Filarete V.fe-la-'re-taX orig. Antonio di Pietro Averlino (b. c. 1400, Florence?—d. c. 1469, Rome) Italian architect and sculptor. In 1451 he entered the service of the duke of Milan. He designed the Ospedale Mag- giore in Milan (1457-65), which is among the first Renaissance buildings in Lombardy. He is chiefly important for his Trattato d’architettura (“Treatise on Architecture”), which describes an ideal Renaissance city called Sforzinda. Among the projects he envisioned was a tower of vice and virtue, with a brothel on the 1st floor and an astronomical observa¬ tory on the 10th.
filarial worm Any of a group of parasitic nematodes that usually require two hosts to complete the life cycle: an arthropod and another animal, which is bitten by the arthropod. The female worm produces large numbers of microscopic, active embryos, called microfilariae, that pass into the bloodstream of the primary host. These enter the body of an insect when it bites the infected animal; within the insect the microfilariae grow into larvae, which are passed to an animal the insect bites, where they complete their growth. See also heartworm.
filbert or hazel (nut) Any of about 15 species of deciduous trees and shrubs that make up the genus Corylus, in the birch family, native to the northern temperate zone; also, the edible nuts they produce. Choice nuts are produced by two Eurasian trees, the European filbert (C. aveliana) and the giant filbert (C. maxima), and by hybrids of these species. Some varieties are valuable hedgerow and ornamental trees. An oil from C. avellana is used in food products, perfumes, and soaps; the tree yields a soft, reddish-white timber that is useful for small articles such as tool handles and walking sticks.
file In hardware and metalworking, bar- or rod-shaped tool of hardened steel with many small cutting edges raised on its surfaces. Files are used for smoothing or forming objects, especially of metal. A file’s cutting or abrading action results from rubbing it, usually by hand, against the work- piece. The single-cut file has rows of parallel teeth cut diagonally across the working surfaces. The double-cut file has rows of teeth crossing each other. Rasp teeth are disconnected and round on top; rasp files are usu¬ ally very coarse and are used primarily on wood and soft materials.
file transfer protocol See FTP
filibuster Tactic of delaying action on a bill by talking long enough to wear down the majority in order to win concessions or force withdrawal of the bill. The tactic is normally employed by a group that cannot mus¬ ter enough votes to defeat a bill by vote. Filibustering is possible in the U.S. Senate because Senate rules allow unlimited debate on a bill. A fili¬ buster may be carried out by a group or a single member, and the speech need not be related to the bill under discussion. Calling for a vote to limit debate (cloture)—which requires 60 votes, the votes of three-fifths of the entire membership, in the U.S. Senate—or holding around-the-clock ses¬ sions to tire the speakers are measures used to defeat filibusters.
Fillmore, Millard (b. Jan. 7, 1800, Locke Township, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 8, 1874, Buffalo, N.Y.) 13th president of the U.S. (1850-53).
Born into poverty, he became an indentured apprentice at age 15. He studied law with a local judge and began to practice in Buffalo in 1823.
Initially identified with the Anti- Masonic Party (1828-34), he fol¬ lowed his political mentor, Thurlow Weed, to the Whigs and was soon a leader of the party’s northern wing.
He served in the U.S. House of Rep¬ resentatives (1833-35, 1837—43), where he became a follower of Henry Clay. In 1848 the Whigs nominated Fillmore as vice president, and he was elected with Z\chary Taylor. He became president on Taylor’s death in 1850. Though he abhorred slavery, he supported the Compromise of 1850 and insisted on federal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act.
His stand, which alienated the North, led to his defeat by Winfield Scott at the Whigs’ nominating convention in 1852. He was an early champion of U.S. commercial expansion in the Pacific. In 1853 he sent Matthew Perry with a fleet of warships to Japan to force its isolationist government to enter into trade and diplomatic relations. He returned to Buffalo and was nominated for president by the Know-Nothing Party in 1856.
film See MOTION PICTURE
film noir \'nwar\ French "dark film" Film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early ’50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal under¬ world and cynical characters. The films were noted for their use of stark,
Millard Fillmore.
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674 i film theory ► Finland
expressionistic lighting and stylized camera work, often employed in urban settings. The genre includes films such as John Huston’s The Mal¬ tese Falcon (1941), Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past (1947), Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945), and Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and Sunset Boulevard (1950). The trend was on the wane by the mid-1950s, but the influence of these films is evident in many subsequent ones, including classics such as Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982). More recent examples include LA. Confidential (1997) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001).
film theory Theory developed to explain the nature of films and how they produce emotional and mental effects on the audience. It recognizes the cinema as a distinct art form. See also auteur theory, documentary film, Sergei Eisenstein, film noir, New Wave.
filter-pressing Process that occurs during crystallization of certain igneous rocks, in which liquid is separated from the crystals by pressure. As the crystals grow and accumulate in magma, a crystal mesh may be formed. Pressure applied by the weight of crystals above or by outside forces may force the more mobile liquid out of the mesh and also may fracture or crush the remaining crystals. Filter-pressing has been used to explain the formation of rocks consisting of only one kind of mineral.
fin whale or finback whale or razorback whale or common rorqual Vror-kwolV Swift, slender-bodied baleen whale ( Balaenoptera physalus) named for the ridge on its back. It is 59-89 ft (18-27 m) long, with a triangular dorsal fin, short baleen, and several dozen grooves along its throat and chest. It is gray, with white on the underparts and on the right side of the lower jaw. It is found in oceans worldwide, in groups of a few to several hundred. It lives in polar waters in summer, feeding on crustaceans and small fishes, and moves to warmer waters in winter to breed. Once commercially valuable, it has been substantially reduced in numbers by overhunting and is now listed as an endangered species.
finance Process of raising funds or capital for any kind of expenditure. Consumers, business firms, and governments often do not have the funds they need to make purchases or conduct their operations, while savers and investors have funds that could earn interest or dividends if put to productive use. Finance is the process of channeling funds from savers to users in the form of credit, loans, or invested capital through agencies including commercial banks, savings and loan associations, and such non¬ bank organizations as credit unions and investment companies. Finance can be divided into three broad areas: business finance, personal finance, and public finance. All three involve generating budgets and managing funds for the optimum results. See also corporate finance.