Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The film is set in a dystopian future Los Angeles of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on space colonies. When a fugitive group of advanced replicants led by Roy Batty (Hauer) escapes back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard (Ford) reluctantly agrees to hunt them down.

Blade Runner initially underperformed in North American theaters and polarized critics; some praised its thematic complexity and visuals, while others critiqued its slow pacing and lack of action. The film's soundtrack, composed by Vangelis, was nominated in 1982 for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe as best original score. Blade Runner later became a cult film, and has since come to be regarded as one of the greatest science fiction films. Hailed for its production design depicting a high-tech but decaying future, the film is often regarded as both a leading example of neo-noir cinema as well as a foundational work of the cyberpunk genre. It has influenced many science fiction films, video games, anime, and television series. It also brought the work of Dick to Hollywood's attention and led to several film adaptations of his works. In 1993, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Seven different versions of Blade Runner exist as a result of controversial changes requested by studio executives. A director's cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to test screenings of a workprint. This, in conjunction with the film's popularity as a video rental, made it one of the earliest movies to be released on DVD. In 2007, Warner Bros. released The Final Cut, a 25th-anniversary digitally remastered version; this is the only version over which Scott retained artistic control. The film is the first of the franchise of the same name. A sequel, titled Blade Runner 2049, was released in 2017 alongside a trilogy of short films covering the thirty-year span between the two films' settings. The anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus was released in 2021.

Plot

In 2019 Los Angeles, former police officer Rick Deckard is detained by Officer Gaff, who likes to make origami figures, and is brought to his former supervisor, Bryant. Deckard, whose job as a "blade runner" was to track down bioengineered humanoids known as replicants and terminally "retire" them, is informed that four replicants are on Earth illegally. Deckard begins to leave, but Bryant ambiguously threatens him and Deckard stays. The two watch a video of a blade runner named Holden administering the Voight-Kampff test, which is designed to distinguish replicants from humans based on their emotional responses to questions. The test subject, Leon, shoots Holden on the second question. Bryant wants Deckard to retire Leon and three other Nexus-6 replicants: Roy Batty, Zhora, and Pris.

Bryant has Deckard meet with the CEO of the company that creates the replicants, Eldon Tyrell, so he can administer the test on a Nexus-6 to see if it works. Tyrell expresses his interest in seeing the test fail first and asks him to administer it on his assistant Rachael. After a much longer than standard test, Deckard concludes privately to Tyrell that Rachael is a replicant who believes she is human. Tyrell explains that she is an experiment who has been given false memories to provide an "emotional cushion", and that she has no knowledge of her true nature.

In searching Leon's hotel room, Deckard finds photos and a scale from the skin of an animal, which is later identified as a synthetic snake scale. Deckard returns to his apartment where Rachael is waiting. She tries to prove her humanity by showing him a family photo, but Deckard reveals that her memories are implants from Tyrell's niece, and she leaves in tears.

Replicants Roy and Leon meanwhile investigate a replicant eye-manufacturing laboratory and learn of J. F. Sebastian, a gifted genetic designer who works closely with Tyrell. Pris locates Sebastian and manipulates him to gain his trust.

A photograph from Leon's apartment and the snake scale lead Deckard to a strip club, where Zhora works. After a confrontation and chase, Deckard kills Zhora. Bryant also orders him to retire Rachael, who has disappeared from the Tyrell Corporation. Deckard spots Rachael in a crowd, but he is ambushed by Leon, who knocks the gun out of Deckard's hand and beats him. As Leon is about to kill Deckard, Rachael saves him by using Deckard's gun to kill Leon. They return to Deckard's apartment and, during a discussion, he promises not to track her down. As Rachael abruptly tries to leave, Deckard restrains her and forces her to kiss him, and she ultimately relents. Deckard leaves Rachael at his apartment and departs to search for the remaining replicants.

Roy arrives at Sebastian's apartment and tells Pris that the other replicants are dead. Sebastian reveals that because of a genetic premature aging disorder, his life will be cut short, like the replicants that were built with a four-year lifespan. Roy uses Sebastian to gain entrance to Tyrell's penthouse. He demands more life from his maker, which Tyrell says is impossible. Roy confesses that he has done "questionable things" but Tyrell dismisses this, praising Roy's advanced design and accomplishments in his short life. Roy kisses Tyrell and then kills him by crushing his skull. Sebastian tries to flee and is later reported dead.

At Sebastian's apartment, Deckard is ambushed by Pris, but he kills her as Roy returns. Roy's body begins to fail as the end of his lifespan nears. He chases Deckard through the building and onto the roof. Deckard tries to jump onto another roof but is left hanging on the edge. Roy makes the jump with ease and, as Deckard's grip loosens, Roy hoists him onto the roof to save him. Before Roy dies, he laments that his memories "will be lost in time, like tears in rain". Gaff arrives to congratulate Deckard, also reminding him that Rachael will not live, but "then again, who does?" Deckard returns to his apartment to retrieve Rachael. While escorting her to the elevator, he notices a small origami unicorn on the floor. He recalls Gaff's words and departs with Rachael.

Cast

Production

Development

Interest in adapting Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? developed shortly after its 1968 publication. Director Martin Scorsese was interested in filming the novel, but never optioned it. Producer Herb Jaffe optioned it in the early 1970s, but Dick was unimpressed with the screenplay written by Herb's son Robert, saying, "Jaffe's screenplay was so terribly done ... Robert flew down to Santa Ana to speak with me about the project. And the first thing I said to him when he got off the plane was, 'Shall I beat you up here at the airport, or shall I beat you up back at my apartment?

The screenplay by Hampton Fancher was optioned in 1977. Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Fancher's draft and convinced director Ridley Scott to film it. Scott had previously declined the project, but after leaving the slow production of Dune, wanted a faster-paced project to take his mind off his older brother's recent death. He joined the project on February 21, 1980, and managed to push up the promised Filmways financing from US$13 million to $15 million. Fancher's script focused more on environmental issues and less on issues of humanity and religion, which are prominent in the novel, and Scott wanted changes. Fancher found a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner (1974), titled Blade Runner (a movie). Scott liked the name, so Deeley obtained the rights to the titles. Eventually, he hired David Peoples to rewrite the script and Fancher left the job over the issue on December 21, 1980, although he later returned to contribute additional rewrites.

Having invested over $2.5 million in pre-production, as the date of commencement of principal photography neared, Filmways withdrew financial backing. In ten days Deeley had secured $21.5 million in financing through a three-way deal between the Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Sir Run Run Shaw and Tandem Productions.

Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production, which added to his distrust of Hollywood. After Dick criticized an early version of Fancher's script in an article written for the Los Angeles Select TV Guide, the studio sent Dick the Peoples rewrite. Although Dick died shortly before the film's release, he was pleased with the rewritten script and with a 20-minute special effects test reel that was screened for him when he was invited to the studio. Despite his well-known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, Dick enthused to Scott that the world created for the film looked exactly as he had imagined it. He said, "I saw a segment of Douglas Trumbull's special effects for Blade Runner on the KNBC news. I recognized it immediately. It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly." He also approved of the film's script, saying, "After I finished reading the screenplay, I got the novel out and looked through it. The two reinforce each other so that someone who started with the novel would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie would enjoy the novel." The motion picture was dedicated to Dick. Principal photography of Blade Runner began on March 9, 1981, and ended four months later.

In 1992, Ford revealed, "Blade Runner is not one of my favorite films. I tangled with Ridley." Apart from friction with the director, Ford also disliked the voiceovers: "When we started shooting it had been tacitly agreed that the version of the film that we had agreed upon was the version without voiceover narration. It was a  nightmare. I thought that the film had worked without the narration. But now I was stuck re-creating that narration. And I was obliged to do the voiceovers for people that did not represent the director's interests." "I went kicking and screaming to the studio to record it." The narration monologs were written by an uncredited Roland Kibbee.

In 2006, Scott was asked "Who's the biggest pain in the arse you've ever worked with?" He replied: "It's got to be Harrison ... he'll forgive me because now I get on with him. Now he's become charming. But he knows a lot, that's the problem. When we worked together it was my first film up and I was the new kid on the block. But we made a good movie." Ford said of Scott in 2000: "I admire his work. We had a bad patch there, and I'm over it." In 2006 Ford reflected on the production of the film saying: "What I remember more than anything else when I see Blade Runner is not the 50 nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover ... I was still obliged to work for these clowns that came in writing one bad voiceover after another." Ridley Scott confirmed in the summer 2007 issue of Total Film that Harrison Ford contributed to the Blade Runner Special Edition DVD, and had already recorded his interviews. "Harrison's fully on board", said Scott.

The Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles served as a filming location, and a Warner Bros. backlot housed the 2019 Los Angeles street sets. Other locations included the Ennis-Brown House and the 2nd Street Tunnel. Test screenings resulted in several changes, including adding a voice-over, a happy ending, and the removal of a Holden hospital scene. The relationship between the filmmakers and the investors was difficult, which culminated in Deeley and Scott being fired but still working on the film. Crew members created T-shirts during filming saying, "Yes Guv'nor, My Ass" that mocked Scott's unfavorable comparison of U.S. and British crews; Scott responded with a T-shirt of his own, "Xenophobia Sucks", making the incident known as the T-shirt war.

Casting

Casting the film proved troublesome, particularly for the lead role of Deckard. Screenwriter Hampton Fancher envisioned Robert Mitchum as Deckard and wrote the character's dialogue with Mitchum in mind. Director Ridley Scott and the film's producers spent months meeting and discussing the role with Dustin Hoffman, who eventually departed over differences in vision. Harrison Ford was ultimately chosen for several reasons, including his performance in the Star Wars films, Ford's interest in the Blade Runner story, and discussions with Steven Spielberg who was finishing Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time and strongly praised Ford's work in the film. Following his success in those two films, Ford was looking for a role with dramatic depth. According to production documents, several actors were considered for the role, including Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Falk, Nick Nolte, Al Pacino and Burt Reynolds.

