Miscellany

Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-09 14:27:40

2178) Doctor of Philosophy

Gist

The term PhD or Doctorate of Philosophy is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase 'philosophiae doctor'. A PhD degree typically involves students independently conducting original and significant research in a specific field or subject, before producing a publication-worthy thesis.

Summary

The term PhD or Doctorate of Philosophy is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase 'philosophiae doctor'.

A PhD degree typically involves students independently conducting original and significant research in a specific field or subject, before producing a publication-worthy thesis.

While some Doctorates include taught components, PhD students are almost always assessed on the quality and originality of the argument presented in their independent research project.

What are the most popular PhD subjects?

* clinical psychology
* law
* philosophy
* psychology
* economics
* creative writing
* education
* computer science
* engineering.

How long does a Doctorate degree take?

Full-time PhDs usually last for three or four years, while part-time PhDs can take up to six or seven. However, the thesis deadline can be extended by up to four years at the institution's discretion. Indeed, many students who enrol on three-year PhDs only finish their thesis in their fourth year.

While most PhD studentships begin in September or October, both funded and self-funded PhDs can be undertaken at any point during the year.

Do I need a Masters to do a PhD?

The majority of institutions require PhD candidates to possess a Masters degree, plus a Bachelors degree at 2:1 or above. However, some universities demand only the latter, while self-funded PhD students or those with significant professional experience may also be accepted with lower grades.

You may need to initially register for a one or two-year Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Master of Research (MRes) degree rather than a PhD. If you make sufficient progress, you and your work will then be 'upgraded' to a PhD programme. If not, you may be able to graduate with a Masters degree.

Details

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: philosophiae doctor or doctor philosophiae) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated PhD (or, at times, as Ph.D. in North America), pronounced as three separate letters.

The abbreviation DPhil, from the English "Doctor of Philosophy", is used by a small number of British universities, including the University of Oxford and formerly the University of York and University of Sussex in the United Kingdom.

PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Since it is an earned research degree, those studying for a PhD are required to produce original research that expands the boundaries of knowledge, normally in the form of a dissertation, and, in some cases, defend their work before a panel of other experts in the field. The completion of a PhD is typically required for employment as a university professor, researcher, or scientist in many fields.

Definition

In the context of the Doctor of Philosophy and other similarly titled degrees, the term "philosophy" does not refer to the field or academic discipline of philosophy, but is used in a broader sense in accordance with its original Greek meaning, which is "love of wisdom". In most of Europe, all fields (history, philosophy, social sciences, mathematics, and natural philosophy/sciences) other than theology, law, and medicine (the so-called professional, vocational, or technical curricula) were traditionally known as philosophy, and in Germany and elsewhere in Europe the basic faculty of liberal arts was known as the "faculty of philosophy".

A PhD candidate must submit a project, thesis, or dissertation often consisting of a body of original academic research, which is in principle worthy of publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In many countries, a candidate must defend this work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the university. Universities sometimes award other types of doctorate besides the PhD, such as the Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) for music performers, Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) for legal scholars and the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) for studies in education. In 2005 the European University Association defined the "Salzburg Principles", 10 basic principles for third-cycle degrees (doctorates) within the Bologna Process. These were followed in 2016 by the "Florence Principles", seven basic principles for doctorates in the arts laid out by the European League of Institutes of the Arts, which have been endorsed by the European Association of Conservatoires, the International Association of Film and Television Schools, the International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media, and the Society for Artistic Research.

The specific requirements to earn a PhD degree vary considerably according to the country, institution, and time period, from entry-level research degrees to higher doctorates. During the studies that lead to the degree, the student is called a doctoral student or PhD student; a student who has completed any necessary coursework and related examinations and is working on their thesis/dissertation is sometimes known as a doctoral candidate or PhD candidate. A student attaining this level may be granted a Candidate of Philosophy degree at some institutions or may be granted a master's degree en route to the doctoral degree. Sometimes this status is also colloquially known as "ABD", meaning "all but dissertation". PhD graduates may undertake a postdoc in the process of transitioning from study to academic tenure.

Individuals who have earned the Doctor of Philosophy degree use the title Doctor (often abbreviated "Dr" or "Dr."), although the etiquette associated with this usage may be subject to the professional ethics of the particular scholarly field, culture, or society. Those who teach at universities or work in academic, educational, or research fields are usually addressed by this title "professionally and socially in a salutation or conversation". Alternatively, holders may use post-nominal letters such as "Ph.D.", "PhD", or "DPhil", depending on the awarding institution. It is, however, traditionally considered incorrect to use both the title and post-nominals together, although usage in that regard has been evolving over time.

History

Medieval and early modern Europe

In the universities of Medieval Europe, study was organized in four faculties: the basic faculty of arts, and the three higher faculties of theology, medicine, and law (canon law and civil law). All of these faculties awarded intermediate degrees (bachelor of arts, of theology, of laws, of medicine) and final degrees. Initially, the titles of master and doctor were used interchangeably for the final degrees—the title Doctor was merely a formality bestowed on a Teacher/Master of the art—but by the late Middle Ages the terms Master of Arts and Doctor of Theology/Divinity, Doctor of Law, and Doctor of Medicine had become standard in most places (though in the German and Italian universities the term Doctor was used for all faculties).

The doctorates in the higher faculties were quite different from the current PhD degree in that they were awarded for advanced scholarship, not original research. No dissertation or original work was required, only lengthy residency requirements and examinations. Besides these degrees, there was the licentiate. Originally this was a license to teach, awarded shortly before the award of the master's or doctoral degree by the diocese in which the university was located, but later it evolved into an academic degree in its own right, in particular in the continental universities.

According to Keith Allan Noble (1994), the first doctoral degree was awarded in medieval Paris around 1150. The doctorate of philosophy developed in Germany as the terminal teacher's credential in the 17th century (circa 1652). There were no PhDs in Germany before the 1650s (when they gradually started replacing the MA as the highest academic degree; arguably, one of the earliest German PhD holders is Erhard Weigel (Dr. phil. hab., Leipzig, 1652).

The full course of studies might, for example, lead in succession to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Licentiate of Arts, Master of Arts, or Bachelor of Medicine, Licentiate of Medicine, or Doctor of Medicine, but before the early modern era, many exceptions to this existed. Most students left the university without becoming masters of arts, whereas regulars (members of monastic orders) could skip the arts faculty entirely.

Educational reforms in Germany

This situation changed in the early 19th century through the educational reforms in Germany, most strongly embodied in the model of the University of Berlin, founded in 1810 and controlled by the Prussian government. The arts faculty, which in Germany was labelled the faculty of philosophy, started demanding contributions to research, attested by a dissertation, for the award of their final degree, which was labelled Doctor of Philosophy (abbreviated as Ph.D.)—originally this was just the German equivalent of the Master of Arts degree. Whereas in the Middle Ages the arts faculty had a set curriculum, based upon the trivium and the quadrivium, by the 19th century it had come to house all the courses of study in subjects now commonly referred to as sciences and humanities. Professors across the humanities and sciences focused on their advanced research. Practically all the funding came from the central government, and it could be cut off if the professor was politically unacceptable.

These reforms proved extremely successful, and fairly quickly the German universities started attracting foreign students, notably from the United States. The American students would go to Germany to obtain a PhD after having studied for a bachelor's degree at an American college. So influential was this practice that it was imported to the United States, where in 1861 Yale University started granting the PhD degree to younger students who, after having obtained the bachelor's degree, had completed a prescribed course of graduate study and successfully defended a thesis or dissertation containing original research in science or in the humanities. In Germany, the name of the doctorate was adapted after the philosophy faculty started being split up − e.g. Dr. rer. nat. for doctorates in the faculty of natural sciences − but in most of the English-speaking world the name "Doctor of Philosophy" was retained for research doctorates in all disciplines.

The PhD degree and similar awards spread across Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The degree was introduced in France in 1808, replacing diplomas as the highest academic degree; into Russia in 1819, when the Doktor Nauk degree, roughly equivalent to a PhD, gradually started replacing the specialist diploma, roughly equivalent to the MA, as the highest academic degree; and in Italy in 1927, when PhDs gradually started replacing the Laurea as the highest academic degree.

History in the United Kingdom

Research degrees first appeared in the UK in the late 19th century in the shape of the Doctor of Science (DSc or ScD) and other such "higher doctorates". The University of London introduced the DSc in 1860, but as an advanced study course, following on directly from the BSc, rather than a research degree. The first higher doctorate in the modern sense was Durham University's DSc, introduced in 1882.

This was soon followed by other universities, including the University of Cambridge establishing its ScD in the same year and the University of London transforming its DSc into a research degree in 1885. These were, however, very advanced degrees, rather than research-training degrees at the PhD level. Harold Jeffreys said that getting a Cambridge ScD was "more or less equivalent to being proposed for the Royal Society."

In 1917, the current PhD degree was introduced, along the lines of the American and German model, and quickly became popular with both British and foreign students. The slightly older degrees of Doctor of Science and Doctor of Literature/Letters still exist at British universities; together with the much older degrees of Doctor of Divinity (DD), Doctor of Music (DMus), Doctor of Civil Law (DCL), and Doctor of Medicine (MD), they form the higher doctorates, but apart from honorary degrees, they are only infrequently awarded.

In English (but not Scottish) universities, the Faculty of Arts had become dominant by the early 19th century. Indeed, the higher faculties had largely atrophied, since medical training had shifted to teaching hospitals, the legal training for the common law system was provided by the Inns of Court (with some minor exceptions, see Doctors' Commons), and few students undertook formal study in theology. This contrasted with the situation in the continental European universities at the time, where the preparatory role of the Faculty of Philosophy or Arts was to a great extent taken over by secondary education: in modern France, the Baccalauréat is the examination taken at the end of secondary studies. The reforms at the Humboldt University transformed the Faculty of Philosophy or Arts (and its more recent successors such as the Faculty of Sciences) from a lower faculty into one on a par with the Faculties of Law and Medicine.

Similar developments occurred in many other continental European universities, and at least until reforms in the early 21st century, many European countries (e.g., Belgium, Spain, and the Scandinavian countries) had in all faculties triple degree structures of bachelor (or candidate) − licentiate − doctor as opposed to bachelor − master − doctor; the meaning of the different degrees varied from country to country, however. To this day, this is also still the case for the pontifical degrees in theology and canon law; for instance, in sacred theology, the degrees are Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB), Licentiate of Sacred Theology (STL), and Doctor of Sacred Theology (STD), and in canon law: Bachelor of Canon Law (JCB), Licentiate of Canon Law (JCL), and Doctor of Canon Law (JCD).

History in the United States

Until the mid-19th century, advanced degrees were not a criterion for professorships at most colleges. That began to change as the more ambitious scholars at major schools went to Germany for one to three years to obtain a PhD in the sciences or humanities. Graduate schools slowly emerged in the United States. Although honorary PhDs had been awarded in the United States beginning in the early 19th century, the first earned PhD in the nation was at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, which awarded the nation's first doctorate in 1852 to Ebenezer Newton Elliott. Nine years later, in 1861, Yale University awarded three PhDs to Eugene Schuyler, Arthur Williams Wright, and James Morris Whiton. although honorary PhDs had been awarded in the U.S. for almost a decade.

Over the following two decades, Harvard University, New York University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania, also began granting the degree. Major shifts toward graduate education were foretold by the opening of Clark University in 1887 which offered only graduate programs and the Johns Hopkins University which focused on its PhD program. By the 1890s, Harvard, Columbia, Michigan and Wisconsin were building major graduate programs, whose alumni were hired by new research universities. By 1900, 300 PhDs were awarded annually, most of them by six universities. It was no longer necessary to study in Germany. However, half of the institutions awarding earned PhDs in 1899 were undergraduate institutions that granted the degree for work done away from campus. Degrees awarded by universities without legitimate PhD programs accounted for about a third of the 382 doctorates recorded by the US Department of Education in 1900, of which another 8–10% were honorary.

At the start of the 20th century, U.S. universities were held in low regard internationally and many American students were still traveling to Europe for PhDs. The lack of centralised authority meant anyone could start a university and award PhDs. This led to the formation of the Association of American Universities by 14 leading research universities (producing nearly 90% of the approximately 250 legitimate research doctorates awarded in 1900), with one of the main goals being to "raise the opinion entertained abroad of our own Doctor's Degree."

In Germany, the national government funded the universities and the research programs of the leading professors. It was impossible for professors who were not approved by Berlin to train graduate students. In the United States, by contrast, private universities and state universities alike were independent of the federal government. Independence was high, but funding was low. The breakthrough came from private foundations, which began regularly supporting research in science and history; large corporations sometimes supported engineering programs. The postdoctoral fellowship was established by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1919. Meanwhile, the leading universities, in cooperation with the learned societies, set up a network of scholarly journals. "Publish or perish" became the formula for faculty advancement in the research universities. After World War II, state universities across the country expanded greatly in undergraduate enrollment, and eagerly added research programs leading to masters or doctorate degrees. Their graduate faculties had to have a suitable record of publication and research grants. Late in the 20th century, "publish or perish" became increasingly important in colleges and smaller universities.

Requirements

Detailed requirements for the award of a PhD degree vary throughout the world and even from school to school. It is usually required for the student to hold an Honours degree or a Master's degree with high academic standing, in order to be considered for a PhD program. In the US, Canada, India, and Denmark, for example, many universities require coursework in addition to research for PhD degrees. In other countries (such as the UK) there is generally no such condition, though this varies by university and field. Some individual universities or departments specify additional requirements for students not already in possession of a bachelor's degree or equivalent or higher. In order to submit a successful PhD admission application, copies of academic transcripts, letters of recommendation, a research proposal, and a personal statement are often required. Most universities also invite for a special interview before admission.

A candidate must submit a project, thesis, or dissertation often consisting of a body of original academic research, which is in principle worthy of publication in a peer-reviewed context. Moreover, some PhD programs, especially in science, require one to three published articles in peer-reviewed journals. In many countries, a candidate must defend this work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the university; this defense is open to the public in some countries, and held in private in others; in other countries, the dissertation is examined by a panel of expert examiners who stipulate whether the dissertation is in principle passable and any issues that need to be addressed before the dissertation can be passed.

Some universities in the non-English-speaking world have begun adopting similar standards to those of the anglophone PhD degree for their research doctorates.

