text:
Esophagus

The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English, see spelling differences; both ; : (o)esophagi or (o)esophaguses), colloquially known also as the food pipe, food tube, or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach. The esophagus is a fibromuscular tube, about 25 cm long in adults, that travels behind the trachea and heart, passes through the diaphragm, and empties into the uppermost region of the stomach. During swallowing, the epiglottis tilts backwards to prevent food from going down the larynx and lungs. The word oesophagus is from Ancient Greek οἰσοφάγος (oisophágos), from οἴσω (oísō), future form of φέρω (phérō, "I carry") + ἔφαγον (éphagon, "I ate").

The wall of the esophagus from the lumen outwards consists of mucosa, submucosa (connective tissue), layers of muscle fibers between layers of fibrous tissue, and an outer layer of connective tissue. The mucosa is a stratified squamous epithelium of around three layers of squamous cells, which contrasts to the single layer of columnar cells of the stomach. The transition between these two types of epithelium is visible as a zig-zag line. Most of the muscle is smooth muscle although striated muscle predominates in its upper third. It has two muscular rings or sphincters in its wall, one at the top and one at the bottom. The lower sphincter helps to prevent reflux of acidic stomach content. The esophagus has a rich blood supply and venous drainage. Its smooth muscle is innervated by involuntary nerves (sympathetic nerves via the sympathetic trunk and parasympathetic nerves via the vagus nerve) and in addition voluntary nerves (lower motor neurons) which are carried in the vagus nerve to innervate its striated muscle.

The esophagus passes through the thoracic cavity into the diaphragm into the stomach.

The esophagus may be affected by gastric reflux, cancer, prominent dilated blood vessels called varices that can bleed heavily, tears, constrictions, and disorders of motility. Diseases may cause difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), painful swallowing (odynophagia), chest pain, or cause no symptoms at all. Clinical investigations include X-rays when swallowing barium sulfate, endoscopy, and CT scans. Surgically, the esophagus is difficult to access in part due to its position between critical organs and directly between the sternum and spinal column.

Structure
The esophagus is one of the upper parts of the digestive system. There are taste buds on its upper part. It begins at the back of the mouth, passing downward through the rear part of the mediastinum, through the diaphragm, and into the stomach. In humans, the esophagus generally starts around the level of the sixth cervical vertebra behind the cricoid cartilage of the trachea, enters the diaphragm at about the level of the tenth thoracic vertebra, and ends at the cardia of the stomach, at the level of the eleventh thoracic vertebra. The esophagus is usually about 25 cm (10 in) in length.

Many blood vessels serve the esophagus, with blood supply varying along its course. The upper parts of the esophagus and the upper esophageal sphincter receive blood from the inferior thyroid artery, the parts of the esophagus in the thorax from the bronchial arteries and branches directly from the thoracic aorta, and the lower parts of the esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter receive blood from the left gastric artery and the left inferior phrenic artery. The venous drainage also differs along the course of the esophagus. The upper and middle parts of the esophagus drain into the azygos and hemiazygos veins, and blood from the lower part drains into the left gastric vein. All these veins drain into the superior vena cava, with the exception of the left gastric vein, which is a branch of the portal vein. Lymphatically, the upper third of the esophagus drains into the deep cervical lymph nodes, the middle into the superior and posterior mediastinal lymph nodes, and the lower esophagus into the gastric and celiac lymph nodes. This is similar to the lymphatic drainage of the abdominal structures that arise from the foregut, which all drain into the celiac nodes.

 * Position

The upper esophagus lies at the back of the mediastinum behind the trachea, adjoining along the tracheoesophageal stripe, and in front of the erector spinae muscles and the vertebral column. The lower esophagus lies behind the heart and curves in front of the thoracic aorta. From the bifurcation of the trachea downwards, the esophagus passes behind the right pulmonary artery, left main bronchus, and left atrium. At this point, it passes through the diaphragm.

The thoracic duct, which drains the majority of the body's lymph, passes behind the esophagus, curving from lying behind the esophagus on the right in the lower part of the esophagus, to lying behind the esophagus on the left in the upper esophagus. The esophagus also lies in front of parts of the hemiazygos veins and the intercostal veins on the right side. The vagus nerve divides and covers the esophagus in a plexus.

The esophagus has four points of constriction. When a corrosive substance, or a solid object is swallowed, it is most likely to lodge and damage one of these four points. These constrictions arise from particular structures that compress the esophagus. These constrictions are:
 * Constrictions
 * At the start of the esophagus, where the laryngopharynx joins the esophagus, behind the cricoid cartilage
 * Where it is crossed on the front by the aortic arch in the superior mediastinum
 * Where the esophagus is compressed by the left main bronchus in the posterior mediastinum
 * The esophageal hiatus, where it passes through the diaphragm in the posterior mediastinum

Sphincters
The esophagus is surrounded at the top and bottom by two muscular rings, known respectively as the upper esophageal sphincter and the lower esophageal sphincter. These sphincters act to close the esophagus when food is not being swallowed. The upper esophageal sphincter is an anatomical sphincter, which is formed by the lower portion of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor, also known as the cricopharyngeal sphincter due to its relation with cricoid cartilage of the larynx anteriorly. However, the lower esophageal sphincter is not an anatomical but rather a functional sphincter, meaning that it acts as a sphincter but does not have a distinct thickening like other sphincters.

The upper esophageal sphincter surrounds the upper part of the esophagus. It consists of skeletal muscle but is not under voluntary control. Opening of the upper esophageal sphincter is triggered by the swallowing reflex. The primary muscle of the upper esophageal sphincter is the cricopharyngeal part of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor.

The lower esophageal sphincter, or gastroesophageal sphincter, surrounds the lower part of the esophagus at the junction between the esophagus and the stomach. It is also called the cardiac sphincter or cardioesophageal sphincter, named from the adjacent part of the stomach, the cardia. Dysfunction of the gastroesophageal sphincter causes gastroesophageal reflux, which causes heartburn, and, if it happens often enough, can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease, with damage of the esophageal mucosa.

Nerve supply
The esophagus is innervated by the vagus nerve and the cervical and thoracic sympathetic trunk. The vagus nerve has a parasympathetic function, supplying the muscles of the esophagus and stimulating glandular contraction. Two sets of nerve fibers travel in the vagus nerve to supply the muscles. The upper striated muscle, and upper esophageal sphincter, are supplied by neurons with bodies in the nucleus ambiguus, whereas fibers that supply the smooth muscle and lower esophageal sphincter have bodies situated in the dorsal motor nucleus. The vagus nerve plays the primary role in initiating peristalsis. The sympathetic trunk has a sympathetic function. It may enhance the function of the vagus nerve, increasing peristalsis and glandular activity, and causing sphincter contraction. In addition, sympathetic activation may relax the muscle wall and cause blood vessel constriction. Sensation along the esophagus is supplied by both nerves, with gross sensation being passed in the vagus nerve and pain passed up the sympathetic trunk.

Gastroesophageal junction
The gastroesophageal junction (also known as the esophagogastric junction) is the junction between the esophagus and the stomach, at the lower end of the esophagus. The pink color of the esophageal mucosa contrasts to the deeper red of the gastric mucosa, and the mucosal transition can be seen as an irregular zig-zag line, which is often called the z-line. Histological examination reveals abrupt transition between the stratified squamous epithelium of the esophagus and the simple columnar epithelium of the stomach. Normally, the cardia of the stomach is immediately distal to the z-line and the z-line coincides with the upper limit of the gastric folds of the cardia; however, when the anatomy of the mucosa is distorted in Barrett's esophagus the true gastroesophageal junction can be identified by the upper limit of the gastric folds rather than the mucosal transition. The functional location of the lower oesophageal sphincter is generally situated about 3 cm below the z-line.

Microanatomy
The human esophagus has a mucous membrane consisting of a tough stratified squamous epithelium without keratin, a smooth lamina propria, and a muscularis mucosae. The epithelium of the esophagus has a relatively rapid turnover and serves a protective function against the abrasive effects of food. In many animals, the epithelium contains a layer of keratin, representing a coarser diet. There are two types of glands, with mucus-secreting esophageal glands being found in the submucosa and esophageal cardiac glands, similar to cardiac glands of the stomach, located in the lamina propria and most frequent in the terminal part of the organ. The mucus from the glands gives a good protection to the lining. The submucosa also contains the submucosal plexus, a network of nerve cells that is part of the enteric nervous system.

The muscular layer of the esophagus has two types of muscle. The upper third of the esophagus contains striated muscle, the lower third contains smooth muscle, and the middle third contains a mixture of both. Muscle is arranged in two layers: one in which the muscle fibers run longitudinal to the esophagus, and the other in which the fibers encircle the esophagus. These are separated by the myenteric plexus, a tangled network of nerve fibers involved in the secretion of mucus and in peristalsis of the smooth muscle of the esophagus. The outermost layer of the esophagus is the adventitia in most of its length, with the abdominal part being covered in serosa. This makes it distinct from many other structures in the gastrointestinal tract that only have a serosa.

