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 Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630


heterozygous
In a living organism, having two different alleles for a given trait. In homozygous organisms, by contrast, both chromosomes carry the same allele. In an outbreeding population an individual organism will generally be heterozygous for some genes but homozygous for others. For example, in humans, alleles for both blue- and brown-pigmented ey...

heredity
In biology, the transmission of traits from parent to offspring. See also genetics

heterotroph
Any living organism that obtains its energy from organic substances produced by other organisms. All animals and fungi are heterotrophs, and they include herbivores, carnivores, and saprotrophs (those that feed on dead animal and plant material)

herbivore
Animal that feeds on green plants (or photosynthetic single-celled organisms) or their products, including seeds, fruit, and nectar. The most numerous type of herbivore is thought to be the zooplankton, tiny invertebrates in the surface waters of the oceans that feed on small photosynthetic algae. Herbivores are more numerous than other animals...

heart
Click images to enlargeMuscular organ that rhythmically contracts to force blood around the body of an animal with a circulatory system. Annelid worms and some other invertebrates have simple hearts consisting of thickened sections of main blood vessels that pulse regularly. An earthworm has ten such hearts. Vertebrates h...

helix
In mathematics, a three-dimensional curve resembling a spring, corkscrew, or screw thread. It is generated by a line that encircles a cylinder or cone at a constant angle

hermeneutics
Philosophical tradition concerned with the nature of understanding and interpretation of human behaviour and social traditions. From its origins in problems of biblical interpretation, hermeneutics has expanded to cover many fields of enquiry, including aesthetics, literary theory, and science. The German philosophers Wilhelm Dilthey, Martin Heideg...

health care
Implementation of a satisfactory regimen to ensure long-lasting good health. Life expectancy is determined by the overall efficiency of the body's vital organs and the rate at which these organs deteriorate. Fundamental health care concerns include: Smoking this is strongly linked to heart disease, stroke, bronchitis, lung cancer, and o...

Heraclitus
Greek philosopher who believed that the cosmos is in a ceaseless state of flux and motion, fire being the fundamental material that accounts for all change and motion in the world. Nothing in the world ever stays the same, hence the dictum, `one cannot step in the same river twice`

Hendrix, Jimi
(James Marshall) US rock guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He was legendary for his virtuoso experimental technique and flamboyance. Are You Experienced? (1967) was his first album. His performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival included a memorable version of The ...

Herschel, John Frederick William
English scientist, astronomer, and photographer who discovered thousands of close double stars, clusters, and nebulae. He coined the terms `photography`, `negative`, and `positive`, discovered sodium thiosulphite as a fixer of silver halides, and invented the cyanotype process; his inventions also include astronomi...

Hebrew language
Member of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in Southwest Asia by the ancient Hebrews, sustained for many centuries in the Diaspora as the liturgical language of Judaism, and revived by the late-19th-century Haskalah intellectual movement, which spread modern European culture among Jews. The language developed in the 20th century a...

hexadecimal number system
Number system to the base 16, used in computing. In hex the decimal numbers 0–15 are represented by the characters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F. Hexadecimal numbers are easy to convert to the computer's internal binary code and are more compact than binary numbers. Each place in a number increases in value by a power of 1...

Helsinki Conference
International meeting in 1975 at which 35 countries, including the USSR and the USA, attempted to reach agreement on cooperation in security, economics, science, technology, and human rights. This established the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is now known as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Heidelberg School
Group of Australian Impressionist artists (including Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, and Charles Conder) working near the village of Heidelberg in Melbourne in the 1880s–90s. The school had its most famous exhibition 1889, called the `9 by 5`, from the size of the cigar-box lids used

Heyerdahl, Thor
Norwegian ethnologist. He sailed on the ancient-Peruvian-style raft Kon-Tiki from Peru to the Tuamotu Archipelago along the Humboldt Current in 1947, and in 1969–70 used ancient-Egyptian-style papyrus-reed boats to cross the Atlantic. His experimental approach to historical reconstruction is not regar...

Hesse
Administrative region (German Land) in central Germany, bordered to the west by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, to the south by Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, to the east by Thuringia, and to the north by North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony; area 21,115 sq km/8,153 sq mi; population (2003 est) ...