A PhD student or candidate is conventionally required to study on campus under close supervision. With the popularity of distance education and e-learning technologies, some universities now accept students enrolled into a distance education part-time mode.

In a "sandwich PhD" program, PhD candidates do not spend their entire study period at the same university. Instead, the PhD candidates spend the first and last periods of the program at their home universities and in between conduct research at another institution or field research. Occasionally a "sandwich PhD" will be awarded by two universities.

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Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-10 15:40:50

2179) Master of Laws

Gist

The Master of Laws (LL. M.) is an internationally recognised postgraduate degree generally acquired after one year of full-time legal studies. Law students and professionals typically pursue a LL. M. to deepen their legal expertise and to enhance their career prospects.

Summary

The Master of Laws (LLM) is the flagship degree in the world-renowned Melbourne Law Masters program, offering students a choice of over 170 subjects across dozens of specialist legal areas.

It’s available only for law graduates and the flexible structure makes it ideal for working professionals looking to immerse themselves in selected areas of the law.

As an LLM student, you can choose from all subjects available in the Melbourne Law Masters program, allowing you to tailor the degree to suit your professional aspirations and personal interests. You can also choose to undertake the degree as a combination of coursework and a minor thesis.

The UNSW Master of Laws (LLM) is a one-year full-time postgraduate degree that offers you the opportunity to develop an advanced and contemporary understanding of one or more areas of legal study, acquire further expertise and enhance your career prospects.

You can choose from eight specialisation areas that reflect UNSW Law & Justice’s expertise and the latest developments in legal scholarship. Our LLM areas of specialisation include:

* Chinese International Business & Economic Law
* Corporate, Commercial & Taxation Law
* Criminal Justice & Criminology
* Dispute Resolution
* Environmental Law & Sustainable Development
* Human Rights Law & Policy
* International Law
* Media, Intellectual Property & Technology Law

Alternatively, you can complete a generalist program and benefit from choosing courses across our specialisations.

Details

A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: Magister Legum or Legum Magister) is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In most jurisdictions, the LL.M. is the advanced professional degree for those usually already admitted into legal practice.

Definition

To become a lawyer and practice law in most states and countries, a person must first obtain a law degree. In most common law countries, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) is required. In the United States, the Juris Doctor (J.D.) is generally a requirement to practice law. Some jurisdictions, such as Canada and Australia, require either an LL.B. or J.D. Individuals with law degrees must typically pass an additional set of examinations to qualify as a lawyer.

The LL.M. program is a postgraduate program, typically for individuals who either possess a law degree or have qualified as a lawyer. The word legum is the genitive plural form of the Latin word lex and means "of the laws". When used in the plural, it signifies a specific body of laws, as opposed to the general collective concept embodied in the word jus, from which the words "juris" and "justice" derive.

An LL.M. is also typically a requirement for entry into the research doctoral programs in law, such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D or J.S.D.), the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D. or DPhil) or doctorat en droit (in France), Doktor der Rechtswissenschaften (Dr. iur.) (in Germany), the Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.), and the Doctor of Laws" (LL.D.).

Historically, the LL.M. degree is an element particular to the education system of English speaking countries, which is based on a distinction between bachelor's and master's degrees. Over the past years, however, specialized LL.M. programs have been introduced in many European countries.

Types of LL.M. degrees

A wide range of LL.M. programs are available worldwide, allowing students to focus on almost any area of the law. Most universities offer only a small number of LL.M. programs. One of the most popular LL.M. degrees in the United States is in tax law, sometimes referred to as an MLT (Master of Laws in Taxation).

In Europe, LL.M. programs in European law are popular, often referred to as LL.M. Eur (Master of European Law).

In the Netherlands and its former colonies, the title used was Meester in de Rechten (mr.). This title is still widely used in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium), especially by those who studied Dutch or Belgian law respectively.

Some LL.M. programs, particularly in the United States, and also in China, focus on teaching foreign lawyers the basic legal principles of the host country.

The length of time to study an LLM program depends on the mode of study. Most full-time on-campus courses take one academic year to complete. Other students may complete their LLM program on a part-time basis over two years, and increasingly courses are available online. Part-time online courses can take between two and five years to complete.

Requirements

LL.M. programs are usually only open to those students who have first obtained a degree in law, typically an LL.B. or J.D. Some programs are exceptions to this, requiring only an undergraduate degree or extensive experience in a related field. Full-time LL.M. programs usually last one year and vary in their graduation requirements. Most programs require or allow students to write a thesis. Some programs are research oriented with little classroom time, while others require students to take a set number of classes.

LL.M. degrees are often earned by students wishing to develop more concentrated expertise in a particular area of law. Pursuing an LL.M. degree may also allow law students to build a professional network. Some associations provide LL.M. degree holders with structures designed to strengthen their connections among peers and to access a competitive business environment, much like an MBA degree.

LL.M. programs by country:

Australia

In Australia, the LL.M. is generally only open to law graduates. However, some universities permit non-law graduates to undertake variants of the degree. There are nearly 100 LLM courses in Australia across 25 institutions taught in English.

Unique variants of the LL.M. exist, such as the Master of Legal Practice (M.L.P.) available at the Australian National University, where students who have completed the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice (which law graduates must obtain before being able to be admitted as a solicitor/barrister), will be granted some credit towards the Master qualification. Other variants of the LL.M. are more similar to the LL.M. available in the wider Commonwealth but under a different title, for example Master of Commercial Law, Master of International Law or Master of Human Rights Law. These courses are usually more specialised than a standard LL.M.

Canada

In Canada, the LL.M. is generally open to law graduates holding an LL.B., LL.L., B.C.L., or a J.D. as a first degree. Students can choose to take research-based LL.M. degrees or course-based LL.M. degrees. Research-based LL.M. degrees are one- or two-year programs that require students to write a thesis that makes a significant contribution to their field of research. Course-based LL.M. degrees do not require a significant research paper. An LL.M. can be studied part-time, and at some schools, through distance learning. LL.M. degrees can be general, or students can choose to pursue a specialized area of research.

Foreign trained lawyers who wish to practice in Canada will first need to have their education and experience assessed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada's National Committee on Accreditation. Upon having received a certificate of accreditation from the National Committee on Accreditation, foreign law graduates would then have to obtain articles with a law firm, take the professional legal training course, and pass the professional exams to be called to the bar in a province. The University of British Columbia's LLM in Common Law is an example of one of a few LLM courses that help to prepare students for the professional exams.

China (Mainland)

The LL.M. is available at China University of Political Science and Law, and the entrance requirements are: native English competency, or near native English, with any bachelor's degree. The program is flexible and allows students to study Mandarin and assists with organizing work experience in Beijing and other cities in China. It normally takes two years, but can be completed in one and a half years if students take the required credits in time.

The flagship of the China-EU School of Law (CESL) in Beijing is a Double Master Programme including a Master of Chinese Law and a Master of European and International Law. The Master of European and International Law is taught in English, open for international students and can be studied as a single master programme. CESL also offers an International Master of Chinese Law (IMCL) which is an LL.M. in Chinese law taught entirely in English.

Beijing Foreign Studies University has launched an online LLM for international professionals. The course is taken over two years, with the first covering online lessons through video and assignments, the second year is for the dissertation and an online defense is required at the end. Students are required to attend Beijing for an introductory week in September to enroll and meet students and staff. Students also have the opportunity to take work experience at a top five law firm in China.

LL.M degree programs are available at many other universities in Mainland China, such as at Peking University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Shanghai International Studies University.

Finland

In Finland, an LL.M. is the standard graduate degree required to practice law. No other qualifications are required.

France

In France, the LL.M. is in English. The LL.M. in International Business Law is available at Panthéon-Assas University (Paris), the oldest school of law in France.

The entrance requirements are:

* Very good English level, with master's degree in law (or equivalent); or
* Alternative diploma and four years' professional experience.

The course is flexible and allows students to study French.

A further 11 institutions in France offer almost 20 other LLM programs taught in English, with specialisms including European Law.

Germany

In Germany, the LL.M. is seen as an advanced legal qualification of supplementary character. Some graduates choose to undertake their LL.M. directly following their "Erstes Juristisches Staatsexamen" (the "first state examination", which constitutes the first stage of the official German legal training), an alternative postgraduate course, or their "Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen" (that is, the second and final stage of the official German legal training).

Hong Kong

LL.M. degree programmes are offered by the law faculties of The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong. An LL.B. degree is usually required for admission, but for some specialised programmes, such as the LL.M. in Human Rights programme offered by HKU, require an undergraduate degree in laws or any related discipline.

India

Similar to the United Kingdom, a master's degree in law in India is basically opted to specialize in particular areas of law. Traditionally the most popular areas of specialization in these master's degrees in law in India have been constitutional law, family law and taxation law.

With the establishment of the specialized autonomous law schools in India in 1987 (the first was the National Law School of India University) much emphasis is being given at the master's level of legal education in India. With the establishment of these universities, focus in specialization has been shifted to newer areas such as corporate law, intellectual property law, international trade law etc. LL.M programs in India were previously two years in duration but presently typically last one year.

Ireland

A number of universities and colleges in Ireland offer LL.M. programs, such as Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM), the Law Society of Ireland in partnership with Northumbria University, and Griffith College.

University College Dublin also offers the Masters in Common Law (MCL/ Magisterii in Jure Communi, M.Jur.Com), an advanced two-year programme for non-law graduates. The degree is a qualifying law degree for admittance to the entrance exams of the Honorable Society of King's Inns.

Italy

Italy offers both master programs in Italian and in English, depending on the school. They are often called "laurea specialistica", that is, the second step of the Bologna plan (European curriculum), and in this case they last two years. For example, the University of Milan offers a 2 years LLM on Sustainable Development. In South Tyrol programmes are also taught in German, as in Bolzano.

In Italy the term "master" often refers to a vocational master, 6 or 12 months long, on specific areas, such as "law and internet security", or "law of administrative management", is often taught part-time to allow professionals already working in the field to improve their skills.

Mauritius

The LLM in International Business Law from Panthéon-Assas University is also available in Mauritius in Medine Village campus.

Netherlands

To be allowed to practice law in the Netherlands, one needs an LL.M. degree with a specific set of courses in litigation law. The Dutch Order of Lawyers (NOVA) require these courses for every potential candidate lawyer who wants to be conditionally written in the district court for three years. After receiving all the diplomas prescribed by NOVA and under supervision of a "patron", a lawyer is eligible to have his own practice and is unconditionally written in a court for life.

Norway

The Norwegian legal degrees master i rettsvitenskap (English for master in jurisprudence) are officially translated to English as Master of Laws (LL.M.), as these degrees are more comprehensive than the basic graduate law degree in common law countries (e.g., J.D. and LL.B). The last year in the five-year professional Norwegian law degree program is thus considered to correspond to a LL.M specialization. In addition, the universities with legal faculties at the masters level offers several LL.M programmes. For example, Universitetet i Oslo offers tuition-free LL.M courses in Public International Law, Maritime Law, Information and Communication Technology (ICT Law), as well as distinct specializations in human rights.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, the University of the Punjab, University of Karachi, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Government College University, Faisalabad, University of Sargodha are LL.M. degree awarding institutions. Completing a LL.M. qualification in Pakistan consists of studying eight subjects in four semesters. This spans over a period of two years and also requires the student to write a thesis on a proposed topic. A student has to pass in each of the subject in order to qualify for LL.M. degree, and the passing mark is set at 60%. The program is taught in English.

Universities in Pakistan teach comparative constitutional law, comparative human rights law and comparative jurisprudence as mandatory subjects. The programs also include research methodology and four elective subjects, which may include company law, taxation law, intellectual property law and banking law.

Portugal

The Master of Laws programmes offered in Portugal are extremely varied but do not, for the most part, use the designation LL.M., being more commonly called Mestrado em Direito (Master's Degree in Law), like the ones at Coimbra University's Faculty of Law and Lusíada University of Porto. Although the classical Mestrado em Direito takes two years to finish and involves a dissertation, there are some shorter variants. A few Mestrados with an international theme have specifically adopted the LL.M designation: the LL.M in European and Transglobal Business Law at the School of Law of the University of Minho and the LL.M. Law in a European and Global Context and the Advanced LL.M. in International Business Law, both at the Católica Global School of Law, in Lisbon.

Singapore

In Singapore, the LL.M. is in English. The LL.M. in International Business Law from Panthéon-Assas University is also available in Singapore in Insead campus.

South Africa

In South Africa, the LL.M. is a postgraduate degree offered both as a course-based and research-based master's degree. In the former case, the degree comprises advanced coursework in a specific area of law as well as limited related research, usually in the form of a short dissertation, while in the latter, the degree is entirely thesis based. The first type, typically, comprises "practice-oriented" topics (e.g. in tax, mining law), while the second type is theory-oriented, often preparing students for admission to LL.D. or Ph.D. programmes. Admission is generally limited to LL.B. graduates, although holders of other law degrees, such as the BProc, may be able to apply if admitted as attorneys and/or by completing supplementary LL.B. coursework.

Sweden

Masters degree (LL.M) is the standard graduate degree among law practitioners in Sweden. The masters programme takes four and half years to complete. At most universities, the last one and a half years are specialization at advanced level (advanced level courses and thesis). It is possible to get a bachelor's degree after three years, but the vast majority of legal practitioners in Sweden have a LL.M.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, law can be studied as a postgraduate degree resulting in an LL.M. Some LL.M. programs in Taiwan are offered to students with or without a legal background. However, the graduation requirements for students with a legal background are lower than for those students who do not have a legal background (to account for fundamental legal subjects that were taken during undergraduate studies). Students studying in an LL.M. program normally take three years to earn the necessary credits and finish a master's thesis.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, an LL.M. programme is open to those holding a recognised legal qualification, generally an undergraduate degree in Laws or equivalent. They do not have to be or intend to be legal practitioners. An LL.M. is not required, nor is it a sufficient qualification in itself to practise as a solicitor or barrister, since this requires completion of the Legal Practice Course, Bar Professional Training Course, or, if in Scotland, the Diploma in Legal Practice. As with other degrees, an LL.M. can be studied on a part-time basis at many institutions and in some circumstances by distance learning. Some providers of the Bar Professional Training Course and the Legal Practice Course also allow the student to gain an LL.M. qualification on top of these professional courses by writing a dissertation.

