raised to the power of an irrational number, are transcendental numbers.
Transcendentalism Movement of 19th-century New England phi¬ losophers and writers. The Transcendentalists were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humankind, and the supremacy of vision over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. Part of the Romantic movement (see Romanticism), it developed around Concord, Mass., attracting individualistic figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, AAargaret Fuller, and Bron¬ son Alcott. Transcendentalist writers and their contemporaries signaled the emergence of a new national culture based on native materials, and they were a major part of the American Renaissance in literature. They advocated reforms in church, state, and society, contributing to the rise of free religion and the abolition movement and to the formation of vari¬ ous utopian communities, such as Brook Farm. Some of the best writings by minor Transcendentalists appeared in The Dial (1840-44), a literary magazine.
transducer Device that converts one form of energy to another. A microphone is an acoustic transducer, converting sound waves into elec¬ trical signals. Different types of transducers act on heat, radiation, sound, strain, vibrations, pressure, and acceleration; they may output mechani¬ cal, electrical, pneumatic, or hydraulic signals. Examples include strain GAUGES, LOUDSPEAKERS, PHOTOCELLS, TRANSFORMERS, and THERMOCOUPLES.
transept Area of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church lying at right angles to the principal axis. The bay at which the transept intersects the nave is called the crossing. The nave of a church with a cruciform plan usually extends west from the crossing, the choir and sanctuary east. The arms of the transept are designated by direction, as northern transept and south¬ ern transept.