Heseltine, Michael Ray Dibdin
British Conservative politician, defence secretary 1983–86 and deputy prime minister 1995–97. A charismatic speaker and strong supporter of closer British integration within the European Union, he became a fierce backbench critic of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1986 and challenged her for the party's leadership in 1990. Under...

herpes
Any of several infectious diseases caused by viruses of the herpes group. Herpes simplex I is the causative agent of a common inflammation, the cold sore. Herpes simplex II is responsible for genital herpes, a highly contagious, sexually transmitted disease characterized by painful blisters in the ge...

Herod Antipas
Tetrarch (governor) of the Roman province of Galilee, northern Palestine, 4 BC–AD 39, son of Herod the Great. He divorced his wife to marry his niece Herodias, and was responsible for the death of John the Baptist. Jesus was brought before him on Pontius Pilate's discovery that he was a Galilean and hence of Herod's jurisdiction, but H...

Herod Agrippa II
King of Chalcis (now southern Lebanon), son of Herod Agrippa I. He was appointed by the Roman emperor Claudius about AD 50, and in AD 60 tried the apostle Paul. He helped the Roman commander Titus (subsequently emperor) take and sack Jerusalem in AD 70, then went to Rome, where he died

Hero and Leander
In Greek mythology, a pair of lovers. Hero, virgin priestess of Aphrodite, at Sestos on the Hellespont, fell in love at a festival with Leander on the opposite shore at Abydos. He used to swim to her at night, guided by the light, but during a storm the flame blew out and he was drowned. Seeing his body, Hero threw herself into the sea. Their love ...

hermit
Person living in seclusion, generally practising asceticism for religious reasons. The Christian monastic movement developed as a way of organizing into communities the ascetic hermits living in the deserts of Egypt and the Middle East

hernia
Protrusion of part of an internal organ through a weakness in the surrounding muscular wall, usually in the groin. The appearance is that of a rounded soft lump or swelling

Hermes
In Greek mythology, the messenger of the gods; son of Zeus and Maia, one of the Pleiades. Homer's Odyssey presented the god as the conductor of the dead (shades) to Hades, in which capacity he became associated with the underworld and dreams. Identified with the Roman Mercury and ancient Egyptian Thoth, he protected thiev...

hermaphrodite
Organism that has both male and female sex organs. Hermaphroditism is the norm in such species as earthworms and snails, and is common in flowering plants. Cross-fertilization is common among hermaphrodites, with the parents functioning as male and female simultaneously, or as one or the other sex at different stages in their development. Human...

heresy
Any doctrine opposed to orthodox belief, especially in religion. Those holding ideas considered heretical by the Christian church have included Gnostics, Arians, Pelagians, Montanists, Albigenses, Waldenses, Lollards, and Anabaptists

Hereford
City and administrative headquarters of the unitary authority of Herefordshire, west-central England, on the River Wye, 34 km/21 mi southwest of Worcester; population (2001) 56,400. It is an agricultural centre, with a livestock market noted for its white-faced Hereford cattle. The city has the UK's largest cider industry. Other...

Hercules
(mythology) In Roman mythology, Roman form of the deified Greek hero Heracles. Possibly the first foreign cult accepted in Rome, he was popular with merchants due to his legendary travel and ability to ward off evil, and was seen as the personification of strength. His principal centre of wors...

Herzegovina
Part of Bosnia-Herzegovina (which was formerly, until 1991, a republic of Yugoslavia). It covers approximately 20% of the country, and is commonly divided into upper (Visoka) and lower (Niska) Herzegovina

Heracles
In Greek mythology, an immortalized hero (Roman Hercules); son of Zeus and Alcmene; and famed for his strength. While serving Eurystheus, king of Argos, he performed 12 labours, including the cleansing of the Augean stables. Driven mad by the goddess Hera, he murdered his children by Megara, his first wife, and was mistakenly poisoned by hi...

Hera
In Greek mythology, the goddess of women and marriage (Roman Juno); sister and consort of Zeus; and mother of Hephaestus, god of fire and metalcraft, the war god Ares, and Hebe, the original cupbearer to the gods. The peacock was sacred to her; the eyes in its tail were transplanted from her servant, the 100-eyed Argus, who had watc...

