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km) north-south and 29 mi (47 km) east- west. Its outlying territories are Rodrigues Island to the east, the Cargados Carajos Shoals to the northeast, and the Agalega Islands to the north. Area: 788 sq mi (2,040 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 1,245,000. Capital: Port Louis. About two- thirds of the population are of South Asian descent, and most of the rest are of mixed European, South Asian, and African ancestry. Languages: English (official), Creole (lingua franca), various ethnic languages. Reli¬ gions: Hinduism, Christianity, Islam. Currency: Mauritian rupee. Volca¬ nic in origin and almost surrounded by coastal reefs, Mauritius rises to 2,710 ft (826 m) at Petite Riviere Noire Peak. The chief water source is Lake Vacoas. About half of the land is arable; sugarcane is the major crop, though the government has sponsored agricultural diversification. The country depends heavily on food imports, mainly rice. The population density is one of the highest in the world. The island was visited, but not settled, by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The Dutch took pos¬ session (1598-1710), called it Mauritius for the governor Maurice of Nassau, and attempted to settle it (1638-58, 1664-1710) before abandon¬

ing it to pirates. The French East India Company occupied it, renamed it lie de France in 1721, and governed it until the French Ministry of Marine took over its administration in 1767. Sugar planting was the main eco¬ nomic activity, and the colony prospered. The British captured the island in 1810 and were granted formal control of it under the Treaty of Paris in 1814; the name Mauritius was reinstated and slavery abolished. In the late 19th century, competition from beet sugar caused an economic decline, compounded by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. After World War II Mauritius adopted political and economic reforms, and in 1968 it became an independent state within the Commonwealth. In 1992 it became a republic. It has successfully diversified its economy, notably into clothing manufacturing.

Maurois \mbr-'wa\, Andre orig. Emile Herzog (b. July 26, 1885, Elbeuf, France—d. Oct. 9, 1967, Paris) French writer. An officer in the British army during World War I, Maurois had his first literary success with The Silences of Colonel Bramble (1918), a humorous commentary on warfare and the British character. His novels include Bernard Quesnay (1926) and Whatever Gods May Be (1928). He is best known for biog¬ raphies with the narrative interest of novels; his subjects included Percy B. Shelley, Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, and Marcel Proust.

Maurras \m6-'ras\, Charles (-Marie-Photius) (b. April 20, 1868, Martigues, France—d. Nov. 16, 1952, Tours) French writer and political theorist. In 1891 he cofounded a group of poets opposed to the Symbolist movement and later known as the ecole romane. An ardent monarchist, he cofounded L'Action Frangaise (1899), a review whose “integral nation¬ alism” promoted the idea of the supremacy of the state; it became the party organ of the reactionary Action Francaise. He also wrote philosophi¬ cal short stories and poetry. During World War II he was a strong sup¬ porter of the government of Philippe Petain, for which he was imprisoned

(1945-52).

Mauryan Vmau-re-onV empire (c. 321-c. 185 bc) In ancient India, a state centred at Pataliputra (later Patna) near the junction of the Son and Ganges (Ganga) rivers. After the death of Alexander the Great, Chandra- gupta Maurya (Candra Gupta), the dynastic founder, carved out an empire that encompassed most of the subcontinent except for the Tamil south. Ashoka (r. c. 269-232 bc), the famous Buddhist emperor, left stone edicts that include some of the oldest deciphered original texts of India. The empire declined after Ashoka’s death, but in its heyday it was an efficient and highly organized autocracy. See also Gupta dynasty; Nanda dynasty.

mausoleum Large, impressive tomb, especially a stone building with places for entombment of the dead aboveground. The word is derived from Mausolus, whose widow raised a splendid tomb at Halicarnassus (c. 353-350 bc). Probably the most ambitious mausoleum is the Taj Mahal.

Mausolus \m6-'so-l3s\ (d. 353 bc) Satrap (governor) of Caria in South Asia Minor. Nominally under the control of the Persian empire, he took advantage of upheaval in Asia Minor to gain independence. He was influ¬ ential among the Greek cities of Ionia and instigated the revolt of Ath¬ ens’s allies in 357. He endowed his capital, Haucarnassus, with fine buildings. His sister and wife, Artemisia II, finished building his tomb, the Mausoleum. It was designed by the Greek architect Pythius and consid¬ ered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Mauss Vmos\, Marcel (b. May 10,1872, Epinal, Fr.—d. Feb. 10, 1950, Paris) French sociologist and anthropologist. Mauss was the nephew of Emile Durkheim, who contributed much to his intellectual formation and with whom he collaborated in such important works as Suicide (1897) and Primitive Classification (1901-02). His most influential independent work was The Gift (1925), a highly original comparative study of the relation between forms of gif exchange and social structure. He taught at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and College de France and cofounded the University of Paris’s Institut d’Ethnologie. His views on ethnological theory and method influenced Claude L£vi-Strauss, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, Bronislaw Malinowski, and Edward Evans-Pritchard.

Mawlana See Jalal ad-Din ar-RuMi

mawlid \'mau-lid\ or milad \,me-Tad\ In Islam, the birthday of a holy figure, especially Muhammad. His birthday is fixed by tradition as the 12th day of the month of Rab! c I (actually the day of his death). First celebrated by the Muslim faithful in the 13th century, Muhammad’s birthday was preceded by a month of merrymaking, which ended with animal sacri¬ fices and a torchlight procession. The day of the mawlid included a pub¬ lic sermon and a feast. Though mawlid festivities are considered

1216 I Mawsil ► Maxwell

idolatrous by some Islamic fundamentalists, they continue to be widely celebrated throughout the Muslim world and have been extended to popu¬ lar saints and the founders of Sufi brotherhoods.

Mawsil, Al- See Mosul

Maxim, Sir Hiram (Stevens) (b. Feb. 5, 1840, Sangerville, Maine, U.S.—d. Nov. 24, 1916, London, Eng.) U.S.-British inventor. Son of a Maine farmer, he was apprenticed to a carriage maker. He became chief engineer of the U.S. Electric Lighting Co. (1878-81), for which he intro¬ duced carbon filaments for electric lightbulbs. At his lab in London he began working on a fully automatic machine gun; in 1884 he succeeded with a design that used the recoil of the barrel to eject the spent cartridges and reload the chamber. He also developed his own smokeless gunpow¬ der, cordite. Soon every army was equipped with Maxim guns or adap¬ tations. His other inventions included a hair-curling iron, a pneumatic gun, and an airplane (1894). His Maxim Gun Co. was eventually absorbed into Vickers, Ltd. His son Hiram Percy (1869-1936) invented the Maxim silencer for rifles, which he adapted to mufflers and other technologies, and designed the Columbia electric automobile.

