Goldman, Emma (b. June 27,1869, Kovno, Lith., Russian Empire—d. May 14, 1940, Toronto, Ont., Can.) International anarchist. She immi¬ grated to the U.S. in 1885, settling in Rochester, N.Y. Moving to New York City in 1889, she formed a close association with the Russian anarchist Alexander Berkman (1870-1936); the two corresponded regularly during Berkman’s imprisonment (1892-1906) for an assassination attempt on Henry Clay Frick. In 1893 Goldman herself was jailed for inciting a riot when a group of unemployed workers reacted to a fiery speech she had delivered. She founded and edited (1906-17) the anarchist magazine Mother Earth and wrote on anarchism, feminism, birth control, and other social problems. After Berkman’s release she continued anarchist activities with him until 1917, when they were arrested for agitating against the mili¬ tary draft. Upon her release in 1919, she and other anarchists were deported to the Soviet Union. She moved to England in 1921 and later to Canada and Spain, continuing to lecture throughout Europe.
Goldmark, Peter Carl (b. Dec. 2, 1906, Budapest, Hung.—d. Dec. 7, 1977, Westchester county, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-U.S. engineer. He earned a doctorate from the University of Vienna before immigrating to the U.S. in 1933. From 1936 to 1972 he worked at the Columbia Broad¬ casting System Laboratories. In 1940 he demonstrated the first commer¬ cial colour-television system; based on a rotating three-colour disk, his
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Goldoni ► goliard I 777
system found wide application in closed-circuit television for industry, medical institutions, and schools because his camera was much smaller, lighter, and easier to maintain than those that eventually came to be used in commercial television. In 1948 he introduced the long-playing (LP) phonograph record, which revolutionized the recording industry. In 1950 he developed the scanning system that would allow the U.S. Lunar Orbiter spacecraft (launched in 1966) to relay photographs 238,000 mi (380,000 km) from the Moon to Earth.
Goldoni, Carlo (b. Feb. 25, 1707, Venice—d. Feb. 6, 1793, Paris, France) Italian playwright. He practiced law but preferred to write plays, beginning with Belisario (1734). He renovated the commedia dell'arte form by replacing its masked stock figures with realistic characters, its repeti¬ tive action with tightly constructed plots, and its predictable farce with spontaneity in plays such as Pamela (1750), based on Samuel Richardson’s novel. His comedy of manners La locandiera (1753) is still performed (as Mine Hostess). When rivals ridiculed his innovations, he took his realis¬ tic comedy to Paris, where he directed the Comedie-Italienne and wrote many plays in French. He later rewrote them for Italian audiences, and The Fan (1763) became one of his greatest successes.
Goldschmidt, Victor Moritz (b. Jan. 27, 1888, Zurich, Switz.—d. March 20, 1947, Oslo, Nor.) Swiss-born Norwegian mineralogist and petrologist. He became director of the Mineralogical Institute of the Uni¬ versity of Kristiania (now Oslo) in 1914. The dearth of raw materials dur¬ ing World War I led Goldschmidt to research in geochemistry. His work in that area, and more general studies after the war, marks the beginnings of modern geochemistry. His Geochemical Laws of the Distribution of the Elements (8 vol., 1923—38) laid the foundations of inorganic crystal chemistry. During the 1930s he studied the relative cosmic abundance of the elements. In 1942 he escaped a Nazi concentration camp and fled to England; after the war he returned to Oslo.
Goldsmith, Oliver (b. Nov. 10, 1730, Kilkenny West, County West¬ meath, Ire.—d. April 4, 1774, Lon¬ don, Eng.) Irish-born British essayist, poet, novelist, and drama¬ tist. Goldsmith attended Trinity Col¬ lege in Dublin before studying medicine in Edinburgh. Settling in London, he began writing essays, some of which were collected in The Citizen of the World (1762). In 1764 he became an original member of Samuel Johnson’s famous Club. He won a reputation as a poet with The Traveller (1764), confirmed by his famous pastoral elegy The Deserted Village (1770). The Vicar of Wake¬ field (1766) revealed his skill as a novelist. The charming farce She Stoops to Conquer (1773) was his most effective play. Noted for his exceptionally graceful, lively style,
Goldsmith was a friend of many lit¬ erary lights of his day, who agreed that he was one of the oddest personalities of his time.
Goldwater, Barry M(orris) (b. Jan. 1, 1909, Phoenix, Airz., U.S.—d. May 29, 1998, Paradise Valley, Ariz.) U.S. senator. He headed the family department-store business from 1937, and during World War II he was a U.S. Air Force pilot (1941-45). A Republican, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1952, and he quickly established himself as a strong conservative, calling for a harsh diplomatic stance toward the Soviet Union, opposing arms-control negotiations with that country, and accus¬ ing the Democrats of creating a quasi-socialist state at home. In 1964 he won the Republican nomination for president but lost the election to Democratic Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson largely because of popular fears that Goldwater would provoke a nuclear war with the Soviets. Returning to the Senate (1969-87), he helped persuade Richard Nixon to resign in 1974. Goldwater moderated many of his views in later years, and he became a symbol of high-minded conservatism.
Goldwyn, Samuel orig. Schmuel Gelbfisz later Samuel Goldfisn (b. July 1879, Warsaw, Pol.—d. Jan. 31, 1974, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film producer. He emigrated alone at age 13 from Poland
Oliver Goldsmith, oil painting from the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1770; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON
to New York, where he worked in a glove factory and became a sales¬ man. He formed a film company with his brother-in-law, Jesse L. Lasky (1880-1958), and Cecil B. DeMille in 1913. In 1917 he left the company and with Edgar Selwyn established Goldwyn Pictures Corp. By the time that company merged into MGM (1924), he had become an independent producer. He employed top screenwriters, directors, and actors to produce films of high quality, including Wuthering Heights (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Guys and Dolls (1955), and Porgy and Bess (1959).
golem \'go-tam\ In Jewish folklore, the Middle Ages stories were told of wise men who could bring clay effi¬ gies to life by means of magic charms or sacred words. Golems began as perfect servants, whose only fault lay in fulfilling their mas¬ ter’s commands too literally or mechanically. Later golems were imagined as protectors of the Jews in times of persecution, but also had a frightening aspect.
golf Game in which a player using special clubs attempts to sink a small ball with as few strokes as possible into each of the 9 or 18 successive holes on an outdoor course. A hole includes (1) a teeing area, a clearing from which the ball is initially driven toward the actual hole, or cup; (2) a fairway, a long, closely mowed, and often angled lane; (3) a putting green, a smooth grassy area containing the hole; and (4) often one or more natural or artificial hazards (such as bunkers). Each hole has associated with it a par, or score standard, usu¬ ally from par 3 to par 5. The origins of the game are difficult to ascer¬ tain, although evidence now suggests that early forms of golf were played in the Netherlands first and then in Scotland. Golf developed in Scotland—the courses were originally fields of grass that sheep had clipped short in their characteristic grazing style. Golf balls were origi¬ nally made of wood; wood was replaced in the 17th century by boiled feathers stuffed in a leather cover, in the 19th century by gutta-percha, and in the 20th century by hard rubber. Clubs, limited in number to 14, are known by the traditional names of “irons” (primarily for mid-range to short shots) and “woods” (primarily for longer shots); today irons are more likely made of stainless steel, and the heads of woods are usually made of metal such as steel or titanium.