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Larry Bird

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.

Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, Bird was a local basketball star. Highly recruited, he initially signed to play college basketball for coach Bob Knight of the Indiana Hoosiers, but Bird dropped out after one month and returned to French Lick and attended a local college. The next year, he attended Indiana State University, ultimately playing three years for the Sycamores. Selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft after his second year at Indiana State, Bird elected to stay in college and returned for the 1978–79 season. He then led his team to an undefeated regular season. The season finished with a national championship game match-up of Indiana State against Michigan State and featured a highly anticipated match-up of Bird against Michigan State great Magic Johnson, thus beginning a career-long rivalry that the two shared for over a decade. Michigan State won, ending the Sycamores' undefeated streak.

Bird entered the NBA for the 1979–80 season, where he made an immediate impact, starting at power forward and leading the Celtics to a 32-win improvement over the previous season before being eliminated from the playoffs in the conference finals. Bird played for the Celtics during his entire professional career (13 seasons), leading them to five NBA finals appearances and three NBA championships. Bird played most of his career with forward Kevin McHale and center Robert Parish, considered by some to be the greatest front court in NBA history. Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star, won two NBA Finals MVP awards and received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award three consecutive times (1984–1986), making him the only forward in league history to do so. Bird was also a member of the gold medal-winning 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team, known as the "Dream Team". He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice as a player—first in 1998 as an individual, and again in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team." Bird was voted onto the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list in 1996, and subsequently the 75th Anniversary Team list in 2021.

A versatile player at both forward positions, Bird could play both inside and outside, being one of the first players in the league to take advantage of the newly adopted three-point line. He was rated the greatest NBA small forward of all time by Fox Sports in 2016. After retiring as a player, Bird served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. He was named NBA Coach of the Year for the 1997–98 season and later led the Pacers to a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals. In 2003, Bird was named president of basketball operations for the Pacers, holding the position until retiring in 2012. He was named NBA Executive of the Year for the 2012 season. Bird returned to the Pacers as president of basketball operations in 2013, and remained in that role until 2017. Bird continued with the Pacers as an advisor until July 2022, then after nearly a year's break returned to the organization in the role of consultant.

Early life
Bird was born December 7, 1956, in West Baden Springs, Indiana, to Georgia Marie (née Kerns; 1930–1996) and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird (1926–1975), a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. His parents were of Irish, Scottish and some Native American descent. Bird has four brothers and a sister.

Bird was raised in nearby French Lick, where his mother worked two jobs to support Larry and his five siblings. Bird has said that being poor as a child still motivates him "to this day." Georgia and Joe divorced when Larry was in high school, and Joe committed suicide in February 1975.

Bird used basketball as an escape from his family troubles, starring for Springs Valley High School (Class of 1974) and averaging 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 4.0 assists as a senior on his way to becoming the school's all-time scoring leader. According to Bird, he grew up as a huge fan of the Indiana Pacers in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the 6'9 center Mel Daniels, who represented his first exposure to professional basketball. Bird's youngest brother, Eddie, also played basketball at Indiana State University, where Daniels would coincidentally become an assistant coach to the young Larry once he played there.

College career
Bird received a scholarship to play college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers under head coach Bob Knight in 1974. After less than a month on the Indiana University campus, Bird dropped out of school, finding the adjustment between his small hometown and the large student population of Bloomington to be overwhelming. Bird returned to French Lick, enrolling at Northwood Institute (now Northwood University) in nearby West Baden, and working municipal jobs for a year before enrolling at Indiana State University in Terre Haute in 1975. He had a successful three-year career with the Sycamores, helping them reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history with a 33–0 record where they played the 1979 championship game against Michigan State. Indiana State lost the game 75–64, with Bird scoring 19 points but making only 7 of 21 shots.

The game achieved the highest-ever television rating for a college basketball game, in large part because of the matchup between Bird and Spartans' point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson, a rivalry that lasted throughout their professional careers. Despite failing to win the championship, Bird earned numerous year-end awards and honors for his outstanding play, including the Naismith College Player of the Year Award. For his college career, Bird averaged 30.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, leading the Sycamores to an 81–13 record during his tenure. Bird also appeared in one game for the baseball team, going 1-for-2 with 2 RBI. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education.

Joining the Celtics (1978–1979)
Bird was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft. He did not sign with the Celtics immediately; instead, Bird played out his final season at Indiana State and led the Sycamores to the NCAA title game. Celtics general manager Red Auerbach publicly stated that he would not pay Bird more than any Celtic on the current roster, but Bird's agent Bob Woolf told Auerbach that Bird would reject any sub-market offers and simply enter the 1979 draft instead, where Boston's rights would expire when the draft began on June 25, and Bird would have been the likely top pick. After protracted negotiations, he signed a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the team on June 8, making Bird the highest-paid rookie in sports history. Shortly afterwards, NBA draft eligibility rules were changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they were ready to sign, a rule known as the Bird Collegiate Rule.

Early success (1979–1983)
In his rookie season (1979–80), Bird immediately transformed the Celtics into a title contender. The team improved its win total by 32 games from the year before he was drafted and finished first in the Eastern Conference. In his career debut, Bird recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a 114–106 victory over the Houston Rockets. On November 14, 1979, he recorded his first career triple-double with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in a 115–111 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Nine days later, Bird recorded his first 30-point scoring game (along with 11 rebounds and 3 assists) in a 118–103 victory over the Indiana Pacers. With averages of 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game for the season, he was selected to the All-Star Team and named Rookie of the Year. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston was eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Before the 1980–81 season, the Celtics selected forward Kevin McHale in the draft and acquired center Robert Parish from the Golden State Warriors, forming a Hall of Fame trio for years to come; the front-court of Bird, McHale, and Parish is regarded as one of the greatest front-courts in NBA history. Behind Bird's leadership and Boston's upgraded roster, the Celtics again advanced to the Conference Finals for a rematch with the 76ers. Boston fell behind 3–1 to start the series but won the next three games to advance to the Finals against the Houston Rockets, winning in six games and earning Bird his first championship. Bird averaged 21.9 points, 14 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.3 steals per game for the postseason and 15.3 points, 15.3 rebounds, and 7 assists per game for the Finals.

At the 1982 All-Star Game, Bird scored 19 points en route to winning the All-Star Game MVP Award. At the end of the season, he earned his first All-Defensive Team selection. Bird eventually finished runner-up in Most Valuable Player Award voting to Moses Malone. In the Conference Finals, the Celtics faced the 76ers for the third consecutive year, losing in seven games. Boston's misfortunes continued into the next season, with Bird again finishing second in MVP voting to Malone and the team losing in the conference semifinals to the Milwaukee Bucks.

MVP threepeat (1983–1986)

Bird was named MVP of the 1983–84 season with averages of 24.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. In the playoffs, the Celtics avenged their loss from the year before to the Bucks, winning in five games in the Conference Finals to advance to the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game 4, the Lakers—led by Bird's college rival Magic Johnson—were on the verge of taking a commanding 3–1 series lead before a flagrant foul was committed on Kurt Rambis that resulted in a brawl and caused the Lakers to lose their composure. Boston came back to win that game and eventually won the series in seven games. Bird was named Finals MVP behind 27.4 points, 14 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.

On December 9, 1984, Bird recorded 48 points to go along with 14 rebounds and 5 assists in a narrow 128–127 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. On March 12 of the 1984–85 season, Bird scored a career-high and franchise record 60 points in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. The performance came just nine days after Kevin McHale set the previous Celtics record for points in a game with 56. At the end of the year, Bird was named MVP for the second consecutive season, behind averages of 28.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game. Boston advanced through the playoffs to earn a rematch with the Lakers, this time losing in six games.

During the 1985 offseason, Bird injured his back shoveling crushed rock to create a driveway at his mother's house. At least partially as a result of this, Bird experienced back problems for the rest of his career.

Before the start of the 1985–86 season, the Celtics made a daring trade for Bill Walton, an All-Star center with a history of injury. The risk paid off; Walton's acquisition helped Boston win a league best 67 games. One of Bird's career highlights occurred at the 1986 NBA All-Star Weekend when he walked into the locker room at the inaugural Three-Point Shootout and asked who was going to finish second before winning the shootout.

On November 27, 1985, Bird recorded 47 points to go along with 12 rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a 132–124 victory over the Detroit Pistons. On March 10, 1986, he scored 50 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists in a narrow 116–115 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

With averages of 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, Bird became just the third player in NBA history to win three consecutive MVP Awards. In the playoffs, the Celtics lost only one game through the first three rounds en route to a match-up against the Rockets in the Finals. In Game 6 of the Finals against the Rockets, Bird recorded a triple-double of 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists as the Celtics won the Finals in six games. He averaged 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game for the championship round.

The 1985–86 Celtics are commonly ranked as one of the greatest basketball teams of all time, with the Boston Globe's Peter May and Grantland's Bill Simmons listing them at number one.