Maximian \mak-'sim-e-3n\ in full Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus (b. c. ad 250, Sirmium, Pannonia Inferior—d. c. July 310) Roman emperor with Diocletian (286-305). Assigned the govern¬ ment of the West, he could not suppress revolts in Gaul and Britain; Con- stantius I Chlorus took charge of these, leaving him Italy, Spain, and Africa. Though known as a persecutor of Christians, he probably acted on Diocletian’s orders. He reluctantly abdicated with Diocletian but recanted to support his son Maxentius’s claim as caesar. Forced to abdi¬ cate again, he lived at the court of his son-in-law, Constantine I. After raising a failed revolt against Constantine, he committed suicide.

Maximilian orig. Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph (b. July 6, 1832, Vienna, Austria—d. June 19,

1867, near Queretaro, Mex.) Arch¬ duke of Austria and emperor of Mexico (1864-67). The younger brother of Francis Joseph I of Austria- Hungary, he served in the Austrian navy and as governor-general of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. He accepted the offer of the Mexican throne, naively believing that the Mexicans had voted him their king.

In fact, the offer was a scheme between Mexican conservatives, who wanted to overthrow Pres.

Benito JuArez, and Napoleon III, who wanted to collect a debt from Mexico and had imperialist ambitions there.

Intending to rule with paternal benevolence, Maximilian upheld Juarez’s reforms, to the fury of the conservatives. The end of the American Civil War allowed the U.S. to intervene on Juarez’s behalf; French forces that had been supporting Max¬ imilian left at the request of the U.S., and Juarez’s army retook Mexico City. Refusing to abdicate, Maximilian was defeated and executed.

Maximilian I (b. April 17, 1573, Munich—d. Sept. 27, 1651, Ingol- stadt, Bavaria) Duke of Bavaria (1597-1651) and elector from 1623. Suc¬ ceeding his father as duke, he restored the duchy to solvency, revised the law code, and built an effective army. Opposed to the Protestant cause, he established the Catholic League (1610). In the Thirty Years' War he gave military aid to Austria against the Palatine elector Frederick V and, with military victories by count von Tilly, obtained both territory and the elec¬ torship of Bavaria (1623). Threatened by an independent army under Albrecht W.E. von Wallenstein, he forced the general’s dismissal in 1630. Maximilian later fought unsuccessfully against France and Sweden and made a separate peace to retain the electorship.

Maximilian I orig. Maximilian Joseph (b. May 27, 1756, Mann¬ heim, Palatinate—d. Oct. 13, 1825, Munich) First king of Bavaria (1806- 25). A member of the house of Wittelsbach, in 1799 he inherited its territories as Maximilian IV Joseph, elector of Bavaria. Forced by Austria to enter the war against France, he signed a separate peace in 1801. Dis¬ trustful of Austria, he supported the French war effort (1805-09) through Bavaria’s membership in the Confederation of the Rhine. He received ter¬

ritories by which he crowned himself king of B avaria (1806). After 1813 he allied with Austria to guarantee the integrity of his kingdom and gave up sections of western Austria in return for territories on the western bank of the Rhine. Aided by his chief minister, count von Montgelas (1759-1838), Maximilian made Bavaria into an efficient, liberal state under a new con¬ stitution (1808) and charter (1818) that established a bicameral parliament.

Maximilian I (b. March 22, 1459, Wiener Neustadt, Austria—d. Jan. 12, 1519, Weis) German king and Holy Roman emperor (1493-1519). The eldest son of Emperor Frederick III and a member of the Habsburg dynasty, he gained Burgundy’s lands in the Netherlands by marriage in 1477 but was later forced to give Burgundy to Louis XI (1482). He retook most of the Habsburg lands in Austria from the Hungarians by 1490, and, after being crowned Holy Roman emperor, he drove the Turks from the empire’s southeastern borders. He fought a series of wars against the French, helping to force them out of Italy in 1496 but losing Milan to them in 1515. He lost Switzerland as well but acquired the Tirol peace¬ fully. He acquired Spain for the Habsburgs through his children’s mar¬ riages, gained influence in Hungary and Bohemia, and built an intricate network of European alliances. A popular monarch, he encouraged cul¬ ture and the arts.

Maximilian II (b. Nov. 28, 1811, Munich—d. March 10, 1864, Munich) King of Bavaria (1848-64). Son of King Louis I, he succeeded to the throne on his father’s abdication in 1848. He proposed a league of smaller states as a “third force” in German affairs but was opposed by the dominant states of Austria and Prussia. He successfully introduced liberal reforms in Bavaria, including freedom of the press and ministerial respon¬ sibility. He made Munich a centre of culture and gave support to such scholars as Leopold von Ranke. He was succeeded by his son Louis II.

Maximilian II (b. July 31, 1527, Vienna, Austria—d. Oct. 12, 1576, Regensburg) Holy Roman emperor (1564-76). Son of the future emperor Ferdinand I, he was a humanist Christian who favoured compromise between Catholics and Protestants. He became king of Bohemia in 1562 and succeeded to the imperial throne in 1564. He extended religious tol¬ erance and worked for reform of the Roman Catholic church. He failed to achieve his political goals; an unsuccessful campaign against the Turks ended in a truce in 1568 that compelled him to continue to pay tribute to the sultan.

maximum In mathematics, a point at which a function’s value is great¬ est. If the value is greater than or equal to all other function values, it is an absolute maximum. If it is merely greater than any nearby point, it is a relative, or local, maximum. In calculus, the derivative equals zero or does not exist at a function’s maximum point. Techniques for finding maximum and minimum points motivated the early development of cal¬ culus and have made it easier to solve problems such as finding the dimen¬ sions of a container that will hold the most for a given amount of material used to make it. See also minimum, optimization.

Maximus the Greek (b. 1480, Arta, Greece—d. 1556, near Moscow, Russia; feast day January 21) Greek scholar and linguist. Educated in Paris, Venice, and Florence, he became part of a circle of humanist schol¬ ars and was influenced by the Dominican reformer Girolamo Savonarola. He became a Greek Orthodox monk and was chosen to translate Greek liturgical and theological texts into Russian, thus making possible the dis¬ semination of Byzantine culture throughout Russia. In Moscow he became involved in a religious controversy when he joined a faction called the Nonpossessors, who advocated renunciation of property ownership by the church. Arrested for heresy in 1525, he was imprisoned for 20 years in a monastery. After his death he was venerated as a saint.

