Amiens \am-'ye n \ ancient Samarobriva later Ambianum City (pop., 1999: 135,801), northern France. Located on the Somme River, it became a Roman stronghold. The chief city of a medieval county, it passed to Burgundy in 1435 and was captured by the Spanish in 1597. Recovered by Henry IV, it served as the capital of Picardy until 1790. The Prussians captured the city in 1870, and the Germans held it briefly in 1914; it gave its name to a successful Allied counteroffensive against Germany in 1918. The Germans occupied it during World War II. It has been a major cen¬ tre of the French textile industry since the 16th century and is the site of the Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame, the largest church in France.
Amiens \am-'ya n . Treaty of (March 27, 1802) Agreement signed at Amiens, France, by Britain, France, Spain, and the Batavian Republic (The Netherlands). By the treaty, France and its allies recovered most of their colonies, despite their military reverses overseas. The treaty ignored continuing trade differences between Britain and France, but it achieved a peace in Europe for 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars.
Amin \a-'men\ (Dada Oumee), Idi (b. 1924/25, Koboko, Ugan.—d. Aug. 16, 2003, Jiddah, Saud.Ar.)
Military officer and president (1971—
79) of Uganda. A member of the small Kakwa ethnic group and a Muslim, he was closely associated during his military career with Mil- ton Obote, Uganda’s first prime min¬ ister and president. In 1971 he staged a coup against Obote. He expelled all Asians from Uganda in 1972, reversed Uganda’s amicable rela¬ tions with Israel, was personally involved in the Palestinian hijacking of a French airliner to Entebbe (see Entebbe raid), and ordered the torture and murder of 100,000-300,000 Ugandans. In 1978 he ordered an attack on Tanzania, but Tanzanian troops, aided by Ugandan nationalists, were able to overpower the invaders. As the Tanzanian-led forces neared Kampala, Uganda’s capital, Amin fled to Libya and eventually settled in Saudi Arabia.
amine \o-'men\ Any of a class of NiTROGEN-containing organic com¬ pounds derived, either in principle or in practice, from ammonia (NH 3 ). Almost all their chemical names end in -ine. Replacement of one, two, or all three of the hydrogen atoms in ammonia with organic groups yields primary, secondary, or tertiary amines, respectively. Addition of a fourth hydrogen with an accompanying positive charge on the nitrogen atom results in a quaternary amine. Naturally occurring amines include alka¬ loids, present in certain plants; some neurotransmitters, including dopam¬ ine and epinephrine; and histamine. Industrially important amines include aniline, ethanolamine, and others, used in making rubber, dyes, pharma¬ ceuticals, and synthetic resins and fibres and in a host of other applica¬ tions. A nitrogen atom with one or two hydrogens is often referred to as an amino group.
amino acid \3-'me-no\ Any of a class of organic compounds in which a carbon atom has bonds to an amino group (—NH 2 ), a carboxyl group (—COOH), a hydrogen atom (—H), and an organic side group (called —R). They are therefore both carboxylic acids and amines. The physical and chemical properties unique to each result from the properties of the R group, particularly its tendency to interact with water and its charge (if any). Amino acids joined linearly by peptide bonds (see covalent bond) in a particular order make up peptides and proteins. Of over 100 natural amino acids, each with a different R group, only 20 make up the proteins of all living organisms. Humans can synthesize 10 of them (by intercon¬ versions) from each other or from other molecules of intermediary metabo¬ lism, but the other 10 (essential amino acids: arginine, histidine, isoleucine,
LEUCINE, LYSINE, METHIONINE, PHENYLALANINE, THREONINE, TRYPTOPHAN, and VALINE) must be consumed in the diet.