The UK offers over 1000 different LL.Ms. Large law faculties such as Queen Mary University of London offer multiple different programs, whilst other such as Aston University simply offer one program. Some institutions allow those without a first degree in law onto their LL.M. programme. Examples of such programmes include the Master of Studies in Legal Research at Oxford, the LL.M. degrees at the University of Edinburgh and LL.M.s at the University of Leicester. In addition, Queen's University Belfast offers an LL.M. suite, accessible to legal and social science graduates, leading to specialisms in sustainable development, corporate governance, devolution or human rights. Northumbria University offers an approach to the LL.M. qualification by starting the master's programme as undergraduates. Students completing this four-year programme graduate with a combined LL.M. and Legal Practice Course professional qualification or BPTC.

Oxbridge

The University of Cambridge has a taught postgraduate law course, which formerly conferred an LL.B. on successful candidates (undergraduates studying law at Cambridge received a B.A.). In 1982 the LL.B. for postgraduate students was replaced with a more conventional LL.M. to avoid confusion with undergraduate degrees in other universities. Additionally in 2012 the University of Cambridge introduced the M.C.L. (Masters of Corporate Law) aimed at postgraduate students with interests in corporate law.

The University of Oxford unconventionally names its taught masters of laws B.C.L. (Bachelor of Civil Law) and M.Jur. (Magister Juris), and its research masters either MPhil (Master of Philosophy) or MSt (Master of Studies).[33] Oxford continues to name its principal postgraduate law degree the B.C.L. for largely historic reasons, as the B.C.L. is one of the oldest and most senior degrees, having been conferred since the sixteenth century. The M.Jur. was introduced in 1991. At present there is no LL.M. degree conferred by the university. Oxford claims that the B.C.L. is "the most highly regarded taught masters-level qualification in the common law world". Additionally, the University of Oxford introduced the MSc in Law and Finance (MLF) and the MSc in Taxation in 2010 and 2016, respectively.

United States

In the United States, the acquisition of an LL.M. degree is often a way to specialize in an area of law such as tax law, business law, international business law, health law, trial advocacy, environmental law or intellectual property. A number of schools have combined J.D.-LL.M. programs, while others offer the degree through online study. Some LL.M. programs feature a general study of American law. Degree requirements vary by school, and they often differ for LL.M. students who previously earned a J.D. from an American law school and LL.M. students who previously earned a law degree from a non-American law school.

Programs for foreign legal graduates

An LL.M. degree from an ABA-approved law school also allows a foreign lawyer to become eligible to apply for admission to the bar in certain states. Each state has different rules relating to the admittance of foreign-educated lawyers to state bar associations.

An LL.M. degree from an ABA-approved law school qualifies a foreign legal graduate to take the bar exam in Alabama, California, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, as well as in the independent republic of Palau.

In addition, legal practice in the home jurisdiction plus a certain amount of coursework at an accredited law school qualifies a foreign legal graduate to take the bar exam in Alaska, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. However, a number of states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and North Carolina only recognize J.D. degrees from accredited law schools as qualification to take the bar.

New York allows foreign lawyers from civil law countries to sit for the New York bar exam once they have completed a minimum of 24 credit hours (usually but not necessarily in an LL.M. program) at an ABA-approved law school involving at least two basic subjects tested on the New York bar exam, including 12 credits in specific areas of law. Lawyers from common-law countries face more lenient restrictions and may not need to study at an ABA-approved law school. Foreign lawyers from both civil law and common law jurisdictions, however, are required to demonstrate that they have successfully completed a course of law studies of at least three years that would fulfill the educational requirements to bar admission in their home country.

International law and other LL.M. programs

As of 2008, there is one LL.M. degree in International Law offered by The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, the oldest school of international affairs in the United States. Given that the degree specializes in international law, the program has not sought ABA accreditation.

The Notre Dame Law School at the University of Notre Dame offers an LL.M in International Human Rights Law to JD graduates from ABA-accredited US schools or LL.B or equivalent from accredited non-US schools.

Both Duke University School of Law and Cornell Law School offer J.D. students the opportunity to simultaneously pursue an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law provides an LL.M. in Space, Cyber & Telecommunications Law, the only program providing focused study in these three areas. The program was established using a grant from NASA and a partnership with the U.S. Air Force Strategic Command.

St. Mary's University offers the LL.M. in International and Comparative Law, with students having the option to complete both it and their J.D. simultaneously.

The University of Tulsa College of Law offers an LL.M. in American Indian and Indigenous Peoples Law to JD graduates from ABA-accredited US schools or LL.B or equivalent from accredited non-US schools.

The University of Washington School of Law offers an LL.M. in Sustainable International Development, the first program of its kind to focus on international development law. LL.M. students in this program are also able to elect for a concentration in Indigenous Rights Law. Similarly, the school offers a separate LL.M. degree in Asian and Comparative Law.

There is one institution that offers an ABA-approved LL.M, that does not offer a J.D. degree: The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School offers an officer's resident graduate course, a specialized program beyond the first degree in law, leading to an LL.M. in Military Law.

Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-11 13:30:00

2180) International Space Station

Details

The International Space Station Program brings together international flight crews, multiple launch vehicles, globally distributed launch and flight operations, training, engineering, and development facilities, communications networks, and the international scientific research community.

Overview

The Space Station was officially given approval by President Reagan and a budget approved by the US Congress in 1984. NASA Administrator James Beggs immediately set out to find international partners who would cooperate on the program. Canadians, Japanese and many nations of the European Space Agency began to participate in the program soon after.

The Station was designed between 1984 and 1993. Elements of the Station were in construction throughout the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe beginning in the late 1980s.

In 1993, as the Station was undergoing a redesign, the Russians were invited to participate.

Agreement was made to proceed in two phases. During the first phase, NASA Space Shuttles would carry astronauts and cosmonauts to the Russian Mir Orbital Station. The US would help to modify two Russian-built modules to house US and international experiments and to establish working processes between the participating nations. During Phase 2, led by the US and Russia, all of the participating nations would contribute elements and crewmembers to a new International Space Station (ISS).

Phase 1, called NASA-Mir, took place between 1995 and 1998. Eleven Space Shuttle launches went to Mir with the last ten docking to Mir and astronauts and cosmonauts transferring between the two vehicles. Two new Russian modules, Spektr and Priroda were launched, became part of Mir, and housed dozens of US payloads and seven US astronauts.

In Phase 2, the elements of the new ISS were launched beginning in 1998.

Five partner agencies, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the State Space Corporation “Roscosmos”, operate the International Space Station, with each partner responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides. The station was designed from the outset to be interdependent and relies on contributions from across the partnership to function. The International Space Station (ISS) is the unique blend of unified and diversified goals among the world’s space agencies that will lead to improvements in life on Earth for all people of all nations. While the various space agency partners may emphasize different aspects of research to achieve their goals in the use of the ISS, they are unified in several important overarching goals. All of the agencies recognize the importance of leveraging the ISS as an education platform to encourage and motivate today’s youth to pursue careers in math, science, engineering, and technology (STEM): educating the children of today to be the leaders and space explorers of tomorrow. All the agencies are unified in their goals to apply knowledge gained through ISS research in human physiology, radiation, materials science, engineering, biology, fluid physics, and technology: enabling future space exploration missions.

The ISS program’s greatest accomplishment is as much a human achievement as a technological one. The global partnership of space agencies exemplifies meshing of cultural differences and political intricacies to plan, coordinate, provide, and operate the complex elements of the ISS. The program also brings together international flight crews and globally distributed launch, operations, training, engineering, communications networks, and scientific research communities.

Although the primary Mission Control centers are in the US and Russia, several ancillary control centers in Canada, Japan, and Europe also have a role in managing each nation’s elements and crew members.

The intended life span of ISS has been extended several times. Since several elements are now beyond their originally intended lifespans, analyses are conducted periodically to ensure the Station is safe for continued habitation and operation. Much of the Station is modular and so as parts and systems wear out, new parts are launched to replace or augment the original. The ISS will continue to be a working laboratory and outpost in orbit until at least 2030.

How it All Began

The idea of living in space was the very first step towards a space station. The first person to write about living and traveling in space was the noted renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler in the early 1600s. He was the first to realize that planets were worlds, that there was space between the planets and he wrote that one day people would travel through space.

In the 1860s, Edward Everett Hale wrote the “Brick Moon” which was published in the Atlantic Weekly magazine. The Brick Moon had many of the characteristics of a space station; it was a man-made structure that orbited Earth and provided housing and life support for its crew while serving as a navigation aid for people on Earth.

Others, like the Russian theoretician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky were thinking about designs for space stations that could use sunlight for power and that would serve as miniature Earths, with growth of vegetation in the interior.

The first details of the engineering, design and construction of a space station were described by Herman Noordung, in 1928. He described a “wohnrad” or “living wheel“; a wheel shaped rotating space station. He reasoned that the rotation would be required to create artificial gravity for the crewmembers. He described how it would be assembled first on the ground for testing and then its individual parts launched by rocket for reassembly in orbit.

math Ley wrote about life in a space station in 1952. “When man first takes up residence in space, it will be within the spinning hull of a wheel-shaped space station [revolving] around the earth much as the moon does. Life will be cramped and complicated for space dwellers; they will exist under conditions comparable to those in a modem submarine…it will be a self-contained community in which all man’s needs, from air-conditioning to artificial gravity, have been supplied.” [Ley and Chesley Bonestell in The Conquest of Space, Viking Press.] Their ideas went nationwide in Collier’s Magazine and on the Walt Disney television program.

The US government began to develop space station concepts in the 1950s. One of the early concepts was the US Army Project Horizon modular orbital station which would serve to house crews and refuel spacecraft on their way to a moon base. In the early 1960s, NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center in Houston) elaborated on the requirements for a station and they patented the concept. Concepts for the first US space station, which would later become known as Skylab, started about this time.

Almost simultaneously, the Soviet Union planned a super rocket launcher that would orbit a large space station. The rocket, designated the N-1, would also be pressed into service for the Soviet manned Moon landing program. But test launches beginning in 1969 proved unsuccessful and so the Soviets turned their attention to smaller stations which could be launched by their most powerful functioning rocket, the Proton.

Assembly

The ISS components were built in various countries around the world, with each piece performing once connected in space, a testament to the teamwork and cultural coordination.

Like a Lego set, each piece of the ISS was launched and assembled in space, using complex robotics systems and humans in spacesuits connecting fluid lines and electrical wires.

The ISS is the largest humanmade object ever to orbit Earth. ISS has a pressurized volume of approximately 900 m3 (31,000 ft^3) and a mass over 400,000 kg (900,000 lbs). Actual numbers vary as logistics resupply vehicles come and go on a frequent and regular basis.

The ISS solar arrays cover an area of 2,247 m^2 (24,187 ft^2) and can generate 735,000 kW-hours of electrical power per year.

The ISS structure measures 109 m (358 ft) (across arrays) by 51 m (168 ft) (module length from the forward end of PMA2 to the aft end of the SM).

ISS orbits at an altitude of between 370–460 km (200–250 nmi). Its falls towards Earth continually due to atmospheric friction and requires periodic rocket firings to boost the orbit. The ISS orbital inclination is 51.6°, permitting ISS to fly over 90% of the inhabited Earth.

ISS carries a crew of between 3 and 13 depending on then number of people and passenger vehicles during handover periods, It continually hosts a crew of seven.

Building the ISS required 36 Space Shuttle assembly flights and 6 Russian Proton and Soyuz rocket launches. More launches are continuing as new modules are completed and ready to become part of the orbiting complex.

Logistics, resupply and crew exchange have been provided by a number of vehicles including the
Space Shuttle, Russian Progress and Soyuz, Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and commercial Dragon, Cygnus and Starliner vehicles.

Additional Information

The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station assembled and maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). The ISS is the largest space station ever built. Its primary purpose is to perform microgravity and space environment experiments.

Operationally, the station is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) assembled by Roscosmos, and the US Orbital Segment, assembled by NASA, JAXA, ESA and CSA. A striking feature of the ISS is the Integrated Truss Structure, which connects the large solar panels and radiators to the pressurized modules. The pressurized modules are specialized for research, habitation, storage, spacecraft control, and airlock functions. Visiting spacecraft dock at the station via its eight docking and berthing ports. The ISS maintains an orbit with an average altitude of 400 kilometres (250 mi) and circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.

The ISS programme combines two prior plans to construct crewed Earth-orbiting stations: Space Station Freedom planned by the United States, and the Mir-2 station, planned by the Soviet Union. The first ISS module was launched in 1998. Major modules have been launched by Proton and Soyuz rockets and by the Space Shuttle launch system. The first long-term residents, Expedition 1, arrived on November 2, 2000. Since then, the station has been continuously occupied for 23 years and 223 days, the longest continuous human presence in space. As of March 2024, 279 individuals from 22 countries have visited the space station. The ISS is expected to have additional modules (the Axiom Orbital Segment, for example) before being de-orbited by a dedicated NASA spacecraft in January 2031.

More Details

International Space Station (ISS), space station assembled in low Earth orbit largely by the United States and Russia, with assistance and components from a multinational consortium.

The project, which began as an American effort, was long delayed by funding and technical problems. Originally called Freedom in the 1980s by U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan, who authorized the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to build it within 10 years, it was redesigned in the 1990s to reduce costs and expand international involvement, at which time it was renamed. In 1993 the United States and Russia agreed to merge their separate space station plans into a single facility, integrating their respective modules and incorporating contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan.

Assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) began with the launches of the Russian control module Zarya on November 20, 1998, and the U.S.-built Unity connecting node the following month, which were linked in orbit by U.S. space shuttle astronauts. In mid-2000 the Russian-built module Zvezda, a habitat and control center, was added, and on November 2 of that year the ISS received its first resident crew, comprising Russian cosmonauts Sergey Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko and American astronaut William Shepherd, who flew up in a Soyuz spacecraft. The ISS has been continuously occupied since then. A NASA microgravity laboratory called Destiny and other elements were subsequently joined to the station, with the overall plan calling for the assembly, over a period of several years, of a complex of laboratories and habitats crossed by a long truss supporting four units that held large solar-power arrays and thermal radiators. Aside from the United States and Russia, station construction involved Canada, Japan, and 11 ESA members. Russian modules were carried into space by Russian expendable launch vehicles, after which they automatically rendezvoused with and docked to the ISS. Other elements were ferried up by space shuttle and assembled in orbit during space walks. During ISS construction, both shuttles and Russian Soyuz spacecraft transported people to and from the station, and a Soyuz remained docked to the ISS at all times as a “lifeboat.”

