The English philosopher John Langshaw Austin (1911-1960) taught a generation of Oxford students a rigorous style of philosophizing based on language analysis. John Langshaw Austin was born in Lancaster on March 26, 1911. In 1924 he entered...

Aversion therapy is a form of psychiatric or psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is intended to cause the patient to associ...

Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is most commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money, stereotypically, but not necessarily, girls. Babysitting can ...

The medieval English philosopher Roger Bacon (ca. 1214-1294) insisted on the importance of a so-called science of experience, or "scientia experimentalis." In this respect he is often regarded as a forerunner of modern science. Little is k...

Welcome to the Bahamas, the tropical oasis you have always dreamed of. What makes the Bahamas so special? Could it be the gorgeous waters? Is it the 700 islands? Or what about just relaxing in the sun? Whatever you are ...

Russian revolutionary agitator Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin (1814-1876) was the leading spirit of 19th-century anarchism. He viewed revolution as the necessary means of destroying the political domination of individuals by the state. Mik...

In 1992, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton introduced the balanced scorecard, a concept for measuring whether the activities of a company are meeting its objectives in terms of vision and strategy. By focusing not only on financial outco...

In 1976 Roland Barthes was appointed chair of literary semiology and elected to the Collège de France--the highest position in the French academic system. His lifelong pursuit of formally interpreting the sign systems that make up c...

Charles Batteux (May 6 1713 – July 14 1780) was a French philosopher and writer on aesthetics. Batteaux was born near Vouziers (Ardennes), and studied theology at Reims. In 1739 he came to Paris, and after teaching in the colleges of ...

Beck and his theories of cognitive therapy seem to provide a good balance between the amount of direction and authority the client and therapist each have. I like that Beck does provide direction and insight, but in a way that does not mak...

Anglican bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753) developed a unique type of idealism based on an empirically oriented attack on abstract philosophizing combined with a defense of immaterialism. Although born on March 3, 1685, at Dysert Castle i...

Bibliography is the study of books as conceptual content and as physical objects. The books in question, once limited to hardbound objects available in bookstores, are today generally defined more broadly. The term "book" is ...

The Bipolar Adolescent Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depressive illness, is a mood disorder that affects many more children and adolescents than formerly known. Mania, hypomania, and depression are the general categories of s...

The German mystic Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) drew unique philosophical and religious ideas from his own spiritual experiences. His thought had a profound effect on German religious life and philosophy and influenced Quakerism in England. Jac...

The French critic and writer Nicholas Boileau-Despréaux (1636-1711) is best known for the theory of poetics expressed in his "Art poétique." Through this work he became the foremost exponent of French literary classicism. Nic...

Louis Gabriel Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald (October 2, 1754 - November 23, 1840), French counter-revolutionary philosopher and politician, was born at Le Monna, near Millau in Aveyron. Disliking the principles of the Revolution, he emigrated...

Rudjer Boscovic, also known as Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich, was a Jesuit mathematician and astronomer. He was born in Ragusa, Croatia (now Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia) on May 18, 1711, and died in Milan, Italy in February 13, 1787. Boscovic's fat...

The French prelate and writer Jacques Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704) is best known for his sermons and orations. His ecclesiastical career traversed the principal milieus and encompassed the major religious questions of his time. Jacqu...

The English philosopher Francis Herbert Bradley (1846-1924) based his thought on the principles of absolute idealism. He rigorously criticized all philosophies based on the "school of experience." Born in Clapham on Jan. 30, 1846, F. H. Br...

Well-loved and popular pediatrician, T. Berry Brazelton was born on May 10, 1918 in Waco, Texas, to Thomas Berry Brazelton and Pauline (Battle) Brazelton. His first experiences with babies and children were during his own childhood, when h...

Between one and two million women have breast implants. Before 1992—when the controversy over possible side effects made world headlines—about 150,000 women received implants annually, and since 1994 about 70,000 women a year...

Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803-1876) was an American clergyman, transcendentalist, and social activist. He passed through the whole range of American religion, from nebulous Unitarianism to firmly disciplined Catholicism. Orestes A. Brown...

The French naturalist Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), wrote the major general work on natural history of the 18th century and made the Royal Garden in Paris a center for scientific research. On Sept. 7, 1707, Georges Lo...