Development
In early embryogenesis, the esophagus develops from the endodermal primitive gut tube. The ventral part of the embryo abuts the yolk sac. During the second week of embryological development, as the embryo grows, it begins to surround parts of the sac. The enveloped portions form the basis for the adult gastrointestinal tract. The sac is surrounded by a network of vitelline arteries. Over time, these arteries consolidate into the three main arteries that supply the developing gastrointestinal tract: the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, and inferior mesenteric artery. The areas supplied by these arteries are used to define the midgut, hindgut and foregut.

The surrounded sac becomes the primitive gut. Sections of this gut begin to differentiate into the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, such as the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. The esophagus develops as part of the foregut tube. The innervation of the esophagus develops from the pharyngeal arches.

Swallowing
Food is ingested through the mouth and when swallowed passes first into the pharynx and then into the esophagus. The esophagus is thus one of the first components of the digestive system and the gastrointestinal tract. After food passes through the esophagus, it enters the stomach. When food is being swallowed, the epiglottis moves backward to cover the larynx, preventing food from entering the trachea. At the same time, the upper esophageal sphincter relaxes, allowing a bolus of food to enter. Peristaltic contractions of the esophageal muscle push the food down the esophagus. These rhythmic contractions occur both as a reflex response to food that is in the mouth, and also as a response to the sensation of food within the esophagus itself. Along with peristalsis, the lower esophageal sphincter relaxes.

Reducing gastric reflux
The stomach produces gastric acid, a strongly acidic mixture consisting of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and potassium and sodium salts to enable food digestion. Constriction of the upper and lower esophageal sphincters helps to prevent reflux (backflow) of gastric contents and acid into the esophagus, protecting the esophageal mucosa. The acute angle of His and the lower crura of the diaphragm also help this sphincteric action.

Gene and protein expression
About 20,000 protein-coding genes are expressed in human cells and nearly 70% of these genes are expressed in the normal esophagus. Some 250 of these genes are more specifically expressed in the esophagus with less than 50 genes being highly specific. The corresponding esophagus-specific proteins are mainly involved in squamous differentiation such as keratins KRT13, KRT4 and KRT6C. Other specific proteins that help lubricate the inner surface of esophagus are mucins such as MUC21 and MUC22. Many genes with elevated expression are also shared with skin and other organs that are composed of squamous epithelia.

Clinical significance
The main conditions affecting the esophagus are described here. For a more complete list, see esophageal disease.

Inflammation
Inflammation of the esophagus is known as esophagitis. Reflux of gastric acids from the stomach, infection, substances ingested (for example, corrosives), some medications (such as bisphosphonates), and food allergies can all lead to esophagitis. Esophageal candidiasis is an infection of the yeast Candida albicans that may occur when a person is immunocompromised. the causes of some forms of esophagitis, such as eosinophilic esophagitis, are not well-characterized, but may include Th2-mediated atopies or genetic factors. There appear to be correlations between eosinophilic esophagitis, asthma (itself with an eosinophilic component), eczema, and allergic rhinitis, though it is not clear whether these conditions contribute to eosinophilic esophagitis or vice versa, or if they are symptoms of mutual underlying factors. Esophagitis can cause painful swallowing and is usually treated by managing the cause of the esophagitis - such as managing reflux or treating infection.

Barrett's esophagus
Prolonged esophagitis, particularly from gastric reflux, is one factor thought to play a role in the development of Barrett's esophagus. In this condition, there is metaplasia of the lining of the lower esophagus, which changes from stratified squamous epithelia to simple columnar epithelia. Barrett's esophagus is thought to be one of the main contributors to the development of esophageal cancer.

Cancer
There are two main types of cancer of the esophagus. Squamous cell carcinoma is a carcinoma that can occur in the squamous cells lining the esophagus. This type is much more common in China and Iran. The other main type is an adenocarcinoma that occurs in the glands or columnar tissue of the esophagus. This is most common in developed countries in those with Barrett's esophagus, and occurs in the cuboidal cells.

In its early stages, esophageal cancer may not have any symptoms at all. When severe, esophageal cancer may eventually cause obstruction of the esophagus, making swallowing of any solid foods very difficult and causing weight loss. The progress of the cancer is staged using a system that measures how far into the esophageal wall the cancer has invaded, how many lymph nodes are affected, and whether there are any metastases in different parts of the body. Esophageal cancer is often managed with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and may also be managed by partial surgical removal of the esophagus. Inserting a stent into the esophagus, or inserting a nasogastric tube, may also be used to ensure that a person is able to digest enough food and water. , the prognosis for esophageal cancer is still poor, so palliative therapy may also be a focus of treatment.

Varices
Esophageal varices are swollen twisted branches of the azygous vein in the lower third of the esophagus. These blood vessels anastomose (join up) with those of the portal vein when portal hypertension develops. These blood vessels are engorged more than normal, and in the worst cases may partially obstruct the esophagus. These blood vessels develop as part of a collateral circulation that occurs to drain blood from the abdomen as a result of portal hypertension, usually as a result of liver diseases such as cirrhosis. This collateral circulation occurs because the lower part of the esophagus drains into the left gastric vein, which is a branch of the portal vein. Because of the extensive venous plexus that exists between this vein and other veins, if portal hypertension occurs, the direction of blood drainage in this vein may reverse, with blood draining from the portal venous system, through the plexus. Veins in the plexus may engorge and lead to varices.

Esophageal varices often do not have symptoms until they rupture. A ruptured varix is considered a medical emergency because varices can bleed a lot. A bleeding varix may cause a person to vomit blood, or suffer shock. To deal with a ruptured varix, a band may be placed around the bleeding blood vessel, or a small amount of a clotting agent may be injected near the bleed. A surgeon may also try to use a small inflatable balloon to apply pressure to stop the wound. IV fluids and blood products may be given in order to prevent hypovolemia from excess blood loss.

Motility disorders
Several disorders affect the motility of food as it travels down the esophagus. This can cause difficult swallowing, called dysphagia, or painful swallowing, called odynophagia. Achalasia refers to a failure of the lower esophageal sphincter to relax properly, and generally develops later in life. This leads to progressive enlargement of the esophagus, and possibly eventual megaesophagus. A nutcracker esophagus refers to swallowing that can be extremely painful. Diffuse esophageal spasm is a spasm of the esophagus that can be one cause of chest pain. Such referred pain to the wall of the upper chest is quite common in esophageal conditions. Sclerosis of the esophagus, such as with systemic sclerosis or in CREST syndrome may cause hardening of the walls of the esophagus and interfere with peristalsis.

Malformations
Esophageal strictures are usually benign and typically develop after a person has had reflux for many years. Other strictures may include esophageal webs (which can also be congenital) and damage to the esophagus by radiotherapy, corrosive ingestion, or eosinophilic esophagitis. A Schatzki ring is fibrosis at the gastroesophageal junction. Strictures may also develop in chronic anemia, and Plummer-Vinson syndrome.

Two of the most common congenital malformations affecting the esophagus are an esophageal atresia where the esophagus ends in a blind sac instead of connecting to the stomach; and an esophageal fistula – an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the trachea. Both of these conditions usually occur together. These are found in about 1 in 3500 births. Half of these cases may be part of a syndrome where other abnormalities are also present, particularly of the heart or limbs. The other cases occur singly.

Imaging
An X-ray of swallowed barium may be used to reveal the size and shape of the esophagus, and the presence of any masses. The esophagus may also be imaged using a flexible camera inserted into the esophagus, in a procedure called an endoscopy. If an endoscopy is used on the stomach, the camera will also have to pass through the esophagus. During an endoscopy, a biopsy may be taken. If cancer of the esophagus is being investigated, other methods, including a CT scan, may also be used.

History
The word esophagus (British English: oesophagus), comes from the οἰσοφάγος (oisophagos) meaning gullet. It derives from two roots (eosin) to carry and (phagos) to eat. The use of the word oesophagus, has been documented in anatomical literature since at least the time of Hippocrates, who noted that "the oesophagus ... receives the greatest amount of what we consume." Its existence in other animals and its relationship with the stomach was documented by the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (AD23–AD79), and the peristaltic contractions of the esophagus have been documented since at least the time of Galen.

The first attempt at surgery on the esophagus focused in the neck, and was conducted in dogs by Theodore Billroth in 1871. In 1877 Czerny carried out surgery in people. By 1908, an operation had been performed by Voeckler to remove the esophagus, and in 1933 the first surgical removal of parts of the lower esophagus, (to control esophageal cancer), had been conducted.

The Nissen fundoplication, in which the stomach is wrapped around the lower esophageal sphincter to stimulate its function and control reflux, was first conducted by Rudolph Nissen in 1955.

Vertebrates
In tetrapods, the pharynx is much shorter, and the esophagus correspondingly longer, than in fish. In the majority of vertebrates, the esophagus is simply a connecting tube, but in some birds, which regurgitate components to feed their young, it is extended towards the lower end to form a crop for storing food before it enters the true stomach. In ruminants, animals with four chambered stomachs, a groove called the sulcus reticuli is often found in the esophagus, allowing milk to drain directly into the hind stomach, the abomasum. In the horse the esophagus is about 4 to 5 ft in length, and carries food to the stomach. A muscular ring, called the cardiac sphincter, connects the stomach to the esophagus. This sphincter is very well developed in horses. This and the oblique angle at which the esophagus connects to the stomach explains why horses cannot vomit. The esophagus is also the area of the digestive tract where horses may have the condition known as choke.

