Reduction

Reduction (pronounced ri-duhk-shuhn)

(1) The act of reducing or the state of being reduced.

(2) The amount by which something is reduced or diminished.

(3) The form (result) produced by reducing a copy on a smaller scale (including smaller scale copies).

(4) In cell biology, as meiosis, especially the first meiotic cell division in which the chromosome number is reduced by half.

(5) In chemistry, the process or result of reducing (a reaction in which electrons are gained and valence is reduced; often by the removal of oxygen or the addition of hydrogen).

(6) In film production when using physical film stock (celluloid and such), the process of making a print of a narrower gauge from a print of a wider gauge (historically from 35 to 16 mm).

(7) In music, a simplified form, typically an arrangement for a smaller number of parties  such as an orchestral score arranged for a solo instrument.

(8) In computability theory, a transformation of one problem into another problem, such as mapping reduction or polynomial reduction.

(9) In philosophy (notably in phenomenology), a process intended to reveal the objects of consciousness as pure phenomena.

(10) In metalworking, the ratio of a material's change in thickness compared to its thickness prior to forging and/or rolling.

(11) In engineering, (usually as “reduction gear”), a means of energy transmission in which the original speed is reduced to whatever is suitable for the intended application.

(12) In surgery, a procedure to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment, usually with a closed approach but sometimes with an open approach.

(13) In mathematics, the process of converting a fraction into its decimal form or the rewriting of an expression into a simpler form.

(14) In cooking, the process of rapidly boiling a sauce to concentrate it.

(15) During the colonial period, a village or settlement of Indians in South America established and governed by Spanish Jesuit missionaries.

1475–1485: From the Middle English reduccion, from the earlier reduccion, from the Middle French reduction, from the Latin reductiōnem & reductiōn- (stem of reductiō (a “bringing back”)) the construct being reduct(us) (past participle of redūcere (to lead back) + -iōn- (the noun suffix).  The construct in English was thus reduc(e), -ion.  Reduce was from the Middle English reducen, from the Old French reduire, from the Latin redūcō (reduce), the construct being re- (back) + dūcō (lead).  The –ion suffix was from the Middle English -ioun, from the Old French -ion, from the Latin -iō (genitive -iōnis).  It was appended to a perfect passive participle to form a noun of action or process, or the result of an action or process.  Reduction, reductivism, reductionistic & reductionism are nouns, reductionist is a noun & adjective, reductional & reductive are adjectives; the noun plural is reductions.  Forms like anti-reduction, non-reduction, over-reduction, pre-reduction, post-reduction, pro-reduction, self-reduction have been created as required.

Actor Ariel Winter (b 1998), before (left) and after (right) breast reduction (reduction mammaplasty).  Never has satisfactorily it been explained why this procedure is lawful in most jurisdictions.

In philosophy & science, reductionism is an approach used to explain complex phenomena by reducing them to their simpler, more fundamental components.  It posits that understanding the parts of a system and their interactions can provide a complete explanation of the system as a whole an approach which is functional and valuable is some cases and to varying degrees inadequate in others.  The three generally recognized classes of reductionism are (1) Ontological Reductionism, the idea that reality is composed of a small number of basic entities or substances, best illustrated in biology where life processes are explained by reducing things to the molecular level.  (2) Methodological Reductionism, an approach which advocates studying systems by breaking into their constituent parts, much used in psychology where it might involve studying human behavior by examining neurological processes.  (3) Theory Reductionism which involves explaining a theory or phenomenon in one field by the principles of another, more fundamental field as when chemistry is reduced to the physics or chemical properties explained by the operation of quantum mechanics.  Reduction has been an invaluable component in many of the advances in achieved in science in the last two-hundred-odd years and some of the process and mechanics of reductionism have actually been made possible by some of those advances.  The criticism of an over-reliance on reductionism in certain fields in that its very utility can lead to the importance of higher-level structures and interactions being overlooked; there is much which can’t fully be explained by the individual parts or even their interaction.  The diametric opposite of reductionism is holism which emphasizes the importance of whole systems and their properties that emerge from the interactions between parts.  In philosophy, reductionism is the position which holds a system of any level of complexity is nothing but the sum of its parts and an account of it can thus be reduced to accounts of individual constituents.  It’s very much a theoretical model to be used as appropriate rather than an absolutist doctrine but it does hold that phenomena can be explained completely in terms of relations between other more fundamental phenomena: epiphenomena.  A reductionist is either (1) an advocate of reductionism or (2) one who practices reductionism.

Reductionism: Lindsay Lohan during "thin phase".