Falling short (1986–1988)
In 1987, the Celtics made their last Finals appearance of Bird's career, fighting through difficult series against the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons. In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Boston trailing the Pistons 107–106, Bird stole an inbound pass. Falling out of bounds, Bird turned and passed the ball to teammate Dennis Johnson, who converted a game-winning layup with less than a second left. The dramatic play saved the series for the Celtics. When they reached the NBA Finals, the Celtics lost to a dominant Lakers team that had won 65 games during the season. The Celtics ended up losing to the Lakers in six games, with Bird averaging 24.2 points on .445 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. The Celtics fell short in 1988 losing to the Detroit Pistons in six games in the Eastern Conference finals as the Pistons made up from the heartbreak the previous season. Between them, Bird and Johnson captured eight NBA championships during the 1980s, with Magic getting five and Bird three. During the 1980s, either Boston or Los Angeles appeared in every NBA Finals.

Throughout the 1980s, contests between the Celtics and the Lakers—both during the regular season and in the Finals—attracted enormous television audiences. The first regular-season game between the Celtics and the Lakers in the 1987–88 season proved to be a classic with Magic Johnson banking in an off-balance shot from near the three-point line at the buzzer for a narrow 115–114 Lakers victory at Boston Garden. The historical rift between the teams, which faced each other several times in championship series of the 1960s, fueled fan interest in the rivalry. The apparent contrast between the two players and their respective teams seemed scripted for television, as they were polar opposites in nearly every way conceivable. Bird was White, Johnson was Black; Bird was an introvert from a small town playing in blue-collar Boston, while Johnson was the gregarious personification of the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles; Bird's Celtics played gritty, physical, defence-first basketball, whereas Johnson ran the Lakers' fast-paced Showtime offense. A 1980s Converse commercial for its "Weapon" line of basketball shoes (endorsed by both Bird and Johnson) reflected the perceived dichotomy between the two players. In the commercial, Bird is practicing alone on a rural basketball court (in reality the court was one Bird had made on the property in French Lick that he had purchased for his mother), when Johnson pulls up in a sleek limousine and challenges him to a one-on-one match.

Despite the intensity of their rivalry, Bird and Johnson became friends off the court. Their friendship blossomed when the two players worked together to film the Converse commercial, which depicted them as archenemies. Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony on February 4, 1993, and emotionally described Bird as a "friend forever."

Late career (1988–1992)
The 1987–88 season was the highest-scoring season of Bird's career. In Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, Bird shot 9-of-10 from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points in that quarter and lifting the Celtics to a series-clinching victory. Bird finished with 34 points. His effort helped to overcome a 47-point performance by Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins. Wilkins remarked, "The basket was like a well. I couldn't miss. He couldn't miss. And it went down to the last shot of the game. Who was going to make the last shot? That's the greatest game I've ever played in or seen played." The Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in five years, losing to the Pistons in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals.

Bird's 1988–89 season ended after six games when he had bone spurs surgically removed from both of his heels. Bird returned to the Celtics in 1989, but debilitating back problems and an aging Celtic roster prevented him from regaining his prime form. Nonetheless, during the final years of his career, Bird maintained his status as one of the premier players in the game. In his final three seasons with the Celtics, Bird averaged over 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists per game, shot better than 45% from the field, and led the Celtics to playoff appearances.

After leading the Celtics to a 29–5 start to the 1990–91 season, Bird missed 22 games due to a compressed nerve root in his back, a condition that eventually led to his retirement. Bird had off-season surgery to remove a disc from his back, but his back problems continued and Bird missed 37 games during the 1991–92 season. During the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bird missed four of the seven games due to recurring back problems.

During Bird's final two seasons when he had serious back problems, the Celtics went 71–28 when he played. Without Bird, they had a 30–29 record, further demonstrating his importance and game-changing ability while on the court.

On August 18, 1992, Bird announced his retirement from the NBA. Following Bird's departure, the Celtics promptly retired his jersey number 33.

Rivalry with Magic Johnson
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are known to be "one of the greatest rivalries in sports." Their rivalry began in college, when Bird and Indiana State lost to Johnson and Michigan State in the NCAA Championship game. Their rivalry continued on in the revived Celtics–Lakers Rivalry in the NBA. Either the Celtics, led by Bird, or the Lakers, led by Magic, were present in every NBA Finals series in the '80s, with Bird and Magic meeting thrice. Magic got the upper hand against Bird, beating him in 1985 and 1987, while Bird beat Magic in 1984.

Journalists speculated that Bird and Magic represented different contrasts, such as clashes between Celtics and Lakers, between East and West, and between Blacks and Whites. But, as one journalist would say, "They looked different, perhaps, but take a chainsaw to their souls and they were fraternal, if not identical, friends." Watching Bird play was like watching Magic play, as they both shared this talent that the league had never seen before. They each had charisma, deft shooting touch, extraordinary passing skills, and team-oriented mindset that ignited their team and the crowd. This style of play was starting to influence a new horde of fans as they would sit and "marvel at what they [Bird and Magic] can do" while giving younger kids "a different perspective of the game."

Bird and Magic's presence on the court was only a small part of their contribution to basketball, as their rivalry changed the landscape of the NBA, transforming it from a "struggling, barely profitable league into a highly visible, financial and marketing dream for teams and players alike." Many people realized that the emergence of these two stars were linked with the rise in popularity of the NBA, as the NBA started to market towards these two stars.

National team career
During the summer of 1992, Bird joined Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and other NBA stars to play for the United States men's national basketball team in that year's Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. It was the first time in the United States' Olympic history that the country sent NBA players to compete. The "Dream Team" won the men's basketball gold medal. In eight games, Bird averaged 8.4 points. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame called the team "the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet."

Player profile and legacy
Bird was voted onto the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team list in 1996, and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame again in 2010, as a member of the "Dream Team." In 1999, Bird ranked No. 30 on ESPN SportsCentury's list of 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th century. He played both the small forward and power forward positions. Universally recognized as an all-time great player, Bird was placed at the power forward position on an NBA all-time starting five roster with fellow superstars Magic Johnson (point guard), Michael Jordan (shooting guard), LeBron James (small forward), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (center) in 2020.

Bird has been described as one of the greatest basketball players and greatest shooters of all time. He was selected to 12 NBA All-Star teams. Bird won three NBA championships (in 1981, 1984, and 1986) with the Celtics and won two NBA Finals MVP Awards. He won three consecutive regular season MVP awards; as of 2020, the only other players to accomplish this feat are Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Bird was also a four-time regular season MVP runner-up in 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1988. He is also remembered as one of the foremost clutch performers in the history of the NBA; Bird was known for his excellent play in high-stakes, high-pressure situations. In October 2021, as part of the NBA's 75th Anniversary, Bird was honored as one of the 75 greatest players of all time, by being named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. To commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary, The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Bird as the seventh greatest player in NBA history.

Bird scored 24.3 points per game in his career on a .496 field goal percentage, an .886 free throw percentage, and a .376 percentage on three-point shots. Bird had an average of 10.0 rebounds per game for his career and 6.3 assists. Bird was the first player in NBA history to shoot 50% or better on field goals, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free-throws in a single NBA season while achieving the league minimum for makes in each category. He accomplished this feat twice. Bird won NBA three-point-shooting contests in three consecutive years. He sometimes practiced shooting three-point shots with his eyes closed.

Bird is also remembered as an excellent passer and defender. While he was relatively slow, Bird displayed a knack for anticipating the moves of his opponent, making Bird a strong team defender. He had 1,556 career steals. In recognition of his defensive abilities, Bird was named to three All-Defensive Second Teams.

Bird was widely considered one of Red Auerbach's favorite players as he considered Bird to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Bird's humble roots were the source of his most frequently used moniker, "The Hick from French Lick." Bird was also referred to as "Larry Legend."

Bird was known for his trash-talking on the court and is remembered as one of the most notable trash-talkers of his era. Bird was known for telling his opponents how and where in the court he would score against them; Xavier McDaniel recounted that Bird predicted a game-winning shot against him, then "shot a shot right in my face and was like 'Damn, I didn't mean to leave two seconds on the clock.'" When playing against Dennis Rodman, a player known for his defensive abilities, in the 1987 Eastern Conference finals, Bird continually belittled Rodman's ability, at one point asking Chuck Daly, Detroit's head coach, to send in someone up to the task of guarding him.

At the 2019 NBA Awards, Bird received the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award (shared with Magic Johnson). Since 2022, the NBA will award the MVPs for the conference finals; the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy is named in Bird's honor, while the Western Conference trophy is named after Johnson.

Coaching and executive careers

The Celtics employed Bird as a special assistant in the team's front office from 1992 until 1997. In 1997, he accepted the position of coach of the Indiana Pacers. Bird said that he would be on the job for no more than three years. Despite having no previous coaching experience, Bird led the Pacers to a 58–24 record—the franchise's best as an NBA team at the time—in the 1997–98 season, and pushed the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year for his efforts. Bird then led the Pacers to consecutive Central Division titles in 1999 and 2000 and a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals. Bird resigned his head coaching position shortly after the end of the 2000 season, following through on his initial promise to coach for only three years.