Hephaestus
In Greek mythology, the god of fire and metalcraft (Roman Vulcan); the lame son of Zeus and Hera; and in Homer's Odyssey, husband of Aphrodite, goddess of love. He created armour for the Greek hero Achilles, Harmonia's magic necklace, and other objects famed in legend

hepatitis
Any inflammatory disease of the liver, usually caused by a virus. Other causes include alcohol, drugs, gallstones, lupus erythematous, and amoebic dysentery. Symptoms include weakness, nausea, and jaundice. Five different hepatitis viruses have been identified; A, B, C, D, and E. The hepatitis A virus (HAV) is the commonest cause of viral hepat...

Hengist
Legendary leader, with his brother Horsa, of the Jutes, who originated in Jutland and settled in Kent about 450, the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in Britain

Henan
Province of east central China, bounded to the north by Hebei, to the east by Shandong and Anhui, to the south by Hubei, and to the west by Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces; area 167,000 sq km/64,500 sq mi; population (2000 est) 92,560,000. The province is one of the most densely populated in China. The capital is Zhengzhou; other major...

Helsinki
Click images to enlargeCapital and port of Finland; population (2003 est) 582,600, urban agglomeration 1,162,900. Sheltered by islands, the city is a natural seaport and is the commercial, administrative, and intellectual centre of Finland. Industries include shipbuilding, engineering, machinery, food processing, elec...

Helmont, Jan Baptist van
Flemish chemist and physician. Helmont was the first to realize that there are gases other than air, and established the present scientific sense of the word `gas` (from Greek cháos). He also investigated the chemical properties of the fluids of the human body. His chief work, Ortus medicinae, wa...

Heller, Joseph
US novelist. He drew on his experiences in the US air force in World War II to write his best-selling Catch-22 (1961), satirizing war, the conspiracy of bureaucratic control, and the absurdism of history. A film based on the book appeared in 1970. His other works include the novels Something Happened (1...

Hellenistic period
Period in Greek civilization from the death of Alexander in 323 BC until the accession of the Roman emperor Augustus in 27 BC. Alexandria in Egypt was the centre of culture and commerce during this period, and Greek culture spread throughout the Mediterranean region and the near East

Hellenic period
(From Hellas, Greek name for Greece) classical period of ancient Greek civilization, from the first Olympic Games in 776 BC until the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC

Helios
In Greek mythology, the god of the Sun; a Titan who drove the Sun's chariot across the sky. He was the father of Phaethon, who almost set the Earth alight. From the 5th century BC, Helios was identified with the god Apollo

Heliopolis
Ancient Egyptian centre (the biblical On) of the worship of the sun god Ra, northeast of Cairo and near the village of Matariah. Heliopolis was also the Greek name for Baalbek

Heisenberg, Werner
(Karl) German physicist who developed quantum theory and formulated the uncertainty principle, which places absolute limits on the achievable accuracy of measurement. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1932 for his creation of quantum mechanics, work he carried out when only 24. Hei...

Hegira
Flight of the prophet Muhammad (see Hijrah)

Heine, Heinrich
(Christian Johann) German Romantic poet and journalist. He wrote Reisebilder (1826–31), blending travel writing and satire, and Das Buch der Lieder/The Book of Songs (1827). Disillusioned by undercurrents of anti-Semitism and antiliberal censo...

hegemony
Political dominance of one power over others in a group in which all are supposedly equal. The term was first used for the dominance of Athens over the other Greek city states, later applied to Prussia within Germany, and, in more recent times, to the USA and the USSR with regard to the rest of the world

Hector
In Greek mythology, a Trojan prince; son of King Priam and Hecuba, husband of Andromache, and father of Astyanax. He was the foremost warrior in the siege of Troy until killed by the Greek hero Achilles

Hefei
Capital of Anhui province, eastern China; population (2000) 1,549,500. Once just a trading hub for agricultural products, especially rice, it has, since the development from the 1930s of the nearby Anhui coalfield, become a centre of heavy industry. Products include textiles, chemicals, iron and steel, aluminium, machine tools, electronics, and...

Hecate
In Greek mythology, the goddess of the underworld and magic arts. Her association with night led to her identification with the goddesses Selene and Artemis. She is first mentioned by Hesiod as having universal power to confer wealth and all the blessings of daily life. Ovid depicted her in Fasti with three bodies and heads, stan...

Hebrides
Group of more than 500 islands (fewer than 100 inhabited) off the west coast of mainland Scotland; total area 2,900 sq km/1,120 sq mi. The Hebrides were settled by Scandinavians during the 6th–9th centuries and passed under Norwegian rule from about 890 to 1266. The Inner Hebrides are di...

