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80-771: See text Carduoideae is the thistle subfamily of the Asteraceae , or sunflower family, of flowering plants . It comprises a number of tribes in various circumscriptions of the family, in addition to the Cardueae . Takhtajan , according to Reveal , includes 10 tribes in addition to the Cardueae : the Arctotideae , the Barnadesieae , the Carlineae , the Cichorieae , the Echinopseae ,
160-562: A 5p coin design showing " The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned " ceased to be minted, though it remains in circulation. The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle , the highest and oldest chivalric order of Scotland, has thistles on its insignia and a chapel in St Giles's Kirk , Edinburgh, dubbed the Thistle Chapel . The thistle is the main charge of the regimental badge of
240-704: A "Britannica Checked" stamp, to distinguish it from the user-generated content. On 14 September 2010, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. announced a partnership with mobile phone development company Concentric Sky to launch a series of iPhone products aimed at the K–12 market. On 20 July 2011, Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated announced that Concentric Sky had ported the Britannica Kids product line to Intel's Intel Atom -based Netbooks and on 26 October 2011 that it had launched its encyclopaedia as an iPad app . In 2010, Britannica released Britannica ImageQuest,
320-425: A database of images. In March 2012, it was announced that the company would cease printing the encyclopaedia set, and that it would focus on its online version. On 7 June 2018, Britannica released a Google Chrome extension , "Britannica Insights", which shows snippets of information from Britannica Online whenever the user performs a Google Search , in a box to the right of Google's results. Britannica Insights
400-804: A different stylised thistle, crowned with the Scottish crown, has been the emblem of Police Scotland , and had long featured in the arms of seven of the eight pre-2013 Scottish police services and constabularies, the sole exception being the Northern Constabulary . As part of the arms of the University of Edinburgh , the thistle appears together with a saltire on one of the escutcheons of the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh . The coat of arms and crest of Nova Scotia (" New Scotland "), briefly Scotland's colony, have since
480-628: A guide to the Macropædia ; readers are advised to study the Propædia outline to understand a subject's context and to find more detailed articles. Over 70 years, the size of the Britannica has remained steady, with about 40 million words on half a million topics. Though published in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has for the most part maintained British English spelling . From 1985,
560-498: A leek. The thistle is also used to symbolise connection with Scotland overseas. For example, in Canada, it is one of the four floral emblems on the flag of Montreal ; in the US, Carnegie Mellon University features the thistle in its crest in honour of the Scottish heritage of its founder, Andrew Carnegie , and Annapolis, Maryland features the thistle in its flag and seal. The thistle is also
640-594: A partnership with YouTube in which verified Britannica content appeared on the site as an antidote to user-generated video content that could be false or misleading. Krishnan, an educator at New York University 's Stern School of Business , believes in the "transformative power of education" and set steering the company toward solidifying its place among leaders in educational technology and supplemental curriculum. Krishnan aimed at providing more useful and relevant solutions to customer needs, extending and renewing Britannica's historical emphasis on "utility", which had been
720-569: A single article; however, 64 contributed to three articles, 23 contributed to four articles, 10 contributed to five articles, and 8 contributed to more than five articles. An exceptionally prolific contributor is Christine Sutton of the University of Oxford , who contributed 24 articles on particle physics . While Britannica 's authors have included writers such as Albert Einstein , Marie Curie , and Leon Trotsky , as well as notable independent encyclopaedists such as Isaac Asimov , some have been criticized for lack of expertise. In 1911,
800-405: A study guide, as it puts subjects in their proper perspective and suggests a series of Britannica articles for the student wishing to learn a topic in depth. However, libraries have found that it is scarcely used for this purpose, and reviewers have recommended that it be dropped from the encyclopaedia. The Propædia contains color transparencies of human anatomy and several appendices listing
880-516: Is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia . It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The encyclopaedia is maintained by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 contributors. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition. Since 2016, it has been published exclusively as an online encyclopaedia . Printed for 244 years,
