Biography.

Born in New York City, she grew up in Roosevelt, Long Island. After school, she studied nursing and practiced as a psychiatric nurse for two years until 1976, when she moved to California and worked as an assistant to David Gerrold. Her first novel was published by Dell Books in 1979; Gerrold wrote an "overture" to that novel, on the grounds that he'd rather be making overtures than introductions to Duane. She subsequently worked as a freelance writer. In 1981 she moved to Pennsylvania.  She married Northern Irish author Peter Morwood in 1987; they moved to the United Kingdom and then to Ireland, where they reside in County Wicklow.

Bibliography.

Young Wizards.

A short story within the same universe, "Uptown Local", has also been published as part of Jane Yolen's "Dragons and Dreams" anthology, and a podcast of Duane reading it is freely available from her website. It also appears in the twentieth anniversary edition of "So You Want to Be a Wizard".  In February 2011, Duane announced she would be releasing new versions of the first 4 books in the series, updating the technology used in the books, fixing some timeline issues within the series, and overall making the series more appealing to contemporary young adult readers. The first of the series would be available in June 2011, initially in ebook format, with the next three books to follow in the succeeding months and all these to have new ISBNs, with the publisher switching to the revised editions with new covers around the time the next book in the series is released.

Feline Wizards.

The series, in the same setting as the Young Wizards novels, focuses on cat-wizards, who maintain the worldgates that wizards use for travel between the sheaf of canonical universes.  In December 2005, Duane proposed to her fans that they fund a third novel in the series, "The Big Meow". After funding the project via whole-book subscriptions, per-chapter threshold pledges, merchandising, "put something in the kitty" donations, and $2,900 in challenge grants, Duane wrote, over a span of two and a half years, seven of the book's 13 chapters. No new chapters were published between July 2008 and February 2011, but on February 2, 2011, Duane announced the project's completion and posted the remaining chapters for subscribers between then and the 15th.

Adult Wizards.

Books about adult wizards set in the same universe of the Young Wizards series.

Alternate Universes.

The Young Wizards universe contains canonical alternate universes ("So You Want to Be a Wizard" and "To Visit the Queen" are good examples: the protagonists travel to alternate universes to solve problems there).

The Middle Kingdoms.

Also known as the "Tale of the Five", this high fantasy series was paused in 1992. The books center on some of the same themes as her better-known Young Wizards series; those who wield the Blue Fire have many of the same responsibilities as the wizards and fight the same battle against entropy. In "So You Want to Be a Wizard", Nita's wizardry manual is written by "Hearnssen", a reference to the protagonist of "The Door Into Fire", Herewiss s'Hearn (son of Hearn), so it may be that the Middle Kingdoms are part of the same sheaf of universes as the Young Wizards setting. Adding to this, one interdimensional portal in "The Door into Fire" appears to open over New York City. Duane is working on the final volume. "The Door into Fire" and "The Door into Shadow" have an omnibus reprint called "Tale of Five: The Sword and the Dragon." ()  Several short stories are set in the Middle Kingdoms: "Parting Gifts" (1981) and its prequel "The Span" (1999) featuring Sirronde; Duane plans to write a middle novella and publish the three together as "Sirronde's World". "Lior and the Sea" (1985) is set in the world of the Middle Kingdoms, but not concerning any of the characters in the novels.  Duane also worked on "Tales of the Five", a five-book series to bridge the gap between "The Door into Sunset" and "The Door into Starlight". Books in this series so far are:

"Star Trek".

Duane has also written a number of "Star Trek" novels:  Duane also shares story credit on the "TNG" episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" with Michael Reaves.

"Harbinger".

The Harbinger Trilogy, published by Wizards of the Coast, is set in the Star*Drive universe. While Duane is not the only author to write for this universe, she was the first.

Spider-Man.

Duane wrote a trilogy of Spider-Man novels, "The Venom Factor", for Byron-Preiss Multimedia from 1994 to 1996. The trilogy was composed of:

Net Force.

Co-authored with Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik

Other prose works.

Duane has recently made available in various e-formats a previously unpublished book which was sold to at least two European publishers, but never actually brought out due to internal restructuring at one publishing house (Corgi) and the sale of another (Heyne Verlag). The novel, "A Wind from the South", is the first of a projected trilogy telling the story of a young girl born in the 11th century in a remote region of the Alps. This girl slowly discovers that she is the intended physical avatar of an exiled Roman goddess, while (as she grows) she becomes caught up in the political turmoil of William Tell's time.  Duane was also responsible for prose adaptations of several scripts from "The Outer Limits". She has also written numerous short stories, about equally divided between fantasy and science fiction, which have appeared in various anthologies and collections over the last twenty years. She also wrote the 1985 text adventure video game "".

Maps.

Duane drew the map in Larry Niven's "The Ringworld Engineers".

Screen works: film and television.

Duane has worked in television since the early 1980s, initially becoming involved in script work at the Hanna-Barbera animation studio (now Cartoon Network). After writing numerous scripts for such series as "Scooby and Scrappy-Doo", "Captain Caveman", "Space Stars", "Fonz and the Happy Days Gang", "Biskitts", and "Laverne and Shirley in the Army", she moved on to work in development and serve as a staff writer at Filmation, and in 1985 was hired to story-edit the DiC animated series "Dinosaucers". During this period she also wrote scripts for Sunbow Productions ("Glo Friends", "Transformers", and "My Little Pony") and Walt Disney Productions ("Duck Tales"). In 1986, she co-wrote (with Michael Reaves) the script of one of the earliest episodes of "", "Where No One Has Gone Before".  In the early 1990s Duane was brought on board as the head writer on the BBC Television educational series "Science Challenge". Shortly thereafter she co-wrote (with her husband) scripts for "" and for "Gargoyles". She also wrote the screenplay for the 1996 space adventure game "Privateer 2 - The Darkening", which starred Clive Owen, Christopher Walken, Jürgen Prochnow and Mathilda May. Other screen work from that period includes the screenplay for the "Space Island One" episode "Not In My Back Yard" (1998–1999).  In 2003, after doing nearly four years' development work with the production company Tandem Communications of Munich, Germany, Duane and Peter Morwood co-wrote the script for the German TV miniseries "Die Nibelungen". The miniseries aired in Germany on the Sat.1 network in late November 2004, and a feature version (titled "Sword of Xanten") screened in the UK in December 2004. A "megafeature" cut of the entire miniseries was aired on Channel Four television in the UK in December 2005. The miniseries aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US in late March 2006 under the title "". The miniseries has also been released on DVD in the US and numerous other markets, under various titles (the previous US title was "Curse of the Ring").  Duane was also a co-author of the Barbie movie "".  An adaptation of "So You Want to be a Wizard" is currently in the works.

Diane Duane (born May 18, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, long based in Ireland. Her works include the "Young Wizards" young adult fantasy series and the "Rihannsu" Star Trek novels.

Diane Duane (* 18. květen 1952 New York, USA) je americká spisovatelka, známá českým čtenářům především jako autorka knih z prostředí Star Treku. Je scenáristka čtyřiceti filmů, dvaceti knih SF a fantasy, celé řady filmových scénářů a to i pro děti.


History.

Early.

The earliest known residents of the land in and around what later became Joshua Tree National Park were the people of the Pinto Culture, who lived and hunted here between 8000 and 4000 BCE. Their stone tools and spear points, discovered in the Pinto Basin in the 1930s, suggest that they hunted game and gathered seasonal plants, but little else is known about them. Later residents included the Serrano, the Cahuilla, and the Chemehuevi peoples. All three lived at times in small villages in or near water, particularly the Oasis of Mara in what non-aboriginals later called Twentynine Palms. They were hunter-gatherers who subsisted largely on plant foods supplemented by small game, amphibians, and reptiles while using other plants for making medicines, bows and arrows, baskets, and other articles of daily life. A fourth group, the Mojaves, used the local resources as they traveled along trails between the Colorado River and the Pacific coast. In the 21st century, small numbers of all four peoples live in the region near the park; the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians, descendants of the Chemehuevi, own a reservation in Twentynine Palms.  In 1772, a group of Spaniards led by Pedro Fages, made the first European sightings of Joshua trees while pursuing native converts to Christianity who had run away from a mission in San Diego. By 1823, the year Mexico achieved independence from Spain, a Mexican expedition from Los Angeles, in what was then Alta California, is thought to have explored as far east as the Eagle Mountains in what later became the park. Three years later, Jedediah Smith led a group of American fur trappers and explorers along the nearby Mojave Trail, and others soon followed. Two decades after that, the United States defeated Mexico in the Mexican–American War (1846–48) and took over about half of Mexico's original territory, including California and the future parkland.

Post-1870.

In 1870, white settlers began grazing cattle on the tall grasses that grew in the park. In 1888, a gang of cattle rustlers moved into the region near the Oasis of Mara. Led by brothers James. B. and William S. McHaney, they hid stolen cattle in a box canyon at Cow Camp. Throughout the region, ranchers dug wells and built rainwater catchments called "tanks", such as White Tank and Barker Dam. In 1900, C. O. Barker, a miner and cattleman, built the original Barker Dam, later improved by William "Bill" Keys, a rancher. Grazing continued in the park through 1945. Barker Dam was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1975.  Between the 1860s and the 1940s, miners worked about 300 pit mines, mostly small, in what later became the park. The most successful, the Lost Horse Mine, produced gold and silver worth about $5 million in today's currency. Johnny Lang and others, the original owners of the Lost Horse Mine, installed a two-stamp mill to process ore at the site, and the next owner, J.D. Ryan, replaced it with a 10-stamp steam-powered mill. Ryan pumped water from his ranch to the mill and cut timber from the nearby hills to heat water to make steam. Most of the structures associated with the mine fell apart, and for safety reasons the National Park Service plugged the mine, which had collapsed. The Desert Queen Mine on Keys' Desert Queen Ranch was another productive gold mine. In the early 1930s, Keys bought a gasoline-powered two-stamp mill, the Wall Street Mill, and moved it to his ranch to process ore. The ranch and mill were added to the NRHP in 1975 and the mine in 1976. Some of the mines in the park yielded copper, zinc, and iron.

Protection.

