United Kingdom: Urban settlement: …of the country’s 10 largest metropolitan areas.

conure, any of numerous gaudy American parrots of the subfamily Psittacinae (family Psittacidae). There are about 45 species, formerly grouped as Conurus and now placed in Aratinga, Pyrrhura, and about 5 other genera. These birds, with slender build and long, pointed tail, resemble parakeets and

psittaciform: …the early 1900s, however, the Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) inhabited most of the eastern United States; it was rendered extinct by human persecution. The last captive died in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden in 1914, but the last generally accepted observation in the wild was a flock seen in Florida in…

cone shell: …(class Gastropoda) constituting the genus Conus and the family Conidae (about 500 species). The shell is typically straight-sided, with a tapering body whorl, low spire, and narrow aperture (the opening into the shell’s first whorl). Cones inject a paralyzing toxin by means of a dart; a few of the larger…

circulatory system: The heart: …atrium, the ventricle, and the conus arteriosus (called the bulbus cordis in embryos), and eventually to the arterial system. The blood is pushed through the heart because the various parts of the tube contract in sequence. As the heart develops from embryo to adult, each part of the tube becomes…

cone shell: The glory-of-the-seas cone (C. gloriamaris) is 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 inches) long and coloured golden brown, with a fine net pattern. Throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was known from fewer than 100 specimens, making it the most valuable shell…

human nervous system: The spinal cord: …spinal cord is called the conus medullaris. The spinal cord is composed of long tracts of myelinated nerve fibers (known as white matter) arranged around the periphery of a symmetrical butterfly-shaped cellular matrix of gray matter. The gray matter contains cell bodies, unmyelinated motor neuron fibers, and interneurons connecting either…

history of flight: Postwar airlines: …Corporation, more commonly known as Convair, built the speedy twin-engine 240/340/440 series, with trendy tricycle landing gear, which sold more than 1,000 models between 1947 and 1956, plus several hundred military versions that often trickled back into civil service. Convairs had a maximum cruising speed of 280 miles (450 km)…

industrial design: Modern design in the United States: …he planned and tested the Convair car (1947), a flying vehicle whose wings could be unbolted and whose fuselage could then function as an automobile, with that same company. Walter Dorwin Teague worked on converting the C97 military transport for Boeing into the double-decked Stratocruiser (1945) airliner, the conceptual forerunner…

military aircraft: Supersonic flight: Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, an all-weather interceptor that was the first operational “pure” delta fighter without a separate horizontal stabilizer. Other aircraft included the Grumman F11F Tigercat, the first supersonic carrier-based fighter; the North American F-100 Super Sabre; the Dassault Mystère B-2; the Saab 35, with…

lily of the valley, (Convallaria majalis), fragrant perennial herb and only species of the genus Convallaria in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). Native to Eurasia and eastern North America, lily of the valley is cultivated in shaded garden areas in many temperate parts of the world. The plants

solar pond: …of two types: non-convecting and convecting. The more common non-convecting solar pond reduces heat loss by preventing convection (the transfer of heat from one place to another by the movement of fluids) with the addition of a concentration of 20–30 percent salt to the bottom level (lower convective zone) of…

convection, process by which heat is transferred by movement of a heated fluid such as air or water. Natural convection results from the tendency of most fluids to expand when heated—i.e., to become less dense and to rise as a result of the increased buoyancy. Circulation caused by this effect

Earth: The outer shell: Slow convection currents deep within the mantle generated by radioactive heating of the interior drive lateral movements of the plates (and the continents on top of them) at a rate of several centimetres per year. The plates interact along their margins, and these boundaries are classified…

electron tube: Energy transfer: When a modulated electron convection current flows in an electric field of the same modulation frequency, the power transfer, P, between the field and the electron is given by where lc is the electron convection current and E is the electric field. Both lc and E are

CoRoT, French satellite that studied the internal structure of stars and detected extrasolar planets. It was launched on December 27, 2006, by a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It operated until November 2, 2012, when its computer malfunctioned, and it was unable to

continent: …drifted apart; and (4) the convection-current theory, in which convection currents in the Earth’s interior dragged the crust to cause folding and mountain making.