After the shuttle resumed regular flights in 2006, the ISS crew size was increased to three. Construction resumed in September of that year, with the addition of a pair of solar wings and a thermal radiator. The European-built American node, Harmony, was placed on the end of Destiny in October 2007. Harmony has a docking port for the space shuttle and connecting ports for a European laboratory, Columbus, and a Japanese laboratory, Kibo. In February 2008 Columbus was mounted on Harmony’s starboard side. Columbus was Europe’s first long-duration crewed space laboratory and contained experiments in such fields as biology and fluid dynamics. In the following month an improved variant of the Ariane V rocket launched Europe’s heaviest spacecraft, the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which carried 7,700 kg (17,000 pounds) of supplies to the ISS. Also in March shuttle astronauts brought the Canadian robot, Dextre, which was so sophisticated that it would be able to perform tasks that previously would have required astronauts to make space walks, and the first part of Kibo. In June 2008 the main part of Kibo was installed.

The ISS became fully operational in May 2009 when it began hosting a six-person crew; this required two Soyuz lifeboats to be docked with the ISS at all times. The six-person crew typically consisted of three Russians, two Americans, and one astronaut from either Japan, Canada, or the ESA. An external platform was attached to the far end of Kibo in July, and a Russian docking port and airlock, Poisk, was attached to the Zvezda module in November. A third node, Tranquility, was installed in 2010, and mounted on this was a cupola, whose robotic workstation and many windows enabled astronauts to supervise external operations.

After completion of the ISS, the shuttle was retired from service in 2011. Thereafter, the ISS was serviced by Russia’s Progress, Europe’s ATV, Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle, and two commercial cargo vehicles, SpaceX’s Dragon and Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus. A new American crew capsule, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, had its first flight to the ISS in 2020, and the Boeing Company’s CST-100 Starliner was scheduled to have its first crewed test flight in 2024. Prior to Crew Dragon, all astronauts used Soyuz spacecraft to reach the ISS. Crew Dragon carried four astronauts to the station, and the ISS was then able to accommodate a crew of seven. A Russian science module, Nauka, was added to the station in 2021.

More than 200 astronauts from 20 different countries have visited the ISS. Astronauts typically stay on the ISS for about six months. The return of a Soyuz to Earth marks the end of an ISS Expedition, and the command of the ISS is transferred to another astronaut.

However, a few astronauts have spent much longer times on the ISS. On a special mission called “A Year in Space,” Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and American astronaut Scott Kelly spent 340 days in orbit from March 2015 to March 2016. Kelly’s flight was the longest by an American. (Since Kelly’s brother, Mark, was his identical twin, as well as a former astronaut himself, scientists were able to use Mark as a baseline for how the long spaceflight had changed Scott.) In 2017 Russia temporarily cut the number of its ISS crew from three to two, and American astronaut Peggy Whitson extended her mission to 289 days, which at that time was the longest single spaceflight by a woman, so the station would have a full crew of six. Whitson has been to the ISS on three other flights and in total has spent more than 675 days in space, a record for an American and a woman. Whitson’s longest consecutive spaceflight record was surpassed by American astronaut Christina Koch, who spent 328 days on the ISS from March 2019 to February 2020. During that time Koch and American astronaut Jessica Meir performed the first all-female space walk. Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Vande Hei stayed on the station for 355 days from April 2021 to March 2022. Vande Hei broke Kelly’s record for longest American spaceflight.

The United States, ESA, Japan, and Canada have not definitively decided when the program will end, but in 2021 the Joe Biden administration indicated that the program would receive U.S. support through 2030. The ESA, Japan, and Canada have also committed to support the ISS through 2030. Russia announced that it would support the station through 2028 and then begin work on its own orbital space station.

Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-12 14:22:54

2181) Economics

Gist

Economics is the study of how people allocate scarce resources for production, distribution, and consumption, both individually and collectively. The field of economics is connected with and has ramifications on many others, such as politics, government, law, and business.

Summary

Economics is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. In the 19th century economics was the hobby of gentlemen of leisure and the vocation of a few academics; economists wrote about economic policy but were rarely consulted by legislators before decisions were made. Today there is hardly a government, international agency, or large commercial bank that does not have its own staff of economists. Many of the world’s economists devote their time to teaching economics in colleges and universities around the world, but most work in various research or advisory capacities, either for themselves (in economics consulting firms), in industry, or in government. Still others are employed in accounting, commerce, marketing, and business administration; although they are trained as economists, their occupational expertise falls within other fields. Indeed, this can be considered “the age of economists,” and the demand for their services seems insatiable. Supply responds to that demand, and in the United States alone some 400 institutions of higher learning grant about 900 new Ph.D.’s in economics each year.

Definition

No one has ever succeeded in neatly defining the scope of economics. Many have agreed with Alfred Marshall, a leading 19th-century English economist, that economics is “a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment, and with the use of the material requisites of wellbeing”—ignoring the fact that sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists frequently study exactly the same phenomena. In the 20th century, English economist Lionel Robbins defined economics as “the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between (given) ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.” In other words, Robbins said that economics is the science of economizing. While his definition captures one of the striking characteristics of the economist’s way of thinking, it is at once too wide (because it would include in economics the game of chess) and too narrow (because it would exclude the study of the national income or the price level). Perhaps the only foolproof definition is that attributed to Canadian-born economist Jacob Viner: economics is what economists do.

Difficult as it may be to define economics, it is not difficult to indicate the sorts of questions that concern economists. Among other things, they seek to analyze the forces determining prices—not only the prices of goods and services but the prices of the resources used to produce them. This involves the discovery of two key elements: what governs the way in which human labour, machines, and land are combined in production and how buyers and sellers are brought together in a functioning market. Because prices of the various things must be interrelated, economists therefore ask how such a “price system” or “market mechanism” hangs together and what conditions are necessary for its survival.

These questions are representative of microeconomics, the part of economics that deals with the behaviour of individual entities such as consumers, business firms, traders, and farmers. The other major branch of economics is macroeconomics, which focuses attention on aggregates such as the level of income in the whole economy, the volume of total employment, the flow of total investment, and so forth. Here economists are concerned with the forces determining the income of a country or the level of total investment, and they seek to learn why full employment is so rarely attained and what public policies might help a country achieve higher employment or greater price stability.

But these examples still do not exhaust the range of problems that economists consider. There is also the important field of development economics, which examines the attitudes and institutions supporting the process of economic development in poor countries as well as those capable of self-sustained economic growth (for example, development economics was at the heart of the Marshall Plan). In this field the economist is concerned with the extent to which the factors affecting economic development can be manipulated by public policy.

Cutting across these major divisions in economics are the specialized fields of public finance, money and banking, international trade, labour economics, agricultural economics, industrial organization, and others. Economists are frequently consulted to assess the effects of governmental measures such as taxation, minimum-wage laws, rent controls, tariffs, changes in interest rates, changes in government budgets, and so on.

Details

What Is Economics?

Economics is a social science that focuses on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The study of economics is primarily concerned with analyzing the choices that individuals, businesses, governments, and nations make to allocate limited resources. Economics has ramifications on a wide range of other fields, including politics, psychology, business, and law.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

* Economics is the study of how people allocate scarce resources for production, distribution, and consumption, both individually and collectively.
* The field of economics is connected with and has ramifications on many others, such as politics, government, law, and business.
* The two branches of economics are microeconomics and macroeconomics.
* Economics focuses on efficiency in production and exchange.
* Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) are two of the most widely used economic indicators.

Understanding Economics

Assuming humans have unlimited wants within a world of limited means, economists analyze how resources are allocated for production, distribution, and consumption.

The study of microeconomics focuses on the choices of individuals and businesses, and macroeconomics concentrates on the behavior of the economy on an aggregate level.

One of the earliest recorded economists was the 8th-century B.C. Greek farmer and poet Hesiod who wrote that labor, materials, and time needed to be allocated efficiently to overcome scarcity. The publication of Adam Smith's 1776 book An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations sparked the beginning of the current Western contemporary economic theories.

Microeconomics

Microeconomics studies how individual consumers and firms make decisions to allocate resources. Whether a single person, a household, or a business, economists may analyze how these entities respond to changes in price and why they demand what they do at particular price levels.

Microeconomics analyzes how and why goods are valued differently, how individuals make financial decisions, and how they trade, coordinate, and cooperate.

Within the dynamics of supply and demand, the costs of producing goods and services, and how labor is divided and allocated, microeconomics studies how businesses are organized and how individuals approach uncertainty and risk in their decision-making.

Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that studies the behavior and performance of an economy as a whole. Its primary focus is recurrent economic cycles and broad economic growth and development.

It focuses on foreign trade, government fiscal and monetary policy, unemployment rates, the level of inflation, interest rates, the growth of total production output, and business cycles that result in expansions, booms, recessions, and depressions.

Using aggregate indicators, economists use macroeconomic models to help formulate economic policies and strategies.

What Is the Role of an Economist?

An economist studies the relationship between a society's resources and its production or output, and their opinions help shape economic policies related to interest rates, tax laws, employment programs, international trade agreements, and corporate strategies.

Economists analyze economic indicators such as gross domestic product and the consumer price index to identify potential trends or make economic forecasts.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 38% of all economists in the United States work for a federal or state agency. Economists are also employed as consultants, professors, by corporations, or as part of economic think tanks.

What Are Economic Indicators?

Economic indicators detail a country's economic performance. Published periodically by governmental agencies or private organizations, economic indicators often have a considerable effect on stocks, employment, and international markets. They may predict future economic conditions that will move markets and guide investment decisions.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The gross domestic product (GDP) is considered the broadest measure of a country's economic performance. It calculates the total market value of all finished goods and services produced in a country in a given year. In the U.S., the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) also issues a regular report during the latter part of each month.

Many investors, analysts, and traders focus on the advance GDP report and the preliminary report, both issued before the final GDP figures because the GDP is considered a lagging indicator, meaning it can confirm a trend but can't predict a trend.

Retail sales

Reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) during the middle of each month, the retail sales report measures the total receipts, or dollar value, of all merchandise sold in stores.

Sampling retailers across the country acts as a proxy of consumer spending levels. Consumer spending represents more than two-thirds of GDP, proving useful to gauge the economy's general direction.

Industrial production

The industrial production report, released monthly by the Federal Reserve, reports changes in the production of factories, mines, and utilities in the U.S. One measure included in this report is the capacity utilization rate, which estimates the portion of productive capacity that is being used rather than standing idle in the economy. Capacity utilization in the range of 82% to 85% is considered "tight" and can increase the likelihood of price increases or supply shortages in the near term. Levels below 80% are interpreted as showing "slack" in the economy, which may increase the likelihood of a recession.

Employment Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases employment data in a report called the nonfarm payrolls on the first Friday of each month.

Sharp increases in employment indicate prosperous economic growth and potential contractions may be imminent if significant decreases occur. These are generalizations, however, and it is important to consider the current position of the economy.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), also issued by the BLS, measures the level of retail price changes, and the costs that consumers pay, and is the benchmark for measuring inflation. Using a basket that is representative of the goods and services in the economy, the CPI compares the price changes month after month and year after year.

This report is an important economic indicator and its release can increase volatility in equity, fixed income, and forex markets. Greater-than-expected price increases are considered a sign of inflation, which will likely cause the underlying currency to depreciate

Additional Information

Economics is a social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses what is viewed as basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyses the economy as a system where production, distribution, consumption, savings, and investment expenditure interact, and factors affecting it: factors of production, such as labour, capital, land, and enterprise, inflation, economic growth, and public policies that have impact on these elements.

Other broad distinctions within economics include those between positive economics, describing "what is", and normative economics, advocating "what ought to be"; between economic theory and applied economics; between rational and behavioural economics; and between mainstream economics and heterodox economics.

Economic analysis can be applied throughout society, including business, finance, cybersecurity, health care, engineering and government. It is also applied to such diverse subjects as crime, education, the family, feminism, law, philosophy, politics, religion, social institutions, war, science and the environment.

Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-13 14:10:28

2182) Driver's License

A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public road. Such licenses are often plastic and the size of a credit card.

In most international agreements the wording "driving permit" is used, for instance in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. In Australian English, Canadian English, New Zealand English, and American English, the terms "driver license" or "driver's license" are used, while in British English and in many former British colonies the term is "driving licence".

The laws relating to the licensing of drivers vary between jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, a permit is issued after the recipient has passed a driving test, while in others a person acquires their permit or a learner's permit before beginning to drive. Different categories of permit often exist for different types of motor vehicles, particularly large trucks and passenger vehicles. The difficulty of the driving test varies considerably between jurisdictions, as do factors such as age and the required level of competence and practice.

History

Karl Benz, inventor of the modern car, received a written "Genehmigung" (permit) from the Grand Ducal authorities to operate his car on public roads in 1888 after residents complained about the noise and smell of his Motorwagen. Up until the start of the 20th century, European authorities issued similar permits to drive motor vehicles ad hoc, if at all.

Mandatory licensing for drivers in the United Kingdom came into force on 1 January 1904 after the Motor Car Act 1903 received royal assent. Every car owner had to register their vehicle with their local government authority and be able to prove registration of their vehicle on request. The minimum qualifying age was set at 17. The "driving licence" gave its holder 'freedom of the road' with a maximum 20 mph (32 km/h) speed limit. Compulsory testing was introduced in 1934, with the passing of the Road Traffic Act.

Prussia, then a kingdom within the German Empire, introduced compulsory licensing on 29 September 1903. A test on mechanical aptitude had to be passed and the Dampfkesselüberwachungsverein ("steam boiler supervision association") was charged with conducting these tests. In 1910, the German imperial government mandated the licensing of drivers on a national scale, establishing a system of tests and driver's education requirements that was adopted in other countries.