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#1732844494670960-453: Is a more likely candidate. Other species, including dwarf thistle ( Cirsium acaule ), musk thistle ( Carduus nutans ), and melancholy thistle ( Cirsium heterophyllum ) have also been suggested. The thistle, and more precisely Onopordum acanthium , is one of the symbols of Lorraine , together with its coat of arms which displays three avalerions , and the Cross of Lorraine . Lorraine
1040-687: Is a region located in northeastern France, along the border with Luxembourg and Germany . Before the French Revolution , a large part of the region formed the Duchy of Lorraine . In the Middle Ages , the thistle was an emblem of the Virgin Mary because its white sap would bring to mind the milk falling from the breast of the Mother of God. It was later adopted as a personal symbol by René of Anjou , together with
1120-658: Is a website with more than 120,000 articles and is updated regularly. It has daily features, updates and links to news reports from The New York Times and the BBC . As of 2009 , roughly 60% of Encyclopædia Britannica's revenue came from online operations, of which around 15% came from subscriptions to the consumer version of the websites. As of 2006 , subscriptions were available on a yearly, monthly or weekly basis. Special subscription plans are offered to schools, colleges and libraries; such institutional subscribers constitute an important part of Britannica's business. Beginning in early 2007,
1200-417: Is considered to have a more left-leaning orientation. The 15th edition (1974–2010) has a three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles (generally fewer than 750 words), a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles (two to 310 pages), and a single Propædia volume to give a hierarchical outline of knowledge. The Micropædia was meant for quick fact-checking and as
1280-490: Is continually reprinted, with every article updated on a schedule. In the 21st century, the Britannica suffered first from competition with the digital multimedia encyclopaedia Microsoft Encarta , and later with the online peer-produced encyclopaedia Misplaced Pages . In March 2012, it announced it would no longer publish printed editions and would focus instead on the online version. Britannica has been assessed as being more politically centrist compared to Misplaced Pages, which
1360-462: Is for children aged three to six (issued 1974 to 1991). There have been, and are, several abridged Britannica encyclopaedias. The single-volume Britannica Concise Encyclopædia has 28,000 short articles condensing the larger 32-volume Britannica ; there are authorized translations in languages such as Chinese created by Encyclopedia of China Publishing House and Vietnamese . Compton's by Britannica , first published in 2007, incorporating
1440-487: Is on the subject of the United States, and it resulted from merging separate articles on the individual US states . A 2013 "Global Edition" of Britannica contained approximately 40,000 articles. Information can be found in the Britannica by following the cross-references in the Micropædia and Macropædia ; these are sparse, however, averaging one cross-reference per page. Readers are instead recommended to consult
1520-499: Is the opposite. Typically, species adapted to dry environments are more spiny. The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean precisely those plants in the tribe Cardueae (synonym: Cynareae), especially the genera Carduus , Cirsium , and Onopordum . However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes also called thistles. Biennial thistles are particularly noteworthy for their high wildlife value, producing copious floral resources for pollinators, nourishing seeds for birds like
1600-774: The Badge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom alongside the Tudor rose, Northern Irish flax , and Welsh leek . This floral combination appears on the present issues of the one pound coin. Beside the Tudor rose and Irish shamrock the thistle appears on the badge of the Yeomen of the Guard and the arms of the Canada Company . Issues of the historical florin showed the same flora, later including
1680-414: The Britannica 's Board of Directors. In 2003, former management consultant Jorge Aguilar-Cauz was appointed President of Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated. Cauz is the senior executive and reports directly to the Britannica 's Board of Directors. Cauz has been pursuing alliances with other companies and extending the Britannica brand to new educational and reference products, continuing
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#17328444946701760-507: The Britannica consisted of four parts: the Micropædia , the Macropædia , the Propædia , and a two-volume index. The Britannica 's articles are contained in the Micro- and Macropædia , which encompass 12 and 17 volumes, respectively, each volume having roughly one thousand pages. The 2007 Macropædia has 699 in-depth articles, ranging in length from two pages to 310 pages, with references and named contributors. In contrast,
1840-590: The Britannica has been revised on a regular schedule, with at least 10% of the articles considered for revision each year. According to one Britannica website, 46% of the articles in the 2007 edition were revised over the preceding three years; however, according to another Britannica website, only 35% of the articles were revised over the same period. The alphabetization of articles in the Micropædia and Macropædia follows strict rules. Diacritical marks and non-English letters are ignored, while numerical entries such as " 1812, War of " are alphabetized as if
