title: John Barrymore

text: The year 1933 was a busy one for Barrymore, and his decline began to be evident. He appeared in five films during the year, including as a meek schoolteacher-turned-businessman in "Topaze", opposite Myrna Loy, and "Dinner at Eight", with Lionel. Peters opines that Barrymore's portrayal of a washed-up alcoholic actor "could well have fixed ... in the public's and MGM's mind that John Barrymore was a drunken has-been." After the run of films with MGM, the company ended its contact with Barrymore amid its financial woes caused by the Great Depression. He then signed with Universal Studios to portray a troubled Jewish lawyer in "Counsellor at Law". During filming he struggled to remember his lines for even small scenes. Filming was stopped on one occasion after more than 25 takes when he struggled to recall the right lines; it was a problem with which he began to suffer regularly. Despite the problems, Norden believes that this was "one of his best film performances".


title: John Barrymore

text: In December 1933, Barrymore agreed with RKO to film "Hamlet". He underwent screen tests and hired Carrington to act as vocal coach again, but during one session, his memory failed him again, and the project was eventually scrapped. Barrymore starred in two films released in 1934, the drama "Long Lost Father" and the screwball comedy "Twentieth Century". In the latter film, Barrymore played madcap Broadway impresario Oscar Jaffe, a role in which he demonstrated a "rare genius as a comedian". Morrison writes that the portrayal was one "that many consider to be his finest contribution to film". In 2011, the picture was added to the National Film Registry, where it was described as Barrymore's "last great film role".


title: John Barrymore

text: In May 1934, Barrymore was filming "Hat, Coat and Glove" for RKO when, during the filming of one scene, he again forgot his lines and even the name of his character. Filming was postponed until the following day, but the result was the same. After he took a break for a few days, he returned to the set, but he still could not remember any of the script, and RKO replaced him with Ricardo Cortez. Soon afterwards, he suffered a mental and physical breakdown and was hospitalized. Costello confirmed that his drinking over the previous two years had worsened, and she described him as a "hopeless alcoholic". Barrymore's relationship with Costello was deeply troubled and, believing she was going to declare him mentally incompetent, he left their home in Los Angeles and traveled first to London and then to India. He returned to the U.S. in early 1935 and settled in New York, leaving his wife in Los Angeles. Shortly after his return, he was hospitalized for a month with bronchitis and influenza. A 19-year-old fan, Elaine Jacobs, visited him, and the two became good friends. On his release from the hospital, her mother invited him to recuperate at their house. She changed her name to Elaine Barrie, which she explained was to get "as near to Barrymore as I dared", and they began a relationship. In May, the couple underwent the first of several professional collaborations, when they appeared on Rudy Vallée's "The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour" radio show.


title: John Barrymore

text: The relationship was widely reported in the tabloid press, who labeled the couple Caliban and Ariel. Costello filed for divorce, but after a series of arguments with Barrie, Barrymore considered the relationship with Barrie to be at an end, and he left for Los Angeles. A newspaper editor chartered a plane and flew Barrie to Chicago, to meet Barrymore's train; she broadcast a plea for him to return, and her pursuit became national news. Morrison thinks that the headlines established a new reputation for Barrymore of "the aging satyr, the has-been alcoholic, the much-married ham". This was a blow to his self-respect, but he faced his troubles "with aplomb and a sense of humor", according to Morrison. To escape from the spotlight, Barrymore took vacations on his yacht; it cost him over $35,000 a year to run, and so he sold it in 1938 after encountering financial difficulties.


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore's alcohol dependence meant most studios were unwilling to employ him, but MGM risked casting him in the role of Mercutio in their 1936 film "Romeo and Juliet". To minimize disruption to the schedule, the studio put Barrymore in Kelley's Rest Home, a sanatorium for alcoholics, but he continued to drink covertly and was disruptive on set. Basil Rathbone, who was playing Tybalt, later recounted that "he was drinking and unreliable on the set ... It was sad to see him in such a state." Opinions on his portrayal were divided. Some critics, such as Welford Beaton of the "Hollywood Spectator", thought "Barrymore is an acting gem", although Gielgud was uncomplimentary, writing to Peggy Ashcroft that "Barrymore, who is like a monstrous old male impersonator jumping through a hoop, should really have been shot."


title: John Barrymore

text: Word about Barrymore's problems on and off the set spread around the industry, and he did not work on another film for over a year until he had a supporting role in the musical film "Maytime". His divorce from Costello was finalized in October 1936, and he married Barrie in November the same year. The couple had a heated argument in public shortly afterward, and he again spent time in Kelley's Rest Home and hospital, which cost him an average of $800 daily, draining his finances. When he came out, he collapsed on the "Maytime" set. On January 15, 1937, he was served with divorce papers, and a month later he filed for bankruptcy protection, with debts of $160,000. The divorce was granted in April, but the couple reconciled before it was finalized.


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore decided to work on more Shakespeare roles. In June 1937, he signed with NBC Radio to produce a series of six episodes under the name "Streamlined Shakespeare", which also featured Barrie. The first program was "Hamlet", which was well received by critics. "The New York Times" commented that "Shakespeare's lines uttered dramatically by the voice of John Barrymore sweep through the 'ether' with a sound of finality; it seems that they are his words and no one else could speak them with such lifelike force". Peters disagrees however, and considers that "because he was desperate he pressed too hard and ended by caricaturing, not capturing, his great Shakespearean acting".


title: John Barrymore

text: Throughout the NBC series, Barrymore had been reliable, sober and responsible, and the studios reacted positively with offers of work. This led to appearances in nine films in 1937 and 1938, including as Colonel Nielson in three Bulldog Drummond films, and roles in "True Confession" and "Marie Antoinette". He was offered predominantly supporting roles, but he worked conscientiously on the films and as a result was able to honor his debts. His memory was still problematic, and he used cue cards as an aid; his fellow actors and the directors of the films were sympathetic to his condition. When he filmed his last serious role, Gregory Vance in the 1939 film "The Great Man Votes", the director, Garson Kanin, ensured that the cast and crew addressed him as "Mr. Barrymore" as a mark of respect.


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore and his wife both appeared in supporting roles in the 1939 screwball comedy "Midnight", her only film role. "The New York Times" thought the film was "one of the liveliest, gayest, wittiest and naughtiest comedies of a long hard season" and that Barrymore, "the [Lou] Gehrig of eye-brow batting, rolls his phrases with his usual richly humorous effect". The film was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2013. Barrymore and his wife appeared together in the stage farce "My Dear Children", which opened in March 1939 at Princeton University's McCarter Theatre. He played the lead role, Allan Manville, an ageing hammy Shakespearean has-been.


title: John Barrymore

text: Because of his failing memory, Barrymore ad-libbed constantly throughout the show. In some points the new additions were an improvement, but he also greeted friends in the audience, and used profanities freely. Nevertheless, the show was a success. "Life" magazine wrote that "People flock to see [Barrymore], not for polished performance, but because he converts the theater into a rowdy histrionic madhouse. Sometimes he arrives late. Sometimes he is tight [drunk]. Usually he forgets his lines. But he always puts on a great show." When the show reached Broadway, "Life" wrote that "Barrymore's return to Times Square was a huge professional triumph". Brooks Atkinson, writing for "The New York Times" thought Barrymore was "still the most gifted actor in this country. ... Although he has recklessly played the fool for a number of years, he is nobody's fool in "My Dear Children" but a superbly gifted actor on a tired holiday." Barrymore and his wife continued to argue during the play's run, and she left the play part way through the tour. They attempted a reconciliation when the production reached New York, but the couple divorced in late 1940.


title: John Barrymore

text: In 1940, Barrymore appeared in "The Great Profile", a spoof of his life in the months prior to "My Dear Children". Barrymore played Evans Garrick, closely modeled on his own experience, and Mary Beth Hughes played his wife. The critics reacted harshly to the film, and to Barrymore's association with it. "The New York Times" wrote that "As a play it is a feeble thing, hardly matching the spectacular public accounts of his amours ... for all of Mr. Barrymore's shenanigans and devastating wit, "The Great Profile" is more than a little pathetic. In the Winter of his Discontent Mr. Barrymore is selling his talent at cut-rate". Worse was to come in his final film, "Playmates" (1941), which "amply illustrated the depths to which he had fallen; he played an alcoholic Shakespearean ham named John Barrymore".


title: John Barrymore

text: In October 1940, Barrymore returned to the NBC Radio network to work on Rudy Vallée's show, now called the "Sealtest Show". Barrymore recorded 74 episodes of the program, continuing in the vein of self-parody, with jokes about his drinking, declining career and marital issues. On May 19, 1942, while recording a line from "Romeo and Juliet" for the show, Barrymore collapsed. He was taken to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital and died there on May 29, from cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure, complicated by pneumonia.


title: John Barrymore

text: Shortly before his death, Barrymore returned to his childhood Catholic faith. Although Errol Flynn's memoirs claim film director Raoul Walsh "borrowed" Barrymore's body before burial to leave his corpse propped in a chair for a drunken Flynn to discover when he returned home, Gene Fowler, a close friend of Barrymore, stayed with the body all night and denied the story. However, in a 2020 interview for the YouTube series "Hot Ones", John's granddaughter Drew Barrymore claimed the Flynn account was accurate. Barrymore was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles on June 2. In 1980, Barrymore's son had his father's body reinterred at Philadelphia's Mount Vernon Cemetery.


title: John Barrymore

text: "The New York Times" obituary stated that during the period when Barrymore's performed in "Justice", "Richard III" and "Hamlet", the actor "was accepted by most critics as the foremost English-speaking actor of his time ... equipped both by nature and by art." "The Washington Post" agreed, noting that during his stage triumphs and early years in film, "he was the great profile, the darling of the 'royal family' of the stage." Many of the obituaries made the point that Barrymore fell short of his potential. "The Manchester Guardian" thought that he "might with some self-discipline have added his name to the list of truly great actors ... yet he dissipated his energies". "The New York Times" noted that he could twist his abilities "to parody, burlesque himself and play the clown", and they considered that it was "unfortunate that the public in recent years saw him in ... [that] mood. It was a mood of careless abdication". "The Washington Post" observed that "with the passing of the years – and as his private life became more public – he became, despite his genius in the theater, a tabloid character."


title: John Barrymore

text: According to Morrison, Barrymore's stage portrayals of "Richard III" and "Hamlet" were a model for modern performances of these roles. His interpretation along psychological lines was innovative, and his "dynamic portrayals ... changed the direction of subsequent revivals." Barrymore's natural acting style reversed the stage conventions of the time; his "'colloquial' verse speaking introduced to the stage the vocal manner of a postwar gentleman."


