Academic English for International Exams

Entrepreneurs of the California Gold Rush

The gold rush of 1849 in California brought thousands of newcomers to the state. They came in search of fortune and a better life. Although most of them came to dig for gold, other opportunities were inadvertently created for entrepreneurs of a different kind.

The gold rush caused crowded camps to appear all over California, giving rise to competition for basic daily needs. Food, clothing, and other necessities could hardly be produced fast enough to keep up with the growing masses. People from all types of backgrounds quickly discovered that there was just as much fortune to be made serving the gold diggers as there was in digging for gold. With fierce and increasingly violent rivalry to find more gold happening all around them, some people saw an opportunity to make a better living by providing other goods and services to the rapidly growing population. A few had inflated their prices and taken advantage of the miners' plight. However, most were simply honest, hardworking businessmen with creative ideas.

One such entrepreneur was a young merchant named Levi Strauss. He was best known for a prosperous dry goods business that manufactured various types of apparel. Strauss created a pair of sturdy pants out of canvas, which became very popular among the miners. The pants were durable enough to withstand the harsh conditions of the miners' activities: stooping, kneeling, bending, and crawling in mud and on rocky surfaces. Ultimately, he added a critical element to the trousers: the metal rivet, which provided the best reinforcement for the laborers' work wear. This feature, still used in the manufacture of jeans today, changed the course of American fashion and put Mr. Strauss on the road to unparalleled success. Levi Strauss was one of the first of many entrepreneurs to make his fortune during the gold rush without digging for a single nugget.

Why the Sky is Blue

The scattering of sunlight off the molecules in the atmosphere is responsible for the blue appearance of the sky. Usually, we see light in its full visible spectrum, which appears white to the human eye. However, when light rays are broken or refracted by water in the atmosphere, its colors appear separated. This is because each color has its own wavelength.

The reason the sky appears to be blue was first investigated by British physicist Lord Rayleigh. He discovered that sunlight is scattered by water molecules in the air in the same way that white light is scattered by a prism. The visible light spectrum occupies only the portion of the entire electromagnetic radiation field that we can see. The spectrum includes the colors of a rainbow we can sometimes see in the sky. It ranges from red, classified as the longest wavelength, to violet, classified as the shortest. Since this scattering in the sky is more effective at shorter wavelengths where the blue end of the visible spectrum is, the sky appears to be blue. Although all the colors of the visible light spectrum are present in white sunlight, the blue wavelength is most easily detected by the human eye, due to the angle at which we view sunlight.

As we view the sunlight away from the sun, it is scattered through more atmospheric molecules than if we looked more directly toward the sun. This scattering, called Rayleigh scattering, is predominantly in the blue end of the light spectrum. It is because of the shorter wavelength of blue that the light is more effectively scattered. If we look toward the sun, the full spectrum of white light is more dominant; further from the sun, a deeper blue is visible. In other words, the more air molecules light travels through, the more saturation of color we can detect.

Stieglitz Photography as Art

Alfred Stieglitz made art history in the 1920s by advancing his photographic work from simple images of the world captured on film to expressions of artistic interpretation as seen through the lens of his camera.

While spending time in Europe, Stieglitz's photographic skills became widely respected. He returned to New York City in 1890 to become a partner in the Photochrome Engraving Company. The art movement in Europe had been a source of inspiration to him. He soon found himself more interested in promoting photography in the US as an artistic expression than producing standard photographs. His enthusiasm, however, was not as well received in the American art world. The brief but important Dada art movement had gained broad recognition in Europe as a creative social outlet. Stieglitz became involved with the movement in New York. However, it did not have a comparable impact and quickly disbanded. Dada art, however, had a profound impact on the way Stieglitz viewed his work. Consequently, he helped to establish the Camera Club of New York. He also edited and published the periodical Camera Work. Both of these endeavors served to promote the artistic side of photography to the public.

Stieglitz focused much of his work on the urban surroundings of New York City. He used the play of shadow and light rather than objects as the main content of his photographs. Stieglitz's series of photographs of clouds and sky was called Equivalents. He undertook the project in an effort to demonstrate that form rather than subject was what mattered in creating an expression of visual art. The incorporation of abstract patterns was his way of conveying emotion. By capturing these simple images so completely, Stieglitz believed that all who looked upon it in the future would experience a feeling equivalent to the one he experienced viewing the scene in person. In an unparalleled career that spanned the transition from the Victorian to the modern world of art, Alfred Stieglitz has likely had a more profound influence on the shift toward aesthetic photography than any other individual. His sensibilities toward this evolving art form showed true maturity in his craft. Stieglitz's photography embodied his desire to try new things in order to exhibit beauty in that which previously appeared devoid of it.