One role that was not difficult to cast was Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, the violent yet thoughtful leader of the replicants. Scott cast Hauer without having met him, based solely on Hauer's performances in Paul Verhoeven's movies Scott had seen (Katie Tippel, Soldier of Orange, and Turkish Delight). Hauer's portrayal of Batty was regarded by Philip K. Dick as "the perfect Batty – cold, Aryan, flawless". Of the many films Hauer made, Blade Runner was his favorite. As he explained in a live chat in 2001, "Blade Runner needs no explanation. It just . All of the best. There is nothing like it. To be part of a real  which changed the world's thinking. It's awesome." Hauer rewrote his character's "tears in rain" speech himself and presented the words to Scott on set prior to filming.

Blade Runner used a number of then-lesser-known actors: Sean Young portrays Rachael, an experimental replicant implanted with the memories of Tyrell's niece, causing her to believe she is human; Nina Axelrod auditioned for the role. Daryl Hannah portrays Pris, a "basic pleasure model" replicant; Stacey Nelkin auditioned for the role, but was given another part in the film, which was ultimately cut before filming. Debbie Harry turned down the role of Pris. Casting Pris and Rachael was challenging, requiring several screen tests with Morgan Paull playing the role of Deckard. Paull was cast as Deckard's fellow bounty hunter Holden based on his performances in the tests. Brion James portrays Leon Kowalski, a combat and laborer replicant, and Joanna Cassidy portrays Zhora, an assassin replicant.

Edward James Olmos portrays Gaff. Olmos drew on diverse ethnic sources to help create the fictional "Cityspeak" language his character uses in the film. His initial address to Deckard at the noodle bar is partly in Hungarian and means, "Horse dick [bullshit]! No way. You are the Blade ... Blade Runner." M. Emmet Walsh portrays Captain Bryant, a rumpled, hard-drinking and underhanded police veteran typical of the film noir genre. Joe Turkel portrays Dr. Eldon Tyrell, a corporate mogul who built an empire on genetically manipulated humanoid slaves. William Sanderson was cast as J. F. Sebastian, a quiet and lonely genius who provides a compassionate yet compliant portrait of humanity. J. F. sympathizes with the replicants, whom he sees as companions, and he shares their shorter lifespan due to his rapid aging disease. Joe Pantoliano had earlier been considered for the role. James Hong portrays Hannibal Chew, an elderly geneticist specializing in synthetic eyes, and Hy Pyke portrayed the sleazy bar owner Taffey Lewis – in a single take, something almost unheard-of with Scott, whose drive for perfection resulted at times in double-digit takes.

Design

Scott credits Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks and the French science fiction comics magazine Métal Hurlant, to which the artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud contributed, as stylistic mood sources. He also drew on the landscape of "Hong Kong on a very bad day" and the industrial landscape of his one-time home in northeast England. The visual style of the movie is influenced by the work of futurist Italian architect Antonio Sant'Elia. Scott hired Syd Mead as his concept artist; like Scott, he was influenced by Métal Hurlant. Moebius was offered the opportunity to assist in the pre-production of Blade Runner, but he declined so that he could work on René Laloux's animated film Les Maîtres du temps – a decision that he later regretted. Production designer Lawrence G. Paull and art director David Snyder realized Scott's and Mead's sketches. Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich supervised the special effects for the film, and Mark Stetson served as chief model maker.

Blade Runner has numerous similarities to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, including a built-up urban environment, in which the wealthy literally live above the workers, dominated by a huge building – the Stadtkrone Tower in Metropolis and the Tyrell Building in Blade Runner. Special effects supervisor David Dryer used stills from Metropolis when lining up Blade Runners miniature building shots.

The extended end scene in the original theatrical release shows Rachael and Deckard traveling into daylight with pastoral aerial shots filmed by director Stanley Kubrick. Ridley Scott contacted Kubrick about using some of his surplus helicopter aerial photography from The Shining.

Spinner

"Spinner" is the generic term for the fictional flying cars used in the film. A spinner can be driven as a ground-based vehicle, and take off vertically, hover, and cruise much like vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. They are used extensively by the police as patrol cars, and wealthy people can also acquire spinner licenses. The vehicle was conceived and designed by Syd Mead who described the spinner as an aerodyne – a vehicle which directs air downward to create lift, though press kits for the film stated that the spinner was propelled by three engines: "conventional internal combustion, jet, and anti-gravity". A spinner is on permanent exhibit at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington. Mead's conceptual drawings were transformed into 25 vehicles by automobile customizer Gene Winfield; at least two were working ground vehicles, while others were light-weight mockups for crane shots and set decoration for street shots. Two of them ended up at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, but were later destroyed, and a few others remain in private collections.

Voight-Kampff machine

The Voight-Kampff machine is a fictional interrogation tool, originating from the novel (where it is spelled "Voigt-Kampff"). The Voight-Kampff is a polygraph-like machine used by blade runners to determine whether an individual is a replicant. It measures bodily functions such as respiration, blush response, heart rate and eye movement in response to questions dealing with empathy.

Music

The Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis is a dark melodic combination of classic composition and futuristic synthesizers which mirrors the film noir retro-future envisioned by Scott. Vangelis, fresh from his Academy Award-winning score for Chariots of Fire, composed and performed the music on his synthesizers. He also made use of various chimes and the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos. Another memorable sound is the tenor sax solo "Love Theme" by British saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who performed on many of Vangelis's albums. Ridley Scott also used "Memories of Green" from the Vangelis album See You Later, an orchestral version of which Scott would later use in his film Someone to Watch Over Me.

Along with Vangelis's compositions and ambient textures, the film's soundscape also features a track by the Japanese ensemble Nipponia – "Ogi no Mato" or "The Folding Fan as a Target" from the Nonesuch Records release Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music – and a track by harpist Gail Laughton from "Harps of the Ancient Temples" on Laurel Records.

Despite being well received by fans and critically acclaimed and nominated in 1982 for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe as best original score, and the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the end titles of the film, the release of the official soundtrack recording was delayed for over a decade. There are two official releases of the music from Blade Runner. In light of the lack of a release of an album, the New American Orchestra recorded an orchestral adaptation in 1982 which bore little resemblance to the original. Some of the film tracks would, in 1989, surface on the compilation Vangelis: Themes, but not until the 1992 release of the Director's Cut version would a substantial amount of the film's score see commercial release.

These delays and poor reproductions led to the production of many bootleg recordings over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 "Off World Music, Ltd" created a bootleg CD that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994. A set with three CDs of Blade Runner-related Vangelis music was released in 2007. Titled Blade Runner Trilogy, the first disc contains the same tracks as the 1994 official soundtrack release, the second features previously unreleased music from the movie, and the third disc is all newly composed music from Vangelis, inspired by, and in the spirit of the movie.

Special effects

The film's special effects are generally recognized to be among the best in the genre, using the available (non-digital) technology to the fullest. Special effects engineers who worked on the film are often praised for the innovative technology they used to produce and design certain aspects of those visuals. In addition to matte paintings and models, the techniques employed included multipass exposures. In some scenes, the set was lit, shot, the film rewound, and then rerecorded over with different lighting. In some cases this was done 16 times in all. The cameras were frequently motion controlled using computers. Many effects used techniques which had been developed during the production of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Release

Theatrical run

Blade Runner was released in 1,290 theaters on June 25, 1982. That date was chosen by producer Alan Ladd Jr. because his previous highest-grossing films (Star Wars and Alien) had a similar opening date (May 25) in 1977 and 1979, making the 25th of the month his "lucky day". Blade Runner grossed reasonably good ticket sales in its opening weekend; earning $6.1 million during its first weekend in theaters. The film was released close to other major science-fiction and fantasy releases such as The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which affected its commercial success.

Versions

Several versions of Blade Runner have been shown. The original workprint version (1982, 113 minutes) was shown for audience test previews in Denver and Dallas in March 1982. Negative responses to the previews led to the modifications resulting in the U.S. theatrical version. The workprint was shown as a director's cut without Scott's approval at the Los Angeles Fairfax Theater in May 1990, at an AMPAS showing in April 1991, and in September and October 1991 at the Los Angeles NuArt Theater and the San Francisco Castro Theatre. Positive responses pushed the studio to approve work on an official director's cut. A San Diego Sneak Preview was shown only once, in May 1982, and was almost identical to the U.S. theatrical version but contained three extra scenes not shown in any other version, including the 2007 Final Cut.

Two versions were shown in the film's 1982 theatrical release: the U.S. theatrical version (117 minutes), known as the original version or Domestic Cut (released on Betamax, CED Videodisc and VHS in 1983, and on LaserDisc in 1987), and the International Cut (117 minutes), also known as the "Criterion Edition" or "uncut version", which included more violent action scenes than the U.S. version. Although initially unavailable in the U.S. and distributed in Europe and Asia via theatrical and local Warner Home Video releases, the International Cut was later released on VHS and The Criterion Collection Laserdisc in North America, and re-released in 1992 as a "10th Anniversary Edition".

Ridley Scott's Director's Cut (1992, 116 minutes) had significant changes from the theatrical version including the removal of Deckard's voice-over, the re-insertion of the unicorn sequence, and the removal of the studio-imposed happy ending. Scott provided extensive notes and consultation to Warner Bros. through film preservationist Michael Arick, who was put in charge of creating the Director's Cut.

