The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process returns metal to the filament, extending its life. The light bulb is supplied with electrical current by feed-through terminals or wires embedded in the glass. Most bulbs are used in a socket which supports the bulb mechanically and connects the current supply to the bulb's electrical terminals.

Incandescent bulbs are produced in a wide range of sizes, light output, and voltage ratings, from 1.5 volts to about 300 volts. They require no external regulating equipment, have low manufacturing costs, and work equally well on either alternating current or direct current. As a result, the incandescent lamp is widely used in household and commercial lighting, for portable lighting such as table lamps, car headlamps, and flashlights, and for decorative and advertising lighting.

Some applications of the incandescent bulb use the heat generated by the filament, such as incubators, brooding boxes for poultry, heat lights for reptile tanks, infrared heating for industrial heating and drying processes, and the Easy-Bake Oven toy. This waste heat increases the energy required by a building's air conditioning system.

Incandescent light bulbs are gradually being replaced in many applications by other types of electric lights, such as fluorescent lamps, compact fluorescent lamps, cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), high-intensity discharge lamps, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). These newer technologies improve the ratio of visible light to heat generation. Some jurisdictions, such as the European Union, are in the process of phasing out the use of incandescent light bulbs in favor of more energy-efficient lighting.

History of the light bulb

In addressing the question of who invented the incandescent lamp, historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison. They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

Another historian, Thomas Hughes, has attributed Edison's success to the fact that he developed an entire, integrated system of electric lighting.

The lamp was a small component in his system of electric lighting, and no more critical to its effective functioning than the Edison Jumbo generator, the Edison main and feeder, and the parallel-distribution system. Other inventors with generators and incandescent lamps, and with comparable ingenuity and excellence, have long been forgotten because their creators did not preside over their introduction in a system of lighting.

Historian Thomas P. Hughes

Early evolution of the light bulb

Early pre-commercial research

In 1802, Humphry Davy had what was then the most powerful electrical battery in the world at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. In that year, he created the first incandescent light by passing the current through a thin strip of platinum, chosen because the metal had an extremely high melting point. It was not bright enough nor did it last long enough to be practical, but it was the precedent behind the efforts of scores of experimenters over the next 75 years. In 1809, Davy also created the first arc lamp with two carbon charcoal rods connected to a 2000-cell battery; it was demonstrated to the Royal Institution in 1810.

Over the first three-quarters of the 19th century many experimenters worked with various combinations of platinum or iridium wires, carbon rods, and evacuated or semi-evacuated enclosures. Many of these devices were demonstrated and some were patented.

In 1835, James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated a constant electric light at a public meeting in Dundee, Scotland. He stated that he could "read a book at a distance of one and a half feet". However, having perfected the device to his own satisfaction, he turned to the problem of wireless telegraphy and did not develop the electric light any further. His claims are not well documented, although he is credited in Challoner etal. with being the inventor of the "Incandescent Light Bulb".

In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue enclosed a coiled platinum filament in a vacuum tube and passed an electric current through it. The design was based on the concept that the high melting point of platinum would allow it to operate at high temperatures and that the evacuated chamber would contain fewer gas molecules to react with the platinum, improving its longevity. Although an efficient design, the cost of the platinum made it impractical for commercial use.

In 1841, Frederick de Moleyns of England was granted the first patent for an incandescent lamp, with a design using platinum wires contained within a vacuum bulb.

In 1845, American John W. Starr acquired a patent for his incandescent light bulb involving the use of carbon filaments.

He died shortly after obtaining the patent, and his invention was never produced commercially. Little else is known about him.

In 1851, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin publicly demonstrated incandescent light bulbs on his estate in Blois, France. His light bulbs are on permanent display in the museum of the Château de Blois.

In 1872, Russian Alexander Lodygin invented an incandescent light bulb and obtained a Russian patent in 1874. He used as a burner two carbon rods of diminished section in a glass receiver, hermetically sealed, and filled with nitrogen, electrically arranged so that the current could be passed to the second carbon when the first had been consumed. Later he lived in the USA, changed his name to Alexander de Lodyguine and applied and obtained patents for incandescent lamps having chromium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, molybdenum and tungsten filaments (US Patent No. 575,002 ''Illuminant for Incandescent Lamps'', January 19, 1897), that were then demonstrated at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris.

Heinrich Göbel, who used the name Henry Goebel in the USA, made a claim in 1893 during litigation over Edison’s light bulb patent that, back in 1854, he had designed the first incandescent light bulb with a thin carbon-filament: a carbonized bamboo filament of high resistance, platinum lead-in wires in an all-glass envelope, and a high vacuum created by the process invented by Torricelli, and that in the following years he developed what many call the first practical incandescent light bulb. Judges of four courts raised doubts about the alleged Goebel anticipation, but there was never a decision in a final hearing due to the expiry date of Edison's patent. A research work published 2007 concluded that the story of the Goebel lamps in the 1850s is a legend.

In North America, parallel developments were taking place. On July 24, 1874, a Canadian patent was filed by a Toronto medical electrician named Henry Woodward and a colleague Mathew Evans. They built their lamps with different sizes and shapes of carbon rods held between electrodes in glass cylinders filled with nitrogen. Woodward and Evans attempted to commercialize their lamp, but were unsuccessful. They ended up selling their patent () to Thomas Edison in 1879.

Commercialization

Joseph Swan (1828–1914) was a British physicist and chemist. In 1850, he began working with carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he was able to demonstrate a working device but the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a short lifetime for the bulb and an inefficient source of light. By the mid-1870s better pumps became available, and Swan returned to his experiments.

With the help of Charles Stearn, an expert on vacuum pumps, in 1878, Swan developed a method of processing that avoided the early bulb blackening. This received British Patent No 8 in 1880. On 18 December 1878, a lamp using a slender carbon rod was shown at a meeting of the Newcastle Chemical Society, and Swan gave a working demonstration at their meeting on 17 January 1879. It was also shown to 700 who attended a meeting of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne on 3 February 1879. These lamps used a carbon rod from an arc lamp rather than a slender filament. Thus they had low resistance and required very large conductors to supply the necessary current, so they were not commercially practical, although they did furnish a demonstration of the possibilities of incandescent lighting with relatively high vacuum, a carbon conductor, and platinum lead-in wires. Besides requiring too much current for a central station electric system to be practical, they had a very short lifetime. Swan turned his attention to producing a better carbon filament and the means of attaching its ends. He devised a method of treating cotton to produce 'parchmentised thread' and obtained British Patent 4933 in 1880. From this year he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house was the first in the world to be lit by a lightbulb and so the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power. In the early 1880s he had started his company. In 1881, the Savoy Theatre in the City of Westminster, London was lit by Swan incandescent lightbulbs, which was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity.

Thomas Edison began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp in 1878. Edison filed his first patent application for "Improvement In Electric Lights" on October 14, 1878. After many experiments with platinum and other metal filaments, Edison returned to a carbon filament. The first successful test was on October 22, 1879, and lasted 13.5 hours. Edison continued to improve this design and by November 4, 1879, filed for a U.S. patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires." Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways," it was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last over 1200 hours.

Hiram S. Maxim started a lightbulb company in 1878 to exploit his patents and those of William Sawyer. His United States Electric Lighting Company was the second company, after Edison, to sell practical incandescent electric lamps. They made their first commercial installation of incandescent lamps at the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company in New York City in the fall of 1880, about six months after the Edison incandescent lamps had been installed on the steamer Columbia. In October 1880, Maxim patented a method of coating carbon filaments with hydrocarbons to extend their life. Lewis Latimer, his employee at the time, developed an improved method of heat-treating them which reduced breakage and allowed them to be molded into novel shapes, such as the characteristic "M" shape of Maxim filaments. On January 17, 1882, Latimer received a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons," an improved method for the production of light bulb filaments, which was purchased by the United States Electric Light Company. Latimer patented other improvements such as a better way of attaching filaments to their wire supports.

In Britain, the Edison and Swan companies merged into the Edison and Swan United Electric Company (later known as Ediswan, that was ultimately incorporated into Thorn Lighting Ltd). Edison was initially against this combination, but after Swan sued him and won, Edison was eventually forced to cooperate, and the merger was made. Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan's interest in the company. Swan sold his United States patent rights to the Brush Electric Company in June 1882.

In 1882, the first recorded set of miniature incandescent lamps for lighting a Christmas tree was installed. These did not become common in homes for many years.

The United States Patent Office gave a ruling October 8, 1883, that Edison's patents were based on the prior art of William Sawyer and were invalid. Litigation continued for a number of years. Eventually on October 6, 1889, a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.

In the 1890s, the Austrian inventor Carl Auer von Welsbach worked on metal-filament mantles, first with platinum wire, and then osmium, and produced an operating version in 1898. In 1898, he patented the osmium lamp and started marketing it in 1902, the first commercial metal filament incandescent lamp.

In 1897, German physicist and chemist Walther Nernst developed the Nernst lamp, a form of incandescent lamp that used a ceramic globar and did not require enclosure in a vacuum or inert gas. Twice as efficient as carbon filament lamps, Nernst lamps were briefly popular until overtaken by lamps using metal filaments.

In 1901, American businessman Frank A. Poor purchased the Merritt Manufacturing Company, the predecessor to North American light bulb makers Hygrade and Osram Sylvania. Poor's firm in Middleton, Massachusetts, specialized in refilling burned-out light bulbs.

In 1903, Willis Whitnew invented a metal-coated carbon filament that would not blacken the inside of a light bulb.

On December 13, 1904, Hungarian Sándor Just and Croatian Franjo Hanaman were granted a Hungarian patent (No. 34541) for a tungsten filament lamp, that lasted longer and gave a brighter light than the carbon filament. Tungsten filament lamps were first marketed by the Hungarian company Tungsram in 1904, so this type is often called Tungsram-bulbs in many European countries. Their experiments have also shown that the luminosity of bulbs that were filled up with an inert gas was higher. The tungsten filament outlasted all other types.

In 1906, the General Electric Company patented a method of making filaments from sintered tungsten and in 1911, used ductile tungsten wire for incandescent light bulbs.

In 1913, Irving Langmuir found that filling a lamp with inert gas instead of a vacuum resulted in twice the luminous efficacy and reduction of bulb blackening. In 1924, Marvin Pipkin, an American chemist, patented a process for frosting the inside of lamp bulbs without weakening them, and in 1947, he patented a process for coating the inside of lamps with silica.

In 1916, Hygrade, predecessor to Osram Sylvania, discontinued its refilling service for burned-out light bulbs and produced 11,000 new light bulbs per day.

In 1930, Hungarian Imre Bródy filled lamps with krypton gas in lieu of argon. He used krypton and/or xenon filling of bulbs. Since the new gas was expensive, he developed a process with his colleagues to obtain krypton from air. Production of krypton filled lamps based on his invention started at Ajka in 1937, in a factory co-designed by Polányi and Hungarian-born physicist Egon Orowan.

By 1964, improvements in efficiency and production of incandescent lamps had reduced the cost of providing a given quantity of light by a factor of thirty, compared with the cost at introduction of Edison's lighting system

Consumption of incandescent light bulbs grew rapidly in the United States. In 1885, an estimated 300,000 general lighting service lamps were sold, all with carbon filaments. When tungsten filament were introduced, there were about 50 million lamp sockets in the United States. In 1914, 88.5 million lamps were used, (only 15% with carbon filaments), and by 1945, annual sales of lamps were 795 million (more than 5 lamps per person per year).

Cartels

Between 1924 and 1939, the international market for incandescent light bulbs was controlled by the Phoebus cartel, which dictated wholesale prices and whose members controlled most of the world market for lamps.

Efficiency and environmental impact

Approximately 90% of the power consumed by an incandescent light bulb is emitted as heat, rather than as visible light.

The effectiveness of an electric lighting source is determined by two factors: the relative visibility of electromagnetic radiation, and the rate at which the source converts electric power into electromagnetic radiation.

Luminous efficacy of a light source is a ratio of the visible light energy emitted (the ''luminous flux'') to the total power input to the lamp. Visible light is measured in lumens, a unit which is defined in part by the differing sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths of light. Not all wavelengths of visible electromagnetic energy are equally effective at stimulating the human eye; the luminous efficacy of radiant energy is a measure of how well the distribution of energy matches the perception of the eye. The maximum efficacy possible is 683 lm/W for monochromatic green light at 555 nanometres wavelength, the peak sensitivity of the human eye. For white light, the maximum luminous efficacy is around 240 lumens per watt, but the exact value is not unique because the human eye can perceive many different mixtures of visible light as "white".

The chart below lists values of overall luminous efficacy and efficiency for several types of general service, 120-volt, 1000-hour lifespan incandescent bulb, and several idealized light sources. A similar chart in the article on luminous efficacy compares a broader array of light sources to one another.

!Type

|	Overall luminous efficiency	Overall luminous efficacy (lm/W)
40 W tungsten incandescent	1.9%	12.6
60 W tungsten incandescent	2.1%	14.5
100 W tungsten incandescent	2.6%	17.5
glass halogen	2.3%	16
quartz halogen	3.5%	24
high-temperature incandescent	5.1%	35
	7.0%	47.5
	14%	95
ideal monochromatic 555 nm (green) source	100%	683

Unfortunately, the spectrum emitted by a blackbody radiator does not match the sensitivity characteristics of the human eye. Tungsten filaments radiate mostly infrared radiation at temperatures where they remain solid (below 3683 kelvins / 3410 °C / 6,170 °F). Donald L. Klipstein explains it this way: "An ideal thermal radiator produces visible light most efficiently at temperatures around 6300 °C (6600 K or 11,500 °F). Even at this high temperature, a lot of the radiation is either infrared or ultraviolet, and the theoretical luminous efficiency is 95 lumens per watt." No known material can be used as a filament at this ideal temperature, which is hotter than the sun's surface. An upper limit for incandescent lamp luminous efficacy is around 52 lumens per watt, the theoretical value emitted by tungsten at its melting point.

For a given quantity of light, an incandescent light bulb produces more heat (and consumes more power) than a fluorescent lamp. In buildings where air conditioning is used, incandescent lamps' heat output always causes a detrimental increased load on the air conditioning system. The effect of the lamps' waste heat on a building's heating system depends on other factors:

In a building heated by electric resistance heaters, the load on the heating system is reduced by an equal amount; use of incandescent lamps therefore has no net effect on overall energy costs.

In a building heated by a heat pump (''COP'' > 1), it is always more cost-effective to switch to a lighting system that produces less waste heat. Although the load on the heat pump will increase, overall energy costs will decline.

In a building heated by a combustion furnace or boiler, it is typically (but not always) more cost-effective to switch to a lighting system that produces less waste heat. The analysis depends on the relative costs of electricity and the fuel used by the heating system.

High-quality halogen incandescent lamps have higher efficacy, which will allow a 60-watt bulb to provide nearly as much light as a non-halogen 100-watt bulb. Also, a lower-wattage halogen lamp can be designed to produce the same amount of light as a 60-watt non-halogen lamp, but with much longer life.

Many light sources, such as the fluorescent lamp, high-intensity discharge lamps and LED lamps offer higher efficiency, and some have been designed to be retrofitted in existing fixtures. These devices produce light by luminescence, instead of heating a filament to incandescence. These mechanisms produce discrete spectral lines and so don't have the broad "tail" of wasted invisible infrared emissions produced by incandescent emitters. By careful selection of which electron energy level transitions are used, the spectrum emitted can be tuned to either mimic the appearance of incandescent sources or else produce different color temperatures of white for visible light.

Cost of lighting

The initial cost of an incandescent bulb is small compared to the cost of the energy it uses over its lifetime. A comparison of incandescent lamp operating cost with other light sources must consider the luminous efficacy produced by each lamp. The comparison must include illumination requirements, capital cost of the lamp, labor cost to replace lamps, various depreciation factors for light output as the lamp ages, effect of lamp operation on heating and air conditioning systems, and energy consumption as well.

Measures to ban its use

Due to the higher energy usage of incandescent light bulbs in comparison to more energy efficient alternatives, such as compact fluorescent lamps and LED lamps, many governments have introduced measures to ban their use, by setting minimum efficacy standards higher than can be achieved by general service lamps.

In the United States, federal law has scheduled the most common incandescent light bulbs to be phased out by 2014, to be replaced with more energy-efficient light bulbs. In Brazil, they have already been phased out between 2007 to 2010. Traditional incandescent light bulbs were phased out in Australia in November 2009.