On August 10, 1936, after Minerva Hoyt and others persuaded the state and federal governments to protect the area, President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the power of the 1906 Antiquities Act to establish Joshua Tree National Monument, protecting about. In 1950, the size of the park was reduced by about to open the land to more mining. The monument was redesignated as a national park on October 31, 1994, by the Desert Protection Act, which also added. In 2019, the park expanded by under a bill included in the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act.

Geography and botany.

Potential natural vegetation.

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation types, Joshua Tree National Park has two categories, a creosote bush ("41") potential vegetation type with a desert shrubland ("8") potential vegetation form in most of the area, and a juniper/pinyon pine ("23") potential vegetation type with a Great Basin montane forest/southwest forest ("4") potential vegetation form on the higher elevations of the western side of the park.

Mojave Desert.

The higher and cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of "Yucca brevifolia", the Joshua tree for which the park is named. It occurs in patterns from dense forests to distantly spaced specimens. In addition to Joshua tree forests, the western part of the park includes some of the most interesting geologic displays found in California's deserts. The dominant geologic features of this landscape are hills of bare rock, usually broken up into loose boulders. These hills are popular among rock climbing and scrambling enthusiasts. The flatland between these hills is sparsely forested with Joshua trees. Together with the boulder piles and Skull Rock, the trees make the landscape otherworldly. Temperatures are most comfortable in the spring and fall, with an average high/low of, respectively. Winter brings cooler days, around, and freezing nights. Snows occur occasionally at higher elevations. Summers are hot, over during the day and not cooling much below until the early hours of the morning.  Joshua trees dominate the open spaces of the park, but in among the rock outcroppings are piñon pine, California juniper ("Juniperus californica"), "Quercus turbinella" (desert scrub oak), "Quercus john-tuckeri" (Tucker's oak), and "Quercus cornelius-mulleri" (Muller's oak). These communities are under some stress, however, as the climate was wetter until the 1930s, with the same hot and dry conditions that provoked the Dust Bowl affecting the local climate. These cycles were nothing new, but the original vegetation did not prosper when wetter cycles returned. The difference may have been human development. Cattle grazing took out some of the natural cover and made it less resistant to the changes. The bigger problem, though, seems to be invasive species, such as cheatgrass, which during wetter periods fills in below and among the pines and oak. In drier times, they die back, but do not quickly decompose. This makes wildfires hotter and more destructive, which kills some of the trees that would have otherwise survived. When the area regenerates, these non-native grasses form a thick layer of turf that makes getting a roothold harder for the pine and oak seedlings.

Colorado Desert.

Below, the Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features habitats of creosote bush scrub, ocotillo, desert saltbush, and mixed scrub including yucca and cholla cactus ("Cylindropuntia bigelovii"). Some areas of such cactus are dense enough to appear as natural gardens. The lower Coachella Valley is on the southeastern side of the park with sandy soil grasslands and desert dunes.  The only palm native to California, the California fan palm ("Washingtonia filifera"), occurs naturally in five oases in the park, rare areas where water occurs naturally year-round and all forms of wildlife abound.

Climate.

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Joshua Tree National Park has a hot desert climate ("BWh"). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the plant hardiness zone at the Cottonwood Visitor Center at 3081 ft (939 m) elevation is 8b, with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of.

Geology.

The park's oldest rocks, Pinto gneiss among them, are 1.7 billion years old. They are exposed in places on the park's surface in the Cottonwood, Pinto, and Eagle Mountains. Much later, from 250 to 75 million years ago, tectonic plate movements forced volcanic material toward the surface at this location and formed granites, including monzogranite common to the Wonderland of Rocks, parts of the Pinto, Eagle, and Coxcomb Mountains, and elsewhere. Erosion eventually exposed the harder rocks, gneiss and granite, in the uplands and reduced the softer rocks to debris that filled the canyons and basins between the ranges. The debris, moved by gravity and water, formed alluvial fans at the mouths of canyons, and "bajadas", where the alluvial fans overlapped.  The rock formations of Joshua Tree National Park owe their shape partly to groundwater, which filtered through the roughly rectangular joints of the monzonite and eroded the corners and edges of blocks of stone, and to flash floods, which washed away covering ground and left piles of rounded boulders. These prominent outcrops are known as inselbergs.  Of the park's six blocks of mountains, five—the Little San Bernardino, Hexie, Pinto, Cottonwood, and Eagle—are among the Transverse Ranges, which trend generally east–west in locations between the Eagle Mountains on the east and the northern Channel Islands, in the Pacific Ocean west of Santa Barbara, on the west. Tectonic forces along the San Andreas Fault system compressed and lifted the crust material that formed these ranges. The San Andreas Fault itself passes southwest of the park, but related parallel faults, including the Dillon, Blue Cut, and Pinto, run through the park, and movements along them have caused earthquakes. The easternmost range in the park, the Coxcomb Mountains, runs generally north–south and is part of the Basin and Range Province.

Recreation.

Camping.

Nine established campgrounds exist in the park, two of which (Black Rock Campground and Cottonwood Campground) provide water and flush toilets. A fee is charged per night for each camping spot. Reservations are accepted at Black Rock Campground, Cottonwood Campground, Indian Cove Campground, and Jumbo Rocks Campground for October through May, while the other campgrounds are first-come, first-served. Backcountry camping, for those who wish to backpack, is permitted with a few regulations.

Hiking.

Several hiking trails are within the park, many of which can be accessed from a campground. Shorter trails, such as the one-mile hike through Hidden Valley, offer a chance to view the beauty of the park without straying too far into the desert. A section of the California Riding and Hiking Trail meanders for through the western side of the park. The lookout point at Keys View, towards the south of the park, offers views of the Coachella Valley, the Salton Sea, the San Andreas Fault, the Santa Rosa Mountains, and the city of Palm Springs.  Nature walks inside the park include: Longer trails include:  Due to graffiti on at least 17 sites on trails, officials have closed them to the public. The closed sites include Native American sites, at the Southern California park's Rattlesnake Canyon and Barker Dam. They blame the increase in vandalism on the increased use of social media.

Climbing.

The park is popular with rock climbers and was originally a winter practice area while Yosemite Valley and other parts of the Sierra Nevada were snowbound, but later became an area of interest in its own right. Its thousands of named climbing routes contain all levels of difficulty. The routes are typically short, the rocks being rarely more than in height, but access is usually a short, easy walk through the desert, and doing a number of interesting climbs in a single day is possible. The rocks are all composed of quartz monzonite, a very rough type of granite, made even more so as no snow or ice polishes it as in places such as Yosemite.  Some routes are permanently closed, while others are closed temporarily to protect sensitive wildlife in certain seasons. Climbing and bouldering routes that are permanently closed include Energy Crisis, the Schwarzenegger Wall, Zombie Woof Rock, the Maverick Boulder formation, Pictograph Boulder, Shindig, Lonely Stones Area #3, the Shipwreck formation, Indian Wave Boulders (except for Native Arete), and Wormholes., seasonal closures include the Slatanic Area, Towers of Uncertainty, Patagonia Pile, and Jerry's Quarry.

Visitation and access.

The total visitors more than doubled from 2013 to 2019. Awareness of the wildflower bloom in the spring has brought increased visitation.  The paved main road allows visitors to drive to major attractions and through the park. The unpaved roads may require a vehicle with high ground clearance, and four-wheel drive. An example is the Geology Tour Road in the center of the park. Visitors with a four-wheel drive vehicle can use this road for a self-guided tour with stops that describe the region's geology.

Birdwatching.

More than 250 bird species inhabit or visit the park, including resident desert birds such as the greater roadrunner, cactus wren, northern mockingbird, LeConte's thrasher, verdin, and Gambel's quail. About 78 species nest and raise their young within the park. Many migrating species spend only a short time feeding and resting at Joshua Tree, mainly in the winter, as the park lies along an inland stretch of the Pacific Flyway. Other species descend from their usual habitats in the mountains to escape winter snows.  Birdwatching spots include fan palm oases, the Barker Dam, and Smith Water Canyon. Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley also provide good birdwatching, with a different range of species due to the lack of water, including the ladder-backed woodpecker and oak titmouse. A USGS bird checklist from 2006 contained 239 species in the park.

Astronomy.

Joshua Tree is a popular observing site in Southern California for amateur astronomy and stargazing, along with nearby Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The park is well known for its naturally dark night skies, which are far away from and largely free of the light pollution typical in the urban areas. The park's elevation and dry desert air, along with the relatively stable atmosphere in the region, often make for excellent seeing conditions.  On clear nights around new moon, the sky darkness of Joshua Tree is rated a class 2–4 on the Bortle scale. This ranges from an "average dark sky" (class 2) in the easternmost region of the park to a sky quality typical of a rural/suburban transition (class 4) in the western regions near Palm Springs. In the easternmost regions of the park, visitors with optimal vision can expect to see the Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33) galaxies with unaided eyes. The central Milky Way appears highly structured to the naked eye from this site, and zodiacal light appears as a faint yellowish glow when visible. In the western regions of the park, the Andromeda Galaxy is still visible, and only the brightest structures around the Galactic Center of the Milky Way can be distinguished; zodicial light is visible halfway to the zenith.

Wildlife.

Birds, lizards, and ground squirrels are most likely to be seen because they are largely active during the day. However, at night desert animals come out to roam. Mostly nocturnal animals include snakes, bighorn sheep, kangaroo rats, coyotes, lynxes, and black-tailed jackrabbits. The desert tortoise is a threatened reptile species that inhabits creosote bush lowlands in the Mojave Desert. The tortoise is well adapted to the arid conditions and rarely drinks water; instead, most of their water is obtained from the plants they consume. Bobcats are dominant force in the ecosystem. The California tree frog, "Pseudacris cadaverina", is found in the rocky, permanent water sources created by the Pinto Fault along the northern edge of the park. The red-spotted toad, "Bufo punctatus", is a true denizen of the desert, where it spends most of its life underground. Found from one end of the park to the other, it appears after good, soaking rains. Golden eagles hunt in the park regularly. The roadrunner is an easily recognized resident. The call of Gambel's quail can frequently be heard. The tarantula "Aphonopelma iodium", the green darner "Anax junius", and the giant desert scorpion "Hadrurus arizonensis" are arthropods that can grow to be more than long. The yucca moth "Tegeticula paradoxa" is responsible for pollinating the Joshua trees after which the park is named.  Animals that thrive in Joshua Tree often have special adaptations for dealing with limited water and high summer temperatures. The smaller mammals and all reptiles take refuge from the heat underground. Desert mammals make more efficient use of their bodies’ water supply than does the human body. Reptiles are physiologically adapted to getting along with little water, and birds can fly to water sources when they need to drink. Nevertheless, the springs and seeps in the park are necessary to the survival of many animals. Most of the reptiles and many small rodents and insects go into an inactive state of hibernation during the winter. However, winter is the time of greatest bird concentrations in the park, because of the presence of many migrant species. A place to view wildlife is at Barker Dam, a short hike from a parking area near Hidden Valley. Desert bighorn sheep and mule deer sometimes stop by the dam for a drink. Tours of the Barker Dam area are available.