Scott's definitive The Final Cut (2007, 117 minutes) was released by Warner Bros. theatrically on October 5, 2007, and subsequently released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc in December 2007. This is the only version over which Scott had complete artistic and editorial control.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 88% approval rating based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Misunderstood when it first hit theaters, the influence of Ridley Scott's mysterious, neo-noir Blade Runner has deepened with time. A visually remarkable, achingly human sci-fi masterpiece." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 84 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Initial reactions among film critics were mixed. Some wrote that the plot took a back seat to the film's special effects and did not fit the studio's marketing as an action and adventure film. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time. Negative criticism in the United States cited its slow pace. Sheila Benson from the Los Angeles Times called it "Blade Crawler", and Pat Berman in The State and Columbia Record described it as "science fiction pornography". Pauline Kael praised Blade Runner as worthy of a place in film history for its distinctive sci-fi vision, yet criticized the film's lack of development in "human terms". Ares magazine said, "Misunderstood by audiences and critics alike, it is by far the best science fiction film of the year."

Cultural analysis
Academics began analyzing the film almost as soon as it was released. One of the first books on the film was Paul M. Sammon's Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner (1996), which dissects all the details concerning the film making. He was followed by Scott Bukatman's Blade Runner and other books and academic articles. In Postmodern Metanarratives: Blade Runner and Literature in the Age of Image, Décio Torres Cruz analyzes the philosophical and psychological issues and the literary influences in Blade Runner. He examines the film's cyberpunk and dystopic elements by establishing a link between the Biblical, classical and modern traditions and the postmodern aspects in the film's collage of several literary texts.

The boom in home video formats helped establish a growing cult around the film, which scholars have dissected for its dystopic aspects, questions regarding "authentic" humanity, ecofeminist aspects and use of conventions from multiple genres. Popular culture began to reassess its impact as a classic several years after it was released. Roger Ebert praised the visuals of both the original and the Director's Cut and recommended it for that reason; however, he found the human story clichéd and a little thin. He later added The Final Cut to his "Great Movies" list. Critic Chris Rodley and Janet Maslin theorized that Blade Runner changed cinematic and cultural discourse through its image repertoire and subsequent influence on films. In 2012, Time film critic Richard Corliss surgically analyzed the durability, complexity, screenplay, sets and production dynamics from a personal, three-decade perspective. Denis Villeneuve, who directed the sequel, Blade Runner 2049, cites the film as a huge influence for him and many others.

It has also been noted for its postmodernist approach and that it contributes to the historical development of modern dystopia in film. Furthermore, the futuristic version of Los Angeles has been widely discussed by academics with some comparing it to Milton's descriptions of hell in Paradise Lost. A 2019 retrospective in the BBC argued that elements of the film's socio-political themes remained prescient in the real year of the film's setting, such as its depiction of climate change. From a more philosophical perspective, Alison Landsberg described Scott's direction of the film as a "prosthetic memory"—an action that has never happened and appears to be divorced from lived experience, yet it defines personhood and identity within the wider Blade Runner universe.

Awards and nominations

Blade Runner won or received nominations for the following awards:

Themes

The film operates on multiple dramatic and narrative levels. It employs some of the conventions of film noir, among them the character of a femme fatale; narration by the protagonist (in the original release); chiaroscuro cinematography; and giving the hero a questionable moral outlook – extended to include reflections upon the nature of his own humanity. It is a literate science fiction film, thematically enfolding the philosophy of religion and moral implications of human mastery of genetic engineering in the context of classical Greek drama and hubris. It also draws on Biblical images, such as Noah's flood, and literary sources, such as Frankenstein and William Blake. Although Scott said any similarity was merely coincidental, fans claimed that the chess game between Sebastian and Tyrell was based on the famous Immortal Game of 1851.

Blade Runner delves into the effects of technology on the environment and society by reaching to the past, using literature, religious symbolism, classical dramatic themes, and film noir techniques. This tension between past, present, and future is represented in the "retrofitted" future depicted in the film, one which is high-tech and gleaming in places but decayed and outdated elsewhere. In an interview with The Observer in 2002, director Ridley Scott described the film as "extremely dark, both literally and metaphorically, with an oddly masochistic feel". He also said that he "liked the idea of exploring pain" in the wake of his brother's death: "When he was ill, I used to go and visit him in London, and that was really traumatic for me."

A sense of foreboding and paranoia pervades the world of the film: corporate power looms large; the police seem omnipresent; vehicle and warning lights probe into buildings; and the consequences of huge biomedical power over the individual are explored –
especially regarding replicants' implanted memories. The film depicts a world post ecocide, where warfare and capitalism have led to destruction of 'normal' ecological systems. Control over the environment is exercised on a vast scale, and goes hand in hand with the absence of any natural life; for example, artificial animals stand in for their extinct predecessors. This oppressive backdrop explains the frequently referenced migration of humans to "off-world" (extraterrestrial) colonies. Eyes are a recurring motif, as are manipulated images, calling into question the nature of reality and our ability to accurately perceive and remember it.

These thematic elements provide an atmosphere of uncertainty for Blade Runners central theme of examining humanity. In order to discover replicants, an empathy test is used, with a number of its questions focused on the treatment of animals – seemingly an essential indicator of one's "humanity". Replicants will not respond the same way humans would, showing a lack of concern. The film goes so far as to question if Deckard might be a replicant, in the process asking the audience to re-evaluate what it means to be human.

The question of whether Deckard is intended to be a human or a replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the film's release. Both Michael Deeley and Harrison Ford wanted Deckard to be human, while Hampton Fancher preferred ambiguity. Ridley Scott has stated that in his vision, Deckard is a replicant. Deckard's unicorn-dream sequence, inserted into Scott's Director's Cut and concomitant with Gaff's parting gift of an origami unicorn, is seen by many as showing that Deckard is a replicant – because Gaff could have retrieved Deckard's implanted memories. The interpretation that Deckard is a replicant is challenged by others who believe the unicorn imagery shows that the characters, whether human or replicant, share the same dreams and recognize their affinity, or that the absence of a decisive answer is crucial to the film's main theme. The film's inherent ambiguity and uncertainty, as well as its textual richness, have permitted multiple interpretations.

Legacy

Cultural impact

While not initially a success with North American audiences, Blade Runner was popular internationally and garnered a cult following. The film's dark style and futuristic designs have served as a benchmark and its influence can be seen in many subsequent science fiction films, video games, anime, and television programs. For example, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, the producers of the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, have both cited Blade Runner as one of the major influences for the show.

The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the second-most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society. The film has also been the subject of parody, such as the comics Blade Bummer by Crazy comics, Bad Rubber by Steve Gallacci, and the Red Dwarf 2009 three-part miniseries "Back to Earth". The anime series Psycho-Pass by Production I.G was also highly influenced by the movie.

Blade Runner continues to reflect modern trends and concerns, and an increasing number of critics consider it one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. It was voted the best science fiction film ever made in a 2004 poll of 60 eminent world scientists. Blade Runner is also cited as an important influence to both the style and story of the Ghost in the Shell franchise, which itself has been highly influential to the future-noir genre. Blade Runner has been very influential to the cyberpunk movement. It also influenced the cyberpunk derivative biopunk, which revolves around biotechnology and genetic engineering.

The dialogue and music in Blade Runner has been sampled in music more than any other film of the 20th century. The 2009 album I, Human by Singaporean band Deus Ex Machina makes numerous references to the genetic engineering and cloning themes from the film, and even features a track titled "Replicant".

Blade Runner is cited as a major influence on Warren Spector, designer of the video game Deus Ex, which displays evidence of the film's influence in both its visual rendering and plot. Indeed, the film's look – and in particular its overall darkness, preponderance of neon lights and opaque visuals – are easier to render than complicated backdrops, making it a popular reference point for video game designers. It has influenced adventure games such as the 2012 graphical text adventure Cypher, Rise of the Dragon, Snatcher, the Tex Murphy series, Beneath a Steel Sky, Flashback: The Quest for Identity, Bubblegum Crisis video games (and their original anime), the role-playing game Shadowrun, the first-person shooter Perfect Dark, the shooter game Skyhammer, and the Syndicate series of video games.

The logos of Atari, Bell, Coca-Cola, Cuisinart, Pan Am, and RCA, all market leaders at the time, were prominently displayed as product placement in the film, and all experienced setbacks after the film's release, leading to suggestions of a Blade Runner curse. Coca-Cola and Cuisinart recovered, and Tsingtao beer was also featured in the film and was more successful after the film than before.

The design of Tesla's Cybertruck was inspired by the film. Prior to its release Elon Musk promised that it would "look like something out of Blade Runner". Besides referring to the truck as the "Blade Runner Truck", Musk chose to debut the truck in order to coincide with the film's setting of November 2019. The film's art designer Syd Mead praised the truck and said he was "flattered" by the homage to Blade Runner.

Media recognition

American Film Institute recognition

 AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – No. 74
 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 97
 AFI's 10 Top 10 – No. 6 Science Fiction Film

In other media

Before filming began, Cinefantastique magazine commissioned Paul M. Sammon to write a special issue about Blade Runners production which became the book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner. The book chronicles Blade Runners evolution, focusing on film-set politics, especially the British director's experiences with his first American film crew; of which producer Alan Ladd, Jr. has said, "Harrison wouldn't speak to Ridley and Ridley wouldn't speak to Harrison. By the end of the shoot Ford was 'ready to kill Ridley', said one colleague. He really would have taken him on if he hadn't been talked out of it." Future Noir has short cast biographies and quotations about their experiences as well as photographs of the film's production and preliminary sketches. A second edition of Future Noir was published in 2007, and additional materials not in either print edition have been published online.