The adjective reductive has a special meaning in Scots law pertaining to reduction of a decree or other legal device (ie something rescissory in its effect); dating from the sixteenth century, it’s now rarely invoked.  In the sense of “causing the physical reduction or diminution of something” it’s been in use since the seventeenth century in fields including chemistry, metallurgy, biology & economics, always to convey the idea of reduces a substance, object or some abstract quantum to a lesser, simplified or less elaborated form.  At that time, it came to be used also to mean “that can be derived from, or referred back to; something else” and although archaic by the early 1800s, it existence in historic texts can be misleading.  It wasn’t until after World War II (1939-1945) that reductive emerged as a derogatory term, used to suggest an argument, issue or explanation has been “reduced” to a level of such simplicity that so much has been lost as to rob things of meaning.  The phrase “reductio ad absurdum” (reduction to the absurd) is an un-adapted borrowing from the Latin reductiō ad absurdum, and began in mathematics, logic (where it was a useful tool in deriving proofs in fields like).  In wider use, it has come to be used of a method of disproving a statement by assuming the statement is true and, with that assumption, arriving at a blatant contradiction; the synonyms are apagoge & “proof by contradiction”.

Single-family houses (D-Zug) built in 1922 on the principle of architectural reductionism by Heinrich Tessenow in collaboration with Austrian architect Franz Schuster (1892–1972), Moritzburger Weg 19-39 (the former Pillnitzer Weg), Gartenstadt Hellerau, Dresden, Germany.

As a noun, a reductivist is one who advocates or adheres to the principles of reductionism or reductivism.  In art & architecture (and some aspects of engineering) this can be synonymous with the label “a minimalist” (one who practices minimalism).  As an adjective, reductivist (the comparative “more reductivist”, the superlative “most reductivist”) means (1) tending to reduce to a minimum or to simplify in an extreme way and (2) belonging to the reductivism movement in art or music.  The notion of “extreme simplification” (a reduction to a minimum; the use of the fewest essentials) has always appealed some and appalled others attracted to intricacy and complexity.  The German architect Professor Heinrich Tessenow (1876-1950) summed it up in the phrase for which he’s remembered more than his buildings: “The simplest form is not always the best, but the best is always simple.”, one of those epigrams which may not reveal a universal truth but is probably a useful thing to remind students of this and that lest they be seduced by the process and lose sight of the goal.  Tessenow was expanding on the principle of Occam's Razor (the reductionist philosophic position attributed to English Franciscan friar & theologian William of Ockham (circa 1288–1347) written usually as Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem (literally "Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" which translates best as “the simplest solution is usually the best”.

Reductio in extrema

1960 Lotus Elite Series 1 (left) and at the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance classic, June 1959 (left) Lotus Elite #41 leads Ferrari 250TR #14. The Ferrari (DNF) retired after overheating, the Elite finishing eighth overall, winning the 1.5 litre GT class.

Weighing a mere 500-odd kg (1100 lb), the early versions of the exquisite Lotus Elite (1957-1963) enchanted most who drove it but the extent of the reductionism compromised the structural integrity and things sometimes broke when used under everyday conditions which of course includes potholed roads.  Introduced late in 1961 the Series 2 Elite greatly improved this but some residual fragility was inherent to the design.  On the smooth surfaces of racing circuits however, it enjoyed an illustrious career, notable especially for success in long-distance events at the Nürburgring and Le Mans.  The combination of light weight and advanced aerodynamics meant the surprisingly powerful engine (a robust unit which began life power the water pumps of fire engines!) delivered outstanding performance, frugal fuel consumption and low tyre wear.  As well as claiming five class trophies in the Le Mans 24 hour race, the Elite twice won the mysterious Indice de performance (an index of thermal efficiency), a curious piece of mathematics actually designed to ensure, regardless of other results, a French car would always win something.

Colin Chapman (1928–1982), who in 1952 founded Lotus Cars, applied reductionism even to the Tessenow mantra in his design philosophy: “Simplify, then add lightness.”  Whether at the drawing board, on the factory floor or on the racetrack, Chapman seldom deviated from his rule and while it lent his cars sparking performance and delightful characteristics, more than one of the early models displayed an infamous fragility.  Chapman died of a heart attack which was a good career move, given the likely legal consequences of his involvement with John DeLorean (1925–2005) and the curious financial arrangements made with OPM (other people's money) during the strange episode which was the tale of the DMC DeLorean gullwing coupé.

1929 Mercedes-Benz SSKL blueprint (recreation, left) and the SSKL “streamliner”, AVUS, Berlin, May 1932 (right).

The Mercedes-Benz SSKL was one of the last of the road cars which could win top-line grand prix races.  An evolution of the earlier S, SS and SSK, the SSKL (Super Sports Kurz (short) Leicht (light)) was notable for the extensive drilling of its chassis frame to the point where it was compared to Swiss cheese; reducing weight with no loss of strength.  The SSK had enjoyed success in competition but even in its heyday was in some ways antiquated and although powerful, was very heavy, thus the expedient of the chassis-drilling intended to make it competitive for another season.  Lighter (which didn't solve but at least to a degree ameliorated the high tyre wear) and easier to handle than the SSK (although the higher speed brought its own problems, notably in braking), the SSKL enjoyed a long Indian summer and even on tighter circuits where its bulk meant it could be out-manoeuvred, sometimes it still prevailed by virtue of sheer power.  By 1932 however the engine’s potential had been reached and there was no more metal which could be removed without dangerously compromising safety.  The solution was an early exercise in aerodynamics (“streamlining” the then fashionable term), an aluminium skin prepared for the 1932 race held on Berlin’s AVUS (Automobil-Versuchs und Übungsstraße (automobile traffic and practice road)).  The reduction in air-resistance permitted the thing to touch 255 km/h (158 mph), some 20 km/h (12 mph) more than a standard SSLK, an increase the engineers calculated would otherwise have demanded another 120 horsepower.  The extra speed was most useful at the unique AVUS which comprised two straights (each almost six miles (ten kilometres) in length) linked by two hairpin curves, one a dramatic banked turn.  The SSKL was the last of the breed, the factory’s subsequent Grand Prix machines all specialized racing cars.