1920-425: The Britannica included five Senior Editors and nine Associate Editors, supervised by Dale Hoiberg and four others. The editorial staff helped to write the articles of the Micropædia and some sections of the Macropædia . As of 2012, Britannica had an editorial board of advisors, which included a number of distinguished figures, primarily scholars from a variety of disciplines. Past and present members of
2000-479: The Britannica made articles freely available if they are hyperlinked from an external site. Non-subscribers are served pop-ups and advertising. On 20 February 2007, Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated announced that it was working with mobile phone search company AskMeNow to launch a mobile encyclopaedia. Users will be able to send a question via text message, and AskMeNow will search Britannica 's 28,000-article concise encyclopaedia to return an answer to
2080-483: The Britannica turned to focus more on its online edition. The Encyclopædia Britannica has been compared with other print encyclopaedias, both qualitatively and quantitatively. A well-known comparison is that of Kenneth Kister , who gave a qualitative and quantitative comparison of the 1993 Britannica with two comparable encyclopaedias, Collier's Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Americana . For
2160-460: The Britannica was the longest-running in-print encyclopaedia in the English language. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh , in three volumes. The encyclopaedia grew in size; the second edition was 10 volumes, and by its fourth edition (1801–1810), it had expanded to 20 volumes. Its rising stature as a scholarly work helped recruit eminent contributors, and
2240-863: The Eremothamneae , the Gundelieae , the Liabeae , the Mutisieae , and the Vernonieae . Of these 11, Thorne agrees with seven in his eight-tribe taxonomy of the Carduoideae, placing the tribes Cardueae (Cynareae), plus Arctotideae, Cichorieae, Eremothamneae, Liabeae, Mutisieae, and Vernonieaes in the subfamily, plus the Tarchonantheae . The Panero and Funk classification of 2002 (a molecular phylogenetic classification based upon chloroplast genes ) places just three tribes in
2320-756: The Lorraine Regional Natural Park . Carduus is the Latin term for a thistle (hence cardoon , chardon in French), and Cardonnacum is a Late Latin word for a place with thistles. This is believed to be the origin of name of the Burgundy village of Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire , which in turn is thought to be the home of the famous Chardonnay grape variety. [REDACTED] Texts on Wikisource: Encyclop%C3%A6dia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica ( Latin for 'British Encyclopaedia')
2400-676: The Royal Society of Edinburgh , and cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch . The Propædia and its Outline of Knowledge were produced by dozens of editorial advisors under the direction of Mortimer J. Adler . Roughly half of these advisors have since died, including some of the Outline's chief architects – Rene Dubos (d. 1982), Loren Eiseley (d. 1977), Harold D. Lasswell (d. 1978), Mark Van Doren (d. 1972), Peter Ritchie Calder (d. 1982) and Mortimer J. Adler (d. 2001). The Propædia also lists just under 4,000 advisors who were consulted for
2480-681: The Scots Guards , the oldest regiment in the British Army . Both the Order of the Thistle and the Scots Guards use the motto Nemo me impune lacessit , the motto of the House of Stuart and referring to the thistle's prickly nature. Pound coins with this motto and a thistle were minted in 1984, 1989, and 2014. The combination of thistle and motto first appeared on the bawbee issued by King Charles II. In 1826,
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2560-640: The grant of arms to the new National Bank of Scotland stipulates that the shield be surrounded by thistles and "thistle" is used as the name of several Scottish football clubs. Since 1960, a stylised thistle, also representing the Scottish Saltire , has been the logo of the Scottish National Party . The thistle is also seen as the logo for Scottish Rugby. Many businesses in Scotland choose this symbol to represent their organization. Since 2013,
2640-471: The 17th century featured thistles. Following his ascent to the English throne, King James VI of Scotland & I of England used a badge consisting of a Tudor rose " dimidiated " with a Scottish thistle and surmounted by a royal crown. As the floral emblem of Scotland it appears in the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom thereafter, and was included in the heraldry of various British institutions, such as
2720-500: The 2007 Micropædia has roughly 65,000 articles, the vast majority (about 97%) of which contain fewer than 750 words, no references, and no named contributors. The Micropædia articles are intended for quick fact-checking and to help in finding more thorough information in the Macropædia . The Macropædia articles are meant as authoritative, well-written commentaries on their subjects, as well as storehouses of information not covered elsewhere. The longest article (310 pages)