Maxwell, James Clerk (b. June 13,1831, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. Nov. 5, 1879, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Eng.) Scottish physicist. He pub¬ lished his first scientific paper at age 14, entered the University of Edin¬ burgh at 16, and graduated from Cambridge University. He taught at Aberdeen University, King’s College London, and Cambridge (from 1871), where he supervised the building of Cavendish Laboratory. His most revolutionary achievement was his demonstration that light is an electromagnetic wave, and he originated the concept of electromagnetic radiation. His field equations (see Maxwell's equations) paved the way for Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. He established the nature of Saturn’s rings, did important work on colour perception, and produced the kinetic theory of gases. His ideas formed the basis for quantum mechan¬ ics and ultimately for the modern theory of the structure of atoms and molecules.

Maxwell ► Mayer I 1217

Maxwell, (Ian) Robert orig. Jan Ludvik Hoch (b. June 10, 1923, Slatina-Selo, Czech.—d. Nov. 5, 1991, at sea off the Canary Islands) Czech-British publisher. Of Jewish origin, he lost many family members in the Holocaust but managed to reach Britain and become an army officer. After the war he founded Pergamon Press, which became a major pub¬ lisher of trade journals and scientific books. In the 1980s he revived the British Printing Corp. and purchased the Mirror Group Newspapers, though his financial practices were officially questioned. Among the U.S. acquisitions of Maxwell Communications were the New York Daily News (1991) and the publishing house Macmillan. The revelation of fraudulent financial dealings aimed at bolstering his collapsing empire was followed by his death by drowning from his yacht in the Atlantic. It was assumed to have been a suicide.

Maxwell, William (b. Aug. 16, 1908, Lincoln, Ill., U.S.—d. July 31, 2000, New York, N.Y.) American editor and author. Maxwell taught English at the University of Illinois before joining the staff of The New Yorker magazine. In his 40 years there, he edited writers such as John Cheever, J.D. Salinger, Eudora Welty, and Mavis Gallant. He himself was the author of spare, evocative short stories and novels. Perhaps his best- known work is The Folded Leaf (1945), about the friendship of two small-town boys. Among his other works are the novels The Chateau (1961) and So Long, See You Tomorrow (1980) and the short-story col¬ lection All the Days and Nights (1995).

Maxwell's equations Four equations, formulated by James Clerk Maxwell, that together form a complete description of the production and interrelation of electric and magnetic fields. The statements of these four equations are (1) electric field diverges from electric charge, (2) there are no isolated magnetic poles, (3) electric fields are produced by changing magnetic fields, and (4) circulating magnetic fields are produced by changing electric fields and by electric currents. Maxwell based his description of electromagnetic fields on these four statements.

May beetle See June beetle

May Day In Europe, the day (May 1) for traditional springtime cel¬ ebrations. It probably originated in pre-Christian agricultural rituals. Cel¬ ebrations included a May king and queen, a Maypole, and people carrying trees, green branches, or garlands. May Day was designated an interna¬ tional labour day by the International Socialist Congress of 1899, and it remains the standard Labour Day worldwide, with a few exceptions, including Canada and the U.S. A major holiday in the Soviet Union and other communist countries, it was the occasion for important political demonstrations.

May Fourth Movement Chinese intellectual revolution and socio¬ political reform movement (1917-21). In 1915 young intellectuals inspired by Chen Duxiu began agitating for the reform and strengthening of Chinese society through acceptance of Western science, democracy, and schools of thought, one objective being to make China strong enough to resist Western imperialism. On May 4, 1919, reformist zeal found focus in a protest by Beijing’s students against the Versailles Peace Confer¬ ence’s decision to transfer former German concessions in China to Japan. After more than a month of demonstrations, strikes, and boycotts of Japa¬ nese goods, the government gave way and refused to sign the peace treaty with Germany. The movement spurred the successful reorganization of the Nationalist Party and gave birth to the Chinese Communist Party. See also Treaty of Versailles.

maya Vml-oX In Hinduism, a powerful force that creates the cosmic illu¬ sion that the phenomenal world is real. The word maya originally referred to the wizardry with which a god can make human beings believe in what turns out to be an illusion, and its philosophical sense is an extension of this meaning. The concept is especially important in the Advaita school of the orthodox system of Vedanta, which sees maya as the cosmic force that presents the infinite Brahman as the finite phenomenal world.

Maya \'mI-9\ Group of Mesoamerican Indians who between ad 250 and 900 developed one of the Western Hemisphere’s greatest civilizations. By ad 200 they had developed cities containing palaces, temples, plazas, and ball courts. They used stone tools to quarry the immense quantities of stone needed for those structures; their sculpture and relief carving were also highly developed. Mayan hieroglyphic writing survives in books and inscriptions. Mayan mathematics featured positional notation and the use of the zero; Mayan astronomy used an accurately determined solar year and precise tables of the positions of Venus and the Moon. Calendrical

accuracy was important for the elaborate rituals and ceremonies of the Mayan religion, which was based on a pantheon of gods. Ritual blood¬ letting, torture, and human sacrifice were employed in an attempt to pro¬ pitiate the gods, ensure fertility, and stave off cosmic chaos. At the height of its Classic period, Mayan civilization included more than 40 cities of 5,000-50,000 people. After 900 the civilization declined rapidly for unknown reasons. Descendants of the Maya are now subsistence farmers in southern Mexico and Guatemala. See also Chichen ItzA; CopAn; Lacan- don; Maya codices; Maya language; Quiche; Tikal; Tzeltal; Tzotzil; Uxmal.

Maya Codices Books in Mayan hieroglyphic writing that survived the Spanish conquest. They are made of fig-bark paper folded like an accor¬ dion, with covers of jaguar skin. Though most Mayan books were destroyed as pagan by Spanish priests, four are known to have survived: the Dresden Codex, probably dating from the 11th or 12th century, a copy of earlier texts of the 5th-9th century; the Madrid Codex, dating from the 15th century; the Paris Codex, slightly older than the Madrid Codex; and the Grolier Codex, discovered in 1971 and dated to the 13th century. They deal with astronomical calculations, divination, and ritual.

Maya languages or Mayan languages Family of about 30 American Indian languages and language complexes, spoken by more than three million people, mainly in southern Mexico and Guatemala. While some have few remaining speakers, Yucatec in Mexico and K’iche (Quiche), Kaqchikel (Cakchiquel), Mam, and Q’eqchi’ (Kekchf) in Gua¬ temala count speakers in the hundreds of thousands. Maya languages were recorded in an indigenous script (see Maya Codices; Mayan hieroglyphic writing), as well as in colonial documents in a Spanish-based orthogra¬ phy, including the Popol Vuh and the Yucatec prophetic texts known as the Books of Chilam Balam.

Mayakovsky \m3- I y3-'k6f-ske\, Vladimir (Vladimirovich) (b.

