Empedocles Vem-'ped-o-.klezX (b. c. 490, Acragas, Sicily—d. 430 bc, the Peloponnese) Greek philosopher, statesman, poet, and physiologist. All that remains of his writings are 500 lines from two poems. He held that all matter was composed of four basic ingredients: fire, air, water, and earth. Like Heracleitus, he held that two forces, love and strife, interact to bring together and separate the four substances. Believing in the transmigration of souls, he declared that salvation requires abstention from the flesh of animals, whose souls may once have inhabited human bodies.
emperor Title of the sovereigns of the ancient Roman empire and, by derivation, various later European rulers, also applied to certain non- European monarchs. Caesar Augustus was the first Roman emperor. Byz¬ antine emperors ruled at Constantinople until 1453. Charlemagne became the first of the Western emperors (later Holy Roman emperors) in 800. After Otto I became emperor in 962, only German kings held the title. In other parts of Europe, monarchs who ruled multiple kingdoms (e.g., Alfonso VI, who ruled Leon and Castile) sometimes took the title emperor. Napoleon’s
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emphysema ► enclosure movement I 619
assumption of the title, as a putative successor of Charlemagne, was a direct threat to the Habsburg dynasty. Queen Victoria of Britain took the title empress of India. Non-European peoples whose rulers have been called emperor include the Chinese, Japanese, Mughals, Incas, and Aztecs.
emphysema X.em-fo-'ze-mo, .em-fo-'se-moN or pulmonary emphysema Abnormal distension of the lungs with air, usually asso¬ ciated with cigarette smoking and chronic bronchitis. Elastic tissue degen¬ erates, severely interfering with exhalation. Capillary walls disappear, leaving lung tissue dry and pale. The walls of the pulmonary alveoli (see pulmonary alveolus) break down, so the lung fills with pools of air. Symp¬ toms include severe breathlessness, weight loss, bluish skin, chest tight¬ ness, and wheezing. In bullous emphysema, the alveoli form large air cysts that may rupture, causing lung collapse (see atelectasis), or require sur¬ gery. Emphysema is irreversible; it normally continues to progress even after the cessation of smoking and may lead to death. See also pulmonary HEART DISEASE.
Empire State Building Steel-framed 102-story building designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates and completed in New York City in 1931. At a height of 1,250 ft (381 m), it surpassed the Chrysler Building to become the highest structure in the world (until 1954). It is notable for its use of the setback.
Empire Vam-.pir, 'em-.pIiA style Style of furniture and interior decora¬ tion that flourished in France during the First Empire (1804-14). It cor¬ responds to the Regency style in England. Responding to the desire of Napoleon for a style inspired by imperial Rome, the architects Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre Fontaine (1762-1853) decorated his state rooms with Classical styles of furniture and ornamental motifs, supple¬ mented by sphinxes and palm leaves to commemorate his Egyptian cam¬ paigns. The style influenced the arts (Jacques- Louis David in painting, Antonio Canova in sculpture, the Arc de Triomphe in architecture) and fashion and spread quickly throughout Europe.
empiricism Either of two closely related philosophical doctrines, one pertaining to concepts and the other to knowledge. The first doctrine is that most, if not all, concepts are ultimately derived from experience; the second is that most, if not all, knowledge derives from experience, in the sense that appeals to experience are necessarily involved in its justifica¬ tion. Neither doctrine implies the other. Several empiricists have allowed that some knowledge is A priori, or independent of experience, but have denied that any concepts are. On the other hand, few if any empiricists have denied the existence of a priori knowledge while maintaining the existence of a priori concepts. John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume are classical representatives of empiricism. See also Francis Bacon.
employee training or job training or occupational training
Vocational instruction for employed persons, first used commonly in the developed world during World War II. Work-related training is necessary as new techniques, new methods, new tools, new synthetic materials, new sources of power, and increased uses of automation continue to bring extensive changes. The UN and its agencies contribute to training pro¬ grams in developing countries. See also technical education.
Empson, Sir William (b. Sept. 27, 1906, Hawdon, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. April 15, 1984, London) British poet and critic. He studied at Cambridge and later taught in Japan and China. His precocious Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), which suggests that uncertainty or overlap of meanings in the use of a word can be an enrichment of poetry rather than a fault, had an immense influence on 20th-century criticism; its close examination of poetic texts helped lay the foundation for New Criticism. Later works include Some Versions of Pastoral (1935) and The Structure of Complex Words (1951).
Ems River River, northwestern Germany. It rises on the southern slope of the Teutoburg Forest and flows generally northwest and north through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony for 230 mi (371 km) to the North Sea. Its mouth is a wide estuary (the Dollart) bordering The Netherlands. Between 1892 and 1899 the river was canalized, con¬ necting it with the Dortmund-Ems Canal and the Ruhr River in order to provide a German water link for the Ruhr industrial district.
Ems Telegram (July 13, 1870) Telegram sent from Ems, Ger., to Otto von Bismarck and subsequently published by him in an edited version designed to offend the French government. The telegram reported an encounter between King William I of Prussia and the French ambassador, in which William politely refused to promise that no member of his fam¬
ily would seek the Spanish throne, which would constitute a threat to France. The version published by Bismarck, which made it seem that the two men had insulted each other, precipitated the Franco-Prussian War.
emu Ve-.myiiX Ratite of Australia. After the ostrich, the emu is the second- largest living bird. They stand more than 5 ft (1.5 m) tall and often weigh more than 100 lbs (45 kg). The com¬ mon emu ( Dromaius novaeholland- iae, family Dromaiidae), the only survivor of several forms extermi¬ nated by settlers, has a stout body and long legs. Both sexes are brown¬ ish, with a dark-gray head and neck.
Emus can run up to 30 mph (50 kph); if cornered, they kick with their large feet. They mate for life and forage in small flocks for fruits and insects but sometimes damage crops. See also CASSOWARY.
emulsion Mixture of two or more liquids in which one is dispersed in the other as microscopic or ultrami- croscopic droplets (see colloid). Emulsions are stabilized by agents (emul¬ sifiers) that (e.g., in the case of soap or detergent molecules) form films at the droplets’ surface or (e.g., in the case of colloidal carbon, bentonite clay, proteins, or carbohydrate polymers) impart mechanical stability. Less- stable emulsions eventually separate spontaneously into two liquid lay¬ ers; more-stable ones can be destroyed by inactivating the emulsifier, by freezing, or by heating. Polymerization reactions are often carried out in emulsions. Many familiar and industrial products are oil-in-water (o/w) or water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions: milk (o/w), butter (w/o), latex paints (o/w), floor and glass waxes (o/w), and many cosmetic and personal-care preparations and medications (either type).
Enabling Act Law passed by the German Reichstag in 1933 that enabled Adolf Hitler to assume dictatorial powers. Deputies from the Nazi Party, the German National People's Party, and the Center Party voted in favor of the act, which “enabled” Hitler’s government to issue decrees independently of the Reichstag and the presidency. It gave Hitler a base from which to carry out the first steps of his National Socialist revolution.