Reduction gears: Known casually as "speed reducers", reduction gears are widely used in just about every type of motor and many other mechanical devices.  What they do is allow the energy of a rotating shaft to be transferred to another shaft running at a reduced speed (achieved usually by the use of gears (cogs) of different diameters.

In chemistry, a reduction is the process or result of reducing (a reaction in which electrons are gained and valence is reduced; often by the removal of oxygen or the addition of hydrogen) and as an example, if an iron atom (valence +3) gains an electron, the valence decreases to +2.  Linguistically, it’s obviously counterintuitive to imagine a “reduced atom” is one which gains rather than loses electrons but the term in this context dates from the early days of modern chemistry, where reduction (and its counterpart: “oxidation”) were created to describe reactions in which one substance lost an oxygen atom and the other substance gained it.   In a reaction such as that between two molecules of hydrogen (2H₂)and one of oxygen (O₂) combining to produce two molecules of water (2H₂O), the hydrogen atoms have gained oxygen atoms and were said to have become “oxidized,” while the oxygen atoms have “lost them” by attaching themselves to the hydrogens, and were thus “reduced”.  Chemically however, in the process of gaining an oxygen atom, the hydrogen atoms have had to give up their electrons and share them with the oxygen atoms, while the oxygen atoms have gained electrons, thus the seeming paradox that the “reduced” oxygen has in fact gained something, namely electrons.

Proboscis

Proboscis (pronounced proh-bos-is or proh-bos–kis)

(1) A long flexible prehensile trunk or snout, as that of an elephant.

(2) In zoology, any elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth.

(3) In entomology & malacology, the elongate, protruding mouth parts of certain insects and certain invertebrates like insects, worms and molluscs, adapted for sucking or piercing (more popularly called “the beak”).

(4) Any of various elongate feeding, defensive, or sensory organs of the oral region, as in certain leeches and worms.

(5) In facetious use, the human nose, the use probably roughly with the size of prominence of the nose.

(6) In informal use, as applied in geography, engineering, geometry etc, any protrusion vaguely analogous with the human nose.

1570-1580: From the Latin proboscis (trunk of an elephant), from the Ancient Greek προβοσκίς (proboskís) (elephant's trunk (literally “feeder; means for taking food"), the construct being προ- (pro-) (before) +‎ βόσκω (bóskō) (to nourish, to feed”), from boskesthai (graze, be fed), from the stem bot- (source of botane (grass, fodder) and from which English gained botanic), from the primitive Indo-European root gwehs (source also of βοτάνη (botánē) (grass, fodder) + -is (the noun suffix).  The related terms include nose beak, organ, snoot, snout, trunk and probably dozens of slang forms.  Other descendents from the Latin include the Italian proboscide, the Portuguese probóscide and the Spanish probóscide.  Proboscis & proboscidean are nouns and proboscidate is an adjective; the noun plural is proboscises or proboscides.  The Greek derived form of the plural (proboscides) appears often in the technical literature that built using the conventions of English (proboscises) appears to be the common general form, rare though it is.

#Freckles: Lindsay Lohan’s nose.

Aerodynamics were of interest to some even in the early days of the automobile and those involved in motorsport were more interested than most.  For decades, the interest manifested mostly in the art of streamlining, the reduction of drag and research, accomplished mostly without wind-tunnel testing and obviously without computers, tended to produce cigar-shaped bodies with as few protrusions as possible.  Drag in many cases was certainly minimized, some of the shapes rendered in the 1920s & 1930s delivering drag coefficients (CD) impressive even by twenty-first century standards but it took a long time before fully it was understood that the fluid dynamics (the behavior of air) at the rear of a vehicle could be as significant as the more obvious disturbances at the front.  Not un-related to this was that it also took time (and not a few deaths) before it was appreciated quite how vital was the trade-off between drag-reduction and the downforce needed to ensure cars did not “take-off” from the surface, resulting in instant instability.

The 1923 Benz Tropfenwagen (teardrop vehicle) (left) not only used an aerodynamic nose using lessons learned from military aviation during World War I (1614-1918) but was able to optimize the shape because the engine was mid-mounted, something would wouldn’t become commonplace in Formula One for over thirty years.  The front-engined 1931 Grand Prix Mercedes-Benz SSKL (centre) made few concessions to aerodynamics, relying on power and weight-trimming but when that approach reached its evolutionary dead-end, a streamlined SSKL (1932, right) was crafted, limitations on what could be done with the nose imposed by the bulk and height of the engine.