Hebron
City southwest of Jerusalem in the southern part of the west bank of the Jordan, occupied by Israel in 1967; population (2005) 160,500 (Palestinian Territories). The population is mainly Arab Muslim, but just outside the city is a large Israeli settlement called Qiryat Arba. The 400 Israeli settlers are protected by 2,000 Israeli soldiers. Indu...

Hebei
Province of north China, bounded to the north by Inner Mongolia, to the northeast by Liaoning, to the east by the Bohai Gulf, to the south by Shandong and Henan, and to the west by Shanxi; area 185,900 sq km/71,800 sq mi; population (2000 est) 67,440,000. The capital is Shijiazhuang; other major cities are Baoding, Tangshan, Handan,...

heat storage
Any means of storing heat for release later. It is usually achieved by using materials that undergo phase changes, for example, Glauber's salt and sodium pyrophosphate, which melts at 70°C/158°F. The latter is used to store off-peak heat in the home: the salt is liquefied by cheap heat during the night and then freezes to ...

heat capacity
In physics, the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of an object by one degree. The specific heat capacity of a substance is the heat capacity per unit of mass, measured in joules per kilogram per kelvin (J kg-1 K-1)

heartburn
Burning sensation behind the breastbone (sternum). It results from irritation of the lower oesophagus (gullet) by excessively acid stomach contents, as sometimes happens during pregnancy and in cases of duodenal ulcer or obesity. It is often due to a weak valve at the entrance to the stomach that allows its contents to well up into the oesophagus

Heaney, Seamus Justin
Irish poet and critic. He has written powerful verse about the political situation in Northern Ireland and about Ireland's cultural heritage. The technical mastery and linguistic and thematic richness of Heaney's work have gained an international audience, and have exercised a powerful influence on contemporary poetry. He was professor of p...

health service
Government provision of medical care on a national scale

headache
Pain felt within the skull. Most headaches are caused by stress or tension, but some may be symptoms of brain or systemic disease, including fever. Chronic daily headache may be caused by painkiller misuse, according to the European Headache Foundation in 1996. People who take daily analgesics to treat chronic headaches may actually be causing the ...

Heywood, Thomas
English actor and dramatist. He wrote or adapted over 220 plays, including the domestic tragedy A Woman Kilde with Kindnesse (1602–03). He also wrote an Apology for Actors (1612), in answer to attacks on the morality of the theatre

Heydrich, Reinhard Tristan Eugen
German Nazi, head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the party's security service, and Heinrich Himmler's deputy. He was instrumental in organizing the final solution, the policy of genocide used against Jews and others. `Protector` of Bohemia and Moravia from 1941, he was ambushed and killed the following year by t...

Hesse, Hermann
German writer, a Swiss citizen from 1923. A conscientious objector in World War I and a pacifist opponent of Hitler, he published short stories, poetry, and novels, including Peter Camenzind (1904), Siddhartha (1922), and Steppenwolf (1927). Later works, such as Das Glasperlenspiel&#...

Hess,
(Walter Richard) German Nazi leader. Imprisoned with Adolf Hitler 1924–25, he became his private secretary, taking down Mein Kampf from his dictation. In 1933 he was appointed deputy Führer to Hitler, a post he held until replaced by Goering in S...

Hesiod
Greek poet. The earliest of the Greek didactic poets, he is often contrasted with Homer as the other main representative of the early epic. He is the author of Works and Days, a moralizing and didactic poem of rural life, and Theogony, an account of the origin of the world and of the gods. Both poems include th...

Hertz, Heinrich Rudolf
German physicist who studied electromagnetic waves, showing that their behaviour resembles that of light and heat waves. Hertz confirmed James Clerk Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic waves. In 1888, he realized that electric waves could be produced and would travel through air, and he confirmed this experimentally. He went on to determine the...

Herschel,
(Frederick) German-born English astronomer. He was a skilled telescopemaker, and pioneered the study of binary stars and nebulae. He discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 and infrared solar rays in 1801. He catalogued over 800 doub...