Philip K. Dick refused a $400,000 offer to write a Blade Runner novelization, saying: "[I was] told the cheapo novelization would have to appeal to the twelve-year-old audience" and it "would have probably been disastrous to me artistically". He added, "That insistence on my part of bringing out the original novel and not doing the novelization – they were just furious. They finally recognized that there was a legitimate reason for reissuing the novel, even though it cost them money. It was a victory not just of contractual obligations but of theoretical principles." Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was eventually reprinted as a tie-in, with the film poster as a cover and the original title in parentheses below the Blade Runner title. Additionally, a novelization of the movie entitled Blade Runner: A Story of the Future by Les Martin was released in 1982. Archie Goodwin scripted the comic book adaptation, A Marvel Comics Super Special: Blade Runner, published in September 1982, which was illustrated by Al Williamson, Carlos Garzon, Dan Green, and Ralph Reese, and lettered by Ed King.

Blue Dolphin Enterprises published the film's screenplay combined with selected production storyboards as The Illustrated Blade Runner (June 1982); a book of original production artwork by Syd Mead, Mentor Huebner, Charles Knode, Michael Kaplan, and Ridley Scott as Blade Runner Sketchbook (1982); and The Blade Runner Portfolio (1982), a collection of twelve photographic prints, similar to the artist portfolios released by their Schanes & Schanes imprint.

There are two video games based on the film, both titled Blade Runner: one from 1985, a side-scrolling video game for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC by CRL Group PLC, which is marked as "a video game interpretation of the film score by Vangelis" rather than of the film itself (due to licensing issues); and another from 1997, a point-and-click adventure for PC by Westwood Studios. The 1997 game has a non-linear plot based in the Blade Runner world, non-player characters that each ran in their own independent AI, and an unusual pseudo-3D engine (which eschewed polygonal solids in favor of voxel elements) that did not require the use of a 3D accelerator card to play the game. Eldon Tyrell, Gaff, Leon, Rachael, Chew, J. F. Sebastian and Howie Lee appear, and their voice files are recorded by the original actors, with the exception of Gaff, who is replaced by Javier Grajeda (as Victor Gardell) and Howie Lee, who is replaced by Toru Nagai. The player assumes the role of McCoy, another replicant-hunter working at the same time as Deckard.

The television film (and later series) Total Recall 2070 was initially planned as a spin-off of the film Total Recall (based on Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"), but was produced as a hybrid of Total Recall and Blade Runner. Many similarities between Total Recall 2070 and Blade Runner were noted, as well as apparent influences on the show from Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel and the TV series Holmes & Yoyo.

Documentaries

The film has been the subject of several documentaries.

 Blade Runner: Convention Reel (1982, 13 minutes)
 Co-directed by Muffet Kaufman and Jeffrey B. Walker, shot and screened in 16 mm, featured no narrator, was filmed in 1981 while Blade Runner was still in production and featured short "behind-the-scenes" segments showing sets being built and sequences being shot, as well as interviews with Ridley Scott, Syd Mead and Douglas Trumbull. Appears on the Blade Runner Ultimate Collector's Edition.

 On the Edge of Blade Runner (2000, 55 minutes)
 Directed by Andrew Abbott and hosted/written by Mark Kermode. Interviews with production staff, including Scott, give details of the creative process and the turmoil during preproduction. Insights into Philip K. Dick and the origins of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? are provided by Paul M. Sammon and Hampton Fancher.
 Future Shocks (2003, 27 minutes)
 Directed by TVOntario. It includes interviews with executive producer Bud Yorkin, Syd Mead, and the cast, and commentary by science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and from film critics.
 Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007, 213 minutes)
 Directed and produced by Charles de Lauzirika for The Final Cut version of the film. Its source material comprises more than 80 interviews, including extensive conversations with Ford, Young, and Scott. The documentary is presented in eight chapters, with each of the first seven covering a portion of the filmmaking process. The final chapter examines Blade Runner's controversial legacy.
 All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut (2007, 29 minutes)
 Produced by Paul Prischman, appears on the Blade Runner Ultimate Collector's Edition and provides an overview of the film's multiple versions and their origins, as well as detailing the seven-year-long restoration, enhancement and remastering process behind The Final Cut.
  Blade Runner Phenomenon (2021, 53 minutes)
 Directed by Boris Hars-Tschachotin and made by the France and Germany European public service channel ARTE, this documentary informs viewers using behind-the-scenes material from various sets, photos, original locations in Los Angeles, and interviews with those involved in the production.

Sequel and related media

A sequel was released in 2017, titled Blade Runner 2049, with Ryan Gosling alongside Ford in the starring roles. It entered production in mid-2016 and is set decades after the first film. Harrison Ford reprised his role as Rick Deckard. The film won two Academy Awards, for cinematography and visual effects.

The world of Blade Runner has also come to be explored in animation. Blade Runner 2049 was preceded by the release of three short films that served as prequels, where the chronological first, Blade Runner Black Out 2022, was anime (the other two, 2036: Nexus Dawn and 2048: Nowhere to Run, were live action, not animated).

In November 2021, a Japanese-American anime television series called Blade Runner: Black Lotus was released. The series tells the story of a female replicant protagonist, rather than that of a male Blade Runner one.

Dick's friend K. W. Jeter wrote three authorized Blade Runner novels that continue Rick Deckard's story, attempting to resolve the differences between the film and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? These are Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (1995), Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night (1996), and Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon (2000)

Blade Runner cowriter David Peoples wrote the 1998 action film Soldier, which he referred to as a "sidequel" or spiritual successor to the original film; the two are set in a shared universe. A bonus feature on the Blu-ray for Prometheus, the 2012 film by Scott set in the Alien universe, states that Eldon Tyrell, CEO of the Blade Runner Tyrell Corporation, was the mentor of Guy Pearce's character Peter Weyland.

In late 2022, Amazon announced a Blade Runner 2049 sequel series would be produced. On October 12, 2022, an apparent official approval to actually make a Blade Runner 2099 TV series was reported.

See also
 Arcology
 Biorobotics
 List of dystopian films
 List of fictional robots and androids
 Synthetic biology
 Tech noir

Notes

References

Bibliography

Doll, Susan, and Greg Faller. 1986. "Blade Runner and Genre: Film Noir and Science Fiction." Literature Film Quarterly 14 (2): 89–100.
Eagan, Daniel (2010) America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, , pages 775–776

Morgan, David. Blade Runner at National Film Registry

External links

Blade Runner (franchise)
1982 action thriller films
1982 science fiction films
1982 films
American action thriller films
American detective films
American dystopian films
American neo-noir films
American science fiction action films
Android (robot) films
BAFTA winners (films)
Biorobotics in fiction
Cyberpunk films
1980s English-language films
Existentialist films
Films about altered memories
Films about genetic engineering
Films adapted into comics
Films based on works by Philip K. Dick
Films directed by Ridley Scott
Films scored by Vangelis
Films set in 2019
Films set in Los Angeles
Films set in the future
Films shot in England
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by David Peoples
Flying cars in fiction
Hong Kong action thriller films
Hong Kong neo-noir films
Hong Kong science fiction films
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation winning works
Postmodern films
Shaw Brothers Studio films
The Ladd Company films
United States National Film Registry films
Warner Bros. films
Climate change films
1980s dystopian films
1980s American films
1980s Hong Kong films

Blade Runner


The Portway is a major road in the City of Bristol. It is part of the A4 and connects Bristol City Centre to the Avonmouth Docks and the M5 motorway via the Avon Gorge.

The road was constructed following World War I in order to provide improved access to the ports at Avonmouth Docks, which had replaced Bristol Harbour as the major local centre for commercial shipping. Upon opening on 2 July 1926, it was the single most expensive road project in Britain, costing £800,000 (now about £ million). The construction posed a number of significant engineering challenges, including long and deep rock cuttings, a viaduct over the River Trym, and retaining walls against the gorge adjacent to the River Avon. Falling rocks have since been a problem along the Portway, particularly at the southern end close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, with concrete canopies constructed to prevent loose rock and assist with remedial work.

The Portway remains an important route to and from Bristol, and is now used as part of the Portway Park and Ride scheme. In the 21st century, the road has been regularly shut to motor traffic for maintenance, providing sporting events such as the Bristol Half Marathon, or to allow locals to enjoy a traffic-free view of the Avon Gorge.

Route
The road is about  long. Commonly it's thought to start in Hotwells, however, it starts at the junction of Bridge Valley Road and Hotwell Road below the Clifton Suspension Bridge and runs alongside the Avon Gorge, parallel to the River Avon.  It passes through the suburb of Sea Mills, where it crosses the River Trym, and Shirehampton, before terminating at a roundabout in Avonmouth at a junction with the M5 motorway and A403 road.

For much of its length the Portway is close to the Severn Beach railway line.  Sea Mills and Shirehampton stations are near the Portway, but they have no immediate access to it. First Bus run the Portway Park and Ride service, which is also a commuter service passing through some of the suburbs. Although FirstGroup run the majority of bus services around Bristol, none of their other services apart from the Portway Park and Ride stop on the Portway - however the X5 uses it as an access route to the M5.

Construction

The Portway was planned by the Bristol Corporation in response to the decline of Bristol Harbour in the late 19th century in favour of Avonmouth Docks, which could handle larger vessels and containers. Construction started in May 1919, engineered by L. S. McKenzie. The southern section connected to the existing road network at Hotwells, and a portion of the new road near Clifton lay partly on the line of the Bristol Port Railway. The new build did not directly connect to Avonmouth Docks, but linked to the existing road via Shirehampton about half a mile from the dock gates. The original plan was to build a tramway along the length of the road, which would have linked Avonmouth to the Bristol Tramway system, but this was abandoned owing to cost.

The largest cutting on the construction was at Horseshoe Bend. It was  long and cut  into the rock at its deepest point. Upstream from this, a viaduct was needed to span the River Trym and the remains of a Roman harbour. It was composed of six 42-foot, 6-inch (12.95 m) arches, with abutments embedded in the rock  below. It was supported by three piers at ,  and  below road level. Construction of the viaduct was delayed owing to the tidal flow of the River Avon and the irregularity of the rock. A skew girder bridge was constructed to cross the Severn Beach Railway near Sea Mills station, with foundations up to  below the surface. Around  of retaining wall was required at the Bristol end, where the road was sandwiched between the River Avon and the side of the gorge. In September 1924, approximately  of newly constructed concrete embankment slid into the river following ground subsidence, posing a hazard to navigation and adding 12 months to the duration of the work, though there were no injuries.