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore was honored on few occasions by the entertainment industry and its members. Although both his brother and sister won Academy Awards, the only award Barrymore ever received for his screen work was from Rudolph Valentino in 1925 for "Beau Brummel". Valentino created an award in his own name and felt that his fellow actors should receive accolades for their screen work. When Barrymore attended his ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1940, he left more than the customary hand and footprints in the theater's forecourt: aided by the owner, Sid Grauman, Barrymore left a cement imprint of his facial profile. In February 1960, for his contribution to the motion picture industry, Barrymore was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a star at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard; Barrymore, along with his two siblings, is included in the American Theater Hall of Fame. The Barrymore "Royal Family" of actors continued through two of his children – his son with Costello, John Drew Barrymore and his daughter with Oelrichs, Diana – both of whom became actors, as did John Jr.'s daughter Drew. Barrymore's brother Lionel died on November 15, 1954, and their sister Ethel died on June 18, 1959.


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore's achievements and his colorful life have ensured that several biographical studies followed his 1926 autobiography, "Confessions of an Actor". Alma Power-Waters produced a 1941 study, authorized by the subject, "John Barrymore: The Legend and the Man"; Fowler, wrote "Good Night, Sweet Prince: The Life and Times of John Barrymore" (1943); Alpert published "The Barrymores" (1964); and John Kobler wrote "Damned in Paradise: The Life of John Barrymore" (1977), although Norden noted in 2000 that many of these earlier works are less than reliable. Those he identified as being more thoroughly researched are Peters' 1990 history, "The House of Barrymore", and his own study of the actor's work in "John Barrymore: A Bio-Bibliography" (1995). Subsequent to Norden's comments on the available literature, Morrison published the positively reviewed "John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor" in 1997, which focuses on Barrymore's stage work.


title: John Barrymore

text: There were several celebratory events in 1982, on the centenary of Barrymore's birth. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Museum of Modern Art jointly hosted a commemorative program of his work, which included numerous excerpts from his films and interviews with some who knew him, including Barrie and his one-time co-star Myrna Loy. The same year, in celebration of the centenary of the Actors Fund of America, the US Postal Service issued a postage stamp featuring Barrymore and his siblings. In February 2010, an intersection in Fort Lee, New Jersey, was renamed John Barrymore Way on what would have been the actor's 128th birthday. The intersection marked the spot of the former Buckheister's Hotel, where Barrymore had his 1900 stage debut in "A Man of the World".


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore has been used as the inspiration for characters on stage and film. He performed as himself in a number of works (including "The Great Profile", "My Dear Children" and "Playmates"), and in the "Ziegfeld Follies" of 1921 he was played by his friend W. C. Fields. In 1927 the Barrymore family was parodied in "The Royal Family" in which a character based on him was portrayed by Fredric March, whose performance Barrymore admired. The play was staged in London in 1934 as "Theatre Royal", with Laurence Olivier in the Barrymore role, and adapted as a film in 1930, with March reprising his performance.


title: John Barrymore

text: In 1991, Paul Rudnick's comedy "I Hate Hamlet", performed at the Walter Kerr Theatre, was set in Barrymore's former apartment. He returns after a séance, dressed in his "Hamlet" costume. Nicol Williamson played the Barrymore role. Three years later, a London production, "Jack: A Night on the Town with John Barrymore", ran for 60 performances at the Criterion Theatre, and Williamson again played the lead. "Barrymore", a two-person play by William Luce, premiered in 1996 and depicts Barrymore shortly before his death in 1942 as he is rehearsing a revival of his Richard III. Christopher Plummer played the title role. A film version was released in 2011, with Plummer again taking the main role.


title: John Barrymore

text: Barrymore had been a friend and drinking companion of Fields. In the 1976 film "W.C. Fields and Me", Barrymore was played by Jack Cassidy. Barrymore's friend, Errol Flynn, played him in a 1958 film "Too Much, Too Soon", an adaptation of the autobiography of Diana Barrymore, with Dorothy Malone playing the female lead. Howard Thompson, the film critic of "The New York Times", wrote that "Flynn, as the late John Barrymore, a moody, wild-drinking ruin of a great actor, steals the picture, lock, stock and keg. It is only in the scenes of his savage disintegration, as the horrified girl hangs on, that the picture approaches real tragedy."


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is the field of cryptographic systems that use pairs of related keys. Each key pair consists of a public key and a corresponding private key. Key pairs are generated with cryptographic algorithms based on mathematical problems termed one-way functions. Security of public-key cryptography depends on keeping the private key secret; the public key can be openly distributed without compromising security.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: In a public-key encryption system, anyone with a public key can encrypt a message, yielding a ciphertext, but only those who know the corresponding private key can decrypt the ciphertext to obtain the original message.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: For example, a journalist can publish the public key of an encryption key pair on a web site so that sources can send secret messages to the news organization in ciphertext.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Only the journalist who knows the corresponding private key can decrypt the ciphertexts to obtain the sources' messages—an eavesdropper reading email on its way to the journalist cannot decrypt the ciphertexts.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: However, public-key encryption does not conceal metadata like what computer a source used to send a message, when they sent it, or how long it is.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Public-key encryption on its own also does not tell the recipient anything about who sent a message—it just conceals the content of a message in a ciphertext that can only be decrypted with the private key.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: In a digital signature system, a sender can use a private key together with a message to create a signature.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Anyone with the corresponding public key can verify whether the signature matches the message, but a forger who does not know the private key cannot find any message/signature pair that will pass verification with the public key.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: For example, a software publisher can create a signature key pair and include the public key in software installed on computers.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Later, the publisher can distribute an update to the software signed using the private key, and any computer receiving an update can confirm it is genuine by verifying the signature using the public key.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: As long as the software publisher keeps the private key secret, even if a forger can distribute malicious updates to computers, they cannot convince the computers that any malicious updates are genuine.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Public key algorithms are fundamental security primitives in modern cryptosystems, including applications and protocols which offer assurance of the confidentiality, authenticity and non-repudiability of electronic communications and data storage. They underpin numerous Internet standards, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS), SSH, S/MIME and PGP. Some public key algorithms provide key distribution and secrecy (e.g., Diffie–Hellman key exchange), some provide digital signatures (e.g., Digital Signature Algorithm), and some provide both (e.g., RSA). Compared to symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption is rather slower than good symmetric encryption, too slow for many purposes. Today's cryptosystems (such as TLS, Secure Shell) use both symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption, often by using asymmetric encryption to securely exchange a secret key which is then used for symmetric encryption.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Before the mid-1970s, all cipher systems used symmetric key algorithms, in which the same cryptographic key is used with the underlying algorithm by both the sender and the recipient, who must both keep it secret. Of necessity, the key in every such system had to be exchanged between the communicating parties in some secure way prior to any use of the system – for instance, via a secure channel. This requirement is never trivial and very rapidly becomes unmanageable as the number of participants increases, or when secure channels are not available, or when, (as is sensible cryptographic practice), keys are frequently changed. In particular, if messages are meant to be secure from other users, a separate key is required for each possible pair of users.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: By contrast, in a public key system, the public keys can be disseminated widely and openly, and only the corresponding private keys need be kept secret by its owner.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: One important issue is confidence/proof that a particular public key is authentic, i.e. that it is correct and belongs to the person or entity claimed, and has not been tampered with or replaced by some (perhaps malicious) third party. There are several possible approaches, including:


title: Public-key cryptography

text: A public key infrastructure (PKI), in which one or more third parties – known as certificate authorities – certify ownership of key pairs. TLS relies upon this. This implies that the PKI system (software, hardware, and management) is trust-able by all involved.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: A "web of trust" which decentralizes authentication by using individual endorsements of links between a user and the public key belonging to that user. PGP uses this approach, in addition to lookup in the domain name system (DNS). The DKIM system for digitally signing emails also uses this approach.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: The most obvious application of a public key encryption system is for encrypting communication to provide confidentiality – a message that a sender encrypts using the recipient's public key which can be decrypted only by the recipient's paired private key.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Another application in public key cryptography is the digital signature. Digital signature schemes can be used for sender authentication.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Non-repudiation systems use digital signatures to ensure that one party cannot successfully dispute its authorship of a document or communication.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Further applications built on this foundation include: digital cash, password-authenticated key agreement, time-stamping services and non-repudiation protocols.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Because asymmetric key algorithms are nearly always much more computationally intensive than symmetric ones, it is common to use a public/private "asymmetric" key-exchange algorithm to encrypt and exchange a "symmetric key", which is then used by symmetric-key cryptography to transmit data using the now-shared "symmetric key" for a symmetric key encryption algorithm. PGP, SSH, and the SSL/TLS family of schemes use this procedure; they are thus called "hybrid cryptosystems". The initial "asymmetric" cryptography-based key exchange to share a server-generated "symmetric" key from the server to client has the advantage of not requiring that a symmetric key be pre-shared manually, such as on printed paper or discs transported by a courier, while providing the higher data throughput of symmetric key cryptography over asymmetric key cryptography for the remainder of the shared connection.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: As with all security-related systems, it is important to identify potential weaknesses. Aside from poor choice of an asymmetric key algorithm (there are few which are widely regarded as satisfactory) or too short a key length, the chief security risk is that the private key of a pair becomes known. All security of messages, authentication, etc., will then be lost.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: All public key schemes are in theory susceptible to a "brute-force key search attack". However, such an attack is impractical if the amount of computation needed to succeed – termed the "work factor" by Claude Shannon – is out of reach of all potential attackers. In many cases, the work factor can be increased by simply choosing a longer key. But other algorithms may inherently have much lower work factors, making resistance to a brute-force attack (e.g., from longer keys) irrelevant. Some special and specific algorithms have been developed to aid in attacking some public key encryption algorithms; both RSA and ElGamal encryption have known attacks that are much faster than the brute-force approach. None of these are sufficiently improved to be actually practical, however.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Major weaknesses have been found for several formerly promising asymmetric key algorithms. The "knapsack packing" algorithm was found to be insecure after the development of a new attack. As with all cryptographic functions, public-key implementations may be vulnerable to side-channel attacks that exploit information leakage to simplify the search for a secret key. These are often independent of the algorithm being used. Research is underway to both discover, and to protect against, new attacks.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Another potential security vulnerability in using asymmetric keys is the possibility of a "man-in-the-middle" attack, in which the communication of public keys is intercepted by a third party (the "man in the middle") and then modified to provide different public keys instead. Encrypted messages and responses must, in all instances, be intercepted, decrypted, and re-encrypted by the attacker using the correct public keys for the different communication segments so as to avoid suspicion.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: A communication is said to be insecure where data is transmitted in a manner that allows for interception (also called "sniffing"). These terms refer to reading the sender's private data in its entirety. A communication is particularly unsafe when interceptions can't be prevented or monitored by the sender.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: A man-in-the-middle attack can be difficult to implement due to the complexities of modern security protocols. However, the task becomes simpler when a sender is using insecure media such as public networks, the Internet, or wireless communication. In these cases an attacker can compromise the communications infrastructure rather than the data itself. A hypothetical malicious staff member at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) might find a man-in-the-middle attack relatively straightforward. Capturing the public key would only require searching for the key as it gets sent through the ISP's communications hardware; in properly implemented asymmetric key schemes, this is not a significant risk.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: In some advanced man-in-the-middle attacks, one side of the communication will see the original data while the other will receive a malicious variant. Asymmetric man-in-the-middle attacks can prevent users from realizing their connection is compromised. This remains so even when one user's data is known to be compromised because the data appears fine to the other user. This can lead to confusing disagreements between users such as "it must be on your end!" when neither user is at fault. Hence, man-in-the-middle attacks are only fully preventable when the communications infrastructure is physically controlled by one or both parties; such as via a wired route inside the sender's own building. In summation, public keys are easier to alter when the communications hardware used by a sender is controlled by an attacker.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: One approach to prevent such attacks involves the use of a public key infrastructure (PKI); a set of roles, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption. However, this has potential weaknesses.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: For example, the certificate authority issuing the certificate must be trusted by all participating parties to have properly checked the identity of the key-holder, to have ensured the correctness of the public key when it issues a certificate, to be secure from computer piracy, and to have made arrangements with all participants to check all their certificates before protected communications can begin. Web browsers, for instance, are supplied with a long list of "self-signed identity certificates" from PKI providers – these are used to check the "bona fides" of the certificate authority and then, in a second step, the certificates of potential communicators. An attacker who could subvert one of those certificate authorities into issuing a certificate for a bogus public key could then mount a "man-in-the-middle" attack as easily as if the certificate scheme were not used at all. In an alternative scenario rarely discussed, an attacker who penetrates an authority's servers and obtains its store of certificates and keys (public and private) would be able to spoof, masquerade, decrypt, and forge transactions without limit.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Despite its theoretical and potential problems, this approach is widely used. Examples include TLS and its predecessor SSL, which are commonly used to provide security for web browser transactions (for example, to securely send credit card details to an online store).


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Aside from the resistance to attack of a particular key pair, the security of the certification hierarchy must be considered when deploying public key systems. Some certificate authority – usually a purpose-built program running on a server computer – vouches for the identities assigned to specific private keys by producing a digital certificate. Public key digital certificates are typically valid for several years at a time, so the associated private keys must be held securely over that time. When a private key used for certificate creation higher in the PKI server hierarchy is compromised, or accidentally disclosed, then a "man-in-the-middle attack" is possible, making any subordinate certificate wholly insecure.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: During the early history of cryptography, two parties would rely upon a key that they would exchange by means of a secure, but non-cryptographic, method such as a face-to-face meeting, or a trusted courier. This key, which both parties must then keep absolutely secret, could then be used to exchange encrypted messages. A number of significant practical difficulties arise with this approach to distributing keys.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Can the reader say what two numbers multiplied together will produce the number 8616460799? I think it unlikely that anyone but myself will ever know.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Here he described the relationship of one-way functions to cryptography, and went on to discuss specifically the factorization problem used to create a trapdoor function. In July 1996, mathematician Solomon W. Golomb said: "Jevons anticipated a key feature of the RSA Algorithm for public key cryptography, although he certainly did not invent the concept of public key cryptography."


title: Public-key cryptography

text: In 1970, James H. Ellis, a British cryptographer at the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), conceived of the possibility of "non-secret encryption", (now called public key cryptography), but could see no way to implement it. In 1973, his colleague Clifford Cocks implemented what has become known as the RSA encryption algorithm, giving a practical method of "non-secret encryption", and in 1974 another GCHQ mathematician and cryptographer, Malcolm J. Williamson, developed what is now known as Diffie–Hellman key exchange.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: The scheme was also passed to the US's National Security Agency. Both organisations had a military focus and only limited computing power was available in any case; the potential of public key cryptography remained unrealised by either organization:


title: Public-key cryptography

text: I judged it most important for military use ... if you can share your key rapidly and electronically, you have a major advantage over your opponent. Only at the end of the evolution from Berners-Lee designing an open internet architecture for CERN, its adaptation and adoption for the Arpanet ... did public key cryptography realise its full potential.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: These discoveries were not publicly acknowledged for 27 years, until the research was declassified by the British government in 1997.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: In 1976, an asymmetric key cryptosystem was published by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman who, influenced by Ralph Merkle's work on public key distribution, disclosed a method of public key agreement. This method of key exchange, which uses exponentiation in a finite field, came to be known as Diffie–Hellman key exchange. This was the first published practical method for establishing a shared secret-key over an authenticated (but not confidential) communications channel without using a prior shared secret. Merkle's "public key-agreement technique" became known as Merkle's Puzzles, and was invented in 1974 and only published in 1978. This makes asymmetric encryption a rather new field in cryptography although cryptography itself dates back more than 2,000 years.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: In 1977, a generalization of Cocks' scheme was independently invented by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman, all then at MIT. The latter authors published their work in 1978 in Martin Gardner's Scientific American column, and the algorithm came to be known as RSA, from their initials. RSA uses exponentiation modulo a product of two very large primes, to encrypt and decrypt, performing both public key encryption and public key digital signatures. Its security is connected to the extreme difficulty of factoring large integers, a problem for which there is no known efficient general technique (though prime factorization may be obtained through brute-force attacks; this grows much more difficult the larger the prime factors are). A description of the algorithm was published in the Mathematical Games column in the August 1977 issue of Scientific American.


title: Public-key cryptography

text: Since the 1970s, a large number and variety of encryption, digital signature, key agreement, and other techniques have been developed, including the Rabin cryptosystem, ElGamal encryption, DSA - and elliptic curve cryptography.


title: Leslie Stefanson

text: Leslie Ann Stefanson (born May 10, 1971) is an American model, actress and artist. She is most known for playing the title role as Capt. Elisabeth Campbell in the film "The General's Daughter", and Joan Bennett Kennedy in the television miniseries "".


title: Leslie Stefanson

text: Stefanson was born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1971, and raised in Moorhead, Minnesota. She is of Icelandic heritage, with her paternal grandparents, Skúli Stefánsson and Heffie Einarson, emigrating from Iceland. She studied literature in New Jersey at Drew University and in New York at Barnard College. In 1993, she graduated with a degree in English literature from Barnard College. She was a member of a New York theater group, modeled, and appeared in an ad for Lee's Jeans in 1997, which was shown during the Super Bowl.


title: Leslie Stefanson

text: On August 31, 2008, Stefanson gave birth to her first child, a son, with actor James Spader. As of 2019, she makes bronze and terracotta sculptures in Los Angeles and New York City.


title: Sausage

text: A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders.


title: Sausage

text: When used as an adjective, the word "sausage" can refer to the loose sausage meat, which can be formed into patties or stuffed into a skin. When referred to as "a sausage", the product is usually cylindrical and encased in a skin.


title: Sausage

text: Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes from synthetic materials. Sausages that are sold raw are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing, and the casing may then be removed.


title: Sausage

text: Sausage-making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying (often in association with fermentation or culturing, which can contribute to preservation), smoking, or freezing. Some cured or smoked sausages can be stored without refrigeration. Most fresh sausages must be refrigerated or frozen until they are cooked.


title: Sausage

text: Sausages are made in a wide range of national and regional varieties, which differ by the types of meats that are used, the flavouring or spicing ingredients (garlic, peppers, wine, etc.), and the manner of preparation. In the 21st century, vegetarian and vegan varieties of sausage in which plant-based ingredients are used instead of meat have become much more widely available and consumed.


title: Sausage

text: The word "sausage" was first used in English in the mid-15th century, spelled . This word came from Old North French (Modern French ). The French word came from Vulgar Latin ("sausage"), from ("seasoned with salt").