centrifuge: Vacuum-type centrifuges: Many vacuum-type centrifuges are ultracentrifuges; i.e., they operate at speeds of more than about 20,000 revolutions per minute. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of an early vacuum-type ultracentrifuge. The centrifuge rotor located inside the vacuum chamber is connected to the air-supported, air-driven turbine by a vertical, small-diameter, flexible…

thunderstorm: Isolated thunderstorms: …composed of one or more convective cells, each of which goes through a well-defined life cycle. Early in the development of a cell, the air motions are mostly upward, not as a steady, uniform stream but as one that is composed of a series of rising eddies. Cloud and precipitation…

geomagnetic field: Convective electrojets: The auroral electrojets are two broad sheets of electric current that flow from noon toward midnight in the northern and southern auroral ovals. The dawn-side current flows westward, creating a decrease in the magnetic field on the surface. The dusk-side current flows eastward…

atmosphere: Convection: This process, referred to as free convection, occurs when the environmental lapse rate (the rate of change of an atmospheric variable, such as temperature or density, with increasing altitude) of temperature decreases at a rate greater than 1 °C per 100 metres (approximately 1 °F per 150 feet). This rate…

cultural globalization: Food: …might be expected to disdain fast food. In France, for example, food, especially haute cuisine, is commonly regarded as the core element of French culture. Nevertheless, McDonald’s continues to expand in the very heartland of opposition: by the turn of the 21st century there were more than 850 McDonald’s restaurants…

marketing: Convenience goods: Convenience goods are those that the customer purchases frequently, immediately, and with minimum effort. Soaps and newspapers are considered convenience goods, as are common staples like ketchup or pasta. Convenience-goods purchasing is usually based on habitual behaviour, where the consumer will routinely purchase…

food desert: Food deserts and health disparities: …a relatively high number of convenience stores and few or no supermarkets. While convenience stores sell food products, they generally offer high-calorie foods that are low in vital nutrients at relatively high prices and do not offer the wide selection of healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains,…

convent, local community or residence of a religious order, particularly an order of nuns. See

Manoel de Oliveira: The mystery O convento (1995; The Convent) added international stars Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich to Oliveira’s repertory of actors, and Viagem ao princípio do mundo (1997; Voyage to the Beginning of the World) featured Marcello Mastroianni’s final screen role.

Romania: New constitution: …Constantinescu, the leader of the Democratic Convention of Romania (Convenția Democrată din România; CDR), whose party had formed a center-right coalition with the Social Democratic Union (Uniunea Social Democrată; USD) and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (Uniunea Democrată a Maghiarilor din România; UDMR). In 1997 the former monarch Michael,…

Protestantism: Pietism in the 17th century: …private reading, group study (conventicles under the guidance of pastors), and family devotions.

The Pilgrim’s Progress: …imprisoned for offenses against the Conventicle Act of 1593 (which prohibited the conducting of religious services outside the bailiwick of the Church of England).

Protestantism: The Restoration (1660–85): The Conventicle Act of 1664 punished any person over 16 years of age for attending a religious meeting not conducted according to The Book of Common Prayer. The Five Mile Act of 1665 prohibited any ejected minister from living within five miles of a corporate town…

political convention, meeting of delegates of a political party at the local, state, provincial, or national level to select candidates for office and to decide party policy. As representative organs of political parties, party conventions—or party conferences as they are commonly called in

diplomacy: Diplomatic agreements: A convention is a multilateral instrument of a lawmaking, codifying, or regulatory nature. Conventions are usually negotiated under the auspices of international entities or a conference of states. The UN and its agencies negotiate many conventions, as does the Council of Europe. Treaties and conventions require…