2800-473: The 20th century, successful competitors included Collier's Encyclopedia , the Encyclopedia Americana , and the World Book Encyclopedia . Nevertheless, from the 9th edition onwards, the Britannica was widely considered to have the greatest authority of any general English-language encyclopaedia, especially because of its broad coverage and eminent authors. The print version of the Britannica
2880-471: The 9th (1875–1889) and 11th editions (1911) are landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Starting with the 11th edition and following its acquisition by an American firm, the Britannica shortened and simplified articles to broaden its appeal to the North American market. In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt "continuous revision", in which the encyclopaedia
2960-567: The Asteraceae into only two subfamilies, the Asteroideae in addition to the Carduoideae, while Thorne adds the basal, monophyletic subfamily, the Barnadesioideae. The recent phylogeny of Panero and Funk divides the Asteraceae into 11 subfamilies. Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in
3040-410: The Asteraceae, are too varied a group for generalisation. Many are troublesome weeds, including some invasive species of Cirsium , Carduus , Silybum and Onopordum . Typical adverse effects are competition with crops and interference with grazing in pastures, where dense growths of spiny vegetation suppress forage plants and repel grazing animals. Some species, although not intensely poisonous, affect
3120-524: The Cross of Lorraine, then known as the Cross of Anjou. It seems through his book Livre du cuer d'amours espris that the Duke chose the thistle as his emblem not only because it was a Christian symbol, but also because he associated it with physical love. The thistle and the cross were used again by his grandson, René II, Duke of Lorraine , who introduced them in the region. The two symbols became hugely popular among
3200-662: The Elder) of Norway who, having control of the Northern Isles and Hebrides , had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland for some years. The thistle was used on silver coins first issued by King James III in 1474 as a Scottish symbol and national emblem. In 1536, the bawbee , a sixpence in the pound Scots , was issued for the first time under King James V ; it showed a crowned thistle. Thistles continued to appear regularly on Scottish and later British coinage until 2008, when
3280-572: The Google Chrome browser that served up edited, fact-checked Britannica information with queries on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Its purpose, the company said, was to "provide trusted, verified information" in conjunction with search results that were thought to be increasingly unreliable in the era of misinformation and "fake news." The product was quickly followed by Britannica School Insights, which provided similar content for subscribers to Britannica's online classroom solutions, and
Carduoideae - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-763: The Life and Works of the Bard (Wiley, 2006). The Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2012 DVD contains over 100,000 articles. This includes regular Britannica articles, as well as others drawn from the Britannica Student Encyclopædia , and the Britannica Elementary Encyclopædia. The package includes a range of supplementary content including maps, videos, sound clips, animations and web links. It also offers study tools and dictionary and thesaurus entries from Merriam-Webster . Britannica Online
3440-412: The U.S. Department of Health and Human services, milk thistle has shown beneficial results in previous studies for people with HCV. It is possible that milk thistle can lower blood sugar levels for type two diabetes . As a dietary supplement, milk thistle is recommended for hepatitis , cirrhosis , jaundice , diabetes , and indigestion . The thistle has been the national emblem of Scotland since
3520-427: The alphabetical index or the Propædia , which organizes the Britannica 's contents by topic. The core of the Propædia is its "Outline of Knowledge", which aims to provide a logical framework for all human knowledge. Accordingly, the Outline is consulted by the Britannica 's editors to decide which articles should be included in the Micro- and Macropædia . The Outline can also be used as
3600-518: The board have included: non-fiction author Nicholas Carr , religion scholar Wendy Doniger , political economist Benjamin M. Friedman , Council on Foreign Relations President Emeritus Leslie H. Gelb , computer scientist David Gelernter , Physics Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann , Carnegie Corporation of New York President Vartan Gregorian , philosopher Thomas Nagel , cognitive scientist Donald Norman , musicologist Don Michael Randel , Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood , President of
3680-444: The company announced that the 2010 edition would be the last printed version. This was part of a move by the company to adapt to the times and focus on its future using digital distribution. The peak year for the printed encyclopaedia was 1990, when 120,000 sets were sold, but sales had dropped to 40,000 per annum by 1996. There were 12,000 sets of the 2010 edition printed, of which 8,000 had been sold by March 2012. By late April 2012,
3760-420: The company would be accepting edits and additions to the online Britannica website from the public. The published edition of the encyclopaedia will not be affected by the changes. Individuals wishing to edit the Britannica website will have to register under their real name and address prior to editing or submitting their content. All edits submitted will be reviewed and checked and will have to be approved by