July 19, 1893, Bagdadi, Georgia, Russian Empire—d. April 14, 1930, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian poet. Repeatedly jailed for subver¬ sive activity, he began writing poetry during solitary confinement in 1909. On his release he became the spokesman for Futurism in Russia, and his poetry became conspicuously self-assertive and defiant. He was the lead¬ ing poet of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early Soviet period, producing declamatory works saturated with politics and aimed at mass audiences, including “Ode to Revolution” (1918) and “Left March” (1919) and the drama Mystery Bouffe (performed 1921). Disappointed in love, increasingly alienated from Soviet reality, and denied a visa to travel abroad, he committed suicide at age 36.

Mayan VmI-on\ hieroglyphic writing System of writing used by people of the Maya civilization from about the 3rd century ad to the 17th century. Of the various scripts developed in pre-Columbian Mesoamer- ica, Mayan writing is by far the most elaborate and abundantly attested: about 800 signs have been inventoried in more than 5,000 instances (see Maya Codices). Signs—some representational, some quite abstract—are either logographic, representing words, or syllabic, representing consonant-vowel sequences. Typically, up to five signs are fit into tight square or rectangular clusters, which are further arranged into rows or grids. The language of Classic Period writing (c. ad 250-900) is gener¬ ally thought to be Cholan, ancestral to several modern Maya languages; later inscriptions were in Yucatec. By the 1990s scholars had an accurate grasp of 60-70% of Mayan inscriptions, with some texts almost com¬ pletely readable and some still quite opaque. Most inscriptions record sig¬ nificant events and dates in the lives of Mayan rulers.

Mayer, Louis B(urt) orig. Eliezer Mayer or Lazar Mayer (b.

July 4, 1885, Minsk, Russian Empire—d. Oct. 29, 1957, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. film executive. He immigrated to Canada and then the U.S. with his family and worked in his father’s scrap-iron business from age 14. He bought a small nickelodeon near Boston in 1907, and by 1918 he owned the largest chain of movie theatres in New England. He founded a film production company in Hollywood in 1917 and merged it with other companies to form MGM in 1925. Under his leadership, MGM became Hollywood’s largest and most prestigious studio, aided by his artistic director, Irving Thalberg. Mayer had under contract many of the outstanding screen stars of the day, including Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, and Judy Garland. He was considered the most powerful Hollywood executive until his forced retirement in 1951. He was the chief founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Mayer Vml-arX, Maria (Gertrude) orig. Maria (Gertrude) Goeppert (b. June 28, 1906, Kattowitz, Ger.—d. Feb. 20, 1972, San

1218 I Mayerling affair ► Mays

Diego, Calif, U.S.) German-born U.S. physicist. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1930, where she taught at various universities. She worked on the separation of uranium isotopes for the Manhattan Project. Her work in theoretical physics led to the explanation of properties of atomic nuclei based on a structure of “shells” occupied by protons and neutrons. For her work she was awarded a 1963 Nobel Prize, which she shared with Hans Jensen (1907-73) and Eugene Wigner.

Mayerling affair See Rudolf

Mayfield, Curtis (b. June 3, 1942, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. Dec. 26, 1999, Roswell, Ga.) U.S. singer-songwriter and guitarist. He became a vocalist and guitarist with the Impressions in 1957. Together with Sam Gooden (bass) and Fred Cash (low tenor), Mayfield (high tenor) devised a much imitated vocal style. Mayfield was a self-taught guitarist, and when he tuned his instrument to a natural chord, he achieved a subtle lyricism that was also influential. Mayfield’s songs, including “It’s All Right” (1963), “People Get Ready” (1965), and “Choice of Colors” (1969), were inspirational and humanistic. The high point of his solo career (from 1970) was the influential soundtrack to Superfly (1972), and he became a major force in the development of the musical style known as funk. He was paralyzed when a lighting tower fell on him during a concert in 1990.

mayflower See trailing arbutus

Mayflower Compact (1620) Document signed by 41 male passen¬ gers on the Mayflower before landing at Plymouth (Massachusetts). Con¬ cerned that some members might leave to form their own colonies, William Bradford and others drafted the compact to bind the group into a politi¬ cal body and pledge members to abide by any laws that would be estab¬ lished. The document adapted a church covenant to a civil situation and was the basis of the colony’s government.

mayfly Any insect of the order Ephemeroptera, found around streams and ponds. The approximately 2,000 species are up to 1.6 in. (4 cm) long, have triangular membranous forewings, smaller round hind wings, and two or three long, threadlike tails. Wings are held vertically when at rest. Chewing mouthparts in the aquatic larvae are vestigial in the adult, which lives just long enough to mate and reproduce. Males “dance” in large swarms to attract females. The adult’s entire life span is usually only a few hours (though at least one species lives as long as two days), and poets have used the mayfly as a symbol of life’s ephemeral nature.

mayhem Crime of willfully and permanently crippling, mutilating, or disfiguring any part of another’s body. Some jurisdictions do not distin¬ guish between mayhem and other types of battery. Japanese law treats all batteries similarly; Indian law divides bodily harms into “hurts” and “grievous hurts.” In most U.S. states mayhem is encompassed by assault and aggravated assault.

Mayhew, Henry (b. 1812, London, Eng.—d. July 25, 1887, London) English journalist and sociologist.

He studied law but soon turned to journalism. In 1841 he founded the highly successful Punch. A vivid and voluminous writer, he is best known for London Labour and the London Poor (1851-62), an evocation of the sights and sounds of the working- class districts of London, which influenced Charles Dickens and other writers. He also wrote plays, farces, fairy tales, and novels, some in col¬ laboration with his brother Augustus Septimus Mayhew (1826-75).

Mayo family Family of U.S. phy¬ sicians. William Worrall Mayo (b.

May 31, 1819, near Manchester,

Eng.—d. March 6, 1911, Rochester,

Minn., U.S.) came to the U.S. in 1845. He opened a surgical practice in Rochester, Minn., in 1863, and in 1889 he opened St. Mary’s Hospital with his two sons and the Sisters of St. Francis. His elder son, William James (b. June 29, 1861, Le Sueur, Minn.—d. July 28, 1939, Rochester), specialized in surgery of the abdo¬ men, pelvis, and kidney and served as administrator. Charles Horace (b.

July 19, 1865, Rochester—d. May 26, 1939, Chicago, Ill.), a gifted sur¬ geon in all areas, originated modern procedures in goitre surgery, neuro¬ surgery, and orthopedic surgery. About 1900 the partnership was changed to a voluntary association of physicians and specialists, later known as the Mayo Clinic. In 1915 the brothers established the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, which offers graduate training in medicine and related subjects.

