verifiability principle Criterion of meaningfulness associated with logical positivism and the Vienna Circle. Moritz Schlick’s formulation “The meaning of a [declarative sentence] is the method of its verification” was close to the view held in pragmatism, and later in operationalism, that an assertion has factual meaning only if there is a difference in principle, open to test by observation, between the affirmation and the denial of the assertion. Thus, the statements of ethics, metaphysics, religion, and aes¬ thetics were held to be meaningless. The verifiability criterion of mean¬ ingfulness was in part inspired by Albert Einstein’s abandonment of the ether hypothesis and the notion of absolute simultaneity.
Verlaine \ver-'len\, Paul (-Marie) (b. March 30, 1844, Metz, France—d. Jan. 8, 1896, Paris) French lyric poet. After entering the civil service, he was first associated with the Parnassian poets, contributing to the first volume of the anthology Le Parnasse contemporain (1866). His early collections, Poemes saturniens (1866), Fetes galantes (1869), La Bonne chanson (1870), and Romances sans paroles (1874), show the intense lyricism and musicality that would mark all his verse. His mar¬
riage was shattered by his infatuation with Arthur Rimbaud, and the two scandalized Paris with their behaviour in 1872-73. While in prison in Belgium (1873-75) for shooting Rimbaud when the latter threatened to leave him, he converted to Catholicism and probably composed the famous “Art poetique,” adopted in 1882 by the poets of the Symbolist movement. Sagesse (1880) expresses his religious faith and his emotional odyssey. He later taught French and English; he spent his late years in poverty, but just before his death he was sponsored for a major interna¬ tional lecture tour. His Les Poetes maudits (1884; “The Accursed Poets”) consists of short biographical studies of six poets, including Stephane Mallarme and Rimbaud. He is regarded as the third great member (with Charles Baudelaire and Mallarme) of the so-called Decadents.
Vermeer Wor-'mer, var-'mirV, Johannes (b. Oct. 31, 1632, Delft, Neth.—d. Dec. 15, 1675, Delft) Dutch painter. His parents were tavern keepers. He twice served as head of the Delft artists’ guild but seems to have depended on his activities as an art dealer to support his family. He painted mainly interior genre subjects, depicting members of aristocratic and upper-middle-class society. About half of these paintings show soli¬ tary figures of women absorbed in some ordinary, everyday activity. His interiors combine a microscopic observation of objects with a meticulous depiction of the gradations of daylight on varied shapes and surfaces. His masterpieces (none dated) include View of Delft, Young Woman Reading a Letter, and Allegory of Painting, his most symbolically complex work. He manages to be unique within a typically Dutch genre. Few foreign influences can be sensed in his work. His work was not widely appreci¬ ated in his own time, and he remained in obscurity until 1866, when Theophile Thore celebrated his work and attributed 76 paintings to him; later authorities have reduced the number to between 30 and 35, while proclaiming him one of the greatest painters of all time.
Vermont State (pop., 2000: 608,827), northeastern U.S. One of the New England states, it covers 9,614 sq mi (24,900 sq km); its capital is Mont¬ pelier. On the north, Vermont borders Quebec, Can., on the south, Mas¬ sachusetts, and on the west. New York. From the Canadian to the Massachusetts border, the Connecticut River separates Vermont from New Hampshire on the east. The Green Mountains extend through the centre of Vermont. The highest point is Mount Mansfield, at 4,393 ft (1,339 m). Most of the rivers drain into Lake Champlain. Settled originally by Abenaki Indians, the region was explored by Samuel de Champlain, who in 1609 discovered the lake that now bears his name. The French established the first permanent European settlement in 1666 on Isle La Motte. Both the Dutch and the British established settlements in the 18th century, but the area fell exclusively to the British in 1763. Disputes arose between New York and New Hampshire concerning jurisdiction of the area; New Hamp¬ shire had awarded grants to settlers. In 1770 Ethan Allen organized the Green Mountain Boys to repel encroachers from western New York. In 1775, at the start of the American Revolution, Allen and his group, fight¬ ing for the colonies, captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British. Ver¬ monters created an independent republic in 1777, and in 1791 it became the 14th U.S. state. In 1864, during the American Civil War, it was the site of the only action north of Pennsylvania when a band of Confederates raided St. Albans from Canada. Dairying and the mining of granite and marble contribute to the economy. In the 1930s the first ski runs were built, and by the 1960s a winter tourist industry had developed.
vernacular architecture Common domestic architecture of a region, usually far simpler than what the technology of the time is capable of maintaining. In highly industrialized countries such as the U.S., for example, barns are still being built according to a design employed in Europe in the 1st millennium bc. Vernacular structures are characterized by inexpensive materials and straightforwardly utilitarian design.
Verne, Jules (b. Feb. 8, 1828, Nantes, France—d. March 24, 1905, Amiens) French writer. He studied law then worked as a stockbroker while writing plays and stories. The first of his romantic adventures (voy¬ ages extraordinaires). Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863), was highly suc¬ cessful. His subsequent voyages —with increasingly fantastic yet carefully conceived scientific wonders that often anticipated 20th-century techno¬ logical achievements—include A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne’s work shaped the entire develop¬ ment of SCIENCE FICTION.
Vernet \ver-'na\, (Claude-) Joseph (b. Aug. 14, 1714, Avignon, France—d. Dec. 3, 1789, Paris) French painter. Son of a decorative
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1998 I vernier ► Versailles
painter, he catered to a new taste for idealized, somewhat sentimentalized landscapes. His shipwrecks, sunsets, and conflagrations reveal a subtle observation of light and atmosphere.
His series of 15 Ports of France (1754-65), his finest works, consti¬ tute a remarkable record of 18th- century life. His son Carle (1758—
1836) produced vast battle scenes for Napoleon, but his real talent was for intimate genre scenes and drawing.
His long series of fashionable stud¬ ies, often satirizing contemporary manners and costume, were widely reproduced as engravings. After the restoration of the monarchy he became court painter to Louis XVIII.
Carle’s son Horace (1789-1863) developed a remarkable facility for working on a grand scale and became one of France’s most impor¬ tant military painters.
vernier \'v3r-ne-or\ or vernier caliper Instrument for making very accurate linear or angular measure¬ ments. Introduced in 1631 by Pierre Vernier (c. 1580-1637), it uses two graduated scales: a main scale similar to that on a ruler, and a specially graduated scale, the vernier, that slides parallel to the main scale and enables readings to be made to a fraction of a division on the main scale.