Wilderness.

Of the park's total land area of, are designated wilderness and managed by the National Park Service (NPS) in accordance with the Wilderness Act. The NPS requires registration for overnight camping at specific locations called registration boards. Other requirements include the use of a camp stove (since open campfires are prohibited) and employing Leave No Trace camping techniques (also known as "pack it in, pack it out"). Although bicycles are not allowed in wilderness areas, horses are, but a permit must be obtained in advance for travel in the backcountry. Cellular signals are weak to non-existent and should not be depended on while visiting the park.

Vandalism.

On April 1, 2015, graffiti artist André was convicted and fined for vandalizing a boulder in the park. André posted photos of his vandalism on social media. Casey Schreiner, of the hiking blog site Modern Hiker, and some of his readers aided the National Park Service in tracking down and identifying André's vandalism. Before the conviction, André had attempted to silence the reporting with legal threats.  During the 2018–2019 federal government shutdown, reports of vandalism spiked as visitors allegedly chopped down Joshua trees, set illegal fires, drove off road, and spray-painted rocks. Only eight park rangers were on duty during the government shutdown. Park botanists subsequently determined that one of three Joshua trees reported to have been cut down or damaged during the shutdown had been felled prior to the shutdown.

In popular culture.

In 1972, the album cover photos for "Eagles" were shot in Joshua Tree National Monument.  In 1973, Phil Kaufman attempted to cremate singer/songwriter Gram Parsons' remains in the park.  In 1987, Irish rock band U2 released their fifth studio album, "The Joshua Tree", named after a tree with which the band was photographed near Darwin, California, off Route 190 west of Death Valley National Park. The site is about a four-hour drive north of Joshua Tree National Park. The tree collapsed and died around the turn of the century.  In 1994, American Tejano singer Selena recorded her music video for "Amor Prohibido" at Joshua Tree National Park.  The black comedy crime film "Seven Psychopaths" (2012) was partly filmed in the park, as were many other film and television productions beginning with "Borderland" (1937), a Hopalong Cassidy feature.  In 2016, Donald Glover (or Childish Gambino) performed six sold-out shows in Joshua Tree in promotion of his new album, "Awaken, My Love!". The three-day event went by the name Pharos.  In 2017, American rock band Walk the Moon recorded the video "One Foot" in the park during that summer's solar eclipse.

Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, near Palm Springs. The park is named for the Joshua trees ("Yucca brevifolia") native to the Mojave Desert. Originally declared a national monument in 1936, Joshua Tree was redesignated as a national park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act. Encompassing a total of —an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island—the park includes of designated wilderness. Straddling the border between San Bernardino County and Riverside County, the park includes parts of two deserts, each an ecosystem whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation: the higher Mojave Desert and the lower Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains traverse the southwest edge of the park.

Národní park Joshua Tree (anglicky "Joshua Tree National Park)" se nachází v jihovýchodní Kalifornii. Národním parkem se stal v roce 1994 poté, co Kongres USA schválil zákon 103-433 na ochranu kalifornských pouští "(California Desert Protection Act)." Předtím byl přírodní památkou ("national monument") Spojených států, a to od roku 1936. Jeho rozloha činí 3196 km2. Je pojmenován po juce krátkolisté ("Yucca brevifolia"), "Joshua Tree" čili "Jozuův strom", která zde přirozeně roste. Velkou část parku (asi 2367 km2) tvoří divočina.


Isomers.

The most dangerous isomers are considered to be those containing "ortho" isomers, such as tri-"ortho"-cresyl phosphate, TOCP. The World Health Organization stated in 1990 that "Because of considerable variation among individuals in sensitivity to TOCP, it is not possible to establish a safe level of exposure" and "TOCP are therefore considered major hazards to human health." Therefore, strenuous efforts have been made to reduce the content of the "ortho" isomers in commercial TCP if there is a risk of human exposure. However, researchers at the University of Washington found that non-"ortho" TCP isomers present in synthetic jet engine oils do inhibit certain enzymes.

Health calamities from TCP.

TCP was the source of a 1977 epidemic of acute polyneuropathy in Sri Lanka where 20 Tamil girls were poisoned by TCP-contaminated gingili oil. It is a toxic substance that causes neuropathy, paralysis in the hands and feet, and/or death for humans and animals alike. It can be ingested, inhaled, or even absorbed through the skin. Its ortho-isomer is notoriously known as a source of several delayed neurotoxic outbreaks across recent history. Contemporary commercial products typically only contain the para- and meta- isomers of TCP due to the lack of neurotoxic potential within these isomers.  The earliest known mass poisoning event by TOCP started as early as 1899 when six French hospital patients were given a phosphocresote cough mixture containing the organophosphate compound. Pharmacist Jules Brissonet had synthesized this compound in the hopes of treating pulmonary phthisis (tuberculosis), but soon after administration all 6 patients developed polyneuropathy. The original paper ads described this phosphocresote to be:"A bland, limpid liquid, nearly tasteless and odourless, which is not irritating to the gastric mucous membranes. When creosote is combined with phosphoric acid the metabolic action produced is much more marked, and Phosote can be tolerated in larger doses and for a longer continuance than Creosote or Guaiacol. Dose of the preparation, one to two grammes three times a day."  The greatest mass poisoning by TOCP occurred in 1930 with the introduced of the popular drink "Ginger Jake" (or Jamaica "Jake") during the United States Prohibition era. Although the drink was a primary substitute for alcohol during this period where all alcoholic drinks had been outlawed by the United States Government, it was also listed as a cure for "assorted ailments" in the U.S Pharmocopoeia and thus easy to acquire. Up to 100,000 people were poisoned and 5,000 paralyzed when a manufacturer of Ginger Jake added Lindol - a compound that consisted mainly of TOCP - to their product. The exact reason for why TOCP was found in Ginger Jake is disputed; some sources claim it was to further extract the Jamaica root, others to water the drink down, and another as a result of contamination from lubricating oils. Binges of Ginger Jake resulted in what was known to be a "Jake walk," in which patients experienced a highly irregular gait caused by numbness in the legs that followed with eventual paralysis of the wrists and feet. In medical journals it was described to have produced an organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) neurodegenerative syndrome, "characterized by distal axonal lesions, ataxia, and neuronal degeneration in the spinal cord and peripheral nervous systems."  In 1932, 60 European women experienced TOCP poisoning by means of the abortion-inducing (abortifacient) drug Apiol. This drug, formed by the phenylpropanoid compound extracted from parsley leaves, was exploited throughout history - and even recommended by Hippocrates himself - to terminate pregnancies. The contamination of the modern drug in 1932 was not accidental, but rather included as an "additional stimulus." Those who took the pill experienced comas, convulsions, paralysis of the lower body (paraplegia) and often death Apiol was subsequently criticized by doctors, journalists, and activists alike until its discontinuation, citing that the dangers were too great and the number of poisonings were likely higher than accounted for.  Other mass poisonings include:

Aerotoxic syndrome.

TCP is used as an additive in turbine engine oil and can potentially contaminate an airliner cabin via a bleed air "fume event". Aerotoxic syndrome is the name given to the alleged ill effects (with symptoms including memory loss, depression and schizophrenia) caused by exposure to engine chemicals although UK industry-funded studies have not made a link between TCP and longterm health issues.

Safety.

Animals.

In studies on slow lorises ("Nyticebus coucang coucang"), numerous chronic effects observed from topical applications. Mammalian placental development were also negatively affected.

Metabolism.

Although TOCP is mainly excreted through urine and feces, it is partially metabolized by the hepatic cytochrome P450 system. Pathways includeydroxylation at one or more methyl groups, dearylation (removal of a o-cresyl group) and conversion of the hydroxymethyl groups to an aldehyde or a carboxylic acid.  The first step results in a "saligenin cyclic o-tolyl phosphate (SCOTP)" intermediate"," a neurotoxin. To the right, the first step of TOCP metabolism is depicted by means of chemical structures. This intermediate is able to inhibit neuropathy target esterase (NTE) and results in the classic organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN). In tandem, TOCP exerts physical damage by causing axonal destruction and myelin disintegration within specialized cells that transmit nerve impulses (neurons).  In addition to the formation of SCOTP, the interactions between TOCP and two different human cytochrome P450 complexes (1A2 and 3A4) can further produce 2-("ortho"-cresyl)-4"H"-1,2,3-benzodioxaphosphoran-2-one (CBDP). This metabolite can bind to butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) and/or acetylcholinesterase (AChE).  Binding to BuChE results in no adverse effects, for its typical role is to covalently bind to organophosphate poisons and detoxify them by inactivation. The dangers in metabolizing TOCP to CBDP occur when its potential to bind to AChE become imminent, for inactivation of the enzyme in nerve synapses can be lethal. The enzyme plays a tantamount role in terminating nerve impulse transmission "by hydrolyzing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine." Upon inactivation, acetylcholine can no longer be broken down in the body and results in uncontrollable muscle spasms, paralyzed breathing (bradycardia), convulsions, and/or death. Luckily, TOCP is considered a weak AChE inhibitor.

Onset & Treatment.