Mayon \ma-'yon\ Volcano or Mount Mayon Active volcano, southeastern Luzon, Philippines. One of the world’s most perfect volca¬ nic cones, it has a base 80 mi (130 km) in circumference and rises to 7,943 ft (2,421 m). It is popular with climbers and campers and is the centre of Mayon Volcano National Park, which occupies 21 sq mi (55 sq km). It has erupted more than 30 times since 1616; an eruption in 1993 killed 75 people. Its most destructive eruption was in 1814, when the town of Cagsawa was buried.

mayor Political leader of a municipal corporation. Mayors are either appointed or elected for a limited term. In Europe until the mid-19th cen¬ tury, most mayors were appointed by the central government; in France, they are still agents of the central government. In the U.S., they are either directly elected by the populace or chosen by an elected council. Some fulfill only ceremonial functions, executive power being held by a pro¬ fessional manager hired by the legislature. A mayor’s powers may include the power to make appointments, veto legislation, administer budgets, and manage administrative functions. See also city government.

Mayotte \ma-'yot\ Southeasternmost island (pop., 2002 est.: 165,000) of the Comoros archipelago, a French overseas territorial collectivity. Located northwest of Madagascar, it occupies an area of 144 sq mi (373 sq km); Mamoutzo is its chief town and capital designate. Dzaoudzi, the current capital, is its other main city and port. Most of its people are of Malagasy origin. Originally inhabited by descendants of Bantu and Malayo-Indonesian peoples, it was converted to Islam by Arab invaders in the 15th century. Taken by Malagasy people from Madagascar at the end of the 18th century, it came under French control in 1843. Together with the other Comoros islands and Madagascar, it became part of a single French overseas territory in the early 20th century. It has been adminis¬ tered separately since 1975, when the three northernmost islands of the Comoros declared independence.

maypole Tall wooden pole garlanded with flowers and greenery and often hung with ribbons that are woven into complex patterns by dancers in a ceremonial folk dance. The custom probably originated in ancient fertility rites that involved dancing around a living tree in the springtime. In many European countries, notably England, the pole is set up on May 1 as part of May Day festivities. Similar ribbon dances were performed in India and in pre-Columbian Latin America.

Mayr Vmlr\, Ernst (Walter) (b. July 5, 1904, Kempten, Ger.—d. Feb. 3, 2005, Bedford, Mass., U.S.)

German-bom U.S. biologist. He received a Ph.D. (1926) from the University of Berlin and immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1930s. While a curator at the American Museum of Natural History (1932-53), he wrote more than 100 papers on avian tax¬ onomy. From 1953 to 1975 he taught at Harvard University. His early studies of speciation and of founder populations made him a leader in the development of the modern synthetic theory of evolution. In 1940 Mayr proposed a definition of species that won wide acceptance and led to the discovery of some previously unknown species. His influential works include Systematics and the Origin of Species (1942) and The Growth of Biological Thought

(1982).

Mays, Willie (Howard) (b. May 6, 1931, Westfield, Ala., U.S.) U.S. baseball player. Mays played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the National Negro League when he was only 16. The “Say Hey Kid” later played principally for the New York (later San Francisco) Giants in the

Henry Mayhew, engraving after a pho¬ tograph

BBC HULTON PICTURE LIBRARY

Ernst Mayr

COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY SERVICES, THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK CITY, NEG. NO. 334102

Maysles ► mbira I 1219

major leagues (1951-72). A brilliant centre fielder and a powerful right- handed hitter, he ranks among the all-time top five in home runs (660), runs (2,062), and extra-base hits (1,323) and among the top 10 for runs batted in (1,903) and hits (3,283). Mays is considered one of the greatest all-around players in the history of the game.

Maysles Vma-zolzV Al(bert) ana David (respectively b. Nov.

26, 1926, Brookline, Mass., U.S.; b.

Jan. 10, 1932, Boston, Mass., U.S.

—d. Jan. 3, 1987, New York, N.Y.)

U.S. documentary filmmakers.

Albert made his first documentary,

Psychiatry in Russia, in 1955. In 1962 the brothers began to collabo¬ rate on documentaries in the cinema verite style, which they called “direct cinema,” and gained notoriety for their films Salesman (1969) and Gimme Shelter (1970), both made with Charlotte Zwerin. Their later films include Christo’s Valley Curtain (1972), Grey Gardens (1975), and Vladimir Horowitz (1985).

Mazarin \ l ma-z3-'ra n \ / Jules Cardinal orig. Giulio Raimondo Mazarini (b. July 14, 1602,

Pescina, Abruzzi, Kingdom of Naples—d. March 9, 1661, Vin¬ cennes, France) Italian-French cardi¬ nal and statesman. A member of the papal diplomatic service (1627-34), he negotiated an end to the War of the Mantuan Succession between France and Spain. He served as papal nuncio to the French court (1634—

36), where he admired cardinal de Richelieu. He worked for French inter¬ ests in the papal court, then entered the service of France and became a naturalized French citizen (1639) and a cardinal (1641). After the deaths of Richelieu (1642) and Louis XIII (1643), Mazarin was appointed first minister of France by Anne of Austria, regent for Louis XIV, and he directed Louis’s education. A highly influential adviser to the young king, he helped train a staff of able administrators. His foreign policy estab¬ lished France’s supremacy among the European powers, effecting the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). A patron of the arts, Mazarin founded an academy of painting and sculpture and compiled a large library.

Mazatlan \,ma-sa-'tlan\ Port city (pop., 2000: 327,989), southwestern Sinaloa state, north-central Mexico. It occupies a peninsula overlooking Olas Altas Bay on the Gulf of California. It is Mexico’s largest Pacific Ocean port, and its island-studded harbour is known for its fine sandy beaches. Lying diagonally across the gulf from the tip of Baja California, it provides a communications link between Baja and the mainland. Maza¬ tlan, called the “Pearl of the Pacific,” is a fishing centre and a popular tourist resort.

Mazda \'maz-do\ Motor Corp. Japanese automotive manufacturer. Founded in 1920 as a cork plant, the firm was called Toyo Kogyo Co. from 1927 until 1984, when it adopted the name Mazda Motor Corp. It began producing trucks in 1931 and supplied the Japanese armed forces during World War II; its factory survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima because it lay shielded behind a hill. In the 1960s it began manufacturing passenger cars and marketing them in the U.S. After endur¬ ing a slump in the 1970s, it became one of the largest auto manufactur¬ ers in Japan. Mazda has supplied axles and other automotive products to Ford Motor Co., and by the turn of the 21st century, Ford had acquired a significant ownership share in Mazda. Its headquarters are in Hiroshima.