title: Sausage

text: Sausage making is a natural outcome of efficient butchery. Traditionally, sausage makers salted various tissues and organs such as scraps, organ meats, blood, and fat to help preserve them. They then stuffed them into tubular casings made from the cleaned intestines of the animal, producing the characteristic cylindrical shape. Hence, sausages, puddings, and salami are among the oldest of prepared foods, whether cooked and eaten immediately or dried to varying degrees.


title: Sausage

text: A Chinese type of sausage has been described, "lup cheong" () from the Northern and Southern dynasties (589 BC420 BC), made from goat and lamb meat with salt, and flavoured with green onion, bean sauce, ginger, and pepper. The modern type of "lup cheong" has a comparatively long shelf life, mainly because of a high content of lactobacilli—so high that it is considered sour by many.


title: Sausage

text: The Greek poet Homer mentioned a kind of blood sausage in the "Odyssey", Epicharmus wrote a comedy titled "The Sausage", and Aristophanes' play "The Knights" is about a sausage vendor who is elected leader. Evidence suggests that sausages were already popular both among the ancient Greeks and Romans and most likely with the various tribes occupying the larger part of Europe.


title: Sausage

text: The most famous sausage in ancient Italy was from Lucania (modern Basilicata) and was called "lucanica", a name which lives on in a variety of modern sausages in the Mediterranean. During the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, sausages were associated with the Lupercalia festival. Early in the 10th century during the Byzantine Empire, Leo VI the Wise outlawed the production of blood sausages following cases of food poisoning.


title: Sausage

text: Traditionally, sausage casings were made of the cleaned intestines, or stomachs in the case of haggis and other traditional puddings. Today, however, natural casings are often replaced by collagen, cellulose, or even plastic casings, especially in the case of industrially manufactured sausages. Some forms of sausage, such as sliced sausage, are prepared without a casing. Additionally, luncheon meat and sausage meat are now available without casings in tin cans and jars.


title: Sausage

text: A sausage consists of meat cut into pieces or ground, mixed with other ingredients, and filled into a casing. Ingredients may include a cheap starch filler such as breadcrumbs or grains, seasoning and flavourings such as spices, and sometimes others such as apple and leek. The meat may be from any animal but is often pork, beef or veal, or poultry. The lean meat-to-fat ratio depends upon the style and producer. The meat content as labelled may exceed 100%, which happens when the weight of meat exceeds the total weight of the sausage after it has been made, sometimes including a drying process which reduces water content.


title: Sausage

text: In some jurisdictions foods described as sausages must meet regulations governing their content. For example, in the United States The Department of Agriculture specifies that the fat content of different defined types of sausage may not exceed 30%, 35% or 50% by weight; some sausages may contain binders or extenders.


title: Sausage

text: Many traditional styles of sausage from Asia and mainland Europe use no bread-based filler and include only meat (lean meat and fat) and flavorings. In the United Kingdom and other countries with English cuisine traditions, many sausages contain a significant proportion of bread and starch-based fillers, which may comprise 30% of ingredients. The filler in many sausages helps them to keep their shape as they are cooked. As the meat contracts in the heat, the filler expands and absorbs moisture and fat from the meat.


title: Sausage

text: When the food processing industry produces sausages for a low price point, almost any part of the animal can end up in sausages, varying from cheap, fatty specimens stuffed with meat blasted off the carcasses (mechanically recovered meat, MRM) and rusk. On the other hand, the finest quality contain only choice cuts of meat and seasoning. In Britain, "meat" declared on labels could in the past include fat, connective tissue, and MRM. These ingredients may still be used but must be labelled as such, and up to 10% water may be included without being labelled.


title: Sausage

text: Sausages are emulsion-type products. They are composed of solid fat globules, dispersed in protein solution. The proteins function by coating the fat and stabilizing them in water.


title: Sausage

text: Sausages classification is subject to regional differences of opinion. Various metrics such as types of ingredients, consistency, and preparation are used. In the English-speaking world, the following distinction between "fresh", "cooked", and "dry" sausages seems to be more or less accepted:


title: Sausage

text: The distinct flavor of some sausages is due to fermentation by "Lactobacillus", "Pediococcus", or "Micrococcus" (added as starter cultures) or natural flora during curing.


title: Sausage

text: Other countries use different systems of classification. Germany, for instance, which produces more than 1200 types of sausage, distinguishes "raw", "cooked" and "precooked" sausages.


title: Sausage

text: The United States has a particular shelf stable type called pickled sausages, commonly sold in establishments such as gas stations and delicatessens. These are usually smoked or boiled sausages of a highly processed hot dog or kielbasa style plunged into a boiling brine of vinegar, salt, spices, and often a pink coloring, then canned in Mason jars. They are usually packaged in single blister packs or jars.


title: Sausage

text: Certain countries classify sausage types according to the region in which the sausage was traditionally produced:


title: Sausage

text: Many nations and regions have their own characteristic sausages, using meats and other ingredients native to the region and employed in traditional dishes.


title: Sausage

text: Merguez is a red, spicy sausage from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, North Africa. It is also popular in France, Israel, and the German state of Saarland, where it is often grilled on a Schwenker. Merguez is made with lamb, beef, or a mixture of both. It can be flavored with a wide range of spices, such as sumac for tartness, and paprika, cayenne pepper, or harissa, a hot chili paste that gives it a red color. It is stuffed into a lamb casing, rather than a pork casing. It is traditionally made fresh and eaten grilled or with couscous. Sun-dried merguez is used to add flavor to tagines. It is also eaten in sandwiches.


title: Sausage

text: In South Africa, traditional sausages are known as "boerewors", or farmer's sausage. Ingredients include game and beef, usually mixed with pork or lamb and with a high percentage of fat. Coriander and vinegar are the two most common seasoning ingredients, although many variations exist. The coarsely-ground nature of the meat as well as the long continuous spiral of sausage are two of its recognisable qualities. Boerewors is traditionally cooked on a "braai" (barbecue).


title: Sausage

text: Droë wors is an uncooked sausage similar to boerewors made in a dry-curing process similar to biltong. A local variant of the hot dog is the Wors roll, or boerewors roll. This is a hot dog bun with a piece of boerewors in, served with a tomato and onion relish called "seshebo". Seshebo can include chilli, atchaar or curries, depending on the area within the country.


title: Sausage

text: is the traditional Bruneian beef sausage. It is made with minced beef and tallow, marinated with garlic, salt, chillies and spices, and stuffed into cow's or buffalo's small intestines. It is then fermented through dehydration. Belutak is a common side dish alongside ambuyat.


title: Sausage

text: A European-style smoked savory "hóng cháng" ( "red sausage") is produced in Harbin, China's northernmost major city. It is similar to Lithuanian and Polish sausages including kiełbasa and "podhalańska" and tends to have a more European flavour than other Chinese sausages. This kind of sausage was first produced in a Russian-capitalized factory named Churin sausage factory in 1909. Harbin-style sausage has become popular in China, especially in northern regions.


title: Sausage

text: Lap cheong (also lap chong, lap chung, lop chong) are dried pork sausages that look and feel like pepperoni but are much sweeter. In southwestern China, sausages are flavored with salt, red pepper and wild pepper. People often cure sausages by smoking and air drying.


title: Sausage

text: Although Japan is not traditionally known for beef, pork, venison, or even blood sausages, the Japanese do consume a fish-based log called kamaboko, which could be considered a type of sausage. Kamaboko is made with cured ground fish paste called surimi. It is usually shaped into half-moons on top of a small plank of wood and the outside dyed pink. When the kamaboko is cut into slices it appears to have an unmistakable pink rind which surrounds a white interior. It is often cut into thin slices and added to soups, salads, bento, and many other dishes as a garnish.


title: Sausage

text: In recent years, kamaboko has also entered the market as a snack food. Similar to the Slim Jim, cheese, sausage, and fish flavored kamaboko sticks can be found in convenience stores across Japan.


title: Sausage

text: Sundae, a form of blood sausage, is a traditional Korean sausage. A popular street food, sundae is normally prepared by steaming or boiling cow or pig intestines stuffed with various ingredients. The most common variation is composed of pork blood, cellophane noodle, sliced carrot and barley stuffed into pig intestines, but other regional variations include squid or Alaska pollock casings. Sundae is eaten plain with salt, in stews, or as part of a stir-fry.


title: Sausage

text: In the Philippines, sausages are generally called "longaniza" (Filipino: "longganisa") in the northern regions and "chorizo" (Visayan: "choriso", "tsoriso" or "soriso") in the southern regions. They are usually fresh or smoked sausages, distinguished primarily by either being sweet ("jamonado" or "hamonado") or garlicky ("de recado" or "derecado"). There are numerous kinds of sausages in the Philippines, usually unique to a specific region like Vigan longganisa, Alaminos longganisa, and Chorizo de Cebu. The most widely known sausages in Philippine cuisine is the Pampanga longganisa. Bulk sausage versions are also known in Philippine English as "skinless sausages". There are also a few dry sausages like Chorizo de Bilbao and Chorizo de Macao. Most Filipino sausages are made from pork, but they can also be made from chicken, beef, or even tuna.


title: Sausage

text: There are many varieties of sausages known to Thai cuisine, some of which are specialities of a specific region of Thailand. From northern Thailand comes "sai ua", a grilled minced pork sausage flavored with curry paste and fresh herbs. Another grilled sausage is called "sai krok Isan", a fermented sausage with a distinctive slightly sour taste from northeastern Thailand (the region also known as Isan). Both sausages are commonly eaten with sticky rice, fresh vegetables, and a fresh "nam phrik" (Thai chilli paste) or some raw bird's eye chilies. They might also be served together with a refreshing Thai salad such as "som tum" (green papaya salad).