That the early attempts at streamlining might induce aircraft-like “take-offs” was not surprising given so much of the available data came from work in ballistics and aeronautics where lift is desirable and as speeds rose, it became clear what would need also to be considered was what air was doing underneath the vehicle, some cars obviously with "just enough lift to be a bad airplane" as one driver put it.  That increase in speed in itself imposed a limit on research, the terminal velocities suddenly possible exceeding the capacity of ground-effects based wind tunnels and few manufacturers had access to test facilities with straights of sufficient length to match those on some race-tracks.  High-speed testing was thus sometimes undertaken by racing drivers at speeds rarely before explored, something complicated by being among disrupted air induced by surrounding cars and some unpredictable behavior ensued; it was actually remarkable there weren’t more fatalities than there were.

2020 Jaguar C-Type (XK120-C) (1953 continuation) (left) & 1957 Jaguar XKSS (right).

In the embryonic study of aerodynamics, one of the first conclusions (correctly) drawn was that few changes produced more dramatic improvements than lowering and optimizing the shame of the nose.  At the time, it was something not as simple as it sounded, engines mounted usually close to the nose and in the era, those usually long-stroke engines were tall, often in-line units, a shape which imposed limits on what was possible.  Jaguar used dry-sump lubrication on the D-Type (and the road-going derivative the XKSS) to allow the nose to drop a few inches compared with its predecessor, an expedient also adopted by Mercedes-Benz for their 300 SL (W198, 1954-1957) and 300 SLR (W196S, 1955), more lowering still made possible by mounting the power-plant at an acute angle.

1954 Maserati 250F with the original “short nose” body and 1956 (centre) and 1957 (right) variations of the “long nose”.

In the same era, Maserati, impressed by the speed of the Mercedes-Benz W196 when fitted with the "streamliner" body used on the faster circuits and, apparently without the benefit of a wind-tunnel, developed its own partially enclosed bodywork for its 250F Grand Prix car but it also developed, quite serendipitously, an even more effective shape and it was initially known as the “long-nose” 250F until it proved so successful it was adopted as the definitive 250F body.

The long and short of it: The Ferrari 250 LM in long (left) and short (right) nose configuration.

Ferrari and others noted the gains aerodynamics provided and among engineers, some fairly inaccurate (though broadly indicative) "rules of thumb" emerged, based usually on the calculation that for every one inch (25 mm) reduction in nose height, an effective gain of so many horsepower would be realized.  Precise or not, the method, honed by slide-rules, lingered until computer calculations and wind tunnels began more accurately to produce the numbers.  Ferrari’s first mid-engined sports car, the 250 LM (1963-1965), was one of the vehicles to benefit from a nose job, the revised bodywork fashioned by coachbuilder Piero Drogo (1926–1973) who had formed the Modena-based Carrozzeria Sports Cars to service the ecosystem of sports cars that congregated in the region.  There was an urban myth the Drogo nose was created so an “FIA standard size” suitcase could be carried (to convince the regulatory body it was a car for road and track rather than a pure racing machine) but it was really was purely for aerodynamic advantage.

Ferrari 250 LM, the short-nose chassis 6321 (left) and the long-nose (5893) right,

Testing confirmed the “Drogo nose” certainly conferred aerodynamic benefits on the 250 LM but the change brought it own difficulties because Ferrari was at the time attempting to convince the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (the FIA; the International Automobile Federation) the 250 LM should be homologated in the Grand Turismo (GT) category so it could contest the World Sports Car Championship.  This was being done using the argument the 250 LM was a mere update of the 250 GTO, despite the 250 LM having a different engine & transmission (mid rather than front-mounted) and a different body.  For homologation to be granted, there had to be 100 essentially identical examples of the model produced and given (1) there were such fundamental differences from the earlier 250s and (2) not even two dozen 250 LMs had then been produced, the FIA was understandably reticent.  However, as a gesture of good faith, Ferrari undertook (eventually) to produce the requisite 100 (even displaying what proved to be a one-off road-going version, complete with a plush interior and electric windows, to bolster the claim it belonged in the GT category) and issued a very public recall notice for all 250 LMs to be returned to the factory to be fitted with the Drogo nose.  One 250 LM (chassis 6321) however was by then being raced in Australia which was a long way away so that one was quietly overlooked (the FIA either turned a blind eye or didn't check), meaning that at least for some time it was the only “short-nosed” 250 LM left in the world, although it’s known at least two have since be converted back to their original specification.  Eventually, 32 250 LMs would be built and the FIA didn’t relent, forcing the car to compete in the 1965 championship against much faster machinery in the prototype class but it was fast enough and importantly, more reliable than the more fragile prototypes and chassis 5893 won the 1965 Le Mans 24 hour endurance race, Ferrari's last victory in the event.