The esophagus of snakes is remarkable for the distension it undergoes when swallowing prey.

In most fish, the esophagus is extremely short, primarily due to the length of the pharynx (which is associated with the gills). However, some fish, including lampreys, chimaeras, and lungfish, have no true stomach, so that the esophagus effectively runs from the pharynx directly to the intestine, and is therefore somewhat longer.

In many vertebrates, the esophagus is lined by stratified squamous epithelium without glands. In fish, the esophagus is often lined with columnar epithelium, and in amphibians, sharks and rays, the esophageal epithelium is ciliated, helping to wash food along, in addition to the action of muscular peristalsis. In addition, in the bat Plecotus auritus, fish and some amphibians, glands secreting pepsinogen or hydrochloric acid have been found.

The muscle of the esophagus in many mammals is initially striated but then becomes smooth muscle in the caudal third or so. In canines and ruminants, however, it is entirely striated to allow regurgitation to feed young (canines) or regurgitation to chew cud (ruminants). It is entirely smooth muscle in amphibians, reptiles and birds.

Contrary to popular belief, an adult human body would not be able to pass through the esophagus of a whale, which generally measures less than 10 cm in diameter, although in larger baleen whales it may be up to 25 cm when fully distended.

Invertebrates
A structure with the same name is often found in invertebrates, including molluscs and arthropods, connecting the oral cavity with the stomach. In terms of the digestive system of snails and slugs, the mouth opens into an esophagus, which connects to the stomach. Because of torsion, which is the rotation of the main body of the animal during larval development, the esophagus usually passes around the stomach, and opens into its back, furthest from the mouth. In species that have undergone de-torsion, however, the esophagus may open into the anterior of the stomach, which is the reverse of the usual gastropod arrangement. There is an extensive rostrum at the front of the esophagus in all carnivorous snails and slugs. In the freshwater snail species Tarebia granifera, the brood pouch is above the esophagus.

In the cephalopods, the brain often surrounds the esophagus.

title: Esophagus


text:
Tom Hulce

Thomas Edward Hulce (born December 6, 1953) is an American actor and theatre producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus (1984), as well as the roles of Larry "Pinto" Kroger in Animal House (1978), Larry Buckman in Parenthood (1989), and Quasimodo in Disney's animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Hulce's awards include an Emmy Award for The Heidi Chronicles, a 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical as a lead producer for Spring Awakening, an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for Amadeus, and four Golden Globe nominations.

Early life
Thomas Edward Hulce was born on December 6, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan (some sources incorrectly cite his birthplace as Whitewater, Wisconsin). The youngest of four children, he was raised in Plymouth, Michigan. His mother, Joanna Winkleman, sang briefly with Phil Spitalny's All-Girl Orchestra, and his father, Raymond Albert Hulce, worked for the Ford Motor Company. As a child, he wanted to be a singer, but he switched to acting after his voice changed in his teenage years. He left home at the age of 15 and attended Interlochen Arts Academy and the North Carolina School of the Arts, leaving a year before finishing his BFA. He graduated with a BA from Beloit College in Wisconsin.

Acting career
Hulce debuted as an actor in 1975, playing opposite Anthony Hopkins in Equus on Broadway and in Los Angeles. Throughout the rest of the 1970s and the early 1980s, he worked primarily as a theater actor, taking occasional parts in movies. His first film role was in the James Dean-influenced film September 30, 1955 in 1977. His next movie role was as freshman student Lawrence "Pinto" Kroger in the classic comedy Animal House (1978). In 1983, he played a gunshot victim in the television show St. Elsewhere.

In the early 1980s, Hulce was chosen over intense competition (including David Bowie, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mark Hamill, and Kenneth Branagh ) to play the role of Mozart in director Miloš Forman's film version of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus. In 1985, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, losing to his co-star, F. Murray Abraham. In his acceptance speech, Abraham paid tribute to his co-star, saying, "There's only one thing missing for me tonight, and that is to have Tom Hulce standing by my side."

In 1989, he received his second Best Actor Golden Globe Award nomination for a critically acclaimed performance as an intellectually-challenged garbage-collector in the 1988 movie Dominick and Eugene. He played supporting roles in Parenthood (1989), Fearless (1993) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994). In 1988, he played the title part in the British–Dutch movie Shadow Man, directed by the Polish director Piotr Andrejew.

In 1990, he was nominated for his first Emmy Award for his performance as the 1960s civil rights activist Michael Schwerner in the 1990 TV-movie Murder in Mississippi. He starred as Joseph Stalin's projectionist in Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky's 1991 film The Inner Circle. In 1996, he won an Emmy Award for his role as a pediatrician in a television-movie version of the Wendy Wasserstein play The Heidi Chronicles, starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Also that year, he was cast in Disney's animated film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, providing the speaking and singing voice of the protagonist Quasimodo. Although Hulce largely retired from acting in the mid-1990s, he had bit parts in the movies Stranger Than Fiction (2006) and Jumper (2008).

Hulce remained active in theater throughout his entire acting career. In addition to Equus, he appeared in Broadway productions of A Memory of Two Mondays and A Few Good Men, for which he was a Tony Award nominee in 1990. In the mid-1980s, he appeared in two different productions of playwright Larry Kramer's early AIDS-era drama The Normal Heart. In 1992, he starred in a Shakespeare Theatre Company production of Hamlet. His regional theatre credits include Eastern Standard at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Nothing Sacred at the Mark Taper Forum, both in 1988.

He retired from acting in the mid-1990s to focus on stage directing and producing. In 2023, Hulce made a brief return to acting by reprising the role of Quasimodo in the live-action/animated short Once Upon a Studio.

Career as producer
Among Hulce's major projects are the six-hour, two-evening stage adaptation of John Irving's The Cider House Rules; and Talking Heads, a festival of Alan Bennett's one-man plays that won six Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, a special Outer Critics Circle Award, and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Foreign Play. He also headed 10 Million Miles, a musical project by Keith Bunin and Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, that premiered in Spring 2007 at the Atlantic Theater Company.

Hulce was a lead producer of the Broadway hit Spring Awakening, which won eight Tony Awards in 2007, including one for Best Musical. He is also a lead producer of the stage adaptation of the Green Day album American Idiot. The musical had its world premiere in Berkeley, California, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009 and opened on Broadway in April 2010. In 2017 he began work as a producer on the musical Ain't Too Proud, which received 11 Tony Award nominations in 2019. He also produced the 2004 movie A Home at the End of the World, based upon Michael Cunningham's novel.

Personal life
In 2008, Hulce identified as gay in an interview with Seattle Gay News. In the same interview, he took the opportunity to debunk a rumor he married a woman (supposedly an Italian artist named Cecilia Ermini) and had a daughter named Anya with her: "That information – having a wife and child – is false. In the world of the Internet, there are many falsehoods. Anyone can write stuff on Wikipedia and it doesn't have to be true. I'm comfortable among the lists [of openly gay actors] although I stopped acting about 10 years ago."

Theater
Sources:

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

title: Tom Hulce


text:
Constipation

Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. The stool is often hard and dry. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the bowel movement. Complications from constipation may include hemorrhoids, anal fissure or fecal impaction. The normal frequency of bowel movements in adults is between three per day and three per week. Babies often have three to four bowel movements per day while young children typically have two to three per day.

Constipation has many causes. Common causes include slow movement of stool within the colon, irritable bowel syndrome, and pelvic floor disorders. Underlying associated diseases include hypothyroidism, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, vitamin B12 deficiency, colon cancer, diverticulitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Medications associated with constipation include opioids, certain antacids, calcium channel blockers, and anticholinergics. Of those taking opioids about 90% develop constipation. Constipation is more concerning when there is weight loss or anemia, blood is present in the stool, there is a history of inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer in a person's family, or it is of new onset in someone who is older.

Treatment of constipation depends on the underlying cause and the duration that it has been present. Measures that may help include drinking enough fluids, eating more fiber, consumption of honey and exercise. If this is not effective, laxatives of the bulk-forming agent, osmotic agent, stool softener, or lubricant type may be recommended. Stimulant laxatives are generally reserved for when other types are not effective. Other treatments may include biofeedback or in rare cases surgery.

In the general population rates of constipation are 2–30 percent. Among elderly people living in a care home the rate of constipation is 50–75 percent. People spend, in the United States, more than US$250million on medications for constipation a year.

Definition
Constipation is a symptom, not a disease. Most commonly, constipation is thought of as infrequent bowel movements, usually fewer than 3 stools per week. However, people may have other complaints as well including:
 * Straining with bowel movements
 * Excessive time needed to pass a bowel movement
 * Hard stools
 * Pain with bowel movements secondary to straining
 * Abdominal pain
 * Abdominal bloating.
 * the sensation of incomplete bowel evacuation.

The Rome III Criteria are a set of symptoms that help standardize the diagnosis of constipation in various age groups. These criteria help physicians to better define constipation in a standardized manner.

Causes
The causes of constipation can be divided into congenital, primary, and secondary. The most common kind is primary and not life-threatening. It can also be divided by the age group affected such as children and adults.