title: Sausage

text: Also very popular in Thailand is "naem", a raw fermented pork sausage similar to the Vietnamese "nem chua" and Laotian "som moo". This variety of sausage is often encountered as "yam naem" and "naem khluk", both of which are Thai salads. Adopted from Vietnam comes "mu yo". It is somewhat similar in taste and texture to liverwurst and, served with a "nam chim" (Thai dipping sauce), a popular snack in Thailand. It too can be used as an ingredient for Thai salads and as a meat ingredient in, for instance, Thai soups. "Kun chiang" is a dry and sweet Chinese sausage which has also been incorporated into the Thai culinary culture. Known as "lap cheong" by Cantonese, in Thailand it is most often used, again, as an ingredient for a Thai salad, "yam kun chiang", one that is normally only eaten together with "khao tom kui", a plain rice congee. A host of modern, factory-made, sausages have become popular as snacks in recent years. These most often resemble hot-dogs and frankfurters and are commonly sold grilled or deep-fried at street stalls and served with a sweet, sticky and slightly spicy soy-based sauce.


title: Sausage

text: In Turkey, sausage is known as "sosis", which is made of beef. Sucuk (pronounced tsudjuck or sujuk with accent on the last syllable) is a type of sausage made in Turkey and neighboring Balkan countries. There are many types of sucuk, but it is mostly made from beef. It is fermented, spiced (with garlic and pepper) and filled in an inedible casing that needs to be peeled off before consuming. Slightly smoked sucuk is considered superior. The taste is spicy, salty and a little raw, similar to pepperoni. Some varieties are extremely hot and/or greasy. Some are adulterated with turkey, water buffalo meat, sheep fat or chicken. There are many dishes made with sucuk, but grilled sucuk remains the most popular. Smoke dried varieties are consumed raw in sandwiches. An intestinal loop is one sucuk. Smoked sucuk is usually straight.


title: Sausage

text: In the UK and Ireland, sausages are a very popular and common feature of the national diet and popular culture. British sausages and Irish sausages are normally made from raw (i.e., uncooked, uncured, unsmoked) pork, beef, venison or other meats mixed with a variety of herbs and spices and cereals, many recipes of which are traditionally associated with particular regions (for example Cumberland sausages). They normally contain a certain amount of rusk or bread-rusk, and are traditionally cooked by frying, grilling or baking. They are most typically long, the filling compressed by twisting the casing into concatenated "links" into the sausage skin, traditionally made from the prepared intestine of the slaughtered animal; most commonly a pig.


title: Sausage

text: Due to their habit of often exploding due to shrinkage of the tight skin during cooking, they are often referred to as "bangers", particularly when served with the most common accompaniment of mashed potatoes to form a bi-national dish known as bangers and mash.


title: Sausage

text: Famously, they are an essential component of a full English, Scottish or Irish breakfast. Some are made to traditional regional recipes such as those from Cumberland or Lincolnshire and, increasingly, to modern recipes which combine fruit such as apples or apricots with the meat or are influenced by other European styles such as the Toulouse sausage or chorizo. Vegetarian sausages are also now very widely available, although traditional meatless recipes such as the Welsh "Selsig Morgannwg" also exist.


title: Sausage

text: A popular and widespread snack is the sausage roll made from sausage-meat rolled in puff pastry; they are sold from most bakeries and often made at home. Sausages may be baked in a Yorkshire pudding batter to create toad in the hole, often served with gravy and onions, or they may be cooked with other ingredients in a sausage casserole. In most areas, sausage meat for frying and stuffing into poultry or other meats is sold as ground, spiced meat without casing. Battered sausage, consisting of a sausage dipped in batter, and fried, is sold throughout Britain from fish and chip shops. In England, the saveloy is a type of pre-cooked sausage, larger than a typical hot-dog, which is served hot. A saveloy skin was traditionally colored with bismarck-brown dye giving saveloy a distinctive bright red color.


title: Sausage

text: Pigs in blankets is a dish served in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland consisting of small sausages (usually chipolatas) wrapped in bacon. They are a popular and traditional accompaniment to roast turkey in a Christmas dinner and are served as a side dish. They are also served cold at children's parties throughout the year. The word chipolata derives from the Italian "cipollata", "onioned" or made with onion, although in this context its literal meaning has been forgotten and it need not contain onion. Black pudding, white pudding and Hog's pudding are fairly similar to their Scottish and European counterparts. Following concerns about health and user preference (distaste for horsemeat), heightened by the BSE crisis in the 1990s and the 2013 horsemeat scandal, the quality of the meat content in many British sausages improved with a return to the artisanal production of high quality traditional recipes, which had previously been in decline. However, many cheaper sausages contain mechanically recovered meat or meat slurry, which must be so listed on packaging.


title: Sausage

text: There are various laws concerning the meat content of sausages in the UK. The minimum meat content to be labelled pork sausages is 42% (30% for other types of meat sausages), although to be classed as meat, the pork can contain 30% fat and 25% connective tissue. Often the cheapest supermarket pork sausages do not have the necessary meat content to be described as pork sausages and are simply labelled "sausages"; with even less meat content they are described as "bangers" (an unregulated name). These typically contain MRM which was previously included in meat content, but under later EU law cannot be so described.


title: Sausage

text: Haggis is generally recognized as the national dish, although not described as a sausage. A popular breakfast food is the square sausage, also known as a Lorne sausage. This is normally eaten as part of a full Scottish breakfast or on a Scottish morning roll. The sausage is produced in a rectangular block and individual portions are sliced off. It is seasoned mainly with pepper. It is rarely seen outside Scotland. Other types of sausage include black pudding, similar to the German and Polish blood sausages. Stornoway black pudding is held in high regard and it has protected geographical indication. Additionally a popular native variety of sausage is the red pudding. It is usually served in chip shops, deep fried in batter and with chips as a red pudding supper.


title: Sausage

text: Lukanka (луканка) is a spicy salami sausage unique to Bulgarian cuisine. It is similar to sujuk but often stronger flavored.


title: Sausage

text: Kulen is a type of flavored sausage made of minced pork that is traditionally produced in Croatia (Slavonia) and Serbia (Vojvodina), and its designation of origin has been protected. The meat is low-fat, rather brittle and dense, and the flavor is spicy. The red paprika gives it aroma and color, and garlic adds spice. The original kulen recipe does not contain black pepper because its hot flavor comes from hot red paprika.


title: Sausage

text: Other types of sausages in Croatia include Češnjovka (Garlic Sausage) and Krvavica (a variation on Blood Sausage).


title: Sausage

text: The generic word for sausage in Finnish is "makkara". Several types of Finnish makkara are similar in appearance to Polish sausages or bratwursts but have a very different taste and texture. Most makkara have very little spice and are therefore frequently eaten with mustard, ketchup, or other table condiments without a bun. Makkara is usually grilled, roasted over coals or open fire, steamed (called "höyrymakkara") or cooked on sauna heating stones.


title: Sausage

text: "Nakki" is a tinier edition of makkara. There are many types of nakki, with almost as much varieties as larger types of makkara. The closest relative to nakki in North-American cuisine is the thin knackwurst. "Siskonmakkara", a finely ground light-colored sausage, is usually encountered as the main ingredient of a soup named "siskonmakkarakeitto". Another variety is "mustamakkara", lit. black sausage, a specialty of Tampere. It is a type of blood sausage similar to the Scottish black pudding.


title: Sausage

text: A Finnish speciality is "ryynimakkara", a low-fat sausage which contains groats. Pickled makkara, intended to be consumed as slices, is called "kestomakkara". This class includes various mettwurst, salami and Balkanesque styles. The most popular kestomakkara in Finland is "meetvursti" (etymologically this word comes from "mettwurst"), which contains finely ground full meat, ground fat and various spices. It is not unlike salami, but it is usually thicker and less salty. "Meetvursti" used to additionally contain horse meat, but hardly any brands contain it anymore, mostly due to the high cost of production. In general, there is no taboo against eating horse meat in Nordic countries, but its popularity has decreased with decreasing availability of suitable horse meat. There is also makkara and meetvursti with game, like deer, moose or reindeer meat. Even a "lohimakkara", i.e., salmon sausage, exists. In Finland there are b- and a-classes of BBQ Sausages like Kabanossi, Camping and HK Sininen Lenkki, Blue Loop.


title: Sausage

text: When a thick slice of a thick (diameter about ) makkara is fried and put together with cucumber salad and other fillings between two slices of toast, it becomes a "porilainen", named after the town of Pori.


title: Sausage

text: French distinguishes between "saucisson (sec)", cured sausage eaten uncooked, and "saucisse", fresh sausage that needs cooking. Saucisson is almost always made of pork cured with salt, spices, and occasionally wine or spirits, but it has many variants which may be based on other meats and include nuts, alcohol, and other ingredients. It also differentiates between "saucisson" and "boudin" ("pudding") which are similar to the British Black, White and Red puddings.


title: Sausage

text: German sausages include Frankfurters/Wieners, Bratwürste, Rindswürste, Knackwürste, and Bockwürste. Currywurst, a dish of sausages with curry sauce, is a popular fast food in Germany.


title: Sausage

text: Hungarian sausages, when smoked and cured, are called kolbász – different types are often distinguished by their typical regions, e.g. "gyulai" and "csabai" sausage. As no collective word for "sausage" in the English sense exists in Hungarian, local salamis (see e.g. winter salami) and boiled sausages "hurka" are often not considered when listing regional sausage varieties. The most common boiled sausages are rice liver sausage ("Májas Hurka") and blood sausage ("Véres Hurka"). In the first case, the main ingredient is liver, mixed with rice stuffing. In the latter, the blood is mixed with rice, or pieces of bread rolls. Spices, pepper, salt and marjoram are added.


title: Sausage

text: Italian sausages ("salsiccia" – plural "salsicce") are often made of pure pork. Sometimes they may contain beef. Fennel seeds and chilli are generally used as the primary spices in the South of Italy, while in the center and North of the country black pepper and garlic are more often used.