In 2003, Bird was hired as the Indiana Pacers' president of basketball operations. After the 2011–2012 NBA season, he was named NBA Executive of the Year, becoming the only man in NBA history to win the NBA MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. On the day before the 2012 NBA draft, Bird and the Pacers announced that they would be parting ways; he said that health issues were among the reasons for his departure. Bird returned to the Pacers as president of basketball operations in 2013. He stepped down again in 2017, but stayed with the team in an advisory capacity. Bird continued to serve as an advisor until July 2022, when he "stepped back from maintaining an active role with the Indiana Pacers." Nearly a year later in June 2023, it was announced that the Pacers re-hired Bird to serve as a consultant.

Awards and honors
NBA USA Basketball NCAA Media Halls of Fame
 * 3× NBA champion
 * 2× NBA Finals MVP
 * 3× NBA Most Valuable Player (–)
 * 12× NBA All-Star (–, –)
 * NBA All-Star Game MVP
 * 9× All-NBA First Team (–)
 * All-NBA Second Team
 * 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (–)
 * NBA Rookie of the Year
 * NBA All-Rookie First Team
 * 3× Three-point Shootout champion (–)
 * 2× NBA three-point field goals leader
 * Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996
 * Selected on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021
 * No. 33 retired by Boston Celtics
 * Trophy named in Bird's honor (Larry Bird Trophy) awarded to Eastern Conference finals MVP (established in 2022)
 * NBA All-Star Game head coach (1998)
 * NBA Coach of the Year
 * NBA Executive of the Year
 * 1992 Olympic gold medal (U.S. national team)
 * John R. Wooden Award (1979)
 * Naismith College Player of the Year (1979)
 * Oscar Robertson Trophy (1979)
 * Adolph Rupp Trophy (1979)
 * NABC Player of the Year (1979)
 * 2× MVC Player of the Year (1978–1979)
 * 2× Consensus first team All-American (1978–1979)
 * No. 33 retired by Indiana State Sycamores
 * AP National Player of the Year (1979)
 * Two-time Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee:
 * 1998 – individual
 * 2010 – member of "The Dream Team"
 * College Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2006)
 * U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame (class of 2009 as a member of "The Dream Team")
 * FIBA Hall of Fame (class of 2017 as a member of "The Dream Team")

In popular culture

 * Bird has appeared in three movies, each time playing himself: Blue Chips with Nick Nolte, released in 1994 by Paramount; the Warner Brothers film Space Jam with Michael Jordan and Bill Murray, in 1996; and Celtic Pride with Dan Aykroyd, Daniel Stern, and Damon Wayans, which was also released in 1996.
 * Bird's likeness has appeared in several video games. In One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, Bird plays opposite Julius Erving in a game of one-on-one. A sequel, Jordan vs Bird: One on One, was a 1988 basketball video game. In 2011, Bird was featured on the cover of NBA 2K12, alongside Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Bird is also a playable character in the revamped NBA Jam.
 * In a McDonald's commercial from 1991 (first aired during the Super Bowl), Bird and Michael Jordan have a trick shot contest, in which the winner got Jordan's lunch and the loser had to watch the winner eat. In a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV, Dwight Howard and LeBron James challenge each other at trick shots for a McDonald's lunch. After they finish, clapping is heard, then the camera pans to the crowd, and Bird says "Great show, guys. Thanks for lunch." Howard and James share a confused look. Howard asks, "Who was that?" James replies, "I have no idea."
 * Until July 2023, Twitter's logo was named Larry in honor of Larry Bird.
 * Bird is portrayed by Sean Patrick Small in the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

Personal life
In 1975, Bird married Janet Condra. They remained married for less than a year. Following an attempted reconciliation, Bird and Condra had a daughter, Corrie, in 1977.

Bird married Dinah Mattingly in 1989. They have two adopted children: Conner and Mariah.

During his professional career with the Celtics, Bird lived in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Massachusetts.

title: Larry Bird


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Ogonek

The ogonek (Polish:, "little tail", diminutive of ogon) is a diacritic hook placed under the lower right corner of a vowel in the Latin alphabet used in several European languages, and directly under a vowel in several Native American languages. It is also placed on the lower right corner of consonants in some Latin transcriptions of various indigenous languages of the Caucasus mountains.

An ogonek can also be attached to the bottom of a vowel in Old Norse–Icelandic to show length or vowel affection. For example, in Old Norse, ǫ represents the Old Norwegian vowel, which in Old Icelandic merges with ø ‹ö› and in modern Scandinavian languages is represented by the letter å.

Use

 * Avestan romanization (letters ą, ą̇, m̨)
 * Cahto (ą, ę)
 * Cayuga (ę, ǫ)
 * Chickasaw (ą, į, ǫ)
 * Chipewyan (ą ąą ę ęę ę̈ ę̈ę̈ ı̨ ı̨ı̨ ǫ ǫǫ ų ųų)
 * Dadibi (ą, ę, į, ǫ)
 * Dogrib (ą, ąą, ę, ęę, ı̨, ı̨ı̨, ǫ, ǫǫ, ų, ųų)
 * Elfdalian (ą, ę, į, ų, y̨ and ą̊)
 * some romanizations of Ancient Greek (ą, ę, ǫ)
 * Ho-Chunk (ą, ąą, į, įį, ų, ųų)
 * etymological Interslavic (ę, ų)
 * Kashubian (ą)
 * scholarly transcriptions of Vulgar Latin and Proto-Romance (ę, ǫ)
 * Lithuanian (ą, ę, į, ų)
 * Navajo (ą ą́ ąą ą́ą́ ę ę́ ęę ę́ę́ į į́ įį į́į́ ǫ ǫ́ ǫǫ ǫ́ǫ́)
 * Ojibwe in older Romanization standards, representing either nasalization or vowel backing (ą, ąą, ą́, ę, įį, ǫǫ)
 * scholarly transcriptions of Old Church Slavonic and Proto-Slavic (ę, ǫ)
 * Old Norse (ǫ, ǫ́ , o᷎, ǫ᷎), (ę , æ ), (Alternatively, ą, etc. instead represent any nasalized vowel (, etc.) corresponding to the Norse runic letter Áss and the Proto-Norse runic letter AnsuR.) Also (t̨)
 * Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic (æ̨, ø̨, a᷎, e᷎, i᷎, o᷎, ø᷎, u᷎)
 * Onondaga dialects (ę, ǫ), (Alternatively, eñ and oñ can also be used. ų is sometimes used for ǫ)
 * Polish (letters ą, ę)
 * Rheinische Dokumenta (ą̈, ǫ, ǫ̈, ą̈ą̈, ǫǫ, ǫ̈ǫ̈)
 * Sierra Otomi (ą, į, ę, ǫ, ų)
 * Tutchone (į, ų, ų̈, ę, ą̈, ǫ, ą)

Example in Polish:

 * Wół go pyta: „Panie chrząszczu,
 * Po cóż pan tak brzęczy w gąszczu?“
 * — The ox asks him: "Mr. beetle, why do you buzz like that in the thicket?"
 * — Jan Brzechwa, Chrząszcz

Example in Cayuga:

 * Ęyǫgwędę́hte — we will become poor

Example in Chickasaw:

 * Nǫwali - I am walking

Example in Dogrib:

 * dǫ sǫǫ̀łįį — native people

Example in Lithuanian:

 * Lydėdami gęstančią žarą vėlai
 * Pakilo į dangų margi sakalai
 * — Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, Margi sakalai

Example in Elfdalian:

 * "Ja, eð war įe plåg að gęslkallum, dar eð war slaik uondlostjyner i gęslun."
 * — Vikar Margit Andersdotter, I fäbodlivet i gamla tider.

Nasalization
The use of the ogonek to indicate nasality is common in the transcription of the indigenous languages of the Americas. This usage originated in the orthographies created by Christian missionaries to transcribe these languages. Later, the practice was continued by Americanist anthropologists and linguists who still, to the present day, follow this convention in phonetic transcription (see Americanist phonetic notation).

The ogonek is also used to indicate a nasalized vowel in Polish, academic transliteration of Proto-Germanic, Old Church Slavonic, Navajo, Western Apache, Chiricahua, Tłįchǫ Yatiì, Slavey, Dëne Sųłiné and Elfdalian. In Polish, ę is nasalized e; however, ą is nasalized o, not a, because of a vowel shift: ą, originally a long nasal a, turned into a short nasal o when the distinction in vowel quantity disappeared.

Length
In Lithuanian, the nosinė (literally, "nasal") mark originally indicated vowel nasalization but around late 17th and early 18th century, nasal vowels gradually evolved into the corresponding long non-nasal vowels in most dialects. Thus, the mark is now de facto an indicator of vowel length (the length of etymologically non-nasal vowels is marked differently or not marked at all). The mark also helps to distinguish different grammatical forms with otherwise the same written form (often with a different word stress, which is not indicated directly in the standard orthography).

Lowered articulation
Between 1927 and 1989, the ogonek denoted lowering in vowels, and, since 1976, in consonants as well, in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). While the obsolete diacritic has also been identified as the left half ring diacritic ⟨◌̜⟩, many publications of the IPA used the ogonek.

In Rheinische Dokumenta, it marks vowels that are more open than those denoted by their base letters Ää, Oo, Öö. In two cases, it can be combined with umlaut marks.