In humans, the first symptoms are weakness/paralysis of the hands and feet on both sides of the body due to damage to the peripheral nervous system (polyneuropathy) and a sensation of pins-and-needles (paraesthesia). Onset typically occurs beween 3–28 days from initial exposure. If ingested, this can be preceded by gastrointestinal symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Rates of metabolism vary by species and by individual; some people developed severe polyneuropathy after ingesting 0.15g of TOCP, whereas others have been reported asymptomatic after 1-2g. Though death is uncommon in acute exposure cases, the result of paralysis can last for months or years due to differences in gender, age, and route of exposure. The cardinal treatment is physical therapy to restore the use of the hands and feet, though it can take up to 4 years to only regain a fraction of motor control.  Exposure to TOCP has been characterized by a list of observations:  =References=

Tricresyl phosphate (TCP), is a mixture of three isomeric organophosphate compounds most notably used as a fire retardant and in manufacturing for lacquers and varnishes as a plasticizer. It is a colorless, viscous liquid, although commercial samples are typically yellow. It is virtually insoluble in water, but easily soluble in organic solvents like toluene, hexane, and diethylether among others. It was synthesized by Alexander Williamson in 1854 upon reacting phosphorus pentachloride with cresol (a mixture of para-, ortho-, and meta- isomers of methylphenol), though today's manufacturers can prepare TCP by mixing cresol with phosphorus oxychloride or phosphoric acid as well. TCP, especially the all-ortho isomer, is the causative agent in a number of acute poisonings. Its chronic toxicity is also of concern. The ortho-isomer is rarely used on its own due to its extremely toxic nature outside of laboratory studies that require isomeric purity, and is generally excluded from commercial products where TCP is involved.

Trikresylfosfát (též trikrezylfosfát, tritolylfosfát, tritolylester kyseliny fosforečné, TCP) je organofosfátová sloučenina. Je odvozena od kresolu a kyseliny fosforečné. Tato viskózní kapalina je v čisté podobě bezbarvá, avšak komerční produkty jsou typicky žluté. Trikresylfosfát je nehořlavý a prakticky nerozpustný ve vodě. Komerční trikresylfosfát je směsí ortho-, meta- a para-kresylfosfátu.


Career.

Spearmon is a graduate of Fayetteville High School and attended the University of Arkansas, where he competed collegiately for two seasons before turning pro. While at Arkansas, he won the 200 meters NCAA Outdoor title in 2004 and 2005 as well as the NCAA Indoor 200 m title in 2005. In August 2005, he won the silver medal in the 200 m at the 2005 World Championships and in August 2007, he won the bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships. Spearmon won the 200 m at the USA outdoor athletics championships in 2006 and finished second in 2007. At the 2009 World Championships in Berlin he won another bronze. He ran a world best time of 31.88 for the 300 m indoors in February 2006.  His personal best in the 200 m is 19.65 seconds. This time (achieved in Daegu, Korea) made him the third fastest man over the distance at that point. He is currently ranked as the ninth fastest 200-meter runner ever. Only world record holder Usain Bolt (19.19), Yohan Blake (19.26), Michael Johnson (19.32), Noah Lyles (19.50), Walter Dix (19.53), Justin Gatlin (19.57), his training partner Tyson Gay (19.58), and Xavier Carter (19.63) have run faster. Despite the fact that he normally runs a "slower" first half of his 200 m races and goes on to pass people down the stretch, his 100 meters personal best is 9.96 s. He set that mark running in Shanghai on September 28, 2007, beating 100 m world champion Tyson Gay.  Spearmon initially finished in the bronze medal position in the 200 m in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but was disqualified for stepping out of his lane. The second-place finisher, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles, was also disqualified, giving Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix the silver and bronze medals, respectively.  He posted a quick time of 19.98 seconds in the 200 m in Kingston, Jamaica in April 2010, finishing behind Usain Bolt. He reached the 2010 IAAF Diamond League 200 m final at the Weltklasse Zurich meeting, and (in the absence of points leader Walter Dix) he won the first Diamond Race Trophy with a meeting record of 19.79 seconds. Following the Diamond League win, he ran 19.85 seconds to win at the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix.  At the start of the 2012 season, he broke Michael Johnson's 200 m meet record at the Drake Relays with a run of 20.02 seconds. He finished fourth in the 200 metres final at the 2012 London Olympics. His time of 19.90 seconds was 6/100 of a second outside of a medal placing.  Spearmon finished 21st at the 2013 World Championships, running a time of 20.66 seconds in the semi-final.  At a meeting in Edmonton in July, 2014, Spearmon tested positive for methylprednisolone contained in a medicine he was taking without asking for an exemption. USADA accepted the excuse so it was treated as a minor violation. On September 19, 2014 it was announced he would receive a 3-month suspension, backdated to August 27.  Spearmon attended the 2015 World Championships, but did not start his heat.

Personal life.

Spearmon's father, Wallace Spearmon Sr., was also a sprinter. He was the 1987 bronze medalist in the 200 meters at the Pan American Games.  He is good friends with fellow sprinter Usain Bolt; they are known for their jokes and good friendship.  Spearmon was formerly engaged to fellow American track athlete Monica Hargrove.  On an April 2011 episode of MythBusters, he worked with Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to investigate the possibility of a human running on water. In May 2013 he returned to the show to race 30 ft against a race car.

Wallace Spearmon Jr. (born December 24, 1984 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American sprint athlete, who specializes in the 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA outdoor champion in the 200 m and won the silver medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has a personal best of 19.65 seconds for the distance, making him the ninth fastest 200 meter runner of all-time, and he formerly held the indoor American record.

Wallace Spearmon, Jr., (* 24. prosince 1984 Chicago, Illinois) je americký atlet, sprinter. V roce 2007 se stal mistrem světa jako člen štafety na 4×100 metrů. Na svém kontě má i další medaile z mistrovství světa v atletice. Na olympiádě 2008 v Pekingu skončil v závodě na 200 m na třetí příčce, ale pro přešlápnutí do soupeřovy dráhy byl po závodě diskvalifikován.


Career.

Early career.

Cortese was born in Ochsenhausen, West Germany, as the son of an Italian father and a German mother. He started his career at the age of nine on pocket bikes and was European Pocket Bike champion as well as German Mini Bike champion. He competed in the German IDM Championship in the 125cc class, finishing 10th.

125cc World Championship.

Cortese made his 125cc World Championship debut with Kiefer-Bos-Castrol Honda in 2005, finishing the season in 26th place with 8 points. His best finish was 14th place in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Turkey. In 2006, he switched to the 125cc Championship-winning team, Elit – Caffè Latte Honda as team mate to 125cc World Champion Thomas Lüthi. He made steady progress scoring some championship points, His best result was in the Portuguese Grand Prix in 10th place, improving his championship standing to 17th place with 23 points.  In 2007 his team was renamed Emmi – Caffè Latte and it switched to Aprilia motorbikes. Lüthi moved up to 250cc, also with Aprilia. Cortese improved in 2007, finishing most of the season's races in the top 10, including 7th places in the French, the Italian and German Grands Prix. He finished the championship in 14th place with 66 points. For 2008 he rode a works Aprilia RSA 125. The 2008 season started poorly for him, finishing outside the top 8 at the first five races. His fortunes changed for the better after Mugello and he finished consistently in the top eight. In the Australian Grand Prix he crashed while leading but managed to recover to sixth and helped Mike Di Meglio to win the championship by finishing ahead of Simone Corsi, Di Meglio's championship rival. In the Malaysian Grand Prix he rode the fastest lap of the race despite starting 18th on the grid to finish fourth. He was the only 125cc rider to finish all races that year, gaining points in every race except in China.  In, Cortese rode for the Finnish Ajo Motorsport team that took Di Meglio to his 125cc World Championship. He replaced Di Meglio and teamed up with Dominique Aegerter, running factory Derbi RSA 125 bikes. Cortese finished on the podium three times and ended up sixth in the championship.  For 2010 he rode a Derbi again, for Ajo Motorsport. He was teamed up with Marc Márquez and Adrián Martín, with each rider running different sponsorship. Cortese took two podiums during the season, at the Sachsenring and Indianapolis. He also achieved pole position in Italy, and finished seventh in the championship.  For the season, Cortese moved to Dirk Heidolf's Racing Team Germany outfit, as a single-bike entry. He took second-place finishes in Qatar and Portugal, before taking his first Grand Prix victory – in his 109th start – in the Czech Republic, having battled with Johann Zarco in the closing stages of the race. Cortese eventually ended the season fourth in the championship.

Moto2 World Championship.

Cortese moved up to Moto2 class as a Moto3 champion in 2013. He joined Dynavolt Intact GP as the sole rider of the team. In 2014, Cortese recorded his first podium finish in Moto2 at Brno. He remained at the team until the end of 2017 season.

Supersport World Championship.

After failing to secure a ride for 2018 Moto2 season, Cortese signed a deal with Kallio Racing to race in Supersport World Championship, aboard Yamaha YZF-R6. He won 2 races at Aragon and Donington Park, securing 8 podium finishes and became the champion of 2018 Supersport World Championship in his maiden season.

Career statistics.

Superbike World Championship.

Races by year.

Season still in progress.

Alessandro "Sandro" Cortese (born 6 January 1990) is a German motorcycle racer, currently competing in the World Superbike Championship aboard a Yamaha R1. Cortese won his first world title in the Moto3 class, in., and his second in the Supersport World Championship, in. He lives in Berkheim, Germany.

Sandro Cortese (* 6. leden 1990) je německý motocyklový závodník s italským původem. Odstartoval svou kariéru v devíti letech jako závodník minibiků. Dokázal vyhrát jak evropský šampionát minibiků, tak i ten německý šampionát. Vrhnul se také na německé mistrovství IDM, ale na více jak desáté místo nestačil.


Plot.