title: Sausage

text: An early example of Italian sausage is "lucanica", discovered by Romans after the conquest of Lucania. Lucanica's recipe changed over the centuries and spread throughout Italy and the world with slightly different names. Today, lucanica sausage is identified as "Lucanica di Picerno", produced in Basilicata (whose territory was part of the ancient Lucania).


title: Sausage

text: A different type of sausage that is popular in Italy, found in many varieties, is "salame" (plural ), made from coarsely ground meat (pork or beef) mixed with fat, salted and dried. Spices are added as for "salsiccia". "Salami" are ready-to-eat as purchased; typically, they are sliced thinly for consumption and eaten cold, for instance as "salumi".


title: Sausage

text: Macedonian sausages ("kolbas, lukanec") are made from fried pork, onions, and leeks, with herbs and spices.


title: Sausage

text: Maltese sausage ("Maltese": "Zalzett tal-Malti") is made of pork, sea salt, black peppercorns, coriander seeds and parsley. It is short and thick in shape and can be eaten grilled, fried, stewed, steamed or even raw when freshly made. A barbecue variety is similar to the original but with a thinner skin and less salt.


title: Sausage

text: Dutch cuisine is not known for its abundant use of sausages in its traditional dishes. Nevertheless, the Dutch have a number of sausage varieties, such as the "rookworst" (smoked sausage) and the dried "slagersworst" (lit. "butchers sausage") mostly found at the specialist butcher shops and still made by hand and spiced following traditionally family recipes. Another common variety in the Netherlands is the "runderworst" which is made from beef and the dried sausage known as "metworst" or "droge worst". The Dutch 's name might suggest its being a variant of the German-style bratwurst, but this is not the case; it is more closely related to the well-known Afrikaner Boerewors.


title: Sausage

text: Nordic sausages (, , , ) are usually made of 60–80% very finely ground pork, very sparsely spiced with pepper, nutmeg, allspice or similar sweet spices (ground mustard seed, onion and sugar may also be added). Water, lard, rind, potato starch flour and soy or milk protein are often added for binding and filling. In southern Norway, grill and wiener sausages are often wrapped in a "lompe", a potato flatbread somewhat similar to a "lefse".


title: Sausage

text: Virtually all sausages will be industrially precooked and either fried or warmed in hot water by the consumer or at the hot dog stand. Since hot dog stands are ubiquitous in Denmark (known as "Pølsevogn") some people regard "pølser" as one of the national dishes, perhaps along with medisterpølse, a fried, finely ground pork and bacon sausage. The most noticeable aspect of Danish boiled sausages (never the fried ones) is that the casing often contains a traditional bright-red dye. They are also called "wienerpølser" and legend has it they originate from Vienna where it was once ordered that day-old sausages be dyed as a means of warning.


title: Sausage

text: The traditional Swedish "falukorv" is a sausage made of a grated mixture of pork and beef or veal with potato flour and mild spices, similarly red-dyed sausage, but about 5 cm thick, usually baked in the oven coated in mustard or cut in slices and fried. The sausage got its name from Falun, the city from where it originates, after being introduced by German immigrants who came to work in the region's mines. Unlike most other ordinary sausages it is a typical home dish, not sold at hot dog stands. Other Swedish sausages include "prinskorv", "fläskkorv", "" and "isterband"; all of these, in addition to "falukorv", are often accompanied by potato mash or "rotmos" (a root vegetable mash) rather than bread. "Isterband" is made of pork, barley groats and potato and is lightly smoked.


title: Sausage

text: In Iceland, lamb may be added to sausages, giving them a distinct taste. Horse sausage and mutton sausage are also traditional foods in Iceland, although their popularity is waning. Liver sausage, which has been compared to haggis, and blood sausage are also a common foodstuff in Iceland.


title: Sausage

text: Polish sausages, kiełbasa, come in a wide range of styles such as swojska, krajańska, szynkowa (a ham sausage), biała, śląska, krakowska, podhalańska, kishka and others. Sausages in Poland are generally made of pork, rarely beef. Sausages with low meat content and additions like soy protein, potato flour or water binding additions are regarded as of low quality. Because of climate conditions, sausages were traditionally preserved by smoking, rather than drying, like in Mediterranean countries.


title: Sausage

text: Since the 14th century, Poland excelled in the production of sausages, thanks in part to the royal hunting excursions across virgin forests with game delivered as gifts to friendly noble families and religious hierarchy across the country. The extended list of beneficiaries of such diplomatic generosity included city magistrates, academy professors, voivodes, szlachta and kapituła. Usually the raw meat was delivered in winter and the processed meat throughout the rest of the year. With regard to varieties, early Italian, French and German influences played a role. Meat commonly preserved in fat and by smoking was mentioned by historian Jan Długosz in his annals:"Annales seu cronici incliti regni Poloniae" The "Annales" covered events from 965 to 1480, with mention of the hunting castle in Niepołomice along with King Władysław sending game to Queen Zofia from Niepołomice Forest, the most popular hunting ground for the Polish royalty beginning in the 13th century.


title: Sausage

text: Embutidos (or enchidos) and linguiça generally contain hashed meat, particularly pork, seasoned with aromatic herbs or spices (pepper, red pepper, paprika, garlic, rosemary, thyme, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, etc.).


title: Sausage

text: Traditional Russian cuisine eschews the fine cutting or grounding of meat. Thus sausagemaking, though generally known in Russia since at least 12th century, was not popular and largely started in earnest with the Petrine reforms, when a lot of Western products and practices were introduced. Traditional sausages were based on mixing meat with cereals, much like modern kishka and Polish kaszanka, while the newer purely meat varieties were made in German and Polish styles, often highly spiced and loaded with preservatives for non-refrigerated storage. One of the pre-revolutionary recipes specified as much as half pound of saltpetre per a pood of meat.


title: Sausage

text: After the Revolution, the sausage-making was largely concentrated in large, governmentally controlled meat processing plants, often built from the American examples, which introduced new, medically controlled and industrially made styles such as omnipresent Soviet bolognas — Doktorskaya sausage and its fatter Lyubitelskaya variant, as well as generic wieners and very status-loaded and scarce smoked sausages and salamis. Traditional sausages continued to be made for local consumption by the farmers and such, often sold on Kolkhoz markets, like the home-style sausage, made from roughly minced pork and its fat, spiced with garlic and black pepper — this was a raw sausage, intended for roasting or grilling, but sometimes cooked by hot smoking for preservation and flavour (this variant is often called Ukrainian).


title: Sausage

text: Since the return of capitalism, all imaginable types of sausage are produced and imported in Russia, but the traditional styles, be it a factory made Doctor's bologna, artisanal links of delicately smoked Ukrainian or boldly red Krakow, or buckwheat-stuffed blood sausage, still endure.


title: Sausage

text: In Spain, fresh sausages, "salchichas", which are eaten cooked, and cured sausages, "embutidos", which are eaten uncooked, are two distinct categories. Among the cured sausages are found products like chorizo, salchichón, and sobrasada. Blood sausage, morcilla, is found in both cured and fresh varieties. They are made with pork meat and blood, usually adding rice, garlic, paprika and other spices. There are many regional variations, and in general they are either fried or cooked in cocidos.


title: Sausage

text: Fresh sausage may be red or white. Red sausages contain paprika (pimentón in Spanish) and are usually fried; they can also contain other spices such as garlic, pepper or thyme. The most popular type of red sausage is perhaps "txistorra", a thin and long paprika sausage originating in Navarre. White sausages do not contain paprika and can be fried, boiled in wine, or, more rarely, in water.


title: Sausage

text: The cervelat, a cooked sausage, is often referred to as Switzerland's national sausage. A great number of regional sausage specialties exist as well.


title: Sausage

text: In Ukrainian sausage is called "kovbasa" (ковбаса). It is a general term and is used to describe a variety of sausages including "domashnia" (homemade kovbasa), "pechinky" (liver kovbasa), "krovianka" (kovbasa filled with blood and buckwheat) and "vudzhena" (smoked kovbasa). The traditional varieties are similar to Polish kielbasa.


title: Sausage

text: It is served in a variety of ways such as fried with onions atop varenyky, sliced on rye bread, eaten with an egg and mustard sauce, or in "Yayechnia z Kovbosoyu i yarnoyu" a dish of fried kovbasa with red capsicum and scrambled eggs. In Ukraine kovbasa may be roasted in an oven on both sides and stored in ceramic pots with lard. The sausage is often made at home; however it has become increasingly brought at markets and even supermarkets. Kovbasa also tends to accompany "pysanka" (dyed and decorated eggs) as well as the eastern Slavic bread, paska in Ukrainian baskets at Easter time and is blessed by the priest with holy water before being consumed.


title: Sausage

text: In most of Latin America, a few basic types of sausages are consumed, with slight regional variations on each recipe. These are "chorizo" (raw, rather than cured and dried like its Spanish namesake), "longaniza" (usually very similar to "chorizo" but longer and thinner), "morcilla" or "relleno" (blood sausage), and "salchichas" (often similar to hot dogs or Vienna sausages). Beef tends to be more predominant than in the pork-heavy Spanish equivalents.


title: Sausage

text: In Argentina and Uruguay, many sausages are consumed. Eaten as part of the traditional "asado", "chorizo" (beef and/or pork, flavored with spices) and "morcilla" (blood sausage or black pudding) are the most popular. Both share a Spanish origin. One local variety is the "salchicha argentina" (Argentine sausage), "criolla" or "parrillera" (literally, barbecue-style), made of the same ingredients as the chorizo but thinner. There are hundreds of salami-style sausages. Very popular is the "salame tandilero", from the city of Tandil. Other types include "longaniza", "cantimpalo" and "soppressata".