3840-487: The desired targets. Another approach towards controlling thistle growth is using thistle tortoise beetles as a biological control agent; through feeding on thistle plants, thistle tortoise beetles skeletonize the leaves and damage the plant. Thistles are important nectar sources for pollinators. Some ecological organizations, such as the Xerces Society , have attempted to raise awareness of their benefits to counteract
3920-600: The emblem of the Encyclopædia Britannica (which originated in Edinburgh, Scotland) and Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (as the company was founded by two Scots). Which species of thistle is referred to in the original legend is disputed. Popular modern usage favours cotton thistle ( Onopordum acanthium ), perhaps because of its more imposing appearance, though it is not native and unlikely to have occurred in Scotland in mediaeval times. The spear thistle ( Cirsium vulgare ), an abundant native species in Scotland,
4000-417: The encyclopaedia's professional staff. Contributions from non-academic users will sit in a separate section from the expert-generated Britannica content, as will content submitted by non- Britannica scholars. Articles written by users, if vetted and approved, will also only be available in a special section of the website, separate from the professional articles. Official Britannica material would carry
4080-459: The encyclopaedias had an article on sexual harassment in 1994. In the accuracy category, the Britannica received one "D" and seven "A"s, Encyclopedia Americana received eight "A"s, and Collier's received one "D" and seven "A"s; thus, Britannica received an average score of 92% for accuracy to Americana 's 95% and Collier's 92%. In the timeliness category, Britannica averaged an 86% to Americana' s 90% and Collier's 85%. In 2013,
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#17328444946704160-526: The family Asteraceae . Prickles can also occur all over the plant – on the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. These prickles protect the plant from herbivores . Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape similar to a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flower heads . The typically feathery pappus of a ripe thistle flower is known as thistle-down . The spininess varies considerably by species. For example, Cirsium heterophyllum has very soft spines while Cirsium spinosissimum
4240-433: The favourite nectar sources of the pearl-bordered fritillary , small pearl-bordered fritillary , high brown fritillary , and dark green fritillary butterflies. Thistles and thistle-seed feeders provide important sustenance for goldfinches and the flowers are strongly favoured by many butterflies besides fritillaries such as the monarch , skippers , and the various types of tiger swallowtail . Hummingbirds will feed on
4320-488: The flowers of the biennial species, which feature large flowers, as compared with the perennial creeping thistle . Some thistles, for example Cirsium vulgare , native to Eurasia, have been widely introduced outside their native range. Control measures include Trichosirocalus weevils . A problem with this approach, at least in North America, is that the introduced weevils may affect native thistles at least as much as
4400-599: The former Compton's Encyclopedia , is aimed at 10- to 17-year-olds and consists of 26 volumes and 11,000 pages. Since 1938, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. has published annually a Book of the Year covering the past year's events. A given edition of the Book of the Year is named in terms of the year of its publication, though the edition actually covers the events of the previous year. The company also publishes several specialized reference works, such as Shakespeare: The Essential Guide to
4480-754: The general agricultural and home garden labeling of thistles as weeds. The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus for instance, was highlighted as traditionally relying upon taller large-flowered thistle species such as Tall thistle, Cirsium altissimum , for its migration. Although such organizations focus on the benefits of native thistles, certain non-native thistles, such as Cirsium vulgare in North America, may provide similar benefits to wildlife. Some prairie and wildflower seed production companies supply bulk seed for native North American thistle species for wildlife habitat restoration, although availability tends to be low. Thistles are particularly valued by bumblebees for their high nectar production. Cirsium vulgare
4560-414: The goldfinch, foliage for butterfly larvae, and down for the lining of birds' nests. A thistle is the floral emblem of Scotland and Lorraine , as well as the emblem of the Encyclopædia Britannica . Genera in the Asteraceae with the word thistle often used in their common names include: Plants in families other than Asteraceae which are sometimes called thistle include: Thistle flowers are