A "Cronopio" known as Scrat attempts to find a place to store his acorn for the winter. Eventually, as he tries to stomp it into the ground, he inadvertently causes a large crack to form in the ice that extends for miles before setting off a large avalanche which nearly crushes him. He barely escapes but finds himself getting stepped on by a herd of prehistoric animals migrating south in order to escape the forthcoming ice age. Sid, a clumsy ground sloth, is left behind by his family and decides to move on by himself, but is attacked by two "Brontotheres" after ruining their meal and making them angry. Sid is soon rescued by Manny, a gruff woolly mammoth heading north, who fights the rhinos off and continues on his path. Sid joins Manny, not wanting to be alone and unprotected. Manny is annoyed by Sid's outgoing demeanor and wishes to migrate on his own, but Sid nonetheless continues to follow Manny. Meanwhile, Soto, the leader of a "Smilodon" pack, wants revenge on a neanderthal tribe for killing half of his pack by eating the chief's infant son, Roshan, alive. Soto leads a raid on the neanderthal camp, during which Roshan's mother is separated from everyone else and jumps down a waterfall upon being cornered by Soto's lieutenant, Diego. As punishment for his failure to retrieve Roshan, Diego is sent to find and retrieve the him while the rest of the pack waits for him at a mountain known as Half-Peak.  Later, Sid and Manny encounter the mother struggling out of the lake, dying from her plunge. The mother only has enough strength to entrust Roshan to Manny before she dies and disappears into the water. After much persuasion by Sid, they decide to return the baby, but when they reach the neanderthal settlement, they find it deserted. They meet up with Diego, who convinces the pair to let him help by tracking the neanderthals. The four travel on, with Diego secretly leading them to Half-Peak where his pack is waiting to ambush them.  After encountering several misadventures on their way, the group reaches a cave with several cave paintings. There, Sid and Diego learn about Manny's past and his previous interactions with the neanderthal hunters, in which they slaughtered his family, consisting of his mate and child, leaving Manny a depressed loner. Later, the group almost reaches their destination, Half-Peak, only to encounter a forming river of lava. Manny and Sid, along with Roshan, make it across safely, but Diego ends up hanging on a cliff, about to fall into the lava. Manny saves him, narrowly missing certain death by falling into the lava himself. The herd takes a break for the night, and Roshan takes his first walking steps towards Diego, who starts to have a change of heart about his mission.  The next day, the herd approaches the ambush, causing Diego, now full of respect for Manny for saving his life to change his mind and confess to Manny and Sid about the ambush. As the pair turn hostile towards him, Diego asks for their trust and tries to foil the attack. The herd battles Soto's pack, but despite their efforts, Soto and his associates manage to corner Manny. As Soto closes in for the kill on Manny, Diego sacrifices himself by jumping in the way and is injured as a result. Manny then knocks a distracted Soto into a rock wall, causing several sharp icicles to fall onto Soto, impaling and instantly killing him. Horrified, the rest of the pack retreat. Manny and Sid mourn for Diego's injury, which they believe is fatal, and continue their journey without him. The two manage to successfully return Roshan to his tribe, and to their surprise, Diego manages to rejoin them, in time to see Roshan leave. The group then begin to head off to warmer climates.  20,000 years later, Scrat, frozen in a block of ice, ends up on the shores of a tropical island. As the ice slowly melts, an acorn that was also frozen in the same ice block is washed away. Scrat then finds a coconut and tries to stomp it into the ground, only to accidentally trigger a volcanic eruption.

Cast.

The characters are all prehistoric animals. The animals can talk to and understand each other and are voiced by a variety of famous actors. Like many films of prehistoric life, the rules of time periods apply very loosely, as many of the species shown in the film never actually lived in the same time periods or the same geographic regions.

Production.

Development.

"Ice Age" was originally pitched to 20th Century Fox in 1997 by producer Lori Forte. The film, originally envisioned as a traditionally animated movie with an action-oriented comedy-drama tone, was intended to be developed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's Fox Animation Studios. Around the same time, Blue Sky Studios, a small visual effects studio in White Plains, New York, was bought out by Fox and reshaped into a full-fledged CG animation film studio. In light of this, Fox Animation head Chris Meledandri and executive producer Steve Bannerman approached Forte with the proposition of developing the film as a computer-animated movie, which Forte realized was "basically a no-brainer," according to her. Michael J. Wilson, who had written and developed the film's original story treatments in conjunction with Forte, wrote the first draft for the script, and Chris Wedge, a co-founder of Blue Sky, was brought on to the project as the director in late 1998. Fox also opted for the movie to take a more comedy-oriented direction (albeit while still maintaining some dramatic elements), and brought writer Michael Berg to help emphasize a funnier tone. After being hired, Berg reportedly told the studio that he couldn't write a kid's film, to which the studio responded "Great! Just write a good story."  Story development began in spring of 1999, and official production on the movie began in June 2000, one week following the closure of Fox Animation Studios. 150 employees were hired to work on the movie, and a budget of $58 million was granted by Fox. Peter Ackerman was hired as a third writer for the movie, and collaborated extensively with Berg for three years before the two eventually moved on from the project. Jon Vitti and Mike Reiss, both former writers for "The Simpsons", were added later on after Berg and Ackerman left to further polish the script.  For research, the film's development team took several trips to the Museum of Natural History early on in production in order to make sure that the film authentically felt like the Ice Age. Ultimately, the team translated the information that they had compiled in their research by stylizing it in order to fit with the film's story. A team of 32 animators went out and did research to figure out the movements of different animals; for instance, for the movement of Scrat, animators visited a park and observed local squirrels, taking note of their "twitchy" way of moving.

Writing and character development.

Michael J. Wilson stated on his blog that his daughter Flora came up with the idea for an animal that was a mixture of both squirrel and rat, naming it Scrat, and that the animal was obsessed with pursuing his acorn. The plan to have Scrat talk was quickly dropped, as he worked better as a silent character for comedic effect. The name 'Scrat' is a combination of the words'squirrel' and 'rat', as Scrat has characteristics of both species; Wedge has also called him "saber-toothed squirrel." Scrat's opening adventure was inserted because, without it, the first real snow and ice sequence wouldn't take place until about 37 minutes into the film. This was the only role intended for Scrat, but he proved to be such a popular character with test audiences that he was given more scenes. The filmmakers made it so that many of the scenes with Scrat appear directly after dramatic moments in the film.  In a 2012 interview with Jay Leno, Denis Leary revealed that his character, Diego the sabertooth, originally died near the end of the film. However, it was reported that kids in the test audience bursted into tears when his death was shown. Leary himself warned the producers that something like this would happen. When it was proven true, the scene was re-written to ensure Diego survived.  Originally, Sid the Sloth was supposed to be a con-artist and a hustler, and there was even finished scene of the character conning some aardvark kids. His character was later changed to a talkative-clumsy sloth because the team felt the audience would have hated him. There was also an alternate scene of Sid in the hottub with the ladies which shows him saying to them "Let's jump in the gene pool and see what happens." One of the female sloths then kicks him in the groin. This was cut because it was not suitable for children and may have gotten the film a PG-13 rating. Other innuendos with Sid were also cut from the film. Sid was also supposed to have a female sloth named Sylvia (voiced by Kristen Johnston) chasing after him, whom he despised and kept ditching. All the removed scenes can be seen on the DVD.

Animation.

The characters and environments in "Ice Age" were modeled and animated using WaveFront's Maya animation software. Rendering was completed using CGI Studio, an in-house ray tracing program being developed since Blue Sky's formation in 1987 and previously used for Wedge's 1998 short film, "Bunny". While "", released three months before "Ice Age", became the first computer-animated film to make use of ray tracing technology, "Ice Age" would have received the distinction had it been released at the time Blue Sky began work on the movie.  In order to keep the film at a more exciting pace, the development team took certain liberties with Sid in terms of realism; although real-life ground sloths were slow-moving and rigid, Sid was given a fast movement speed in certain scenes, as well as a more flexible range of motions. Conversely, the character’s arm movements were more restricted in order to retain a sense of laziness true to the nature of sloths. Manny was a particularly difficult character to animate due to his unique attributes as a mammoth, such as his long fur and massive trunks that covered up his face. Dealing with a creature which had seldom appeared in animation at the time, the team needed to figure out how Manny would realistically move with character designer Pete DeSeve explaining that “a wooly mammoth isn’t simply an elephant with long fur”. According to co-director Carlos Saldanha, Diego was one of the most complexly animated characters in the movie, with some scenes showing off his high movement speed as a sabre-toothed tiger while others kept his movement more contained and focused on his facial expressions to carry the moment.

Voice casting.

The voice cast of "Ice Age" was encouraged to make up their own dialogue during recording. Several lines in the film were improvised by the actors.  For Manny the Mammoth, the studio was initially looking at people with big voices. James Earl Jones and Ving Rhames were considered, but they sounded too obvious and Wedge wanted more comedy. Instead, the role was given to Ray Romano because they thought his voice sounded very elephant-like. Wedge described Romano's voice as deep and slow in delivery, but also with a "sarcastic wit behind it."  John Leguizamo, who provided the voice for Sid the Sloth, experimented with over 40 voices for the character, including a slower-sounding voice to fit with the lazy nature of a giant sloth. Leguizamo came up with the final voice for the character after watching footage of sloths and learning that they store food in the pockets of their mouths which ferments over time. Leguizamo remarked in an interview with BBC that he had wanted to contribute to an animated project for a while, claiming that cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc was "one of my comedy Gods" and a large source of inspiration for him as a child.

Music.

The official soundtrack to "Ice Age" was released on May 14, 2002 by Varèse Sarabande. The soundtrack consists of the original musical score composed for the film by David Newman and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The song "Send Me on My Way" by Rusted Root is also featured in the film but is absent from the album.

Release.

Box office.

"Ice Age" was released on March 15, 2002, and had a $46.3 million opening weekend, a large number not usually seen until the summer season, and way ahead of Fox's most optimistic projection of about $30 million. "Ice Age" broke the record for a March opening (later surpassed in 2006 by its sequel, "") and at the time was the third-best opening ever for an animated feature—after "Monsters, Inc." ($62.6 million) and "Toy Story 2" ($57.4 million). "Ice Age" finished its domestic box office run with $176,387,405 and grossed $383,257,136 worldwide, being the 9th highest gross of 2002 in North America and the 8th best worldwide at the time.

Critical reception.

"Ice Age" holds a 77% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 166 reviews, with an average rating of 6.85/10. The site's consensus reads: "Even though "Ice Age" is treading over the same grounds as "Monsters, Inc." and "Shrek", it has enough wit and laughs to stand on its own." Similar site Metacritic had a score of 60% out of 31 reviews, meaning "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote "I came to scoff and stayed to smile". Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times called the film a "blandly likeable computer-animation extravaganza", comparing the film's plot to the Western film "3 Godfathers".  CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave "Ice Age" an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades.

"Ice Age" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, losing to "Spirited Away".  The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Home media.

