Feuerbach Vfoi-or-.bakV Ludwig (Andreas) (b. July 28, 1804, Landshut, Bavaria—d. Sept. 13, 1872, Rechenberg, Ger.) German phi¬ losopher. The son of an eminent jurist, he studied under G.W.F. Hegel in Berlin but later abandoned Hegelian idealism for a naturalistic material¬ ism. In Thoughts on Death and Immortality (1830), he attacked the con¬ cept of personal immortality. His Abelard and Heloise (1834) and Pierre Bayle (1838) were followed by On Philosophy and Christianity (1839), in which he claimed that “Christianity has in fact long vanished not only from the reason but from the life of mankind.” In The Essence of Chris¬ tianity (1841), he proposed that God is merely the outward projection of mankind’s inward nature. Some of his views were later endorsed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Feuillants \fce-'ya n \ Club Conservative French political club in the French Revolution, which met in the former monastery of the Feuillants (Reformed Cistercians) in Paris. It was founded in 1791 by deputies who left the Jacobin Club in opposition to a petition calling for the replacement of the king. The Feuillants feared that radicalization of the Revolution would lead to destruction of the monarchy and private property. The club
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670 I fever ► Fichte
represented a substantial group in the Legislative Assembly, but it disap¬ peared when the insurrection of 1792 overthrew the monarchy.
fever or pyrexia \pI-'rek-se-9\ Abnormally high body temperature or a disease characterized by it. It most often occurs with infection. Normal core body temperature, measured orally, does not exceed 99°F (37.2°C). Up to 105°F (40.6°C), fever causes weakness and is best treated with aspi¬ rin, acetaminophen, or other antipyretic drugs. At 108°F (42.2°C) or more, it can lead to convulsions and death. In treatment, it is important to know the underlying cause. Fever appears to be a defense against infectious dis¬ ease, stimulating leukocytes and increasing antibody production and per¬ haps killing or inhibiting bacteria and viruses that live within a narrow temperature range.
Feydeau \fa-'do\, Georges (-Leon-Jules-Marie) (b. Dec. 8,1862, Paris, France—d. June 5, 1921, Paris) French playwright. Also an actor and director, he wrote 39 plays between 1881 and 1916, taking the farce to new heights on the French stage. His plots often depended on far¬ fetched cases of mistaken identity, and he used complicated mechanical props and elaborate stage settings. His plays included The Girl from Max¬ im’s (1899), A Flea in Her Ear (1907), and Keep an Eye on Amelie! (1908). His farces have remained in the repertoire of the Comedie- Francaise.
Feynman Vfin-monV Richard P(hillips) (b. May 11, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb. 15, 1988, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. theoretical physicist. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. During World War II he worked on the Manhattan Project. From 1950 he taught at the California Institute of Technology. The Feynman diagram was one of the many problem-solving tools he invented. With Julian Schwinger (b. 1918) and Shinichiro Tomonaga (1906-79), he shared a 1965 Nobel Prize for his brilliant work on quantum electrodynamics. He was principally respon¬ sible for identifying the cause of the 1986 Challenger disaster. Famed for his wit, he also wrote best-selling books on science. His work, which tied together all the varied phenomena at work in light, radio, electricity, and magnetism, altered the way scientists understand the nature of waves and particles.
Feynman diagram Graphical method of representing the interactions of elementary particles. It was invented by Richard P. Feynman, who intro¬ duced the diagrams as an aid to calculating the processes that occur between electrons and photons. A Feynman diagram consists of two axes, one representing space, the other representing time. Electrons are repre¬ sented as straight lines, while photons are shown as wavy lines. The inter¬ action between particles appears as a junction of three lines, or a vertex. Feynman diagrams are now used to show all types of particle interac¬ tions.
Fez See Fes
Fezzan \fe-'zan\ Arab/c Fazzan \fa-'zan\ ancient Phazania Historic region, southwestern Libya. A part of the Sahara, most of its inhabitants dwell in oases in the interior. Southern Fezzan is noted for its date palms, which cover several hundred thousand acres scattered in numerous oases. It was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century bc and by the Arabs in the 7th century ad. The Ottomans made it part of their empire in 1842. Fezzan was made part of Tripoli by the Italians in 1912, and it became a province of the United Kingdom of Libya (1951-63). Thereafter it was part of Libya.
Fianna Fail Vfe-o-ns-'foiL Irish "Soldiers of Destiny" Political party in Ireland, also called, loosely, the Republican Party. It was formally constituted in 1926 by those opposed to the treaty with Britain that in 1921 brought about the Irish Free State. They were organized and led by Eamon de Valera. Fianna Fail remained the principal governing party from 1932 until 1973, but from 1961 it did so with the aid of other parties. It returned to power in coalition governments in the 1980s and ’90s. Its main opposition was from Fine Gael.
Fiat SpA International holding company and major Italian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, and industrial vehicles and components. In 1899 Giovanni Agnelli (1866-1945) founded the firm that was incorporated as Fiat in 1906; he led the firm until his death. His grandson Giovanni Agnelli (1921-2003) served as chairman from 1966 until 1996, when his title became honorary. Paulo Fresco was named chairman in 1998. In 1979 the corporation converted to a holding company; in 1986 it acquired the sports-car manufacturer Alfa Romeo SpA. Among its automobile brands are Ferrari and Lancia.
Fibiger \'fe-be-gor\, Johannes Andreas Grib (b. April 23, 1867, Silkeborg, Den.—d. Jan. 30, 1928, Copenhagen) Danish pathologist. He found that rats that had suffered stomach-tissue inflammation caused by the larvae of a worm infecting cockroaches the rats had eaten subsequently developed stomach tumours, and he induced tumours in mice and rats by feeding them infected cockroaches. His work, for which he received a 1926 Nobel Prize, supported the prevailing concept that cancer is caused by tissue irritation and led to production of chemical carcinogens for use in cancer research.
Fibonacci sequence \,fi-b3-'na-che\ In mathematics, a sequence of numbers with surprisingly useful applications in botany and other natu¬ ral sciences. Beginning with two l’s, each new term is generated as the sum of the previous two: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ... . The 13th-century math¬ ematician Leonardo of Pisa (c. 1170-after 1240), also known as Fibonacci, discovered the sequence but did not explore its uses, which have turned out to be wide and various. For example, the number of pet¬ als in most types of flowers and numbers involved in branching and seed- formation patterns come from the Fibonacci sequence. The ratio of any two successive terms approaches the value of the golden ratio as the terms become large.
fibre, dietary Food material not digestible by the human small intes¬ tine and only partially digestible by the large intestine. Fibre is beneficial in the diet because it relieves and prevents constipation, appears to reduce the risk of colon cancer, and reduces plasma cholesterol levels and there¬ fore the risk of heart disease. Fibre also slows gastric emptying and con¬ tributes to satiety. Whole grains, vegetables, nuts, and fruits are all good sources. See also nutrition.