Ferrari 275 GTB short (left) and long-nose (right).

The 1960s saw the last generation of Ferrari cars styled without the use of wind tunnels or much in the way of electronic assistance.  Even for the road cars, as speeds rose, some high speed instability was occasionally noted but this became pronounced with the cars were used in competition, especially on the faster tracks with the long straights.  Accordingly, knowing there would be a competition version of the 275 GTB (the 275 GTB/C) a long-nose was created which was also used on other models.  The 275 GTB/C was notable also for marking the swan song of the classic Borrani wire-spooked wheels on Ferrari competition cars, the elegant, chromed creations no longer strong enough to handle the increase loads in extreme conditions, replaced by aluminium or magnesium castings.

1969 Dodge Daytona (left) and 1969 Dodge Charger 500 (right).

Across the Atlantic, on the NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) circuits, the manufacturers had reached a dead end imposed by their regulatory body.  By 1969 the NASCAR authorities had fine-tuned their rules, restricting engine power and mandating a minimum weight so manufacturers, finding it increasingly harder to cheat, resorted to the then less policed field of aerodynamics, ushering what came to be known as the brief era of the "aero-cars".  Dodge began by making modifications to their Charger which smoothed the air-flow, labelling it the Charger 500 in a nod to the rules which demanded 500 identical models for eligibility.  It proved less successful than hoped and Dodge apparently gave up on the design, producing on 392 (although to make up the numbers they did the next year add an unrelated “500” option to the Charger line and NASCAR generously turned their blind eye).  Not discouraged however, Dodge recruited engineers from Chrysler's soon to be shuttered (as arms control treaties with the USSR loomed) aerospace & missile division and quickly created the Daytona, adding to the 500 a protruding nosecone and high wing at the rear.  Even now, the nosecone would be thought extreme but it worked on the track and this time the required 500 were actually built.  NASCAR responded by again moving the goalposts, requiring manufacturers to build at least one example of each vehicle for each of their dealers before homologation would be granted, something which would demand thousands of cars.  Accepting the challenge, in 1970 Dodge's corporate stablemate Plymouth duly built about two-thousand of their similar aero car, the Road Runner Superbird, an expensive exercise given they reportedly lost money on each one.  Now more unhappy than ever, NASCAR lawyered-up, drafted rules rendering the aero-cars uncompetitive and their brief era ended.  So extreme in appearance were the cars they proved at the time sometimes hard to sell and some were actually converted back to the standard specification to get them out of the showroom.  Views changed over time and they're now much sought by collectors, selling for up to US$500,000 in the most desirable configuration.

1969 Ford Torino Sportsroof (left) 1969 Ford Torino Talladega (right).

As imposing as the noses developed for the Daytona and Superbird were, it may have been that much of the modification was wasted effort and an application of the Europeans’ old “inch by inch” rule of thumb might have been as effective.  The nose jobs Ford in 1969 applied to their Torino Talladega and Mercury’s Cyclone Spoiler II were modest compared to what Chrysler did.  The grill was flattened, a la the Charger 500, the front bumper was replaced with a re-shaped version of the rear unit from a 1969 Fairlane which functioned effectively as an air-dam and the leading edge of the nose was extended and re-shaped dowwards.  The effect was subtle but on the track, appeared to confer a similar advantage to the one Chrysler’s rocket scientists had achieved but Ford had also made some changes which lowered the centre of gravity and improved the under-body air-flow.  Quite what this achieved has never been documented but the drivers were certainly convinced, retaining the Talladegas and Cyclone Spoilers as long as possible, the shapes proving much more efficient than their sleek-looking successors.

Porsche 911 (930) Turbo in profile (left) and Porsche 911 (930) flachbau (slantnose).

When in 1973 regulations forced Porsche to fit more substantial bumpers to the 911 (in production since 1964), it necessitated a change to the front bodywork, the earlier cars became known as the "long hood" and subsequent models the "short hood", both references to the hood (bonnet) being shortened to accommodate the unsightly battering rams.  More nose jobs would follow.  Between 1982-1989, Porsche produced three generations of the 911 (930) Turbo S with the flachbau (slantnose) bodywork, a total of 948 believed built.  It seems there were a few, hand-built prototypes completed by 1980 in addition to one completed under the factory’s Sonderwunsch (Special wishes) programme for an individual who was either well-connected or a very good customer.  The 58 first generation cars lack the pop-up headlamps so associated with the design, instead using smooth, flat-faced wings with a fibreglass front valance assembly containing twin lamps either side below the bumper.  Nicknamed the “hammerhead”, the styling divided opinion and was anyway found not to be compliant with regulations in some markets, thus the substitution of the pop-up headlamps which appeared during 1983.  As was typical of much which emerged from the programme, the cars were built with a variety of Sonderwunsch options so there was no one consistent specification.

1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS from the long hood era (left) and 1975 Porsche 911 Turbo (930) with the short hood used since the 1974 model year (right).  Such is the lure of the early 911s something of a cottage industry has emerged, devoted to "backdating" later cars.     