The initial home video release for "Ice Age" was accompanied by an $85 million marketing campaign involving promotional partnerships with 14 different companies, including Microsoft, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr., Dole, Langer's, Valpak, Cold Stone Creamery, and the National Hockey League. The movie was released on 2-disc DVD, VHS and D-Theater on November 26, 2002. All three releases included "Gone Nutty", a short film starring Scrat and detailing his further antics as he tries to bury his acorn. Another single disc release was released February 5, 2005, and the next year a new two-disc release with extra features on March 14, 2006. The film was released on Blu-ray on March 4, 2008, and beside "Gone Nutty", it included 9 minutes of deleted scenes.  "Ice Age" was included on The Walt Disney Company's streaming service Disney+ on March 1, 2020.

Video game.

A tie-in video game was developed by Artificial Mind and Movement and published by Ubisoft for the Game Boy Advance. A platform game, it has the player controlling Sid and Manny through 10 levels as they carry Roshan. The game holds an aggregate ranking of 46.00% on GameRankings and 47/100 on Metacritic.

Sequels.

Since the release of "Ice Age", several sequels have followed. "", the first sequel, was released on March 31, 2006, following the main characters trying to escape a massive flooding due to global warming, as well as Manny's concern over whether or not his species is going extinct. A third installment, "", was released in 2009, followed by a fourth film, "", in 2012. The fifth and latest installment, "", was released on July 22, 2016. With the release of "Collision Course", the "Ice Age" series became the first animated movie franchise to house five theatrical installments. The sequels experienced steadily declining critical reception but were box office successes nonetheless.

Ice Age is a 2002 American computer-animated comedy film directed by Chris Wedge and co-directed by Carlos Saldanha from a story by Michael J. Wilson. Produced by Blue Sky Studios as its first feature film, it was released by 20th Century Fox on March 15, 2002. The film features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary. Set during the days of the ice age, the film centers around three main characters - Manny (Romano), a no-nonsense woolly mammoth; Sid (Leguizamo), a loudmouthed ground sloth; and Diego (Leary), a sardonic saber-tooth tiger - who come across a human baby and work together to return it to its tribe. Additionally, the film occasionally follows Scrat, a speechless "saber-toothed squirrel" voiced by Wedge who is perpetually searching for a place in the ground to bury his acorn.

Doba ledová je americký animovaný film vyrobený ve studiích firmy Blue Sky Studios a v roce 2002 vydaný společností 20th Century Fox. Film režírovali Carlos Saldanha a Chris Wedge podle scénáře Michaela J. Wilsona, příběh je o třech pravěkých zvířatech, které se snaží doručit lidské mládě zpět rodičům.


Uses.

In industry, hexanes are used in the formulation of glues for shoes, leather products, and roofing. They are also used to extract cooking oils (such as canola oil or soy oil) from seeds, for cleansing and degreasing a variety of items, and in textile manufacturing. They are commonly used in food based soybean oil extraction in the United States, and are potentially present as contaminants in all soy food products in which the technique is used; the lack of regulation by the FDA of this contaminant is a matter of some controversy.  A typical laboratory use of hexanes is to extract oil and grease contaminants from water and soil for analysis. Since hexane cannot be easily deprotonated, it is used in the laboratory for reactions that involve very strong bases, such as the preparation of organolithiums. For example, butyllithiums are typically supplied as a hexane solution.  Hexanes are commonly used in chromatography as a non-polar solvent. Higher alkanes present as impurities in hexanes have similar retention times as the solvent, meaning that fractions containing hexane will also contain these impurities. In preparative chromatography, concentration of a large volume of hexanes can result in a sample that is appreciably contaminated by alkanes. This may result in a solid compound being obtained as an oil and the alkanes may interfere with analysis.

Production.

Hexanes are chiefly obtained by refining crude oil. The exact composition of the fraction depends largely on the source of the oil (crude or reformed) and the constraints of the refining. The industrial product (usually around 50% by weight of the straight-chain isomer) is the fraction boiling at.

Physical properties.

All alkanes are colorless. The boiling points of the various hexanes are somewhat similar and, as for other alkanes, are generally lower for the more branched forms. The melting points are quite different and the trend is not apparent.  Hexane has considerable vapor pressure at room temperature:

Reactivity.

Like most alkanes, hexane characteristically exhibits low reactivity and are suitable solvents for reactive compounds. Commercial samples of n-hexane however often contains methylcyclopentane, which features tertiary C-H bonds, which are incompatible with some radical reactions.

Safety.

The acute toxicity of hexane is rather low. Inhalation of "n"-hexane at 5000 ppm for 10 minutes produces marked vertigo; 2500-1000 ppm for 12 hours produces drowsiness, fatigue, loss of appetite, and paresthesia in the distal extremities; 2500–5000 ppm produces muscle weakness, cold pulsation in the extremities, blurred vision, headache and anorexia. Chronic occupational exposure to elevated levels of n-hexane has been demonstrated to be associated with peripheral neuropathy in auto mechanics in the US, and neurotoxicity in workers in printing presses, and shoe and furnature factories in Asia, Europe, and North America.  The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) for hexane isomers (not n-hexane) of 100 ppm () over an 8-hour workday. However, for n-hexane, the current NIOSH REL is 50 ppm () over an 8-hour workday. This limit was proposed as a permissible exposure limit (PEL) by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1989; however, this PEL was overruled in US courts in 1992. The current n-hexane PEL in the US is 500 ppm ().  Hexane and other volatile hydrocarbons (petroleum ether) present an aspiration risk. "n"-Hexane is sometimes used as a denaturant for alcohol, and as a cleaning agent in the textile, furniture, and leather industries. It is slowly being replaced with other solvents.  Like gasoline, hexane is highly volatile and is an explosion risk.

Incidents.

Occupational hexane poisoning has occurred with Japanese sandal workers, Italian shoe workers, Taiwan press proofing workers, and others. Analysis of Taiwanese workers has shown occupational exposure to substances including "n"-hexane. In 2010–2011, Chinese workers manufacturing iPhones were reported to have suffered hexane poisoning.  Hexane was identified as being the cause of the Louisville sewer explosions on February 13, 1981, that destroyed more than 13 miles (21 km) of sewer lines and streets in the center of Louisville in Kentucky, United States

Biotransformation.

"n"-Hexane is biotransformed to 2-hexanol and further to 2,5-hexanediol in the body. The conversion is catalyzed by the enzyme cytochrome P450 utilizing oxygen from air. The pathway is called omega oxidation. 2,5-Hexanediol may be further oxidized to 2,5-hexanedione, which is neurotoxic and produces a polyneuropathy. In view of this behavior, replacement of "n"-hexane as a solvent has been discussed. "n"-Heptane is a possible alternative.

Hexane () is an straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and has the molecular formula CH. Hexane is a significant constituent of gasoline. It is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with boiling points approximately. It is widely used as a cheap, relatively safe, largely unreactive, and easily evaporated non-polar solvent.

Hexan je uhlovodík s chemickým vzorcem CH. Předpona "hex" odkazuje na šest uhlíků, zatímco "an" naznačuje, že uhlíky jsou spojeny jednoduchými vazbami (tj. hexan patří mezi alkany). Izomery hexanu jsou převážně nereaktivní, a jsou často používány jako inertní rozpouštědlo v organických reakcích, protože jsou velmi nepolární. Jsou také součástí benzínu a lepidla používaná pro obuv, kožené výrobky a střešní krytiny. V laboratořích se hexan používá k extrakci oleje a maziva z vody a půdy před stanovením gravimetrickou analýzou nebo plynovou chromatografií.


Character creation.

In Conan Doyle's early rough plot outlines, Sherlock Holmes's associate was named "Ormond Sacker" before Conan Doyle finally settled on "John Watson". He was probably inspired by one of Doyle's colleagues, Dr James Watson. William L. DeAndrea wrote that "Watson also serves the important function of catalyst for Holmes's mental processes... From the writer's point of view, Doyle knew the importance of having someone to whom the detective can make enigmatic remarks, a consciousness that's privy to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions drawn from them until the proper time. Any character who performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be known as a 'Watson'."  Dr Watson shares some similarities with the narrator of Edgar Allan Poe's stories about fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin, created in 1841, though unlike Watson, Poe's narrator remains unnamed.

Fictional character biography.

Dr Watson's first name is mentioned on only four occasions. Part one of the very first Sherlock Holmes story, "A Study in Scarlet", is subtitled "Being a reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department". The preface of the collection "His Last Bow" is signed "John H. Watson, M.D.", and in "The Problem of Thor Bridge", Watson says that his dispatch box is labelled "John H. Watson, M.D." His wife Mary Watson appears to refer to him as "James" in "The Man with the Twisted Lip"; Dorothy L. Sayers speculates that Mary may be using his middle name Hamish (an Anglicisation of, the vocative form of, the Scottish Gaelic for James), though Doyle himself never addresses this beyond including the initial. David W. Merrell, on the other hand, concludes that Mary is not referring to her husband at all but rather to (the surname of) their servant.  In "A Study in Scarlet", Watson, as the narrator, establishes having studied at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, receiving his medical degree from the University of London in 1878, and subsequently being trained at Netley as an assistant surgeon in the British Army. (In a non-canonical story, "The Field Bazaar", Watson is described as having received his Bachelor of Medicine from Doyle's "alma mater", Edinburgh University; this would likely have been in 1874.) He joined British forces in India with the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers before being attached to the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot, saw service in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, was wounded at the Battle of Maiwand (July 1880) by a jezail bullet, suffered enteric fever and was sent back to England on the troopship HMS "Orontes" following his recovery. With his health ruined, he was then given a daily pension of 11 shillings and 6 pence for nine months.  In 1881, Watson is introduced by his friend Stamford to Sherlock Holmes, who is looking for someone to share rent at a flat in 221B Baker Street. Concluding that they are compatible, they subsequently move into the flat. When Watson notices multiple eccentric guests frequenting the flat, Holmes reveals that he is a "consulting detective" and that the guests are his clients.  Watson witnesses Holmes's skills of deduction on their first case together, concerning a series of murders related to Mormon intrigue. When the case is solved, Watson is angered that Holmes is not given any credit for it by the press. When Holmes refuses to record and publish his account of the adventure, Watson endeavours to do so himself. In time, Holmes and Watson become close friends.  In "The Sign of the Four", John Watson becomes engaged to Mary Morstan, a governess. In "The Adventure of the Empty House", a reference by Watson to "my own sad bereavement" implies that Morstan has died by the time Holmes returns after faking his death; that fact is confirmed when Watson moves back to Baker Street to share lodgings with Holmes. In "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" (set in January 1903), Holmes mentions that "Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife", but this wife was never named or described.  At the beginning of "A Study in Scarlet", Watson states he had "neither kith nor kin in England". In the "Sign of the Four", it is established his father and older brother are deceased, and both shared the initial 'H', when Holmes examines an old watch in Watson's possession, formerly his father's before inherited by his brother. Holmes estimates the watch to have a value of 50 guineas. Holmes deduced from the watch that Watson's brother was "a man of untidy habits—very untidy and careless. He was left with good prospects but threw away his chances, lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity and finally, taking to drink he died". Holmes explains his reasoning: The Initials on the watch "J.H' as well as the 50 year old style of the watch tell Holmes that it belonged to Watson father [he had the same name as Dr Watson] and passed down to Watson elder brother; his untideness from the fact that the outside of the watchcase is dented [from being in the same pocket with coins and keys]. His good prospects is deduced from the fact that if he inherited a expensive 50 guineas watch he must have inherited substanial wealth as well. His poverty is evident from the fact that inside the watch case are 4 claim numbers scratched by pawnbrokers; his prosperity is from the fact he was able to redeem the watch; his heavy drinking is from the fact that around the watch winding hole are scratches from the key-an unsteady drunkard's hand trying to wind the watch up at night.