The Portway was opened by the Minister of Transport, Colonel Wilfrid Ashley with the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Alderman Moore, on 2 July 1926. Following an opening ceremony, the Minister and Lord Mayor drove along the full extent of the road from Bristol to inspect the docks at Avonmouth. It was the most expensive road construction project in Britain, costing £800,000 (now £). Of that, £160,000 (now £) was spent on the cutting at Horseshoe Bend, £80,000 (now £) on the Trym viaduct, and £33,000 (now £) on the steel girder bridge.

Electric lighting was provided to illuminate the new road, but for one year after the opening the lights were kept switched off following objections from river pilots who argued that they would make it hard to distinguish the navigation lights of shipping and the signal lights on the shore. Eventually the electric lights were turned on at a reduced brilliance.

The Portway was numbered A36 when first opened. It was renumbered as a western extension of the A4 by the Ministry of Transport on 1 April 1935.

Maintenance

Traffic levels increased substantially on the Portway when the M5 motorway was extended past Cribbs Causeway to meet it in 1971, as it provided a convenient way of avoiding the congested road network around north-west Bristol. Although this was only intended to be a stopgap measure until the Avonmouth Bridge was completed, construction of the bridge was repeatedly delayed. Transport Minister Keith Speed proposed a temporary solution of signing all Midlands – South West traffic via the Portway, followed by either the A369 from Bristol to Portishead northbound, or local roads southbound. The scheme required minor upgrading to junctions along the Portway. The Avonmouth Bridge opened in May 1974, making the scheme redundant.

Rockfalls from the limestone cliffs of the Avon Gorge have caused a hazard to motorists on occasion and every year the road is closed to allow for inspection of the cliffs for potentially dangerous cracks and loose rocks, and to allow remedial works. In 1980, a glass fibre reinforced concrete canopy was constructed over the Portway close to where it passes below the Clifton Suspension Bridge, in order to protect traffic from such rock falls.

In 2001, a  water main burst near the junction with Bridge Valley Road, causing a major collapse and  putting the road out of action for several months. One passer-by was swept into the river but was rescued uninjured.

Other facilities

The Portway Park and Ride is in Shirehampton near the M5 junction. A bus lane on the inbound section of the road from Sea Mills is designed to allow quicker access for buses to the city centre. As well as Shirehampton and Sea Mills, a new station at the Park and Ride was proposed in 2009. It opened on 1 August 2023.

The Portway is regularly closed to through traffic in order to cater for other events besides routine maintenance. The annual Bristol Half Marathon in September uses the Portway as part of its route and the annual Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride also uses the road which is closed to motor traffic for the day. A series of Peaceful Portway festivals take place immediately after the sporting events while the road is still closed, allowing visitors to enjoy the scenery of the Avon Gorge without any traffic. In 2009, city councillor John Rogers proposed that the Portway be closed to motor traffic on summer Sundays to allow cycling in a car free environment. In 2015, the Portway was closed for five consecutive Sundays over May and June. The Mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson said the closure tied in with Big Green Week, an annual festival promoting eco-friendly activities around Bristol, where several events along the road were happening anyway.

Incidents
In 2014, an anonymous group constructed an  parody of the Hollywood Sign on the Avon Gorge next to the Portway, reading "Bristoland". The sign had a positive reception with commuters driving along the Portway. A few months later, the sign was briefly changed to "It's bland" without explanation, following which it was quickly removed.

See also
 Portway Bristol F.C., a football team based at Shirehampton, near the road
 Oasis Academy Brightstowe, formerly Portway Community School located in Shirehampton
 Hotwells railway station, demolished during construction of the Portway

References
Citations

Sources

Roads in Bristol
A4 road (England)

Portway, Bristol


Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff (5 January 1831 – 26 September 1914) was a Norwegian architect.

He was born in Throndhjem as the son of Christian Martin Eckhoff and his wife Nicoline Johanne Luytkis. He married Nicoline Otilie Eckhoff in July 1869; the couple had several children. He was a granduncle of jurist Ernst Fredrik Eckhoff, actor Johannes Eckhoff, legal academic Torstein Eckhoff and designer Tias Eckhoff.

He attended the Royal Drawing School, now the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, in Oslo. He was a student of Johan Henrik Nebelong during the construction of Oscarshall, from 1847 to 1852. He studied later at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. After returning from Copenhagen he was hired as an assistant at the National Academy of Craft and Art Industry. He then took various assignments in Christiania from 1860 to 1862 and in Nordland from 1862 to 1866, before the city fire in Drammen created opportunities for work there. Eckhoff was responsible for the new city hall as well as Drammen Sparebank. In 1870 he relocated to Christiania. Together with Georg Andreas Bull he designed much of the neighborhood Homansbyen. His drawings were also used for several churches in Nordland. Eckhoff resettled in Stavanger in 1910.

Eckhoff was inspired by many styles, including historicism, gothicism, neo-Gothicism and Art Nouveau.

References

1831 births
1914 deaths
Architects from Trondheim
KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni
Artists from Oslo
Art Nouveau architects
19th-century Norwegian architects
20th-century Norwegian architects

Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff


The Thal desert is in Punjab, Pakistan. It is a large area mainly between the Jhelum River and Sindh rivers near the Pothohar Plateau. It has little vegetation — mostly thorny bushes — over a breadth of 70 miles. In Thal the people are very poor because the whole land is arid and depends upon the weather conditions. They cultivate grains only. It is the most illiterate area in Punjab Province.

Noor Pur Thal has ten Union councils.

Deserts of Pakistan

Thal desert


Sumu-Abum (also Su-abu) was an Amorite, and the first King of the First Dynasty of Babylon (the Amorite Dynasty). He reigned between 1830 and 1817 BC (short chronology) or between 1897 and 1883 BC (middle chronology). He freed a small area of land previously ruled by the fellow Amorite city state of Kazallu which included Babylon, then a minor administrative center in southern Mesopotamia. Sumu-Abum (and the three Amorite kings succeeding him) makes no claim to be King of Babylon, suggesting that the town was at this time still of little importance. He is known to have become king of Kisurra.

References

19th-century BC Babylonian kings
First dynasty of Babylon

Sumu-abum


The World Disc Games (WDG) is a semi-regular event that brings the entire world flying disc community together for a week of overall disc events that allow people to compete in and enjoy disc sports.  Beginning in 1978, and originally called the Santa Cruz Flying Disc Classic, the WDG has its home in Santa Cruz, California, with promoter and hall of fame disc sport player Tom Schot.

Disc sports competitions at the WDG include ultimate, freestyle, disc golf, discathon, self-caught flight, accuracy, distance, and double disc court.  In July 2003, World Disc Games X held in Santa Cruz with over 500 participants.

See also
 Ken Westerfield
 Flying disc games
 Flying disc freestyle
 World Flying Disc Federation

Notes and references

External links
 Beach Ultimate
  Freestyle Players Association

Flying disc tournaments
Flying disc
Disc golf tournaments
Flying disc games

World Disc Games


Ashoka University is a private research university located in Sonipat, India, providing a liberal education in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

History

The institution was named after the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. It was conceived as an idea after Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Ashish Dhawan approached Pramath Raj Sinha, a former dean of the Indian School of Business, for his assistance in setting up the university. The project was code-named Project Nobel, referring to the founders' aspiration to produce future Nobel Prize laureates.

Initial discussions aimed to set up an institute of engineering and technology that could match the reputation of leading institutions in the field, such as MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University. Ashoka's founders signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. The founders' list named 22 people, including Ashok Trivedi, Dilip Shanghvi, Nirmal Jain, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Jerry Rao. The list later grew to 46.

Ashoka expanded its focus to providing an education in the liberal arts, combining instruction in the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The decision was a result of both the industry demand as well as the desire to change the mindset of Indian students and parents. Trivedi fortified this decision by setting up the Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) in partnership with the University of Michigan. In 2020, Ashoka University established the Trivedi School of Biosciences with virologist Shahid Jameel as the first director of the centre.

Campus

Ashoka University's  main campus is in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonipat, Haryana. It was designed by the American design firm Perkins Eastman led by architect Aaron Schwarz. In September 2021, the foundation stone was laid for a new 27-acre campus in Sonipat, expected to be operational by 2027, which will double the university's student capacity.

Governance
Ashoka University is funded entirely by donations, with no hierarchies present in the founding group in terms of decision-making. The founders were drawn to the idea of a university where no single individual held sway but whose administration would be driven by the potential for social change based on critical inquiry, free from political pressure. In addition to the chancellor, vice-chancellor and deans, Ashoka is guided by an academic council of academics and scholars. The council sets the university's academic standard, advising on matters of curriculum, faculty hiring, and research.

The first chancellor was Andre Beteille, who served from 2014. The first vice-chancellor was Rudrangshu Mukherjee. In 2017 Beteille resigned, to be replaced by Mukherjee, and Pratap Bhanu Mehta was appointed vice-chancellor from July 2017. Mehta resigned in July 2019 and was replaced by Malabika Sarkar. Sarkar stepped down on 1 January 2023 and was replaced by Somak Raychaudhury.

Academics

Undergraduate programme
Ashoka University offers a multidisciplinary Undergraduate Programme, in the interest of exposing students to many different perspectives in and out of the classroom. Students are not expected to declare their Major until the middle of the second year.
Students enrolled at Ashoka University can choose their Major and Minor from various interdisciplinary options.