Herriot, Edouard
French radical politician. A leading parliamentarian of the inter-war period, Herriot was president of his party (1919–26, 1931–35, and 1945–56) and prime minister (1924–25, 1926, and 1932). As president of the chamber of deputies 1936–40 and a staunch republican, he challenged the legality of the 1940 parliamentary vot...

heroin
Powerful opiate analgesic, an acetyl derivative of morphine. It is more addictive than morphine but causes less nausea. Methadone can be used to help wean addicts off heroin however it too is addictive

Herod Agrippa I
Ruler of Palestine from AD 41. His real name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, erroneously called `Herod` in the Bible. Grandson of Herod the Great, he was made tetrarch (governor) of Palestine by the Roman emperor Caligula and king by Emperor Claudius AD 41. He put the apostle James to death and imprisoned the apostle Peter. His son was Herod A...

Herod the Great
King of the Roman province of Judaea, southern Palestine, from 40 BC. With the aid of Mark Antony, he established his government in Jerusalem in 37 BC. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, but his Hellenizing tendencies made him suspect to orthodox Jewry. His last years were a reign of terror, and in the New Testament Matthew alleges that he ordered...

Herculaneum
Ancient city of Italy between Naples and Pompeii. Along with Pompeii, it was buried when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. It was excavated from the 18th century onwards

Herat
Capital of Herat province, and the largest city in western Afghanistan, on the north banks of the Hari Rud River; population (2001 est) 161,700. A principal road junction, the city is 922 m/3,026 ft above sea level and lies in an area which has been the site of cities since the time of Alexan...

Herbert, George
English poet. His volume of religious poems, The Temple, appeared in 1633, shortly before his death. His intense though quiet poems embody his religious struggles (`The Temper`, `The Collar`) or poignantly contrast mortality and eternal truth (`Vertue`, `Life`) in a deceptively simple langu...

Hepworth,
(Jocelyn) English sculptor. She developed a distinctive abstract style, creating slender upright forms reminiscent of standing stones or totems; and round, hollowed forms with spaces bridged by wires or strings, as in Pelagos (1946; Tate Gallery, London). Her preferr...

Hepplewhite, George
English furnituremaker associated with Neo-Classicism. His reputation rests upon his book of designs The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer's Guide, published posthumously in 1788, which contains over 300 designs, characterized by simple elegance and utility. No piece of furniture has been identified as being made by him. Heppl...

Henze, Hans Werner
German composer. His immense and stylistically restless output is marked by a keen literary sensibility and seductive use of orchestral coloration, as in the opera Elegy for Young Lovers (1961) and the cantata Being Beauteous (1963). Among later works are the opera Das Verratene Meer/The Sea Betray...

Henry, William
English chemist and physician. In 1803 he formulated Henry's law, which states that when a gas is dissolved in a liquid at a given temperature, the mass that dissolves is in direct proportion to the pressure of the gas

Henry the Navigator
Portuguese prince, the fourth son of John I. He is credited with setting up a school for navigators in 1419 and under his patronage Portuguese sailors explored and colonized Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, and the Azores; they sailed down the African coast almost to Sierra Leone

Henry, O
US short-story writer. His stories are written in a colloquial style and employ skilled construction with surprise endings. Among his collections are Cabbages and Kings (1904), The Four Million (including `The Gift of the Magi`, 1906), The Voice of the City (1908), and ...

Henrietta Maria
Queen of England 1625–49. The daughter of Henry IV of France, she married Charles I of England in 1625. By encouraging him to aid Roman Catholics and make himself an absolute ruler, she became highly unpopular and was exiled 1644–60 during the English Civil War. She returned to England at the Restoration but retired to France in 1665

Hemingway, Ernest
(Miller) US writer. War, bullfighting, and fishing are used symbolically in his work to represent honour, dignity, and primitivism – prominent themes in his short stories and novels, which include A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (19...

Helvetia
Region, corresponding to western Switzerland, occupied by the Celtic Helvetii 1st century BC–5th century AD. In 58 BC Caesar repulsed their invasion of southern Gaul at Bibracte (near Autun) and Helvetia became subject to Rome. Helvetian is another word for Swiss

Helpmann, Robert Murray
Australian dancer, choreographer, and actor. The leading male dancer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet, London 1933–50, he partnered Margot Fonteyn in the 1940s. He was knighted in 1968

Hellman, Lillian Florence
US dramatist. Her work is concerned with contemporary political and social issues. The Children's Hour (1934) on accusations of lesbianism, The Little Foxes (1939) on industrialists, and Toys in the Attic (1960) are all examples of a social critique cast in the form of the `well-...