title: Sausage

text: Vienna sausages are eaten as an appetizer or in hot dogs (called panchos), which are usually served with different sauces and salads. Leberwurst is usually found in every market. Weisswurst is also a common dish in some regions, eaten usually with mashed potatoes or "chucrut" (sauerkraut).


title: Sausage

text: "Longaniza" is the most common type of sausage, or at least the most common name in Chile for sausages that also could be classified as chorizo. The Chilean variety is made of four parts pork to one part bacon (or less) and seasoned with finely ground garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika and chilli sauce. The cities of Chillán and San Carlos are known among Chileans for having the best "longanizas".


title: Sausage

text: Another traditional sausage is the "prieta", the Chilean version of blood sausage, generally known elsewhere in Latin America as "morcilla". In Chile, it contains onions, spices and sometimes walnut or rice and is usually eaten at "asados" or accompanied by simple boiled potatoes. It sometimes has a very thick skin so is cut open lengthwise before eating. "Vienesa"s or Vienna sausages are also very common and are mainly used in the "completo", the Chilean version of the hot dog.


title: Sausage

text: A grilled chorizo served with a buttered "arepa" is one of the most common street foods in Colombia. Butifarras Soledeñas are sausages from Soledad, Atlántico, Colombia. In addition to the standard Latin American sausages, dried pork sausages are served cold as a snack, often to accompany beer drinking. These include "cábanos" (salty, short, thin, and served individually), "butifarras" (of Catalan origin; spicier, shorter, fatter and moister than cábanos, often eaten raw, sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice) and "salchichón" (a long, thin and heavily processed sausage served in slices).


title: Sausage

text: The most common Mexican sausage by far is "chorizo". It is fresh and usually deep red in color (in most of the rest of Latin America, chorizo is uncolored and coarsely chopped). Some chorizo is so loose that it spills out of its casing as soon as it is cut; this crumbled "chorizo" is a popular filling for torta sandwiches, eggs, breakfast burritos and tacos. "Salchichas", "longaniza" (a long, thin, lightly spiced, coarse chopped pork sausage), moronga (a type of blood pudding) and head cheese are also widely consumed.


title: Sausage

text: In El Salvador, chorizos are quite common, and the ones from the city of Cojutepeque are particularly well known there. The links, especially of those from Cojutepeque, are separated with corn husks tied in knots (see photo). Like most chorizos in Latin America, they are sold raw and must be cooked.


title: Sausage

text: North American breakfast or country sausage is made from uncooked ground pork, breadcrumbs and salt mixed with pepper, sage, and other spices. It is widely sold in grocery stores in a large synthetic plastic casing, or in links which may have a protein casing. It is also available sold by the pound without a casing. It can often be found on a smaller scale in rural regions, especially in southern states, where it is either in fresh patties or in links with either natural or synthetic casings as well as smoked. This sausage is most similar to English-style sausages and has been made in the United States since colonial days. It is commonly sliced into small patties and pan-fried, or cooked and crumbled into scrambled eggs or gravy. Other uncooked sausages are available in certain regions in link form, including Italian, bratwurst, chorizo, and linguica.


title: Sausage

text: Several varieties of meat-and-grain sausages developed in the US. Scrapple is a pork-and-cornmeal sausage that originated in the Mid-Atlantic States. Goetta is a pork-and-oats sausage that originated in Cincinnati. Livermush, originating in North Carolina, is made with pork, liver, and cornmeal or rice. All were developed by German immigrants.


title: Sausage

text: In Louisiana, there is a variety of sausage that is unique to its heritage, a variant of andouille. Unlike the original variety native to Northern France, Louisiana andouille has evolved to be made mainly of pork butt, not tripe, and tends to be spicy with a flavor far too strong for the mustard sauce that traditionally accompanies French andouille: prior to casing, the meat is heavily spiced with cayenne and black pepper. The variety from Louisiana is known as Tasso ham and is often a staple in Cajun and Creole cooking. Traditionally it is smoked over pecan wood or sugar cane as a final step before being ready to eat. In Cajun cuisine, boudin is also popular. Sausages made in the French tradition are popular in Québec, Ontario, and parts of the Prairies, where butchers offer their own variations on the classics. Locals of Flin Flon are especially fond of the Saucisse de Toulouse, which is often served with poutine.


title: Sausage

text: Hot dogs, also known as frankfurters or wieners, are the most common pre-cooked sausage in the United States and Canada. Another popular variation is the corn dog, which is a hot dog that is deep fried in cornmeal batter and served on a stick. A common and popular regional sausage in New Jersey and surrounding areas is pork roll, usually thinly sliced and grilled as a breakfast meat.


title: Sausage

text: Other popular ready-to-eat sausages, often eaten in sandwiches, include salami, American-style bologna, Lebanon bologna, prasky, liverwurst, and head cheese. Pepperoni and Italian sausage are popular pizza toppings.


title: Sausage

text: Australian sausages have traditionally been made with beef, pork and chicken, while recently game meats such as kangaroo have been used that typically have much less fat. English style sausages, known colloquially as "snags", come in two varieties: thin, that resemble an English 'breakfast' sausage, and thick, known as 'Merryland' in South Australia. These types of sausage are popular at barbecues and can be purchased from any butcher or supermarket. Devon is a spiced pork sausage similar to Bologna sausage and Gelbwurst. It is usually made in a large diameter, and it is often thinly sliced and eaten cold in sandwiches.


title: Sausage

text: Mettwurst and other German-style sausages are highly popular in South Australia, often made in towns like Hahndorf and Tanunda, due to the large German immigration to the state during early settlement. Mettwurst is usually sliced and eaten cold on sandwiches or alone as a snack. A local variation on cabanossi, developed by Italian migrants after World War II using local cuts of meat, is a popular snack at parties. The Don small goods company developed a spiced snack-style sausage based on the cabanossi in 1991 called Twiggy Sticks.


title: Sausage

text: In Australia it is common to eat a sausage on a single slice of bread topped with onions and either tomato or barbeque sauce. This food item is known as a Sausage sizzle.


title: Sausage

text: Sausage rolls are a popular snack and party food, as are saveloys, cheerios, and are locally manufactured cabanossi. Traditional sausages similar to English bangers are eaten throughout the country; these are usually made of finely ground beef or mutton with breadcrumbs, very mildly spiced, stuffed into an edible collagen casing which crisps and splits when fried. These may be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. In recent years, many international and exotic sausages have also become widely available in New Zealand.


title: Sausage

text: Sausages may be served as hors d'œuvres, in a sandwich, in a bread roll as a hot dog, wrapped in a tortilla, or as an ingredient in dishes such as stews and casseroles. It can be served on a stick (like the corn dog) or on a bone as well. Sausage without casing is called "sausage meat" and can be fried or used as stuffing for poultry, or for wrapping foods like Scotch eggs. Similarly, sausage meat encased in puff pastry is called a "sausage roll".


title: Sausage

text: Sausages are almost always fried in oil, served for any meal, particularly breakfast or lunch and often "sweet sausages" have been created which are made with any of the above: dried fruit, nuts, caramel and chocolate, bound with butter and sugar. These sweet sausages are refrigerated rather than fried and usually, however, served for dessert rather than as part of a savory course. Sausages can also be modified to use indigenous ingredients. Mexican styles add oregano and the "guajillo" red pepper to the Spanish chorizo to give it an even hotter spicy touch. Certain sausages also contain ingredients such as cheese and apple, or types of vegetable.


title: Sausage

text: Vegetarian and vegan sausages are also available in some countries, or can be made from scratch at home. These may be made from tofu, seitan, nuts, pulses, mycoprotein, soya protein, vegetables or any combination of similar ingredients that will hold together during cooking. These sausages, like most meat-replacement products, generally fall into two categories: some are shaped, colored, flavored, and spiced to replicate the taste and texture of meat as accurately as possible; others such as the Glamorgan sausage rely on spices and vegetables to lend their natural flavor to the product and no attempt is made to imitate meat. While not vegetarian, the soya sausage was invented 1916 in Germany. First known as "Kölner Wurst" ("Cologne Sausage") by later German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967).


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is a small crepuscular fox native to the deserts of North Africa, ranging from Western Sahara to the Sinai Peninsula. Its most distinctive feature is its unusually large ears, which serve to dissipate heat and listen for underground prey. The fennec is the smallest species of fox. Its coat, ears, and kidney functions have adapted to the desert environment with high temperatures and little water. It mainly eats insects, small mammals, and birds. The fennec has a life span of up to 14 years in captivity and about 10 years in the wild. Its main predators are the Verreaux's eagle-owl, jackals, and other large mammals. Fennec families dig out burrows in the sand for habitation and protection, which can be as large as and adjoin the burrows of other families. Precise population figures are not known but are estimated from the frequency of sightings; these indicate that the fennec is currently not threatened by extinction. Knowledge of social interactions is limited to information gathered from captive animals. The fennec's fur is prized by the indigenous peoples of North Africa, and in some parts of the world, it is considered an exotic pet.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox has sand-colored fur which reflects sunlight during the day and helps keep warm at night. Its nose is black. Its tapering tail has a black tip. Its long ears have longitudinal reddish stripes on the back and are so densely haired inside that the external auditory meatus is not visible. The edges of the ears are whitish, but darker on the back. The ear to body ratio is the greatest in the canid family and likely helps in dissipating heat and locating vertebrates. It has dark streaks running from the inner eye to either side of the slender muzzle. Its large eyes are dark. The dental formula is with small and narrow canines. The pads of its paws are covered with dense fur, which facilitates walking on hot, sandy soil.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is the smallest canid. Females range in head-to-body size from with a long tail and long ears, and weigh . Males are slightly larger, ranging in head-to-body size from with a long tail and long ears, weighing at least .


