feldspar Any of a group of aluminosilicate (containing aluminum and silicon) minerals that also contains calcium, sodium, or potassium. Feld¬ spars are the most common minerals in the Earth’s crust and are the major component in nearly all igneous rocks found on the Earth, on the Moon, and in some meteorites. They also are common in metamorphic and some sedimentary rocks. Their complex chemical and structural properties
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make them useful for interpreting the origins of rocks. Natural feldspars can be divided into alkali and plagioclase feldspars.
feldspar, alkali See alkali feldspar
feldspathoid \feld-'spath-,6id\ Any of a group of alkali aluminosili¬ cate minerals similar to the feldspars in composition but having a lower silica-alkali ratio or containing chloride, sulfide, sulfate, or carbonate. Their physical and chemical properties lie between those of the feldspars and zeolites. The most abundant feldspathoids are nepheline and leucite. Other significant varieties include kalsilite, sodalite, nosean, and hatiynite. Feldspathoids are found chiefly in igneous and metamorphic rocks; they are used as raw materials in the production of alum, glass, and ceramics.
Feller, Bob orig. Robert William Andrew Feller (b. Nov. 3, 1918, Van Meter, Iowa, U.S) U.S. baseball pitcher. Feller played for the Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1956, frequently leading the American League in strikeouts and games won, earning the nickname “Rapid Rob¬ ert” for his fastball. He was the first 20th-century pitcher to pitch three no-hit games (1940, 1946, 1951), and his record of 348 season strikeouts (1946) stood for 19 years. He ended his career with the outstanding win- loss record of 266-162.
Fellini, Federico (b. Jan. 20, 1920, Rimini, Italy—d. Oct. 31, 1993, Rome) Italian film director. After col¬ laborating with Roberto Rossellini on the screenplays for Open City (1945) and Paisan (1946), Fellini undertook his first solo venture in 1952. It failed, but his next film, 7 vitelloni (1953), was a critical success. He won international acclaim with La strada (1954, Academy Award), The Nights of Cabiria (1957, Academy Award), and La dolce vita (1960). He continued his distinctive autobio¬ graphical style of filmmaking—one that displayed a sympathetic fascina¬ tion with the bizarre—in 8 V 2 (1963,
Academy Award) but turned to gaudy spectacle in Juliet of the Spirits (1965) and Satyricon (1969). The best of his later films are Amarcord (1973, Academy Award) and the nostalgic Ginger and Fred (1985). His wife, Giulietta Masina (1920-94), starred in several of his films.
felony and misdemeanour In Anglo-American law, two catego¬ ries of criminal offense. A crime is classed as one or the other according to its seriousness. In U.S. law, a felony is typically defined as a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year. Misde¬ meanours are often defined as offenses punishable only by fines or by short terms of imprisonment in local jails. Crimes in Britain are classi¬ fied into indictable offenses (which may be tried by a jury) and summary offenses (which may be tried by a judge without juries). Codes in Europe also distinguish offenses of greater dangerousness from lesser crimes.
felsic rock Igneous rock dominated by the light-coloured, silicon- and aluminum-rich minerals feldspar and quartz. The presence of these min¬ erals gives felsic rock its characteristic light gray colour. The presence of small amounts of dark minerals rich in magnesium and iron produces slight colour variations. Typical felsic rocks include granite and rhyolite.
felting Process that mats together fleece (raw wool) by subjecting it to moisture, heat, friction, and pressure. Sheep hair have scales that open somewhat when wet; layering hairs in a parallel fashion and applying some form of agitation cause the hairs to tighten together in a solid mat. The result is a lightweight, windproof, and water-resistant fabric that has been used for millennia to make hats, boots, and tents. Light felting is sometimes done to woven or knitted wool, a process known as fulling, to create a thicker and softer fabric.
female circumcision See cutoridectomy
feminism Social movement that seeks equal rights for women. Wide¬ spread concern for women’s rights dates from the Enlightenment; its first important expression was Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, convened by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mon, and others, called for full legal
equality with men, including full educational opportunity and equal com¬ pensation; thereafter the woman suffrage movement began to gather momentum. From America the movement spread to Europe. American women gained the right to vote by constitutional amendment in 1920, but their participation in the workplace remained limited, and prevailing notions tended to confine women to the home. Milestones in the rise of modern feminism included Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) and the founding in 1966 of the National Organization for Women. See also Equal Rights Amendment; women's liberation movement.
feminist philosophy Loosely related set of approaches in various fields of philosophy that emphasizes the role of gender in the formation of traditional philosophical problems and concepts and the ways in which traditional philosophy reflects and perpetuates bias against women. In social and political philosophy, liberal feminists have advocated making women’s political and economic opportunities equal to those of men; socialist or Marxist feminists have argued that women’s oppression is inherently economic in character; and radical feminists have criticized liberal political notions such as equality and autonomy as inherently “mas¬ culine” (see liberalism). Similar feminist critiques have been made of notions such as rationality and objectivity in epistemology and metaphysics. In ethics, feminists have contrasted the traditional masculine approach based on impersonal and abstract rights and principles with an ethic of “care” based on personal and concrete relationships and responsibilities. In the late 20th century feminists influenced by postmodern philosophy and literary theory pointed out the potential racial, cultural, and class biases of academic feminists attempting to speak for all women and argued that no single description of women’s experience or women’s oppression can be valid for all (see postmodernism).
Fen River River, Shanxi province, northern China. After rising in the Guancen Mountains in northwestern Shanxi, it flows southeast to Taiyuan and then southwest through the central valley of Shanxi to join the Huang near Hejin. Its total length is about 340 mi (550 km). With a torrential course and steep gradients, it is a useful waterway only in its lower reaches. Its valley was an early center of civilization and has remained an important route, linking the Beijing area with the strategically vital Shanxi province and the major land routes to Central Asia.
fencing Sport involving attack and defense with a light sword, specifi¬ cally a foil, epee, or sabre. There is evidence of swordplay from ancient times through the Middle Ages. In the 14th century swordplay became important in both war and the European gentleman’s daily life, and by the 15 th century guilds of fencing masters had formed. Strokes that were origi¬ nally jealously guarded secrets of the individual guilds eventually became orthodox fencing moves. By the later 17th century various rules and con¬ ventions had been imposed. In modern competition—except for sabre matches—hits are made with the point only; in matches using foils and sabres, touches to only certain points of the opponents body are counted, whereas in epee no such restrictions apply. Each valid hit scores one or more points. Men’s fencing was included in the first modem Olympic Games in 1896, women’s in the 1924 games. Electrical scoring was intro¬ duced in 1936 to eliminate the frequent inaccuracy of human judgment.