The second generation flachbau yielded 204 cars, the styling updated with a simplified air dam containing driving lights and a centrally mounted oil-cooler, the pop-up headlamps relocated to front wings, a much admired feature the optional air-intake vents above the pop-ups, something borrowed from the 935 track cars.  Again, other than the structural changes, there was no standard configuration, each flachbau reflecting the buyer’s ticking of the option list and any special wishes the factory was able to satisfy.  The third generation were the most numerous with 686 produced, the increased volume reflecting the effort made to ensure the cars could be made available in the lucrative US market which eventually received 630 flachbaus.  More standardized, production shifted from the Sonderwunsch’s Restoration and Repair Department facility (Werks 1) to the line in Zuffenhausen where the standard 930s were assembled though for ease of completion (and to maintain exclusivity) the cars were transferred to the Sonderwunsch for finishing and detailing.

Wax model of Thomas Wedders (circa 1730-circa 1782).

Thomas Wedders (AKA Thomas Wadhouse) from Yorkshire, England (a member of a travelling "freak show" circus) is recorded as having enjoyed (sic) the world's longest known human nose, claimed to be some 200mm (7¾ inches) in length.  In the absence of any verified evidence, the truth of that can't be known but it may be assumed his nose was very big.  The current record is held by Mehmet Özyürek (b 1949) of Türkiye, his nose officially measured and found to be 88mm (3½ inches).

Anhedonia

Anhedonia (pronounced an-hee-doh-nee-uh)

In psychiatry, the lack of desire for or the capacity to experience pleasure.

1896: From the French anhédonie (an inability to feel pleasure (and an antonym of analgesia)), the construct being the Ancient Greek ἀν (an) (in grammar, the privative prefix, indicating negation or absence) + ἡδονή (hēdonḗ) (pleasure) + -ia (the abstract noun ending).  Hēdonḗ’s better known gift to the language was hedonist (one who seeks pleasure).  The an- prefix was an alternative form of on-, from the Middle English an-, from the Old English an- & on- (on-), from the Proto-Germanic ana- (on).   It was used to create words having the sense opposite to the word (or stem) to which the prefix is attached; it was used with stems beginning either with vowels or "h".  The word was coined in either 1896 or 1987 by French psychologist Professor Théodule-Armand Ribot (1839-1916).  Anhedonia is a noun and anhedonic is an adjective; the noun plural is anhedonias.  Unexpectedly, given the profession's propensity to intricate categorization, anhedonism seems not to exist.

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.

The term anhedonia encompasses a range symptoms related to a reduction in desire for or ability to experience pleasure.  It is a generalized condition which is diagnosed only in those where the experience is universal and does not apply to those with aversion to specific activities, this something (usually) considered healthy and not unusual.  The original model in clinical psychiatry was limited to an inability to experience pleasure but this was later extended to a reduction in motivation even to seek experiences which most would find pleasurable.  The fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR (2022)) defines anhedonia as a “lack of enjoyment from, engagement in, or energy for life’s experiences; deficits in the capacity to feel pleasure and take interest in things”.  In modern practice, clinicians distinguish between anticipatory and consummatory anhedonia.  Anticipatory pleasure involves the prediction of pleasure from future reward and the experience of pleasure associated with a positive prediction while consummatory pleasure involves the reward that is the actual moment of experience.  Thus, anticipatory anhedonia is reflects an inability to predict the future experience of pleasure as well as lower motivation to take action toward achieving pleasure and consummatory anhedonia is the lack of pleasure in what’s experienced (ie synonymous with the original definition of anhedonia).

Specific instances usually are not of necessity anhedonic (although an inability to derive any enjoyment from listening to country & western music seems indicative of little more than good taste).  The exception to this seems to be the range of activities clinicians have on their “suspect categories” list including things like sex and human friendship and this view may reflect the long shadow Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) has cast over the profession.  Although in both Western theology and philosophy there's a discernible tradition of what verges on an insistence that humans are social creatures and that interaction with others should be both sought and enjoyed, Freud raised the bar by suggesting every form of sexual behavior among humans was "natural" (though some might be neither lawful or desirable) except the absence of such interest.       

Anhedonia accompanies a range of neuropsychiatric conditions and is frequently associated with depression although it’s not an essential component.  Clinically, anhedonia needs to be suffered as a generalised condition, not as the common phenomenon of losing interest in something specific, something a normal part of the human condition.  There are no specific treatments for anhedonia and there are some dissident psychiatrists and psychologists who suggest this is a tacit admission it may be a normal part of the spectrum of human behaviour.  It is commonly treated alongside the condition of which it’s a part including depression, bipolar disorder (the old manic depression), schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the various anxiety disorders.  This association with schizophrenia is striking, the medical orthodoxy being that up to 80% of those with schizophrenia may experience anhedonia and because it’s classified as a negative symptom (indicative of the absence of something that occurs in most healthy individuals), it’s considered more difficult to treat.