Other countries in Europe also introduced driving tests during the twentieth century, the last of them being Belgium where, until as recently as 1977, it was possible to purchase and hold a permit without having to undergo a driving test.

As traffic-related fatalities soared in North America, public outcry provoked legislators to begin studying the French and German statutes as models. On 1 August 1910, North America's first licensing law for motor vehicles went into effect in the U.S. state of New York, though it initially applied only to professional chauffeurs. In July 1913, the state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before being licensed.

In 1909, the Convention with Respect to the International Circulation of Motor Vehicles recognized the need for qualifications, examination, and authorization for international driving.

The notion of an "International Driving Permit" was first mooted in an international convention held in Paris in 1926.

In 1949, the United Nations hosted the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic that standardised rules on roads, occupants, rules, signs, driver's permits and such. It specified that national "driving permits" should be pink and that an "International Driving Permit" for driving in a number of countries should have grey covers with white pages and that "The entire last page shall be drawn up in French".

In 1968, the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, ratified in 1977 and further updated in 2011, further modernised these agreements.

Its main regulations about drivers permits are in Annex 6 (Domestic Driving Permit) and Annex 7 (International Driving Permit). The currently active version of those is in force in each contracting party no later than "29 March 2011" (Article 43).

Article 41 of the convention describes key requirements:

* every driver of a motor vehicle must hold appropriate documentation;
* "driving permits" can be issued only after passing theoretical and practical exams, which are regulated by each country or jurisdiction;
* Contracting parties shall recognize as valid for driving in their territories:
* "domestic driving permits" conforming to the provisions of Annex 6 to the convention;
* an "International Driving Permit" conforming to the provisions of Annex 7 to the convention, on condition that it is presented with the corresponding domestic driving permit;
* "domestic driving permits" issued by a contracting party shall be recognised in the territory of another contracting party until this territory becomes the place of normal residence of their holder;
* all of the above does not apply to learner-driver permits;
* the period of validity of an international driving permit shall be either no more than three years after the date of issue or until the date of expiry of the domestic driving permit, whichever is earlier;
* Contracting parties may refuse to recognize the validity of driving permits for persons under eighteen or, for categories C, D, CE and DE, under twenty-one;
* an international driving permit shall only be issued by the contracting party in whose territory the holder has their normal residence and that issued the domestic driving permit or that recognized the driving permit issued by another contracting party; it shall not be valid for use in that territory.

In 2018, ISO/IEC standard 18013 was published which established guidelines for the design format and data content of an ISO-compliant driving licence (IDL). The design approach is to establish a secure domestic driving permit (DDP) and accompanying booklet for international use, instead of the international driving permit (IDP) paper document. The main ideology is a minimum acceptable set of requirements with regards to content and layout of the data elements, with sufficient freedom afforded to the issuing authorities of driving licences to meet domestic needs. The ISO standard specifies requirements for a card that is aligned with the UN Conventions on Road Traffic. This standard however, it should be noted, has no official mandate or recognition from the WP.1 of UNECE as a replacement for the current IDP standards as described in the 1949 and 1968 Conventions.

The specifications of the layout of the booklet is defined in Annex G of ISO/IEC 18013-1:2018. There are two options; a booklet with some personalisation or a booklet with no personalisation. The booklet shall be marginally larger than an ID-1 size card, with an insert pocket for storage of the card, and for convenient carrying of the booklet. The front cover should include the logo of the UN or the issuing country and the words "Translation of Driving Licence" and "Traduction du Permis de Conduire ".

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Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-14 13:48:11

2183) Master (naval)

The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel.

In the Royal Navy, the master was originally a warrant officer who ranked with, but after, the lieutenants. The rank became a commissioned officer rank and was renamed navigating lieutenant in 1867; the rank gradually fell out of use from around 1890 since all lieutenants were required to pass the same examinations.

When the United States Navy was formed in 1794, master was listed as one of the warrant officer ranks and ranked between midshipmen and lieutenants. The rank was also a commissioned officer rank from 1837 until it was replaced with the current rank of lieutenant, junior grade in 1883.

Russia

Until 1733 the sailing masters in the Imperial Russian Navy were rated as petty officers, but in that year the rank of Master was introduced after the British model. Masters ranked above sub-lieutenants, but under lieutenants. Meritorious masters could be given lieutenant's rank, but only if they were noblemen. In 1741 the rank of master was abolished, and the officers holding that rank were promoted to lieutenants, while second masters and master's mates became ensigns. Henceforth masters could be promoted to sea officers, even if they were commoners.

The Pauline military reforms also included the navy, and the sailing department henceforth contained masters of VIII Class (rank as lieutenant commanders); masters of IX Class (below lieutenant commander but above lieutenant); masters of XII Class (rank as sub-lieutenants); masters of XIV Class (junior to sub-lieutenants); as well as master's mates and master's apprentices which were rated as petty officers.

In 1827 a navigation corps was founded, which also was in charge of the hydrographic service. In common with other non-executive corps in the Russian navy, members of the navigation corps were given military ranks. This corps contained one major general, and a number of colonels, lieutenant colonels, captains, staff captains, lieutenants, second lieutenants and ensigns, as well as conductors (warrant officers). In 1885 the navigation corps was put under abolishment, and its responsibilities were transferred to the executive corps.

Spain

Spanish sailing masters belonged to a navigation corps, called Cuerpo de Pilotos. They were, unlike their British counterparts, theoretically trained at the famous navigation schools, called Real Colegios Seminarios de San Telmo, in Seville and Málaga. In order to be accepted at these schools, the applicant had to be a Spaniard between eight and 14 years of age. Colored persons, Romani people, heretics, Jews, those punished by the Inquisition, and those whose parents pursued disreputable professions, were not eligible for enrollment. The master's apprentices were called meritorios de pilotaje and were at sea rated as common seamen. In order to become a master's assistant, called pilotín, during the 18th century, three voyages in Europe and one back and forth to America was required, as well as having passed a special examination. Promotion to second master could only take place if a berth was available.

Masters, called primeros pilotos, were originally ranked as ensigns, while the second masters, called pilotos, were ranked below officers but above petty officers. Later the masters were given rank as lieutenant commanders or lieutenants, while the second masters were ranked as sub-lieutenants or ensigns according to seniority. Master's assistant lacked formal rank. From 1821, masters ranked as lieutenants, second masters as sub-lieutenants, and third masters as ensigns. Promotion from the navigation corps to the sea officer corps was not unusual.

Early on, members of the navigation corps sought to improve its status. It was not until 1770, however, that the sailing masters received a uniform different from the petty officers. Under royal orders members of the navigation corps were from 1781 to be called Don, be regarded as caballeros (gentlemen), carry small swords, and take oaths by swearing by a crucifix. In 1823, the senior ranks of the navigation corps was transferred to the executive corps, and in 1846 the corps was abolished and its remaining members included among the sea officers with the rank of sub-lieutenant.

Sweden

Sailing master (ansvarsstyrman, literally: "responsible navigator") was in the Royal Swedish Navy until 1868 a berth, held by the ship's senior warrant officer of the sailing branch, in charge of navigation, steering, anchors, and ballast. In 1868, the responsibility for navigation was transferred to a commissioned officer berth, the navigating officer, and the sailing master became an assistant navigator in charge of navigation stores.

Royal Navy

In the Middle Ages, when 'warships' were typically merchant vessels hired by the crown, the man in charge of the ship and its mariners, as with all ships and indeed most endeavours ashore, was termed the master; the company of embarked soldiers was commanded by their own captain.

From the time of the reforms of Henry VIII, the master was a warrant officer, appointed by the Council of the Marine (later the Navy Board) who also built and provisioned the Navy's ships. The master was tasked with sailing the ship as directed by the captain, who fought the ship when an enemy was engaged. The captain had a commission from (and was responsible to) the Admiralty, who were in charge of the Navy's strategy and tactics.

Duties

The master's main duty was navigation, taking the ship's position at least daily and setting the sails as appropriate for the required course and conditions. During combat, he was stationed on the quarterdeck, next to the captain. The master was responsible for fitting out the ship, and making sure they had all the sailing supplies necessary for the voyage. The master also was in charge of stowing the hold and ensuring the ship was not too weighted down to sail effectively. The master, through his subordinates, hoisted and lowered the anchor, docked and undocked the ship, and inspected the ship daily for problems with the anchors, sails, masts, ropes, or pulleys. Issues were brought to the attention of the master, who would notify the captain. The master was in charge of the entry of parts of the official log such as weather, position, and expenditures.

Promotion

Masters were promoted from the rank of the master's mates, quartermasters, or midshipmen. Masters were also recruited from the merchant service. A prospective master had to pass an oral examination before a senior captain and three masters at Trinity House. After passing the examination, they would be eligible to receive a warrant from the Navy Board, but promotion was not automatic.

Second master

Second master was a rating introduced in 1753 that indicated a deputy master on a first-, second- or third-rate ship-of-the-line. A second master was generally a master's mate who had passed his examination for master and was deemed worthy of being master of a vessel. Master's mates would act as second master of vessels too small to be allocated a warranted master. Second masters were paid significantly more than master's mates, £5 5s per month. Second masters were given the first opportunity for master vacancies as they occurred.

Uniforms

Originally, the sailing master did not have an official officer uniform, which caused problems when they were captured because they had trouble convincing their captors they should be treated as officers and not ordinary sailors. In 1787 the warrant officers of wardroom rank (master, purser and surgeon) received an official uniform, but it did not distinguish them by rank. In 1807, masters, along with pursers, received their own uniform.

Transition to commissioned officer

By the classic Age of Sail the Master in the Royal Navy had become the warrant officer trained specifically in navigation, the senior warrant officer rank, and the second most important officer aboard rated ships. In 1808, Masters (along with Pursers and Surgeons) were given similar status to commissioned officers, as warrant officers of wardroom rank. The master ate in the wardroom with the other officers, had a large cabin in the gunroom, and had a smaller day cabin next to the captain's cabin on the quarterdeck for charts and navigation equipment.

However, the number of sailing-masters halved from 140 to 74 between the years 1840–1860: partly because the pay and privileges were less than equivalent ranks in the military branch, and also because the master's responsibilities had been largely assumed by the executive officers. In 1843 the wardroom warrant officers were given commissioned status. The Admiralty, under the First Lord of the Admiralty the Duke of Somerset, began to phase out the title of master after 1862. The ranks of staff commander and staff captain were introduced in 1863 and 1864 respectively; and in 1867 the Masters Branch was re-organised as the Navigating Branch with a new pay scale, with the following ranks:

* staff captain
* staff commander
* navigating lieutenant (formerly Master)
* navigating sub-lieutenant (second Master)
* navigating midshipman (Master's assistant)
* navigating cadet (formerly Naval cadet 2nd class)

The Royal Naval College exams for navigating lieutenant and lieutenant were the same after 1869. By 1872 the number of navigating cadets had fallen to twelve, and an Admiralty experiment in 1873 under the First Sea Lord George Goschen further merged the duties of navigating lieutenants and sailing masters with those of lieutenants and staff commanders. There were no more masters warranted after 1883, and the last one retired in 1892.

Although the actual rank of navigating lieutenant fell out of use about the same time, lieutenants who had passed their navigating exams were distinguished in the Navy List by an N in a circle by their name, and by N for those passed for first-class ships. The last staff commander disappeared in around 1904, and the last staff captain left the Active List in 1913.

United States Navy

Master, originally sailing master, was a historic warrant officer rank of the United States Navy, above that of a midshipman, after 1819 passed midshipman, after 1862 ensign, and below a lieutenant.

Some masters were appointed to command ships, with the rank of master commandant. In 1837, sailing master was renamed master, master commandant was renamed commander, and some masters were commissioned as officers, formally "master in line for promotion" to distinguish them from the warrant masters who would not be promoted.

After 1855, passed midshipmen who were graduates of the Naval Academy filled the positions of master. Both the commissioned officer rank of master and warrant officer rank of master were maintained until both were merged into the current rank of lieutenant, junior grade on 3 March 1883.

In 1862 masters wore a gold bar for rank insignia, which became a silver bar in 1877. In 1881 they started wearing sleeve stripes of one 1⁄2-inch (13 mm) and one 1⁄4-inch-wide (6.4 mm) strip of gold lace, still used for the rank of lieutenant, junior grade.

Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-15 14:01:04

2184) Accounting

Gist

Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations.

Summary

Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used interchangeably.

Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, tax accounting and cost accounting. Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to the external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers. Management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by management to enhance business operations. The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the financials may be presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of which double-entry bookkeeping is the most common system. Accounting information systems are designed to support accounting functions and related activities.

Accounting has existed in various forms and levels of sophistication throughout human history. The double-entry accounting system in use today was developed in medieval Europe, particularly in Venice, and is usually attributed to the Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli. Today, accounting is facilitated by accounting organizations such as standard-setters, accounting firms and professional bodies. Financial statements are usually audited by accounting firms, and are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). GAAP is set by various standard-setting organizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States and the Financial Reporting Council in the United Kingdom. As of 2012, "all major economies" have plans to converge towards or adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Details

Accountancy is the process of measuring, processing and recording an organization’s financial and non-financial statements. It has a wider scope than Accounting as it is the route to the Accounting process. Accountancy is responsible for prescribing the accounting conventions, principles, and techniques to be followed by an organization during the accounting process. The nature of Accounting is dynamic and analytical and hence, requires special abilities and skills in an individual to interpret the information better and effectively.

Accountancy is the practice of recording, classifying, and reporting on business transactions for a business. It provides feedback to management regarding the financial results and status of an organization. The key accountancy tasks are noted below.

Recordation

The recording of business transactions usually involves several key transactions that are handled on a repetitive basis, which are issuing customer invoices, paying supplier invoices, recording cash receipts from customers, and paying employees. These tasks are handled by the billing clerk, payables clerk, cashier, and payroll clerk, respectively.

There are also a number of business transactions that are non-repetitive in nature, and so require the use of journal entries to record them in the accounting records. The fixed asset accountant, general ledger clerk, and tax accountant are most likely to be involved in the use of journal entries. There may be a number of closing entries at the end of each reporting period that the general ledger clerk is tasked with entering into the accounting system.