4640-670: The health of animals that ingest them. The genus Cynara includes the commercially important species of artichoke . Some species regarded as major weeds are sources of vegetable rennet used in commercial cheese making. Similarly, some species of Silybum that occur as weeds are cultivated for seeds that yield vegetable oil and pharmaceutical compounds such as Silibinin . Other thistles that nominally are weeds are important honey plants, both as bee fodder in general, and as sources of luxury monofloral honey products. The Milk Thistle, also known as silymarin, has been used to treat liver or gallbladder problems. While not confirmed by
4720-427: The historian George L. Burr wrote: With a temerity almost appalling, [the Britannica contributor, Mr. Philips] ranges over nearly the whole field of European history, political, social, ecclesiastical... The grievance is that [this work] lacks authority. This, too—this reliance on editorial energy instead of on ripe special learning—may, alas, be also counted an "Americanizing": for certainly nothing has so cheapened
4800-552: The local people during the Battle of Nancy in 1477, during which the Lorrain army defeated Burgundy . The Duke's motto was " Qui s'y frotte s'y pique ", meaning "who touches it, pricks oneself", with a similar idea to the Scottish motto " Nemo me impune lacessit ". Nowadays the thistle is still the official symbol of the city of Nancy , as well as the emblem of the AS Nancy football team, and
4880-637: The number had been written out ("Eighteen-twelve, War of"). Articles with identical names are ordered first by persons, then by places, then by things. Rulers with identical names are organized first alphabetically by country and then by chronology; thus, Charles III of France precedes Charles I of England , listed in Britannica as the ruler of Great Britain and Ireland. (That is, they are alphabetized as if their titles were "Charles, France, 3" and "Charles, Great Britain and Ireland, 1".) Similarly, places that share names are organized alphabetically by country, then by ever-smaller political divisions. In March 2012,
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#17328444946704960-557: The open PubMed Central library of the National Library of Medicine . The Internet tends to provide more current coverage than print media, due to the ease with which material on the Internet can be updated. In rapidly changing fields such as science, technology, politics, culture and modern history, the Britannica has struggled to stay up to date, a problem first analysed systematically by its former editor Walter Yust. Eventually,
5040-451: The quantitative analysis, ten articles were selected at random— circumcision , Charles Drew , Galileo , Philip Glass , heart disease , IQ , panda bear , sexual harassment , Shroud of Turin and Uzbekistan —and letter grades of A–D or F were awarded in four categories: coverage, accuracy, clarity, and recency. In all four categories and for all three encyclopaedias, the four average grades fell between B− and B+ , chiefly because none of
5120-586: The query. Daily topical features sent directly to users' mobile phones were also planned. On 3 June 2008, an initiative to facilitate collaboration between online expert and amateur scholarly contributors for Britannica's online content (in the spirit of a wiki ), with editorial oversight from Britannica staff, was announced. Approved contributions would be credited, though contributing automatically grants Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated perpetual, irrevocable license to those contributions. On 22 January 2009, Britannica's president, Jorge Cauz , announced that
5200-419: The reign of King Alexander III (1249–1286). According to legend , an invading Norse army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scottish army's encampment. One barefoot Norseman stepped on a thistle and cried out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the invaders. Possibly, this happened in 1263 during the Battle of Largs , which marked the beginning of the departure of King Haakon IV (Haakon
5280-450: The remaining copies of the 2010 edition had sold out at Britannica's online store. As of 2016 , a replica of Britannica's 1768 first edition is available via the online store. Britannica Junior was first published in 1934 as 12 volumes. It was expanded to 15 volumes in 1947, and renamed Britannica Junior Encyclopædia in 1963. It was taken off the market after the 1984 printing. A British Children's Britannica edited by John Armitage
5360-636: The scholarship of our American encyclopaedias. As of 2007 in the 15th edition of Britannica , Dale Hoiberg , a sinologist , was listed as Britannica 's Senior Vice President and editor-in-chief. Among his predecessors as editors-in-chief were Hugh Chisholm (1902–1924), James Louis Garvin (1926–1932), Franklin Henry Hooper (1932–1938), Walter Yust (1938–1960), Harry Ashmore (1960–1963), Warren E. Preece (1964–1968, 1969–1975), Sir William Haley (1968–1969), Philip W. Goetz (1979–1991), and Robert McHenry (1992–1997). As of 2007 Anita Wolff
5440-726: The staff members, advisors, and contributors to all three parts of the Britannica . Taken together, the Micropædia and Macropædia comprise roughly 40 million words and 24,000 images. The two-volume index has 2,350 pages, listing the 228,274 topics covered in the Britannica , together with 474,675 subentries under those topics. The Britannica generally prefers British spelling over American ; for example, it uses colour (not color ), centre (not center ), and encyclopaedia (not encyclopedia ). There are some exceptions to this rule, such as defense rather than defence . Common alternative spellings are provided with cross-references such as "Color: see Colour." Since 1936,