John Livingston Lowes: Lowes’s first book was Convention and Revolt in Poetry (1919), an account of innovations and the ensuing reactions to them in the history of English poetry. His masterpiece is The Road to Xanadu (1927), which traced the origins of the inspiration and wordings in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime…

theatre: Theatre and stage design in America: …Belasco was forced to rent Convention Hall, a leaky building in New York City, for his productions. During the first performance there was a violent rainstorm, and the audience had to sit through the last act holding umbrellas. Belasco’s productions became so popular that the syndicate was finally forced to…

National Convention, assembly that governed France from September 20, 1792, until October 26, 1795, during the most critical period of the French Revolution. The National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution for the country after the overthrow of the monarchy (August 10, 1792). The

Silesian Wars: …Silesia by the Truce of Klein Schnellendorf (Oct. 9, 1741). After further warfare from December 1741 to June 1742, the empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to make peace with Frederick, ceding in the Treaty of Breslau (June 11, 1742) all of Silesia except the districts of Troppau, Teschen, and…

Convention on Biological Diversity, international treaty designed to promote the conservation of biodiversity and to ensure the sustainable use and equitable sharing of genetic resources. Work on the treaty concluded in Nairobi in May 1992 with the adoption of the Nairobi Final Act by the Nairobi

Convention on Cluster Munitions, international treaty, adopted by more than 100 countries on May 30, 2008, that prohibited the manufacture, transfer, and use of cluster munitions. It entered into force on Aug. 1, 2010. Cluster munitions are characterized as bombs or shells that consist of an outer

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1979 that defines discrimination against women and commits signatory countries to taking steps toward ending it. The convention, which is

Sir Matthew Hale: …in the proceedings of the Convention Parliament, called after the dissolution of the Long Parliament, and in promoting the restoration of Charles II.

Kwame Nkrumah: Early years: …in June 1949 the new Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP), a mass-based party that was committed to a program of immediate self-government. In January 1950, Nkrumah initiated a campaign of “positive action,” involving nonviolent protests, strikes, and noncooperation with the British colonial authorities.

asylum: …burdens on certain countries,” the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which was adopted by the United Nations (UN) Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons in 1951, did not create a right of asylum for those seeking it, and the impressive array of rights…

Geneva Conventions: The third Geneva Convention, the Convention Relating to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1929), required that belligerents treat prisoners of war humanely, furnish information about them, and permit official visits to prison camps by representatives of neutral states.

environmental law: Historical development: …the United Kingdom adopted the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State, which committed those countries to preserve natural fauna and flora in Africa by means of national parks and reserves. Spain and France signed the convention but never ratified it, and Tanzania formally…

Geneva Conventions: …of War, and (4) the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

Geneva Conventions: …Forces at Sea, (3) the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and (4) the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

National Convention, assembly that governed France from September 20, 1792, until October 26, 1795, during the most critical period of the French Revolution. The National Convention was elected to provide a new constitution for the country after the overthrow of the monarchy (August 10, 1792). The

United Nations: Arms control and disarmament: …the Security Council organized the Commission for Conventional Armaments to deal with armaments other than weapons of mass destruction, but progress on this issue also was blocked by disagreement between the Soviet Union and the Western powers. As a result, in 1952 the General Assembly voted to replace both of…

electric current: …defined the current is called conventional current.

laser: Types of lasers: Conventional edge-emitting semiconductor lasers have mirrors on opposite edges of the p-n junction, so light oscillates in the junction plane. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have mirrors above and below the p-n junction, so light resonates perpendicular to the junction. The wavelength depends on the semiconductor…

Soviet Union: Foreign policy: It effectively sabotaged the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.

natural gas: Conventional gas reservoirs: Gas reservoirs differ greatly, with different physical variations affecting reservoir performance and recovery. In a natural gas (single-phase) reservoir it should be possible to recover nearly all of the in-place gas by dropping the pressure sufficiently. If the pressure is effectively maintained…