Boycott

Boycott (pronounced boi-kot)

(1) To combine in abstaining from, or preventing dealings with, as a means of intimidation or coercion; the refusal to purchase the products of an individual, corporation, or nation as a way to apply social and political pressure for change.

(2) To abstain from buying or using.

1880: (in the sense described): Named after Charles Boycott, an estate manager in Ireland, against whom nonviolent coercive tactics were used in 1880.  The surname, recorded as Boycott and Boykett, is both English and Irish, although the origins are the same.  It appears originally to have been locational from Boycott, either in Berkshire or Shropshire, derived from “Boia's cot” (Boia a pre-seventh century Old English term of personal endearment for a boy or young man).  Boycott is a proper noun, boycott is a noun & verb, boycotting is a noun & verb, boycotter, boycottism & boycottage are nouns, boycotted is a verb; the noun plural is boycotts.

Origin

Captain Charles Boycott (1832–97) was an English land agent for an absentee landlord in County Mayo, Ireland.  In 1880, after a year of bad harvests, the landlord offered his tenants what he considered a generous 10% reduction in their rents.  The tenants however thought this parsimonious and demanded a 25% reduction which was rejected and Captain Boycott was dispatched to evict the revolting tenants.  About the same time, the period which came to be known as the Irish “land war”, Irish nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891), a member of the Irish Land League, had proposed dealing with landlords and land agents through a peaceful form of social ostracism rather than resorting to violence, suggesting the local community should simply ignore the land agents and conduct no business with them.

Former England cricket captain Geoffrey Boycott (b 1940), Headingley, Leeds, 1977, playing a rare defensive shot.

As news of Boycott’s evictions spread, he found himself isolated within the local community and, despite the immediate economic consequences, his workers stopped working in his fields, stables and house, local businessmen no longer traded with him and the postman refused to deliver his mail.  Because of these actions, Boycott faced financial peril because nobody would harvest the crops, forcing him to bring in fifty workers and an escort of almost a thousand armed police and soldiers to guard them, the cost of these measures exceeding the value of the harvest.  Following the harvest, the boycott on Boycott was sustained and the new use of the word spread quickly, the New York Tribune applying the term in 1880, The Spectator the following year.  It has entered other languages, being used sometimes in French, German, Spanish, Italian and even Japanese (ボイコット (Boikotto)).

The boycott can be an effective tactic which can be applied in diplomacy, commerce or politics, the boycotting of elections a widely used tactic.   

Historically and by convention, a boycott is an action by an individual or a community whereas such programmes pursued by states tend to be known as embargos or sanctions.  An interesting hybrid, designed to encourage individuals, institutions and states, is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a Palestinian-led pressure group, formed in 2005, with a stated objective to force Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the right Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.

Détente & Entente

Détente (pronounced dey-tahnt or dey-tahnt (French))

(1) A period of lessening tension between two national powers, or a policy, usually by means of negotiation or agreement, designed to lessen that tension.  A détente is not the resolution of disagreement between the powers but a device to reduce the tensions these disagreements induce.

(2) A term used by historians to describe US foreign policy between the first Nixon administration (1969) and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979).  Détente’s companion word in Russian was разрядка (razryadka) (reduction of tension) 

1912: From the French détente (literally “a loosening or relaxation”), from the Old French destente, a derivative of destendre (to relax; to release), the construct being des- (from the Middle French, from the Old French des-, from the Latin dis-, from the Proto-Italic dwis-, from the primitive Indo-European dwís and cognate with the Ancient Greek δίς (dís) and the Sanskrit द्विस् (dvis), the prefix used variously to convey (1) asunder, apart, in two, part, separate, (2) reversal, removal or (3) utterly, exceedingly.) + tendre (to stretch). A doublet of intent.

The French use was influenced by the Vulgar Latin detendita, the feminine past participle of detendere (loosen, release) and as a political term in the sense of "an easing of hostility or tensions between countries", it became more popular in diplomatic discourse after Russia joined the Anglo-French entente cordiale.  In French, the word dates from the 1680s; the earlier detent was a mechanism that temporarily keeps one part in a certain position relative to that of another, which can be released by applying force to one of the parts.  It was used most in engineering to describe a locking mechanism, often spring-loaded to check the movement of a wheel in one direction, the most obvious example of which is a pulley.  In English it was treated as a French word until it was used to describe a theme in US foreign policy 1969-1979.  In English, the spelling detente is often used; the noun plural is détentes.

Entente (pronounced ahn-tahnt or ahn-tahnt (French))

(1) An arrangement or understanding between two or more nations agreeing to pursue shared interests with regard to affairs of international concern but without concluding a formal binding alliance.

(2) The parties to an entente cordiale collectively.

1844: From the French entente (understanding) from the Old French verb entente (intention) a noun use of the feminine of entent, past participle of entendre (to intend).  Although not all agree, there may have been some influence from the Latin intenta, perhaps perhaps through the substantivized Vulgar Latin past participle intendita, as a variant of intenta.  In English, “the entente” has long been used as verbal shorthand for the Anglo-French entente cordiale (1904), the best known of the many ententes, the first apparently document in 1844.  The noun plural is ententes.