Primary or functional constipation is defined by ongoing symptoms for greater than six months not due to an underlying cause such as medication side effects or an underlying medical condition. It is not associated with abdominal pain, thus distinguishing it from irritable bowel syndrome. It is the most common kind of constipation, and is often multifactorial. In adults, such primary causes include: dietary choices such as insufficient dietary fiber or fluid intake, or behavioral causes such as decreased physical activity. In children, causes can include diets low in fiber and fluids, underlying medical conditions, and reluctance to go to the bathroom. In the elderly, common causes have been attributed to insufficient dietary fiber intake, inadequate fluid intake, decreased physical activity, side effects of medications, hypothyroidism, and obstruction by colorectal cancer. Evidence to support these factors however is poor.

Secondary causes include side effects of medications such as opiates, endocrine and metabolic disorders such as hypothyroidism, and obstruction such as from colorectal cancer or ovarian cancer. Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity may also present with constipation. Cystocele can develop as a result of chronic constipation.

Diet
Constipation can be caused or exacerbated by a low-fiber diet, low liquid intake, or dieting. Dietary fiber helps to decrease colonic transport time, increases stool bulk but simultaneously softens stool. Therefore, diets low in fiber can lead to primary constipation.

Medications
Many medications have constipation as a side effect. Some include (but are not limited to) opioids, diuretics, antidepressants, antihistamines, antispasmodics, anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, antiarrythmics, beta-adrenoceptor antagonists, anti-diarrheals, 5-HT3 receptor antagonists such as ondansetron, and aluminum antacids. Certain calcium channel blockers such as nifedipine and verapamil can cause severe constipation due to dysfunction of motility in the rectosigmoid colon. Supplements such as calcium and iron supplements can also have constipation as a notable side effect.

Medical conditions
Metabolic and endocrine problems which may lead to constipation include: pheochromocytoma, hypercalcemia, hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, porphyria, chronic kidney disease, pan-hypopituitarism, diabetes mellitus, and cystic fibrosis. Constipation is also common in individuals with muscular and myotonic dystrophy.

Systemic diseases that may present with constipation include celiac disease and systemic sclerosis.

Constipation has a number of structural (mechanical, morphological, anatomical) causes, namely through creating space-occupying lesions within the colon that stop the passage of stool, such as colorectal cancer, strictures, rectocoles, anal sphincter damage or malformation and post-surgical changes. Extra-intestinal masses such as other malignancies can also lead to constipation from external compression.

Constipation also has neurological causes, including anismus, descending perineum syndrome, and Hirschsprung's disease. In infants, Hirschsprung's disease is the most common medical disorder associated with constipation. Anismus occurs in a small minority of persons with chronic constipation or obstructed defecation.

Spinal cord lesions and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and pelvic floor dysfunction can also lead to constipation.

Chagas disease may cause constipation through the destruction of the myenteric plexus.

Psychological
Voluntary withholding of the stool is a common cause of constipation. The choice to withhold can be due to factors such as fear of pain, fear of public restrooms, or laziness. When a child holds in the stool a combination of encouragement, fluids, fiber, and laxatives may be useful to overcome the problem. Early intervention with withholding is important as this can lead to anal fissures.

Congenital
A number of diseases present at birth can result in constipation in children. They are as a group uncommon with Hirschsprung's disease (HD) being the most common. There are also congenital structural anomalies that can lead to constipation, including anterior displacement of the anus, imperforate anus, strictures, and small left colon syndrome.

Diagnosis
The diagnosis is typically made based on a person's description of the symptoms. Bowel movements that are difficult to pass, very firm, or made up of small hard pellets (like those excreted by rabbits) qualify as constipation, even if they occur every day. Constipation is traditionally defined as three or fewer bowel movements per week. Other symptoms related to constipation can include bloating, distension, abdominal pain, headaches, a feeling of fatigue and nervous exhaustion, or a sense of incomplete emptying. Although constipation may be a diagnosis, it is typically viewed as a symptom that requires evaluation to discern a cause.

Description
Distinguish between acute (days to weeks) or chronic (months to years) onset of constipation because this information changes the differential diagnosis. This in the context of accompanied symptoms helps physicians discover the cause of constipation. People often describe their constipation as bowel movements that are difficult to pass, firm stool with lumpy or hard consistency, and excessive straining during bowel movements. Bloating, abdominal distension, and abdominal pain often accompany constipation. Chronic constipation (symptoms present at least three days per month for more than three months) associated with abdominal discomfort is often diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) when no obvious cause is found.

Poor dietary habits, previous abdominal surgeries, and certain medical conditions can contribute to constipation. Diseases associated with constipation include hypothyroidism, certain types of cancer, and irritable bowel syndrome. Low fiber intake, inadequate amounts of fluids, poor ambulation or immobility, or medications can contribute to constipation. Once the presence of constipation is identified based on a culmination of the symptoms described above, then the cause of constipation should be figured out.

Separating non-life-threatening from serious causes may be partly based on symptoms. For example, colon cancer may be suspected if a person has a family history of colon cancer, fever, weight loss, and rectal bleeding. Other alarming signs and symptoms include family or personal history of inflammatory bowel disease, age of onset over 50, change in stool caliber, nausea, vomiting, and neurological symptoms like weakness, numbness and difficulty urinating.

Examination
A physical examination should involve at least an abdominal exam and rectal exam. Abdominal exam may reveal an abdominal mass if there is significant stool burden and may reveal abdominal discomfort. Rectal examination gives an impression of the anal sphincter tone and whether the lower rectum contains any feces or not. Rectal examination also gives information on the consistency of the stool, the presence of hemorrhoids, blood and whether any perineal irregularities are present including skin tags, fissures, anal warts. Physical examination is done manually by a physician and is used to guide which diagnostic tests to order.

Diagnostic tests
Functional constipation is common and does not warrant diagnostic testing. Imaging and laboratory tests are typically recommended for those with alarm signs or symptoms.

The laboratory tests performed depends on the suspected underlying cause of the constipation. Tests may include CBC (complete blood count), thyroid function tests, serum calcium, serum potassium, etc.

Abdominal X-rays are generally only performed if bowel obstruction is suspected, may reveal extensive impacted fecal matter in the colon, and may confirm or rule out other causes of similar symptoms.

Colonoscopy may be performed if an abnormality in the colon like a tumor is suspected. Other tests rarely ordered include anorectal manometry, anal sphincter electromyography, and defecography.

Colonic propagating pressure wave sequences (PSs) are responsible for discrete movements of the bowel contents and are vital for normal defecation. Deficiencies in PS frequency, amplitude, and extent of propagation are all implicated in severe defecatory dysfunction (SDD). Mechanisms that can normalize these aberrant motor patterns may help rectify the problem. Recently the novel therapy of sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) has been utilized for the treatment of severe constipation.

Criteria
The Rome III Criteria for functional constipation must include two or more of the following and present for the past three months, with symptoms starting for at least 6 months prior to diagnosis.
 * Straining during defecation for at least 25% of bowel movements
 * Lumpy or hard stools in at least 25% of defecations
 * Sensation of incomplete evacuation for at least 25% of defecations
 * Sensation of anorectal obstruction/blockage for at least 25% of defecations
 * Manual maneuvers to facilitate at least 25% of defecations
 * Fewer than 3 defecations per week
 * Loose stools are rarely present without the use of laxatives
 * There are insufficient criteria for irritable bowel syndrome

Prevention
Constipation is usually easier to prevent than to treat. Following the relief of constipation, maintenance with adequate exercise, fluid intake, and high-fiber diet is recommended.

Treatment
A limited number of cases require urgent medical intervention or will result in severe consequences.

The treatment of constipation should focus on the underlying cause if known. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) break constipation in adults into two categories: chronic constipation of unknown cause, and constipation due to opiates.

In chronic constipation of unknown cause, the main treatment involves the increased intake of water and fiber (either dietary or as supplements). The routine use of laxatives or enemas is discouraged, as having bowel movements may come to be dependent upon their use.

Fiber supplements
Soluble fiber supplements such as psyllium are generally considered first-line treatment for chronic constipation, compared to insoluble fibers such as wheat bran. Side effects of fiber supplements include bloating, flatulence, diarrhea, and possible malabsorption of iron, calcium, and some medications. However, patients with opiate-induced constipation will likely not benefit from fiber supplements.

Laxatives
If laxatives are used, milk of magnesia or polyethylene glycol are recommended as first-line agents due to their low cost and safety. Stimulants should only be used if this is not effective. In cases of chronic constipation, polyethylene glycol appears superior to lactulose. Prokinetics may be used to improve gastrointestinal motility. A number of new agents have shown positive outcomes in chronic constipation; these include prucalopride and lubiprostone. Cisapride is widely available in third world countries, but has been withdrawn in most of the west. It has not been shown to have a benefit on constipation, while potentially causing cardiac arrhythmias and deaths.

Enemas
Enemas can be used to provide a form of mechanical stimulation. A large volume or high enema can be given to cleanse as much of the colon as possible of feces, and the solution administered commonly contains castile soap which irritates the colon's lining resulting in increased urgency to defecate. However, a low enema is generally useful only for stool in the rectum, not in the intestinal tract.