However, there has been much resistance to these phasing out of incandescent lamps, owing to the low cost of incandescent bulbs, the instant availability of light, and possible ill health effects including the problems of mercury contamination with CFLs. Varying and unpredictable quality of current CFLs and LED lamps adds to the resistance.

Efforts to improve efficiency

Due to the measures noted above, there have been recent efforts to improve the efficiency of incandescents. In 2007, the consumer lighting division of General Electric announced a "high efficiency incandescent" (HEI) lamp project, which they claimed would ultimately be as much as four times more efficient than current incandescents, although their initial production goal was to be approximately two times more efficient. The HEI program was quietly terminated in 2008 due to slow progress.

U.S. Department of Energy research at Sandia National Laboratories initially indicated the potential for dramatically improved efficiency from a photonic lattice filament. However, later work indicated that initially promising results were in error.

Prompted by U.S. legislation mandating increased bulb efficiency by 2012, new "hybrid" incandescent bulbs have been introduced by Philips. The "Halogena Energy Saver" incandescent is 30 percent more efficient than traditional designs, using a special chamber to reflect formerly wasted heat back to the filament to provide additional lighting power.

Construction

Incandescent light bulbs consist of a glass enclosure (the envelope, or bulb) with a filament of tungsten wire inside the bulb, through which an electric current is passed. Contact wires and a base with two (or more) conductors provide electrical connections to the filament. Incandescent light bulbs usually contain a stem or glass mount anchored to the bulb's base that allows the electrical contacts to run through the envelope without gas/air leaks. Small wires embedded in the stem in turn support the filament and/or its lead wires. The bulb is filled with an inert gas such as argon to reduce evaporation and prevent oxidation of the filament.

An electric current heats the filament to typically ), well below tungsten's melting point of . Filament temperatures depend on the filament type, shape, size, and amount of current drawn. The heated filament emits light that approximates a continuous spectrum. The useful part of the emitted energy is visible light, but most energy is given off as heat in the near-infrared wavelengths.

Three-way light bulbs have two filaments and three conducting contacts in their bases. The filaments share a common ground, and can be lit separately or together. Common wattages include 30–70–100, 50–100–150, and 100–200–300, with the first two numbers referring to the individual filaments, and the third giving the combined wattage.

While most light bulbs have clear or frosted glass, other kinds are also produced, including the various colors used for Christmas tree lights and other decorative lighting. Neodymium-containing glass is sometimes used to provide a more natural-appearing light.

#Outline of Glass bulb

#Low pressure inert gas (argon, neon, nitrogen)

#Tungsten filament

#Contact wire (goes out of stem)

#Contact wire (goes into stem)

#Support wires

#Stem (glass mount)

#Contact wire (goes out of stem)

#Cap (sleeve)

#Insulation (vitrite)

#Electrical contact

Many arrangements of electrical contacts are used. Large lamps may have a screw base (one or more contacts at the tip, one at the shell) or a bayonet base (one or more contacts on the base, shell used as a contact or used only as a mechanical support). Some tubular lamps have an electrical contact at either end. Miniature lamps may have a wedge base and wire contacts, and some automotive and special purpose lamps have screw terminals for connection to wires. Contacts in the lamp socket allow the electric current to pass through the base to the filament. Power ratings for incandescent light bulbs range from about 0.1 watt to about 10,000 watts.

The glass bulb of a general service lamp can reach temperatures between . Lamps intended for high power operation or used for heating purposes will have envelopes made of hard glass or fused quartz.

Manufacturing

Early lamps were laboriously hand-assembled; however, after automatic machinery was developed the cost of lamps fell.

In manufacturing the glass bulb, a type of "ribbon machine" is used. A continuous ribbon of glass is passed along a conveyor belt, heated in a furnace, and then blown by precisely aligned air nozzles through holes in the conveyor belt into molds. Thus the glass bulbs are created. After the bulbs are blown, and cooled, they are cut off of the ribbon machine. A typical machine of this sort produces 50,000 bulbs per hour. The filament and its supports are assembled on a glass stem, which is fused to the bulb. The air is pumped out of the bulb, and the evacuation tube in the stem press is sealed by a flame. The bulb is then inserted into the lamp base, and the whole assembly tested.

Filament

The first successful light bulb filaments were made of carbon (from carbonized paper or bamboo). Early carbon filaments had a negative temperature coefficient of resistance -- as they got hotter, their electrical resistance decreased. This made the lamp sensitive to fluctuations in the power supply, since a small increase of voltage would cause the filament to heat up, reducing its resistance and causing it to draw even more power and heat even further. In the "flashing" process, carbon filaments were heated by current passing through them, while in an evacuated vessel containing hydrocarbon (gasoline) vapor. The carbon deposited by this treatment improved the uniformity and strength of filaments, and their efficiency. A metallized or graphitized filament was first heated in a high-temperature oven before flashing and lamp assembly; this transformed the carbon into graphite, which further strengthened and smoothed the filament, and as a byproduct had the advantage of changing the lamp to a positive temperature coefficient like a metallic conductor. This helped stabilize power consumption, temperature and light output against minor variations in supply voltage.

In 1902, the Siemens company developed a tantalum lamp filament. These lamps were more efficient than even graphitized carbon filaments and could operate at higher temperatures. Since the metal had a lower resistivity than carbon, the tantalum lamp filament was quite long and required multiple internal supports. The metal filament had the property of gradually shortening in use; the filaments were installed with large loops that tightened in use. This made lamps in use for several hundred hours quite fragile. Metal filaments had the property of breaking and re-welding, though this would usually decrease resistance and shorten the life of the filament. General Electric bought the rights to use tantalum filaments and produced them in the United States until 1913.

From 1898 to around 1905, osmium was also used as a lamp filament in Europe, but the metal was so expensive that used broken lamps could be returned for part credit. It could not be made for 110 V or 220 V so several lamps were wired in series for use on standard voltage circuits.

In 1906, the tungsten filament was introduced. Tungsten metal was initially not available in a form that allowed it to be drawn into fine wires. Filaments made from sintered tungsten powder were quite fragile. By 1910, a process was developed by William D. Coolidge at General Electric for production of a ductile form of tungsten. The process required pressing chemically produced tungsten powder into bars, then several steps of sintering, swaging, and then wire drawing. It was found that very pure tungsten formed filaments that sagged in use, and that a very small "doping" treatment with potassium, silicon, and aluminum oxides at the level of a few hundred parts per million greatly improved the life and durability of the tungsten filaments.

To improve the efficiency of the lamp, the filament usually consists of coils of coiled fine wire, also known as a 'coiled coil.' For a 60-watt 120-volt lamp, the uncoiled length of the tungsten filament is usually , and the filament diameter is . The advantage of the coiled coil is that evaporation of the tungsten filament is at the rate of a tungsten cylinder having a diameter equal to that of the coiled coil. The coiled-coil filament evaporates more slowly than a straight filament of the same surface area and light-emitting power. If the filament is then run hotter to bring back evaporation to the same rate, the resulting filament is a more efficient light source.

There are several different shapes of filament used in lamps, with differing characteristics. Manufacturers designate the types with codes such as C-6, CC-6, C-2V, CC-2V, C-8, CC-88, C-2F, CC-2F, C-Bar, C-Bar-6, C-8I, C-2R, CC-2R, and Axial.

Electrical filaments are also used in hot cathodes of fluorescent lamps and vacuum tubes as a source of electrons or in vacuum tubes to heat an electron-emitting electrode.

Reducing filament evaporation

One of the problems of the standard electric light bulb is evaporation of the filament. Small variations in resistivity along the filament cause "hot spots" to form at points of higher resistivity; a variation of diameter of only 1% will cause a 25% reduction in service life. The hot spots evaporate faster than the rest of the filament, increasing resistance at that point—a positive feedback that ends in the familiar tiny gap in an otherwise healthy-looking filament. Irving Langmuir found that an inert gas, instead of vacuum, would retard evaporation. General service incandescent light bulbs over about 25 watts in rating are now filled with a mixture of mostly argon and some nitrogen, or sometimes krypton. Xenon gas, much more expensive, is used occasionally in small bulbs, such as those for flashlights. Since a filament breaking in a gas-filled bulb can form an electric arc, which may spread between the terminals and draw very heavy current, intentionally thin lead-in wires or more elaborate protection devices are therefore often used as fuses built into the light bulb.

More nitrogen is used in higher-voltage lamps to reduce the possibility of arcing.

During ordinary operation, the tungsten of the filament evaporates; hotter, more-efficient filaments evaporate faster. Because of this, the lifetime of a filament lamp is a trade-off between efficiency and longevity. The trade-off is typically set to provide a lifetime of several hundred to 2,000 hours for lamps used for general illumination. Theatrical, photographic, and projection lamps may have a useful life of only a few hours, trading life expectancy for high output in a compact form. Long-life general service lamps have lower efficiency but are used where the cost of changing the lamp is high compared to the value of energy used.

''Filament notching'' describes another phenomenon that limits the life of lamps. Lamps operated on direct current develop random stair-step irregularities on the filament surface, reducing the cross section and further increasing heat and evaporation of tungsten at these points. In small lamps operated on direct current, lifespan may be cut in half compared to AC operation. Different alloys of tungsten and rhenium can be used to counteract the effect.

If a light bulb envelope leaks, the hot tungsten filament reacts with air, yielding an aerosol of brown tungsten nitride, brown tungsten dioxide, violet-blue tungsten pentoxide, and yellow tungsten trioxide that then deposits on the nearby surfaces or the bulb interior.

Bulb blackening

In a conventional lamp, the evaporated tungsten eventually condenses on the inner surface of the glass envelope, darkening it. For bulbs that contain a vacuum, the darkening is uniform across the entire surface of the envelope. When a filling of inert gas is used, the evaporated tungsten is carried in the thermal convection currents of the gas, depositing preferentially on the uppermost part of the envelope and blackening just that portion of the envelope. An incandescent lamp that gives 93% or less of its initial light output at 75% of its rated life is regarded as unsatisfactory, when tested according to IEC Publication 60064. Light loss is due to filament evaporation and bulb blackening. Study of the problem of bulb blackening led to the discovery of the Edison effect, thermionic emission and invention of the vacuum tube.

A very small amount of water vapor inside a light bulb can significantly affect lamp darkening. Water vapor dissociates into hydrogen and oxygen at the hot filament. The oxygen attacks the tungsten metal, and the resulting tungsten oxide particles travel to cooler parts of the lamp. Hydrogen from water vapor reduces the oxide, reforming water vapor and continuing this ''water cycle''. The equivalent of a drop of water distributed over 500,000 lamps will significantly increase darkening. Small amounts of substances such as zirconium are placed within the lamp as a getter to react with any oxygen that may bake out of the lamp components during operation.

Some old, high-powered lamps used in theater, projection, searchlight, and lighthouse service with heavy, sturdy filaments contained loose tungsten powder within the envelope. From time to time, the operator would remove the bulb and shake it, allowing the tungsten powder to scrub off most of the tungsten that had condensed on the interior of the envelope, removing the blackening and brightening the lamp again.

Halogen lamps

The halogen lamp reduces uneven evaporation of the filament and darkening of the envelope by filling the lamp with a halogen gas at low pressure, rather than an inert gas. The halogen cycle increases the lifetime of the bulb and prevents its darkening by redepositing tungsten from the inside of the bulb back onto the filament. The halogen lamp can operate its filament at a higher temperature than a standard gas filled lamp of similar power without loss of operating life.

Incandescent arc lamps

A variation of the incandescent lamp did not use a hot wire filament, but instead used an arc struck on a spherical bead electrode to produce heat. The electrode then became incandescent, with the arc contributing little to the light produced. Such lamps were used for projection or illumination for scientific instruments such as microscopes. These arc lamps ran on relatively low voltages and incorporated tungsten filaments to start ionization within the envelope. They provided the intense concentrated light of an arc lamp but were easier to operate. Developed around 1915, these lamps were displaced by mercury and xenon arc lamps.

Electrical characteristics

Power

Incandescent lamps are nearly pure resistive loads with a power factor of 1. This means the actual power consumed (in watts) and the apparent power (in volt-amperes) are equal. Incandescent light bulbs are usually marketed according to the electrical power consumed. This is measured in watts and depends mainly on the resistance of the filament, which in turn depends mainly on the filament's length, thickness, and material. For two bulbs of the same voltage, type, color, and clarity, the higher-powered bulb gives more light.

The table shows the approximate typical output, in lumens, of standard incandescent light bulbs at various powers. Note that the lumen values for "soft white" bulbs will generally be slightly lower than for standard bulbs at the same power, while clear bulbs will usually emit a slightly brighter light than correspondingly powered standard bulbs.

Current and resistance

The actual resistance of the filament is temperature-dependent. The cold resistance of tungsten-filament lamps is about 1/15 the hot-filament resistance when the lamp is operating. For example, a 100-watt, 120-volt lamp has a resistance of 144 ohms when lit, but the cold resistance is much lower (about 9.5 ohms). Since incandescent lamps are resistive loads, simple phase-control triac dimmers can be used to control brightness. Electrical contacts may carry a "T" rating symbol indicating that they are designed to control circuits with the high inrush current characteristic of tungsten lamps. For a 100-watt, 120-volt general-service lamp, the current stabilizes in about 0.10 seconds, and the lamp reaches 90% of its full brightness after about 0.13 seconds.

align="right">

+ Comparison of efficacy by power (120 volt lamps)	Watt>W)	lumen (unit)>lm)
5	25	5
15	110	7.3
25	200	8.0
35	350	10.0
40	500	12.5
50	700	14.0
55	800	14.5
60	850	14.2
65	1,000	15.4
70	1,100	15.7
75	1,200	16.0
90	1,450	16.1
95	1,600	16.8
100	1,700	17.0
135	2,350	17.4
150	2,850	19.0
200	3,900	19.5
300	6,200	20.7

Physical characteristics

Bulb shapes

Incandescent light bulbs come in a range of shapes and sizes. The names of the shapes may be slightly different in some regions. Many of these shapes have a designation consisting of one or more letters followed by one or more numbers, e.g. A55 or PAR38. The letters represent the shape of the bulb. The numbers represent the maximum diameter, either in of an inch, or in millimetres, depending on the shape and the region. For example, 63 mm reflectors are designated R63, but in the U.S. they are known as R20 (2.5 in). However, in both regions, a PAR38 reflector is known as PAR38. In Australia an R80 is 1 in in diameter.

Common shapes:

;General Service :Light emitted in (nearly) all directions. Available either clear or frosted. :Types: General (A), Mushroom

;High Wattage General Service :Lamps greater than 200 watts. :Types: Pear-shaped (PS)

;Decorative :lamps used in chandeliers, etc. :Types: candle (B), twisted candle, bent-tip candle (CA & BA), flame (F), fancy round (P), globe (G)

;Reflector (R): Reflective coating inside the bulb directs light forward. Flood types (FL) spread light. Spot types (SP) concentrate the light. Reflector (R) bulbs put approximately double the amount of light (foot-candles) on the front central area as General Service (A) of same wattage. :Types: Standard reflector (R), elliptical reflector (ER), crown-silvered

;Parabolic aluminized reflector (PAR) : Parabolic aluminized reflector (PAR) bulbs control light more precisely. They produce about four times the concentrated light intensity of general service (A), and are used in recessed and track lighting. Weatherproof casings are available for outdoor spot and flood fixtures. :120 V sizes: PAR 16, 20, 30, 38, 56 and 64 :230 V sizes: Par 38, 56 and 64 :Available in numerous spot and flood beam spreads. Like all light bulbs, the number represents the diameter of the bulb in of an inch. Therefore, a PAR 16 is 2 in in diameter, a PAR 20 is 2.5 in in diameter, PAR 30 is 3.75 in and a PAR 38 is 4.75 in in diameter.

;Multifaceted reflector (MR)

;HIR: "HIR" is a GE designation for a lamp with an infrared reflective coating. Since less heat escapes, the filament burns hotter and more efficiently. The Osram designation for a similar coating is "IRC".