Young India Fellowship
The Young India Fellowship (YIF), offered as a Postgraduate Diploma in Liberal Studies, is the signature programme at Ashoka University. The cohort now consists of 100 Fellows who come from diverse academic, professional, socio-economic, and geographical backgrounds. Within a year, they engage with diverse study, research and practice areas. Since 2011, the YIF has had over 1700 participants. Its first graduating class included 57 Fellows, all of whom were provided with a full scholarship. The programme comprises eight terms of six weeks each, with up to four courses in each term. The Fellowship emphasizes writing, research, and experiential learning—in the form of an 8-month part-time Experiential Learning Module. The application for the fellowship has an age restriction and it only allows students with maximum 28 years of age to apply for the program.

Masters programmes
Ashoka University offers graduate programmes in the form of Master's degree and Ph.D. programmes. Right now the master's degree programmes are offered in Economics, English, and Liberal Studies as well as Ashoka Scholars Programme. While a Ph.D. degree is offered in Biology; Chemistry, Computer Sciences; Economics; English; History; Physics; Psychology; Sociology and Anthropology. Other short term programmes offered are the Young Scholars Programme, Summer Programmes and Ashoka X (Ashoka's virtual education initiative).

Ph.D programme
Ashoka University promotes interdisciplinary research and partnerships with industry and policy-makers. Students can register for Ph.D. programmes in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, English, History, Physics, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology.

Chief Minister's Good Governance Associates (CMGGA) programme
The CMGGA programme is a collaboration between the Government of Haryana and Ashoka University. The associates are trained, after which they are posted in each of the 22 districts of Haryana for 12 months. During their tenure, they represent the Chief Minister's Office and work closely with the Deputy Commissioner and district officials to drive changes at the highest and grassroots levels of the Government.

Admissions
The undergraduate admission procedure includes an application form, an on-spot essay, an interview, and an aptitude objective test. Ashoka University's own admissions test is called the Ashoka Aptitude Test. It also accepts the SAT, one of the first universities in India to do so.
Ashoka University is a Founding Member institution of the India Global Higher Education Alliance, which addresses how admissions policies among Indian and non-Indian institutions influence access and equity in higher education.

Reputation

Ashoka University is known for its scholarship in the international community. In 2017, the university was awarded 'University of the Year' (in existence for less than 10 years) and recognised for 'Excellence in Internationalization,' at the 4th Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Higher Education Excellence Awards 2017.
In 2019, EducationWorld ranked Ashoka University 2nd in top 100 private universities in India. In September 2020, the Department of Economics was ranked number 1 in India out of 239 Institutions (and 31st in Asia out of 1539 institutions) according to Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) - the international database of economics research which covers 8198 institutions and 60355 registered authors worldwide. Further in 2020, the World Digital Awards 2020 was awarded to Ashoka for Organisational Excellence in Education. The university was also among 12 universities to get E-Learning Excellence for Academic Digitisation (E-LEAD) certification from QS IAUGE. In the same year, the Economics Department of the university ranked at number 1 (#1 of 239 institutions) in India, and in the top 12.5% in Asia (at #31 of 1539 institutions), according to the international database RePEc, which covers 8198 institutions and 60355 registered authors worldwide. In the QS World University Rankings 2022, Ashoka was ranked in the Top 30 universities in India and the Top 250 universities in Asia.

Centres at Ashoka

Ashoka University has established several centres to encourage research-oriented collaborations and create an exciting interdisciplinary environment at the university.
 Ashoka Centre for Translation
The Ashoka Centre for Translation (ACT) functions under professors Rita Kothari and Arunava Sinha. The vision of the centre is to foster, nurture, and foreground India's multilingual ethos. The Ashoka Centre for Translation aims to engage in knowledge production and distribution through the vehicle of translation. The Ashoka Centre for Translation does not restrict itself to only English.
 Ashoka Centre for Well-Being
Ashoka Centre for Well-Being (ACWB) was established in 2016 as a one-of-a-kind, non-aligned entity. It provides a safe space where students, staff, as well as faculty members of the university can access free and confidential counselling and psychological support. The Centre consists of professionally qualified queer affirmative counsellors, ushered by Arvinder J Singh, Founder-Director of the centre. The centre also aims to encourage good mental health by devising effective coping mechanisms through skill-building and awareness programmes so that individuals are well-equipped to deal with any turmoil that they face.
 Koita Centre for Digital Health at Ashoka (KCDH-A)
Koita Centre for Digital Health at Ashoka (KCDH-A) is an interdisciplinary Centre, offering robust academic and research programmes aimed at advancing and developing a fresh perspective on Digital Health. Established in August 2023, it focuses on the convergence of healthcare, genomics, information technology, and artificial intelligence revolutions. KCDH-A aspires to nurture a new generation of Digital Health thinkers, innovators, and implementers through a balanced emphasis on education and research. The Centre offers strong academic programmes in digital health & informatics, drive research in next generation digital health tools & solutions and create strong executive education in digital health. KCDH-A is a joint centre of the Trivedi School of Biosciences and the Department of Computer Science at Ashoka University, established with support from Koita Foundation, a philanthropic organisation with a mission to accelerate Digital Health adoption in India.
 Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability
Established in 2020 as the brainchild of the Vice Chancellor Professor Malabika Sarkar,  the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (3CS) is an interdisciplinary centre that brings together members with a shared interest in studying, communicating, and mitigating the effects of future climate change on our society, health, and environment. The Centre leverages the expertise of 28 faculty members from across 9 departments, including Gautam Menon, Iain Stewart, Srinath Raghvan, Sumana Roy, L.S. Shashidhara among many other notable names. It aims to spread awareness, foster research and advocacy on pertinent issues of climate change and sustainability.

One of the key programs of the centre is the 3CS Media Fellowship. It has been designed to support climate journalism from marginalized members of the society, geographically or otherwise, who are most affected by climate change.
 Centre for Economic Data and Analysis
The Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA) at Ashoka University is established by the Economics Department with Ashwini Deshpande serving as its Director. CEDA works to facilitate informed debate about economic and social developments in India. The centre also generates content in the form of blogs, research papers, policy briefs, and social and economic commentaries among other things. One of the primary aims of CEDA is to make data accessible to the concerned stakeholders. For this purpose, CEDA has created a public data repository along with an interactive visualization toolkit. This is extensively used by researchers, journalists, policymakers, students, and others.
 Centre for Entrepreneurship
Ashoka University has always been proactive in encouraging its entrepreneurial minds. To this end, the InfoEdge Centre for Entrepreneurship with support from the founders and under Priyank Narayan functions as the creative hub that nurtures entrepreneurial endeavors. It has a set of experts who provide relevant mentorship. The center is multidisciplinary in its approach, existing at the cusp of Liberal Arts and Entrepreneurship, the result of which is a community of Entrepreneurs working in a wide range of sectors spanning from the mainstream to the niche sectors. It holds events like Startup Ashoka, Ashoka Pillar Award, AIM Smart City Accelerator among others.
 Centre for Interdisciplinary Archaeological Research
The Centre for Interdisciplinary Archaeological Research (CIAR) at Ashoka University, is the first of its kind in India. The faculty membership is spread across departments with names such as Nayanjot Lahiri, Kritika M. Garg, Shibani Bose, Alok Bhattacharya and Upinder Singh. The Centre aims to bridge the gap between the sciences and archaeology and use that interdisciplinarity to facilitate novel opinions that will deepen the study of the Indian past. This would also aid the Centre in designing course pedagogy and initiate research that utilizes perspectives from both sciences and humanities. To achieve this, the centre has also launched fellowships in ancient and medieval Indian history/archaeology.
 Centre for Social and Behaviour Change
Founded by Ashoka University and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Centre for Social and Behavior Change (CSBC) drives behavioral change measures for people and communities in need. The center is led by Dr Pavan Mamidi and Dr Sharon Barnhardt. It aims to advance the science and practice of behavior changes, harnessing cross-disciplinary expertise in the areas of nutrition, sanitation, maternal health, family planning, and financial services. In 2019, the NITI Aayog partnered with  CSBC and BMGF to institute an embedded Behavioral Insights Unit for India and introduce a novel paradigm of behaviorally-informed policy design and implementation in the country. Since then, CSBC has partnered with the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to set up Behavioral Insights Units in UP and Bihar.
 Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy
The Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP) was instituted in 2016, through the efforts of Ingrid Srinath, who serves as the center's Director. It is the country's first academic center that aims to drive increased social impact through a strategic and robust model of philanthropy. Through its research and knowledge products, convening and facilitation opportunities, and leadership development programs, CSIP is cultivating a stronger civil society for a vibrant and equitable India. The Mother Teresa Fellowship, inaugurated in 2012, is now an integral part of the center. It is a values-based early career fellowship for Ashoka University graduates who want to develop their footing in the field of social impact.
 Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality
Established in the formative years of Ashoka University in 2015, the Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality (CSGS) is one of the Centres of Excellence and is the first of its kind in India. With Professor Madhavi Menon as its director, the primary aim of the centre is to broaden the discourse that currently exists around gender and sexuality, through scholarship and activism. This spectrum includes issues of inequality, fantasy, desire, pleasure, identity, and politics that are key realities of our everyday lives. The Centre organizes several events such as a speaker series, student seminars, workshops, performances, and film screenings to initiate discussions around topics that are considered taboo.
 Centre for Writing and Communication
The Centre for Writing and Communication (CWC) is the largest centre at Ashoka University working closely with the vibrant academic community to develop critical thinking, writing, and communication skills. Kanika Singh is the Director of the centre with Jyotirmoy Talukdar as Senior Writing Fellow (English Language Teaching), Neerav Dwivedi as Senior Writing Fellow and Senjuti Chakraborti, Archishman Sarker and Vrinda Chopra as Senior Writing Tutors, Ipsita Herlekar, Sonakshi Srivastava, Vinky Mittal, Sampurna Dutta among others as Writing Tutors. It works with not only the entire student body but also with the faculty, staff, and other centres. The Centre itself is very academically diverse with a spirited team consisting of scholars, professionals, writers, and researchers whose combined expertise actively contributes to the interdisciplinary engagement at Ashoka University.