E caudata and o caudata
The E caudata (ę), a symbol similar to an e with ogonek, evolved from a ligature of a and e in medieval scripts, in Latin and Irish palaeography. The O caudata of Old Norse (letter ǫ, with ǫ́) is used to write the open-mid back rounded vowel,. Medieval Nordic manuscripts show this 'hook' in both directions, in combination with several vowels. Despite this distinction, the term 'ogonek' is sometimes used in discussions of typesetting and encoding Norse texts, as o caudata is typographically identical to o with ogonek. Similarly, the E caudata was sometimes used to designate the Norse vowel or.

Cedilla and comma
The ogonek is functionally equivalent to the cedilla and comma diacritic marks. If two of these three are used within the same orthography their respective use is restricted to certain classes of letters, i.e. usually the ogonek is used with vowels whereas the cedilla is applied to consonants. In handwritten text, the marks may even look the same.

Superscript ogonek
In Old Norse and Old Icelandic manuscripts, there is an over-hook or curl that may be considered a variant of the ogonek. It occurs on the letters a᷎ e᷎ i᷎ o᷎ ø᷎ u᷎.

Letters with ogonek
Ąą · Ą́ą́ · Ą̃ą̃ · Ą̈ą̈ · Ą̊ą̊ · Æ̨æ̨ · C̨c̨ · Ęę · Ę́ę́ · Ę̃ę̃ · Įį · Į́į́ · Į̃į̃ · M̨m̨ · N̨n̨ · Ǫǫ · Ǭǭ · Ǫ̈ǫ̈ · Ǫ́ǫ́ · Ø̨ø̨ · T̨t̨ · Ųų · Ų́ų́ · Ų̃ų̃ · Ų̈ų̈ · Y̨y̨

Typographical notes
The ogonek should be almost the same size as a descender (relatively, its size in larger type may be significantly shorter), and should not be confused with the cedilla or comma diacritics used in other languages.

Encoding
Because attaching an ogonek does not affect the shape of the base letter, Unicode covers it with a combining diacritic, U+0328. There are a number of precomposed legacy characters, but new ones are not being added to Unicode (e.g. for $⟨æ̨⟩$ or $⟨ø̨⟩$).

LaTeX2e
In LaTeX2e, macro  will typeset a letter with ogonek, if it is supported by the font encoding, e.g.   will typeset ą. (The default LaTeX OT1 encoding does not support it, but the newer T1 one does. It may be enabled by saying  in the preamble.)

However,  rather places the diacritic "right-aligned" with the carrying e (ę), suitably for Polish, while   horizontally centers the diacritic with respect to the carrier, suitably for Native American Languages as well as for e caudata and o caudata. So  better fits the latter purposes. Actually,  (for ǫ) is defined to result in , and   is defined to result in.

The package TIPA, activated by using the command " ", offers a different way: " " will produce ą.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ogonek


text:
Outline of agriculture

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to agriculture:

Agriculture – cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life.

What type of thing is agriculture?
Agriculture can be described as all of the following:
 * A type of work
 * An academic discipline
 * A science
 * An applied science
 * An industry

Agricultural activities

 * Agricultural cycle – annual cycle of activities related to the growth and harvest of a crop.
 * Land use – management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements.

Agricultural production

 * Cash crop – agricultural crop which is grown for sale for profit.
 * Agricultural products
 * Food – any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body.
 * Natural fibers – class of hair-like materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to pieces of thread. They can be spun into filaments, thread, or rope. Natural fibers are made from plant, animal and mineral sources.
 * Lumber – wood in any of its stages from felling to readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production.
 * Paper – sheet material used for writing on or printing on (or as a non-waterproof container), usually made by draining cellulose fibres from a suspension in water.
 * Medicine  great quantity of herbal and animal parts are used for medicinal purposes worldwide, especially in traditional and naturopathic medicines.
 * Biofuels wide range of plants and plant products are used for converting to fuels, such as firewood, biodiesel, methane gas etc.

Agricultural resources

 * Agricultural land – denotes the land suitable for agricultural production, both crops and livestock. It is one of the main resources in agriculture.
 * Labor (economics) – measure of the work done by human beings.
 * Water – chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O.
 * Agricultural machinery – machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.
 * Fertilizers – any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants.

By type of life form produced or harvested

 * Agronomy – science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation.
 * Organic gardening – science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation.
 * Animal husbandry – agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.

Aquafarming

 * Aquaculture – farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.
 * Mariculture – specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater.

Types of farming

 * Alligator farming – establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce meat, leather, and other goods.
 * Aquaculture – farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.
 * Contract farming – agricultural production carried out according to an agreement between a buyer and farmers
 * Dairy farming – class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.
 * Integrated farming – more integrated approach to farming as compared to existing monoculture approaches. It refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production and may sometimes be known as Integrated Biosystems.
 * Orchardry – managing orchards, intentional planting of trees or shrubs that are maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production.
 * Organic farming – form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control.
 * Pig farming –
 * Poultry farming
 * Sericulture – silk farming, the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.
 * Sheep husbandry – specifically dealing with the raising and breeding of domestic sheep.
 * Viticulture – the cultivation and harvesting of grapes.

Farming facilities

 * Crops – non-animal species or variety that is grown to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, fuel or for any other economic purpose.
 * Orchard – intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production.
 * Farm – an area of land, together with the buildings on it, that is used for growing crops or raising animals, usually in order to sell them.
 * Greenhouse – building in which plants are grown.

Farming equipment
Farm equipment – any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming.
 * Baler – piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, straw, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport and store.
 * Combine harvester – or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops.
 * Farm tractor – vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction.
 * Manure spreader used to distribute manure over a field as a fertilizer.
 * Mower – machine for cutting grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reapers and combines.
 * Pickup truck – is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area (bed).
 * Plough – is a tool (or machine) used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture.

Farming products

 * Livestock – domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning of "livestock" is common.
 * Cattle – most common type of large domesticated ungulates.
 * Pigs – any of the animals in the genus Sus.
 * Poultry – category of domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of collecting their eggs, or killing for their meat and/or feathers.
 * Sheep – are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock.
 * Produce – farm-produced goods, not limited to fruits and vegetables (i.e. meats, grains, oats, etc.).
 * Grains – grasses (members of the monocot family Poaceae, also known as Gramineae) cultivated for the edible components of their grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran.
 * Fruits – part of a flowering plant that derives from specific tissues of the flower, mainly one or more ovaries.
 * Legumes – plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides.
 * Nut (fruit)s – hard-shelled indehiscent fruit of some plants. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts.
 * Vegetables – edible plant or part of a plant, but usually excludes seeds and most sweet fruit. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant.

Farming methods and practices

 * Aeroponics – the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.
 * Aquaponics – combines aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment.
 * Artificial selection – describes intentional breeding for certain traits, or combination of traits.
 * Field day (agriculture) – related to a show is the "field day", with elements of a trade show for machinery, equipment and skills required for broadacre farming.
 * Grazing – a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses.
 * Hydroponics – a method of growing plants without soil.
 * Intercropping – practice of growing two or more crops in proximity.
 * Irrigation – artificial application of water to the land or soil.
 * Permaculture – theory of ecological design which attempts to develop sustainable human settlements and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems.
 * Pollination management – horticultural practices that accomplish or enhance pollination of a crop, to improve yield or quality, by understanding of the particular crop's pollination needs, and by knowledgeable management of pollenizers, pollinators, and pollination conditions.
 * Sustainable agriculture – practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment.

Apiculture (Beekeeping)

 * Apiary – place where beehives of honey bees are kept.
 * Apiology – scientific study of honey bees
 * Bee – flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax.
 * Beehive – enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus Apis live and raise their young.
 * Beekeeper – person who keeps honey bees.
 * Honey – sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers.

Fishery
Fishing – activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping.

 * Fishery – facility engaged in raising or harvesting fish

Forestry
Forestry – interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit.
 * Agroforestry – integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock.
 * Analog forestry – system of planned, managed forests, primarily employed in tropical or subtropical areas.
 * Forest gardening – low-maintenance organic plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans.
 * Forest farming – agroforestry practice characterized by the four "I's"- Intentional, Integrated, Intensive and Interactive management of an existing forested ecosystem wherein forest health is of paramount concern. Moreover, agriculture means cultivation of crops and rearing of animals, processing of farm produce and selling.

Ranching
Ranching – practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool.

Climate-based agriculture

 * Arid-zone agriculture – agriculture practiced in desert areas of any sort.
 * Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture
 * Tropical agriculture – agriculture practiced in the tropics.

Agricultural chemistry
Agricultural chemistry – study of both chemistry and biochemistry which are important in agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and in environmental monitoring and remediation.

Agricultural communication
Agricultural communication – field of study and work that focuses on communication about agricultural related information among agricultural stakeholders and between agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders.