Lamp bases

Very small lamps may have the filament support wires extended through the base of the lamp, and can be directly soldered to a printed circuit board for connections. Some reflector-type lamps include screw terminals for connection of wires. Most lamps have metal bases that fit in a socket to support the lamp and conduct current to the filament wires. In the late 19th century, manufacturers introduced a multitude of incompatible lamp bases. General Electric introduced standard base sizes for tungsten incandescent lamps under the Mazda trademark in 1909. This standard was soon adopted across the United States, and the Mazda name was used by many manufacturers under license through 1945. Today most incandescent lamps for general lighting service use an Edison screw in candelabra, intermediate, or standard or mogul sizes, or double contact bayonet base. Bayonet base lamps are frequently used in automotive lamps to resist loosening due to vibration. A bipin base is often used for halogen or reflector lamps.

Lamp bases may be secured to the bulb with a cement, or by mechanical crimping to indentations molded into the glass bulb. Miniature lamps used for some automotive lamps or decorative lamps have wedge bases that have a partial plastic or even completely glass base. In this case, the wires wrap around to the outside of the bulb, where they press against the contacts in the socket. Miniature Christmas bulbs use a plastic wedge base as well.

Lamps intended for use in optical systems (such as film projectors, microscope illuminators, or stage lighting instruments have bases with alignment features so that the filament is positioned accurately within the optical system. A screw-base lamp may have a random orientation of the filament when the lamp is installed in the socket.

Light output and lifetime

Incandescent lamps are very sensitive to changes in the supply voltage. These characteristics are of great practical and economic importance.

For a supply voltage ''V'' near the rated voltage of the lamp:

''Light'' output is approximately proportional to ''V'' ^3.4

''Power'' consumption is approximately proportional to ''V'' ^1.6

''Lifetime'' is approximately proportional to ''V'' ⁻¹⁶

''Color temperature'' is approximately proportional to ''V'' ^0.42 This means that a 5% reduction in operating voltage will more than double the life of the bulb, at the expense of reducing its light output by about 20%. This may be a very acceptable trade off for a light bulb that is in a difficult-to-access location (for example, traffic lights or fixtures hung from high ceilings). Long-life bulbs take advantage of this trade-off. Since the value of the electric power they consume is much more than the value of the lamp, general service lamps emphasize efficiency over long operating life. The objective is to minimize the cost of light, not the cost of lamps.

The relationships above are valid for only a few percent change of voltage around rated conditions, but they do indicate that a lamp operated at much lower than rated voltage could last for hundreds of times longer than at rated conditions, albeit with greatly reduced light output. The ''Centennial Light'' is a light bulb that is accepted by the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as having been burning almost continuously at a fire station in Livermore, California, since 1901. However, the bulb is powered by only four watts. A similar story can be told of a 40-watt bulb in Texas that has been illuminated since September 21, 1908. It once resided in an opera house where notable celebrities stopped to take in its glow, but is now in an area museum.

In flood lamps used for photographic lighting, the tradeoff is made in the other direction. Compared to general-service bulbs, for the same power, these bulbs produce far more light, and (more importantly) light at a higher color temperature, at the expense of greatly reduced life (which may be as short as two hours for a type P1 lamp). The upper temperature limit for the filament is the melting point of the metal. Tungsten is the metal with the highest melting point, . A 50-hour-life projection bulb, for instance, is designed to operate only below that melting point. Such a lamp may achieve up to 22 lumens per watt, compared with 17.5 for a 750-hour general service lamp.

Lamps designed for different voltages have different luminous efficacy. For example, a 100-watt, 120-volt lamp will produce about 17.1 lumens per watt. A lamp with the same rated lifetime but designed for 230 V would produce only around 12.8 lumens per watt, and a similar lamp designed for 30 volts (train lighting) would produce as much as 19.8 lumens per watt. Lower voltage lamps have a thicker filament, for the same power rating. They can run hotter for the same lifetime before the filament evaporates.

The wires used to support the filament make it mechanically stronger, but remove heat, creating another tradeoff between efficiency and long life. Many general-service 120-volt lamps use no additional support wires, but lamps designed for "rough service" or "vibration service" may have as many as five. Low-voltage lamps have filaments made of heavier wire and do not require additional support wires.

Very low voltages are inefficient since the lead wires would conduct too much heat away from the filament, so the practical lower limit for incandescent lamps is 1.5 volts. Very long filaments for high voltages are fragile, and lamp bases become more difficult to insulate, so lamps for illumination are not made with rated voltages over 300 volts. Some infrared heating elements are made for higher voltages, but these use tubular bulbs with widely separated terminals.

Health issues

Although some sources claim fluorescent lighting causes more health problems than incandescent lighting (see Light sensitivity and Over-illumination for discussion), more research needs to be done in this field. According to the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) in 2008, the only property of compact fluorescent lamps that could pose an added health risk is the ultraviolet and blue light emitted by such devices. The worst that can happen is that this radiation could aggravate symptoms in people who already suffer rare skin conditions that make them exceptionally sensitive to light. They also stated that more research is needed to establish whether compact fluorescent lamps constitute any higher risk than incandescent lamps.

Radio interference

Incandescent bulbs do not produce significant radio frequency interference, a concern with many other light sources, such as most LED and fluorescent lamps.

See also

References

External links

Museum of Electric Lamp Technology

Howstuffworks - "How Light Bulbs Work"

Light Source Spectra 60 W-100 W Incandescent light bulb spectra

Halogen Light Bulbs – Base Identification

Light Bulbs - Lamps and Tubes - Lamp Bases Explained

The Perfection of the Electric Light Bulb – background and experiment

Incandescent Light Bulb's Bulb and Base Types Explained

Examples of how color temperature of light bulbs affect our surroundings

An brief article explaing the light bulb - "The Composition of the Light Bulb"

The history of the light bulb

BanTheBulb.Org energy efficiency campaign

Great light bulbs gallery

Category:Lamps Category:Light sources Category:Discovery and invention controversies Category:English inventions Category:Thomas Edison

bs:Sijalica bg:Лампа с нажежаема жичка ca:Bombeta elèctrica cs:Žárovka da:Glødelampe de:Glühlampe et:Hõõglamp el:Λαμπτήρας πυράκτωσης es:Lámpara incandescente eo:Ampolo eu:Bonbilla fa:لامپ رشته‌ای fr:Lampe à incandescence classique fy:Gloeilampe gd:Bolgan (innleachd) gl:Lámpada incandescente gan:燈泡 ko:백열등 hi:उद्दीप्त दीपक hr:Električna žarulja id:Lampu pijar is:Ljósapera it:Lampadina he:נורה חשמלית ka:ნათურა sw:Balbu la:Globulus electricus lv:Kvēlspuldze lt:Kaitrinė lemputė hu:Izzólámpa ml:വൈദ്യുതവിളക്ക് ms:Mentol lampu nl:Gloeilamp ne:बिजुली बत्ती ja:電球 no:Glødelampe nn:Glødelampe pl:Żarówka pt:Lâmpada incandescente ksh:Bier (en de Lamp) ro:Bec incandescent qu:Sansa k'anchana ru:Лампа накаливания sq:Poçi simple:Lightbulb sk:Žiarovka sl:Žarnica szl:Byrna sr:Сијалица fi:Hehkulamppu sv:Glödlampa ta:வெள்ளொளிர்வு விளக்கு tr:Ampul uk:Лампа розжарювання ur:برقی قمقمہ vi:Đèn sợi đốt zh-yue:電燈膽 bat-smg:Alektrėnė lėmpele zh:電燈泡

:''For other uses, see Incarnation (Christianity) or Incarnate (disambiguation)'' Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature (generally a human) who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial.

In its religious context the word is used to mean the descent of a god, or divine being in human form on Earth.

Ancient Egypt

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were sometimes said to be incarnations of the gods Horus and Ra.

Bahá'í

In the Bahá'í Faith, God is described as a single, imperishable God, the creator of all things, including all the creatures and forces in the universe. The connection between God and the world is that of the creator to his creation. God is understood to be independent of his creation, and that creation is dependent and contingent on God. God, however, is not seen to be incarnated into this world and is not seen to be part of creation as he cannot be divided and does not descend to the condition of his creatures. Instead, in the Bahá'í understanding, the world of creation emanates from God, in that all things have been realized by him and have attained to existence. The Bahá'í concept of the intermediary between God and humanity is expressed in the term Manifestation of God, which are a series of personages, such as Jesus and Bahá'u'lláh, who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization. In expressing God's intent, these Manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world. The Manifestations of God are also not seen as an incarnation of God, but are instead understood to be like a perfect mirror reflecting the attributes of God onto this material world.

Buddhism

In the teaching of the Buddha sentient beings incarnate due to the psychological factors of ignorance, craving and clinging which results in the phenomenon of becoming and rebirth. To be born human is considered a great privilege because unlike other mammals even a person of average intelligence with sufficient effort and proper guidance can walk the path of dharma and become liberated from the cycle of rebirth. The motive force in the process of material incarnation and becoming (popularly known as 'life') is attachment to and identification with matter. This ignorance gives rise to the volitional factors which are called sankharas. These sankharas through the infinite possibilities of worldly desires propel the human being through the pattern of repeated birth and death until the dawning of wisdom (awakening) brings about the desire for liberation.

According to Buddha's teaching the soul (as that structure of sankharas that gives rise to incarnation and animates the body during 'life') is not a fixed entity but in a state of constant flux - being modified over time by actions of body, speech and mind. The constant transmutation and interdependence of phenomena mean that nothing can be said in terms of ultimate truth to have a fixed identity. This is the doctrine of ''anatta'', the no-self doctrine applying to all phenomena (''see'' ''Three marks of existence'').

Liberation in Buddhism is achieved when the stock of accumulated sankharas buried in the unconscious have been dissolved through the practise of the Noble Eightfold Path, a path leading to the experience called enlightenment (''Bodhi'' in Sanskrit and Pali). At enlightenment all the causes for future rebirth have been deleted and the sage abides in a state of being called ''deathlessnes'' (Amaravati or Amrta). Such a one - called an arahant or Buddha is no longer destined for reincarnation after death.

In Tibetan Buddhism, an enlightened spiritual teacher (lama) may choose to reincarnate after death in order to continue to help people. Such a teacher is called a ''tulku''.

Christianity

The Incarnation of Christ is a central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed a human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. This foundational Christian position holds that the divine nature of the Son of God was perfectly united with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus, making him both truly God and truly man. The theological term for this is hypostatic union: the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, became flesh when he was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Biblical passages traditionally referenced in connection with the doctrine of the Incarnation include and .

Hinduism

In Hinduism, incarnation generally refers to an Avatar of Vishnu, the preserver in the Trimurti. Collectively, the 10 avatars of Vishnu are known as the dashavatara. Ganesha and Shiva also have avatars.

Islam

Mainstream Islam

Mainstream Islam completely rejects the doctrine of the incarnation of God in any form, as the concept is defined as Shirk. In mainstream Islam God is one and "neither begets nor is begotten". Islam specifically rejects the Christian idea of Jesus as a divine incarnation, but rather Jesus is seen as a prophet (''nabī'') and messenger (''rasūl'') of God. The Qur'anic text itself seems to fully reject this concept according to mainstream interpretations. Sunnism is the most prominent sect to hold this belief.

Shiite sects

There are some hadiths which tell that Muhammad and his successors carry a divine succession from God. Although not all Shiites claim this view, a rare few think that Imam Ali, believed to be the real caliph after Muhammad, was an incarnation of God and also he is the god(ali). . This view is vigorously rejected by Sunnis and other shias.. The only conflict source between sunnis and shias is believing that imam ali be the real caliph after Muhammad in the view of shias and the acceptance of 12 "imam's" "welayah". However, some Muslims called "wahabi" say some tales about shias incarnation thought for making division between shias and sunnis that they call brothers in quran. They also accuse shias of worshiping metals and woods. But shias only use them as "tabarrok" just like "hazrate zahra"(Muhammad's daughter) that she use "tabarrok" first. In shias philosophy, tabarrok is for showing your love to "ahle beit" and requesting "shafa'at" from them because they believe that ahle beyt where the best God created and they use this method to have better connection to Allah or they use this method it when they do sins and want to request "maghferat" from God they believe its easier to go from this method.

Alawis

The Alawi of Syria encompass Muhammad, Allah and Ali in a trinity based from Christianity..

Ismailism

The Aga Khan is the leader of the Ismailis and is believed that only he can fully understand and interpret the Quran. The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims take the Aga Khan as an Imam (spiritual leader). In the Shia ''tariqah'' the Light Of God (Noor) has always been present. The Islamic prophet Muhammed had this ''Noor''. There is a Hadith stating that Muhammad said "Ali and I are from the same Noor". Aga Khan is the direct descendant of Muhammad through Imam Ali and Bibi Fatima. The Noor has been passed down since there needs to be a guide present at all times to interpret the Quran and give guidance according to the time..

Nation of Islam

The founder of the US-based black nationalist Nation of Islam, Wallace Fard Muhammad, is believed by followers to be an incarnation of God, also considered to be the Messiah of Christianity and Mahdi of Islam.

Judaism

Mainstream Judaism totally rejects any doctrine of an incarnation of God and absolutely rejects any concept of an incarnation of God in any form. Jews especially rejected vehemently - even under penalty of death or threats of torture - the Christian idea of Jesus as a divine incarnation of God, and neither see Jesus as a Prophet nor Messiah.

However, some Hasidim believe in a somewhat similar concept. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a prominent Hasidic leader, said that the Rebbe is God's essence itself put into a body of a Tzaddik. . While many other Jews find this idea highly controversial, panentheism, i.e. considering everything and everyone as manifestations of God, is the accepted mainstream Hasidic and Kabbalistic doctrine.

The Kabbalah has an idea of ''gilgul'' (reincarnation) as part of the soul's journey to achieve perfection.

Rastafari

The Rastafari movement views Haile Selassie I as God incarnate, who has come the second time as a deliverer.

References

External links

Detailed information on Incarnation in Christianity

Article on Incarnation in Rastafari

Category:Ayyavazhi philosophical concepts Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts Category:Christian philosophy Category:Hindu philosophical concepts Category:Rastafari movement Category:Spirituality Category:Trinitarianism

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Native name	Tawantinsuyu
Conventional long name	Inca Empire
Common name	Inca Empire
Continent	South America
Region	Andes
Country	Peru
Era	Pre-Columbian
Status	Empire
Government type	Monarchy
Year start	1438
Year end	1533
Event start	Pachacuti created the Tawantinsuyu
Event end	Spanish conquest led by Francisco Pizarro
Event1	Civil war between Huáscar and Atahualpa
Date event1	1529–1532
P1	Kingdom of Cuzco
S1	Governorate of New Castile
S2	Governorate of New Toledo
Flag s1	Flag of New Spain.svg
Flag s2	Flag of New Spain.svg
Flag	Banner of the Inca Empire.svg
Flag type	Flag of the Inca Empire
Image map caption	The Inca Empire at its greatest extent
Capital	Cusco (1438–1533)
Common languages	Quechua (official), Aymara, Puquina, Jaqi family, Muchik and scores of smaller languages.
Religion	Inca religion
Title leader	Sapa Inca
Leader1	Pachacuti
Leader2	Túpac Inca Yupanqui
Leader3	Huayna Capac
Leader4	Huáscar
Leader5	Atahualpa
Year leader1	1438–1471
Year leader2	1471–1493
Year leader3	1493–1525
Year leader4	1525–1532
Year leader5	1532–1533 | stat_year1 1438
Stat area1	800000
Stat pop1	12000000
Stat year2	1527
Stat area2	2000000
Stat pop2	20000000
Today

The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire (Quechua: ''Tawantinsuyu''), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including large parts of modern Ecuador, Peru, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and north-central Chile, and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.

The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as ''Tawantinsuyu'' which can be translated as ''The Four Regions'' or ''The Four United Provinces''.

There were many local forms of worship, most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas", but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."

Name

The Inca referred to their empire as ''Tawantinsuyu'', "four parts together." In Quechua the term ''Tawantin'' is a group of four things (''tawa'' "four" with the suffix ''-ntin'' which names a group). ''Suyu'' means "region" or "province". The empire was divided into four ''suyus'', whose corners met at the capital, Cusco (''Qosqo''). The name ''Tawantinsuyu'' was, therefore, a descriptive term indicating a union of provinces. The Spanish transliterated the name as ''Tahuatinsuyo'' or ''Tahuatinsuyu'' which is often still used today.

The term ''Inka'' means ''ruler'', or ''lord'', in Quechua, and was used to refer to the ruling class or the ruling family in the empire. The Spanish adopted the term (transliterated as ''Inca'' in Spanish) as an ethnic term referring to all subjects of the empire rather than simply the ruling class. As such the name ''Imperio inca'' (''Inca Empire'') referred to the nation that they encountered, and subsequently conquered.