Classification

The results of the efforts of the preceding accountants are accumulated into a set of accounting records, of which the summary document is the general ledger. The general ledger consists of a number of accounts, each of which stores information about a particular type of transaction, such as product sales, depreciation expense, accounts receivable, debt, and so on. Certain high-volume transactions, such as customer billings, may be stored in a subledger, with only its totals rolling into the general ledger. The ending balances in the general ledger may be altered with adjusting entries each month, mostly to record expenses incurred but not yet recorded.

The information in the general ledger is used to derive financial statements, and may also be the source of some information used for internal management reports.

Reporting

The reporting aspects of accountancy are considerable, and so have been divided into smaller areas of specialization, which are noted below.

Financial Accounting

Financial accounting is the province of the general ledger accountant, controller, and chief financial officer, and is concerned with the accumulation of business transactions into financial statements. These documents are presented based on sets of rules known as accounting frameworks, of which the best known are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The financial statements include the income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, and a number of disclosures that are included in the accompanying footnotes.

Management Accounting

Management accounting is the province of the cost accountant and financial analyst, who investigate ways to improve the profitability of a business and present their results to management. Their reports may be derived from the main system of accounts, but may also include separate data accumulation systems, as may be found with activity-based costing systems. Management accounting is not governed by any accounting framework - the structure of the reports issued to management are tailored to the needs of the business.

In short, accountancy involves each of the preceding tasks - recordation, classification, and reporting.

Additional Information

Accounting is the process of recording financial transactions pertaining to a business. The accounting process includes summarizing, analyzing, and reporting these transactions to oversight agencies, regulators, and tax collection entities. The financial statements used in accounting are a concise summary of financial transactions over an accounting period, summarizing a company's operations, financial position, and cash flows.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

* Regardless of the size of a business, accounting is a necessary function for decision making, cost planning, and measurement of economic performance.
* A bookkeeper can handle basic accounting needs, but a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) should be utilized for larger or more advanced accounting tasks.
* Two important types of accounting for businesses are managerial accounting and cost accounting. Managerial accounting helps management teams make business decisions, while cost accounting helps business owners decide how much a product should cost.
* Professional accountants follow a set of standards known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) when preparing financial statements.
* Accounting is an important function of strategic planning, external compliance, fundraising, and operations management.

What Is the Purpose of Accounting?

Accounting is one of the key functions of almost any business. A bookkeeper or an accountant may handle it at a small firm. At larger companies, there might be sizable finance departments guided by a unified accounting manual with dozens of employees. The reports generated by various streams of accounting, such as cost accounting and managerial accounting, are invaluable in helping management make informed business decisions.

The financial statements that summarize a large company's operations, financial position, and cash flows over a particular period are concise and consolidated reports based on thousands of individual financial transactions. As a result, all professional accounting designations are the culmination of years of study and rigorous examinations combined with a minimum number of years of practical accounting experience.

Jai Ganesh · 2024-06-16 14:01:12

2185) Literature

Gist

Literature is a group of works of art that are made of words. Most are written, but some are shared by word of mouth. Literature usually means a work of poetry, theatre or narrative. There are many different kinds of literature, such as poetry, plays, or novels. They can also be put into groups by their language, historical time, place of origin, genre, and subject. The word "literature" comes from the Latin word "literatura," which means "writing formed with letters."

Most of the earliest works were epic poems. Epic poems are long stories or myths about adventures, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia. Ramayana and Mahabharta, two Indian epics, are still read today. The Iliad and Odyssey are two famous Greek poems by Homer. They were shared over time through speaking and memory and were written down around the 9th or 8th century BCE.

Literature can also mean imaginative or creative writing, which is read for its artistic value. Literature is also related to people and community. According to Sangidu (2004) as quoted by Arfani et.al (2023), "literature is aprtt of society, a fact that inspires authors to involve themselves in the life order of the community where they are and try to fight for the position of the social structure and the problems face in society".

Summary

Literature, a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter.

For historical treatment of various literatures within geographical regions, see such articles as African literature; African theater; Oceanic literature; Western literature; Central Asian arts; South Asian arts; and Southeast Asian arts. Some literatures are treated separately by language, by nation, or by special subject (e.g., Arabic literature, Celtic literature, Latin literature, French literature, Japanese literature, and biblical literature).

Definitions of the word literature tend to be circular. The 11th edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary considers literature to be “writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest.” The 19th-century critic Walter Pater referred to “the matter of imaginative or artistic literature” as a “transcript, not of mere fact, but of fact in its infinitely varied forms.” But such definitions assume that the reader already knows what literature is. And indeed its central meaning, at least, is clear enough. Deriving from the Latin littera, “a letter of the alphabet,” literature is first and foremost humankind’s entire body of writing; after that it is the body of writing belonging to a given language or people; then it is individual pieces of writing.

But already it is necessary to qualify these statements. To use the word writing when describing literature is itself misleading, for one may speak of “oral literature” or “the literature of preliterate peoples.” The art of literature is not reducible to the words on the page; they are there solely because of the craft of writing. As an art, literature might be described as the organization of words to give pleasure. Yet through words literature elevates and transforms experience beyond “mere” pleasure. Literature also functions more broadly in society as a means of both criticizing and affirming cultural values.

Details

Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems, and including both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role.

Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and essays. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other written information on a particular subject.

Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing, grammar", originally "writing formed with letters", from litera/littera "letter". In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts. Literature is often referred to synecdochically as "writing", especially creative writing, and poetically as "the craft of writing" (or simply "the craft"). Syd Field described his discipline, screenwriting, as "a craft that occasionally rises to the level of art."

Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and proliferation of written works, which now include electronic literature.

Definitions

Definitions of literature have varied over time. In Western Europe, prior to the 18th century, literature denoted all books and writing. Literature can be seen as returning to older, more inclusive notions, so that cultural studies, for instance, include, in addition to canonical works, popular and minority genres. The word is also used in reference to non-written works: to "oral literature" and "the literature of preliterate culture".

A value judgment definition of literature considers it as consisting solely of high quality writing that forms part of the belles-lettres ("fine writing") tradition. An example of this is in the 1910–1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which classified literature as "the best expression of the best thought reduced to writing".

History:

Oral literature

The use of the term "literature" here poses some issue due to its origins in the Latin littera, "letter", essentially writing. Alternatives such as "oral forms" and "oral genres" have been suggested but the word literature is widely used.

Australian Aboriginal culture has thrived on oral traditions and oral histories passed down through tens of thousands of years. In a study published in February 2020, new evidence showed that both Budj Bim and Tower Hill volcanoes erupted between 34,000 and 40,000 years ago. Significantly, this is a "minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria", and also could be interpreted as evidence for the oral histories of the Gunditjmara people, an Aboriginal Australian people of south-western Victoria, which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of the oldest oral traditions in existence. An axe found underneath volcanic ash in 1947 had already proven that humans inhabited the region before the eruption of Tower Hill.

Oral literature is an ancient human tradition found in "all corners of the world". Modern archaeology has been unveiling evidence of the human efforts to preserve and transmit arts and knowledge that depended completely or partially on an oral tradition, across various cultures:

The Judeo-Christian Bible reveals its oral traditional roots; medieval European manuscripts are penned by performing scribes; geometric vases from archaic Greece mirror Homer's oral style. (...) Indeed, if these final decades of the millennium have taught us anything, it must be that oral tradition never was the other we accused it of being; it never was the primitive, preliminary technology of communication we thought it to be. Rather, if the whole truth is told, oral tradition stands out as the single most dominant communicative technology of our species as both a historical fact and, in many areas still, a contemporary reality.

The earliest poetry is believed to have been recited or sung, employed as a way of remembering history, genealogy, and law.

In Asia, the transmission of folklore, mythologies as well as scriptures in ancient India, in different Indian religions, was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques.

The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with the first by comparing inconsistencies in the transmitted versions of literature from various oral societies such as the Greek, Serbia and other cultures, then noting that the Vedic literature is too consistent and vast to have been composed and transmitted orally across generations, without being written down. According to Goody, the Vedic texts likely involved both a written and oral tradition, calling it a "parallel products of a literate society".

All ancient Greek literature was to some degree oral in nature, and the earliest literature was completely so. Homer's epic poetry, states Michael Gagarin, was largely composed, performed and transmitted orally. As folklores and legends were performed in front of distant audiences, the singers would substitute the names in the stories with local characters or rulers to give the stories a local flavor and thus connect with the audience, but making the historicity embedded in the oral tradition as unreliable. The lack of surviving texts about the Greek and Roman religious traditions have led scholars to presume that these were ritualistic and transmitted as oral traditions, but some scholars disagree that the complex rituals in the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations were an exclusive product of an oral tradition.

Writing systems are not known to have existed among Native North Americans (north of Mesoamerica) before contact with Europeans. Oral storytelling traditions flourished in a context without the use of writing to record and preserve history, scientific knowledge, and social practices. While some stories were told for amusement and leisure, most functioned as practical lessons from tribal experience applied to immediate moral, social, psychological, and environmental issues. Stories fuse fictional, supernatural, or otherwise exaggerated characters and circumstances with real emotions and morals as a means of teaching. Plots often reflect real life situations and may be aimed at particular people known by the story's audience. In this way, social pressure could be exerted without directly causing embarrassment or social exclusion. For example, rather than yelling, Inuit parents might deter their children from wandering too close to the water's edge by telling a story about a sea monster with a pouch for children within its reach.

The enduring significance of oral traditions is underscored in a systemic literature review on indigenous languages in South Africa, within the framework of contemporary linguistic challenges. Oral literature is crucial for cultural preservation, linguistic diversity, and social justice, as evidenced by the postcolonial struggles and ongoing initiatives to safeguard and promote South African indigenous languages.

Oratory

Oratory or the art of public speaking was considered a literary art for a significant period of time. From Ancient Greece to the late 19th century, rhetoric played a central role in Western education in training orators, lawyers, counselors, historians, statesmen, and poets.

Writing

Around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration in Mesopotamia outgrew human memory, and writing became a more dependable method of recording and presenting transactions in a permanent form. Though in both ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, writing may have already emerged because of the need to record historical and environmental events. Subsequent innovations included more uniform, predictable legal systems, sacred texts, and the origins of modern practices of scientific inquiry and knowledge-consolidation, all largely reliant on portable and easily reproducible forms of writing.

Early written literature

Ancient Egyptian literature, along with Sumerian literature, are considered the world's oldest literatures. The primary genres of the literature of ancient Egypt—didactic texts, hymns and prayers, and tales—were written almost entirely in verse; By the Old Kingdom (26th century BC to 22nd century BC), literary works included funerary texts, epistles and letters, hymns and poems, and commemorative autobiographical texts recounting the careers of prominent administrative officials. It was not until the early Middle Kingdom (21st century BC to 17th century BC) that a narrative Egyptian literature was created.

Many works of early periods, even in narrative form, had a covert moral or didactic purpose, such as the Sanskrit Panchatantra.200 BC – 300 AD, based on older oral tradition. Drama and satire also developed as urban culture provided a larger public audience, and later readership, for literary production. Lyric poetry (as opposed to epic poetry) was often the speciality of courts and aristocratic circles, particularly in East Asia where songs were collected by the Chinese aristocracy as poems, the most notable being the Shijing or Book of Songs (1046–c. 600 BC).

In ancient China, early literature was primarily focused on philosophy, historiography, military science, agriculture, and poetry. China, the origin of modern paper making and woodblock printing, produced the world's first print cultures. Much of Chinese literature originates with the Hundred Schools of Thought period that occurred during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (769‒269 BC). The most important of these include the Classics of Confucianism, of Daoism, of Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of military science (e.g. Sun Tzu's The Art of War, c. 5th century BC) and Chinese history (e.g. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, c. 94 BC). Ancient Chinese literature had a heavy emphasis on historiography, with often very detailed court records. An exemplary piece of narrative history of ancient China was the Zuo Zhuan, which was compiled no later than 389 BC, and attributed to the blind 5th-century BC historian Zuo Qiuming.

In ancient India, literature originated from stories that were originally orally transmitted. Early genres included drama, fables, sutras and epic poetry. Sanskrit literature begins with the Vedas, dating back to 1500–1000 BC, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India. The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts. The Samhitas (vedic collections) date to roughly 1500–1000 BC, and the "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000‒500 BC, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid-2nd to mid 1st millennium BC, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The period between approximately the 6th to 1st centuries BC saw the composition and redaction of the two most influential Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, with subsequent redaction progressing down to the 4th century AD such as Ramcharitmanas.

The earliest known Greek writings are Mycenaean (c. 1600–1100 BC), written in the Linear B syllabary on clay tablets. These documents contain prosaic records largely concerned with trade (lists, inventories, receipts, etc.); no real literature has been discovered. Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, the original decipherers of Linear B, state that literature almost certainly existed in Mycenaean Greece, but it was either not written down or, if it was, it was on parchment or wooden tablets, which did not survive the destruction of the Mycenaean palaces in the twelfth century BC. Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are central works of ancient Greek literature. It is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. From antiquity until the present day, the influence of Homeric epic on Western civilization has been significant, inspiring many of its most famous works of literature, music, art and film. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education; to Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" – ten Hellada pepaideuken. Hesiod's Works and Days (c.700 BC) and Theogony are some of the earliest and most influential works of ancient Greek literature. Classical Greek genres included philosophy, poetry, historiography, comedies and dramas. Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) and Aristotle (384–322 BC) authored philosophical texts that are regarded as the foundation of Western philosophy, Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 BC) and Pindar were influential lyric poets, and Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) and Thucydides were early Greek historians. Although drama was popular in ancient Greece, of the hundreds of tragedies written and performed during the classical age, only a limited number of plays by three authors still exist: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The plays of Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC) provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy, the earliest form of Greek Comedy, and are in fact used to define the genre.

The Hebrew religious text, the Torah, is widely seen as a product of the Persian period (539–333 BC, probably 450–350 BC). This consensus echoes a traditional Jewish view which gives Ezra, the leader of the Jewish community on its return from Babylon, a pivotal role in its promulgation. This represents a major source of Christianity's Bible, which has had a major influence on Western literature.

The beginning of Roman literature dates to 240 BC, when a Roman audience saw a Latin version of a Greek play. Literature in Latin would flourish for the next six centuries, and includes essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings.