Amis \'a-mis\, Martin (b. Aug. 25, 1949, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.) British writer and critic. The son of writer Kingsley Amis, he graduated from Oxford University in 1971. He worked for the Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman before becoming a full-time writer. His works—including the novels Money (1984), London Fields (1989), and Night Train (1998) as well as the short-story collection Heavy Water
White-tipped amethyst from Guerrero, Mexico
LEE BOLTIN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
62 I Amis ► amniocentesis
(1999)— feature inventive word play and often scabrous humour as they satirize the horrors of modem urban life. Amis also published an acclaimed autobiography. Experience (2000), and an idiosyncratic volume centred on Joseph Stalin, Koba the Dread (2002).
Amis, Sir Kingsley (William) (b. April 16, 1922, London, Eng.—d. Oct. 22, 1995, London) British novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. His first novel, Lucky Jim (1954; film, 1957), was a hugely successful comic mas¬ terpiece. He was often characterized as an Angry Young Man, a label he rejected. Notable among his more than 40 books (including four volumes of poetry) are the mordantly humorous novels That Uncertain Feeling (1955; film. Only Two Can Play , 1962), The Green Man (1959; film, 1957), Jake’s Thing (1978), and The Old Devils (1986, Booker Prize). He was the father of Martin Amis.
Amish Ya-mish\ Member of a conservative Christian group in North America known as the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church. The Amish originated in 1693-97 as followers of the Mennonite elder Jakob Ammann (1644?-c. 1730) in Switzerland, Alsace, and Germany. He taught that lying was grounds for excommunication (which meant being shunned by all other Mennonites), that clothing should be uniform and beards untrimmed, and that the state church should be avoided. Migration to North America and assimilation eliminated the Amish in Europe. They settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th century. After 1850 they split into “Old Order” (traditional) and “New Order” (now the Mennonite churches). Old Order Amish now live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas. Adults are baptized and admitted to formal church membership at age 17 to 20. Services are in Pennsylvania Dutch (a German dialect) and some English. Though similar in theology to Mennonites, Amish wear modest, old-fashioned clothing and generally reject modern technology, including automobiles and telephones.
Amistad mutiny (July 2, 1839) Slave rebellion aboard the schooner Amistad. The revolt took place off the coast of Cuba when 53 Africans who had been abducted from Sierra Leone for the slave trade, seized con¬ trol of the ship, killed the captain and cook, and ordered the navigator to sail for Africa. Pretending to do so, he sailed generally northward instead, and the ship was intercepted two months later off New York. Despite attempts by Pres. Martin Van Buren to send the Africans to Cuba, aboli¬ tionists demanded a trial, contending the men were free under interna¬ tional law. A federal judge agreed, and the government appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where in 1841 defending counsel John Quincy Adams successfully argued that the men should be freed. Donations helped the 35 survivors to return to Sierra Leone in 1842.
Amitabha \,am-i-'ta-b9\ Japanese Amida Saviour deity worshiped by followers of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan. According to the Sukhavati- vyuha-sutra (Pure Land SUTRA), the monk Dharmakara vowed many ages ago that once he attained buddha- hood, all who believed in him and called upon his name would be born into his paradise (the Pure Land) and reside there until achieving nirvana.
The cult of Amitabha came to the forefront in China c. 650 and then spread to Japan, where it led to the formation of the Pure Land and True Pure Land sects. In Tibet and Nepal,
Amitabha is regarded as one of the five eternal buddhas (rather than as a saviour), who manifested himself as the earthly Buddha Gautama and as the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESVARA.
Amman \a-'man\ City (pop., 2000 est.: 1,147,447), capital of Jordan. It lies 25 mi (40 km) northeast of the Dead Sea. Amman is by far the largest city of Jordan. Fortified settlements have existed in the area from remote antiquity; the earliest date from the Chalcolithic Period (c. 4000-3000 bc). As Rabbah, it became the capital of the Ammonites. It was conquered by Egypt’s Ptolemy II (Ptolemy Phil- adelphus), who renamed it Philadelphia, a name it retained through Roman times. Taken by the Arabs in ad 635, it later went into decline and subsequently disappeared. In 1878 the Ottoman Empire resettled it. When the British established the country of Transjordan in 1921, Amman