Judi Dench: She was featured in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and its 2015 sequel, both of which concern the comic hijinks of a group of British retirees in India. Dench also starred alongside Steve Coogan in Philomena (2013), based on the true story of a woman’s search for a…

Best Friend of Charleston, first steam locomotive built in the United States for regular railway service. A vertical boiler mounted on a four-wheel carriage, the Best Friend was built by the West Point Foundry of New York and put into service on a broad-gauge line from Charleston to Hamburg, S.C.,

Christopher Guest: Filmmaking career: …of their quiet Missouri hamlet; Best in Show (2000) comedically explores the milieu of a Westminster Kennel Club-like dog show; A Mighty Wind (2003), once again leveraging the musical skills of Guest, McKean, and Shearer, lovingly spoofs the folk music revival of the 1960s by taking an up-close-and-personal look at…

Dolly Parton: Acting and producing career: …role in the Burt Reynolds-vehicle, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), she revived her 1974 hit “I Will Always Love You.” (Whitney Houston later recorded the song for the film The Bodyguard [1992], and it went on to sell millions of copies.) In 1989 Parton played a principal role…

John Sturges: Early work: Best Man Wins (1948) was based on Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” and it starred Edgar Buchanan as the peripatetic gambler. The melodrama The Sign of the Ram (1948) featured a wheelchair-bound Susan Peters (who had been crippled in a real-life…

Franklin J. Schaffner: The Best Man (1964) was a knowing dissection of political conventions and the bartering of power. That dramedy, which was based on the Gore Vidal play, featured Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson as presidential candidates. Schaffner next directed The War Lord (1965), a medieval drama…

James Earl Jones: Theater career: Miss Daisy (2010–11), Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (2012), George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s You Can’t Take It with You (2014–15), and The Gin Game (2015–16). In 2017 Jones received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement.

As the 2025–26 awards season kicks into gear, the race for top honors quickly becomes a battle for critical consensus. While it is perhaps impossible for critics to predict which films will come out on top at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Oscars, their collective preferences can offer a sense of

Jamie Foxx: Music: His later albums included Best Night of My Life (2010) and Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses (2015). In 2021 Foxx published the memoir Act Like You Got Some Sense: And Other Things My Daughters Taught Me (written with Nick Chiles).

best of all possible worlds, in the philosophy of the early modern philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), the thesis that the existing world is the best world that God could have created. Leibniz’s argument for the doctrine of the best of all possible worlds, now commonly called

Taraji P. Henson: …in 2019 she appeared in The Best of Enemies, portraying civil rights activist Ann Atwater, who developed an unlikely friendship with C.P. Ellis, a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Jean Negulesco: Millionaire and Three Coins: The Best of Everything (1959) was an entertaining drama about women working in New York City’s publishing world. It boasted a fine cast that included Joan Crawford, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer, Hope Lange, and Robert Evans.

Nicholas Sparks: …Lucky One (2008; film 2012), The Best of Me (2011; film 2014), and The Longest Ride (2013; film 2015). In 2015 he released the novel See Me, about a pair of lovers with troubled pasts. Later works include Two by Two (2016), Every Breath (2018), The Return (2020), and Counting…

The Academy Award for best original screenplay is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California. It honors outstanding achievement by screenwriters for an original screenplay (not one adapted from another work, such as a play or

Yearning to become a digital nomad? Your path starts with evaluating your current profession and potentially pivoting to a new type of job—one that lends itself well to working remotely. If you’re intent on becoming nomadic with just a computer in tow, then you need an action plan to make this

A credit card can be a great tool to help you build your credit history while earning rewards like airline miles, hotel reward points, or even cash back. Deciding which credit card to use, however, can feel like a daunting task. Should you go for rewards, such as miles, points, or merchandise

The Academy Award for best adapted screenplay is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California. It honors outstanding achievement by screenwriters for a screenplay adapted from another work, such as a play or novel, from a given

The Academy Award for best original screenplay is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California. It honors outstanding achievement by screenwriters for an original screenplay (not one adapted from another work, such as a play or

best seller, book that, for a time, leads all others of its kind in sales, a designation that serves as an index of popular literary taste and judgment. Bookman, an American magazine of literature and criticism, began running best-seller lists in 1895, when it began publication. The list was

Michael Caine: …from 2021 included the dramedy Best Sellers, in which he portrayed a reclusive writer.