The Qur'an (610 AD to 632 AD), the main holy book of Islam, had a significant influence on the Arab language, and marked the beginning of Islamic literature. Muslims believe it was transcribed in the Arabic dialect of the Quraysh, the tribe of Muhammad. As Islam spread, the Quran had the effect of unifying and standardizing Arabic.

Theological works in Latin were the dominant form of literature in Europe typically found in libraries during the Middle Ages. Western Vernacular literature includes the Poetic Edda and the sagas, or heroic epics, of Iceland, the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, and the German Song of Hildebrandt. A later form of medieval fiction was the romance, an adventurous and sometimes magical narrative with strong popular appeal.

Controversial, religious, political and instructional literature proliferated during the European Renaissance as a result of the Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press around 1440, while the Medieval romance developed into the novel.

Difference-Between-Modern-and-Contemporary-Literature-fig-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1

Jai Ganesh · Yesterday 23:52:25

2186) Biochemistry

Gist

Biochemistry is both life science and a chemical science - it explores the chemistry of living organisms and the molecular basis for the changes occurring in living cells. It uses the methods of chemistry, "Biochemistry has become the foundation for understanding all biological processes.

Summary

Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, and metabolism. Over the last decades of the 20th century, biochemistry has become successful at explaining living processes through these three disciplines. Almost all areas of the life sciences are being uncovered and developed through biochemical methodology and research. Biochemistry focuses on understanding the chemical basis which allows biological molecules to give rise to the processes that occur within living cells and between cells, in turn relating greatly to the understanding of tissues and organs as well as organism structure and function. Biochemistry is closely related to molecular biology, the study of the molecular mechanisms of biological phenomena.

Much of biochemistry deals with the structures, bonding, functions, and interactions of biological macromolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. They provide the structure of cells and perform many of the functions associated with life. The chemistry of the cell also depends upon the reactions of small molecules and ions. These can be inorganic (for example, water and metal ions) or organic (for example, the amino acids, which are used to synthesize proteins). The mechanisms used by cells to harness energy from their environment via chemical reactions are known as metabolism. The findings of biochemistry are applied primarily in medicine, nutrition and agriculture. In medicine, biochemists investigate the causes and cures of diseases. Nutrition studies how to maintain health and wellness and also the effects of nutritional deficiencies.[9] In agriculture, biochemists investigate soil and fertilizers with the goal of improving crop cultivation, crop storage, and pest control. In recent decades, biochemical principles and methods have been combined with problem-solving approaches from engineering to manipulate living systems in order to produce useful tools for research, industrial processes, and diagnosis and control of disease—the discipline of biotechnology.

Details

Biochemistry, study of the chemical substances and processes that occur in plants, animals, and microorganisms and of the changes they undergo during development and life. It deals with the chemistry of life, and as such it draws on the techniques of analytical, organic, and physical chemistry, as well as those of physiologists concerned with the molecular basis of vital processes.

All chemical changes within the organism—either the degradation of substances, generally to gain necessary energy, or the buildup of complex molecules necessary for life processes—are collectively called metabolism. These chemical changes depend on the action of organic catalysts known as enzymes, and enzymes, in turn, depend for their existence on the genetic apparatus of the cell. It is not surprising, therefore, that biochemistry enters into the investigation of chemical changes in disease, drug action, and other aspects of medicine, as well as in nutrition, genetics, and agriculture.

The term biochemistry is synonymous with two somewhat older terms: physiological chemistry and biological chemistry. Those aspects of biochemistry that deal with the chemistry and function of very large molecules (e.g., proteins and nucleic acids) are often grouped under the term molecular biology. Biochemistry has been known under that term since about 1900. Its origins, however, can be traced much further back; its early history is part of the early history of both physiology and chemistry.

Historical background

Before chemistry could contribute adequately to medicine and agriculture, however, it had to free itself from immediate practical demands in order to become a pure science. This happened in the period from about 1650 to 1780, starting with the work of Robert Boyle and culminating in that of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry. Boyle questioned the basis of the chemical theory of his day and taught that the proper object of chemistry was to determine the composition of substances. His contemporary John Mayow observed the fundamental analogy between the respiration of an animal and the burning, or oxidation, of organic matter in air. Then, when Lavoisier carried out his fundamental studies on chemical oxidation, grasping the true nature of the process, he also showed, quantitatively, the similarity between chemical oxidation and the respiratory process.

Photosynthesis was another biological phenomenon that occupied the attention of the chemists of the late 18th century. The demonstration, through the combined work of Joseph Priestley, Jan Ingenhousz, and Jean Senebier, that photosynthesis is essentially the reverse of respiration was a milestone in the development of biochemical thought.

In spite of these early fundamental discoveries, rapid progress in biochemistry had to wait upon the development of structural organic chemistry, one of the great achievements of 19th-century science. A living organism contains many thousands of different chemical compounds. The elucidation of the chemical transformations undergone by these compounds within the living cell is a central problem of biochemistry. Clearly, the determination of the molecular structure of the organic substances present in living cells had to precede the study of the cellular mechanisms, whereby these substances are synthesized and degraded.

There are few sharp boundaries in science, and the boundaries between organic and physical chemistry, on the one hand, and biochemistry, on the other, have always shown much overlap. Biochemistry has borrowed the methods and theories of organic and physical chemistry and applied them to physiological problems. Progress in this path was at first impeded by a stubborn misconception in scientific thinking—the error of supposing that the transformations undergone by matter in the living organism were not subject to the chemical and physical laws that applied to inanimate substances and that consequently these “vital” phenomena could not be described in ordinary chemical or physical terms. Such an attitude was taken by the vitalists, who maintained that natural products formed by living organisms could never be synthesized by ordinary chemical means. The first laboratory synthesis of an organic compound, urea, by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828, was a blow to the vitalists but not a decisive one. They retreated to new lines of defense, arguing that urea was only an excretory substance—a product of breakdown and not of synthesis. The success of the organic chemists in synthesizing many natural products forced further retreats of the vitalists. It is axiomatic in modern biochemistry that the chemical laws that apply to inanimate materials are equally valid within the living cell.

At the same time that progress was being impeded by a misplaced kind of reverence for living phenomena, the practical needs of humans operated to spur the progress of the new science. As organic and physical chemistry erected an imposing body of theory in the 19th century, the needs of the physician, the pharmacist, and the agriculturalist provided an ever-present stimulus for the application of the new discoveries of chemistry to various urgent practical problems.

Two outstanding figures of the 19th century, Justus von Liebig and Louis Pasteur, were particularly responsible for dramatizing the successful application of chemistry to the study of biology. Liebig studied chemistry in Paris and carried back to Germany the inspiration gained by contact with the former students and colleagues of Lavoisier. He established at Giessen a great teaching and research laboratory, one of the first of its kind, which drew students from all over Europe.

Besides putting the study of organic chemistry on a firm basis, Liebig engaged in extensive literary activity, attracting the attention of all scientists to organic chemistry and popularizing it for the layman as well. His classic works, published in the 1840s, had a profound influence on contemporary thought. Liebig described the great chemical cycles in nature. He pointed out that animals would disappear from the face of Earth if it were not for the photosynthesizing plants, since animals require for their nutrition the complex organic compounds that can be synthesized only by plants. The animal excretions and the animal body after death are also converted by a process of decay to simple products that can be re-utilized only by plants.

In contrast with animals, green plants require for their growth only carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts, and sunlight. The minerals must be obtained from the soil, and the fertility of the soil depends on its ability to furnish the plants with these essential nutrients. But the soil is depleted of these materials by the removal of successive crops; hence the need for fertilizers. Liebig pointed out that chemical analysis of plants could serve as a guide to the substances that should be present in fertilizers. Agricultural chemistry as an applied science was thus born.

In his analysis of fermentation, putrefaction, and infectious disease, Liebig was less fortunate. He admitted the similarity of these phenomena but refused to admit that living organisms might function as the causative agents. It remained for Pasteur to clarify that matter. In the 1860s Pasteur proved that various yeasts and bacteria were responsible for “ferments,” substances that caused fermentation and, in some cases, disease. He also demonstrated the usefulness of chemical methods in studying these tiny organisms and was the founder of what came to be called bacteriology.

Later, in 1877, Pasteur’s ferments were designated as enzymes, and, in 1897, German chemist Eduard Buchner clearly showed that fermentation could occur in a press juice of yeast, devoid of living cells. Thus a life process of cells was reduced by analysis to a nonliving system of enzymes. The chemical nature of enzymes remained obscure until 1926, when the first pure crystalline enzyme (urease) was isolated. This enzyme and many others subsequently isolated proved to be proteins, which had already been recognized as high-molecular-weight chains of subunits called amino acids.

The mystery of how minute amounts of dietary substances known as the vitamins prevent diseases such as beriberi, scurvy, and pellagra became clear in 1935, when riboflavin (vitamin B2) was found to be an integral part of an enzyme. Subsequent work has substantiated the concept that many vitamins are essential in the chemical reactions of the cell by virtue of their role in enzymes.

In 1929 the substance adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was isolated from muscle. Subsequent work demonstrated that the production of ATP was associated with respiratory (oxidative) processes in the cell. In 1940 F.A. Lipmann proposed that ATP is the common form of energy exchange in many cells, a concept now thoroughly documented. ATP has been shown also to be a primary energy source for muscular contraction.

The use of radioactive isotopes of chemical elements to trace the pathway of substances in the animal body was initiated in 1935 by two U.S. chemists, Rudolf Schoenheimer and David Rittenberg. That technique provided one of the single most important tools for investigating the complex chemical changes that occur in life processes. At about the same time, other workers localized the sites of metabolic reactions by ingenious technical advances in the studies of organs, tissue slices, cell mixtures, individual cells, and, finally, individual cell constituents, such as nuclei, mitochondria, ribosomes, lysosomes, and membranes.

In 1869 a substance was isolated from the nuclei of pus cells and was called nucleic acid, which later proved to be deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), but it was not until 1944 that the significance of DNA as genetic material was revealed, when bacterial DNA was shown to change the genetic matter of other bacterial cells. Within a decade of that discovery, the double helix structure of DNA was proposed by Watson and Crick, providing a firm basis for understanding how DNA is involved in cell division and in maintaining genetic characteristics.

Advances have continued since that time, with such landmark events as the first chemical synthesis of a protein, the detailed mapping of the arrangement of atoms in some enzymes, and the elucidation of intricate mechanisms of metabolic regulation, including the molecular action of hormones.

Areas of study

A description of life at the molecular level includes a description of all the complexly interrelated chemical changes that occur within the cell—i.e., the processes known as intermediary metabolism. The processes of growth, reproduction, and heredity, also subjects of the biochemist’s curiosity, are intimately related to intermediary metabolism and cannot be understood independently of it. The properties and capacities exhibited by a complex multicellular organism can be reduced to the properties of the individual cells of that organism, and the behavior of each individual cell can be understood in terms of its chemical structure and the chemical changes occurring within that cell.

Chemical composition of living matter

Every living cell contains, in addition to water and salts or minerals, a large number of organic compounds, substances composed of carbon combined with varying amounts of hydrogen and usually also of oxygen. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur are likewise common constituents. In general, the bulk of the organic matter of a cell may be classified as (1) protein, (2) carbohydrate, and (3) fat, or lipid. Nucleic acids and various other organic derivatives are also important constituents. Each class contains a great diversity of individual compounds. Many substances that cannot be classified in any of the above categories also occur, though usually not in large amounts.

Proteins are fundamental to life, not only as structural elements (e.g., collagen) and to provide defense (as antibodies) against invading destructive forces but also because the essential biocatalysts are proteins. The chemistry of proteins is based on discoveries made by German chemist Emil Fischer, whose work from 1882 demonstrated that proteins are very large molecules, or polymers, built up of about 24 amino acids. Proteins may vary in size from small—insulin with a molecular weight of 5,700 (based on the weight of a hydrogen atom as 1)—to very large—molecules with molecular weights of more than 1,000,000. The first complete amino acid sequence was determined for the insulin molecule in the 1950s.

By 1963 the chain of amino acids in the protein enzyme ribonuclease (molecular weight 12,700) had also been determined, aided by the powerful physical techniques of X-ray-diffraction analysis. In the 1960s, Nobel Prize winners Sir John Cowdery Kendrew and Max Ferdinand Perutz, utilizing X-ray studies, constructed detailed atomic models of the proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin (the respiratory pigment in muscle), which were later confirmed by sophisticated chemical studies. The abiding interest of biochemists in the structure of proteins rests on the fact that the arrangement of chemical groups in space yields important clues regarding the biological activity of molecules.

Carbohydrates include such substances as sugars, starch, and cellulose. The second quarter of the 20th century witnessed a striking advance in the knowledge of how living cells handle small molecules, including carbohydrates. The metabolism of carbohydrates became clarified during this period, and elaborate pathways of carbohydrate breakdown and subsequent storage and utilization were gradually outlined in terms of cycles (e.g., the Embden–Meyerhof glycolytic cycle and the Krebs cycle). The involvement of carbohydrates in respiration and muscle contraction was well worked out by the 1950s.

Fats, or lipids, constitute a heterogeneous group of organic chemicals that can be extracted from biological material by nonpolar solvents such as ethanol, ether, and benzene. The classic work concerning the formation of body fat from carbohydrates was accomplished during the early 1850s. Those studies, and later confirmatory evidence, have shown that the conversion of carbohydrate to fat occurs continuously in the body. The liver is the main site of fat metabolism. Fat absorption in the intestine was studied as early as the 1930s. The control of fat absorption is known to depend upon a combination action of secretions of the pancreas and bile salts. Abnormalities of fat metabolism, which result in disorders such as obesity and rare clinical conditions, are the subject of much biochemical research. Equally interesting to biochemists is the association between high levels of fat in the blood and the occurrence of arteriosclerosis (“hardening” of the arteries).

Nucleic acids are large, complex compounds of very high molecular weight present in the cells of all organisms and in viruses. They are of great importance in the synthesis of proteins and in the transmission of hereditary information from one generation to the next. Originally discovered as constituents of cell nuclei (hence their name), it was assumed for many years after their isolation in 1869 that they were found nowhere else. This assumption was not challenged seriously until the 1940s, when it was determined that two kinds of nucleic acid exist: DNA, in the nuclei of all cells and in some viruses; and ribonucleic acid (RNA), in the cytoplasm of all cells and in most viruses.