Max Nordau: …conventionellen Lügen der Kulturmenschheit (The Conventional Lies of Our Civilization), a vitriolic attack on the inadequacy of 19th-century institutions to meet human needs; he took a particularly harsh look at organized religion. Banned in Russia and Austria, the book nevertheless was translated into numerous languages and went into some…

human behaviour: A moral sense: …the intermediate level, that of conventional moral reasoning, the child or adolescent views moral standards as a way of maintaining the approval of authority figures, chiefly his parents, and acts in accordance with their precepts. Moral standards at this level are held to rest on a positive evaluation of authority,…

coal mining: Room-and-pillar mining: …two main room-and-pillar systems, the conventional and the continuous. In the conventional system, the unit operations of undercutting, drilling, blasting, and loading are performed by separate machines and work crews. In a continuous operation, one machine—the continuous miner—rips coal from the face and loads it directly into a hauling unit.…

war crime, in international law, serious violation of the laws or customs of war as defined by international customary law and international treaties. The term war crime has been difficult to define with precision, and its usage has evolved constantly, particularly since the end of World War I. The

law of war: Civilians: In addition, the 1981 Conventional Weapons Convention specifically prohibits the use of mines, booby traps, and other similar devices and incendiary weapons directed against the civilian population or used indiscriminately, and the first Protocol of 1977 imposes very detailed target restraints in order to protect civilians. For example, aerial…

Hilary Putnam: Realism and meaning: Putnam was equally critical of conventionalism, the view that logic, mathematics, and extensive portions of science do not express truths but are based on human stipulations—i.e., convention.

collective behavior: Contingencies: …upon the ubiquitous process of conventionalization. In a spontaneous fad or mob action, participants usually copy the pattern of earlier incidents with which they are familiar, so that separate incidents in a wave of collective behavior exhibit a similarity indicating the development of customary ways of rioting, or playing at…

Max Nordau: …conventionellen Lügen der Kulturmenschheit (The Conventional Lies of Our Civilization), a vitriolic attack on the inadequacy of 19th-century institutions to meet human needs; he took a particularly harsh look at organized religion. Banned in Russia and Austria, the book nevertheless was translated into numerous languages and went into some…

Manoel de Oliveira: The mystery O convento (1995; The Convent) added international stars Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich to Oliveira’s repertory of actors, and Viagem ao princípio do mundo (1997; Voyage to the Beginning of the World) featured Marcello Mastroianni’s final screen role.

Roman Catholicism: From the late Middle Ages to the Reformation: …papal relaxation and exemptions (the Conventuals)—were an open sore for 60 years, vexing the papacy and infecting the whole church. New expressions of lay piety and heresy challenged the authority of the church and its teachings, leaving the papacy itself vulnerable to disintegration.

Spain: Administration: …which had a district (conventus) attached to it: in Baetica those were Corduba, which was the provincial capital, Astigi (Ecija), Gades (Cádiz), and Hispalis (Sevilla); in Tarraconensis, Tarraco itself, Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), Nova Carthago (Cartagena), Clunia (Peñalba de Castro), Asturica (Astorga), Lucus Augusti (Lugo), and Bracara Augusta (Braga); and, in…

convergence, in mathematics, property (exhibited by certain infinite series and functions) of approaching a limit more and more closely as an argument (variable) of the function increases or decreases or as the number of terms of the series increases. For example, the function y = 1/x converges to

climate: The ocean surface and climate anomalies: …of upward motion known as convergence zones. This process liberates latent heat of condensation, which in turn provides a major fraction of the energy to drive tropical circulation and is one of the mechanisms responsible for the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon discussed later in this article.

The Rodent That Acts Like a Hippo: Although the animals that live in rainforests on different continents can differ significantly, the environments they live in are very similar. These environments, therefore, exert similar pressures on the evolution of the animals living in each. As a result, unrelated species may be similar in…

drafting: Perspective: …to a central point of convergence—the lens of the eye or the camera, or the reference point of the perspective construction. In the case of the eye these lines of sight are focused by the lens into an image on the curved retina. In the camera they pass through the…

convergence and divergence, in meteorology, the accumulation or drawing apart of air, as well as the rate at which each takes place. The terms are usually used to refer specifically to the horizontal inflow (convergence) or outflow (divergence) of air. The convergence of horizontal winds causes air

Convergence and Union, historical political party that supported greater autonomy for Catalonia within Spain. The party advocated for greater European integration and held moderate positions on economic policy. The Convergence and Union (CiU) was established in 1978 as an alliance between the

perturbation: …sequence converges is called the radius of convergence of the solution.