Socialization and Media

The debate surrounding media's role in socialization intensified after the television was first made commercially available in the 1930s. Today, the role of television is even stronger. According to a leading polling firm, ninety-nine percent of American households own at least one television. The people in those households watch an average of seven hours of television each day. Thus, television is undeniably an important part of modern culture. The benefits of media such as television, however, are debated. Many believe that media provide many social benefits. Others feel that their effect on socialization is entirely negative.

Those in support of media as socializers cite their educational and interactional benefits. Especially for children just learning to socialize, many popular educational programs can help teach valuable life lessons. For example, Sesame Street, a popular American television show, focuses on teaching children academic information such as mathematics and valuable social skills like sharing. Various studies have indicated the benefits of this program. One study in particular showed that children who regularly watched Sesame Street consistently received higher grades in school than those who did not. Moreover, media can provide people of all ages with topics that allow them to socialize more effectively. For example, television provides a number of popular programs Р from news to comedy Р that children and adults alike can discuss. A person in a social situation can certainly find a shared topic to discuss from one of the many television programs being broadcast daily.

Those against the media as a socializer find grounds for contention in these same areas. They claim that the education and interaction offered by the media are often negative rather than positive. Programs on television are often not educationally based. This is true even among those designed for children. Many animated children's shows are based on violence. In addition, acts of violence can be witnessed on any local news program. Statistics suggest that the average American will view over 200,000 acts of violence on television by the age of eighteen. These statistics suggest that television teaches violence rather than academics or social skills. Critics of television as a socializer also suggest that, rather than giving people a common ground to discuss topics, it implants often unrealistic stereotypes. These stereotypes can then be perpetuated by those who watch them. For example, a violent television show may be set in a city that, in real life, is very peaceful. However, viewers may develop a bias toward that city due to its representation on the show.

Pastoralists and Hunter-Gatherers

The strategy a non-industrial society uses to obtain the resources its members need to survive – especially food – affects its social organization. Thus, societies using the same system of economic production will share some social characteristics, even though they are located in different parts of the world.

For much of human history, human beings were exclusively hunter-gatherers, foraging to meet their dietary and other needs. In such egalitarian societies, the basic social unit is the band. A band is a group of usually fewer than a hundred people, whose members are related through marriage or kinship. Everyone in the band gets an equal share of meat, and there is great social mobility. People marry outside their own band, so a person can choose to live with bands of his or her parents or grandparents. People can change their band membership several times in a lifetime. After marriage, a woman may move with her husband between her band and his.

About 12,000 years ago, humans developed food production in the form of farming and herding. As societies adopted this new economic strategy, social structures changed. A pastoralist, or herding society, is also based on small groups but is much more hierarchical. The main social unit is the extended family, with a male elder leading his sons and their families. Pastoralists rely on a domesticated herd of animals, for instance, cattle or camels, for food and other products. The herd must be moved from place to place, depending on the seasons, to find food. When the entire group-men, women, and children-move with the herd, anthropologists categorize the movement as "pastoral nomadism". In some herding societies, only part of the group moves with the herd, leaving most of the members behind in a home village. Anthropologists call this "transhumance".

Plato and Aristotle

Plato and Aristotle were two of the earliest Western political philosophers. While both shared many beliefs – Plato was a teacher of Aristotle – Plato and Aristotle differed on how to achieve a good government.

Plato believed there was a world beyond human senses, a world of what he called Forms. Human senses-sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste – are not perfect and therefore cannot give man a perfect rendering of the world, Instead, it is only through the human mind that man can truly know Forms, that is, reality. In Plato's view, only a small minority of men, genuine philosophers, are capable of obtaining this otherworldly knowledge. For Plato, therefore, the ideal form of government was the philosopher-king. Only a philosopher-king could ensure that the state promotes the ideal of the good life, a concept derived from the world of Forms that only a philosopher could understand. In the absence of a philosopher-king, Plato turned to the rule of law as the subsequent guarantee of good government.