Watson as Holmes's biographer.

Throughout Doyle's novels, Watson is presented as Holmes's biographer. At the end of the first published Holmes story, "A Study in Scarlet", Watson is so incensed by Scotland Yard's claiming full credit for its solution that he exclaims: "Your merits should be publicly recognised. You should publish an account of the case. If you won't, I will for you". Holmes suavely responds: "You may do what you like, Doctor". Therefore, the story is presented as "a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson", and most other stories of the series share this by implication.  In the first chapter of "The Sign of Four", Holmes comments on Watson's first effort as a biographer: "I glanced over it. Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism... The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes, by which I succeeded in unravelling it"; whereupon Watson admits, "I was annoyed at this criticism of a work which had been specially designed to please him. I confess, too, that I was irritated by the egotism which seemed to demand that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special doings".  In "The Adventure of Silver Blaze", Holmes confesses: "I made a blunder, my dear Watson—which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than anyone would think who only knew me through your memoirs"; and in "The Hound of the Baskervilles", chapters 5–6, Holmes says: "Watson, Watson, if you are an honest man you will record this also and set it against my successes!"; whereas in his prologue to "The Adventure of the Yellow Face", Watson himself remarked: "In publishing these short sketches [of Holmes's cases]... it is only natural that I should dwell rather upon his successes than upon his failures", on grounds that where Holmes failed, often nobody else succeeded.  Sometimes Watson (and through him, Conan Doyle) seems determined to stop publishing stories about Holmes: in "The Adventure of the Second Stain", Watson declares that he had intended the previous story (“The Adventure of the Abbey Grange”) "to be the last of those exploits of my friend, Mr Sherlock Holmes, which I should ever communicate to the public", but later decided that "this long series of episodes should culminate in the most important international case which he has ever been called upon to handle" ("The Second Stain" being that case). Despite this, it was succeeded by twenty other stories.  In the later stories, written after Holmes's retirement (c. 1903–04), Watson repeatedly refers to "notes of many hundreds of cases to which I have never alluded”, on grounds that after Holmes's retirement, the detective showed reluctance "to the continued publication of his experiences. So long as he was in actual professional practice the records of his successes were of some practical value to him, but since he has definitely retired...notoriety has become hateful to him" ("The Adventure of the Second Stain"). After Holmes's retirement, Watson often cites special permission from his friend for the publication of further stories; but received occasional unsolicited suggestions from Holmes of what stories to tell, as noted at the beginning of "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot".  In "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier", one of only two stories narrated by Holmes himself, the detective remarks about Watson: "I have often had occasion to point out to him how superficial are his accounts and to accuse him of pandering to popular taste instead of confining himself rigidly to facts and figures"; but the narrative style seldom differs, and Holmes confesses that Watson would have been the better choice to write the story, noting when he starts writing that he quickly realizes the importance of presenting the tale in a manner that would interest the reader. In any case, Holmes regularly referred to Watson as my "faithful friend and biographer", and once exclaims, "I am lost without my Boswell".  At the beginning of "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger", Watson makes strong claims about "the discretion and high sense of professional honour" that govern his work as Holmes's biographer, but which do not keep Watson from expressing himself and quoting Holmes with candour of their antagonists and their clients. In "The Red-Headed League", for example, Watson introduces Jabez Wilson: "Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow"—wearing "a not over-clean black frock-coat".

Personal characteristics.

Physical appearance.

In "A Study in Scarlet", having just returned from Afghanistan, John Watson is described "as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut." In subsequent texts, he is variously described as strongly built, of a stature either average or slightly above average, with a thick, strong neck and a small moustache.  Watson used to be an athlete: it is mentioned in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" (1924) that he used to play rugby union for Blackheath, but he fears his physical condition has declined since that point. In "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" (1899), Watson is described as "a middle-sized, strongly built man—square jaw, thick neck, moustache..." In "His Last Bow", set in August 1914, Watson is described as "...a heavily built, elderly man with a grey moustache...".

Skills and personality.

John Watson is intelligent, if lacking in Holmes's insight, and serves as a perfect foil for Holmes: the archetypal late Victorian / Edwardian gentleman against the brilliant, emotionally detached analytical machine. Furthermore, he is considered an excellent doctor and surgeon, especially by Holmes. For instance, in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," Holmes creates a ruse that he is deathly ill to lure a suspect to his presence, which must fool Watson as well during its enactment. To that effect in addition to elaborate makeup and starving himself for a few days for the necessary appearance, Holmes firmly claims to Watson that he is highly contagious to the touch, knowing full well that the doctor would immediately deduce his true medical condition upon examination.  Watson is well aware of both the limits of his abilities and Holmes's reliance on him:  Watson sometimes attempts to solve crimes on his own, using Holmes's methods. For example, in "The Hound of the Baskervilles," Watson efficiently clears up several of the many mysteries confronting the pair including Barrymore's strange candle movements turning out to be signals to his brother-in-law Seldan, and Holmes praises him for his zeal and intelligence. However, because he is not endowed with Holmes's almost-superhuman ability to focus on the essential details of the case and Holmes's extraordinary range of recondite, specialised knowledge, Watson meets with limited success in other cases. Holmes summed up the problem that Watson confronted in one memorable rebuke from "A Scandal in Bohemia": "Quite so... you see, but you do not observe." In "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist," Watson's attempts to assist Holmes's investigation prove unsuccessful because of his unimaginative approach, for example, asking a London estate agent who lives in a particular country residence. (According to Holmes, what he should have done was "gone to the nearest public house" and listened to the gossip.) Watson is too guileless to be a proper detective. And yet, as Holmes acknowledges, Watson has unexpected depths about him; for example, he has a definite strain of "pawky humour", as Holmes observes in "The Valley of Fear". Watson never masters Holmes's deductive methods, but he can be astute enough to follow his friend's reasoning after the fact. In "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder," Holmes notes that John Hector McFarlane is "a bachelor, a solicitor, a Freemason, and an asthmatic". Watson comments as narrator: "Familiar as I was with my friend's methods, it was not difficult for me to follow his deductions, and to observe the untidiness of attire, the sheaf of legal papers, the watch-charm, and the breathing which had prompted them." Similar episodes occur in "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot," "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist," and "The Adventure of the Resident Patient." In "The Adventure of the Red Circle", we find a rare instance in which Watson rather than Holmes correctly deduces a fact of value. In "The Hound of the Baskervilles", Watson shows that he has picked up some of Holmes's skills at dealing with people from whom information is desired. (As he observes to the reader, "I have not lived for years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing." )  Watson is endowed with a strong sense of honour. At the beginning of "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger," Watson makes strong claims about "the discretion and high sense of professional honour" that govern his work as Holmes's biographer, but discretion and professional honour do not block Watson from expressing himself and quoting Holmes with remarkable candor on the characters of their antagonists and their clients. Despite Watson's frequent expressions of admiration and friendship for Holmes, the many stresses and strains of living and working with the detective make themselves evident in Watson's occasional harshness of character. The most controversial of these matters is Watson's candor about Holmes's drug use. Though the use of cocaine was legal and common in Holmes's era, Watson directly criticizes Holmes's habits.  Watson is also represented as being very discreet in character. The events related in "The Adventure of the Second Stain" are supposedly very sensitive: "If in telling the story I seem to be somewhat vague in certain details, the public will readily understand that there is an excellent reason for my reticence. It was, then, in a year, and even in a decade, that shall be nameless, that upon one Tuesday morning in autumn we found two visitors of European fame within the walls of our humble room in Baker Street." Furthermore, in "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger," Watson notes that he has "made a slight change of name and place" when presenting that story. Here he is direct about a method of preserving discretion and confidentiality that other scholars have inferred from the stories, with pseudonyms replacing the "real" names of clients, witnesses, and culprits alike, and altered place-names replacing the real locations.

Influence.

As the first person narrator of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, Watson has inspired the creation of many similar narrator characters. After the appearance of Dr Watson, the use of a "Watsonian narrator", a character like Watson who has a reason to be close to the detective but cannot follow or understand the detective's line of investigation, became "a standard feature of the classical detective story". This type of character has been called "the Watson".  The Holmes-Watson partnership, consisting of a "brilliant yet flawed detective" and a "humbler but dependable and sympathetic sidekick", influenced the creation of similar teams in British detective fiction throughout the twentieth century, from detective Hercule Poirot and Poirot's companion Captain Hastings (created by author Agatha Christie in 1920), to Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis, introduced in 1975. Watson also influenced the creation of other fictional narrators, such as Bunny Manders (the sidekick of gentleman thief A. J. Raffles, created by E. W. Hornung in 1898) and the American character Archie Goodwin (the assistant of detective Nero Wolfe, created by Rex Stout in 1934).  Microsoft named the debugger in Microsoft Windows "Dr. Watson".

