Brownian motion Any of various physical phenomena in which some quantity is constantly undergoing small, random fluctuations. It was named for Robert Brown, who was investigating the fertilization process of flowers in 1827 when he noticed a “rapid oscillatory motion” of micro¬ scopic particles within pollen grains suspended in water. He later discov¬ ered that similar motions could be seen in smoke or dust particles suspended in air and other fluids. The idea that molecules of a fluid are constantly in motion is a key part of the kinetic theory of gases, developed by James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann, and Rudolf Clausius (1822- 88) to explain heat phenomena.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett orig. Elizabeth Barrett (b. March 6, 1806, near Durham, Durham,
Eng.—d. June 29, 1861, Florence)
British poet. Though she was an invalid who was afraid to meet strangers, her poetry became well known in literary circles with the publication of volumes of verse in 1838 and 1844. She met Robert Browning in 1845 and, after a court¬ ship kept secret from her despotic father, they married and settled in Florence. Her reputation rests chiefly on the love poems written during their courtship, Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850). Her most ambi¬ tious work, the blank-verse novel Aurora Leigh (1857), was a huge popular success.
Browning, Robert (b. May 7,
1812, London, Eng.—d. Dec. 12,
1889, Venice, Italy) British poet. His early works include verse dramas, notably Pippa Passes (1841), and long poems, including Sordello (1840). In the years of his marriage (1846-61) to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, spent in Italy, he produced little other than Men and Women (1855), which contains dramatic lyrics such as “Love Among the Ruins” and the great monologues “Fra Lippo Lippi” and “Bishop Blougram’s Apology.” Dramatis Personae (1864), including “Rabbi Ben Ezra” and “Caliban upon Setebos,” finally won him popular recognition. The Ring and the Book (1868-69), a book-length poem, is based on a 1698 murder trial in Rome. Browning influenced many mod¬ ern poets through his development of the dramatic monologue (with its emphasis on individual psychology) and through his success in writing about the variety of modern life in language his contemporaries found often difficult as well as original.
Browning, Tod orig. Charles Albert Browning (b. July 12,1880, Louisville, Ky., U.S.—d. Oct. 6, 1962, Malibu, Calif.) U.S. film director. He was a circus performer and vaudeville comic before joining the Bio¬ graph film studio in 1915. He wrote several screenplays, then directed melodramas and adventure films (1917-25). He directed the macabre film The Unholy Three (1925), starring Lon Chaney, followed by Dracula (1931) and Freaks (1932), which established his reputation for films of horror and the grotesque.
Brownshirts See SA
Brownsville Affair Racial incident in 1906 in Brownsville, Texas, involving white citizens of Brownsville and African American soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Brown. On the evening of August 13-14, rifle shots on a street in Brownsville killed one white man and wounded another. The mayor and other whites accused African American soldiers of the crime. Though their white officers stated that the soldiers were in their barracks, investigators accepted the mayor’s version, and Pres. The¬ odore Roosevelt ordered dishonourable discharges for 167 African Ameri¬ can soldiers for their alleged conspiracy of silence. In 1972 a congressional investigation cleared the soldiers of guilt.
browser Software that allows a computer user to find and view infor¬ mation on the Internet. The first text-based browser for the World Wide Web became available in 1991; Web use expanded rapidly after the release in 1993 of a browser called Mosaic, which used “point-and-click” graphi¬ cal manipulations. Such Web browsers interpret the HTML tags in down¬ loaded documents and format the displayed data according to a set of
Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
TREAT DAVIDSON-THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY COLLECTION/PHOTO RESEARCHERS
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, detail of an oil painting by Michele Gordigiani,
1858; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY,
LONDON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Brubeck ► Bruhn I 283
standard style rules. Netscape Navigator became the dominant Web browser soon after its release in 1994; Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was introduced a year later and has become widespread.
Brubeck, Dave orig. David Warren Brubeck (b. Dec. 6, 1920, Concord, Calif., U.S.) U.S. jazz pianist and composer. Brubeck studied composition with Darius Milhaud before working as a jazz pianist. He formed a quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond in 1951. His use of unconventional metres contributed to his immense appeaclass="underline" the recording of Desmond’s “Take Five” became the first jazz instrumental to sell more than a million copies. This exposure brought many new listeners to jazz, particularly on college campuses during the 1950s and ’60s.
Bruce, Blanche K(elso) (b. March 1, 1841, Prince Edward county, Va., U.S.—d. March 17, 1898, Washington, D.C.) U.S. senator from Mis¬ sissippi during Reconstruction. Bom to a slave mother and a white father, he was educated by his father. He moved to Mississippi, where he became a significant figure in state politics and purchased a plantation. In the U.S. Senate (1875-81), he advocated just treatment of African Americans and Indians and opposed the policy of excluding Chinese immigrants. He later served as register of the U.S. treasury (1881-85, 1895-98), District of Columbia recorder of deeds (1889-95), and trustee of Howard Univer¬ sity.
Bruce, Lenny orig. Leonard Alfred Schneider (b. Oct. 13, 1925, Mineola, N.Y., U.S.—d. Aug. 3, 1966, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. stand-up comedian. He studied acting and began performing stand-up routines in nightclubs in the 1950s, soon developing a style marked by black humour and punctuated with obscenity. As he gained notoriety, he focused his material on criticisms of the social and legal establishments, organized religion, and other controversial subjects. His reputation acquired iconic status as a daring performer and an activist for free speech after his death from a drug overdose.
brucellosis X.bru-so-'lo-sosV or Malta fever or Mediterranean fever or undulant fever Infectious disease of humans and domestic animals. It is characterized by gradual onset of fever, chills, sweats, weak¬ ness, and aches, and it usually ends within six months. It is named after the British physician David Bruce (b. 1855—d. 1931), who first identi¬ fied (1887) the causative bacteria. Three main species in the genus Bru¬ cella commonly cause the disease in humans, who contract it from infected animals (goats, sheep, pigs, cattle). Brucellosis is rarely trans¬ mitted between humans but spreads rapidly in animals, causing severe economic losses. Drug therapy is not practical for animal brucellosis, but vaccination of young animals is useful. Infected animals must be removed from herds. Antibiotics are effective against acute disease in humans, in whom it can cause liver and heart problems if untreated.
Bruch VbriikX, Max (Karl August) (b. Jan. 6, 1838, Cologne, Prussia—d. Oct. 2, 1920, Friedensau, near Berlin, Ger.) German com¬ poser. Bruch held many conducting positions and taught for 20 years at the Berlin Academy. He was known in his lifetime principally for his many sacred and secular choral pieces, including Odysseus (1872) and Das Lied von der Glocke (1879). Today he is remembered especially for his first violin concerto (1868); he also wrote two further violin concer¬ tos, the cello variations Kol Nidrei (1881), and operas and symphonies.