Physical intervention
Constipation that resists the above measures may require physical intervention such as manual disimpaction (the physical removal of impacted stool using the hands; see fecal impaction).

Regular exercise
Regular exercise can help improve chronic constipation.

Surgical intervention
In refractory cases, procedures can be performed to help relieve constipation. Sacral nerve stimulation has been demonstrated to be effective in a minority of cases. Colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis is another intervention performed only in patients known to have a slow colonic transit time and in whom a defecation disorder has either been treated or is not present. Because this is a major operation, side effects can include considerable abdominal pain, small bowel obstruction, and post-surgical infections. Furthermore, it has a very variable rate of success and is very case dependent.

Prognosis
Complications that can arise from constipation include hemorrhoids, anal fissures, rectal prolapse, and fecal impaction. Straining to pass stool may lead to hemorrhoids. In later stages of constipation, the abdomen may become distended, hard and diffusely tender. Severe cases ("fecal impaction" or malignant constipation) may exhibit symptoms of bowel obstruction (nausea, vomiting, tender abdomen) and encopresis, where soft stool from the small intestine bypasses the mass of impacted fecal matter in the colon.

Epidemiology
Constipation is the most common chronic gastrointestinal disorder in adults. Depending on the definition employed, it occurs in 2% to 20% of the population. It is more common in women, the elderly and children. Specifically constipation with no known cause affects females more often affected than males. The reasons it occurs more frequently in the elderly is felt to be due to an increasing number of health problems as humans age and decreased physical activity.
 * 12% of the population worldwide reports having constipation.
 * Chronic constipation accounts for 3% of all visits annually to pediatric outpatient clinics.
 * Constipation-related health care costs total $6.9 billion in the US annually.
 * More than four million Americans have frequent constipation, accounting for 2.5 million physician visits a year.
 * Around $725 million is spent on laxative products each year in America.

History

Since ancient times different societies have published medical opinions about how health care providers should respond to constipation in patients. In various times and places, doctors have made claims that constipation has all sorts of medical or social causes. Doctors in history have treated constipation in reasonable and unreasonable ways, including use of a spatula mundani.

After the advent of the germ theory of disease then the idea of "auto-intoxication" entered popular Western thought in a fresh way. Enema as a scientific medical treatment and colon cleansing as alternative medical treatment became more common in medical practice.

Since the 1700s in the West there has been some popular thought that people with constipation have some moral failing with gluttony or laziness.

Children
Approximately 3% of children have constipation, with girls and boys being equally affected. With constipation accounting for approximately 5% of general pediatrician visits and 25% of pediatric gastroenterologist visits, the symptom carries a significant financial impact upon the healthcare system. While it is difficult to assess an exact age at which constipation most commonly arises, children frequently experience constipation in conjunction with life-changes. Examples include: toilet training, starting or transferring to a new school, and changes in diet. Especially in infants, changes in formula or transitioning from breast milk to formula can cause constipation. The majority of constipation cases are not tied to a medical disease, and treatment can be focused on simply relieving the symptoms.

Postpartum women
The six-week period after pregnancy is called the postpartum stage. During this time, women are at increased risk of being constipated. Multiple studies estimate the prevalence of constipation to be around 25% during the first 3 months. Constipation can cause discomfort for women, as they are still recovering from the delivery process especially if they have had a perineal tear or underwent an episiotomy. Risk factors that increase the risk of constipation in this population include: Hemorrhoids are common in pregnancy and also may get exacerbated when constipated. Anything that can cause pain with stooling (hemorrhoids, perineal tear, episiotomy) can lead to constipation because patients may withhold from having a bowel movement so as to avoid pain.
 * Damage to the levator ani muscles (pelvic floor muscles) during childbirth
 * Forceps-assisted delivery
 * Lengthy second stage of labor
 * Delivering a large child
 * Hemorrhoids

The pelvic floor muscles play an important role in helping pass a bowel movement. Injury to those muscles by some of the above risk factors (examples- delivering a large child, lengthy second stage of labor, forceps delivery) can result in constipation. Enemas may be administered during labor and these can also alter bowel movements in the days after giving birth. However, there is insufficient evidence to make conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of laxatives in this group of people.

title: Constipation


text:
Talk:Circumference

Insert link to German Concept
I find this most viewed article needs a link to a German article. There are some synonyms for "circumference" in German: "Kreislinie", "Kreisrand, "Kreisperipherie"... Please, could somebody create the link to any of the concepts I presented above? Thanks.

I see in a previous discussion that somebody worried about that, though his suggestion was not accepted because his translation "Umfang" it is better translated as "perimeter". That was right, but still a German link is missing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Yeshua Saves (talk • contribs) 09:08, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

Definition of pi
When the formula for circumference is mentioned, first 2πr should come, and later should πd be derived. Reason being that if we consider the circle itself as an arc, it subtends 360° or 2π radians, and the apothem being r, the formula is 2πr. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.62.174.37 (talk) 15:49, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
 * The definition of Pi is the ratio between circumference and diameter. It therefore makes sense to quote πd first, and then the derived 2πr afterwards.  [In future when you are posting a new comment to a talk page, please add it to the foot of the page, not to the top.  Please remember also to sign your comment by typing 4 tildes ~ or using the signature button on the edit pane.]  David Biddulph (talk) 16:00, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

I edited this page I added how to find the circumference of an oval can someone tell me how to make a link so when someone types in to search "circumference of an oval" it shows up on search results PLEASE--Whats inside the light bulb? (talk) 03:20, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Let us see a proof that a circle's circumference is of finite length and can be measured. --User:Juuitchan

 * Logic will do to tell you that it is of finite length, logic will also tell you that it will be of inifinite detail. You can use the approximation by polygones to prove both things... BrunoX 01:13, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

 * I agree. --User: mkomnipotens

 * The first paragraph in this article uses some integral calculus to prove that the circumference of a circle is 2πr. I suppose that was intended to satisfy User:Juuitchan, who requested a proof that the circumference is of finite length, but is any of this important for this Wikipedia article? The symbol π is by definition the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, so the result is trivial at best. Why confuse our readers with the heavy machinery? — Aetheling (talk) 20:07, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree, the integral calculus in this definition of the circumference of a circle is pointless, in my opinion (and I'm a maths graduate). Contrast the entry for [pi] where [pi] is explicitly defined as being the ratio of the circumference to the diameter.  Given that, you dont need anything else to explain the definition.  Another minor point is that the formula refers to "r" but does not define what "r" is (yes, most people know what it is but how would you find out from this article?).  But that's irrelevant as the calculation involving the integral should be removed and is verging on vandalism IanB (talk) 12:36, 12 December 2008 (UTC).
 * That may be because a vandalism from 18:33, 26 November 2008 wasn't fully reverted(look now). 15:40, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm not yet fully convinced. I agree the integral now makes more sense, and you've defined r as the radius, and it's an interesting calculation.  But the text says the formula is being derived without reference to the definition of π.  Yet you are relying on the knowledge that arcsin(1) is π/2.  IanB (talk) 23:22, 19 December 2008 (UTC).

Merge
Should Circumference be merged with Perimeter. As a non-genius I vote no. The reason is because I feel that most people can be confused with just the title Perimeter. When I search for info about a circle, to help with problem solving in school work, I don't think of Perimeter I think of Circumference. I'm sure there's lots of reasons why you two people above think otherwise with tons of formulas to prove your point. But I am a simple minded person and prefer my searchable topics to be simple also. CIRCle sounds like CIRCumference, see thats easy for me to remember, especially with my short-term memory. Thanks for listening to my input.

 * NO this articled shouldn't be merged with Perimeter. I think Circumference is a quite exceptional and particular case of a perimeter and it's worth of its own article. BrunoX 01:47, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

 * I don't know much about anything in this article, but do you care to say why the articles should not be merged? To most people, including me, the two topics are extremely similar, however, I'll remain neutral in the discussion. But if you really don't want the articles to be merged you should put down some more reasons.  Cat tle Gir l   talk 07:47, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

I vote no. Not knowing what a circumference was, i found the answer immediately, and was happy about that. I think it is good to keep the two articles apart and link between them as is done now. Short articles which go straight to the point are more helpful than long articles where you have to really search for the information you are looking for.