Adaptations.

Theatre.

Bruce McRae created the character of Dr Watson in the 1899 Broadway production of "Sherlock Holmes", a play by William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Film.

Actors to play Watson in early film adaptations of "Sherlock Holmes" include Edward Fielding (1916), Roland Young (1922), Ian Fleming (1931), Athole Stewart ("The Speckled Band", 1931), Ian Hunter ("The Sign of Four", 1932), Reginald Owen (1932) and Warburton Gamble ("A Study in Scarlet", 1933). The series of Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson portrayed the doctor as a lovable but incompetent assistant. Some later treatments have presented a more competent Watson. Watson was played by actor André Morell in the 1959 film version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", wherein Morell preferred that his version of Watson should be closer to that originally depicted in Conan Doyle's stories, not Nigel Bruce's interpretation. Other depictions include Robert Duvall opposite Nicol Williamson's Holmes in "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" (1978); Donald Houston, who played Watson to John Neville's Holmes in "A Study in Terror" (1965); a rather belligerent, acerbic Watson portrayed by Colin Blakely in Billy Wilder's "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1970), in which Holmes was played by Robert Stephens (who starts the rumour that they are homosexual lovers to discourage female interest); and James Mason's portrayal in "Murder by Decree" (1978), with Christopher Plummer as Holmes. Alan Cox played a teenage Watson in the 1985 film "Young Sherlock Holmes", narrated by Michael Hordern as an older Watson. Ian Hart portrayed a young, capable, and fit Watson twice for BBC Television, once opposite Richard Roxburgh as Holmes (in a 2002 adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles") and for a second time opposite Rupert Everett as the Great Detective in the new story "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking" (2004).  In the Soviet Sherlock Holmes film series, directed by Igor Maslennikov, Dr Watson was played by Vitaly Solomin. He is portrayed as a brave and intelligent man, but not especially physically strong.  In the 1988 parody film "Without a Clue", the roles of a witless Watson and an extremely intelligent Holmes are reversed. In the film, Holmes (Michael Caine) is an invention of Watson (Ben Kingsley) played by an alcoholic actor; when Watson initially offers suggestions on how to solve a case to some visiting policemen, he is at the time applying for a post in an exclusive medical practice, and so invents the fictional Holmes to avoid attracting attention to himself, continuing the "lie" of Holmes's existence after he fails to get the post. At the same time, Watson becomes increasingly frustrated that his own talents are unrecognised, and unavailingly attempts to win celebrity for himself as "the Crime Doctor."  In the Guy Ritchie-directed "Sherlock Holmes" movies, Watson is portrayed by Jude Law. Law portrays Watson as knowledgeable, brave, strong-willed, and thoroughly professional, as well as a competent detective in his own right. Apart from being armed with his trademark sidearm, his film incarnation is also a capable swordsman. The film portrays Watson as having a gambling problem, which William S. Baring-Gould had inferred from a reference in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" to Holmes keeping Watson's cheque book locked in a drawer in his desk. Law also portrayed Watson in the 2011 sequel, "".  Watson appears on the 2010 direct-to-DVD Asylum film "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes", a science fiction reinvention in which he was portrayed by actor Gareth David-Lloyd. At the beginning of the film, Watson is an elderly man portrayed by David Shackleton during the Blitz in 1940. He tells his nurse the tale of the adventure which he and Holmes vowed never to tell the public. In 1889, he is a home doctor and personal physician and biographer of Sherlock Holmes (Ben Syder). Here, Watson is portrayed as easily confused by Holmes's abilities, but the story is set in 1881, the same year as "A Study in Scarlet", which may account for this. He is a skilled gunman and is loyal, if often irritated, by Holmes's methods.  Watson, portrayed by Colin Starkey, appears briefly in the 2015 film "Mr. Holmes" (although he has no dialogue and his face is not shown). Reflecting on his career as a detective, Holmes (Ian McKellen) comments that Watson took considerable latitude in writing up the cases for publication, to the point that he views the finished products as little more than "penny dreadfuls." Holmes remarks that several key details of his literary counterpart, including his pipe, deerstalker hat, and 221B Baker Street address, were entirely fictitious.  The 2015 mashup anime film "The Empire of Corpses" features a younger, re-imagined Watson as the protagonist, in a steampunk world where the dead are reanimated and used as a labor force. He was voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya in Japanese, and Jason Liebrecht in the English dub.

Television.

Examples of a more competent Watson on television are the portrayals by David Burke and later by Edward Hardwicke in the 1980s and 1990s television series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes," all starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes.  The 1950s Sherlock Holmes US TV series featured Howard Marion-Crawford as a stable Watson with a knockout punch.  In the TV series, "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" (1999–2001), Holmes acquires a 'new' Watson in the form of a robot. The robot, having absorbed all lore of the original, believes itself to be Watson, and Holmes treats it as such, concluding that the "spirit" is Watson's though the "body" is not.  In the TV series "Sanctuary", Dr. James Watson (Peter Wingfield) is a member of "The Five" and the actual detective in the Conan Doyle stories. The character of Holmes is created and Watson is made his sidekick at Watson's request to Conan Doyle.  In the 2010 BBC television show "Sherlock", Martin Freeman portrays Watson as a discharged military doctor who strikes a complicated yet good friendship with the brilliant but eccentric Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch). As with the original character, Watson served in the British Army in Afghanistan. The adaptation is set in contemporary London.  The 2012 CBS show ""Elementary"" changes the character to an Asian American woman, Dr Joan H. Watson (Lucy Liu), an ex-surgeon turned sober companion. She is appointed to monitor the recovery of former heroin addict Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), but takes to detective work, becoming his protégée and eventually his partner. The adaptation is set in New York.  In the 2013 Russian adaptation "Sherlock Holmes", Dr Watson is portrayed as older than Holmes. The character was played by Andrei Panin, in his last role, as he died shortly after the filming was finished.  In the 2014 Japanese puppetry series "Sherlock Holmes", John H. Watson, a doctor's son and transfer student from Australia, becomes the roommate of Sherlock Holmes in 221B of Baker House. Though initially at a loss as to how to deal with Holmes, he becomes close to his strange roommate. He records Holmes' investigation in a notebook known as "Watoson memo", ("Memo of John H. Watson") and writes articles based on it for the school's wall newspaper. Wataru Takagi voices him and narrates the show.  In the 2018 Japanese drama series "Miss Sherlock" both lead characters are re-imagined as female. Dr. Wato Tachibana (Shihori Kanjiya) meets Sara “Sherlock” Futaba (Yuko Takeuchi) after becoming the witness of her mentor’s death. Soon she assists her in this event’s investigation and becomes her flatmate, friend and assistant. Sherlock calls her “Wato-san”, which sounds similar to “Watson”.  In the 2019 Japanese animated series "", Yuichi Nakamura voices a reimagined John H. Watson who is an assistant to Sherlock Holmes in Kabukicho.  Watson has also been depicted in various ways in other television series. In the TV series "", the character Geordi La Forge takes on the role of Dr. Watson in holodeck simulations with his shipmate and friend, Data. In the first season of "The Muppet Show" there is a skit starring Rowlf the Dog as Sherlock Holmes and Baskerville the Hound as Dr Watson that is titled "The Case of the Disappearing Clues."

Radio.

Nigel Bruce reprised his film role of Watson on the radio opposite first Basil Rathbone, then Tom Conway as Holmes in the 1940s.  Carleton Hobbs portrayed Holmes in a series of BBC radio broadcasts that ran from 1952 to 1969, with Norman Shelley playing Watson. Many of these were broadcast on Children's Hour. Of the many actors who have portrayed Holmes and Watson for the BBC, the Hobbs and Shelley duo is the longest running.  In 1954, Sir Ralph Richardson played Watson in a short radio series on NBC opposite Sir John Gielgud as Holmes.  Watson was also portrayed by English-born actor Michael Williams for the BBC Radio adaptation of the complete run of the Holmes canon from November 1989 to July 1998. Williams, together with Clive Merrison, who played Holmes, were the first actors to portray the Conan Doyle characters in all the short stories and novels of the canon. After Williams' death, the BBC continued the shows with "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Four series were produced, all written by Bert Coules who had been the head writer on the complete canon project, with Andrew Sachs starring opposite Merrison.  In 1998, "Imagination Theatre" received the rights from the estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle to produce new radio stories of Holmes and Watson. Lawrence Albert plays Watson to the Holmes of first John Gilbert and later John Patrick Lowrie in the radio series "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Lowrie and Albert also played Holmes and Watson respectively in "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", which adapted all of Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories and novels.

Video games.

Watson appears alongside Holmes in multiple Sherlock Holmes video games, such as "" (1991) and its two sequels, and "The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes" (1992) and its sequel. Watson also appears with Holmes in the "Sherlock Holmes" series of video games developed by Frogwares.  Dr Watson appears in "", where he is murdered during a visit to Japan. The protagonist, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō, is accused of his murder. Iris Watson, a 10-year-old daughter of Dr John Watson, takes his place as Sherlock Holmes's assistant.

Prose.

Stephen King, the American novelist, wrote a short story called "The Doctor's Case" in the 1993 collection "Nightmares & Dreamscapes", where Watson actually solves the case instead of Holmes. Watson appears as a supporting character in several of American author Laurie R. King's Mary Russell detective novels.  American author Michael Mallory began a series of stories in the mid-1990s featuring Watson's mysterious second wife, whom he called Amelia Watson. In "Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds", Watson's second wife is Violet Hunter, from "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches".

John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel "A Study in Scarlet" (1887). The last work by Doyle featuring Watson and Holmes is the short story "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (1927), though this is not the last story in the timeline of the series, which is "His Last Bow" (1917).

Doktor John Watson (též dr. John Hamish Watson) je fiktivní postava vymyšlená Arthurem Conanem Doylem. Je to přítel, příležitostný spolubydlící a také životopisec detektiva Sherlocka Holmese. V knihách vystupuje dr. Watson v roli vypravěče téměř všech Holmesových příběhů (jen dva příběhy vypráví sám Holmes a další dva jsou vyprávěny ve třetí osobě). Watson a Holmes podle Doyleových povídek bydleli v letech 1881–1904 ve viktoriánském domě na Baker Street.