 The Centre for the Creative and the Critical

The Centre's purpose is to provide a forum in which to raise and address questions to do with both creative practice and critical argument. In bringing together novelists, poets, translators, artists, schol\ars, filmmakers, journalists and publishers with different traditions and histories from all over the world, the Centre will foster intercultural and 'extra-disciplinary' discussions about creative practice in ways that have become impossible in professionalised settings, such as the academic conference, or in market-driven ones, such as the literary festival. The highly-regarded symposia in the 'literary activism' series and the website, literaryactivism.com, will continue to be an important part of the Centre's activities. So will new courses, talks, and events, including 'Is There a Modern Indian Literature?', co-hosted by The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities. The Director of the Centre is Amit Chaudhuri, and its team includes Saikat Majumdar and Sumana Roy
 Science Policy Initiative
Established in 2019, the Science Policy Initiative (SPI) at Ashoka University aims to expedite the framing of evidence-based policies to address societal problems. Under the guidance of L.S. Shashidhara and Anjali Taneja, the centre is involved in creating the right environment for policy research and capability building through active support and expert leadership. One of the larger goals of SPI is to augment scientific research and innovation and to serve as a knowledge hub, initiating discussions on issues and defining the roadmap for the future with the help of evidence-based white papers and policy briefs along with partnerships and collaborations.
 Trivedi Centre for Political Data
The Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) is a joint venture between the departments of Political Science and Computer Science at Ashoka University, with professors Gilles Verniers and Sudheendra Hangal serving as its co-directors. TCPD aims at promoting data-driven research, policy work, and journalism on India's political life by producing and disseminating in open access scientifically collected and treated political data and also refining the quality of existing public data by developing web-based tools adapted to Indian data. The larger goal of TCPD is to become a reference source of political data and contribute to more empirical research, news coverage, and opinions about Indian politics.

Institutional collaborations

Ashoka University has a number of international institutional collaborations with global university partners including UPenn, UMich, Yale, Duke, King's College London, HEC Paris, Sciences Po and many others. Faculty exchange, student exchange, and plans for collaborative programmes with international partners are a recognition of Ashoka's position.

The university has accelerated its growth story and has signed MoUs with leading institutions around the globe. The University of Cambridge and Ashoka University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in recognition of their mutual interest in promoting and furthering academic links between the two institutions. The Office of Global Education and Strategic Programmes (GESP) at Ashoka University signed a MoU with National University of Singapore (NUS) in January 2022.

Ashoka University has also joined a consortium of five Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Jodhpur and IIT BHU, Varanasi) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. The objective of this partnership is to establish a multiparty collaborative framework for long-term multi-institutional and international collaboration in educational and research fields. The research focus will be nanomaterials and nanotechnology, biotechnology, advanced sensors, photonics and cyber-physical systems including artificial intelligence. Ashoka University has further entered into a MoU with Max Healthcare Institute to initiate long-term, high-quality research collaborations. The collaboration aims to build a joint research program on genome analysis and data analysis that will include AI, ML and deep learning of various genetic and life-style diseases.

Notable academics

Arts and Humanities

 Urvashi Butalia – feminist writer and publisher
 Amit Chaudhuri – novelist
 Navtej Johar – dancer, choreographer and yoga exponent
 Rita Kothari – author and translator
 Clancy Martin – philosopher
 Saikat Majumdar – novelist
 Janice Pariat – poet and writer
 Sumana Roy – poet and writer

Social science

 Pulapre Balakrishnan – economist
 Amita Baviskar – environmental sociologist
 Nayan Chanda – political scientist
 Ashwini Deshpande – economist
 Gopalkrishna Gandhi – politician; historian
 Sunil Khilnani – political scientist
 Nayanjot Lahiri – historian
 Srinath Raghavan – historian
 Upinder Singh – historian
 Aparna Vaidik – historian

Science
 Anurag Agrawal – medical scientist, pulmonologist
 Rajendra Bhatia – mathematician
 Alok Bhattacharya – parasitologist
 Sudha Bhattacharya – parasitologist
 Sourav Pal – theoretical chemist
 L. S. Shashidhara – developmental biologist, geneticist

Controversies
In October 2016, a faculty member, Rajendran Narayanan, and two other employees resigned; it was alleged by the Faculty Council that they were asked to resign because they signed a petition on Kashmir, something the university denies. Narayanan believes he was targeted because he was also organising a Workers' Welfare Committee for all campus staff.

In March 2021, two faculty members, Pratap Bhanu Mehta (formerly the VC of the university) and Arvind Subramanian, resigned within days of each other, alleging a curbing of academic freedom in the university. Mehta has been an open advocate of liberalism, speaking openly about the 'Death of liberalism' under the Narendra Modi Government. He resigned from Ashoka University in March 2021, when trustees Pramath Raj Sinha and Ashish Dhawan are said to have told him that his "intellectual interventions were something they could no longer protect." This was followed by protests from students and faculty, who alleged that Mehta's views on the Modi administration might have drawn pressure internally, leading him to resign. But the Vice Chancellor denied that

Sabyasachi Das And His Controversial Paper (2023)

In August 2023, Assistant Professor Sabyasachi Das of the university's Economics Department resigned following the university's decision to formally announce that it was distancing itself from a controversial paper by Das. His resignation was accepted after making extensive efforts to dissuade him.

Ashoka University's Vice Chancellor, Somak Raychaudhury, was cited by The Times of India stating that the research by Professor Das was perceived as reflecting the university's official stance. Raychaudhury clarified that the paper had not undergone a complete critical review process and had not been published in any accredited academic journal. As reported by The Free Press Journal, the VC elucidated that Ashoka University grants its faculty members the autonomy to engage in teaching and research within their fields of interest. It was pointed out that while the university does not directly oversee or moderate the research pursuits of its faculty and students, this ethos of academic freedom was extended to Professor Das as well. The Vice Chancellor underscored that Ashoka University's rise in less than a decade is attributed to its unwavering dedication to both research and pedagogical excellence.

Following his resignation, his colleague in the Economics Department, Professor Pulapre Balakrishnan, also resigned. The Economics Department and the Political Science Department came out with formal statements expressing their support for Das. These departments demanded that Das be reinstated.

According to a report from NDTV, Professor Balakrishnan conveyed in a letter addressed to Ashoka University's Chancellor, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Pramath Raj Sinha, that the university had never imposed any form of constraint on his classroom discussions, media writings, or public advocacy for rights. He further explained that his resignation was prompted by what he perceived as a significant lapse in judgment in the handling of the attention garnered by the controversial paper on social media. Professor Balakrishnan highlighted his experience of unbridled intellectual freedom during his eight-year tenure at the university, where he openly expressed his opinions in class, participated in street demonstrations, and contributed to media discussions without encountering any restrictions. He pointed out that Ashoka University had generously funded his latest book project, obviating the need for formal proposals or meetings. He disclosed that the publisher promptly approved the project upon its proposal and that the resultant study, a comprehensive examination of the nation's economic history, was a culmination of his professional journey, including a candid analysis of the present scenario. In the letter, Professor Balakrishnan conveyed his gratitude for the opportunities that the University provided to him. As a gesture of appreciation, he even offered his personal collection of books to augment the university's library.

The Departments of English and Creative Writing called for Das' reinstatement. The Department of Sociology and Anthropology also expressed solidarity with Das.

See also
 List of universities in India
 List of institutions of higher education in Haryana
 List of private universities in India

References

External links

Official website

Ashoka University
Sonipat district
Universities in Haryana
Private universities in India
Educational institutions established in 2014
2014 establishments in Haryana

Ashoka University


Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, or simply Morals and Dogma, is a book of esoteric philosophy published by the Supreme Council, Thirty Third Degree, of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. It was compiled by Albert Pike, was first published in 1871 and was regularly reprinted thereafter until 1969. An upgraded official reprint was released in 2011, with  annotations by Arturo de Hoyos, the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian.

Contents

Morals and Dogma has been described as "a collection of thirty-two essays which provide a philosophical rationale for the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The lectures provided a backdrop for the degrees by giving lessons in comparative religion, history and philosophy".

The original printing had 861 pages of text, while a 218-page Digest-Index was added by Trevanion W. Hugo, 33°, in 1909. Its thirty-two chapters discuss the philosophical symbolism of a degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in extensive detail. In Pike's original Preface, he noted:

He continued:

Though it discusses the minutiae of Masonic ritual at length, it is written so as not to reveal the Masonic secrets.  Ritual motions and objects are named and elaborated upon, but not described. In his allocution of 1947, Pike's successor, Grand Commander John Henry Cowles, noted that some Masonic publications had used large extracts from the text, which practice he sought to curtail by adding the following words to the title page: 'Esoteric Book, for Scottish Rite use only; to be Returned upon Withdrawal or Death of Recipient' (Transactions of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J. (1947), p. 38).  Although Morals and Dogma is an esoteric book, it was not a secret one; Pike's original preface was clear that any Mason could own the book, but only Scottish Rite Masons would be encouraged to own one.

There are 32 chapters, one for each of the degrees in the Southern Jurisdiction, except for the 33°. These chapters generally consist of comparative religion, philosophy, comparative etymologies, symbolism, and numerology.  The primary themes are the "Secrets" or the "Great Mysteries" and their symbolism and rituals. It is stated that nothing in the book is meant to unveil any of the secrets of Freemasonry but to simply hint or shed light.  An emphasis on religious and cultural tolerance is shown throughout the work, emphasizing that the root of all religions is the same (according with the Prisca Theologia doctrine). These common traits and symbols in all religions are explained in detail, beginning with the Orphic Egg or Cosmic Egg, and then moving towards ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Buddhist, and Hindu texts, and the Abrahamic religions.

