dilemma tale or judgment tale Typical African form of short story. Its ending is open to conjecture or is morally ambiguous, allowing the audience to comment or speculate on the correct solution to the problem posed, whether a conflict of loyalty, the need to choose a just response to a difficult situation, or the laying of blame when several parties seem equally guilty. Dilemma tales function both as instruction and entertain¬ ment and help establish social norms.
Dili City (pop., 1999 est: 65,000), capital of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of Timor Island on Ombai Strait. Dili has been the capital, chief port, and commercial centre of the eastern half of Timor since it was settled by the Portuguese about 1520. During World War II it was occu¬ pied by Japan. East Timor was under Portuguese rule until 1975, after which it was designated a province of Indonesia. Dili suffered major damage by Indonesian military “militias” after East Timor voted for inde¬ pendence in 1999. The city became the capital of newly sovereign East Timor in 2002.
Dilke \'dilk. Sir Charles Wentworth, 2nd Baronet (b. Sept. 4, 1843, London, Eng.—d. Jan. 26, 1911, London) British politician. He was elected to Parliament in 1868, first as an extremist then as a moderate. In 1882 he became a member of William E. Gladstone’s cabinet and was seen as a future prime minister. He was ruined at the height of his career when he was cited as a corespondent in a sensational divorce suit in 1886. Dilke denied the woman’s story, and the accumulated evidence showed that much of it was a fabrication. He returned to the House of Commons (1892-1911), where he promoted progressive labor legislation and gained a reputation as a military expert.
dill FENNEL-like annual or biennial herb (Anethum graveolens) of the pars¬ ley family or its dried ripe fruit (seeds) and leafy tops, which are used to season foods. Native to Mediterranean countries and southeastern Europe, dill is now widely cultivated in Europe, India, and North America. The entire plant is aromatic. Particularly in eastern Europe and Scandinavia, the small stems and immature umbels are used for flavouring foods. Dill has a warm, slightly sharp flavour.
Dillinger Vdil-on-jorV, John (Herbert) (b. June 28, 1902, or June 22, 1903, Indianapolis, Ind., U.S.—d. July 22, 1934, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. bank robber. Arrested in 1924 in the foiled holdup of a grocer in Mooresville, Ind., he spent the next several years in Indiana state prisons, where he learned the craft of bank robbery from tough professionals. After his parole in 1933, he and one to four confederates committed five bank rob¬ beries in Indiana and Ohio in a period of four months. Again captured and
imprisoned, he escaped with the help of other convicts whose own escape he had earlier financed and plotted. He and his gang then robbed banks in Indiana and Wisconsin and fled south to Florida and then to Tucson, Ariz., where they were discovered and arrested by local police. In 1934 he used a fake wooden pistol to effect yet another escape from an Indiana prison. His end came in an ambush set by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indiana police, and Dillinger’s friend Anna Sage, a brothel madam. The well-publicized “lady in red” drew Dillinger to the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, where, on emerging, he was shot to death.
Dilthey Vdil-.tlX, Wilhelm (b. Nov. 19, 1833, Biebrich, Nassau, Ger.—d. Oct. 1, 1911, Seis am Schlern, South Tirol, Austria-Hungary) German philosopher of history. Opposed to contemporary efforts to trans¬ form the methodology of the humanities and the social sciences on the model of natural science, Dilthey tried to establish these fields as inter¬ pretive sciences in their own right. Their subject matter, according to him, is the human mind, not as it is enjoyed in immediate experience nor as it is analyzed in psychological theory, but as it manifests or “objectifies” itself in languages and literatures, actions, and institutions. Dilthey emphasized that the essence of human beings cannot be grasped by intro¬ spection but only from a knowledge of all of history; this understanding, however, can never be final because history itself never is. His major work is Introduction to Human Science (1883); two influential essays are “Ideas Concerning a Descriptive and Analytical Psychology” (1894) and “The Structure of the Historical World in the Human Sciences” (1910).
DiMaggio \d3-'ma-zhe-,o, di-'ma-je-.oX, Joe orig. Joseph Paul DiMaggio (b. Nov. 25, 1914, Martinez, Calif., U.S.—d. March 8, 1999, Hollywood, Fla.) U.S. baseball star. DiMaggio joined the New York Yan¬ kees in 1936 and stayed with them until his retirement in 1951. Regarded as one of the greatest of all centre fielders, he played outfield with such languid grace that some inattentive fans thought he was lazy. Known as “Joltin’ Joe” or “the Yankee Clipper,” he achieved a career batting aver¬ age of .325. In 1941 he accomplished one of the most remarkable of all major league records with his feat of hitting safely in 56 consecutive games. DiMaggio helped the Yankees win 10 American League champi¬ onships and 9 World Series titles. His brothers Vincent and Dominic also played in the major leagues. DiMaggio’s second wife (for nine months in 1954) was Marilyn Monroe. After his retirement from baseball he served as an executive for two major-league teams and appeared in tele¬ vision commercials.
dimension In mathematics, a number indicating the fewest coordinates necessary to identify a point in a geometric space; more generally, a num¬ ber indicating a measurement of length (see length, area, and volume). One-dimensional space can be represented by a numbered line, on which a single number identifies a point. In two-dimensional space, a coordinate system may be superimposed, requiring only two numbers to identify a point. Three numbers suffice in three-dimensional space, and so on.
dimensional analysis Technique used in the physical sciences and engineering to reduce physical properties such as acceleration, viscosity, energy, and others to their fundamental dimensions of length, mass, and time. This technique facilitates the study of interrelationships of systems (or models of systems) and their properties. Acceleration, for example, is expressed as length per unit of time squared; whether the units of length are in the English or metric system is immaterial. Dimensional analysis is often the basis of mathematical models of real situations.
dimethyl ketone See acetone
dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) Xdl-'me-thol-sol-'fak-.sIdV Colourless, nearly odourless liquid organic compound. It mixes in all proportions with water, ethanol, and most organic solvents and dissolves a wide variety of compounds (but not aliphatic hydrocarbons). It readily penetrates skin and other tissues and is used to carry drugs and antitoxins through the skin. It has many nonmedical uses—as a solvent, cleaner, pesticide, paint strip¬ per, hydraulic fluid, preservative of cells at low temperatures, and metal complexing agent.
diminished responsibility or diminished capacity In law, doc¬ trine that absolves an accused person of part of the liability for his crimi¬ nal act if he suffers from such abnormality of mind as to substantially impair his responsibility in committing or being a party to an alleged vio¬ lation. The doctrine provides a mitigating defense in cases in which the mental disease or defect is not of such magnitude as to exclude criminal responsibility altogether. Diminished responsibility is most frequently asserted as a defense to murder charges that require proof of a particular mental state (e.g., premeditation). If diminished responsibility is shown, negating an element of the crime with which a defendant is charged, the defendant can be convicted only of a lesser offense that does not include the element. Although diminished responsibility is recognized as a defense in Britain, most other countries recognize only mental disease or abnormality of sufficient degree to sustain a defense of insanity.