Hans Rosling: His best-known lecture, “The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen,” was presented at a 2006 TED conference. Rosling used statistics to show that worldwide fertility was decreasing and that the era of fast population growth would therefore end by mid-century, that the distinction between developed and developing countries has…

Each year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors the man who delivered the most outstanding performance in a supporting role in a movie of a given year, as determined by the academy’s voting members. The winning actor is given a gold-plated statuette known as an Oscar at the annual

annual award presented to the actress in a supporting role who delivered the most outstanding performance in a movie of a given year, as adjudged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The winning actress is given a gold-plated statuette known as an Oscar at the annual ceremony. The

Jacques d’Amboise: …Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956), Carousel (1956), and Off Beat (1986) and appeared on Broadway in the musical comedy Shinbone Alley (1957). As a choreographer, his works included The Chase (1963), Quatuor (1964), and Irish Fantasy (1964).

The Academy Award for best adapted screenplay is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California. It honors outstanding achievement by screenwriters for a screenplay adapted from another work, such as a play or novel, from a given

The Academy Award for best original screenplay is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California. It honors outstanding achievement by screenwriters for an original screenplay (not one adapted from another work, such as a play or

Claude Lelouch: …belles années d’une vie (2019; The Best Years of a Life).

William Wyler: Films of the 1940s of William Wyler: …transformed into the box-office hit The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), which made more money than any other movie to that point in history except Gone With the Wind (1939). It accomplished that despite a length—172 minutes—that limited its play dates.

Charles H. Best was a physiologist who, with Sir Frederick Banting, was one of the first to obtain (1921) a pancreatic extract of insulin in a form that controlled diabetes in dogs. The successful use of insulin in treating human patients followed. But because Best did not receive his medical

Charles H. Best was a physiologist who, with Sir Frederick Banting, was one of the first to obtain (1921) a pancreatic extract of insulin in a form that controlled diabetes in dogs. The successful use of insulin in treating human patients followed. But because Best did not receive his medical

George Best was an Irish-born football (soccer) player who was one of the premier forwards in the game’s history and a fashionable playboy off the field. The stylish Best became one of the iconic figures of “Swinging London” during the 1960s. While still a schoolboy, Best was recommended to

Pete Best is a British drummer, best known as an early drummer for the Beatles. Best was dismissed from the band before it achieved widespread fame, and he went on to record and perform music with other groups. Best was born in British India, where his father fought in the British Indian Army.

Pete Best is a British drummer, best known as an early drummer for the Beatles. Best was dismissed from the band before it achieved widespread fame, and he went on to record and perform music with other groups. Best was born in British India, where his father fought in the British Indian Army.

best seller, book that, for a time, leads all others of its kind in sales, a designation that serves as an index of popular literary taste and judgment. Bookman, an American magazine of literature and criticism, began running best-seller lists in 1895, when it began publication. The list was

While many music artists find success, only a rare few become the heartbeat of a generation. For those whose record sales have reached hundreds of millions, their music does more than fill stadiums—it weaves itself into the very fabric of pop culture, shaping the way people feel, dress, and dream.

macular degeneration: Other forms of macular degeneration: … in a gene known as BEST1 (bestrophin 1). Stargardt macular dystrophy, which is the most common genetic form of macular degeneration, is the only form inherited in an autosomal recessive manner (disease occurs only when mutations are inherited from both parents). It is caused by mutations in a gene called…

Basṭām, small historic town, northern Iran. It lies just south of the Elburz Mountains in a well-watered plain. Clustered around the tomb of the poet and mystic Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī (d. 874) are a mausoleum, a 12th-century minaret and mosque wall, a superb portal (1313), and a 15th-century college.