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is distributed throughout the Sahara, from Morocco and Mauritania to northern Sudan, through Egypt and its Sinai Peninsula. It inhabits small sand dunes and vast treeless sand areas with sparse vegetation such as grasses, sedges and small shrubs.


title: Fennec fox

text: A fennec fox digs its den in sand, either in open areas or places sheltered by plants with stable sand dunes. In compacted soils, dens are up to large, with up to 15 different entrances. In some cases, different families interconnect their dens, or locate them close together. In soft, looser sand, dens tend to be simpler with only one entrance leading to a single chamber.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is an omnivore, feeding on small rodents, lizards, geckos, skinks, small birds and their eggs, fruits and also some tubers. It relies on the moisture content of prey, but drinks water when available.


title: Fennec fox

text: It hunts alone and digs in the sand for small vertebrates and insects. Some individuals were observed to bury prey for later consumption and searching for food in the vicinity of human settlements.


title: Fennec fox

text: In the Algerian Sahara, 114 scat samples were collected that contained more than 400 insects, plant fragments and date palm "Phoenix dactylifera" fruits, remains of birds, mammals, squamata and insects.


title: Fennec fox

text: Captive fennec foxes reach sexual maturity at around nine months and mate between January and April. They usually breed only once per year. The copulation tie lasts up to two hours and 45 minutes. Gestation lasts between 50 and 52 days, sometimes also up to 63 days. After mating, the male becomes very aggressive and protects the female, and provides her with food during pregnancy and lactation. Females give birth between March and June to a litter of one to four pups that open their eyes after 8 to 11 days. Both female and male care for the pups. They communicate by barking, purring, yapping and squeaking. Pups remain in the family even after a new litter is born. The pups are weaned at the age of 61 to 70 days.


title: Fennec fox

text: Captive fennec foxes are susceptible to canine distemper virus, displaying fever, mucopurulent ocular discharge, diarrhea, severe emaciation, seizures, generalized ataxia, severe dehydration, brain congestion, gastric ulcers and death. Stress because of capture and long-distance transportation are thought to be the causes.


title: Fennec fox

text: African horned owl species such as the Pharaoh eagle-owl prey on fennec fox pups. Anecdotal reports exist about caracals, jackals, and striped hyenas also preying on the fennec fox. But according to nomads, the fennec fox is fast and changes directions so that even their Salukis are hardly able to capture it.


title: Fennec fox

text: In North Africa, the fennec fox is commonly trapped for exhibition or sale to tourists. Expansion of permanent human settlements in southern Morocco caused its disappearance in these areas and restricted it to marginal areas.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is bred commercially as an exotic pet. Commercial breeders remove the pups from their mother to hand-raise them, as tame foxes are more valuable. A breeders' registry has been set up in the United States to avoid any problems associated with inbreeding.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is classified as a "small wild/exotic canid" by the United States Department of Agriculture.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is listed in CITES Appendix II. It is protected in Morocco (including Western Sahara), Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, where it has been documented in several protected areas.


title: Fennec fox

text: The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria. It also serves as the nickname for the Algeria national football team: "Les Fennecs".


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism have been called the "second great unification in physics" where the first one had been realised by Isaac Newton.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: With the publication of "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" in 1865, Maxwell demonstrated that electric and magnetic fields travel through space as waves moving at the speed of light. He proposed that light is an undulation in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena. The unification of light and electrical phenomena led to his prediction of the existence of radio waves. Maxwell is also regarded as a founder of the modern field of electrical engineering.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Maxwell helped develop the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, a statistical means of describing aspects of the kinetic theory of gases. He is also known for presenting the first durable colour photograph in 1861 and for his foundational work on analysing the rigidity of rod-and-joint frameworks (trusses) like those in many bridges.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: His discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics, laying the foundation for such fields as special relativity and quantum mechanics. Many physicists regard Maxwell as the 19th-century scientist having the greatest influence on 20th-century physics. His contributions to the science are considered by many to be of the same magnitude as those of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. In the millennium poll—a survey of the 100 most prominent physicists—Maxwell was voted the third greatest physicist of all time, behind only Newton and Einstein. On the centenary of Maxwell's birthday, Einstein described Maxwell's work as the "most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton". Einstein, when he visited the University of Cambridge in 1922, was told by his host that he had done great things because he stood on Newton's shoulders; Einstein replied: "No I don't. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell."


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: James Clerk Maxwell was born on 13 June 1831 at 14 India Street, Edinburgh, to John Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie, an advocate, and Frances Cay, daughter of Robert Hodshon Cay and sister of John Cay. (His birthplace now houses a museum operated by the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation.) His father was a man of comfortable means of the Clerk family of Penicuik, holders of the baronetcy of Clerk of Penicuik. His father's brother was the 6th baronet. He had been born "John Clerk", adding "Maxwell" to his own after he inherited (as an infant in 1793) the Middlebie estate, a Maxwell property in Dumfriesshire. James was a first cousin of both the artist Jemima Blackburn (the daughter of his father's sister) and the civil engineer William Dyce Cay (the son of his mother's brother). Cay and Maxwell were close friends and Cay acted as his best man when Maxwell married.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Maxwell's parents met and married when they were well into their thirties; his mother was nearly 40 when he was born. They had had one earlier child, a daughter named Elizabeth, who died in infancy.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: When Maxwell was young his family moved to Glenlair, in Kirkcudbrightshire, which his parents had built on the estate which comprised . All indications suggest that Maxwell had maintained an unquenchable curiosity from an early age. By the age of three, everything that moved, shone, or made a noise drew the question: "what's the go o' that?" In a passage added to a letter from his father to his sister-in-law Jane Cay in 1834, his mother described this innate sense of inquisitiveness:


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Recognising the boy's potential, Maxwell's mother Frances took responsibility for his early education, which in the Victorian era was largely the job of the woman of the house. At eight he could recite long passages of John Milton and the whole of the 119th psalm (176 verses). Indeed, his knowledge of scripture was already detailed; he could give chapter and verse for almost any quotation from the psalms. His mother was taken ill with abdominal cancer and, after an unsuccessful operation, died in December 1839 when he was eight years old. His education was then overseen by his father and his father's sister-in-law Jane, both of whom played pivotal roles in his life. His formal schooling began unsuccessfully under the guidance of a 16-year-old hired tutor. Little is known about the young man hired to instruct Maxwell, except that he treated the younger boy harshly, chiding him for being slow and wayward. The tutor was dismissed in November 1841. James' father took him to Robert Davidson's demonstration of electric propulsion and magnetic force on 12 February 1842, an experience with profound implications for the boy.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Maxwell was sent to the prestigious Edinburgh Academy. He lodged during term times at the house of his aunt Isabella. During this time his passion for drawing was encouraged by his older cousin Jemima. The 10-year-old Maxwell, having been raised in isolation on his father's countryside estate, did not fit in well at school. The first year had been full, obliging him to join the second year with classmates a year his senior. His mannerisms and Galloway accent struck the other boys as rustic. Having arrived on his first day of school wearing a pair of homemade shoes and a tunic, he earned the unkind nickname of "Daftie". He never seemed to resent the epithet, bearing it without complaint for many years. Social isolation at the Academy ended when he met Lewis Campbell and Peter Guthrie Tait, two boys of a similar age who were to become notable scholars later in life. They remained lifelong friends.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Maxwell was fascinated by geometry at an early age, rediscovering the regular polyhedra before he received any formal instruction. Despite his winning the school's scripture biography prize in his second year, his academic work remained unnoticed until, at the age of 13, he won the school's mathematical medal and first prize for both English and poetry.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Maxwell's interests ranged far beyond the school syllabus and he did not pay particular attention to examination performance. He wrote his first scientific paper at the age of 14. In it he described a mechanical means of drawing mathematical curves with a piece of twine, and the properties of ellipses, Cartesian ovals, and related curves with more than two foci. The work, of 1846, "On the description of oval curves and those having a plurality of foci" was presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh by James Forbes, a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, because Maxwell was deemed too young to present the work himself. The work was not entirely original, since René Descartes had also examined the properties of such multifocal ellipses in the 17th century, but Maxwell had simplified their construction.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: Maxwell left the Academy in 1847 at age 16 and began attending classes at the University of Edinburgh. He had the opportunity to attend the University of Cambridge, but decided, after his first term, to complete the full course of his undergraduate studies at Edinburgh. The academic staff of the university included some highly regarded names; his first year tutors included Sir William Hamilton, who lectured him on logic and metaphysics, Philip Kelland on mathematics, and James Forbes on natural philosophy. He did not find his classes demanding, and was therefore able to immerse himself in private study during free time at the university and particularly when back home at Glenlair. There he would experiment with improvised chemical, electric, and magnetic apparatus; however, his chief concerns regarded the properties of polarised light. He constructed shaped blocks of gelatine, subjected them to various stresses, and with a pair of polarising prisms given to him by William Nicol, viewed the coloured fringes that had developed within the jelly. Through this practice he discovered photoelasticity, which is a means of determining the stress distribution within physical structures.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: At age 18, Maxwell contributed two papers for the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. One of these, "On the Equilibrium of Elastic Solids", laid the foundation for an important discovery later in his life, which was the temporary double refraction produced in viscous liquids by shear stress. His other paper was "Rolling Curves" and, just as with the paper "Oval Curves" that he had written at the Edinburgh Academy, he was again considered too young to stand at the rostrum to present it himself. The paper was delivered to the Royal Society by his tutor Kelland instead.


title: James Clerk Maxwell

text: In October 1850, already an accomplished mathematician, Maxwell left Scotland for the University of Cambridge. He initially attended Peterhouse, but before the end of his first term transferred to Trinity, where he believed it would be easier to obtain a fellowship. At Trinity he was elected to the elite secret society known as the Cambridge Apostles. Maxwell's intellectual understanding of his Christian faith and of science grew rapidly during his Cambridge years. He joined the "Apostles", an exclusive debating society of the intellectual elite, where through his essays he sought to work out this understanding.