History

Origin

Incan oral history mentions three possible places of origin of their people: three caves near Pacariqtambo, a place 33 km away from Cuzco; Lake Titicaca; or a place known as Tambo.

Pacariqtambo, which means "the dawn tavern" or "the place of origin", was a place of three caves. The center cave, Tambo Tocco, was named for Capac Tocco. The other caves were Maras Tocco and Sutic Tocco. Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave. They were: Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Auca, Ayar Uchu, and Mama Ocllo, Mama Raua, Mama Huaca, Mama Cora. Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the clans of the Inca people.

Ayar Manco carried a staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would all live there. They travelled for a very, very long time. On the way, Ayar Cachi went too far boasting about his great strength and power, and his siblings tricked him into returning to the cave to get a sacred llama. When he went into the cave, they trapped him inside.

Ayar Uchu decided to stay somewhere on the top to look over the Incan people. The minute he proclaimed that, he turned to stone. They built a shrine around the stone and it became a sacred object. Ayar Auca also grew tired of all these and decide to travel alone. Only Ayar Manco and his four sisters remained.

Finally, they reached Cuzco. The staff sank into the ground. Before they reached here, Mama Ocllo had already bore Ayar Manco a child, Sinchi Roca. The people who were already living in the valley fought hard to keep their land, but Mama Huaca was a god fighter. When the enemy attacked, she threw her bolas-several stones tied together that spun through the air when thrown, and killed him instantly. Mama Huaca cut his lungs and blew it up, and other people were so scared, they ran away.

After that, Ayar Manco became known as Manco Cápac, the founder of the Inca. It is said that he and his sisters built the first Inca homes in the valley with their own hands. When the time came, Manco Cápac turned to stone like his brothers before him. His son, Sinchi Roca, became the second emperor of the Inca.

Kingdom of Cuzco

The Inca people were a tribe in the Cuzco area around the 12th century. Under the leadership of Manco Cápac, they formed the small city-state of Cuzco (Quechua ''Qusqu'Qosqo''). In 1438, they began a far-reaching expansion under the command of Sapa Inca (paramount leader) Pachacuti-Cusi Yupanqui, whose name literally meant "earth-shaker". The name of Pachacuti was given to him after conquering over the Tribe of Chancas (modern Apurímac). During his reign, he and his son Tupac Yupanqui brought much of the Andes mountains (roughly modern Peru and Ecuador) under Inca control.

Reorganization and formation

Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cusco into the Tahuantinsuyu, which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders: Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Kuntisuyu (SW), and Qullasuyu (SE). Pachacuti is also thought to have built Machu Picchu, either as a family home or as a summer retreat, although there is speculation that Machu Picchu was constructed as an agricultural station.

Pachacuti sent spies to regions he wanted in his empire; they brought reports on the political organization, military might and wealth. He would then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles, and promising that they would be materially richer as subject rulers of the Inca. Most accepted the rule of the Inca as a ''fait accompli'' and acquiesced peacefully. The ruler's children would then be brought to Cusco to be taught about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility, and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire.

Expansion and consolidation

It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army; Pachacuti's son Túpac Inca Yupanqui began conquests to the north in 1463, and continued them as Inca after Pachucuti's death in 1471. His most important conquest was the Kingdom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru. Túpac Inca's empire stretched north into modern day Ecuador and Colombia.

Túpac Inca's son Huayna Cápac added a small portion of land to the north in modern day Ecuador and in parts of Peru. At its height, the Inca Empire included Peru and Bolivia, most of what is now Ecuador, a large portion of what is today Chile north of Maule River. The advance south halted after the Battle of the Maule where they met determined resistance by the Mapuche tribes. The empire also extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia. However, most of the southern portion of the Inca empire, the portion denominated as Qullasuyu, was desert wasteland.

The Inca Empire was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. The Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour. The following quote reflects a method of taxation:

:''"For as is well known to all, not a single village of the highlands or the plains failed to pay the tribute levied on it by those who were in charge of these matters. There were even provinces where, when the natives alleged that they were unable to pay their tribute, the Inca ordered that each inhabitant should be obliged to turn in every four months a large quill full of live lice, which was the Inca's way of teaching and accustoming them to pay tribute".''

Inca civil war and Spanish conquest

Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro and his brothers explored south from what will be today's Panama, reaching Inca territory by 1526. It was clear that they had reached a wealthy land with prospects of great treasure, and after one more expedition in 1529, Pizarro traveled to Spain and received royal approval to conquer the region and be its viceroy. This approval was received as detailed in the following quote: "In July 1529 the queen of Spain signed a charter allowing Pizarro to conquer the Incas. Pizarro was named governor and captain of all conquests in Peru, or New Castile, as the Spanish now called the land."

When they returned to Peru in 1532, a war of the two brothers between Huayna Capac's sons Huáscar and Atahualpa and unrest among newly conquered territories—and perhaps more importantly, smallpox, which had spread from Central America—had considerably weakened the empire. Pizarro did not have a formidable force; with just 168 men, 1 cannon and 27 horses, he often needed to talk his way out of potential confrontations that could have easily wiped out his party. The Spanish horsemen, fully armored, had great technological superiority over the Inca forces. The traditional mode of battle in the Andes was a kind of siege warfare where large numbers of usually reluctant draftees were sent to overwhelm opponents. The Spaniards had developed one of the finest military machines in the premodern world, tactics learned in their centuries' long fight against Moorish kingdoms in Iberia. Along with this tactical and material superiority, the Spaniards also had acquired tens of thousands of native allies who sought to end the Inca control of their territories.

Their first engagement was the Battle of Puná, near present-day Guayaquil, Ecuador, on the Pacific Coast; Pizarro then founded the city of Piura in July 1532. Hernando de Soto was sent inland to explore the interior and returned with an invitation to meet the Inca, Atahualpa, who had defeated his brother in the civil war and was resting at Cajamarca with his army of 80,000 troops.

Pizarro and some of his men, most notably a friar named Vincente de Valverde, met with the Inca, who had brought only a small retinue. Through an interpreter Friar Vincente read the "Requerimiento" that demanded that he and his empire accept the yoke of King Charles I of Spain and convert to Christianity. Because of the language barrier and perhaps poor interpretation, Atahualpa became somewhat puzzled by the friar's description of Christian faith and was said to have not fully understood the envoy's intentions. After Atahualpa attempted further enquiry into the doctrines of the Christian faith under which Pizarro's envoy served, the Spanish became frustrated and impatient, attacking the Inca's retinue and capturing Atahualpa as hostage.

Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in, and twice that amount of silver. The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them, refusing to release the Inca afterwards. During Atahualpa's imprisonment Huáscar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spaniards maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spaniards finally decided to put him to death, in August 1533.

Last Incas

The Spanish installed Atahualpa's brother Manco Inca Yupanqui in power; for some time Manco cooperated with the Spanish, while the Spanish fought to put down resistance in the north. Meanwhile an associate of Pizarro's, Diego de Almagro, attempted to claim Cusco for himself. Manco tried to use this intra-Spanish feud to his advantage, recapturing Cusco in 1536, but the Spanish retook the city afterwards. Manco Inca then retreated to the mountains of Vilcabamba, Peru, where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years, sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them. In 1572 the last Inca stronghold was conquered, and the last ruler, Túpac Amaru, Manco's son, was captured and executed. This ended resistance to the Spanish conquest under the political authority of the Inca state.

After the fall of the Inca Empire many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system, known as the vertical archipelago model of agriculture. The Spaniards used the Inca mita (mandatory public service) system to literally work the people to death. One member of each family was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the titanic silver mine at Potosí. When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family would be required to send a replacement.

The effects of smallpox on the Inca empire were even more devastating. Beginning in Colombia, smallpox spread rapidly before the Spanish invaders first arrived in the empire. The spread was probably aided by the efficient Inca road system. Within a few years smallpox claimed between 60% and 94% of the Inca population, with other waves of European disease weakening them further. Smallpox was only the first epidemic. Typhus (probably) in 1546, influenza and smallpox together in 1558, smallpox again in 1589, diphtheria in 1614, measles in 1618 - all ravaged the remains of Inca culture.

Society

Population

There is some debate about the number of people inhabiting Tawantinsuyu at its peak, with estimates ranging from as few as 4 million people, to more than 37 million. The reason for these various estimates is that in spite of the fact that the Inca kept excellent census records using their quipu, knowledge of how to read them has been lost, and almost all of them had been destroyed by the Spaniards in the course of their conquest.

Language

Since the Inca Empire lacked a written language, the empire's main form of communication and recording came from quipus, ceramics and spoken Quechua, the language the Incas imposed upon the peoples within the empire. The plethora of civilizations in the Andean region provided for a general disunity that the Incas needed to subdue in order to maintain control of the empire. While Quechua had been spoken in the Andean region, like central Peru, for several years prior to the expansion of the Inca civilization, the type of Quechua the Incas imposed was an adaptation from the Kingdom of Cusco (an early form of "Southern Quechua" originally named Qhapaq Runasimi = The great language of the people) of what some historians define as "Proto-Quechua" or Cusco dialect (the original Quechua dialect).

The language imposed by the Incas further diverted from its original phonetic tone as some societies formed their own regional varieties, or slang. The diversity of Quechua at that point and even today does not come as a direct result from the Incas, who are just a part of the reason for Quechua's diversity. The civilizations within the empire that had previously spoken Quechua kept their own variety distinct to the Quechua the Incas spread. Although these dialects of Quechua have a similar linguistic structure, they differ according to the region in which they are spoken. Although most of the societies within the empire implemented Quechua into their lives, the Incas allowed several societies to keep their old languages such as Aymara, which still remains a spoken language in contemporary Bolivia where it is the primary indigenous language and various regions of South America surrounding Bolivia. The linguistic body of the Inca Empire was thus largely varied, but it still remains quite an achievement for the Incas that went beyond their time as the Spanish continued the use of Quechua.

It is proposed that the actual name of the spoken language of the Incan Empire was called Qhapaq Runasimi and that the Incan ruling elite spoke both Puquina and Qhapaq Runasimi (Quechua). However, Pukina ceased to be used in the 19th century. Under this proposed idea, the root meaning of Quechua was "taken by force, stolen" and a Dominican monk (Pedro Aparicio) mistakenly taught that the Peruvians referred to themselves as Quechuas when it was actually the actions of the Spaniards the people were referring to.

The Roman Catholic Church employed Quechua-Qhapaq Runasimi to evangelize in the Andean region. In some cases, these languages were taught to people who had originally spoken other indigenous languages. Today, Quechua-Qhapaq Runasimi and Aymara remain the most widespread Amerindian languages.

Organization of the empire

thumb|right|The four ''suyus'' of the empire.The most powerful figure in the empire was the Sapa Inca ('the unique Inca'). Only descendants of the original Inca tribe ascended to the level of Inca. Most young members of the Inca's family attended Yachay Wasis (houses of knowledge) to obtain their education.

The Inca Empire was a federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provinces: Chinchay Suyu (NW), Anti Suyu (NE), Kunti Suyu (SW), and Qulla Suyu (SE). The four corners of these provinces met at the center, Cusco. Each province had a governor who oversaw local officials, who in turn supervised agriculturally productive river valleys, cities and mines. There were separate chains of command for both the military and religious institutions, which created a system of partial checks and balances on power . The local officials were responsible for settling disputes and keeping track of each family's contribution to the mita (mandatory public service).

Laws

The main legislator on Inca traditions was Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui who established numerous laws, and reformed old ones.

Religion

Incan myths were an oral tradition until early Spanish colonists recorded them; however, some scholars believe that they may have been recorded on quipus, Andean knotted string records.

The Inca believed in reincarnation. Those who obeyed the Incan moral code—''ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella'' (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy)—"went to live in the Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in the cold earth" . The Inca also practiced cranial deformation. They achieved this by wrapping tight cloth straps around the heads of newborns in order to alter the shape of their soft skulls into a more conical form; this cranial deformation was made to distinguish social classes of the communities, with only the nobility having cranial deformation.

Dieties

Viracocha (also Pachacamac) - Created all living things

Apu Illapu - Rain God, prayed to when they need rain

Ayar Cachi - Hot-tempered God, causes earthquakes

Illapa - Goddess of lightning and thunder (also Yakumama water goddess)

Inti - sun god and patron deity of the holy city of Cuzco(home of the sun)

Kuychi - Rainbow God, connected with fertility

Mama Kilya - Wife of Inti, called Moon Mother

Mama Occlo - Wisdom to civilize the people, taught women to weave cloth, and build houses

Manco Cápac - known for his courage and sent to earth to become first king of the Incas, taught people how to grow plants, make weapons, work together, share rescores, and worship the Gods

Pachamama - The Goddess of earth and wife of Viracocha, people give her offerings of coca leafs and beer and pray to her for major agricultural occasions

Qochamama - Goddess of the sea

Sachamama - Means Mother Tree, goddess in the shape of a snake with two heads

Yakumama - Means mother Water, represented as a snake, when she came to earth she transformed into a great river (also Illapa)

Social Structure

The social structure of the Inca Empire varied from area to area, but still had the same basic structure, On top was the Sapa Inca, or the emperor. Then came the nobles, these were often the priests and relatives of past emperors or the current ones. After, there were craftsmen and architects, they were very high on the social ladder because of the skill that they had was required by the Empire for such buildings. then came the working class, often just farmers that were kept in their social groupings. After this, were the slaves and peasants of the society.

Arts and technology

Monumental architecture

Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture. The main example is the capital city of Cusco. The breathtaking site of Machu Picchu was constructed by Inca engineers. The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless construction that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework. This was a process first used on a large scale by the Pucara (ca. 300 BC–AD 300) peoples to the south in Lake Titicaca, and later in the great city of Tiwanaku (ca. AD 400–1100) in present day Bolivia. The rocks used in construction were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another and carving away any sections on the lower rock where the dust was compressed. The tight fit and the concavity on the lower rocks made them extraordinarily stable.

Measures

Ceramics, precious metal work, and textiles

Almost all of the gold and silver work of the empire was melted down by the conquistadors.

Ceramics were painted using the polychrome technique portraying numerous motifs including animals, birds, waves, felines (which were popular in the Chavin culture) and geometric patterns found in the Nazca style of ceramics. In place of a written language Ceramics portrayed the very basic scenes of everyday life, including the smelting of metals, relationships and scenes of tribal warfare, it is through these preserved Ceramics that we know what life was like for the ancient South Americans. The most distinctive Inca ceramic objects are the Cusco bottles or ¨aryballos¨. Many of these pieces are on display in Lima in the Larco Archaeological Museum and the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History.

Communication and medicine

The Inca used assemblages of knotted strings, known as Quipu to record information, the exact nature of which is no longer known. Originally it was thought that Quipu were used only as mnemonic devices or to record numerical data. Quipus are also believed to record history and literature.

The Inca made many discoveries in medicine. They performed successful skull surgery, which involved cutting holes in the skull in order to alleviate fluid buildup and inflammation caused by head wounds. Anthropologists have discovered evidence which suggests that most skull surgeries performed by Inca surgeons were successful. In pre-Inca times, only one-third of skull surgery patients survived the procedure. However, survival rates rose to 80-90% during the Inca era.

Coca

The Incas revered the coca plant as being sacred or magical. Its leaves were used in moderate amounts to lessen hunger and pain during work, but were mostly used for religious and health purposes. When the Spaniards realized the effects of chewing the coca leaves, they took advantage of it. They forced the people of the Tawantinsuyo (Peru) to become addicted to it to avoid having to provide the usual amounts of food and rest while they were engaged in slave labour. The Chasqui (messengers) chewed coca leaves for extra energy to carry on their tasks as runners delivering messages throughout the empire. The coca leaf was also used during surgeries as an anaesthetic.

Weapons, armor, and warfare

The Inca army was the most powerful in the area at that time, because they could turn an ordinary villager or farmer into a soldier, ready for battle. This is because every male Inca had to take part in war at least once so as to be prepared for warfare again when needed. By the time the empire had reached its large size, every section of the empire contributed in setting up an army for war.

The Incas had no iron or steel, and their weapons were not much better than those of their enemies. They went into battle with the beating of drums and the blowing of trumpets. The armor used by the Incas included:

Helmets made of wood, copper, bronze, cane, or animal skin; some were adorned with feathers

Round or square shields made from wood or hide

Cloth tunics padded with cotton and small wooden planks to protect the spine.