ancient Iran: Conflicts with the Turks and Byzantium: Simultaneously another pretender, Prince Bestām, decided to try his luck. Khosrow fled to Byzantium, and the emperor Maurice undertook to restore him by military force. Bahrām Chūbīn was routed (591) and fled to and was killed by the Turks, and Khosrow again ascended the throne in Ctesiphon. Bestām held…

mushāhadah: …the famous mystic Bāyazīd al-Besṭāmī (d. 874) was asked how old he was, he replied “four years.” When asked for an explanation, he answered, “I have been veiled from God by this world for seventy years, but I have seen Him during the last four years; the period in…

Alfred Bester was an innovative American writer of science fiction whose output, though small, was highly influential. Bester attended the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1935). From 1939 to 1942 he published 14 short stories in science-fiction magazines; among these early stories was “Hell Is

bullfighting: Bullfighting and the arts: …de Montherlant’s Les Bestiaires (1926; The Bullfighters) also deals with the matador’s ever-present threat of death in the ring.

zoophilia, sexual attraction of a human toward a nonhuman animal, which may involve the experience of sexual fantasies about the animal or the pursuit of real sexual contact with it (i.e., bestiality). Sex between humans and animals is illegal in many countries. (See also human sexual behaviour:

Julio Cortázar: Bestiario (1951; “Bestiary”), his first short-story collection, was published the year he moved to Paris, an act motivated by dissatisfaction with the government of Juan Perón and what he saw as the general stagnation of the Argentine middle class. He remained in Paris, where he…

English literature: Influence of French poetry: The early 13th-century Bestiary mixes alliterative lines, three- and four-stress couplets, and septenary (heptameter) lines, but the logic behind this mix is more obvious than in the Brut and the Proverbs, for the poet was imitating the varied meters of his Latin source. More regular in form than…

bestiary, literary genre in the European Middle Ages consisting of a collection of stories, each based on a description of certain qualities of an animal, plant, or even stone. The stories presented Christian allegories for moral and religious instruction and admonition. The numerous manuscripts of

Josef Kramer was a German commander of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (1944–45), notorious for his cruelty. Joining the Nazi Party on Dec. 1, 1931, Kramer volunteered for the SS the following year. He served at various camps, including Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Dachau, and commanded Birkenau

Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Years in Berlin: …Die Bestimmung des Menschen (1800; The Vocation of Man), in which he defines God as the infinite moral will of the universe who becomes conscious of himself in individuals; Der geschlossene Handelsstaat (also 1800), an intensely socialistic treatise in favour of tariff protection; two new versions of the Wissenschaftslehre (composed…

macular degeneration: Other forms of macular degeneration: … in a gene known as BEST1 (bestrophin 1). Stargardt macular dystrophy, which is the most common genetic form of macular degeneration, is the only form inherited in an autosomal recessive manner (disease occurs only when mutations are inherited from both parents). It is caused by mutations in a gene called…

Aleksey Petrovich, Count Bestuzhev-Ryumin was a diplomat and statesman who controlled Russia’s foreign affairs during the reign of the empress Elizabeth. Sent by Peter the Great to Copenhagen and Berlin for his education, Bestuzhev began his diplomatic career in the service of the Elector of

The Visit, drama in three acts by Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt, performed and published in German in 1956 as Der Besuch der alten Dame. The play’s protagonist Claire, a multimillionaire, visits her hometown after an absence of many years and offers the residents great wealth if they will

The Possessed, novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, published in Russian in 1872 as Besy. The book, also known in English as The Devils and The Demons, is a reflection of Dostoyevsky’s belief that revolutionists possessed the soul of Russia and that, unless exorcised by a renewed faith in Orthodox

Kálmán Mikszáth: …he published his first novel, Beszterce ostroma (“The Siege of Beszterce”), the story of an eccentric Hungarian aristocrat. Mikszáth’s early art is romantic. Toward the end of the century he became more realistic as the writer of everyday life, which he described with understanding and sympathy, though he did not…

Banská Bystrica, town, capital of Banskobystrický kraj (region), central Slovakia. It lies in the Hron River valley, surrounded by mountains. An ancient town, it was an important mining centre from the 13th century, when it was chartered. Gothic and Renaissance-style buildings, including burghers’

