Fougasse

Fougasse may refer to:

Fougasse (weapon)

A fougasse /fuːˈɡɑːs/ is an improvised mortar constructed by making a hollow in the ground or rock and filling it with explosives (originally, black powder) and projectiles. The fougasse was well known to military engineers by the mid-eighteenth century but was also referred to by Vauban in the seventeenth century and was used by Samuel Zimmermann at Augsburg in the sixteenth century. This technique was used in several European wars, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. The term is still used to describe such devices.

Firing

The normal method of firing was to use a burning torch or slow match to ignite a saucisson (French for "big sausage", a cloth or leather tube waterproofed with pitch and filled with black powder) leading to the main charge. This had numerous disadvantages; the firer was obvious to the attacking enemy, and had to race to get clear after lighting the fuse. The black powder was also very susceptible to moisture, and might not work at all. In 1573 Samuel Zimmermann devised an improved method which incorporated a snaphance (or later, flintlock mechanism) into the charge and connected its trigger to the surface with a wire. This was more resistant to moisture, better concealed, and enabled the firer to be further away. It also enabled the fougasse to be tripwire activated, turning it into an anti-personnel fragmentation mine.

Fougasse (bread)

In French cuisine, fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat.

History and etymology

In ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flatbread baked in the ashes of the hearth (focus in Latin). This became a diverse range of breads that include focaccia in Italian cuisine, hogaza in Spain, fogassa in Catalonia, fugàssa in Ligurian, pogača in the Balkans, pogácsa in Hungary, fougasse in Provence (originally spelled fogatza), fouace or fouée in other French regions and on the Channel Islands. The Provence version is more likely to have additions in the form of olives, cheese, or anchovies, which may be regarded as a primitive form of pizza without the tomato.

There is also in Portugal the fogaça, a sweet bread. In Brazil, pão sovado is a typical big fougasse, while a recipe, typical of the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and surrounding regions, that is halfway between fougasse and bolillo (in these regions known as pão francês or pão-de-sal), somewhat resembling a savory small brioche, is called pão suíço. They are perhaps the sweetest of savory artisanal bread recipes commonly made in Brazil.

Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky (/ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, logician, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as "the father of modern linguistics," Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy, and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He has spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is Institute Professor Emeritus, and is the author of over 100 books, primarily on politics and linguistics. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.

Born to a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. At the age of sixteen he began studies at the University of Pennsylvania, taking courses in linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy. He married fellow linguist Carol Schatz in 1949. From 1951 to 1955 he was appointed to Harvard University's Society of Fellows, where he developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he was awarded his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, in 1957 emerging as a significant figure in the field of linguistics for his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which laid the basis for the scientific study of language, while from 1958 to 1959 he was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He is credited as the creator or co-creator of the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of behaviorism, being particularly critical of the work of B. F. Skinner.

Chomsky (surname)

Chomsky (Belarusian: Хомскі, Russian: Хомский, Ukrainian: Хомський, Hebrew: חומסקי‎, "from (Vyoska) Khomsk (nearby Brest, now Belarus)") is a surname of Belarusian origin. Notable people with the surname include:

Elsie, William, Avram Noam, Carol, Marvin, and Aviva are all closely related. William and Elsie were husband and wife. Avram Noam, generally referred by his given name Noam, is their son. Carol and Noam were married until Carol's death in 2008; Aviva is their daughter. Marvin is Noam's cousin. Also, Judith is Noam's sister in-law.

Chomsky (disambiguation)

Chomsky may refer to :

Music

See also