A copy of Morals and Dogma was given to new members of the Southern Jurisdiction from the early 1900s until the mid-1970s. In 1974, it was replaced by Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and Dogma, written by Henry Clausen, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, which in 1988 was itself replaced by A Bridge To Light, by Rex Hutchens, 33°, G∴C∴, which book continues to be given to initiates into the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction. With the release of the authorized edition of 2011, Morals and Dogma is once more being given to new Scottish Rite Masons in the Southern Jurisdiction.

During Pike's lifetime the Northern Jurisdiction based many of their degrees upon Pike's rituals, although they subsequently revised them many times, and never presented initiates with Morals and Dogma, nor any of the subsequent commentaries.

Influences and plagiarism allegations
One of Pike's influences was the French author Éliphas Lévi, the pen name of Alphonse Louis Constant. Lévi was a prolific writer on occult topics who, in Pike's day, was considered an expert on pagan mysteries and Gnosticism. However, since his death, others have questioned his expertise. For instance, occult scholar, A. E. Waite, after researching Levi's texts relating to the Kabalah, wrote: "I  do  not  think  that  he  [Lévi]  ever  made  an  independent statement upon any historical fact to which the least confidence could be given with prudence.". Levi was of Jewish genetic ancestry. He claimed to have gnosis of ancient and medieval Judaic esoterica, when in reality, having been raised a Roman Catholic who went on to seminary, he was not even formally schooled in the Jewish exoteric tradition of his own time in the 19th century.  Levi never officially converted to Judaism.

In his book Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855), Lévi claimed that Freemasonry had its roots in ancient pagan rituals, and Pike accepted many of these claims.  According to Chris Hodapp, "whole passages of Levi's book [were] made into Pike's".

French philosopher René Guénon noticed that "a considerable part of ... Morals and Dogma of Freemasonry is clearly plagiarized from Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie by the French occultist Éliphas Lévi". Craig Heimbichner and Adam Parfrey write that Pike "seemed untroubled by the need to properly attribute text that he borrowed or lifted" and that in Morals and Dogma "Pike plagiarized from the French occultist Eliphas Lévi."

While Pike borrowed extensively from Lévi, he extracted even more prose from the works of the Rev. Orville Dewey, Rev. Theodore Parker, George Oliver, Charles Francois Dupuis, and Jacques Matter. The Annotated Edition by Arturo de Hoyos cites paragraph-by-paragraph virtually all the sources which amount to over a hundred other authors.

Republication history

Eventually Morals and Dogma entered the public domain and like many public domain works, it was reprinted many times by various publishers. In August 2011, the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., announced that they had published a new annotated edition. Titled Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma: Annotated Edition, the work was prepared by Arturo de Hoyos, 33° the Scottish Rite's Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. The text is reprinted in full, with about 4000 scholarly notes on difficult passages, touching on historical, religious, and philosophical issues. The new edition is augmented by subject headings, and illustrations from the original books Pike used, new paragraph numbers, and corrections based upon original texts.

References

External links

Masonic books
1872 books


ISO 3166-2:HK is the entry for Hong Kong in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions (e.g., provinces or states) of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.

Currently no ISO 3166-2 codes are defined in the entry for Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, is officially assigned the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code . Moreover, it is also assigned the ISO 3166-2 code  under the entry for China.

See also
 Subdivisions of Hong Kong
 Neighbouring country: CN

External links
 ISO Online Browsing Platform: HK
 Districts of Hong Kong, Statoids.com

2:HK
Geography of Hong Kong

ISO 3166-2:HK


Charles Hunter Corregan (December 11, 1860 Oswego, New York - June 1946) was an American printer and politician.

Life
In 1898, he ran for New York Attorney General on the Socialist Labor ticket, but was defeated.

In 1900 and 1928, he ran for Governor of New York on the Socialist Labor ticket, but was defeated.

He was nominated for U.S. President in 1904 by the Socialist Labor Party of America.

Notes
CHARLES H. CORREGAN Obit in NYT on June 20, 1946 (subscription required)

1860 births
1946 deaths
American Marxists
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
Politicians from Oswego, New York
Socialist Labor Party of America presidential nominees
Socialist Labor Party of America politicians from New York (state)

Charles Hunter Corregan


Albert Aloysius Casey (September 15, 1915 – September 11, 2005) was an American jazz guitarist who was a member of Fats Waller's band during the 1930s and early 1940s.

Career
Casey was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City and studied guitar.

He was a child prodigy who first played violin, then switched to ukulele. He began playing guitar in 1930 and met Fats Waller in 1933. The following year, at the age of eighteen, he became a member of Waller's band, making many recordings with the band, and he is known for having played the solo in "Buck Jumpin'". After Waller's death in 1943, he led his own trio. For two consecutive years in the 1940s, he was voted best guitarist in Esquire magazine.

From 1957, he was a member of a rhythm and blues band led by King Curtis. Four years later he dropped out of music, though he returned in the 1970s to record with Helen Humes and Jay McShann. Another absence followed until 1981, when he returned to music to play with the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band. He died of colon cancer on September 11, 2005.

During his career, Casey worked with Louis Armstrong, Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Billy Kyle, Frankie Newton, Clarence Profit, Art Tatum, and Teddy Wilson.

Discography

As leader
 Buck Jumpin' (Swingville, 1960)
 The Al Casey Quartet (Moodsville, 1960)
 Jumpin' with Al: The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions (Black & Blue, 1974)
 Guitar Odyssey with Billy Butler (Jazz Odyssey, 1974)
 Six Swinging Strings (JSP, 1981)
 Best of Friends with Jay McShann (JSP, 1982)
 Genius of Jazz Guitar (JSP, 1983)
 Al Casey Remembers King Curtis (JSP, 1985)

As sideman
 Louis Armstrong, Pops (Phoenix 10, 1980)
 King Curtis, Live in New York (JSP, 2008)
 Neville Dickie, Shout for Joy (Southland, 1997)
 Wally Fawkes, October Song (Calligraph, 1986)
 Humphrey Lyttelton, Scatterbrains (Lake, 2003)

References

External links
 Al Casey recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
 The Mississippi Rag article by George A. Borgman, December 1999
 Archived More Questions Than Answers 2009-10-25

1915 births
2005 deaths
Jazz musicians from Kentucky
Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
African-American jazz guitarists
American jazz guitarists
Swing guitarists
20th-century American guitarists
Jazz musicians from New York (state)
Harlem Blues and Jazz Band members
Black & Blue Records artists
20th-century African-American musicians
21st-century African-American people

Al Casey (jazz guitarist)


The Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife.

Setting
The Zambezian flooded grasslands can be found on seasonally- or permanently-flooded lowlands in the basin of the Zambezi and neighboring river basins. These enclaves lie in the Zambezian region, a broad belt of seasonally-dry miombo and mopane savannas and woodlands that extend east and west across Africa, from northern Botswana, Namibia, and Angola in the west to Tanzania and Mozambique in the east.

Large enclaves of flooded grassland include:
 Kilombero Valley and Mkata Plain in southern Tanzania
 Malagarasi-Muyovozi floodplain and Ugalla River floodplain in western Tanzania
 Wembere River-Lake Kitangiri floodplain in Tanzania
 The Okavango Delta in Botswana
 around Lake Chilwa in Malawi
 The Barotse Floodplain, Kafue Flats, Busanga Swamp, and Lukanga Swamp in the Zambezi basin of Zambia.
 The upper Chambeshi River, Bangweulu Swamp, the Luapula River delta south of Lake Mweru, and Lake Mweru Wantipa in Zambia.

The region has a tropical climate with a hot wet summer between November and March.

Flora
These patches of wetland contain grassland and swamp vegetation which varies from area to area within this widely spread ecoregion.

Fauna
Even during the dry season the floodplains sustain a great deal of wildlife including grazing African buffalo, wildebeest, and elephants, zebras, and giraffes, with hippopotamus and crocodiles in the waters. There are many antelopes such as waterbucks, pukus, elands, and lechwe, the Bangwelu Swamp in particular being home to black lechwe (Kobus leche smithermani), tsessebe, and sitatunga while the Kafue Flats have large groups of Kafue lechwe and Burchell's zebra.

The large numbers of birds, especially waterbirds, in the floodplains include saddle-billed storks. There are two endemic reptiles; the Merara toad (Amietophrynus reesi) in the Kilombero valley, and the Barotse water snake (Crotaphopeltis barotseensis).

Threats and preservation
Despite the tsetse fly and the swampy water the floodplains have long been home to rural communities, such as the Lozi people in the Barotse Floodplain and the Tonga in the Kafue Flats, but are mostly unspoilt and large areas are protected. However, wildlife is still vulnerable to poaching and illegal farming or grazing of livestock. Meanwhile as the population in this part of Africa is continually growing demand for water and farmland places the floodplains under constant threat as land is polluted or farmed, grassland set on fire and rivers are dammed or diverted. The Kafue Flats have been drastically changed by the damming of the river and similar projects are planned for the Okavango.

Protected areas include the Okavango Delta, the Bangweulu, Moyowosi and Kilombero swamps and the Kafue Flats and in addition Lake Chilwa is a Ramsar birding area. Of these Okavango is the largest and best-known, being mostly within the Moremi Game Reserve, having spectacular wildlife and a well-developed safari industry based in the town of Maun. In Zambia Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks are protected.

References and external links

Afrotropical ecoregions
Ecoregions of Angola
Ecoregions of Botswana
Ecoregions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ecoregions of Malawi
Ecoregions of Mozambique
Ecoregions of Namibia
Ecoregions of Tanzania
Ecoregions of Zambia
Flooded grasslands and savannas
Floodplains of Africa
Zambezian region

Zambezian flooded grasslands