Friedmann Vfret-man\ universe Model universe developed in 1922 by the Russian meteorologist and mathematician Aleksandr Friedmann (1888-1925). He believed that Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity required a theory of the universe in motion, as opposed to the static uni¬ verse that scientists until then had proposed. He hypothesized a big bang followed by expansion, then contraction and an eventual big crunch. His model supposes a closed universe, but similar solutions involve an open universe (which expands infinitely) or a flat universe (in which expansion continues infinitely but gradually approaches a rate of zero). See also Edwin P. Hubble.
Friedrich Vfre-drik\, Caspar David (b. Sept. 5, 1774, Greifswald, Pomerania—d. May 7, 1840, Dresden, Saxony) German painter. He stud¬ ied at the Copenhagen Academy. After 1798 he settled in Dresden and began his career as a topographical draftsman in pencil and sepia wash. His first important oil painting. The Cross in the Mountains (1807-08), achieves an overwhelming sense of isolation. In 1824 he was appointed professor at the Dresden Academy. His vast, mysterious landscapes and seascapes, proclaiming human helplessness against the forces of nature, did much to establish the sublime as a primary focus of Romanticism. Interest in his work revived with the rise of Symbolism at the beginning of the 20th century.
Friel Vfrel\, Brian (b. Jan. 9, 1929, near Omagh, County Tyrone, N.Ire.) Irish dramatist and short-story writer. Friel taught school in Londonderry before settling in County Donegal, Ireland. After The New Yorker began publishing his stories, he turned to writing full time. His first dramatic success was Philadelphia, Here 1 Come! (1963). Later he wrote about the dilemmas of Irish life and the troubles in Northern Ireland in such plays as The Freedom of the City (1973) and Making History (1988). Many of his plays—notably Translations (1980) and Dancing at Lughnasa (1990, Tony Award; film, 1998)—deal with family relationships and their con¬ nection to language, customs, and the land. His short-story collections include The Diviner (1983).
Friendly, Fred W. orig. Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer
(b. Oct. 30, 1915, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 3, 1998, New York City) U.S. broadcast producer and journalist. He began his career in radio in 1938 and later joined CBS. In the 1950s he collaborated with Edward R. Murrow to produce the radio news series Hear It Now and the televi¬ sion series See It Now. Friendly also produced CBS Reports (1961-71) and many special programs. He served as president of CBS News (1964- 66), then taught at Columbia University’s school of journalism. An out¬ spoken critic of the quality of most TV programming, he became a communications adviser for the Ford Foundation (1966-80) and was instrumental in establishing the PBS network.
friendly society Mutual aid organization formed voluntarily by indi¬ viduals to protect members against debts incurred through illness, death, or old age. Friendly societies arose in 17th- and 18th-century Europe and England and became most numerous in the 19th century. They trace their roots to the burial societies of Greek and Roman artisans and the guilds of medieval Europe. In attempting to define the magnitude of the risk against which they guarded and to determine how much members should contribute to meet that risk, friendly societies used what is now the basic principle of insurance.
Friends, Sociefy of known as Quakers Protestant denomination that arose in England in the mid-17th century. The movement began with radical English Puritans called Seekers, who rejected the Anglican church and other existing Protestant sects. They took their faith from itinerant preachers such as George Fox, who emphasized “inward light,” or inward apprehension of God, as the source of religious authority. Quaker meet¬ ings are characterized by patient silence in which members wait for inspi¬ ration to speak. The movement grew rapidly after 1650 (when a judge gave them their name because “we bid them tremble at the word of God”), but its members were often persecuted or imprisoned for rejecting the state church and refusing to pay tithes or swear oaths. Some emigrated to America, where they were persecuted in Massachusetts Bay Colony but found toleration in Rhode Island and in the Quaker colony of Pennsyl¬ vania, which was chartered by Charles II under the sponsorship of Wil¬ liam Penn in 1681. Other marks that became characteristic of Quakerism were plain speech and dress, pacifism, and opposition to slavery. The group also emphasizes philanthropy, especially aid to refugees and fam¬ ine victims; the American Friends Service Committee and (British) Friends Service Council shared the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize.
Fries's Rebellion Vfrez\ (1799) Uprising, in opposition to a federal property tax, by farmers in eastern Pennsylvania. To raise money for an anticipated war with France, in 1798 the U.S. Congress voted a direct tax on real property. The tax was widely resented, and an armed group of German farmers, led by John Fries (c. 1750-1818), forced the release of tax resisters held by federal marshals. Pres. John Adams sent federal troops to arrest the rebels, who were tried for treason. Fries was convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but Adams pardoned him in 1800.
frieze Yfrez\ Any long, narrow, horizontal panel or ornamental band used for decorative purposes around the walls of a room or exterior walls of a building. In Greco-Roman architecture it is a horizontal band, often decorated with relief sculpture, between the architrave and cornice of a building. The most famous decorative frieze is on the outer wall of the Parthenon in Athens, a 525-ft (160-m) representation of the ritual pro¬ cession of the Panathenaic festival.
frigate Vfri-g3t\ Either of two different types of warships, of the 17th- 19th centuries and of World War II and after. The sailing ship known as a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged vessel, often carrying 30^-0 guns in all. Smaller and faster than ships of the line, frigates served as scouts or as escorts protecting merchant convoys; they also cruised the seas as merchant raiders themselves. With the transition to steam, the term gradu-
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714 i frigate bird ► fritillary
ally gave way to cruiser. In World War II, Britain revived the term frigate to describe escort ships equipped with sonar and depth charges and used to guard convoys from submarines. In the postwar decades frigates also adopted an antiaircraft role, adding radar and surface-to-air missiles. Modern frigates may displace more than 3,000 tons (2,700 metric tons), sail at a speed of 30 knots, and carry a crew of 200.
Battle between the frigates HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake off Boston during the War of 1812; detail of a lithograph by J.C. Schetky.
THE NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, LONDON
frigate bird or man-o'-war bird Any member of five species of large seabirds constituting the family Fregatidae, found worldwide along tropical and semitropical coasts and islands. About the size of a hen, frig¬ ate birds have extremely long, slen¬ der wings, which span up to about 8 ft (2.3 m), and long, deeply forked tails. Most adult males are all black; most females are marked with white below. Both sexes have a bare¬ skinned throat pouch, tiny feet, and a long hooked bill that is used to attack and rob other seabirds of their fish. The courting male’s throat pouch becomes bright red and is inflated to the size of a person’s head. Perhaps the most aerial of all birds except the swifts, frigate birds land only to sleep or tend the nest.
Frigg \'frig\ or Friia Vfre-sN Norse goddess, the wife of Odin and mother of Balder. She was considered the patron of marriage and fertility. Some Icelandic stories depict her as a devoted mother, while others stress her loose morals. Frigg was also known to other Germanic peoples, and her name survives in the word Friday (“Friia’s day”).