NO. Circumference is a perimeter, but a perimeter is not necessarily a circumference. They are different enough to warrant separate articles, in my opinion. CattleGirl - your logic leaves much to be desired. This is something that would change the status quo. Therefore, how about this: Provide more reasons why these articles SHOULD be merged! Jeremy 71.134.190.99 19:48, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Long Pages?
Why is this at the top of Special:Longpages? TheThingy Talk 18:18, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Because someone thought he was clever to vandalise it. Jackaranga 23:38, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Non mathematical definitions
Would it be possible for somebody suitably equipped (not me!) to provide definitions of Circumference other than the mathematical definition? The page is entirely unhelpful within the context of other (non-mathematical) Wiki articles referring to the circumference of a thing. --Te Irirangi 01:33, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Sure, a maths professor or someone like that would get this straight away, but when I showed my maths teacher Circumference on Wikipedia and he didn't have a clue. What does this Pi=Sin=Tan=Square root of 1+X2 rubbish mean anyway? Koshoes (talk) 21:34, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Definition of a circumference.
It looks strange to define circumference as a distance on a curved line (circle), cause the distance is how 2 points on a straight line are far apart; moreover, the circumference, as a distance, will rather be at best the perimeter of an inscribed "infinite" polygon. --Chiloa (talk) 13:33, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Error in Ramanujan-1914 #2 for perimeter of an ellipse?
Hello, I believe there is an error in Ramanujan-1914 #2 for the perimeter of an ellipse. Should the 1/2 at the beginning of the expression be a pi instead? Setting a=b (a circle) gives the perimeter approximately equal to a or b (clearly not even close). Dave of Indiana 67.237.34.16 (talk) 03:43, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Whoops, no, it should equal between a and b——pi is a separate factor of c (someone erroneously added it to #1, which I've corrected). ~ Kaimbridge ~  (talk) 15:11, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Now I'm confused. All other references that I can find of Ramanujan's equations for the perimeter of an ellipse have a pi instead of a 1/2. If a=b and the factor is pi then the perimeter equals pi*2*a -as expected. If a=b and the factor is 1/2 then the perimeter equals a -which is clearly incorrect. Am I missing something? 67.237.34.16 (talk) 21:22, 22 November 2008 (UTC)Dave of Indiana
 * Yes, but what is presented right there is just the perimetric radius, Pr, not the circumference, which is presented earier:
 * $$\begin{align}\mbox{E2}\left[0,90^\circ\right]&= \mbox{Integral}'s\mbox{ divided difference};\\ Pr&=a\times\mbox{E2}\left[0,90^\circ\right] \quad(\mbox{perimetric radius});\\

c&=2\pi\times Pr.\end{align}\,\!$$ ~ Kaimbridge ~  (talk) 21:51, 22 November 2008 (UTC) Got it now. Thanks for clearing that up. I took Pr to be the Perimeter. That's what I get for not reading the whole article. :) Dave of Indiana67.237.34.16 (talk) 00:32, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Circular argument
As stated above: Yet you are relying on the knowledge that arcsin(1) is π/2. IanB (talk) 23:22, 19 December 2008 (UTC). Since arcsin(1) is by definition a quarter circle, this means that you are relying on the knowledge that a full circle is 2π, which is what you are trying to prove. This invalidates the entire argument in the first paragraph, which should be deleted. Ehrenkater (talk) 14:08, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Modified section Relationship with Pi, added Circle illustration with radius.
I hope other editors will agree with this clean up and addition. Reddwarf2956 (talk) 03:51, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

please insert link to UMFANG (german wiki)
thx, Gerald Trost — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.109.227.56 (talk) 03:08, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

please insert link to UMFANG (german wiki)
UMFANG is linked with perimeter, not with circumference is perimeter a synonym for circumference? somehow UMFANG and circumference should be linked to better find your way from german to english and vice versa. thx, Gerald Trost — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.109.227.56 (talk) 03:12, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

citation needed span
The "citation needed span" does not fit well because the span should also include the next sentence, and which does state a few examples of each subject. If you want something else, I am sure we can find/add something. I mean period of sine, cosine and pendulum and brads use the constant in robotics. Simple harmonic motion is another use which is involve with all of the subjects stated. If you feel that the sentences need to be rewrote feel free to give it a try. John W. Nicholson (talk) 00:54, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

special and general
"Circumference is a special case of perimeter in that the perimeter is typically around a polygon while circumference is around a closed curve." — I am puzzled: is a closed curve a special case of a polygon? Or the opposite? Boris Tsirelson (talk) 08:16, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 01:52, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:54, 14 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Pi-unrolled-720.gif

Semi-protected edit request on 20 January 2022
Change ‘Magenta’ to ‘Green’ in the diagram of the circle 2601:85:4600:7220:C011:A4B2:6174:A821 (talk) 17:12, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ —GMX(on the go!) 17:26, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I've also changed D's color description from cyan to blue. —GMX(on the go!) 17:29, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Circumference


text:
Talk:SAMPA chart for English

Can we have some American sounds here? Please do not use dialect American sounds for examples, but only American sounds as the (ugh!) mass media pronounce them, as those are perhaps the most widely known. --User:Juuitchan

What exactly was the point of wikifying all the symbols? They invariably link to something completely irrelevant. --Nohat 22:35, 2003 Nov 20 (UTC)

 * All letters include lists with different uses, e.g. "A is also: With a ring over (Å), the symbol for the unit angstrom". I think we should eventually add the SAMPA symbols there as well. -- User:Docu

I don't know if this is just my accent getting in the way, but as far as I can tell, in my accent at least (Cleveland, OH); cough is pronounced /kO:f/; the vowels in about and winner are distinctly different; and the vowels in bird and winner are the same, but the one in bird is stressed, and the one in winner is not. Gus 03:46, 2004 Apr 2 (UTC)

 * Well, as to the last, I pronounce the vowels in bird and winner differently (berd, /b3:rd/ v winnuh, /wIn@/). I suspect you're saying these words very distinctly so that you can hear the pronunciation.  If I say "about" carefully, I still say "uhbowt" /@baUt/, but "winner" and "bird" become similar: "winneh" /wIn3/ and "behd" /b3:d/.  The pronunciation guide is representing how these words are natuarally pronounced when spoken quickly in a sentence.  Try that and see if your pronunciation changes like mine does.  fabiform | talk 06:54, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Are the diphthongs correct? It seems to me /eI/, /aI/, /OI/, /@U/, /aU/ should be /ei/, /ai/, /Oi/, /@u/, /au/ (and similarly for the US pronunciations). Ortonmc 21:21, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Phoneticists generally agree that the offglides of English diphthongs are not extreme in the vowel space, and so use the symbols for the near-close (or lax) vowels for the offglides, and not the fully-close vowels. This is supported both by the symbology used in the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association as well as the official SAMPA guide for English Nohat 22:04, 2004 Apr 13 (UTC)

Aren't there r-keeping dialects where 'Mary' is distinguished from 'merry'? This can't be expressed by the signs proposed here at "SAMPA: English diphthongs: US". According to this proposal, both 'Mary' and 'merry' would be /mEri/. So the US version of the diphthong of 'hair, there' might be /er/ rather than /Er/, in order to enable the distinction of /meri/ and /mEri/. j. 'mach' wust 2004 May 17

This page needs some examples. - Omegatron 13:21, Jun 11, 2004 (UTC)

Somebody has recently added Australian English. There's not exactly a standard for Australian English but there are two close candidates: Mitchell & Delbridge, who were the first and most well known serious documenters of Australian English, and The Macquarie Dictionary. Most they agree but for the sound in "air" Mitchell & Delbridge use [e@] whereas the MQD uses [E@]. This should probably be noted somewhere. — Hippietrail 12:48, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * The Vowels of Australian English and Other English Dialects
 * Impressionistic Studies of Australian English Phonetics
 * Vbs

Assuming that one is using Standard American English for the "US" columns, which is basically a conservative sociolect within the Northern Inland dialect space,

Shouldn't "more" use /o(U)/, NOT /O/, even though there are US dialects which do very clearly use /O/; the vowel, monophthong or diphthong, in it is the same vowel as in "no", in SAE?

Also, shouldn't the diphthong for "boy" be /oI/, not /OI/, in SAE? It may /OI/ in some US dialects, but it is almost certainly /oI/ in SAE.

In addition, shouldn't the vowel in "tour" be /ur/, not /Ur/, in SAE? The vowel in "tour", ignoring the /r/, is clearly not the same one as in "put", for starters, in SAE.

As for the vowel used in "run", I doubt that it is /V/ in SAE. At least to me, the vowel seems to be the same vowel as the first one in "about" in SAE. However, whether that one is truly /@/ proper, that is, a schwa, I am not really sure about. I've been told that it's actually a bit further back and lower than a true schwa.

At the same time, the first vowel in "about" in SAE is emphatically not the same one as the second vowel in "runner" in SAE. This distinction is shown clearly in Kirshenbaum ASCII IPA, where the former is /@/, while the latter is represented as /R/. I'm not sure if SAMPA has any way to really show this clearly, except possibly marking a syllabic /r/ at the end of "runner".

6:42 CDT 3 June 2004

Forgot to see that "er" is marked as /3`/ in SAMPA. Whoops.