Agricultural economics
Agricultural economics – originally applied the principles of economics to the production of crops and livestock — a discipline known as agronomics. Agronomics was a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil ecosystem. Throughout the 20th century the discipline expanded and the current scope of the discipline is much broader. Agricultural economics today includes a variety of applied areas, having considerable overlap with conventional economics.
 * Agrarian system – the economic and technological factors that affect agricultural practices.
 * Agribusiness – the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales.
 * Agricultural extension – once known as the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of extension now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organised for rural people by professionals from different disciplines, including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business studies.
 * Agricultural Marketing – covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. This may include transferring of agricultural products either directly or indirectly through middleman to consumers.
 * Custom harvesting – business of harvesting of crops for others. Custom harvesters usually own their own combines and work for the same farms every harvest season. Custom harvesting relieves farmers from having to invest capital in expensive equipment while at the same time maximizing the machinery's use.
 * Economic development – sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area.
 * Rural Community Development – range of approaches and activities which aim to improve the welfare and livelihoods of people which live in rural area and through improving activities in rural areas it helps to maintain a population balance by reducing rural to urban migration.

Agricultural education
Agricultural education – instruction about crop production, livestock management, soil and water conservation, and various other aspects of agriculture. Farmers acquire adequate knowledge required on the correct amount use of agrochemicals and other agriculture related technologies.

Agricultural universities and colleges – tertiary agricultural educational institutions around the world

 * Agricultural universities in India
 * Agricultural universities in Indonesia

Agricultural engineering
Agricultural engineering – engineering discipline that applies engineering science and technology to agricultural production and processing.
 * Agricultural Machinery – machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.
 * Bioprocess Engineering – specialization of Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering or of Agricultural Engineering. It deals with the design and development of equipment and processes for the manufacturing of products such as food, feed, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, chemicals, and polymers and paper from biological materials.
 * Electrical energy efficiency on United States farms – covers the use of electricity on farms and the methods and incentives for improving the efficiency of that use.
 * Electronics – branch of physics, engineering and technology dealing with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies.
 * Energy – ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems.
 * Farm equipment – any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming.
 * Food Engineering – multidisciplinary field of applied physical sciences which combines science, microbiology, and engineering education for food and related industries.
 * Irrigation and drainage engineering –
 * Natural resource – occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems.
 * System Engineering – interdisciplinary field of engineering focusing on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over their life cycles.
 * Workshop – room or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of goods.
 * Structures – buildings

Agricultural philosophy
Agricultural philosophy – discipline devoted to the systematic critique of the philosophical frameworks (or ethical world views) that are the foundation for decisions regarding agriculture.

Agricultural policy
Agricultural policy – set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products.
 * Agricultural science – broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture.
 * Agricultural economics – originally applied the principles of economics to the production of crops and livestock — a discipline known as agronomics. Agronomics was a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil ecosystem. Throughout the 20th century the discipline expanded and the current scope of the discipline is much broader. Agricultural economics today includes a variety of applied areas, having considerable overlap with conventional economics.
 * Agricultural engineering – engineering discipline that applies engineering science and technology to agricultural production and processing.
 * Agricultural philosophy – discipline devoted to the systematic critique of the philosophical frameworks (or ethical world views) that are the foundation for decisions regarding agriculture.
 * Agrophysics – branch of science bordering on agronomy and physics, whose objects of study are the agroecosystem - the biological objects, biotope and biocoenosis affected by human activity, studied and described using the methods of physical sciences.
 * Animal science – studying the biology of animals that are under the control of mankind.
 * Animal breeding – branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation (using best linear unbiased prediction and other methods) of the genetic value (estimated breeding value, EBV) of domestic livestock.
 * Animal nutrition – focuses on the dietary needs of domesticated animals, primarily those in agriculture and food production.
 * Fisheries science – academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries.
 * Poultry science – animal science applied to poultry – chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, quail, etc.
 * Aquaculture – is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.
 * Biological engineering –
 * Genetic engineering – deliberate modification of the genetic structure of an organism.
 * Microbiology – branch of biology that deals with microorganisms, especially their effects on man and other living organisms.
 * Environmental science – integrated study of factors that influence the environment and environmental systems, especially the interaction of the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment
 * Conservation – preservation and wise use of resources
 * Wildlife management – attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science.
 * Wildlife range management –
 * Resources management – efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed.
 * Food science – study concerned with all technical aspects of foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as "from field to fork". It is considered one of the life sciences and is usually considered distinct from the field of nutrition.
 * Human nutrition – provision to obtain the materials necessary to support life.
 * Food technology – branch of food science which deals with the actual production processes to make foods.

Agronomy
Agronomy – science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation.
 * Plant science – science of plant life.
 * Crop science – broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture.
 * Plant pathology – scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious diseases) and environmental conditions (physiological factors).
 * Forestry – interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit.
 * Outline of wood science –
 * Theoretical production ecology – quantitatively studies the growth of crops.
 * Horticulture – art, science, technology and business of intensive plant cultivation for human use.
 * Plant breeding – art and science of changing the genetics of plants in order to produce desired characteristics.
 * fertilizer – any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants.

Horticulture
Horticulture – art, science, technology and business of intensive plant cultivation for human use.

Agricultural soil science
Agricultural soil science – branch of soil science that deals with the study of edaphic conditions as they relate to the production of food and fiber.
 * Agrogeology – study of minerals of importance to farming and horticulture, especially with regard to soil fertility and fertilizer components. These minerals are usually essential plant nutrients and are referred to as agrominerals.
 * Agrology – branch of soil science dealing with the production of crops.
 * Agrominerals – minerals of importance to agriculture and horticulture, and are usually essential plant nutrients.
 * Land degradation – process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.
 * Land improvement – investments making land more usable by humans.
 * Soil chemistry – study of the chemical characteristics of soil.
 * Soil amendment – material added to soil to improve plant growth and health.
 * Soil erosion – process by which soil is removed from the Earth's surface by natural processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations.
 * Soil life – collective term for all the organisms living within the soil.
 * Soil type – refers to the different sizes of mineral particles in a particular sample.
 * Soils retrogression and degradation – two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil.

Agroecology
Agroecology – application of ecological principles to the production of food, fuel, fiber, and pharmaceuticals and the management of agroecosystems.
 * Agroecosystem analysis – thorough analysis of an agricultural environment which considers aspects from ecology, sociology, economics, and politics with equal weight.
 * Agrophysics – branch of science bordering on agronomy and physics, whose objects of study are the agroecosystem - the biological objects, biotope and biocoenosis affected by human activity, studied and described using the methods of physical sciences.
 * Biodiversity – degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet.
 * Effects of climate change on agriculture – interrelated processes, both of which take place on a global scale.
 * Composting – Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment.
 * Ecology – scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment.
 * Ecosystem – biological system consisting of all the living organisms or biotic components in a particular area and the nonliving or abiotic component with which the organisms interact, such as air, mineral soil, water and sunlight.
 * Environmental Economics – subfield of economics concerned with environmental issues.
 * Green manure – type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil.
 * Natural resources – occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form.
 * Recycling – is processing used materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production.
 * Rural Sociology – field of sociology associated with the study of social life in non-metropolitan areas.
 * Soil Science – study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.
 * Sustainable agriculture – practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment.
 * Wildculture – umbrella term used to include all aspects and styles of "hunting and gathering" food harvesting.

History of agriculture
History of agriculture – developed at least 10,000 years ago, although some forms of agriculture such as forest gardening and fire-stick farming date back even earlier to prehistoric times.
 * Agriculture in ancient Greece
 * Agriculture in Mesoamerica
 * Ancient Egyptian agriculture
 * Arab Agricultural Revolution –
 * British Agricultural Revolution –
 * Columbian Exchange
 * Domestication
 * Eastern Agricultural Complex
 * Genomics of domestication – study of the structure, content, and evolution of genomes, or the entire genetic information of organisms.
 * Green Revolution –
 * History of agricultural science – began with Gregor Mendel's genetic work
 * History of agriculture in Palestine
 * History of organic farming –
 * Neolithic Revolution – wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement.
 * Incan agriculture
 * Roman agriculture
 * Selective breeding

Food industry
Food industry – complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population.
 * Bakery – establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies.
 * Brewing – production of beer through steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast.
 * Brewing industry – brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history.
 * Dairy – business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk – mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels – for human consumption.
 * Distribution center – warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to consumers.
 * Food processing – set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry.
 * Food additive – substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance.
 * Food preservation – process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage (loss of quality, edibility or nutritional value) and thus allow for longer storage.
 * Food safety – scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness.
 * Food science – study concerned with all technical aspects of foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as "from field to fork".
 * Foodborne illness – any illness resulting from the consumption of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins such as poisonous mushrooms.
 * Mandatory labelling – requirement of consumer products to state their ingredients or components.
 * Packaging – science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use.
 * Pasteurization – process of heating a food, usually a liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time and then cooling it immediately.
 * Quality assurance – planned and systematic activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled
 * Sterilization (microbiology) – term referring to any process that eliminates (removes) or kills all forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents (such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, spore forms, etc.) present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media.
 * Warehouse – commercial building for storage of goods.
 * Yeast – eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom fungi, with 1,500 species currently described

Pulp and paper industry
Pulp and paper industry – comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, board and other cellulose-based products.