Aristotle defined the problem of governing differently from his teacher, rejecting Plato's theory of Forms. For Aristotle, what is perceived by the senses is indeed the real world, and man can gain knowledge of it through observation and study. Aristotle agreed with Plato that government should promote the good life and the rule of law was necessary to that goal. For Aristotle, however, the rule of law was not a second choice but was preferable to rule by any one man, the concept of a philosopher-king notwithstanding. Aristotle's theory that even the ruler of a state must be subject to its laws formed the underpinning of modern constitutional government.

Baroque / Rococo

The Baroque period in Western architecture spanned the 17^lh century and first half of the 18^th century. The Rococo style then emerged in the early 18^th century as a reaction against Baroque excesses. However, it actually was a refinement of Baroque elements.

Four key elements identify Baroque architecture. First, buildings tended to be massive, creating a sense that their importance was larger than life. For example, palaces from the era were visual reminders of the power of the state, and impressive churches encouraged the faithful in their beliefs. Second, painting and sculpture combined with architecture to create a decorative Baroque unity. Sculpture, for instance, was bold and dramatic, like the buildings themselves. Third, to bring that same drama to the interior, Baroque architects used vivid colors and luxurious materials of different textures. One example is the covering of church ceilings with brightly painted scenes. A fourth element was the design and decoration of the interior space. This offered a variety of views leading off the main visual axis of the building, usually leading from the entrance. Here, too, powerful sculpture and lighting effects were used to draw the eye to various parts of the interior. This was done so that the interior offered a series of dramatic and distinct visual experiences.

The Baroque style proved to be too robust for the more graceful tastes of the 18^lh century. In response, the Rococo style emerged. Rococo, rather than being a style apart from Baroque, is better viewed as a style of decoration applied to Baroque elements. Rococo decoration was more delicate and subtle. By using smaller columns and continuous smooth surfaces in place of contrasting textures, Rococo buildings appeared less massive and imposing. While the integration of painting and sculpture with architecture remained important in Rococo design, Rococo sculptors preferred to work on a smaller, more intimate scale. Pastel tones replaced the vivid colors of the Baroque style, and mirrors were popular decorations. Graceful S- and C-shaped swirls and curves decorated walls and ceilings so much-that critics attacked the style for its overuse of ornamental decorations. Windows were added to building designs to let in more light. This either softened the impression of the interior or created a dramatic effect. In general, though, interior space became more unified, rather than drawing the eye to various dramatic views.

The Idea of Race

Centuries of conventional wisdom held that human beings could be divided into races that have a basis in the science of biology. Yet early usage of the word "race" did not assume any biological foundation. As its definition changed over time, however, it eventually claimed a scientific foundation.

When the word "race" first entered the English language, it had a meaning quite different from its more current association. Race simply denoted a group of people who shared an identity. "The human race" included all human beings. The term could also identify people who shared a national interest, as in "the Czech race", or "the Brazilian race". It also referred to a way of life, such as "a race of hunter-gatherers".

Explorations in the 16^th and 17^th centuries affected the definition of race. These journeys brought Europeans into contact with cultures quite different from their own. The people they encountered were also noticeably different in physical characteristics. It was during this time of European conquest and colonization that racial categories became defined by physical appearance. At the same time, science was evolving, and attempts were made to measure "racial differences."

As people were racially categorized by their physical attributes such as skin color, head shape, and hair texture, another important idea associated with race developed. A "racial worldview" assumed that each race had its own behavioral and physical traits that were passed on from parents to children. These traits could therefore be used to distinguish each race. Three commonly used categories were Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. A mid-19^th century treatise, "Essay on the Inequality of Human Races", lent further support to the idea that race was a biological explanation for human differences that could thus be legitimately used to rank human beings.

As the 20^th century dawned, the idea behind the concept of race-that humans could be readily divided into biologically determined races-was widely accepted. However, scientists found it increasingly difficult to actually measure those biological determinants. As genetic studies in the late 20th century were to confirm, the reason was simple. Races have no biological foundation. There is no "race" gene. It turns out that so-called races are neither based on biology nor definable in a scientific manner. Today, sociologists and other scientists recognize that "race" is a cultural construct. It identifies a group that shares some visible physical traits, as well as some cultural and historical experiences.