Hellespont
Former name of the Dardanelles, the strait that separates Europe from Asia

hell
In various religions, a place of punishment after death. In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, hell is a transitory stage in the progress of the soul, but in Christianity and Islam it is eternal (purgatory is transitory). Judaism does not postulate such punishment. In the Bible, the word `hell` is used to translate Hebrew and Greek words al...

helicopter
Click images to enlargePowered aircraft that achieves both lift and propulsion by means of a rotary wing, or rotor, on top of the fuselage. It can take off and land vertically, move in any direction, or remain stationary in the air. It can be powered by piston or jet engine. The autogiro was a precursor. The rotor of a he...

Helen
In Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus (transformed as a swan). She was abducted as a young girl by Theseus, but rescued by her brothers Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces). Helen married Menelaus, king of Sparta, and bore him Hermione, but during his absence was seduced by Paris, prince of Troy; their f...

Heifetz, Jascha
Russian-born US violinist. He was one of the great virtuosos of the 20th century. He first performed at the age of five, and before he was 17 had played in most European capitals, and in the USA, where he settled in 1917. He popularized a clear, unemotional delivery suited to radio and recordings

Heidelberg
City in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the River Neckar, 19 km/12 mi southeast of Mannheim; population (1995) 138,400. Industries include publishing, brewing and the manufacture of tobacco products and optics. It is a major tourist centre. Heidelberg University, the oldest in Germany...

Heidegger, Martin
German philosopher. He believed that Western philosophy had `forgotten` the fundamental question of the `meaning of being` and, in Sein und Zeit/Being and Time (1927), analysed the different types of being appropriate to people and to things in general. He lectured and wrote extensively on German and Greek...

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
German philosopher who conceived of mind and nature as two abstractions of one indivisible whole, Spirit. His system, which is a type of idealism, traces the emergence of Spirit in the logical study of concepts and the process of world history. For Hegel, concepts unfold, and in unfolding they genera...

hedonism
Ethical theory that pleasure or happiness is, or should be, the main goal in life. Hedonist sects in ancient Greece were the Cyrenaics, who held that the pleasure of the moment is the only human good, and the Epicureans, who advocated the pursuit of pleasure under the direction of reason. Modern hedonistic philosophies, such as those of the British...

hectare
Metric unit of area equal to 100 ares or 10,000 square metres (2.47 acres). Trafalgar Square, London's only metric square, was laid out as one hectare

heaven
In Christianity and some other religions, the abode of God and the destination of the virtuous after death. In traditional Christian belief, and in Islam, heaven is seen as a paradise of material delights, though such delights are generally accepted as being allegorical. Christians are now more likely to speak of heaven and hell in terms of states ...

heatstroke
Rise in body temperature caused by excessive exposure to heat. Mild heatstroke is experienced as feverish lassitude, sometimes with simple fainting; recovery is prompt following rest and replenishment of salt lost in sweat. Severe heatstroke causes collapse akin to that seen in acute shock, and is potentially lethal without prompt treatment, in...

Heathrow
Major international airport to the west of London in the Greater London borough of Hounslow, approximately 24 km/14 mi from the city centre. Opened in 1946, it is one of the world's busiest airports, with four terminals. In 2001 the government gave the go-ahead for a controversial fifth terminal to be built. The airport was linked with ...

heat
Form of energy possessed by a substance by virtue of the vibrational movement (kinetic energy) of its molecules or atoms. Heat energy is transferred by conduction, convection, and radiation. It always flows from a region of higher temperature (heat intensity) to one of lower temperature. Its effect o...

Hearst, William Randolph
US newspaper publisher, famous for his introduction of banner headlines, lavish illustration, and the sensationalist approach known as `yellow journalism`. A controversialist and a strong isolationist, the film Citizen Kane (1941) was based on his life. He was also a Hollywood producer as well as an unsuccessful preside...

Healey, Denis Winston
British Labour politician. While secretary of state for defence 1964–70 he was in charge of the reduction of British forces east of Suez. He was chancellor of the Exchequer 1974–79. In 1976 he contested the party leadership, losing to James Callaghan, and again in 1980, losing to Michael Foot, to whom he was deputy leader 1980–83. In...