The profound biological significance of nucleic acids came gradually to light during the 1940s and 1950s. Attention turned to the mechanism by which protein synthesis and genetic transmission was controlled by nucleic acids (see below Genes). During the 1960s, experiments were aimed at refinements of the genetic code. Promising attempts were made during the late 1960s and early 1970s to accomplish duplication of the molecules of nucleic acids outside the cell—i.e., in the laboratory. By the mid-1980s genetic engineering techniques had accomplished, among other things, in vitro fertilization and the recombination of DNA (so-called gene splicing).

Nutrition

Biochemists have long been interested in the chemical composition of the food of animals. All animals require organic material in their diet, in addition to water and minerals. This organic matter must be sufficient in quantity to satisfy the caloric, or energy, requirements of the animals. Within certain limits, carbohydrate, fat, and protein may be used interchangeably for this purpose. In addition, however, animals have nutritional requirements for specific organic compounds. Certain essential fatty acids, about ten different amino acids (the so-called essential amino acids), and vitamins are required by many higher animals. The nutritional requirements of various species are similar but not necessarily identical; thus man and the guinea pig require vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, whereas the rat does not.

That plants differ from animals in requiring no preformed organic material was appreciated soon after the plant studies of the late 1700s. The ability of green plants to make all their cellular material from simple substances—carbon dioxide, water, salts, and a source of nitrogen such as ammonia or nitrate—was termed photosynthesis. As the name implies, light is required as an energy source, and it is generally furnished by sunlight. The process itself is primarily concerned with the manufacture of carbohydrate, from which fat can be made by animals that eat plant carbohydrates. Protein can also be formed from carbohydrate, provided ammonia is furnished.

In spite of the large apparent differences in nutritional requirements of plants and animals, the patterns of chemical change within the cell are the same. The plant manufactures all the materials it needs, but these materials are essentially similar to those that the animal cell uses and are often handled in the same way once they are formed. Plants could not furnish animals with their nutritional requirements if the cellular constituents in the two forms were not basically similar.

Digestion

The organic food of animals, including humans, consists in part of large molecules. In the digestive tracts of higher animals, these molecules are hydrolyzed, or broken down, to their component building blocks. Proteins are converted to mixtures of amino acids, and polysaccharides are converted to monosaccharides. In general, all living forms use the same small molecules, but many of the large complex molecules are different in each species. An animal, therefore, cannot use the protein of a plant or of another animal directly but must first break it down to amino acids and then recombine the amino acids into its own characteristic proteins. The hydrolysis of food material is necessary also to convert solid material into soluble substances suitable for absorption. The liquefaction of stomach contents aroused the early interest of observers, long before the birth of modern chemistry, and the hydrolytic enzymes secreted into the digestive tract were among the first enzymes to be studied in detail. Pepsin and trypsin, the proteolytic enzymes of gastric and pancreatic juice, respectively, continue to be intensively investigated.

The products of enzymatic action on the food of an animal are absorbed through the walls of the intestines and distributed to the body by blood and lymph. In organisms without digestive tracts, substances must also be absorbed in some way from the environment. In some instances simple diffusion appears to be sufficient to explain the transfer of a substance across a cell membrane. In other cases, however (e.g., in the case of the transfer of glucose from the lumen of the intestine to the blood), transfer occurs against a concentration gradient. That is, the glucose may move from a place of lower concentration to a place of higher concentration.

In the case of the secretion of hydrochloric acid into gastric juice, it has been shown that active secretion is dependent on an adequate oxygen supply (i.e., on the respiratory metabolism of the tissue), and the same holds for absorption of salts by plant roots. The energy released during the tissue oxidation must be harnessed in some way to provide the energy necessary for the absorption or secretion. This harnessing is achieved by a special chemical coupling system. The elucidation of the nature of such coupling systems has been an objective of the biochemist.

Blood

One of the animal tissues that has always excited special curiosity is blood. Blood has been investigated intensively from the early days of biochemistry, and its chemical composition is known with greater accuracy and in more detail than that of any other tissue in the body. The physician takes blood samples to determine such things as the sugar content, the urea content, or the inorganic-ion composition of the blood, since these show characteristic changes in disease.

The blood pigment hemoglobin has been intensively studied. Hemoglobin is confined within the blood corpuscles and carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. It combines with oxygen in the lungs, where the oxygen concentration is high, and releases the oxygen in the tissues, where the oxygen concentration is low. The hemoglobins of higher animals are related but not identical. In invertebrates, other pigments may take the place and function of hemoglobin. The comparative study of these compounds constitutes a fascinating chapter in biochemical investigation.

The proteins of blood plasma also have been extensively investigated. The gamma-globulin fraction of the plasma proteins contains the antibodies of the blood and is of practical value as an immunizing agent. An animal develops resistance to disease largely by antibody production. Antibodies are proteins with the ability to combine with an antigen (i.e., an agent that induces their formation). When this agent is a component of a disease-causing bacterium, the antibody can protect an organism from infection by that bacterium. The chemical study of antigens and antibodies and their interrelationship is known as immunochemistry.

Metabolism and hormones

The cell is the site of a constant, complex, and orderly set of chemical changes collectively called metabolism. Metabolism is associated with a release of heat. The heat released is the same as that obtained if the same chemical change is brought about outside the living organism. This confirms the fact that the laws of thermodynamics apply to living systems just as they apply to the inanimate world. The pattern of chemical change in a living cell, however, is distinctive and different from anything encountered in nonliving systems. This difference does not mean that any chemical laws are invalidated. It instead reflects the extraordinary complexity of the interrelations of cellular reactions.

Hormones, which may be regarded as regulators of metabolism, are investigated at three levels, to determine (1) their physiological effects, (2) their chemical structure, and (3) the chemical mechanisms whereby they operate. The study of the physiological effects of hormones is properly regarded as the province of the physiologist. Such investigations obviously had to precede the more analytical chemical studies. The chemical structures of thyroxine and adrenaline are known. The chemistry of the gender and adrenal hormones, which are steroids, has also been thoroughly investigated. The hormones of the pancreas—insulin and glucagon—and the hormones of the hypophysis (pituitary gland) are peptides (i.e., compounds composed of chains of amino acids). The structures of most of these hormones has been determined. The chemical structures of the plant hormones, auxin and gibberellic acid, which act as growth-controlling agents in plants, are also known.

The first and second phases of the hormone problem thus have been well, though not completely, explored, but the third phase is still in its infancy. It seems likely that different hormones exert their effects in different ways. Some may act by affecting the permeability of membranes; others appear to control the synthesis of certain enzymes. Evidently some hormones also control the activity of certain genes.

Genes

Genetic studies have shown that the hereditary characteristics of a species are maintained and transmitted by the self-duplicating units known as genes, which are composed of nucleic acids and located in the chromosomes of the nucleus. One of the most fascinating chapters in the history of the biological sciences contains the story of the elucidation, in the mid-20th century, of the chemical structure of the genes, their mode of self-duplication, and the manner in which the DNA of the nucleus causes the synthesis of RNA, which, among its other activities, causes the synthesis of protein. Thus, the capacity of a protein to behave as an enzyme is determined by the chemical constitution of the gene (DNA) that directs the synthesis of the protein. The relationship of genes to enzymes has been demonstrated in several ways. The first successful experiments, devised by the Nobel Prize winners George W. Beadle and Edward L. Tatum, involved the bread mold Neurospora crassa; the two men were able to collect a variety of strains that differed from the parent strain in nutritional requirements. Such strains had undergone a mutation (change) in the genetic makeup of the parent strain. The mutant strains required a particular amino acid not required for growth by the parent strain. It was then shown that such a mutant had lost an enzyme essential for the synthesis of the amino acid in question. The subsequent development of techniques for the isolation of mutants with specific nutritional requirements led to a special procedure for studying intermediary metabolism.

Evolution and origin of life

The exploration of space beginning in the mid-20th century intensified speculation about the possibility of life on other planets. At the same time, man was beginning to understand some of the intimate chemical mechanisms used for the transmission of hereditary characteristics. It was possible, by studying protein structure in different species, to see how the amino acid sequences of functional proteins (e.g., hemoglobin and cytochrome) have been altered during phylogeny (the development of species). It was natural, therefore, that biochemists should look upon the problem of the origin of life as a practical one. The synthesis of a living cell from inanimate material was not regarded as an impossible task for the future.

Applied biochemistry

An early objective in biochemistry was to provide analytical methods for the determination of various blood constituents because it was felt that abnormal levels might indicate the presence of metabolic diseases. The clinical chemistry laboratory now has become a major investigative arm of the physician in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and is an indispensable unit of every hospital. Some of the older analytical methods directed toward diagnosis of common diseases are still the most commonly used—for example, tests for determining the levels of blood glucose, in diabetes; urea, in kidney disease; uric acid, in gout; and bilirubin, in liver and gallbladder disease. With development of the knowledge of enzymes, determination of certain enzymes in blood plasma has assumed diagnostic value, such as alkaline phosphatase, in bone and liver disease; acid phosphatase, in prostatic cancer; amylase, in pancreatitis; and lactate dehydrogenase and transaminase, in cardiac infarct. Electrophoresis of plasma proteins is commonly employed to aid in the diagnosis of various liver diseases and forms of cancer. Both electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation of serum constituents (lipoproteins) are used increasingly in the diagnosis and examination of therapy of atherosclerosis and heart disease. Many specialized and sophisticated methods have been introduced, and machines have been developed for the simultaneous automated analysis of many different blood constituents in order to cope with increasing medical needs.

Analytical biochemical methods have also been applied in the food industry to develop crops superior in nutritive value and capable of retaining nutrients during the processing and preservation of food. Research in this area is directed particularly to preserving vitamins as well as color and taste, all of which may suffer loss if oxidative enzymes remain in the preserved food. Tests for enzymes are used for monitoring various stages in food processing.

Biochemical techniques have been fundamental in the development of new drugs. The testing of potentially useful drugs includes studies on experimental animals and man to observe the desired effects and also to detect possible toxic manifestations; such studies depend heavily on many of the clinical biochemistry techniques already described. Although many of the commonly used drugs have been developed on a rather empirical (trial-and-error) basis, an increasing number of therapeutic agents have been designed specifically as enzyme inhibitors to interfere with the metabolism of a host or invasive agent. Biochemical advances in the knowledge of the action of natural hormones and antibiotics promise to aid further in the development of specific pharmaceuticals.

Methods in biochemistry

Like other sciences, biochemistry aims at quantifying, or measuring, results, sometimes with sophisticated instrumentation. The earliest approach to a study of the events in a living organism was an analysis of the materials entering an organism (foods, oxygen) and those leaving (excretion products, carbon dioxide). This is still the basis of so-called balance experiments conducted on animals, in which, for example, both foods and excreta are thoroughly analyzed. For this purpose many chemical methods involving specific color reactions have been developed, requiring spectrum-analyzing instruments (spectrophotometers) for quantitative measurement. Gasometric techniques are those commonly used for measurements of oxygen and carbon dioxide, yielding respiratory quotients (the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen). Somewhat more detail has been gained by determining the quantities of substances entering and leaving a given organ and also by incubating slices of a tissue in a physiological medium outside the body and analyzing the changes that occur in the medium. Because these techniques yield an overall picture of metabolic capacities, it became necessary to disrupt cellular structure (homogenization) and to isolate the individual parts of the cell—nuclei, mitochondria, lysosomes, ribosomes, membranes—and finally the various enzymes and discrete chemical substances of the cell in an attempt to understand the chemistry of life more fully.

Centrifugation and electrophoresis

An important tool in biochemical research is the centrifuge, which through rapid spinning imposes high centrifugal forces on suspended particles, or even molecules in solution, and causes separations of such matter on the basis of differences in weight. Thus, red cells may be separated from plasma of blood, nuclei from mitochondria in cell homogenates, and one protein from another in complex mixtures. Proteins are separated by ultracentrifugation—very high speed spinning; with appropriate photography of the protein layers as they form in the centrifugal field, it is possible to determine the molecular weights of proteins.

Another property of biological molecules that has been exploited for separation and analysis is their electrical charge. Amino acids and proteins possess net positive or negative charges according to the acidity of the solution in which they are dissolved. In an electric field, such molecules adopt different rates of migration toward positively (anode) or negatively (cathode) charged poles and permit separation. Such separations can be effected in solutions or when the proteins saturate a stationary medium such as cellulose (filter paper), starch, or acrylamide gels. By appropriate color reactions of the proteins and scanning of color intensities, a number of proteins in a mixture may be measured. Separate proteins may be isolated and identified by electrophoresis, and the purity of a given protein may be determined. (Electrophoresis of human hemoglobin revealed the abnormal hemoglobin in sickle-cell anemia, the first definitive example of a “molecular disease.”)

Chromatography and isotopes

The different solubilities of substances in aqueous and organic solvents provide another basis for analysis. In its earlier form, a separation was conducted in complex apparatus by partition of substances in various solvents. A simplified form of the same principle evolved as ‘‘paper chromatography,” in which small amounts of substances could be separated on filter paper and identified by appropriate color reactions. In contrast to electrophoresis, this method has been applied to a wide variety of biological compounds and has contributed enormously to research in biochemistry.

The general principle has been extended from filter paper strips to columns of other relatively inert media, permitting larger scale separation and identification of closely related biological substances. Particularly noteworthy has been the separation of amino acids by chromatography in columns of ion-exchange resins, permitting the determination of exact amino acid composition of proteins. Following such determination, other techniques of organic chemistry have been used to elucidate the actual sequence of amino acids in complex proteins. Another technique of column chromatography is based on the relative rates of penetration of molecules into beads of a complex carbohydrate according to size of the molecules. Larger molecules are excluded relative to smaller molecules and emerge first from a column of such beads. This technique not only permits separation of biological substances but also provides estimates of molecular weights.

Perhaps the single most important technique in unraveling the complexities of metabolism has been the use of isotopes (heavy or radioactive elements) in labeling biological compounds and “tracing” their fate in metabolism. Measurement of the isotope-labeled compounds has required considerable technology in mass spectroscopy and radioactive detection devices.

A variety of other physical techniques, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, electron spin spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and X-ray crystallography, have become prominent tools in revealing the relation of chemical structure to biological function.

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