Food distribution

 * Agricultural marketing – services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer.
 * Wholesale marketing – transactions made through wholesale markets

Food outlets

 * Supermarket – self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments.
 * Farmers' market – consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages.
 * Grocery store – store that retails food.
 * Street market – outdoor market such as traditionally held in a market square or in a market town, and often held only on particular days of the week.

Prominent agricultural scientists

 * Robert Bakewell (farmer) – first to implement systematic selective breeding of livestock.
 * Norman Borlaug – American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate who has been called "the father of the Green Revolution".
 * Luther Burbank – American botanist, horticulturist and am pioneer in agricultural science. He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career.
 * George Washington Carver – American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. Carver's reputation is based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes, which also aided nutrition for farm families.
 * René Dumont – French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician.
 * Charles Roy Henderson – statistician and a pioneer in animal breeding — the application of quantitative methods for the genetic evaluation of domestic livestock.
 * Ronald Fisher – English statistician, evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and geneticist.
 * Jay Lush – pioneering animal geneticist who made important contributions to livestock breeding. He is sometimes known as the father of modern scientific animal breeding.
 * Gregor Mendel – Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.
 * Louis Pasteur – French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He was best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness, a process that came to be called pasteurization.
 * M. S. Swaminathan – Indian agricultural scientist. Swaminathan is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India", for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India.

title: Outline of agriculture


text:
Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughly parallel to the east coast of Australia and forms the fifth-longest land-based mountain chain in the world, and the longest entirely within a single country. It is mainland Australia's most substantial topographic feature and serves as the definitive watershed for the river systems in eastern Australia, hence the name.

The Great Dividing Range stretches more than 3500 km from Dauan Island in the Torres Strait off the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through Queensland and New South Wales, then turning west across Victoria before finally fading into the Wimmera plains as rolling hills west of the Grampians region. The width of the Range varies from about 160 km to over 300 km. The Greater Blue Mountains Area, Gondwana Rainforests and Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Areas are located in the Range. The highest place in Australia, the 2228 m Mount Kosciuszko, resides in the Snowy Mountains portion of southern Great Dividing Range.

Geography
The Dividing Range does not consist of a single continuous mountain chain, but is rather a combined complex (cordillera) of mountain ranges, plateaus, hilly upland areas and escarpments with an ancient and complex geological history. The physiographic division name for the landmass is called the East Australian Cordillera. In some places the terrain is relatively flat, consisting of very low hills. Typically the highlands range from 300 to 1600 m in height. The mountains and plateaus, which consist of limestones, sandstone, quartzite, schists and dolomite, have been created by faulting and folding processes.

The crests of the Great Dividing Range is defined by the watershed boundary between the drainage basins of river systems east (the coastal or rainward side) and west (the inland or leeward side) of it. The higher and more rugged parts of the "range" do not necessarily form part of the crest of the range, but may be branches and offshoots from it. The term "Great Dividing Range" may refer specifically to the watershed crest of the range, or to the entire upland complex including all of the hills and mountains between the east coast of Australia and the central plains and lowlands. At some places it can be up to 400 km wide. Notable ranges and other features which form part of the range complex have their own distinctive names.

As a rule of thumb, rivers east/southeast of the Dividing Range drain directly eastward into the South Pacific and the Tasman Sea, or southward into the Bass Strait. Rivers west of the Dividing Range drain in various westerly directions according to latitudes: the Murray–Darling basin in southeastern Australia (Darling Downs/eastern South West Queensland, West/Central New South Wales, Northern Victoria and the Murraylands/Riverland region of southeastern South Australia) drain southwestwards into the Great Australian Bight via the coastal Lake Alexandrina; the eastern half of the Lake Eyre basin in east central Australia (the Cooper Creek and Warburton River systems in Central/western South West Queensland and eastern Far North of South Australia) drain southwestwards into the endorheic Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre; the numerous rivers of western Cape York Peninsula in northeastern Australia (North/Far North Queensland) drain westwards or northwestwards directly into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Climate
The sharp rise between the coastal lowlands and the eastern uplands has affected Australia's climate, mainly due to orographic precipitation, and these areas of highest relief have revealed an impressive gorge country. Areas to the east of the mountain range in southern NSW usually experience a Föhn effect, which is a dry wind originating from the Great Dividing Range that abruptly raises the air temperature in the lee of that mountain range and reduces atmospheric moisture. This dry wind, which elevates fire danger in the warm months, occurs because of the partial orographic obstruction of relatively damp low-level air and the subsiding of drier upper-level air in leeward of the mountains. The drier air is then heated more because of the adiabatic compression as it comes down the lee slopes, forming a rain shadow.

In the cool season, the Great Dividing Range would shield much of the southeast (i.e. Sydney, Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Illawarra, the ACT, the Monaro and South Coast) from south-westerly cold fronts that originate from the Southern Ocean, which bring chilling rains, sleet and snow to the upwind side of the ranges, such as on the western Central Tablelands, South West Slopes and Snowy Mountains regions – all which have relatively wetter winters. Upwind locations include Crookwell, Batlow, Tumut, Corryong, Bright, Beechworth, Eildon, Tolmie and those in West Gippsland (namely the Latrobe Valley and Wilsons Promontory). Whereas on the downwind (eastern) slopes, Cooma, Omeo, Goulburn, Bowral, Bombala, Nimmitabel, and Canberra, are warmer and drier relative to altitude.

Moreover, Oberon, Shooters Hill and Sunny Corner are on the crest of the ranges and thus exposed from all directions, hence their evenly spread rainfall. The main ski resorts in New South Wales, such as Thredbo Village, Perisher and Charlotte Pass, lie transitionally between the leeward and windward side (the former town being more leeward and the latter more windward). Although they receive substantial precipitation from over the crest of the ranges, they lack the persistent cloud cover which characterises truly windward locations on the western face, which are; Cabramurra, Kiandra, Mount Buller, Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buffalo and Mount Baw Baw.

History
The Great Dividing Range was formed during the Carboniferous period—over 300 million years ago—when Australia collided with what are now parts of South America and New Zealand. The range has experienced significant erosion since. (See Geology of Australia.)

For tens of thousands of years prior to British colonisation the ranges were home to various Aboriginal Australian nations and clans. Evidence remains in some places of their traditional way of life including decorated caves, campsites and trails used to travel between the coastal and inland regions. Many descendants of these nations still exist today, and some remain the traditional owners and custodians of their lands.

After British colonisation in 1788, the ranges were an obstacle to exploration and settlement by the British settlers. Although not high, parts of the highlands were very rugged. Crossing the Blue Mountains was particularly challenging due to the mistaken idea that the creeks should be followed rather than the ridges, and almost impenetrable, labyrinthine, sandstone mountains. Although the most daunting obstacle to the western expansion of civilisation, the Blue Mountains actually lie to the east of the watershed that divides the Hawkesbury-Nepean system and the Murray-Darling system, the true Great Dividing Range. The watershed in this area lies to the west of Lithgow, passing near the locality of Mt Lambie and village of Capertee. There, as in some other places in New South Wales, the Great Divide is only a slight rise in the surrounding topography.

Knowing that local Aboriginal people had already established routes crossing the range and by making use of Aboriginal walking trails, a usable ridge-top route was finally discovered by Europeans directly westward from Sydney across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst by an expedition jointly led by Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth. Towns in the Blue Mountains were later named after each of these men. This was the start of the development of the agricultural districts of inland New South Wales. A road was built to Blaxland by convicts within six months. Easier routes to inland New South Wales were discovered towards Goulburn to the southwest, and westwards from Newcastle.

Subsequent explorations were made across and around the ranges by Allan Cunningham, John Oxley, Hamilton Hume, Paul Edmund Strzelecki, Ludwig Leichhardt and Thomas Mitchell. These explorers were mainly concerned with finding and appropriating good agricultural land.

By the late 1830s, the most fertile rangelands adjacent to the mountain ranges had been explored, appropriated from the traditional inhabitants and some settled. These included the Gippsland and Riverina regions in the south, up to the Liverpool Plains and the Darling Downs in the north.

Various road and railway routes were subsequently established through many parts of the ranges, although many areas remain remote to this day. For example, in eastern Victoria there is only one major road crossing the highlands from north to south, the Great Alpine Road.

Natural components
Parts of the highlands consisting of relatively flat and, by Australian standards, well-watered land were developed for agricultural and pastoral uses. Such areas include the Atherton Tableland and Darling Downs in Queensland, and the Northern Tablelands, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands in New South Wales. Other parts of the highlands are too rugged for agriculture and have been used for forestry. Many parts of the highlands which were not developed are now included in National Parks.

All of mainland Australia's alpine areas, including its highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko (2228 m AHD), are part of this range, called the Main Range. The highest areas in southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria are known as the Australian Alps.

The central core of the Great Dividing Range is dotted with hundreds of peaks and is surrounded by many smaller mountain ranges or spurs, canyons, valleys and plains of regional significance. Some of the major plains include the High Plains of South-Eastern Australia, the Southern Highlands, the Central Highlands and Bogong High Plains of Victoria. Other tablelands considered part of the Great Dividing Range are the Atherton Tableland, Canberra wine region and the Southern Tablelands.