Mazdakism Vmaz-do-.ki-zonA Dualistic religion that arose in Iran in the late 5th cent ad. Its origins are uncertain, and no Mazdakite scriptures survive. It is named for Mazdak, its main Persian proponent in the 5th century, who converted the Sasanid king Kavadh I. It held that there were two original principles. Light (or Good) and Darkness (or Evil), which accidentally became mixed, producing the world. Humans’ duty was to strive to release Light in the world through moral conduct. Mazdakism was suppressed in the 6th century by Persian nobles and Zoroastrian clergy who objected to its tenets concerning the common holding of prop¬ erty and women, but it survived in secret until the 8th century. See also dualism, Zoroastrianism and Parsiism.

maze See labyrinth

Mazia Vma-ze-oV Daniel (b. Dec. 18, 1912, Scranton, Pa., U.S.—d. June 9, 1996, Monterey, Calif.) U.S. cell biologist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focused on various aspects of cell reproduction, including mitosis and regulation. He is best known for isolating the structure responsible for cell division, research that he carried out with Katsuma Dan (19057-96) in 1951.

Mazowiecki V.ma-zo-'vyet-skeV Tadeusz (b. April 18, 1927, Plock, Pol.) Polish politician. After studying law, he cofounded and edited the independent Catholic monthly Wiqz (1958-81). A principal adviser to the Solidarity labour movement, he was appointed its newspaper editor (1981) by Lech Walesa. After the 1989 national elections, he was appointed prime minister of a coalition government of Solidarity and communist members. He undertook radical economic reforms to develop a free-market economy, which helped stabilize Poland’s consumer-goods market and increased exports but caused high unemployment. He lost his bid for president in 1990 and was replaced as prime minister in 1991.

mazurka \m9-'z3r-k9\ Polish folk dance in % time for a circle of couples, characterized by stamping feet and clicking heels, traditionally danced to the music of bagpipes. Originating in Masuria (northeastern Poland) in the 16th century, it became popular at the Polish court and spread to Russia and Germany, reaching England and France by the 1830s. The 50 piano mazurkas by Frederic Chopin reflected and extended the dance’s popularity. It had no set figures and allowed improvisation among its more than 50 different steps.

Mazzini \mat-'se-ne\, Giuseppe (b. June 22, 1805, Genoa—d. March 10, 1872, Pisa, Italy) Italian patriot and a major figure in the making of modern Italy. A lawyer, he joined the secret independence group Carbo¬ nari. After he was imprisoned for its activities, he moved to Marseille (1831), where he founded the patriotic movement Young Italy. He later expanded his plan for a world republican federation and in Switzerland founded Young Europe. In London (1837) he continued his revolutionary activities by correspondence with agents worldwide. He founded the Peo¬ ple’s International League (1847) and received support from English lib¬ erals. In 1848 he returned to Italy to help govern the short-lived Republic of Rome, but returned to England after the pope reestablished control in Rome. Mazzini founded the Friends of Italy (1851) and backed unsuc¬ cessful uprisings in Milan, Mantua, and Genoa. An uncompromising republican, he disapproved of the new united Kingdom of Italy (1861). See also Risorgimento.

Mbabane \3m-ba-'ba-na\ Capital and largest town (pop., 1998 est.: 60,000) of Swaziland. Located in western Swaziland, it developed near the cattle kraal of the Swazi king Mbandzeni in the late 19th century. The actual town was founded in 1902, when the British assumed control of Swaziland and set up an administrative headquarters there. A Mozam¬ bican railway link near Mbabane was established in 1964, primarily to export iron ore extracted in the region; production of the ore had virtu¬ ally ceased by the late 1970s.

Mbeki \em-'bek-e\, Thabo (b. June 18, 1942, Idutywa, Transkei) Presi¬ dent of South Africa (from 1999). The son of an anti-APARTHEiD activist, he studied economics at Sussex University in Britain, then received military training in the Soviet Union. He was appointed deputy president by Nel¬ son Mandela following South Africa’s first elections (1994) based on uni¬ versal suffrage and soon took control of the government’s day-to-day workings. Less charismatic than Mandela, Mbeki has been criticized for his views on the biology of AIDS. He has been particularly involved in South Africa’s post-apartheid economic growth strategy.

mbira \em-'bir-9\ or thumb piano African musical instrument con¬ sisting of a set of tuned metal or bamboo tongues attached to a board or

Jules Cardinal Mazarin, detail of a portrait by Philippe de Champaigne; in the Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.

COURTESY OF THE MUSEE CONDE, CHANTILLY, FR; PHOTOGRAPH, GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK

1220 I Mboya ► McClellan

resonator. The tongues are depressed and released with the thumbs and fingers to produce melodies and song accompaniments. The mbira dates to at least the 16th century in Africa, and it was imported to Latin America by slaves.

Mboya \em-'boi-3\, Tom orig. Thomas Joseph Mboya (b. Aug. 15, 1930, Kilima Mbogo, near Nairobi, Kenya—d. July 5, 1969, Nairobi) Kenyan political leader. During the Mau Mau rebellion (1952-56) and the period leading up to Kenyan independence (1963), the Oxford-educated Mboya headed the Kenya Federation of Labour. In 1960 he helped found the dominant Kenyan African National Union Party (KANU). After inde¬ pendence he served in top administrative posts in Jomo Kenyatta’s gov¬ ernment. His assassination in 1969 shocked the nation and exacerbated tensions between the dominant Kikuyu and other ethnic groups, especially Mboya’s own Luo.

Mbundu \em-'bun-du\ Group of Bantu-speaking peoples of north- central Angola. In the 15th century they founded the Ndongo kingdom, a rival of the Kongo kingdom. It was destroyed by the Portuguese in the late 1600s. In the 1970s the Mbundu provided the main support for the Marxist-oriented Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which assumed power in 1976. Today they number about 2.3 million.

MCA in full Music Corporation of America Entertainment con¬ glomerate. It was founded in Chicago in 1924 by Jules Stein as a talent agency. In the 1960s it bought Decca Records and Universal Pictures, and today it produces films, music, and television shows. It was acquired by Matsushita of Japan in 1990.

McAdam, John (Loudon) (b. Sept. 21,1756, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scot.—d. Nov. 26, 1836, Moffat, Dumfriesshire) Scottish inventor of the macadam road surface. He made an early fortune in his uncle’s New York count- inghouse (1770-83). Back in Scotland, he noted the poor condition of the highways near his estate and undertook experiments in road making. He recommended that roads be raised above the adjacent ground for good drainage and covered, first with larger stones and then with smaller stones, the whole mass to be bound with fine gravel or slag. In 1823 his views were officially adopted, and in 1827 he was appointed Britain’s Surveyor General of Metropolitan Roads. Macadamization was quickly adopted in other countries and did much to facilitate travel and communication.