The Inca weaponry included:

Bronze or bone-tipped spears

Two-handed wooden swords with serrated edges

Clubs with stone and spiked metal heads

Woolen slings and stones

Stone or copper headed battle-axes

Bolas (stones fastened to lengths of cord)

Roads allowed very quick movement for the Inca army, and shelters called ''tambo'' were built one day's distance in travelling from each other, so that an army on campaign could always be fed and rested. This can be seen in names of ruins such as Ollantay Tambo, or My Lord's Storehouse. These were set up so the Inca and his entourage would always have supplies (and possibly shelter) ready as he traveled.

Inca flag

There are 16th and 17th century chronicles and references that support the idea of a banner, or flag, attributable to the Inca. Francisco López de Jerez wrote in 1534:

"all of them came distributed into squads, with their flags and captains commanding them, as well-ordered as Turks" (''"todos venían repartidos en sus escuadras con sus banderas y capitanes que los mandan, con tanto concierto como turcos"'').

The chronicler, Bernabé Cobo, wrote:

"The royal standard or banner was a small square flag, ten or twelve spans around, made of cotton or wool cloth, placed on the end of a long staff, stretched and stiff such that it did not wave in the air, and on it each king painted his arms and emblems, for each one chose different ones, though the sign of the Incas was the rainbow and two parallel snakes along the width with the tassel as a crown, which each king used to add for a badge or blazon those preferred, like a lion, an eagle and other figures."

(''...el guión o estandarte real era una banderilla cuadrada y pequeña, de diez o doce palmos de ruedo, hecha de lienzo de algodón o de lana, iba puesta en el remate de una asta larga, tendida y tiesa, sin que ondease al aire, y en ella pintaba cada rey sus armas y divisas, porque cada uno las escogía diferentes, aunque las generales de los Incas eran el arco celeste y dos culebras tendidas a lo largo paralelas con la borda que le servía de corona, a las cuales solía añadir por divisa y blasón cada rey las que le parecía, como un león, un águila y otras figuras.'')-Bernabé Cobo, ''Historia del Nuevo Mundo'' (1653)

Guaman Poma's 1615 book, ''El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno'', shows numerous line drawings of Inca flags.

In modern times the rainbow flag has been associated with the Tawantinsuyu and is displayed as a symbol of Inca heritage in Peru and Bolivia. The city of Cusco flies the Rainbow Flag. Even the Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo (2001–2006) flew the Rainbow Flag in Lima's presidential palace.

According to the Peruvian newspaper ''El Comercio'', the flag only dates to the first decades of the 20th century. But in his 1847 book ''A History of the Conquest of Peru'', "[ William H. Prescott ] ... says that in the Inca army each company had its particular banner, and that the imperial standard, high above all, displayed the glittering device of the rainbow, the armorial ensign of the Incas." A 1917 world flags book says the Incan "heir-apparent ... was entitled to display the royal standard of the rainbow in his military campaigns."

Archaeology

Andean civilization probably began c. 9500 BP. Based in the highlands of Peru, an area now referred to as the ''punas'', the ancestors of the Incas probably began as a nomadic herding people. Geographical conditions resulted in a distinctive physical development characterized by a small stature and stocky build. Men averaged 1.57 m (5'2") and women averaged 1.45 m (4'9"). Because of the high altitudes, they had unique lung developments with almost one third greater capacity than other humans. The Incas had slower heart rates, blood volume of about 2 l (four pints) more than other humans, and double the amount of hemoglobin which transfers oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

Archaeologists have found traces of permanent habitation as high as above sea level in the temperate zone of the high altiplanos. While the Conquistadors may have been a little taller, the Inca surely had the advantage of coping with the extraordinary altitude. It seems that civilizations in this area before the Inca have left no written record, and therefore the Inca seem to appear from nowhere, but the Inca were a product of the past. They borrowed architecture, ceramics, and their empire-state government from previous cultures.

In the Lake Titikaka region, Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately 500 years.

Important Incan sites

Choquequirao

Cusco

Llactapata

Machu Picchu

Moray

Ollantaytambo

Sacsayhuaman

Vilcabamba

Vitcos

See also

Notes

References

McEwan, Gordon Francis. [http://books.google.com/books?id=J3WZuTINl2QC&lpg;=PA56&dq;=Inca%20civilization&pg;=PA221#v=onepage&q;&f;=false ''The Incas: New Perspectives.''\ New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-33301-5.

Sanderson, Steven E. ''The politics of trade in Latin American development.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992. ISBN 978-0-804-72021-2.

External links

"Guaman Poma - El Primer Nueva Corónica Y Buen Gobierno" – A high-quality digital version of the Corónica, scanned from the original manuscript.

Conquest of Peru, Prescott, 1847 Full text, free to read and search.

Inca Land by Hiram Bingham (published 1912–1922 CE).

Inca Artifacts, Peru, and Machu Picchu 360 degree movies of inca artifacts and Peruvian landscapes.

Inca civilization and other ancient civilizations by Genry Joil.

Inca stone cutting techniques: theory on how the Inca walls fit so perfectly.

Ancient Civilizations - Inca Great research site for kids.

"Ice Treasures of the Inca" National Geographic site.

"The Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec" Poetry of an Inca emperor.

Incan Ice Mummies NOVA site based on their series about the 1996 expedition that discovered Incan ice mummies.

Incan Religion

Engineering in the Andes Mountains MIT asst. professor gives 40 minute lecture on Incan suspension bridges.

A Map and Timeline of events mentioned in this article

Category:Andean civilizations Category:Post-Classic period in the Americas Category:1533 disestablishments Category:States and territories established in 1438 Category:History of Ecuador Category:History of Peru Category:History of indigenous peoples of the Americas

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name	Frank Zappa
background	solo_singer
birth name	Frank Vincent Zappa
born	December 21, 1940Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
died	December 04, 1993Los Angeles, California, U.S.
instrument	Guitar, vocals, bass, keyboards, drums, synclavier, bicycle
genre	Progressive rock, jazz fusion,
occupation	Composer, musician, conductor, producer
years active	1950s–1993
label	Verve, Bizarre, Straight, DiscReet, Barking Pumpkin
associated acts	The Mothers of InventionCaptain BeefheartSteve Vai
website
notable instruments	}}

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.

While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with The Mothers of Invention, ''Freak Out!'', combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship.

Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband under the name the ''Zappa Family Trust''.

Early life

Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 21, 1940. His mother, Rose Marie Colimore, was of Italian and French descent; his father, Francesco Vincente Zappa, was a native of Partinico, Sicily. Zappa was the eldest of four children. The family moved often because his father, a chemist and mathematician, worked in the defense industry. After a time in Florida in the 1940s, the family returned to Maryland, where Zappa's father worked at the Edgewood Arsenal chemical warfare facility of the Aberdeen Proving Ground. Due to their home's nearness to the arsenal, which stored mustard gas, gas masks were kept in the home. This had a profound effect on Zappa, and references to germs, germ warfare and the defense industry occur throughout his work.

Zappa was often sick as a child, suffering from asthma, earaches and sinus problems. A doctor treated his sinusitis by inserting a pellet of radium into each of Zappa's nostrils; little was known about the potential dangers of even small amounts of therapeutic radiation. Nasal imagery and references appear in his music and lyrics, as well as in the collage album covers created by his long-time collaborator Cal Schenkel.

Many of Zappa's childhood diseases may have been due to exposure to mustard gas. His health worsened when he lived in Baltimore. In 1952, his family relocated for reasons of health. They moved next to Monterey, California, where his father taught metallurgy at the Naval Postgraduate School. They soon moved to Claremont, then to El Cajon, before finally settling San Diego.

Musical influences

Zappa joined his first band, the Ramblers, at Mission Bay High School in San Diego. He was the band's drummer. About the same time his parents bought a phonograph, which allowed him to develop his interest in music, and to begin building his record collection. R&B; singles were early purchases, starting a large collection he kept for the rest of his life. He was interested in sounds for their own sake, particularly the sounds of drums and other percussion instruments. By age 12, he had obtained a snare drum and began learning the basics of orchestral percussion. Zappa's deep interest in modern classical music began when he read a ''LOOK'' magazine article about the Sam Goody record store chain that lauded its ability to sell an LP as obscure as ''The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume One''. The article described Varèse's percussion composition ''Ionisation'', produced by EMS Recordings, as "a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds". Zappa decided to seek out Varèse's music. After searching for over a year, Zappa found a copy (he noticed the LP because of the "mad scientist" looking photo of Varèse on the cover). Not having enough money with him, he persuaded the salesman to sell him the record at a discount. Thus began his lifelong passion for Varèse's music and that of other modern classical composers.

Zappa grew up influenced by avant-garde composers such as Varèse, Igor Stravinsky and Anton Webern, R&B; and doo-wop groups (including the Medallions and local pachuco groups), and modern jazz. His own heterogeneous ethnic background, and the diverse social and cultural mix in and around greater Los Angeles, were crucial in the formation of Zappa as a practitioner of underground music and of his later distrustful and openly critical attitude towards "mainstream" social, political and musical movements. He frequently lampooned musical fads like psychedelia, rock opera and disco. Television also exerted a strong influence, as demonstrated by quotations from show themes and advertising jingles found in his later works.

Youth and beginning of career (1955–1960)

By 1956, the Zappa family had moved to Lancaster, a small aerospace and farming town in the Antelope Valley of the Mojave Desert close to Edwards Air Force Base, in northern Los Angeles County. Zappa's mother encouraged him in his musical interests. Although she disliked Varèse's music, she was indulgent enough to give her son a long distance call to the composer as a 15th birthday present. Unfortunately, Varèse was in Europe at the time, so Zappa spoke to the composer's wife. He later received a letter from Varèse thanking him for his interest, and telling him about a composition he was working on called "Déserts". Living in the desert town of Lancaster, Zappa found this very exciting. Varèse invited him to visit if he ever came to New York. The meeting never took place (Varèse died in 1965), but Zappa framed the letter and kept it on display for the rest of his life.

At Antelope Valley High School, Zappa met Don Vliet (who later expanded his name to Don Van Vliet and adopted the stage name Captain Beefheart). Zappa and Vliet became close friends, sharing an interest in R&B; records and influencing each other musically throughout their careers. Around the same time, Zappa started playing drums in a local band, The Blackouts. The band was racially diverse, and included Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood who later became a member of The Mothers of Invention. Zappa's interest in the guitar grew, and in 1957 he was given his first guitar. Among his early influences were Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Howlin' Wolf and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. (In the 1970s and '80s, he invited Watson to perform on several albums.) Zappa considered soloing as the equivalent of forming "air sculptures", and developed an eclectic, innovative and highly personal style.

Zappa's interest in composing and arranging proliferated in his last high-school years. By his final year, he was writing, arranging and conducting avant-garde performance pieces for the school orchestra. He graduated from Antelope Valley High School in 1958, and later acknowledged two of his music teachers on the sleeve of the 1966 album ''Freak Out!'' Due to his family's frequent moves, Zappa attended at least six different high schools, and as a student he was often bored and given to distracting the rest of the class with juvenile antics. He left community college after one semester, and maintained thereafter a disdain for formal education, taking his children out of school at age 15 and refusing to pay for their college.

Zappa left home in 1959, and moved into a small apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles. After meeting Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman during his short stay at Pomona College, they moved in together in Ontario, and were married December 28, 1960. Zappa worked for a short period in advertising. His sojourn in the commercial world was brief, but gave him valuable insights into how it works. Throughout his career, he took a keen interest in the visual presentation of his work, designing some of his album covers and directing his own films and videos.

Early 1960s: Studio Z

Zappa attempted to earn a living as a musician and composer, and played different nightclub gigs, some with a new version of The Blackouts. Financially more rewarding were Zappa's earliest professional recordings, two soundtracks for the low-budget films ''The World's Greatest Sinner'' (1962) and ''Run Home Slow'' (1965). The former score was commissioned by actor-producer Timothy Carey and recorded in 1961. It contains many themes that appeared on later Zappa records. The latter soundtrack was recorded in 1963 after the film was completed, but it was commissioned by one of Zappa's former high school teachers in 1959 and Zappa may have worked on it before the film was shot. Excerpts from the soundtrack can be heard on the posthumous album ''The Lost Episodes'' (1996).

During the early 1960s, Zappa wrote and produced songs for other local artists, often working with singer-songwriter Ray Collins and producer Paul Buff. Their "Memories of El Monte" was recorded by The Penguins, although only Cleve Duncan of the original group was featured. Buff owned the small Pal Recording Studio in Cucamonga, which included a unique five-track tape recorder he had built. At that time, only a handful of the most sophisticated commercial studios had multi-track facilities; the industry standard for smaller studios was still mono or two-track. Although none of the recordings from the period achieved major commercial success, Zappa earned enough money to allow him to stage a concert of his orchestral music in 1963 and to broadcast and record it. He appeared on Steve Allen's syndicated late night show the same year, in which he played a bicycle as a musical instrument. With Captain Beefheart, Zappa recorded some songs under the name of The Soots. They were rejected by Dot Records for having "no commercial potential", a verdict Zappa subsequently quoted on the sleeve of ''Freak Out!''

In 1964, after his marriage started to break up, he moved into the Pal studio and began routinely working 12 hours or more per day recording and experimenting with overdubbing and audio tape manipulation. This set a work pattern that endured for most of his life. Aided by his income from film composing, Zappa took over the studio from Paul Buff, who was now working with Art Laboe at Original Sound. It was renamed Studio Z. Studio Z was rarely booked for recordings by other musicians. Instead, friends moved in, notably James "Motorhead" Sherwood. Zappa started performing as guitarist with a power trio, The Muthers, in local bars in order to support himself.

An article in the local press describing Zappa as "the Movie King of Cucamonga" prompted the local police to suspect that he was making pornographic films. In March 1965, Zappa was approached by a vice squad undercover officer, and accepted an offer of $100 to produce a suggestive audio tape for an alleged stag party. Zappa and a female friend recorded a faked erotic episode. When Zappa was about to hand over the tape, he was arrested, and the police stripped the studio of all recorded material. The press was tipped off beforehand, and next day's ''The Daily Report'' wrote that "Vice Squad investigators stilled the tape recorders of a free-swinging, a-go-go film and recording studio here Friday and arrested a self-styled movie producer". Zappa was charged with "conspiracy to commit pornography". This felony charge was reduced and he was sentenced to six months in jail on a misdemeanor, with all but ten days suspended. His brief imprisonment left a permanent mark, and was key in the formation of his anti-authoritarian stance. Zappa lost several recordings made at Studio Z in the process, as the police only returned 30 out of 80 hours of tape seized. Eventually, he could no longer afford to pay the rent on the studio and was evicted. Zappa managed to recover some of his possessions before the studio was torn down in 1966.

Late 1960s: The Mothers of Invention

In 1965, Zappa was approached by Ray Collins who asked him to take over as the guitarist in local R&B; band The Soul Giants, following a fight between Collins and the group's original guitarist. Zappa accepted, and soon he assumed leadership and the role as co-lead singer (even though he never considered himself a singer). He convinced the other members that they should play his music to increase the chances of getting a record contract. The band was renamed The Mothers, coincidentally on Mother's Day. The group increased their bookings after beginning an association with manager Herb Cohen, while they gradually gained attention on the burgeoning Los Angeles underground music scene. In early 1966, they were spotted by leading record producer Tom Wilson when playing "Trouble Every Day", a song about the Watts Riots. Wilson had earned acclaim as the producer for singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and the folk-rock act Simon & Garfunkel, and was notable as one of the few African Americans working as a major label pop music producer at this time.

Wilson signed The Mothers to the Verve Records division of MGM Records, which had built up a strong reputation in the music industry for its releases of modern jazz recordings in the 1940s and 1950s, but was attempting to diversify into pop and rock audiences. Verve insisted that the band officially re-title themselves "The Mothers of Invention" because "Mother", in slang terminology, was short for "motherfucker" — a term that apart from its profane meanings can denote a skilled musician.