Black Entertainment Television (BET Media Group) is an American cable television network providing news, entertainment, and other programming developed primarily for African American viewers. BET also operates a channel geared toward Black women, BET Her; features contemporary and 20th-century

Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti (BET), former large prefecture (administrative division) of northern Chad. The region occupies much of the southeast-central portion of the Sahara, and the terrain is primarily low-lying arid desert that rises in the northwest to the lofty massif of the Tibesti. The sparse

Pakistan: The Indus River plain: …locally as a khaddar or bet), which lies adjacent to a river, is often called “the summer bed of rivers,” as it is inundated almost every rainy season. It is the scene of changing river channels, though protective bunds (levees) have been built at many places on the outer margin…

Bet Alfa, ancient site in northeastern Israel, noted for the remains of a synagogue (founded 6th century ad) that was discovered in 1928 by kibbutz workers digging drainage ditches. The kibbutz was founded in 1922 by Polish Jewish immigrants, who revived the historical name of Bet Alfa for their

bet din, Jewish tribunal empowered to adjudicate cases involving criminal, civil, or religious law. The history of such institutions goes back to the time the 12 tribes of Israel appointed judges and set up courts of law (Deuteronomy 16:18). During the period of the Second Temple of Jerusalem (516

Judaism: Pilgrim Festivals: …libation ceremony, and the nightly bet ha-shoʾeva or bet ha-sheʾuvah (“place of water drawing”) festivities starting on the evening preceding the second day. The last-mentioned observance features torch dancing, flute playing, and other forms of musical and choral entertainment.

Judaism: Pilgrim Festivals: …libation ceremony, and the nightly bet ha-shoʾeva or bet ha-sheʾuvah (“place of water drawing”) festivities starting on the evening preceding the second day. The last-mentioned observance features torch dancing, flute playing, and other forms of musical and choral entertainment.

Shammai ha-Zaken: …with that of Hillel (Bet Hillel), which advocated more flexible interpretations. Shammai is cited in the Talmud and its commentaries in such a way as to emphasize his austere views. Bet Shammai opposed the Bet Hillel “principle of intention,” which holds that the legal consequences of a man’s act…

Bethlehem, town in the West Bank, situated in the Judaean Hills 5 miles (8 km) south of Jerusalem. It is the birthplace of Jesus, according to Christian tradition, and the Church of the Nativity has been a focal point of Christian pilgrimage—and the cornerstone of the town’s economy—since its

Shammai ha-Zaken: …best remembered for the school, Bet Shammai (“House of Shammai”), that he founded. His school, which advocated a strict, literal interpretation of Jewish law, competed with that of Hillel (Bet Hillel), which advocated more flexible interpretations. Shammai is cited in the Talmud and its commentaries in such a way as…

Bet Sheʿarim, agricultural cooperative settlement (moshav) and archaeological site in northern Israel, near the western end of the Plain of Esdraelon. Ancient Bet Sheʿarim (Hebrew: House [of the] Gates), about 3 mi (5 km) east-northeast of the modern settlement (founded in 1936), is frequently

Alysheba: …by jockey Chris McCarron, challenged Bet Twice at the top of the stretch, inched ahead, and won by half a length. Once again, the time was slow, the slowest since 1975, but the horses achieved the first one-two finish in the Derby and the Preakness since Affirmed and Alydar did…

Beth Yerah, ancient fortified settlement located at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee in what is now northern Israel. Beth Yerah was settled in the Early Bronze Age (c. 3100–2300 bce) and was also populated from the Hellenistic to the Arab periods (c. 2nd century bce to 12th century ce).

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo: …codification of Jewish law, the Bet Yosef (“House of Joseph”). Its condensation, the Shulḥan ʿarukh (“The Prepared Table,” or “The Well-Laid Table”), is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry.

William F. Sharpe: …to the concept of “beta,” a measurement of portfolio risk. Investment analysts frequently use a beta coefficient to compare the risk of one stock against the risk of the broader stock market.