Détente

Until the late 1960s, the word détente was rare except in diplomatic circles or the work of historians.  In the language of diplomacy, it came into use around 1912 when there were (obviously not successful) attempts by Germany and France to reduce tensions which may have given it a bad name although it appears often in the archival records of the League of Nations (1920-1946), something which may further have added tarnish.  The revival came when Dr Henry Kissinger (b 1923; US national security advisor 1969-1973 & secretary of state 1973-1977) was appointed national security advisor by Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974), bringing with him a long study of diplomacy and a feeling for the desirability of a “balance of power” between the USSR and US, under which a stable “peaceful co-existence” could be maintained.  The core element of détente was arms-limitation, Kissinger’s idea being there was no surer path to a reduction in tensions than reducing the possibility of conflict escalating to nuclear confrontation.

Détente: Henry Kissinger & Dolly Parton, 1985.

There were regular summit meetings too and even Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 worked as a part of détente with the USSR but détente did not fundamentally change the postwar American strategy of containment.  Instead it was a mechanism of pursuing containment in a less confrontational method, offering inducements such as technology transfers or trade agreements in exchange for Soviet restraint in promoting revolutionary movements.  It was never envisaged as a means by which the USSR might be destroyed and Kissinger assumed the Soviet state would endure indefinitely in a stable bi-polar system where each side maintained its own spheres of influence and tended not to trespass too far into the other’s space.  The lure of détente faded after Nixon’s resignation and was definitely over after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 but Ronald Reagan (1912-2004; US president 1981-1989), even before assuming office, had made clear he regarded détente as defeatist, thinking the very existence of the Soviet system a problem to be solved, not merely managed.  Reagan’s approach was radical; he was the Leon Trotsky (1879–1940; Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary & theorist murdered by comrade Stalin) of the West, as opposed to détente as the Russian had been to the essentially similar doctrines of “peaceful co-existence” & “socialism in one state”.

Entente

The 1904 Anglo-French entente cordiale is well-remembered as a set of landmark agreements which resolved a number of long-standing territorial, economic, and strategic points of contention between Britain and France, London and Paris both motivated by their concerns of an increasingly assertive Germany.  From the entente of 1904, lay the winding path to 1914 and all that would follow but the first entente cordiale was concluded in 1844 in the wake of Queen Victoria’s (1819–1901; Queen of the United Kingdom 1837-1901) visit to King Louis-Philippe (1773–1850; King of the French 1830-1848) the year before.

The first British monarch to set foot in France since Henry VIII (1491–1547; King of England 1509-1547), the gesture was quite remarkable given that only three years earlier, the two countries had been on the brink of war.  Things had changed, with the removal of the long-serving foreign secretary Lord Palmerston (1784–1865; UK foreign secretary or prime-minister variously 1830-1865), relations rapidly improved, assisted by the warm friendship between the two sovereigns and it was Palmerston’s replacement, Lord Aberdeen (1784–1860;UK foreign secretary or prime-minister variously 1828-1855) who conjured-up the phrase “a cordial good understanding” to which the King of France responded with “une sincère amitié” and a spirit of “cordiale entente”, the latter catching on both sides of the channel.

It was however tentative, the entente cordiale was not an alliance confirmed by a treaty, but a concept, a state of mind which the French foreign minister François Guizot (1787–1874; French foreign minister or prime-minister variously 1840-1848) explained by saying “On certain questions, the two countries have understood that they can agree and act together, without a formal undertaking and without renouncing any aspect of their freedom.”  It was in its early days also administered in a very different way, not between ambassadors or bureaucrats but a kind of informal (an actually quite affectionate) back-channel of private correspondence, unknown to other ministers or monarchs, between the French and British foreign ministers.  It was a successful approach and enabled the resolution of difficulties which might otherwise have become crises, including the right of search on their respective ships to prevent slave trading; protectorates in the Pacific, French intervention in Morocco and many squabbles between ambassadors.  It smoothed out much but wasn’t always popular with others in both countries, most of whom brought up in the more gut-wrenching and combative traditions of preceding centuries.

Portrait of Queen Isabel II and her sister the infanta Luisa Fernanda (circa 1843) by Antonio.

One sensitive question was the famous affair of the Spanish marriages, those of the young Spanish Queen Isabella II (1830-1904) and her sister (Luisa Fernanda 1832–1897), something on which the Paris & London had very different views and a satisfactory compromise seemed at hand when, in 1846, the British government fell and old Lord Palmerston returned, bent on confrontation with Paris.  Guizot loathed Palmerston and with brutal rapidity concluded the Iberian marriages to the advantage of France (both marriages proved miserable but among European royalty happy unions were anyway vanishingly elusive) and with that, the entente cordiale was over.  However, although the warmth of the relationship since has fluxuated, the Royal Navy even sinking some of the French fleet in 1940 to prevent ships falling into German hands, France and Britain have not again been at war.