Debut album: ''Freak Out!'' (1966)

With Wilson credited as producer, The Mothers of Invention, augmented by a studio orchestra, recorded the groundbreaking ''Freak Out!'' (1966) which, preceded by Bob Dylan's ''Blonde on Blonde'', was the second rock double album ever released. It mixed R&B;, doo-wop, musique concrète, and experimental sound collages that captured the "freak" subculture of Los Angeles at that time. Although he was dissatisfied with the final product—in a late '60s radio interview (included in the posthumous ''MOFO Project/Object'' compilation) Zappa recounted that the side-long closing track "Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" was intended to be the basic track for a much more complex work which Verve did not allow him to complete – ''Freak Out'' immediately established Zappa as a radical new voice in rock music, providing an antidote to the "relentless consumer culture of America". The sound was raw, but the arrangements were sophisticated. While recording in the studio, some of the additional session musicians were shocked that they were expected to read the notes on sheet music from charts with Zappa conducting them, since it was not standard when recording rock music. The lyrics praised non-conformity, disparaged authorities, and had dadaist elements. Yet, there was a place for seemingly conventional love songs. Most compositions are Zappa's, which set a precedent for the rest of his recording career. He had full control over the arrangements and musical decisions and did most overdubs. Wilson provided the industry clout and connections to get the group the financial resources needed.

During the recording of ''Freak Out!'', Zappa moved into a house in Laurel Canyon with friend Pamela Zarubica, who appeared on the album. The house became a meeting (and living) place for many LA musicians and groupies of the time, despite Zappa's disapproval of their illicit drug use. He labeled people on drugs "assholes in action", and he tried cannabis only a few times, but without any pleasure. He was a regular tobacco smoker for most of his life, and strongly critical of anti-tobacco campaigns. After a short promotional tour following the release of ''Freak Out!'', Zappa met Adelaide Gail Sloatman. He fell in love within "a couple of minutes", and she moved into the house over the summer. They married in 1967, had four children and remained together until Zappa's death.

Wilson nominally produced The Mothers' second album ''Absolutely Free'' (1967), which was recorded in November 1966, and later mixed in New York, although by this time Zappa was in ''de facto'' control of most facets of the production. It featured extended playing by The Mothers of Invention and focused on songs that defined Zappa's compositional style of introducing abrupt, rhythmical changes into songs that were built from diverse elements. Examples are "Plastic People" and "Brown Shoes Don't Make It", which contained lyrics critical of the hypocrisy and conformity of American society, but also of the counterculture of the 1960s. As Zappa put it, "[W]e're satirists, and we are out to satirize everything." At the same time, Zappa had recorded material for a self-produced album based on orchestral works to be released under his own name. Due to contractual problems, the recordings were shelved and only made ready for release late in 1967. Zappa took the opportunity to radically restructure the contents, adding newly recorded, improvised dialogue to finalize what became his first solo album (under the name ''Francis Vincent Zappa''), ''Lumpy Gravy'' (1968). It is an "incredible ambitious musical project", a "monument to John Cage", which intertwines orchestral themes, spoken words and electronic noises through radical audio editing techniques.

New York period (1966–1968)

The Mothers of Invention played in New York in late 1966 and were offered a contract at the Garrick Theater during Easter 1967. This proved successful and Herb Cohen extended the booking, which eventually lasted half a year. As a result, Zappa and his wife, along with The Mothers of Invention, moved to New York. Their shows became a combination of improvised acts showcasing individual talents of the band as well as tight performances of Zappa's music. Everything was directed by Zappa's famous hand signals. Guest performers and audience participation became a regular part of the Garrick Theater shows. One evening, Zappa managed to entice some U.S. Marines from the audience onto the stage, where they proceeded to dismember a big baby doll, having been told by Zappa to pretend that it was a "gook baby".

Situated in New York, and only interrupted by the band's first European tour, The Mothers of Invention recorded the album widely regarded as the peak of the group's late 1960s work, ''We're Only in It for the Money'' (released 1968). It was produced by Zappa, with Wilson credited as executive producer. From then on, Zappa produced all albums released by The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. ''We're Only in It for the Money'' featured some of the most creative audio editing and production yet heard in pop music, and the songs ruthlessly satirized the hippie and flower power phenomena. The cover photo parodied that of The Beatles' ''Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. The cover art was provided by Cal Schenkel whom Zappa met in New York. This initiated a life-long collaboration in which Schenkel designed covers for numerous Zappa and Mothers albums.

Reflecting Zappa's eclectic approach to music, the next album, ''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'' (1968), was very different. It represented a collection of doo-wop songs; listeners and critics were not sure whether the album was a satire or a tribute. Zappa has noted that the album was conceived in the way Stravinsky's compositions were in his neo-classical period: "If he could take the forms and clichés of the classical era and pervert them, why not do the same ... to doo-wop in the fifties?" A theme from Stravinsky's ''The Rite of Spring'' is heard during one song.

In New York, Zappa increasingly used tape editing as a compositional tool. A prime example is found on the double album ''Uncle Meat'' (1969), where the track "King Kong" is edited from various studio and live performances. Zappa had begun regularly recording concerts, and because of his insistence on precise tuning and timing, he was able to augment his studio productions with excerpts from live shows, and vice versa. Later, he combined recordings of different compositions into new pieces, irrespective of the tempo or meter of the sources. He dubbed this process "xenochrony" (strange synchronizations) — reflecting the Greek "xeno" (alien or strange) and "chrono" (time). Zappa also evolved a compositional approach which he called "conceptual continuity," meaning that any project or album was part of a larger project. Everything was connected, and musical themes and lyrics reappeared in different form on later albums. Conceptual continuity clues are found throughout Zappa's entire œuvre.

During the late 1960s, Zappa continued to develop the business sides of his career. He and Herb Cohen formed the Bizarre Records and Straight Records labels, distributed by Warner Bros. Records, as ventures to aid the funding of projects and to increase creative control. Zappa produced the double album ''Trout Mask Replica'' for Captain Beefheart, and releases by Alice Cooper, Wild Man Fischer, and The GTOs, as well as Lenny Bruce's last live performance.

Disbanding the original Mothers of Invention (1969)

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Zappa and The Mothers of Invention returned to Los Angeles in the summer of 1968, and the Zappas moved into a house on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, only to move again to one on Woodrow Wilson Drive in the autumn. This was to be Zappa's home for the rest of his life. Despite being a success with fans in Europe, The Mothers of Invention were not faring well financially. Their first records were vocally oriented, but Zappa wrote more instrumental jazz and classical oriented music for the band's concerts, which confused audiences. Zappa felt that audiences failed to appreciate his "electrical chamber music". In 1969 there were nine band members and Zappa was supporting the group himself from his publishing royalties whether they played or not. 1969 was also the year Zappa, fed up with MGM's interference, left MGM Records for Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records subsidiary where Zappa/Mothers recordings would bear the Bizarre Records imprint. In late 1969, Zappa broke up the band. He often cited the financial strain as the main reason, but also commented on the band members' lack of sufficient effort. Many band members were bitter about Zappa's decision, and some took it as a sign of Zappa's concern for perfection at the expense of human feeling. Others were irritated by 'his autocratic ways', exemplified by Zappa's never staying at the same hotel as the band members. Several members would, however, play for Zappa in years to come. Remaining recordings with the band from this period were collected on ''Weasels Ripped My Flesh'' and ''Burnt Weeny Sandwich'' (both released in 1970).

After he disbanded The Mothers of Invention, Zappa released the acclaimed solo album ''Hot Rats'' (1969). It features, for the first time on record, Zappa playing extended guitar solos and contains one of his most enduring compositions, "Peaches en Regalia", which reappeared several times on future recordings. It was backed by jazz, blues and R&B; session players including violinist Don "Sugarcane" Harris, drummers John Guerin and Paul Humphrey, multi-instrumentalist and previous member of Mothers of Invention Ian Underwood, and multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis on bass, along with a guest appearance by Captain Beefheart (providing vocals to the only non-instrumental track, "Willie the Pimp"). It became a popular album in England, and had a major influence on the development of the jazz-rock fusion genre.

1970s: From The Mothers to Zappa

In 1970 Zappa met conductor Zubin Mehta. They arranged a May 1970 concert where Mehta conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic augmented by a rock band. According to Zappa, the music was mostly written in motel rooms while on tour with The Mothers of Invention. Some of it was later featured in the movie ''200 Motels''. Although the concert was a success, Zappa's experience working with a symphony orchestra was not a happy one. His dissatisfaction became a recurring theme throughout his career; he often felt that the quality of performance of his material delivered by orchestras was not commensurate with the money he spent on orchestral concerts and recordings.

Rebirth of The Mothers and filmmaking (1970)

Later in 1970, Zappa formed a new version of The Mothers (from then on, he mostly dropped the "of Invention"). It included British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, jazz keyboardist George Duke, Ian Underwood, Jeff Simmons (bass, rhythm guitar), and three members of The Turtles: bass player Jim Pons, and singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, who, due to persistent legal and contractual problems, adopted the stage name "The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie", or "Flo & Eddie".

This version of The Mothers debuted on Zappa's next solo album ''Chunga's Revenge'' (1970), which was followed by the double-album soundtrack to the movie ''200 Motels'' (1971), featuring The Mothers, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel, and Keith Moon. Co-directed by Zappa and Tony Palmer, it was filmed in a week at Pinewood Studios outside London. Tensions between Zappa and several cast and crew members arose before and during shooting. The film deals loosely with life on the road as a rock musician. It was the first feature film photographed on videotape and transferred to 35 mm film, a process which allowed for novel visual effects. It was released to mixed reviews. The score relied extensively on orchestral music, and Zappa's dissatisfaction with the classical music world intensified when a concert, scheduled at the Royal Albert Hall after filming, was canceled because a representative of the venue found some of the lyrics obscene. In 1975, he lost a lawsuit against the Royal Albert Hall for breach of contract.

After ''200 Motels'', the band went on tour, which resulted in two live albums, ''Fillmore East - June 1971'' and ''Just Another Band From L.A.''; the latter included the 20-minute track "Billy the Mountain", Zappa's satire on rock opera set in Southern California. This track was representative of the band's theatrical performances in which songs were used to build up sketches based on ''200 Motels'' scenes as well as new situations often portraying the band members' sexual encounters on the road.

Accident, attack and their aftermath (1971–1972)

In December 1971, there were two serious setbacks. While performing at Casino de Montreux in Switzerland, The Mothers' equipment was destroyed when a flare set off by an audience member started a fire that burned down the casino. Immortalized in Deep Purple's song "Smoke on the Water", the event and immediate aftermath can be heard on the bootleg album ''Swiss Cheese/Fire'', released legally as part of Zappa's ''Beat the Boots II'' compilation. After a week's break, The Mothers played at the Rainbow Theatre, London, with rented gear. During the encore, an audience member pushed Zappa off the stage and into the concrete-floored orchestra pit. The band thought Zappa had been killed—he had suffered serious fractures, head trauma and injuries to his back, leg, and neck, as well as a crushed larynx, which ultimately caused his voice to drop a third after healing. This left him wheelchair bound, forcing him off the road for over half a year. Upon his return to the stage in September 1972, he was still wearing a leg brace, had a noticeable limp and could not stand for very long while on stage. Zappa noted that one leg healed "shorter than the other" (a reference later found in the lyrics of songs "Zomby Woof" and "Dancin' Fool"), resulting in chronic back pain. Meanwhile, The Mothers were left in limbo and eventually formed the core of Flo and Eddie's band as they set out on their own.

During 1971–1972 Zappa released two strongly jazz-oriented solo LPs, ''Waka/Jawaka'' and ''The Grand Wazoo'', which were recorded during the forced layoff from concert touring, using floating line-ups of session players and Mothers alumni. Musically, the albums were akin to ''Hot Rats''. Zappa began touring again in late 1972. His first effort was a series of concerts in September 1972 with a 20-piece big band referred to as the Grand Wazoo. This was followed by a scaled-down version known as the Petit Wazoo that toured the U.S. for five weeks from October to December 1972.

Top 10 album (1973–1975)

Zappa then formed and toured with smaller groups that variously included Ian Underwood (reeds, keyboards), Ruth Underwood (vibes, marimba), Sal Marquez (trumpet, vocals), Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax, flute and vocals), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Tom Fowler (bass), Chester Thompson (drums), Ralph Humphrey (drums), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), and Jean-Luc Ponty (violin). By 1973 the Bizarre and Straight labels were discontinued. In their place, Zappa and Cohen created DiscReet Records, also distributed by Warner Bros. Zappa continued a high rate of production through the first half of the 1970s, including the solo album ''Apostrophe (')'' (1974), which reached a career-high No. 10 on the Billboard pop album charts helped by the chart single "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow". Other albums from the period are ''Over-Nite Sensation'' (1973), which contained several future concert favorites, such as "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana", and the albums ''Roxy & Elsewhere'' (1974) and ''One Size Fits All'' (1975) which feature ever-changing versions of a band still called The Mothers, and are notable for the tight renditions of highly difficult jazz fusion songs in such pieces as "Inca Roads", "Echidna's Arf (Of You)" and "Be-Bop Tango (Of the Old Jazzmen's Church)". A live recording from 1974, ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2'' (1988), captures "the full spirit and excellence of the 1973–75 band". Zappa released ''Bongo Fury'' (1975), which featured live recordings from a tour the same year that reunited him with Captain Beefheart for a brief period. They later became estranged for a period of years, but were in contact at the end of Zappa's life.

Business breakups and touring (1976–1979)

Zappa's relationship with long-time manager Herb Cohen ended in 1976. Zappa sued Cohen for skimming more than he was allocated from DiscReet Records, as well as for signing acts of which Zappa did not approve. Cohen filed a lawsuit against Zappa in return, which froze the money Zappa and Cohen had gained from an out-of-court settlement with MGM over the rights of the early Mothers of Invention recordings. It also prevented Zappa having access to any of his previously recorded material during the trials. Zappa therefore took his personal master copies of the rock-oriented ''Zoot Allures'' (1976) directly to Warner Bros., thereby bypassing DiscReet.

In the mid-1970s Zappa prepared material for ''Läther'' (pronounced "leather"), a four-LP project. ''Läther'' encapsulated all the aspects of Zappa's musical styles — rock tunes, orchestral works, complex instrumentals, and Zappa's own trademark distortion-drenched guitar solos. Wary of a quadruple-LP, Warner Bros. Records refused to release it. Zappa managed to get an agreement with Mercury-Phonogram, and test pressings were made targeted at a Halloween 1977 release, but Warner Bros. prevented the release by claiming rights over the material. Zappa responded by appearing on the Pasadena, California radio station KROQ, allowing them to broadcast ''Läther'' and encouraging listeners to make their own tape recordings. A lawsuit between Zappa and Warner Bros. followed, during which no Zappa material was released for more than a year. Eventually, Warner Bros. issued major parts of ''Läther'' against Zappa's will as four individual albums with limited promotion. ''Läther'' was released posthumously in 1996.

Although Zappa eventually gained the rights to all his material created under the MGM and Warner Bros. contracts, the various lawsuits meant that for a period Zappa's only income came from touring, which he therefore did extensively in 1975–1977 with relatively small, mainly rock-oriented, bands. Drummer Terry Bozzio became a regular band member, Napoleon Murphy Brock stayed on for a while, and original Mothers of Invention bassist Roy Estrada joined. Among other musicians were bassist Patrick O'Hearn, singer-guitarist Ray White and keyboardist Eddie Jobson. In December 1976, Zappa appeared as a featured musical guest on the NBC television show ''Saturday Night Live''. The performances included an impromptu musical collaboration with cast member John Belushi during the instrumental piece "The Purple Lagoon". Belushi appeared as his Samurai Futaba character playing the tenor sax with Zappa conducting. Zappa's song, "I'm the Slime", was performed with a voice-over by ''SNL'' booth announcer Don Pardo, who also introduced "Peaches En Regalia" on the same airing.

Zappa's band at the time, with the additions of Ruth Underwood and a horn section (featuring Michael and Randy Brecker), performed during Christmas in New York, recordings of which appear on one of the albums released by Warner Bros., ''Zappa in New York'' (1978). It mixes intense instrumentals such as "The Black Page" and humorous songs like "Titties and Beer". The former composition, written originally for drum kit but later developed for larger bands, is notorious for its complexity in rhythmic structure, radical changes of tempo and meter, and short, densely arranged passages.