McAdoo Vma-ko-.diA, William G(ibbs) (b. Oct. 31, 1863, near Mari¬ etta, Ga., U.S.—d. Feb. 1, 1941, Washington, D.C.) U.S. public official. In 1892 he moved to New York, where he organized the Hudson and Manhattan Railway companies (later consolidated), which built tunnels under the Hudson River. A prominent supporter of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential campaign, he was appointed secretary of the trea¬ sury by Wilson in 1913; he married Wilson’s daughter in 1914. During World War I he directed fund-raising drives that yielded $18 billion for the war effort. He was later director general of U.S. railroads (1917-19) and U.S. senator from California (1933-38).

McCarthy, Cormac orig. Charles McCarthy, Jr. (b. July 20,1933, Providence, R.I., U.S.) U.S. novelist. He grew up in Tennessee and dropped out of the University of Tennessee to join the Air Force. He began writing in 1959. His novels, known for their natural observation, morbid realism, and violence, are in the Southern gothic tradition. They include The Orchard Keeper (1965), Outer Dark (1968), Blood Meridian (1985), and the widely read Border Trilogy (. All the Pretty Little Horses, 1992; The Crossing, 1994; Cities of the Plain, 1999).

McCarthy, Eugene J(oseph) (b. March 29, 1916, Watkins, Minn., U.S.—d. Dec. 10, 2005, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. He taught at the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1949-59) and later the Senate (1959-71). A liberal Democrat, he became an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War. In 1968 he ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. His ini¬ tial successes convinced Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson not to seek reelection. After losing the nomination to Hubert H. Humphrey, McCarthy decided not to run for reelection to the Senate. He made another unsuccessful attempt at the Democratic nomination in 1972 and ran unsuccessfully for presi¬ dent as an independent in 1976. His presidential bids in 1988 and 1992 also failed.

McCarthy, John (b. Sept. 4, 1927, Boston, Mass., U.S.) U.S. computer scientist. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. A pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, he created LISP in 1958. He also devel¬

oped ideas about the processing characteristics of trees (as used in com¬ puting), as distinct from nets. He is a recipient of the Turing Award (1971), the Kyoto Prize (1988), and the National Medal of Science (1990).

McCarthy, Joseph R(aymond) (b. Nov. 14, 1908, near Appleton, Wis., U.S.—d. May 2, 1957, Bethesda, Md.) U.S. politician. He was a Wisconsin circuit judge (1940^42) before enlisting in the Marine Corps in World War II. In 1946 he upset Robert La Follette, Jr., to win election to the U.S. Senate. He remained little known until 1950, when he pub¬ licly charged that 205 communists had infiltrated the U.S. State Depart¬ ment. Reelected in 1952, he obtained the chairmanship of the Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, and for the next two years he investigated various government departments and questioned innumerable witnesses about their suspected communist affiliations. To his supporters, McCarthy was a dedicated patriot and a guardian of genuine American¬ ism; to his detractors, he was an irresponsible witch-hunter who was undermining the nation’s traditions of civil liberties. The persecution of innocent persons on the charge of being communists and the forced con¬ formity that this practice engendered in American public life came to be known as McCarthyism. His influence waned after 1954, when exposure of his truculent interrogative tactics in nationally televised hearings helped to turn public opinion against him. Later that year he was censured by the Senate for conduct “contrary to Senate traditions.”

McCarthy, Mary (Therese) (b. June 21, 1912, Seattle, Wash., U.S.—d. Oct. 25, 1989, New York, N.Y.) U.S. novelist and critic. She served on the editorial staff of the Partisan Review from 1937 to 1948. She began writing fiction at the urging of her second husband, Edmund Wilson. Her work is noted for bitingly satiric commentaries on marriage, the impotence of intellectuals, and the role of women in contemporary urban America. Her novels include The Company She Keeps (1942); The Group (1963), her most popular work; Birds of America (1971); and Can¬ nibals and Missionaries (1979). She also wrote two autobiographies. Memories of a Catholic Girlhood (1957) and How I Grew (1987).

McCartney, Sir (James) Paul (b. June 18, 1942, Liverpool, Eng.) British singer and songwriter. Bom to a working-class family, he learned piano but switched to guitar after hearing American rock-and-roll record¬ ings. In the mid-1950s he met John Lennon, with whom he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles. He and Lennon cowrote scores of songs, including some of the most popular songs of the 20th century. He released his first solo album in 1970. With his wife, the pho¬ tographer Linda Eastman (1941-98), he formed the group Wings; their hit albums include Band on the Run (1973) and Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976). After the band dissolved, McCartney had a string of hits in the 1980s. In Rio de Janeiro in 1990, he set a world record by per¬ forming before a paying audience of more than 184,000. He was knighted in 1997.

McCarty, Maclyn (b. June 9, 1911, South Bend, Ind., U.S.—d. Jan. 2, 2005, New York, N.Y.) U.S. biologist. He received an M.D. (1937) at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. With Oswald Avery and Colin M. MacLeod he provided the first experimental evidence that the genetic material of living cells is composed of DNA. In their classic experiments (1944), the introduction of certain material from one type of pneumococ¬ cus bacteria into another type transformed the receiving bacteria into the type from which the material had been taken. The substance responsible for the change was DNA.

McClellan, George B(rinton) (b. Dec. 3, 1826, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. Oct. 29, 1885, Orange, N.J.) U.S. Army officer. After graduat¬ ing from West Point, he served in the Mexican War and then returned to West Point to teach military engineering. In 1855-56 he undertook a mis¬ sion to the Crimea to study European methods of warfare. In 1857 he resigned his commission to become chief of engineering for the Illinois Central Railroad (1857); he became president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he was com¬ missioned in the regular army and placed in command of the department of the Ohio. Appointed general in chief of the army by Abraham Lincoln in 1861, he organized the army into an efficient fighting force but refused to take the offensive in the fall of that year, prompting Lincoln to issue his General War Order (1862) calling for forward movement of all armies. McClellan cautiously conducted the Peninsular Campaign but failed to take Richmond, and he fought indecisively in the Seven Days' Battles. At the Battle of Antietam he failed to destroy Robert E. Lee’s army, and Lin¬ coln removed him from command. In 1864 he was the unsuccessful

McClintock ► McFadden I 1221

Democratic candidate for president against Lincoln. From 1872 to 1877 he was president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad.

McClintock, Barbara (b. June 16, 1902, Hartford, Conn., U.S.—d. Sept. 2, 1992, Huntington, N.Y.) U.S. geneticist. She received her doc¬ torate from Cornell University. In the 1940s and ’50s, her experiments with variations in the coloration of kernels of com revealed that genetic information is not stationary. She isolated two control elements in genetic material and found not only that they moved but that the change in posi¬ tion affected the behaviour of neighbouring genes, and she suggested that these elements were responsible for the diversity in cells during an organ¬ ism’s development. Her pioneering research, whose importance was not recognized for many years, eventually resulted in her being awarded a 1983 Nobel Prize.