6:47 CDT 3 June 2004

Australian vowels
AxSkov, you made a number of significant changes with which I disagree to the Australian English pronunciation on 2 May 2005. The previous versions are consistent with the pronunciation I am familiar with in Victoria, and the previous versions also appear to be far closer to the Macquarie Dictionary. Please state your source and rationale for these changes. --Mbwardle 11:10, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Sorry for the late reply.
 * The transcriptions used for vowels in the Macquarie Dictionary were devised in the 1940s by Mitchell and do not match the reality of how vowels are pronounced by Australians today. This means the Macquarie Dictionary uses the wrong IPA symbols for Australian vowels and hence should not be relied upon for correct IPA phonetic pronunciations.  The changes I made are much more closer to the pronunciations of Australians today than the Macquarie Dictionary is.
 * The source for these changes is located on the Australian English page with an external link to these vowels and a reference to published papers on Australian vowels and pronunciation. I hope this eases your concerns. – AxSkov ( ☏ ) 06:15, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Thanks very much for your explanation. The link gives a lot of interesting information that I will need some time to digest.
 * I was trying to reconcile the SAMPA symbols you used against the examples given in the SAMPA Chart. I think the problem is partly my understanding and partly that the examples given in the SAMPA chart seem suboptimal.  For instance, the example given for 6 as the final schwa-like syllable in German besser wasn't consistent with my pronunciation of that word, but comparing that against the IPA chart, the X-SAMPA chart, and the sound samples in each of the vowel entries adds some clarity.  --Mbwardle 00:51, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

IPA
Could IPA be added to this chart? Since SAMPA is just a cipher for IPA, it might make more sense to put each SAMPA symbol beside the IPA symbol it is meant to represent, rather than by an English keyword.--Gheuf 17:11, 5 February 2007 (UTC) 12:05, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree--201.14.22.38 12:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
 * What's the point in using SAMBA? Just stick to IPA as that is most used and simple to learn.--Xania [[Image:Flag_of_Italy.svg|15px]]talk 23:11, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Long transcriptions take less time to write in SAMPA, and there are websites that can convert it to IPA for free. Also, you can't really use IPA in text messages, so that's another drawback. Mr KEBAB (talk) 15:08, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

& for cat, 0 for got
I´ve learned sampa using the symbol & instead of {, and 0 instead of Q. shouldn't we perhaps list alternative symbols?

Are there many versions of SAMPA for English? Is there an official one? I think these questions need adressing in the article.--201.14.22.38 12:04, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

missing link
Why in the world is there not a single link to the SAMPA page on this chart? I'll add it. --Cromwellt|talk|contribs 01:21, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Move to "SAMPA chart for English"
The full meaning of the abbreviation is cumbersome and hard-to-remember in a title, and rarely used. Valkura (talk) 15:40, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

title: Talk:SAMPA chart for English


text:
Sam Waterston

Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television, and film. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a BAFTA Award. His acting career has spanned over five decades acting on stage and screen. Waterston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2012.

Waterston studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the American Actors Workshop. He started his career in theater on the New York stage, appearing in multiple revivals of Shakespeare. Waterston starred in numerous productions at the Public Theatre including Indians (1969), The Trial of Catonsville Nine (1970), A Doll's House (1975), Hamlet (1975), Measure for Measure (1977), and Benefactors (1980). He portrayed Abraham Lincoln on Broadway in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1993) where he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination.

On the big screen, Waterston played Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby (1974) earning a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture nomination. He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields (1984), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Waterston has acted in several Woody Allen films including Interiors (1978), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), September (1987), and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Other notable roles include in Rancho Deluxe (1975), Hopscotch (1980), Heaven's Gate (1980), The Man in the Moon (1991), Serial Mom (1994), Nixon (1995), Miss Sloane (2016) and On the Basis of Sex (2018).

Waterston gained stardom portraying Jack McCoy on the NBC crime series Law & Order (1994–2010, 2022–2024), for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award along with Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award nominations. He portrayed J. Robert Oppenheimer in the BBC miniseries Oppenheimer (1980), and Abraham Lincoln in the miniseries Lincoln (1988). From 2012 to 2014 he portrayed Charlie Skinner in Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama series The Newsroom. Other notable roles include in Godless (2017), Grace and Frankie (2015–2022), and The Dropout (2022).

Early life and education
Sam Waterston, the third of four siblings, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His siblings are Roberta, George, and Ellen Waterston. Waterston's mother, Alice Tucker (née Atkinson), was a landscape painter of English ancestry and a descendant of passengers on the Mayflower. His father, George Chychele Waterston, was a semanticist and language teacher who emigrated to the U.S. from Scotland via England. Waterston attended high school at the Groton School, graduating in the class of 1958. He earned a BA from Yale College, class of 1962.

1963–1973: Early roles
The classically trained Waterston has numerous stage credits to his name. In 1962 he made his Broadway debut playing Jonathan in the Arthur Kopit play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad at the Morosco Theatre. The following year he made his debut at the Delacorte Theatre playing Silvius in a production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It (1963).

He made his film debut in the 1965 drama movie The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean. He returned to Broadway playing David in First One Asleep, Whistle (1966), and Robert in the Peter Ustinov play Halfway Up the Tree (1967). On October 13, 1969, he starred in Arthur Kopit's play Indians on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The play was directed by Gene Frankel, and he acted alongside Stacy Keach as Buffalo Bill, Manu Tupou as Sitting Bull, and other actors such as Tom Aldredge, Kevin Conway, Charles Durning, and Raul Julia. The play ran for 96 performances and 16 previews.

During this time Waterston acted in supporting roles in numerous films including Delbert Mann's romantic comedy Fitzwilly (1967) starring Dick Van Dyke, and the comedy film Generation (1969). He had a leading role in the British romantic drama Three acting opposite Charlotte Rampling and Robie Porter. He acted in the Merchant Ivory film Savages based loosely on the Luis Buñuel film The Exterminating Angel (1962). Waterston continued acting in plays at the Public Theatre including portraying Benedick in Joseph Papp's production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1972) and played the title role in Hamlet (1975), the former earned him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.

1974–1993: Rise to prominence
Waterston has a history of doing theater work in the summer, often seen acting in such venues as Long Wharf Theatre and the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven. In 1973, acting opposite Katharine Hepburn, he played a shoe salesman in the television drama film The Glass Menagerie (1973), receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work in the film. He went on to appear as bond salesman Nick Carraway in the 1974 feature film version of The Great Gatsby acting alongside Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, and Bruce Dern. For his performance he earned two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and New Star of the Year.

The following year Waterston acted in the neo-Western comedy film Rancho Deluxe (1975) starring Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Ashley, and Harry Dean Stanton. That same year he acted in the Canadian thriller Journey into Fear with Zero Mostel, Vincent Price and Shelley Winters. In 1976 he acted in the thriller Sweet Revenge opposite Stockard Channing. The following year he acted in the British-American thriller Capricorn One playing Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis. The film had an ensemble cast which included Elliott Gould, James Brolin, O. J. Simpson, and Hal Holbrook. Also in 1977, he starred in an Off-Broadway production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure as Duke Vincentio alongside Meryl Streep and John Cazale at the Delacorte Theatre.

Waterston made his first collaboration with Woody Allen playing Mike in the drama Interiors (1978) starring Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, and E.G. Marshall. The film was a departure from comedy from Allen and received critical acclaim as well as nominations for five Academy Awards. In 1980, he starred in Benefactors alongside Glenn Close, Mary Beth Hurt, and Simon Jones at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway. Also in 1980, he portrayed Old West figure Frank Canton in Heaven's Gate and theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the miniseries Oppenheimer (1980) earned him nominations for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Television Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. In 1984, Waterston played American journalist Sydney Schanberg in the British drama The Killing Fields, opposite Haing S. Ngor and John Malkovich. For his performance, Waterston received an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. Waterston reunited with Woody Allen playing David, a romantic interest for Dianne Wiest and Mia Farrow in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Peter in September (1987), and Ben, a rabbi who is losing his eyesight Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). He also took a supporting role in the coming of age film The Man in the Moon (1991) starring Reese Witherspoon in her feature film debut, the John Waters satirical black comedy film Serial Mom (1994) and played President Abraham Lincoln in the miniseries Lincoln (1988).

Waterston voiced Lincoln in the 1990 Ken Burns documentary miniseries The Civil War. Waterston portrayed a district attorney in drama television series I'll Fly Away (1991–93), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. In 1993, he portrayed Abraham Lincoln onstage in Abe Lincoln in Illinois and received Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his performance.

1994–2010: Law and Order and acclaim
In 1994, Waterston debuted as Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy in the fifth season of the NBC television series Law & Order created by Dick Wolf. He played the role of John James "Jack" McCoy, who would eventually become Manhattan District Attorney, through the series finale in 2010. The role won him a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, as well as several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Upon the show's cancellation, Waterston was the second longest-serving cast member (behind S. Epatha Merkerson), having reprised his role through 16 seasons. He has also made guest appearances as McCoy on other crime shows, such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1997, 99), Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998), and spin-offs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000, 07, 10, 18) and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005). Due to the success of the New York–based TV series, Waterston and his fellow longtime Law & Order castmate Jerry Orbach were declared "Living Landmarks" by the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

Waterston has appeared as a celebrity contestant on Jeopardy! twice. He made a popular cameo appearance on an 1995 episode of Saturday Night Live as himself, extolling the virtues of Old Glory Insurance, meant to protect the elderly from robot attacks. During this time he portrayed Richard Helms in Oliver Stone's political drama Nixon (1995) but his scenes were ultimately cut and remain in the Director's cut version of the film. The following year he reunited with Merchant Ivory for The Proprietor (1996) starring Jeanne Moreau. He portrayed a fictional President of the United States in the thriller Shadow Conspiracy starring Charlie Sheen and Donald Sutherland. He acted in his third Merchant Ivory film Le Divorce (2003) starring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts. Waterston appeared as Polonius in the 2008 Shakespeare in the Park production of Hamlet. His performance received a positive review in The New York Times. On February 12, 2009, Waterston portrayed Abraham Lincoln in Earl Robinson's "The Lonesome Train: A Music Legend for Actors, Folk Singers, Choirs, and Orchestra" at the Riverside Church in New York City. The concert was performed to celebrate Lincoln's 200th birthday.