''Zappa in New York'' featured a song about sex criminal Michael H. Kenyon, "The Illinois Enema Bandit", which featured Don Pardo providing the opening narrative in the song. Like many songs on the album, it contained numerous sexual references, leading to many critics objecting and being offended by the content. Zappa dismissed the criticism by noting that he was a journalist reporting on life as he saw it. Predating his later fight against censorship, he remarked: "What do you make of a society that is so primitive that it clings to the belief that certain words in its language are so powerful that they could corrupt you the moment you hear them?" The remaining albums released by Warner Bros. Records without Zappa's consent were ''Studio Tan'' in 1978 and ''Sleep Dirt'' in 1979, which contained complex suites of instrumentally-based tunes recorded between 1973 and 1976, and whose release was overlooked in the midst of the legal problems. Also released by the label without the artist's consent was ''Orchestral Favorites'' in 1979, which featured recordings of a concert with orchestral music from 1975.

Zappa as an independent artist (1979)

Resolving the lawsuits successfully, Zappa ended the 1970s "stronger than ever", by releasing two of his most successful albums in 1979: the best selling album of his career, ''Sheik Yerbouti'', and the "bona fide masterpiece", ''Joe's Garage''. The double album ''Sheik Yerbouti'' was the first release on Zappa Records, and contained the Grammy-nominated single "Dancin' Fool", which reached No. 45 on the ''Billboard'' charts, and "Jewish Princess", which received attention when a Jewish lobby group, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), attempted to prevent the song from receiving radio airplay due to its alleged anti-Semitic lyrics. Zappa vehemently denied any anti-Semitic sentiments and dismissed the ADL as a "noisemaking organization that tries to apply pressure on people in order to manufacture a stereotype image of Jews that suits their idea of a good time". The album's commercial success was attributable in part to "Bobby Brown". Due to its explicit lyrics about a young man's encounter with a "dyke by the name of Freddie", the song did not get airplay in the U.S., but it topped the charts in several European countries where English is not the primary language. The triple LP ''Joe's Garage'' featured lead singer Ike Willis as the voice of the character "Joe" in a rock opera about the danger of political systems, the suppression of freedom of speech and music — inspired in part by the Islamic revolution that had made music illegal within its jurisdiction at the time — and about the "strange relationship Americans have with sex and sexual frankness". The album contains rock songs like "Catholic Girls" (a riposte to the controversies of "Jewish Princess"), "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up", and the title track, as well as extended live-recorded guitar improvisations combined with a studio backup band dominated by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (with whom Zappa had a particularly good musical rapport) adopting the xenochrony process. The album contains one of Zappa's most famous guitar "signature pieces", "Watermelon in Easter Hay".

On December 21, 1979, Zappa's movie ''Baby Snakes'' premiered in New York. The movie's tagline was "A movie about people who do stuff that is not normal". The 2 hour and 40 minutes movie was based on footage from concerts in New York around Halloween 1977, with a band featuring keyboardist Tommy Mars and percussionist Ed Mann (who would both return on later tours) as well as guitarist Adrian Belew. It also contained several extraordinary sequences of clay animation by Bruce Bickford who had earlier provided animation sequences to Zappa for a 1974 TV special (which later become available on the video ''The Dub Room Special'' (1982)). The movie did not do well in theatrical distribution, but won the Premier Grand Prix at the First International Music Festival in Paris in 1981. The Zappa Family Trust released it on DVD, and it has been available since 2003.

Zappa later expanded on his television appearances in a non-musical role. He was an actor or voice artist in episodes of ''Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre'', ''Miami Vice'' and ''The Ren and Stimpy Show''. A voice part in ''The Simpsons'' never materialized, to creator Matt Groening's disappointment.

1980s: Productive as ever

After spending most of 1980 on the road, Zappa released ''Tinsel Town Rebellion'' in 1981. It was the first release on his own Barking Pumpkin Records, and it contains songs taken from a 1979 tour, one studio track and material from the 1980 tours. The album is a mixture of complicated instrumentals and Zappa's use of ''sprechstimme'' (speaking song or voice)—a compositional technique utilized by such composers as Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg — showcasing some of the most accomplished bands Zappa ever had (mostly featuring drummer Vinnie Colaiuta). While some lyrics still raised controversy among critics, in the sense that some found them sexist, the political and sociological satire in songs like the title track and "The Blue Light" have been described as a "hilarious critique of the willingness of the American people to believe anything". The album is also notable for the presence of guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, who joined Zappa's touring band in the fall of 1980.

The same year the double album ''You Are What You Is'' was released. Most of it was recorded in Zappa's brand new Utility Muffin Research Kitchen (UMRK) studios, which were located at his house, thereby giving him complete freedom to work. The album included one complex instrumental, "Theme from the 3^rd Movement of Sinister Footwear", but focused mainly on rock songs with Zappa's sardonic social commentary—satirical lyrics targeted at teenagers, the media, and religious and political hypocrisy. "Dumb All Over" is a tirade on religion, as is "Heavenly Bank Account", wherein Zappa rails against TV evangelists such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson for their purported influence on the U.S. administration as well as their use of religion as a means of raising money. Songs like "Society Pages" and "I'm a Beautiful Guy" show Zappa's dismay with the Reagan era and its "obscene pursuit of wealth and happiness". In 1981, Zappa also released three instrumental albums, ''Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar'', ''Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More'', and ''The Return of the Son of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar'', which were initially sold via mail order, but later released through the CBS label due to popular demand. The albums focus exclusively on Frank Zappa as a guitar soloist, and the tracks are predominantly live recordings from 1979–1980; they highlight Zappa's improvisational skills with "beautiful performances from the backing group as well". Another guitar-only album, ''Guitar'', was released in 1988, and a third, ''Trance-Fusion'', which Zappa completed shortly before his death, was released in 2006.

From hit single to classical performances

In May 1982, Zappa released ''Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'', which featured his biggest selling single ever, the Grammy Award-nominated song "Valley Girl" (topping out at No. 32 on the ''Billboard'' charts). In her improvised lyrics to the song, Zappa's daughter Moon Unit satirized the vapid speech of teenage girls from the San Fernando Valley, which popularized many "Valspeak" expressions such as "gag me with a spoon," "fer sure, fer sure," "grody" (gross), and "barf out". Most Americans who only knew Zappa from his few singles successes now thought of him as a person writing "novelty songs", even though the rest of the album contained highly challenging music. Zappa was irritated by this and never played the song live.

In 1983, two different projects were released, beginning with ''The Man from Utopia,'' a rock-oriented work. The album is eclectic, featuring the vocal-led "Dangerous Kitchen" and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats", both continuations of the sprechstimme excursions on ''Tinseltown Rebellion.'' The second album, ''London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1'', contained orchestral Zappa compositions conducted by Kent Nagano and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). A second record of these sessions, ''London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2'' was released in 1987. The material was recorded under a tight schedule with Zappa providing all funding, helped by the commercial success of "Valley Girl". Zappa was not satisfied with the LSO recordings. One reason is "Strictly Genteel", which was recorded after the trumpet section had been out for drinks on a break: the track took 40 edits to hide out-of-tune notes. Conductor Nagano, who was pleased with the experience, noted that in "fairness to the orchestra, the music is humanly very, very difficult". Some reviews noted that the recordings were the best representation of Zappa's orchestral work so far. In 1984 Zappa teamed again with Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra for a live performance of ''A Zappa Affair'' with augmented orchestra, life-size puppets, and moving stage sets. Although critically acclaimed the work was a financial failure, and only performed twice. Zappa was invited by conference organizer Thomas Wells to be the keynote speaker at the American Society of University Composers at the Ohio State University. It was there Zappa delivered his famous "Bingo! There Goes Your Tenure" address, and had two of his orchestra pieces, "Dupree's Paradise" and "Naval Aviation in Art?" performed by the Columbus Symphony and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus.

Synclavier

For the remainder of his career, much of Zappa's work was influenced by his use of the Synclavier as a compositional and performance tool. Even considering the complexity of the music he wrote, the Synclavier could realize anything he could dream up. The Synclavier could be programmed to play almost anything conceivable, to perfection: "With the Synclavier, any group of imaginary instruments can be invited to play the most difficult passages ... with ''one-millisecond'' accuracy—every time". Even though it essentially did away with the need for musicians, Zappa viewed the Synclavier and real-life musicians as separate. In 1984, he released four albums. ''Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger,'' contains orchestral works commissioned and conducted by world-renowned conductor Pierre Boulez (who was listed as an influence on ''Freak Out!'') and performed by his Ensemble InterContemporain, juxtaposed with premiere Synclavier pieces. Again, Zappa was not satisfied with the performances of his orchestral works as he found them under-rehearsed, but in the album liner notes he respectfully thanks Boulez's demands for precision. The Synclavier pieces stood in contrast to the orchestral works, as the sounds were electronically generated and not, as became possible shortly thereafter, sampled.

The album ''Thing-Fish'' was an ambitious three-record set in the style of a Broadway play dealing with a dystopian "what-if" scenario involving feminism, homosexuality, manufacturing and distribution of the AIDS virus, and a eugenics program conducted by the United States government. New vocals were combined with previously released tracks and new Synclavier music; "the work is an extraordinary example of bricolage". Finally, in 1984, Zappa released ''Francesco Zappa'', a Synclavier rendition of works by 18th century composer Francesco Zappa (no known relation), and ''Them or Us,'' a two-record set of heavily edited live and session pieces.

Senate testimony

On September 19, 1985, Zappa testified before the United States Senate Commerce, Technology, and Transportation committee, attacking the Parents Music Resource Center or PMRC, a music organization co-founded by Tipper Gore, wife of then-senator Al Gore. The PMRC consisted of many wives of politicians, including the wives of five members of the committee, and was founded to address the issue of song lyrics with sexual or satanic content. Zappa saw their activities as on a path towards censorship, and called their proposal for voluntary labelling of records with explicit content "extortion" of the music industry. In his prepared statement, he said:

The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the proposal's design. It is my understanding that, in law, First Amendment issues are decided with a preference for the least restrictive alternative. In this context, the PMRC's demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation ... The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of moral quality control programs based on things certain Christians do not like. What if the next bunch of Washington wives demands a large yellow "J" on all material written or performed by Jews, in order to save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine?

Zappa set excerpts from the PMRC hearings to Synclavier music in his composition "Porn Wars" on the 1985 album ''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'', and the full recording was released in 2010 as ''Congress Shall Make No Law...''. Zappa is heard interacting with Senators Fritz Hollings, Slade Gorton, Al Gore (who claimed, at the hearing, to be a Zappa fan), and in an exchange with Florida Senator Paula Hawkins over what toys Zappa's children played with. Zappa expressed opinions on censorship when he appeared on CNN's ''Crossfire TV series'' and debated issues with ''Washington Times'' commentator John Lofton in 1986. Zappa's passion for American politics was becoming a bigger part of his life. He had always encouraged his fans to register to vote on album covers, and throughout 1988 he had registration booths at his concerts. He even considered running for President of the United States.

Digital medium and last tour

Around 1986, Zappa undertook a comprehensive re-release program of his earlier vinyl recordings. He personally oversaw the remastering of all his 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s albums for the new digital compact disc medium. Certain aspects of these re-issues were, however, criticized by some fans as being unfaithful to the original recordings. Nearly twenty years before the advent of online music stores, Zappa had proposed to replace "phonographic record merchandising" of music by "direct digital-to-digital transfer" through phone or cable TV (with royalty payments and consumer billing automatically built into the accompanying software). In 1989, Zappa considered his idea a "miserable flop".

The album ''Jazz From Hell,'' released in 1986, earned Zappa his first Grammy Award in 1987 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Except for one live guitar solo (St. Etienne), the album exclusively featured compositions brought to life by the Synclavier. Although an instrumental album, containing no lyrics whatsoever, Meyer Music Markets sold ''Jazz from Hell'' featuring an "explicit lyrics" sticker — a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America in an agreement with the PMRC.

Zappa's last tour in a rock and jazz band format took place in 1988 with a 12-piece group which had a repertoire of over 100 (mostly Zappa) compositions, but which split under acrimonious circumstances before the tour was completed. The tour was documented on the albums ''Broadway the Hard Way'' (new material featuring songs with strong political emphasis), ''The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life'' (Zappa "standards" and an eclectic collection of cover tunes, ranging from Maurice Ravel's ''Boléro'' to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"), and ''Make a Jazz Noise Here'' (mostly instrumental and avant-garde music). Parts are also found on ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore'', volumes 4 and 6.

1990s: Classical music and death

In early 1990, Zappa visited Czechoslovakia at the request of President Václav Havel, and was asked to serve as consultant for the government on trade, cultural matters and tourism. Havel was a lifelong fan of Zappa who had great influence in the avant-garde and underground scene in Central Europe in the 1970s and 1980s (a Czech rock group that was imprisoned in 1976 took its name from Zappa's 1968 song "Plastic People"). Zappa enthusiastically agreed and began meeting with corporate officials interested in investing in Czechoslovakia. Within a few weeks, however, the U.S. administration put pressure on the Czech government to withdraw the appointment. Havel made Zappa an unofficial cultural attaché instead. Zappa also planned to develop an international consulting enterprise to facilitate trade between the former Eastern Bloc and Western businesses. Most of Zappa's projects came to a halt in 1990, when he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. The disease had been developing unnoticed for ten years and was considered inoperable. After his diagnosis, Zappa devoted most of his energy to modern orchestral and Synclavier works. In 1993 he completed ''Civilization, Phaze III'' shortly before his death. It was a major Synclavier work which he had begun in the 1980s.

In 1991, Zappa was chosen to be one of four featured composers at the world-acclaimed Frankfurt Festival in 1992 (the others were John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Alexander Knaifel). Zappa was approached by the German chamber ensemble, Ensemble Modern, which was interested in playing his music for the event. Although ill, Zappa invited them to Los Angeles for rehearsals of new compositions and new arrangements of older material. In addition to being satisfied with the ensemble's performances of his music, Zappa also got along with the musicians, and the concerts in Germany and Austria were set up for the fall. In September 1992, the concerts went ahead as scheduled, but Zappa could only appear at two in Frankfurt due to illness. At the first concert, he conducted the opening "Overture", and the final "G-Spot Tornado" as well as the theatrical "Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America, 1992" and "Welcome to the United States" (the remainder of the program was conducted by the ensemble's regular conductor Peter Rundel). Zappa received a 20-minute ovation. It would become his last professional public appearance, as the cancer was spreading to such an extent that he was in too much pain to enjoy an event that he otherwise found "exhilarating". Recordings from the concerts appeared on ''The Yellow Shark'' (1993), Zappa's last release during his lifetime, and some material from studio rehearsals appeared on the posthumous ''Everything Is Healing Nicely'' (1999).

Frank Zappa died on Saturday, December 4, 1993 in his home surrounded by his wife and children. At a private ceremony the following day, Zappa was interred in an unmarked grave at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, next to the grave of actor Lew Ayres. On Monday, December 6 his family publicly announced that "Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6:00 pm on Saturday".

Legacy

Acclaim and honors

Zappa earned widespread critical acclaim in his lifetime and after his death. ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' (2004) writes: "Frank Zappa dabbled in virtually all kinds of music — and, whether guised as a satirical rocker, jazz-rock fusionist, guitar virtuoso, electronics wizard, or orchestral innovator, his eccentric genius was undeniable". Even though his work drew inspiration from many different genres, Zappa was seen establishing a coherent and personal expression. In 1971, biographer David Walley noted that "The whole structure of his music is unified, not neatly divided by dates or time sequences and it is all building into a composite". On commenting on Zappa's music, politics and philosophy, Barry Miles noted in 2004 that they cannot be separated: "It was all one; all part of his 'conceptual continuity. ''Guitar Player'' devoted a special issue to Zappa in 1992, and asked on the cover "Is FZ America's Best Kept Musical Secret?" Editor Don Menn remarked that the issue was about "The most important composer to come out of modern popular music". Among those contributing to the issue was composer and musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky, who conducted premiere performances of works of Ives and Varèse in the 1930s. He became friends with Zappa in the 1980s, and said "I admire everything Frank does, because he practically created the new musical millennium. He does beautiful, beautiful work ... It has been my luck to have lived to see the emergence of this totally new type of music." Conductor Kent Nagano remarked in the same issue that "Frank is a genius. That's a word I don't use often ... In Frank's case it is not too strong ... He is extremely literate musically. I'm not sure if the general public knows that". Pierre Boulez stated in ''Musician'' magazine's posthumous Zappa tribute article that Zappa "was an exceptional figure because he was part of the worlds of rock and classical music and that both types of his work would survive." Many music scholars acknowledge Zappa as one of the most influential composers of his generation. As an electric guitarist, he has become highly regarded.