The Dandenong Ranges, Barrington Tops, Bunya Mountains, Blue Mountains, Liverpool Range, McPherson Ranges and the Moonbi Range are some of the smaller spurs and ranges that make up the greater dividing range. Other notable ranges and tablelands which form part of the Great Dividing Range include the Liverpool Range, Mount Royal Range and the Monaro District. Whilst some of the peaks of the highlands reach respectable heights of a little over 2000 m, the age of the range and its erosion mean that most of the mountains are not very steep, and virtually all peaks can be reached without mountaineering equipment.

In some areas, such as the Snowy Mountains, Victorian Alps, the Scenic Rim and the eastern escarpments of the New England region, the highlands form a significant barrier. The eastern escarpment is the site of many spectacular waterfalls which were formed by rivers plunging off the tablelands. In other areas the slopes are gentle and in places the range is barely perceptible.

Well known passes on the range include Coxs Gap, Cunninghams Gap, Dead Horse Gap, Nowlands Gap, and Spicers Gap.

Major cities located on the upland areas of the range include Canberra, Toowoomba and the outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns in north Queensland. Many towns and cities are located on the range, and also in lowland areas and foothills adjacent to the highlands. There is a strong natural history and cultural attachment to the Dividing Range region in towns and on many, sometimes remote, landholdings. Some of the towns/cities located on or near the range include:

 * Canberra - ACT
 * Albury - NSW
 * Queanbeyan - NSW
 * Goulburn - NSW
 * Cooma - NSW
 * Jindabyne - NSW
 * Katoomba - NSW
 * Lithgow - NSW
 * Oberon - NSW
 * Bowral - NSW
 * Yass - NSW

 * Crookwell - NSW
 * Cowra - NSW
 * Young - NSW
 * Bathurst - NSW
 * Orange - NSW
 * Wellington - NSW
 * Blayney - NSW
 * Mudgee - NSW
 * Cessnock - NSW
 * Wauchope - NSW
 * Casino - NSW
 * Grafton - NSW
 * Inverell - NSW
 * Glen Innes - NSW
 * Gunnedah - NSW
 * Singleton - NSW
 * Armidale - NSW
 * Tamworth - NSW
 * Narrabri - NSW
 * Coonabarabran - NSW
 * Scone - NSW
 * Gloucester - NSW
 * Dorrigo - NSW
 * Walcha - NSW
 * Guyra - NSW
 * Tenterfield - NSW

 * Roma - Qld
 * Gatton - Qld
 * Dalby - Qld
 * Goondiwindi - Qld
 * Beaudesert - Qld
 * Toowoomba - Qld
 * Pittsworth - Qld
 * Stanthorpe - Qld
 * Warwick - Qld
 * Kingaroy - Qld
 * Biloela - Qld
 * Emerald - Qld
 * Moranbah - Qld
 * Blackwater - Qld
 * Clermont - Qld
 * Charters Towers - Qld
 * Atherton - Qld
 * Mareeba - Qld

 * Omeo - Vic
 * Healesville - Vic
 * Gisborne - Vic
 * Ballarat - Vic
 * Beaufort - Vic
 * Bendigo - Vic
 * Ararat - Vic
 * Heathcote - Vic
 * Stawell - Vic
 * Seymour - Vic
 * Benalla - Vic
 * Castlemaine - Vic
 * Kilmore - Vic
 * Kyneton - Vic
 * Maryborough - Vic
 * Shepparton - Vic
 * Wallan - Vic
 * Wodonga - Vic
 * Wangaratta - Vic

Water catchments

The lower reaches are used for forestry, an activity that causes friction with conservationists. The range is also the source of virtually all of eastern Australia's water supply, both through runoff caught in dams, and throughout much of Queensland, through the Great Artesian Basin.

Valleys along the chain of mountains have yielded a water source for important reservoirs and water supply projects such as the Upper Nepean Scheme, Snowy Mountains Scheme and Warragamba Dam.

The Bradfield Scheme has been mooted as a way to transport water from the Wet Tropics of Queensland in the coastal northeast of Far North Queensland via a series of Dams & Tunnels, southwest to inland dryer regions, including a tunnel through the Great Dividing Range into the Flinders River then a tunnel into the Torrens Creek in the White Mountains National Park then flows south into Thompson River / Cooper Creek, part of the Eyre Basin. Many other variations have been proposed.

The Great Dividing Range creates the drainage basins of the Australian south-east coast drainage division and the Australian north-east coast drainage division, whose water flows to the east coast and into the Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea, and Bass Strait with the westerly Murray–Darling basin which flow inland, away from the coast into the interior plains.

Some of the rivers which flow west of the ranges includes the Condamine River, Flinders River, Herbert River, Lachlan River, Macdonald River, Macintyre River and Namoi River. Rivers that flow north into the Murray–Darling Basin from Victoria include the Goulburn, Mitta Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens, King, Loddon and Campaspe rivers. Rivers that flow east into the Pacific Ocean include the Annan River, Barron River, Brisbane River, Burdekin River, Burnett River, Clarence River, Daintree River, Fitzroy River, Hastings River, Hawkesbury River, Hunter River, Karuah River, Macleay River, Mary River, Pascoe River, Richmond River and the Shoalhaven River. Those that flow south, primarily through Victoria, include the Snowy, Cann, Tambo, Mitchell, Latrobe, Thomson, Yarra, Werribee, Hopkins and Glenelg rivers.

Features
At some high hill passes the range provides cool sites appropriate for vineyards.

Railways
The engineers of early rail passages across the Great Dividing Range needed to find low sections of the range to cross, as well as suitable, "low" gradient paths up the mountains on either side. Rail passages include:
 * Townsville-Mt Isa
 * Rockhampton-Winton
 * Brisbane–Toowoomba (1867) (2.0% gradient)
 * Newcastle–Tamworth (c 1870), summit at Ardglen Tunnel (2073' HASL)
 * Sandy Hollow-Gulgong railway line started in the 1930s to Maryvale (Main Western railway line), completed the 1980s to Gulgong, summit just west of Ulan - (500M / 1640') The lowest, 4th & last crossing in NSW.
 * Sydney–Lithgow (1869), crossing the range via the Blue Mountains (summit near Bell 3507' HASL) (3.00% gradient)
 * Sydney–Goulburn (1869), though the divide is actually a few kilometres further west near the crossing with Parkesbourne Road near Cullerin. The next 300 km descending to Wagga Wagga was originally fast, but regrading in the 1920s introduced many curves.
 * Melbourne–Seymour, crossing the range near Heathcote Junction (1872) (2.08% gradient)
 * Melbourne–Bendigo, crossing the range near Woodend (1862) (1093' HASL)
 * Melbourne–Ararat (1875) via Ballarat

Road transport
Many of Australia's highways such as the Alpine Way, Great Alpine Road, Snowy Mountains Highway, Hume Highway, Illawarra Highway, Northern Highway, Melba Highway, Maroondah Highway, Midland Highway, Pyrenees Highway, Sunraysia Highway, Monaro Highway, Olympic Highway, Newell Highway, Lachlan Valley Way, Barton Highway, Federal Highway, Kings Highway, Great Western Highway, Mitchell Highway, Mid-Western Highway, Castlereagh Highway, Mulligan Highway, Capricorn Highway, Cunningham Highway, Gore Highway, Flinders Highway, Gregory Highway, Peak Downs Highway, Dawson Highway, New England Highway, Golden Highway, Bruxner Highway, Gwydir Highway, Oxley Highway, Warrego Highway, Summerland Way, Waterfall Way, Thunderbolts Way, the Calder Highway, the Western Highway, and the Murray Valley Highway traverse parts of the range.

Protected areas
Much of the range lies within a succession of national parks and other reserves. Most of the national parks are listed below, and there are almost double that amount of state forests.