Caryophyllales: Amaranthaceae: Cultivars of Beta vulgaris are vegetable crops, including the sugar beet and the garden beet, or beetroot. The beet’s leaves are similar in taste to spinach (Spinacia oleracea, of the same family). The root may be dark purplish red, yellow, white, or striped. It can be boiled…

titanium processing: Alpha and beta phases: pure, alpha, alpha-beta, and beta. Each class has distinctive characteristics. Pure titanium, although very ductile, has low strength and is therefore used when strength is not critical and corrosion resistance is desired. The alpha alloys are weldable and have good elevated-temperature strengths. The alpha-beta alloys are widely used because…

Aquarius: …brightest star, Beta Aquarii, or Sadalsuud (Arabic for “the luckiest of the lucky”), is only of magnitude 2.9. Its most notable feature is an asterism of four stars arranged in a Y-shape called the Water Jar. Aquarius lies in an area of the sky sometimes called the “Sea,” because of…

brass: Characteristics of the alloy: The beta brasses are less ductile but stronger and thus are suitable for the manufacture of faucet handles, sprinkler heads, window and door fittings, and other fixtures. A third group of brasses includes those with other elements besides copper and zinc, added to improve physical and…

Cancer: Its brighest star, Al Tarf (Arabic for “the end” [of one of the crab’s legs]), also called Beta Cancri, is quite dim, with a magnitude of 3.6.

star: Pulsating stars: …of pulsating variable stars, the Beta Canis Majoris variables are high-temperature stars (spectral type B) that often show complicated variations in spectral-line shapes and intensities, velocity curves, and light. In many cases, they have two periods of variation so similar in duration that complex interference or beat phenomena are observed,…

islets of Langerhans: …which the major types (alpha, beta, delta, and pancreatic polypeptide [PP] cells) produce important hormones. The two minor types (D1 and enterochromaffin cells) produce hormones and synthesize serotonin, respectively.

Beta Centauri, second brightest star (after Alpha Centauri) in the southern constellation Centaurus and the 10th brightest star in the sky. Beta Centauri is about 390 light-years from Earth. It is a system of three B-type stars. The two brightest stars orbit each other every 357 days and form a

Cetus: The brightest star, Deneb Kaitos (from the Arabic for “tail of the whale”), has a visual magnitude of 2.04. The most famous star in Cetus is Mira Ceti, or Omicron Ceti, the first known variable star. Mira Ceti changes its brightness from third to ninth magnitude over a…

Beta Crucis, second brightest star (after Alpha Crucis) in the southern constellation Crux (the Southern Cross) and the 20th brightest star in the sky. Beta Crucis is a binary of two B-type stars about 280 light-years from Earth. The primary is a pulsating variable star of the Beta Cephei type; its

astronomical map: Star names and designations: A conspicuous exception is Albireo in Cygnus, possibly a corruption of the words ab ireo in the first Latin edition of the Almagest in 1515. Most star names are in fact Arabic and are frequently derived from translations of the Greek descriptions. The stars of Orion illustrate the various…

beta decay, any of three processes of radioactive disintegration by which some unstable atomic nuclei spontaneously dissipate excess energy and undergo a change of one unit of positive charge without any change in mass number. The three processes are electron emission, positron (positive electron)

Delphinus: …brightest star in Delphinus is Rotanev, with a magnitude of 3.63. The four brightest stars form a diamond-shaped asterism called “Job’s Coffin.” In Greek mythology there are two stories about this constellation. In one, it is the messenger of the sea god Poseidon. In the other, it is the dolphin…

beta distribution, continuous probability distribution used to represent outcomes of random behavior within fixed bounds, usually the range from 0 to 1. Beta distributions have two parameters α and β, which define the distribution’s shape in a range [a,b], where a is less than b. The lower limit,

climate: The Gulf Stream: …with latitude known as the beta effect. This effect involves the displacement of the warm water lens toward the west, so that the deepest part of the lens is situated to the north of the island of Bermuda rather than in the central Atlantic Ocean. This warm lens of water…

beta decay, any of three processes of radioactive disintegration by which some unstable atomic nuclei spontaneously dissipate excess energy and undergo a change of one unit of positive charge without any change in mass number. The three processes are electron emission, positron (positive electron)

Pollux, brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Gemini. A reddish giant star, it has an apparent visual magnitude of 1.15. The stars Castor and Pollux are named for the mythological twins. Pollux is 33.7 light-years from Earth. (List of Brightest Stars as Seen from Earth) In 2006 a planet,

globulin: …of globulin have been identified—alpha, beta, and gamma. Alpha and beta globulins are transport proteins, serve as substrates upon which other substances are formed, and perform other diverse functions. Gamma globulins have a vital role in natural and acquired immunity to infection. See also gamma globulin.