Angola: Angola in the 21st century: …marked the debut of the Broad Convergence for Angola’s Salvation–Electoral Coalition (Convergência Ampla de Salvação de Angola–Coligação Eleitoral; CASA-CE), which had split from UNITA earlier that year; it came in third, garnering 6 percent of the parliamentary seats.

Convergence and Union, historical political party that supported greater autonomy for Catalonia within Spain. The party advocated for greater European integration and held moderate positions on economic policy. The Convergence and Union (CiU) was established in 1978 as an alliance between the

The Rodent That Acts Like a Hippo: Although the animals that live in rainforests on different continents can differ significantly, the environments they live in are very similar. These environments, therefore, exert similar pressures on the evolution of the animals living in each. As a result, unrelated species may be similar in…

migration: Insects: One coccinellid, the convergent ladybug (Hippodamia convergens), lives in valley regions of California, where the eggs hatch in March or April and develop into adults one month later. In early summer they migrate to the mountains, particularly to the Sierra Nevada, where they may lay eggs if food…

migration: Insects: One coccinellid, the convergent ladybug (Hippodamia convergens), lives in valley regions of California, where the eggs hatch in March or April and develop into adults one month later. In early summer they migrate to the mountains, particularly to the Sierra Nevada, where they may lay eggs if food…

earthquake: Tectonic associations: …zones, which are associated with convergent plate boundaries, intermediate- and deep-focus earthquakes mark the location of the upper part of a dipping lithosphere slab. The focal mechanisms indicate that the stresses are aligned with the dip of the lithosphere underneath the adjacent continent or island arc.

Milky Way Galaxy: Moving groups: …its poles will be the convergent point for the moving group. Membership of stars can be established by criteria applied to the distances of proper-motion poles of individual stars from the mean great circle. The reliability of the existence of the group itself can be measured by the dispersion of…

collective behavior: Interaction theories: …have been labeled contagion and convergence theories, respectively—the former stressing the contagious spread of mood and behavior; the latter stressing the convergence of a large number of people with similar predispositions. Both have sought to explain why a group of people feel and act (1) unanimously, (2) intensely, and (3)…

creativity: Individual qualities of creative persons: …distinction is sometimes made between convergent thinking (the analytic reasoning measured by intelligence tests) and divergent thinking (exemplified by a richness of ideas and originality of thought). Both seem necessary to creative performance, although the degree of each varies according to the task or occupation (i.e., a mathematician may exhibit…

lens: Optical principles for lenses: …rays can be caused to converge on, or to appear to diverge from, a single point. This point is called the focal point, or principal focus, of the lens (often depicted in ray diagrams as F). Refraction of the rays of light reflected from or emitted by an object causes…

Mario Vargas Llosa: Literary works and political career: Conversación en la catedral (1969; Conversation in the Cathedral) deals with Manuel Odría’s regime (1948–56) and draws upon Vargas Llosa’s earlier experience working as a night reporter for a Lima newspaper. The novel Pantaleón y las visitadoras (1973; “Pantaleón and the Visitors,” filmed in Spanish, 1975; Eng. trans. Captain Pantoja…

furniture: France: …specialized chair known as a caquetoire, or conversation chair, supposedly designed for ladies to sit and gossip in, had a high, narrow back and curved arms.

Elio Vittorini: , Conversation in Sicily; U.S. title In Sicily), the clearest expression of his anti-fascist feelings. The action of the book is less important than the emotional agony of its hero, brought on by his constant consciousness of fascism, war, and the plight of his brothers.