 * Alpine National Park – Vic
 * Annan River National Park - Qld
 * Apudthama National Park - Qld
 * Bago Bluff National Park - NSW
 * Bald Rock National Park – NSW
 * Barrington Tops National Park – NSW
 * Baw Baw National Park – Vic
 * Bellinger River National Park - NSW
 * Blackbraes National Park - Qld
 * Blackdown Tableland National Park - Qld
 * Blue Mountains National Park – NSW
 * Border Ranges National Park – NSW
 * Brindabella National Park – NSW
 * Brisbane Ranges National Park – Vic
 * Budawang National Park – NSW
 * Budderoo National Park - NSW
 * Bunya Mountains National Park – Qld
 * Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park – Vic
 * Cape Melville National Park - Qld
 * Carnarvon National Park – Qld
 * Cathedral Rock National Park – NSW
 * Conimbla National Park - NSW
 * Conondale National Park – Qld
 * Cottan-Bimbang National Park - NSW
 * Cunnawarra National Park – NSW
 * Daintree National Park – Qld
 * Dandenong Ranges National Park – Vic
 * Deua National Park – NSW
 * Dharug National Park – NSW
 * Dipperu National Park - Qld

 * Forty Mile Scrub National Park – Qld
 * Gibraltar Range National Park – NSW
 * Girraween National Park – Qld/NSW
 * Girringun National Park - Qld
 * Goobang National Park - NSW
 * Goulburn River National Park - NSW
 * Grampians National Park – Vic
 * Greater Bendigo National Park - Vic
 * Guy Fawkes River National Park – NSW
 * Hann Tableland National Park - Qld
 * Heathcote-Graytown National Park- Vic
 * Humboldt National Park - Qld
 * Kanangra-Boyd National Park – NSW
 * Kara Kara National Park - Vic
 * Koreelah National Park - NSW
 * Kosciuszko National Park – NSW
 * Kroombit Tops National Park - Qld
 * Kulla National Park – Qld
 * Kumbatine National Park - NSW
 * Kuranda National Park – Qld
 * Lake Eildon National Park – Vic
 * Lamington National Park – Qld
 * Lockyer National Park - Qld
 * Macalister Range National Park – Qld
 * Main Range National Park – Qld
 * Morton National Park – NSW
 * Mount Buffalo National Park – Vic
 * Mount Kaputar National Park - NSW
 * Mount Lewis National Park – Qld
 * Mowbray National Park – Qld

 * Mummel Gulf National Park – NSW
 * Namadgi National Park – ACT
 * Nattai National Park – NSW
 * New England National Park – NSW
 * Nowendoc National Park – NSW
 * Nymboida National Park - NSW
 * Oxley Wild Rivers National Park – NSW
 * Oyala Thumotang National Park - Qld
 * Paluma Range National Park - Qld
 * Ravensbourne National Park - Qld
 * Snowy River National Park – Vic
 * South East Forests National Park – NSW
 * Springbrook National Park- Qld
 * Starcke National Park - Qld
 * Sundown National Park – Qld
 * Tapin Tops National Park - NSW
 * Towarri National Park - NSW
 * Toonumbar National Park – NSW
 * Ulidarra National Park - NSW
 * Undara Volcanic National Park – Qld
 * Wadbilliga National Park – NSW
 * Warrabah National Park - NSW
 * Warrumbungle National Park - NSW
 * Washpool National Park – NSW
 * Werrikimbe National Park – NSW
 * White Mountains National Park – Qld
 * Willi Willi National Park - NSW
 * Woko National Park - NSW
 * Wollemi National Park – NSW
 * Wollumbin National Park - NSW
 * Woomargama National Park - NSW
 * Wooroonooran National Park - Qld
 * Yarra Ranges National Park – Vic
 * Yengo National Park – NSW

Awards
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Great Dividing Range was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "location".

title: Great Dividing Range


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Spine

Spine or spinal may refer to:

Biology

 * Vertebral column, also known as the backbone
 * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite
 * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants
 * Spine (zoology), needle-like structures in animals
 * SPINE (molecular biology) (strep–protein interaction experiment), a method for the detection of protein interactions

Medicine

 * Spinal anaesthesia or "a spinal", an injection generally through a fine needle, usually long
 * The Spine, a set of national service within the UK NHS Connecting for Health

Arts, entertainment and media

 * The Spine (album), a 2004 They Might Be Giants album, including the songs "Spine" and "Spines"
 * Spine (1986 film), American film
 * The Spine (film), a 2009 animated short by Chris Landreth
 * The Spine, a novel by Ladislav Bublík

Fictional entities

 * Spinal (Killer Instinct), a fictional character from the video game Killer Instinct
 * Spine, a demon in Blood Beast (2007) book of the Demonata saga
 * The Spine, the fictional mountain chain which follows the west coast in The Inheritance Cycle
 * The Spine, a singing automaton in the band Steam Powered Giraffe, portrayed by David Michael Bennett

Periodicals

 * Spine (journal), a bi-weekly peer-reviewed journal of spine surgery, publish by Lippincott
 * The Spine Journal, bi-monthly peer-reviewed journal, published by Elsevier

Other uses

 * Spine (bookbinding), the closed edge of a book along which the pages are bound
 * Spine, a measure of stiffness of an arrow shaft in archery

title: Spine


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Fragaria

Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. There are more than 20 described species and many hybrids and cultivars. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the garden strawberry, a hybrid known as Fragaria × ananassa. Strawberries have a taste that varies by cultivar, and ranges from quite sweet to rather tart. Strawberries are an important commercial fruit crop, widely grown in all temperate regions of the world.

Description
Strawberries are not berries in the botanical sense. The fleshy and edible part of the "fruit" is a receptacle, and the parts that are sometimes mistakenly called "seeds" are achenes and therefore the true botanical fruits.

Etymology
The genus name derives from  ("strawberry") and, a suffix used to create feminine nouns and plant names. The Latin name is thought in turn to derive from a Proto-Indo-European language root meaning "berry", either *dʰreh₂ǵ- or *sróh₂gs. The genus name is sometimes mistakenly derived from ("to be fragrant, to reek").

The English word is found in Old English as streawberige. It is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, though it has been suggested that the word is possibly derived from "strewn berry" in reference to the runners that "strew" or "stray away" from the base of the plants. Streaw in Old English means 'straw', but also streawian means 'to strew', from the same root. David Mikkelson argues that "the word 'strawberry' has been part of the English language for at least a thousand years, well before strawberries were cultivated as garden or farm edibles."

Classification
There are more than 20 different Fragaria species worldwide. A number of other species have been proposed, some of which are now recognized as subspecies. One key to the classification of strawberry species is that they vary in the number of chromosomes. They all have seven basic types of chromosomes, but exhibit different polyploidy. Some species are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes (14 chromosomes total), but others are tetraploid (four sets, 28 chromosomes total), hexaploid (six sets, 42 chromosomes total), octoploid (eight sets, 56 chromosomes total), or decaploid (ten sets, 70 chromosomes total).

As a rough rule (with exceptions), strawberry species with more chromosomes tend to be more robust and produce larger plants with larger berries.

The oldest fossils confidently classifiable as Fragaria are from the Miocene of Poland. Fossilised Fragaria achenes are also known from the Pliocene of China.

Diploid species

 * Fragaria × bifera Duchesne - F. vesca × F. viridis (Europe)
 * Fragaria bucharica Losinsk. (China)
 * Fragaria chinensis Losinsk (China)
 * Fragaria daltoniana J.Gay (Himalayas)
 * Fragaria emeiensis Jia J. Lei (China)
 * Fragaria gracilis Losinsk. (China)
 * Fragaria hayatae Makino (Taiwan)
 * Fragaria iinumae Makino (East Russia, Japan)
 * Fragaria mandshurica Staudt (China)
 * Fragaria nilgerrensis Schlecht. ex J.Gay (South and Southeast Asia)
 * Fragaria nipponica Makino (Korea, Japan)
 * Fragaria nubicola Lindl. ex Lacaita (Himalayas)
 * Fragaria pentaphylla Losinsk. (China)
 * Fragaria vesca L. - woodland strawberry (Northern Hemisphere)
 * Fragaria viridis Duchesne (Europe, Central Asia)

Tetraploid species

 * Fragaria corymbosa Losinsk. (northern China)
 * Fragaria × intermedia (Bach) Beck (Europe)

 * Fragaria moupinensis Cardot (China)
 * Fragaria orientalis Losinsk. (Eastern Asia, Eastern Siberia)
 * Fragaria tibetica Staudt & Dickoré (China)

Pentaploid hybrids

 * Fragaria × bringhurstii Staudt (coast of California)

Hexaploid species

 * Fragaria moschata Duchesne - musk strawberry (Europe)

Octoploid species and hybrids

 * Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier - garden strawberry, pineapple strawberry
 * Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Mill. - beach strawberry (Western Americas)
 * Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma chiloensis
 * Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma patagonica (Argentina, Chile)
 * Fragaria chiloensis subsp. lucida (E. Vilm. ex Gay) Staudt (coast of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California)
 * Fragaria chiloensis subsp. pacifica Staudt (coast of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California)
 * Fragaria chiloensis subsp. sandwicensis (Decne.) Staudt - ōhelo papa (Hawaii)
 * Fragaria virginiana Mill. - Virginia strawberry (North America)

Decaploid species and hybrids

 * Fragaria cascadensis K.E. Hummer (Cascade Mountains in Oregon)
 * Fragaria iturupensis Staudt - Iturup strawberry (Iturup, Kuril Islands)
 * Fragaria × Comarum hybrids
 * Fragaria × vescana

Polyploidy unknown

 * Fragaria tayulinensis S.S.Ying (Taiwan)

Uncategorized hybrids

 * 'Lipstick' (Fragaria × Comarum hybrid), red-flowered runnering ornamental, sparse small globular fruits.
 * Fragaria vesca and certain other diploid species can be hybridized and produce fertile offspring (although Fragaria nilgerrensis appears less compatible).
 * Fragaria moschata can hybridize with diploid species such as Fragaria viridis and Fragaria nubicola but producing a lower proportion of viable seeds.
 * Fragaria moschata can hybridize with Fragaria × ananassa.

Ecology
A number of species of butterflies and moths feed on strawberry plants.

title: Fragaria