In 1994, jazz magazine ''Down Beat'''s critics poll placed Zappa in its Hall of Fame. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. There, it was written that "Frank Zappa was rock and roll's sharpest musical mind and most astute social critic. He was the most prolific composer of his age, and he bridged genres — rock, jazz, classical, avant-garde and even novelty music — with masterful ease". He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. In 2005, the U.S. National Recording Preservation Board included ''We're Only in It for the Money'' in the National Recording Registry as "Frank Zappa's inventive and iconoclastic album presents a unique political stance, both anti-conservative and anti-counterculture, and features a scathing satire on hippiedom and America's reactions to it". The same year, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him at No. 71 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2011, he was ranked at No. 45 on the list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by the same magazine.

Artists influenced by Zappa

A number of notable musicians, bands and orchestras from diverse genres have been influenced by Frank Zappa's music. Rock artists like Alice Cooper, Primus, Fee Waybill of The Tubes all cite Zappa's influence, as do progressive rock artists like Henry Cow, Trey Anastasio of Phish, and John Frusciante. Paul McCartney regarded ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' as The Beatles' ''Freak Out!'' Heavy rock and metal acts like Black Sabbath, Mike Portnoy, Warren DeMartini, Steve Vai, Strapping Young Lad, System of a Down, Clawfinger, and Devin Townsend acknowledge Zappa's inspiration. On the classical music scene, Tomas Ulrich, Meridian Arts Ensemble, Ensemble Ambrosius and the Fireworks Ensemble regularly perform Zappa's compositions and quote his influence. Contemporary jazz musicians and composers Bill Frisell and John Zorn are inspired by Zappa, as is funk legend George Clinton. Other artists whose work is affected by Zappa include new age pianist George Winston, electronic composer Bob Gluck, parody singer "Weird Al" Yankovic, industrial music pioneer Genesis P-Orridge, and noise music artist Masami Akita of Merzbow.

References in arts and sciences

Scientists from various fields have honored Zappa by naming new discoveries after him. In 1967, paleontologist Leo P. Plas, Jr. identified an extinct mollusc in Nevada and named it ''Amaurotoma zappa'' with the motivation that, "The specific name, ''zappa'', honors Frank Zappa". In the 1980s, biologist Ed Murdy named a genus of gobiid fishes of New Guinea ''Zappa'', with a species named ''Zappa confluentus''. Biologist Ferdinando Boero named a Californian jellyfish ''Phialella zappai'' (1987), noting that he had "pleasure in naming this species after the modern music composer". Belgian biologists Bosmans and Bosselaers discovered in the early 1980s a Cameroonese spider, which they in 1994 named ''Pachygnatha zappa'' because "the ventral side of the abdomen of the female of this species strikingly resembles the artist's legendary moustache". A gene of the bacterium ''Proteus mirabilis'' that causes urinary tract infections was in 1995 named ''zapA'' by three biologists from Maryland. In their scientific article, they "especially thank the late Frank Zappa for inspiration and assistance with genetic nomenclature". In the late 1990s, American paleontologists Marc Salak and Halard L. Lescinsky discovered a metazoan fossil, and named it ''Spygori zappania'' to honor "the late Frank Zappa ... whose mission paralleled that of the earliest paleontologists: to challenge conventional and traditional beliefs when such beliefs lacked roots in logic and reason".

In 1994, lobbying efforts initiated by psychiatrist John Scialli led the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center to name an asteroid in Zappa's honor: ''3834 Zappafrank''. The asteroid was discovered in 1980 by Czechoslovakian astronomer Ladislav Brozek, and the citation for its naming says that "Zappa was an eclectic, self-trained artist and composer ... Before 1989 he was regarded as a symbol of democracy and freedom by many people in Czechoslovakia".

In 1995, a bust of Zappa by sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas was installed in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. A replica was offered to the city of Baltimore in 2008, and on September 19, 2010 — the twenty-fifth anniversary of Zappa's testimony to the U.S. Senate — a ceremony dedicating the replica was held, with the bust installed at the Southeast Anchor Branch Library in Baltimore's Highlandtown. Speakers at the event included Gail Zappa and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake In 2002, a bronze bust was installed in German city Bad Doberan, since 1990 location of the ''Zappanale'', an annual music festival celebrating Zappa. At the initiative of musicians community ORWOhaus, the city of Berlin named a street in the Marzahn district "Frank-Zappa-Straße" in 2007. The same year, Baltimore's mayor Sheila Dixon proclaimed August 9 as the city's official "Frank Zappa Day" citing Zappa's musical accomplishments as well as his defense of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Discography

References

Notes

External links

The official Frank Zappa website

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name	Yuki Kajiura梶浦 由記
background	non_performing_personnel
birth date	August 06, 1965
origin	Tokyo, Japan
instrument	Keyboard/Piano
genre	Pop, Classical, New Age
occupation	Composer, Musician
years active	1992–present
label	Victor EntertainmentSpace Craft Produce
associated acts	See-SawFictionJunctionSaeko ChibaKalafina
website	FictionJunction.com }}

, born August 6, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese composer and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime series, such as one of the ''Kimagure Orange Road'' movies, ''Noir'', ''.hack//SIGN'', ''Aquarian Age'', ''Madlax'', ''My-HiME'', ''My-Otome'', ''.hack//Roots'', ''Pandora Hearts'', ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', and ''Tsubasa Chronicle'' (amongst others). She also assisted Toshihiko Sahashi with ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' and ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny''. Kajiura has also composed for video games, including the cutscene music for ''Xenosaga II'' and the entire ''Xenosaga III'' game soundtrack. She currently resides in Tokyo.

Biography

Due to her father's work, Kajiura lived in West Germany from 1972 until her middle school years. Her first music piece, which she had written at the age of 7, was a farewell song for her grandmother. After graduating from college (back in Tokyo), she began working as a systems engineering programmer, but in 1992, she turned her career around to focus on her activities on music. She admits that it was her father who greatly influenced this decision, for he was a great opera and classical music admirer.

In July 1992, she made her debut in an all-female trio ''See-Saw'', then consisting of Chiaki Ishikawa (lead vocals), herself (back-up vocals, keyboards), and Yukiko Nishioka. In the following two years, the group released six singles and two albums but in 1995 they temporarily broke up. Nishioka decided to become a writer while Kajiura carried on with her solo musician career, composing music for other artists as well as sound producing for TV, commercials, films, anime and games.

In 2001, she and Chiaki Ishikawa reunited as See-Saw. Around the same time she became involved with Koichi Mashimo's anime studio Bee Train and their first widely popular project, ''Noir''. Despite the series' controversial status among the reviewers, all critics generally praised its OST as a breakthrough in the anime music scene for its risky but highly successful mix of synth, opera, and French-flaired sound.

Kajiura greatly enjoyed the degree of artistic freedom that Mashimo as the series' director offered her while collaborating on ''Noir'', therefore their collaboration extended to many of his later projects, with the latest (as of 2007) being ''El Cazador de la Bruja''. For example, Mashimo would never set any distinctive limitations or goals before her, allowing her to compose whatever she pleases. Afterwards, he would just take the samples he thought appropriate and insert it to whenever he wanted them to play.

In 2002, See-Saw participated in another Mashimo's project, ''.hack//SIGN'', which became widely known for its TV and game combined development, and its soundtrack sold over 300,000 copies. During the production of the series, Kajiura met Emily Bindiger and impressed by her vocals, offered her to perform over 10 of the series' insert songs. She has also jokingly called Bindiger "her English teacher" on Anime Expo 2003.

One of See-Saw's further major hits was the ending theme song for ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' (''"Anna ni Issho Datta no ni"''), which sold over 200,000 copies causing a sensation in the anime world. ''Dream Field'', See-Saw's first original album release in nine years, became a hit, as well, in 2003, selling over 100,000 copies. In the same year, Kajiura released her first solo album, ''Fiction'', which she performed and promoted at ''Anime Expo 2003'' in Anaheim, California.

One of Kajiura's solo projects include FictionJunction, which contrary to common belief is not an alias but the name of the project itself. The project involves collaboration with artists such as Yuuka Nanri, Asuka Kato, and Kaori Oda. FictionJunction Yuuka, with Nanri as the vocalist, is the most prolific of these collaborations. In 2004, the duo produced the opening and ending songs for Koichi Mashimo's ''MADLAX'' and in the next year, published their first collaborative album, ''Destination''.

In October 2007, it was announced that Yuki Kajiura would be attending the performances of the Eminence Orchestra's concert, 'A Night In Fantasia 2007 - Symphonic Anime Edition', as a special guest.

Her latest project, Kalafina is composed of Keiko Kubota (FictionJunction KEIKO), Wakana Ootaki (FictionJunction WAKANA) and two other vocalists named Hikaru and Maya. They performed the ending themes of the Kara no Kyoukai movies.

In 2009, Fiction Junction returned to perform the opening themesong to Pandora Hearts, Parallel Hearts, with the majority of the show's music composed by Yuki Kajiura.

In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was scored by Kajiura, while Kalafina, a group founded by her, performed the ending theme.

Discography

Anime soundtracks

Anime Title !! Year of Release !! Director
Kimagure Orange Road	1996	Osamu Kobayashi
Eat-Man	1997
Noir (anime)	Noir	2001
Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution	Aquarian Age	2002
.hack//SIGN	2002
.hack//Liminality	2002
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette	2004
Madlax	2004
My-HiME	2004
My-Otome	2005
Tsubasa Chronicle	2005
Elemental Gelade	2005
My-Otome Zwei	2006
Fist of the North Star	Fist of the North Star True Saviour Legend	2007
El Cazador de la Bruja	2007
Tsubasa TOKYO REVELATIONS	2007–2008
Tsubasa Shunraiki	2009
Pandora Hearts	2009
Puella Magi Madoka Magica	2011
Fate/Zero	2011

Game soundtracks

PlayStationPlayStation 2PlayStation 2PlayStation 2

Game Title !! Game Platform !! Year of Release !! Company
Double Cast:ja:ダブルキャスト (ゲーム)	ダブルキャスト (''Daburukyasuto'')	PlayStation	1998
Meguri-aishiteめぐり愛して (''Meguriaishite'')	|	1999	Sony Music Entertainment>SME
Blood: The Last Vampire	|	2000	Sony Computer Entertainment
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Movie scenes)	|	2004	Namco
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra	|	2006	Namco

Movie soundtracks

Movie Title !! Year of Release !! Director
Tokyo-Kyodai	1995	Jun Ichikawa
Ruby Fruit	1995
Rainbow	1999
Boogiepop and others	2000
MOON	2000
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle	Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Movie: Princess in Birdcage Kingdom	2005
Kara no Kyoukai	Kara no Kyoukai movies	2007–2009
Achilles and the Tortoise (film)	Achilles and the Tortoise	2008

Musicals

Musical Title !! Year of Release
Sakura-Wars	1998
Fine	1998
FUNK-a-STEP	1998
FUNK-a-STEP II	1999
Christmas Juliette	1999–2000
High-School Revolution	2000
Christmas Juliette	2000
Shooting-Star Lullaby	2001
Love's Labour's Lost/SET	2002
Angel Gate	2006

Solo albums

Album Title !! Year of Release
Fiction (Yuki Kajiura album)	Fiction	2003
Fiction II	2011

Produced albums

Album Title !! Artist!! Year of Release
I have a dream	See-Saw	1993
See-Saw	See-Saw
Early Best	See-Saw
Dream Field	See-Saw
melody	Saeko Chiba
everything	Saeko Chiba
Destination	FictionJunction YUUKA
Circus	FictionJunction YUUKA
Re/oblivious	Kalafina
Everlasting Songs	FictionJunction
Seventh Heaven	Kalafina
Red Moon	Kalafina
After Eden	Kalafina

Compilation albums

Album Title !! Year of Release
The Works for Soundtrack	2011

Other involvements

Mobile Suit Gundam SeedChrono Crusade.hack//QUARANTINEThe World of NarueMobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny.hack//Legend of the TwilightLoveless (anime)Shōnen OnmyōjiSimoun (anime).hack//RootsBakumatsu Kikansetsu IrohanihohetoMy-Otome ZweiBaccano!AmatsukiNegima#Live_action_seriesKuroshitsuji:ja:歴史秘話ヒストリアSo Ra No Wo ToŌkami KakushiEve no JikanNobunaga's AmbitionKuroshitsuji II15 Sai no Shiganhei.hack//Link:ja:歴史秘話ヒストリア ''Sacred Seven'' ''Senritsu no Stratus''

Genre !! Project !! Involvement !! Year
Anime	Jura Tripper	Ending Theme
Anime	|	Closing Theme & Insert Songs	2002
Anime	|	Closing Theme Song (Sayonara Solitaire)	2003
Game	|	Song ''Yasashii Yoake''(also used in .hack//SIGN)	2003
Anime	|	Closing Theme	2003
Anime	|	Closing Theme & Insert Songs	2004
Anime	|	Closing Theme	2004
Anime	Loveless ||	Theme Song	2005
Anime	|	Opening Theme Song	2006
Anime	Simoun||	Opening Theme Song	2006
Anime	|	Opening Theme Song	2006
Anime	|	Opening Theme Song	2006
Anime	|	Ending Themes Songs 2-3	2007
Anime	|	Ending Theme Song	2007
Anime	|	Ending Theme Song	2008
TV Drama	Negima (Live Action) ||	Ending Theme Song	2008
Anime	|	Ending Theme Song	2008
Documentary	Unknown Episodes of History - Historia ||	Soundtrack	2009
Anime	|	Opening Theme Song	2010
Anime	|	Theme Song	2010
Anime	|	Ending Theme Song	2010
Game	|	Theme Song	2010
Anime	|	Insert Theme Song	2010
TV Drama	|	Music	2010
Game	|	.hack//Liminality>.hack//Liminality Volume 1: In the Case of Mai Minase'') ''Obsession'' from ''.hack//SIGN'' and ''Silly-Go-Round.'' (from ''.hack//Roots'')	2010
Documentary	Unknown Episodes of History - Historia 2 ||	Soundtrack	2011
Anime	|	Opening Theme Song	2011
Game	|	Opening Theme Song	2011

Hired vocalists

Trademarks

Genre mixes: It is not uncommon to hear operatic style with a pop beat to it. Kajiura's greatest inspiration, her father, was a classical fan; therefore her soundtracks have both pop and classic motifs. An example of this genre mix pop beat is the song ''Oblivious'' used in Kara no Kyoukai ending 1.

Piano: Elaborate self-performed piano solos.

European themes: Some of her music has European style. Some of her songs are written in German, Spanish or Italian.

Chants: It is not uncommon for Kajiura's songs to have a choir performing ominous chants (either as a supporting role or as the main driving force of the song) and some have dubbed this style 'Kajiuran'. The ''Yamanii'' chants in the song ''nowhere'' that is featured in MADLAX is a good example of this. Other examples of Kajiuran are from the songs ''A Song of Storm and Fire'' (from Tsubasa Chronicle), ''Main Theme of Petit Cossette'' (from Le Portrait de Petit Cossette) and ''MATERIALISE'' (from My-Otome).

Bee Train: Frequently composes for Bee Train Productions, and works with Koichi Mashimo

Violin Solos: Very elaborate violin solos are heard often in the middle of her songs

Trivia

Kajiura does not have the pleasure of seeing the rough cut of the show she writes for. She is usually handed sketches of the characters, and what she and Koichi Mashimo have dubbed ''Music Menues'', so she is often confused when she writes.

Kajiura speaks limited English. This fact was demonstrated at the Anime Expo event when she was invited to perform her music. She was able to address the audience with simple but clear English. However on one occasion she called on her interpreter to explain some ideas that she could not express at will. She also briefly addressed the crowd at Anime Boston 2009 when introducing Kalafina to their first American audience.

Kajiura is also a huge fan of Radiohead and Bjork.

References

External links

Yuki Kajiura's Home Page

Yuki Kajiura's Home Page See-Saw Home Page FictionJunction Yuuka Home Page Victor Entertainment (Yuki Kajiura)

canta-per-me.net: Unofficial Fan Site

Category:Japanese musicians Category:Japanese composers Category:Anime composers Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:People from Tokyo Category:Japanese expatriates in Germany Category:Video game composers Category:Women composers Category:21st-century classical composers Category:Ethnomusicologists Category:Japanese Shintoists Category:Musical theatre composers Category:Language creators Category:Japanese multi-instrumentalists

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