Hercules: Its brightest star is Beta Herculis, with a magnitude of 2.8. Hercules contains the solar apex, the point on the sky toward which the Sun is moving as it orbits in the Milky Way Galaxy, and M13, one of the brightest globular clusters. To early Greek astronomers such as…

immune system: Interferons: …blood cells other than lymphocytes, beta interferon by fibroblasts, and gamma interferon by natural killer cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (killer T cells). All interferons inhibit viral replication by interfering with the transcription of viral nucleic acid. Interferons exert additional inhibitory effects by regulating the extent to which lymphocytes and…

steel: The base metal: iron: There is also the term beta iron, which refers not to mechanical properties but rather to the strong magnetic characteristics of iron. Below 770° C (1,420° F), iron is ferromagnetic; the temperature above which it loses this property is often called the Curie point.

Beta Israel, Jews of Ethiopian origin. Their beginnings are obscure and possibly polygenetic. The Beta Israel (meaning House of Israel) themselves claim descent from Menilek I, traditionally the son of the Queen of Sheba (Makeda) and King Solomon. At least some of their ancestors, however, were

Beta Lyrae, eclipsing binary star, the two component stars of which are so close together that they are greatly distorted by their mutual attraction; they exchange material and share a common atmosphere. Beta Lyrae is a member of a class of binary systems known as W Serpentis stars. It is of about

phi phenomenon: Phi phenomenon versus beta movement: …phenomenon is often confused with beta movement, another illusion of apparent motion. Beta movement occurs when a series of still images show an object in a slightly different position in each image. Thus, it creates the illusion that the object is moving. This differs from the phi phenomenon, in which…

Rigel, one of the brightest stars in the sky, intrinsically as well as in appearance. A blue-white supergiant in the constellation Orion, Rigel is about 860 light-years from the Sun and is about 47,000 times as luminous. A companion double star, also bluish white, is of the sixth magnitude. The

beta particle, electron (unit negative charge) or positron (unit positive charge) spontaneously emitted by certain unstable atomic nuclei in the radioactive disintegration process of beta decay

Algol, prototype of a class of variable stars called eclipsing binaries, the second brightest star in the northern constellation Perseus. Its apparent visual magnitude changes over the range of 2.1 to 3.4 with a period of 2.87 days. Even at its dimmest it remains readily visible to the unaided eye.

titanium processing: Alpha and beta phases: The atoms of pure titanium align in the solid state in either a hexagonal close-packed crystalline structure, called the alpha (α) phase, or a body-centred cubic structure, called the beta (β) phase. In the pure metal, transformation from the alpha to the beta…

Beta Pictoris, fourth-magnitude star located 63 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Pictor and notable for an encircling disk of debris that might contain planets. The star is of a common type somewhat hotter and more luminous than the Sun. In 1983 it was discovered to be an

atom: Radioactive decay: …of fast electrons is called beta radiation. The daughter nucleus has one fewer neutron and one more proton than the original and hence, again, is a different chemical element.

atom: Radioactive decay: …of fast electrons is called beta radiation. The daughter nucleus has one fewer neutron and one more proton than the original and hence, again, is a different chemical element.

catecholamine: …receptors, or alpha receptors and beta receptors, respectively. In general, activation of alpha-adrenergic receptors results in the constriction of blood vessels, contraction of uterine muscles, relaxation of intestinal muscles, and dilation of the pupils. Activation of beta-adrenergic receptors increases heart rate and stimulates cardiac contraction (thereby increasing cardiac output), dilates…