Frankfurt-on-Main, Ger.) German Jewish scholar. He served as rabbi in Oldenburg, Emden, Nikolsburg, and Frankfurt am Main. In his Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel (1836), he expounded his system of Neo-Orthodoxy, which helped make Orthodox Judaism viable in 19th-century Germany. He advocated blending strict schooling in the Torah with modern secular education, and he argued that Orthodox Jews should separate from the larger Jewish community in defense of their traditions. His many works include commentaries on the Pentateuch and an Orthodox textbook on Judaism.
Hirschfeld, Al(bert) (b. June 21, 1903, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—d. Jan. 20, 2003, New York, N.Y.) U.S. caricaturist. He lived mostly in New York City. He studied art in Europe and traveled in East Asia, where Japanese and Javanese art influenced his graphic style. He was especially known for his stylish caricatures in the New York Times over many decades (beginning 1929) portraying show-business personalities, in which read¬ ers enjoyed hunting for the name of his daughter, Nina. Hirschfeld also illustrated many books and produced watercolours, lithographs, etchings, and sculptures.
His \'his\, Wilhelm (b. Dec. 29, 1863, Basel, Switz.—d. Nov. 10, 1934, Wiesental) Swiss cardiologist. His father, Wilhelm His (1831-1904), first realized that each nerve fibre stems from a single neuron and invented the microtome, a device used to slice thin tissue sections for microscopic examination. The younger His discovered (1893) the specialized muscle fibres (bundle of His) running along the septum between the heart’s left and right chambers. He found that they help communicate a single rhythm of contraction to all parts of the heart, and he was one of the first to rec¬ ognize that the heartbeat originates in individual cells of heart muscle.
Hispaniola \,his-p3n-'yo-l9\ Spanish Espanola \,es-pa-'nyo-la\ Island, central West Indies. The second-largest West Indian island, it lies east of Cuba. It is divided into Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east. The island is some 400 mi (650 km) long and 150 mi (241 km) wide at its widest point. Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492. The Spanish wiped out the natives and settled the island with African slaves. In 1795 Spain ceded the eastern two-thirds of the island to France. The slaves rebelled in the late 18th century; led by Toussaint- Louverture and J.-J. Dessalines, they formed the independent Republic of Haiti (1804) on the western part of the island. The eastern part was briefly reunited with Spain; its road to eventual independence as the Dominican Republic (1844) was initially blocked by Haitian dominance.
Hiss, Alger (b. Nov. 11, 1904, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—d. Nov. 15, 1996, New York, N.Y.) U.S. government official. He attended Harvard Law School and clerked for Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. He worked at the U.S. State Department in the 1930s, attended the Yalta Conference (1945) as an adviser to Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, was briefly secretary-general of the fledgling UN, and served as head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1946^-9). In 1948 Whittaker Chambers testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that Hiss had been a fellow member of a communist spy ring in the 1930s. When Chambers repeated the charge in public, unprotected by congressional
immunity, Hiss sued him for slander. In a federal grand-jury investigation of the case, both Chambers and Hiss testified; Hiss was later indicted on two charges of perjury. His first trial (1949) ended with a hung jury; at his second trial (1950) he was found guilty. He was released from jail in 1954, still protesting his innocence. In 1996 the release of secret Soviet cables intercepted by U.S. intelligence during World War II provided strong evidence of Hiss’s guilt. The Hiss case seemed to lend substance to charges by Sen. Joseph McCarthy of communist infiltration in the State Department; it also brought national attention to Richard Nixon, whose hostile questioning of Hiss during the HUAC hearings did much to estab¬ lish his reputation as a fervent anticommunist.
histamine \ l his-t3- l men\ Organic compound found in nearly all animal tissues, in microorganisms, and in some plants. Its release stimulates many smooth muscles to contract, such as those in the gastrointestinal tract, uterus, and the bronchi. It causes fine blood vessels to dilate and become more permeable, causing the runny nose, watery eyes, and tissue swell¬ ing of hay fever and some other allergies. Histamine appears to have a physiological role in the body’s defenses against a hostile environment, since it may be released when the body is subjected to trauma, infection, or some drugs. Under extreme circumstances, the effects of histamine lead to exaggerated responses with distressing results, as may occur in some allergic conditions (see anaphylaxis). Stinging nettles and certain insect venoms contain histamine. In humans, histamine is formed by removal of a carboxyl group from histidine. Its effects are counteracted by antihista¬ mines.
histidine Vhis-t3-,den\ One of the essential amino acids, first isolated in 1896. It occurs abundantly in hemoglobin and can be isolated from blood cells. It is used in medicine and biochemical research and as a dietary supplement and feed additive.
histogram or bar graph Graph using vertical or horizontal bars whose lengths indicate quantities. Along with the pie chart, the histogram is the most common format for representing statistical data. Its advantage is that it not only clearly shows the largest and smallest categories but gives an immediate impression of the distribution of the data. In fact, a histogram is a representation of a frequency distribution.
histology \his-'ta-l3-je\ Branch of biology concerned with the compo¬ sition and structure of plant and animal tissues in relation to their spe¬ cialized functions. Its aim is to determine how tissues are organized at all structural levels, from cells and intercellular substances to organs. His¬ tologists examine extremely thin slices of human tissue under micro¬ scopes, using dye to increase the contrast between cellular components.
histone Any of a class of rather simple proteins occurring in cell nuclei and in combination with DNA to form nucleoproteins. They can be obtained from both plants and animals. Unlike most proteins, they dis¬ solve readily in water. They were discovered c. 1884.
historical school of economics See German historical school of economics
historiography Mii-.stor-e-'a-gro-feV Writing of history, especially that based on the critical examination of sources and the synthesis of chosen particulars from those sources into a narrative that will stand the test of critical methods. Two major tendencies in history writing are evident from the beginnings of the Western tradition: the concept of historiography as the accumulation of records and the concept of history as storytelling, filled with explanations of cause and effect. In the 5th century bc the Greek historians Herodotus and, later, Thucydides emphasized firsthand inquiry in their efforts to impose a narrative on contemporary events. The dominance of Christian historiography by the 4th century introduced the idea of world history as a result of divine intervention in human affairs, an idea that prevailed throughout the Middle Ages in the work of such historians as Bede. Humanism and the gradual secularization of critical thought influ¬ enced early modern European historiography. The 19th and 20th centu¬ ries saw the development of modem methods of historical investigation based on the use of primary source materials. Modern historians, aiming for a fuller picture of the past, have tried to reconstruct a record of ordi¬ nary human activities and practices; the French Annales school has been influential in this respect.
history, philosophy of Branch of philosophy concerned with ques¬ tions about the meaningfulness of history and the nature of historical explanation. Philosophy of history in the traditional sense is conceived to be a first-order inquiry, its subject matter being the historical process as