Mario Vargas Llosa: Literary works and political career: Conversación en la catedral (1969; Conversation in the Cathedral) deals with Manuel Odría’s regime (1948–56) and draws upon Vargas Llosa’s earlier experience working as a night reporter for a Lima newspaper. The novel Pantaleón y las visitadoras (1973; “Pantaleón and the Visitors,” filmed in Spanish, 1975; Eng. trans. Captain Pantoja…

John Zoffany: …theatre and with portraits and conversation pieces (i.e., paintings of groups of people in their customary surroundings).

conversation piece, a piece of writing (such as a play) that depends for its effect chiefly upon the wit or excellent quality of its dialogue. The term is also used to describe a poem that has a light, informal tone despite its serious subject. Examples include Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The

Francis Ford Coppola: The 1970s: …Coppola wrote, directed, and produced The Conversation (1974), a meditation on technology’s dehumanizing power. Gene Hackman starred as a surveillance expert who suspects that a couple upon whom he has electronically eavesdropped are about to be murdered. Too bleak for some tastes, the film nonetheless boasted an Academy Award-nominated screenplay…

George Saintsbury: …foremost practitioner of the so-called conversational school of criticism; he analyzed the style of literary works and the development of literary forms in an informal, lively, and readable prose designed as much to stimulate and entertain as to inform. Saintsbury deliberately formulated no philosophy of criticism; however, certain principles underlie…

David Malouf: …for the Booker Prize), and The Conversations at Curlow Creek (1996). Ransom (2009) is a retelling of the Iliad by Homer.

Gabriel Josipovici: …were The Echo Chamber (1980), Conversations in Another Room (1984), Contre-Jour (1986), The Big Glass (1991), In a Hotel Garden (1993), Hotel Andromeda (2014), and The Cemetery in Barnes (2018). The radio play Vergil Dying (1981) was perhaps his most acclaimed drama. He also wrote the

Marguerite Gardiner, countess of Blessington: …writer chiefly remembered for her Conversations of Lord Byron and for her London salon.

Jane Marcet: Her best-known work, Conversations on Chemistry (1805), was one of the first basic science textbooks.

Jane Marcet: …with the 1819 publication of Conversations on Natural Philosophy, which Marcet had written prior to Chemistry.

Jane Marcet: Marcet then wrote Conversations on Political Economy (1816), which notably drew on the work of David Ricardo. It followed a style similar to that of her previous book and was also hugely popular. Further success came with the 1819 publication of Conversations on Natural Philosophy, which Marcet had…

James Russell Lowell: In 1845 Lowell published Conversations on Some of the Old Poets, a collection of critical essays that included pleas for the abolition of slavery. From 1845 to 1850 he wrote about 50 antislavery articles for periodicals. Even more effective in this regard were his Biglow Papers, which he began…

Bernard Le Bovier, sieur de Fontenelle: …la pluralité des mondes (1686; A Plurality of Worlds, 1688). These charming and sophisticated dialogues were more influential than any other work in securing acceptance of the Copernican system, still far from commanding universal support in 1686. Fontenelle’s basis of scientific documentation was meagre, and some of his figures were…

Rubenist: …1677 he followed it with Conversations sur la peinture (“Conversations on Painting”). The victory for the colourists was signaled in 1699 when de Piles was elected to the Academy (as an amateur), and the triumph became complete in 1717 with the submission and subsequent acceptance of Antoine Watteau’s “L’Embarquement pour…

Sally Rooney: Conversations with Friends: Conversations with Friends, Rooney’s first published novel, debuted in 2017. It tells the story of a college student, Frances, and her affair with an older married actor. The novel highlights the ways in which complex interpersonal relationships can help people develop their individual and political…

Johann Peter Eckermann: von Goethe; his Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens, 1823–32, 3 vol. (1836–48; “Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of His Life”), is comparable in importance with James Boswell’s Life of Johnson.

Frank Sargeson: …collection of short fiction was Conversations with My Uncle, and Other Sketches (1936), titled after the first story he had published in Tomorrow. He remained in New Zealand during World War II because of his illness. More of his fiction was collected in A Man and His Wife (1940). The…