5520-553: The strategy pioneered by former CEO Elkan Harrison Powell in the mid-1930s. In the fall of 2017, Karthik Krishnan was appointed global chief executive officer of the Encyclopædia Britannica Group. Krishnan brought a varied perspective to the role based on several high-level positions in digital media, including RELX (formerly known as Reed Elsevier, and one of the constituents of the FTSE 100 Index) and Rodale, in which he
5600-508: The subfamily: the Cardueae, plus the Dicomeae (created by Panero and Funk's paper, consisting of Dicoma , Erythrocephalum , Gladiopappus , Macledium , Cloiselia , Pasaccardoa , and Pleiotaxis ), and the Tarchonantheae ( Tarchonanthus plus Brachylaena ). The genus Oldenburgia may be within this subfamily but the data on this is inconclusive. The Takhtajan system divides
5680-459: The unsigned Micropædia articles. In January 1996, the Britannica was purchased from the Benton Foundation by billionaire Swiss financier Jacqui Safra , who serves as its current chair of the board. In 1997, Don Yannias, a long-time associate and investment advisor of Safra, became CEO of Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated. In 1999, a new company, Britannica.com Incorporated ,
5760-666: The watchword of its first edition in 1768. As the Britannica is a general encyclopaedia, it does not seek to compete with specialized encyclopaedias such as the Encyclopaedia of Mathematics or the Dictionary of the Middle Ages , which can devote much more space to their chosen topics. In its first years, the Britannica 's main competitor was the general encyclopaedia of Ephraim Chambers and, soon thereafter, Rees's Cyclopædia and Coleridge's Encyclopædia Metropolitana . In
5840-473: Was created to develop digital versions of the Britannica ; Yannias assumed the role of CEO in the new company, while his former position at the parent company remained vacant for two years. Yannias' tenure at Britannica.com Incorporated was marked by missteps, considerable lay-offs, and financial losses. In 2001, Yannias was replaced by Ilan Yeshua , who reunited the leadership of the two companies. Yannias later returned to investment management, but remains on
5920-500: Was also available as a Firefox extension but this was taken down due to a code review issue. The print version of the Britannica has 4,411 contributors, many eminent in their fields, such as Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman , astronomer Carl Sagan , and surgeon Michael DeBakey . Roughly a quarter of the contributors are deceased, some as long ago as 1947 ( Alfred North Whitehead ), while another quarter are retired or emeritus . Most (approximately 98%) contribute to only
6000-456: Was believed to be a remedy for headaches, plague , cancer sores, vertigo, and jaundice. In the Beira region, thistle flowers are used as rennet in cheese making. " Serra da Estrela " is not only the name of a mountain chain in this country, " Serra da Estrela " is also the name of one of the most appreciated cheeses made from sheep's milk. Thistles, even if one restricts the term to members of
6080-651: Was issued in London in 1960. Its contents were determined largely by the eleven-plus standardized tests given in Britain. Britannica introduced the Children's Britannica to the US market in 1988, aimed at ages seven to 14. In 1961, a 16-volume Young Children's Encyclopaedia was issued for children just learning to read. My First Britannica is aimed at children ages six to 12, and the Britannica Discovery Library
6160-511: Was listed as the Deputy Editor and Theodore Pappas as Executive Editor. Prior Executive Editors include John V. Dodge (1950–1964) and Philip W. Goetz. Paul T. Armstrong remains the longest working employee of Encyclopædia Britannica. He began his career there in 1934, eventually earning the positions of treasurer, vice president, and chief financial officer in his 58 years with the company, before retiring in 1992. The 2007 editorial staff of
6240-542: Was ranked in the top ten for nectar production in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative. Bull thistle was a top producer of nectar sugar in another study in Britain, ranked third with a production per floral unit of (2323 ± 418μg). Pliny and medieval writers thought it could return hair to bald heads and that in the early modern period it
6320-400: Was responsible for "driving business and cultural transformation and accelerating growth". Taking the reins of the company as it was preparing to mark its 250th anniversary and define the next phase of its digital strategy for consumers and K–12 schools, Krishnan launched a series of new initiatives in his first year. First was Britannica Insights, a free, downloadable software extension to
6400-466: Was significantly more expensive than its competitors. Since the early 1990s, the Britannica has faced new challenges from digital information sources. The Internet, facilitated by the development of search engines , has grown into a common source of information for many people, and provides easy access to reliable original sources and expert opinions, thanks in part to initiatives such as Google Books , MIT 's release of its educational materials and
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