2011–present: Established actor
Waterston has had several other high profile television roles, including his portrayal of cable news president Charlie Skinner in The Newsroom, an HBO series by Aaron Sorkin. Waterston acted opposite Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, and Jane Fonda. The series ran from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, Waterston appeared as Prospero in a Shakespeare in the Park production of The Tempest, directed by Michael Greif. In 2015, Waterston joined the cast of the Netflix series Grace and Frankie, starring alongside Martin Sheen, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Waterston supported Tomlin and Fonda in demanding higher salaries than the supporting actors, saying, "I think they're being cheated." His character Sol appeared on all seven seasons of the show, which concluded in 2022.

In 2017 he played Marshal John Cook	in the Netflix western limited series Godless opposite Jeff Daniels and Michelle Dockery. Waterston portrayed George DuPont in the political thriller Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain and played Erwin Griswold in the biographical drama On the Basis of Sex starring Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In 2021, Waterston was cast in the revival of Law & Order, reprising his role as District Attorney Jack McCoy. He appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote the show. In 2022 he portrayed George Shultz in the Hulu limited series The Dropout starring Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes.

On February 2, 2024, it was revealed that Waterson would be leaving Law & Order after 20 seasons, with his renowned character Jack McCoy, who he also played for more than 400 episodes being replaced by a new D.A. who will be portrayed by Tony Goldwyn.

Marriage and family
Waterston married his first wife, Barbara Johns, in 1964. The couple had one son, actor James Waterston, before divorcing in 1975. Waterston married his second wife, former model Lynn Louisa Woodruff, in 1976. They have three children: daughters Katherine Waterston and Elisabeth Waterston (who are also actresses), and a son, Graham.

Activism
Waterston is a board member of Oceana. Waterston received the Goodermote Humanitarian Award from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2012 for his longtime support of refugees around the world. Waterston is a longtime friend and fan of the Mark Morris Dance Group and hosted the television presentation of Mozart Dances on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center on August 16, 2007.

Waterston is a practicing Episcopalian.

Political beliefs
He was a spokesman for the Unity08 movement, which unsuccessfully sought to run a non- or bipartisan presidential ticket in the 2008 presidential election. Waterston stated in 2007 that he had been a Democrat until leaving the party in disgust following the airing of Lyndon B. Johnson's "Daisy" election advertisement in 1964. However, he endorsed Democratic President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012. As of 2016, Waterston is a registered Democrat. On October 18, 2019, Waterston was arrested outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Grace and Frankie co-star Jane Fonda, for protesting the Trump administration's policies concerning climate change.

Awards and honors
Waterston received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in The Killing Fields (1984), losing to F. Murray Abraham for his role in Amadeus (1984). Waterston also received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations for I'll Fly Away, winning a Golden Globe in 1994. He received a 1994 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in the Broadway revival of Abe Lincoln in Illinois. For his portrayal of Jack McCoy in Law & Order, Waterston has received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination; in addition, he has received 11 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his work on Law & Order, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series in 1999.

In 2003, Waterston received The Lincoln Forum's Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement. AllMovie historian Hal Erickson characterized Waterston as having "cultivated a loyal following with his quietly charismatic, unfailingly solid performances."

On January 7, 2010, Waterston received the 2,397th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2012, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

On May 27, 2024, Waterston was inducted as an honorary class member of Princeton University.

title: Sam Waterston


text:
Talk:American exceptionalism

"America First" subsection needs help
I recently edited some heavier-handed POV out of this subsection and tried to phrase it more as "a view of America First is-" rather than "America believes that-." I believe this section still needs work though, as it has been a bit of a stub.
 * More sources would always help.
 * My browser will not currently load the cited source, but from a quick look at it I'm not sure its reliable enough to make such bold statements as 'America first [unilaterally] prioritizes american interests over human rights' I will look into the source further when I can find a way to.
 * To bring the subsection more in line with the greater section, I think since this section is predicated on a single (possibly niche) source it should be worded like the rest, beginning with the author's name and then stating their claims, at which point it can be expanded to contain more material since more POV oriented claims could be included. But if there isn't much more to be added to the section than is already here... or the source isn't adequate...
 * The section may benefit from being removed until a more substantial and meaningful version can be written.

I would like to hear from others interested in this article's improvement on their views on these possible suggestions. GabberFlasted (talk) 15:50, 18 May 2022 (UTC)

Expand Chinese exceptionalism
If you have time please expand the related article about Chinese exceptionalism. Artanisen (talk) 17:57, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

Neutrality of definition of "American exceptionalism"
The article's first sentence ("American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently superior to other nations") is inaccurate. It is a critical appraisal of the term rather than a neutral definition. It emphasizes belief, and therefore perspective, rather than defines the concept. It contradicts the italicized definition immediately above it ("This article is about the theory that America is qualitatively different from other nations. For the ideology that America has an exceptional mission in the world, see Americanism (ideology).") and conflates the two terms (American exceptionalism and Americanism) that the italicized definition distinguishes. Subsequent text in the article makes this distinction.

The source (p. 18 of American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword by Seymour Martin Lipset) provided as a reference for the article's first sentence explicitly contradicts the first sentence. The referenced text states: "When Tocqueville or other 'foreign traveler' writers or social scientists have used the term 'exceptional' to describe the United States, they have not meant, as some critics of the concept assume, that America is better than other countries or has a superior culture. Rather, they have simply been suggesting that it is qualitatively different, that it is an outlier. Exceptionalism is a double-edged concept. ... [W]e are the worst as well as the best, depending on which quality is being addressed." So the article's first sentence may just as well read, "American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently inferior to other nations." This would be just as misleading and unsupported by the referenced source.

Much of the rest of the article is dedicated to critical appraisal, i.e., perspectives and commentary on it, since much of the understanding of this term comes from commentary on it. However, accurately and neutrally defining the term at the outset, rather than substituting an appraisal for a definition, is necessary in order to understand what it is that critics are appraising. The current first sentence is not only inaccurate, but also misleading. It is important to understand what the term means not only to understand its implications within a critical or ideological framework, but also to understand the precise nature of America's qualitative difference from other nations. Conceiving of the nature of this difference has to be descriptive before it can be normative.

The (intended?) impression that the article's first sentence creates is simply false. A subject is not controversial because it is wrongheaded; it is controversial because there are wildly divergent perspectives on it and feelings about it. The first thing to do in approaching it is to fairly define what "it" is, not what it should be or what one side believes it to be. Then we can get past the first sentence. CeilingFan2Sea (talk) 19:08, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

Karl Marx
“Kammen says that many foreign visitors commented on American exceptionalism including Karl Marx, ....”

Marx never visited the United States Rudyguy21 (talk) 23:08, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

 * Go ahead and fix it.  —  Freoh 23:38, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

 * The source said "foreign observers," so I changed it. If you find this sort of thing again, it's easiest to check the source and correct the text. TFD (talk) 23:57, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

American Exceptionalism - use the original concept
The article's first sentence ("American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently superior to other nations") is inaccurate. At the time of America's founding, it was not a belief or theory of superiority, although its founders did believe it was an improved design. At the time of its founding, America was indeed unique, or exceptional, because it was very different than other nations around the world. For example, Its design included self-government, meaning the citizens were the government.

Mlk75 (talk) 15:23, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:American exceptionalism


text:
Portal talk:Current events/December 2002

No, no, no, this is extremely wrong!!!!! Why are current events in December? This is January 2003, and we're going to have to keep moving this! This is really wrong-headed, and has not been discussed. -- Zoe

 * Zoe - sorry for the confusion. I brought this up on Talk:Current events earlier.  The idea is to use the archiving of Current events as an opportunity to archive the history, too.  This requires moving the Current events to the previous month, and creating a new page for Current events (with the current months current events in it).  This month, it doesn't make as much sense...December 2002 gets the history for all of 2002, but so it goes.  Next time, January 2003 will only get history for January 2003 and a little of February, and so on.  It also went a little clumsily this time...next time I hope it goes better. - RobLa 04:12 Jan 13, 2003 (UTC)

One problem. Look at the hit counter. That is moved as well. --mav

 * Ugh...good point. Is that a fatal flaw to this method of archiving? -- RobLa 07:34 Jan 14, 2003 (UTC)

 * I don't see how. The hit counter has a relevence of precisely zero; it's a happy happy fun fun blinkenlights ooh! somebody looked at the page! feature. --Brion 07:48 Jan 14, 2003 (UTC)

 * Well some people think that the happy happy fun fun blinkenlights ooh! somebody looked at the page! feature is important. Current events is one of our most popular pages and the current count on that page doesn't indicate this at all. --mav

I moved the history back. The hit counter thing was the killer here - we are about to possibly get a lot of press coverage and to have the second most popular page in all Wikiland register only 700 page views is very misleading. For page counters to be useful and/or interesting at all, they all must start at zero on the same day. In the future just say "Events from the current events page" in the edit summary when you create month archives. We need a better way of handling history pages anyway. IMO only the last 100 versions should be displayed (similar to Recent Changes). --mav 12:57 Jan 16, 2003 (UTC)