McClung, Clarence E(rwin) (b. April 6, 1870, Clayton, Calif., U.S.—d. Jan. 17, 1946, Swarthmore, Pa.) U.S. zoologist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. His study of the mechanisms of heredity led to his hypothesis (1901) that an extra, or accessory, chromo¬ some determined sex. The discovery of the sex-determining chromosome provided some of the earliest evidence that a given chromosome carries a definable set of hereditary traits. McClung also studied how the behav¬ iour of chromosomes in the sex cells of different organisms affects their heredity.

McClung, Nellie orig. Nellie Mooney (b. Oct. 20, 1873, Chats- worth, Ont., Can.—d. Sept. 1, 1951, Victoria, B.C.) Canadian writer and reformer. After marrying in 1896, she became prominent in the temperance movement. Her Sowing Seeds in Danny (1908), a novel about life in a small western town, became a national best-seller. She lectured widely on woman suffrage and other reforms in Canada and the U.S. and served in the Alberta legislature (1921-26).

McCormack, John (b. June 14, 1884, Athlone, County Westmeath, Ire.—d. Sept. 16, 1945, near Dublin) Irish-U.S. tenor. He toured with Dublin’s cathedral choir as a boy, studied voice in Milan, and made his Italian debut in 1906. He debuted the next year in London in Cavalleria rusticana, and an international operatic career ensued, especially in the U.S., for the next decade. From 1918 he concentrated on recitals and recordings, ranging from German lieder to sentimental popular songs. His Irish songs were particularly beloved.

McCormick, Cyrus Hall (b. Feb. 15, 1809, Rockbridge county, Va., U.S.—d. May 13, 1884, Chicago,

Ill.) U.S. industrialist and inventor.

He is generally credited with the development (from 1831) of the mechanical reaper, which revolution¬ ized the harvesting of grain. By 1850 the McCormick reaper was known throughout the U.S.; its prizes and honours, including the Grand Medal of Honour at the 1855 Paris exposi¬ tion, made it famous around the world. In 1902 the McCormick Har¬ vesting Co. joined with other com¬ panies to form International Harvester Co., with McCormick’s son Cyrus, Jr., as its first president.

McCormick, Robert R(uther- ford) known as Colonel McCor¬ mick (b. July 30, 1880, Chicago,

Ill., U.S.—d. April 1, 1955, Whea¬ ton, Ill.) U.S. newspaper editor and publisher. He was a grandnephew of Cyrus H. McCormick and grandson of Joseph Medill, editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. He was presi¬ dent of the Chicago Tribune Co. from 1911 and sole editor and publisher of the Tribune from 1925. Under his direction the paper achieved the largest circulation among U.S. standard-sized newspapers and led the world in newspaper advertising revenue. His idiosyncratic editorials made him the personification of reactionary journalism in the U.S.

McCrea \m3-'kra\, Joel (Albert) (b. Nov. 5, 1905, South Pasadena, Calif., U.S.—d. Oct. 20, 1990, Woodland Hills, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He worked in Hollywood as a stuntman and bit player before getting his first leading role in The Silver Horde (1930). His films—many of them west¬

erns in which he portrayed a dependable, even-tempered man speaking in a resonant American twang—include The Most Dangerous Game (1932), Wells Fargo (1937), Union Pacific (1939), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), The Virginian (1946), and Ride the High Coun¬ try (1962).

McCullers, Carson orig. Lula Carson Smith (b. Feb. 19, 1917, Columbus, Ga., U.S.—d. Sept. 29, 1967, Nyack, N.Y.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. She studied at Columbia and New York universities and eventually settled in New York’s Greenwich Village. A series of strokes she suffered as a child left her partly paralyzed. She typically set her sto¬ ries in small Southern communities and depicted the inner lives of lonely people. Her novels include The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), perhaps her finest work; Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941); The Member of the Wedding (1946), which she adapted into a play (1950); and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe ( 1951), dramatized by Edward Albee in 1963. Each of these was adapted for film.

McCulloch, Hugh (b. Dec. 7, 1808, Kennebunk, Maine, U.S.—d. May 24, 1895, near Washington, D.C.)

U.S. financier and statesman. After teaching school in Boston, he moved in 1833 to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he was a lawyer and then a banker.

Appointed U.S. secretary of the trea¬ sury (1865-69), he attempted to return the U.S. to the gold standard by withdrawing from circulation the paper money that had been issued during the American Civil War, but he was thwarted by public opposition.

He was again secretary of the trea¬ sury from 1884 to 1885.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that affirmed the consti¬ tutional doctrine of Congress’s implied powers. The case concerned the legitimacy of the authority of a newly created national bank to con¬ trol the issuance of currency by the states, including Maryland. The unani¬ mous opinion, written by John Marshall, established that Congress possesses not only the powers expressly conferred on it by the Constitu¬ tion but also the authority appropriate to the utilization of such powers, in this case the creation of such a bank. This doctrine, drawn from the “elastic clause” of Article 1, became a significant factor in the steady growth of federal powers. It also bolstered the power of judicial review established in Marburyv. Madison (1803).

McDonnell Douglas Corp. U.S. manufacturer of jet fighters, com¬ mercial aircraft, and space vehicles. It was formed in the 1967 merger of the McDonnell Aircraft Co. (founded 1939) and the Douglas Co. (1921). During World War II, Douglas contributed 29,000 warplanes, one-sixth of the U.S. airborne fleet. After the war, it dominated commercial air routes with its DC-6 and DC-7. With the development of commercial jets, Dou¬ glas began to lag behind Boeing Co. and sought a merger with McDon¬ nell, which had grown quickly during World War II and had continued to be a major defense supplier, designing the first carrier-based jet fighter. After the merger McDonnell Douglas produced widely used jet fighters (including the F-4 Phantom, A-4 Skyhawk, F-l 5 Eagle, and F-18 Hornet) as well as launch vehicles and cruise missiles. It was bought by Boeing in 1997. See also Lockheed-Martin.

McEnroe, John (Patrick), Jr. (b. Feb. 16, 1959, Wiesbaden, W.Ger.) U.S. tennis player. He grew up in Douglaston, N.Y. An athletic serve- and-volley player, he won three consecutive U.S. Open singles titles (1979-81) and a fourth in 1984. He also won the Wimbledon singles in 1981, 1983, and 1984, as well as several doubles titles. Known for his temper tantrums and invective on court, he became the first player ejected from a grand-slam match in nearly 30 years.

McFadden, Daniel L. (b. July 29, 1937, Raleigh, N.C., U.S.) U.S. economist and winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, along with James Heckman, for development of methods for analyzing individual or household behaviour. McFadden studied physics (B.S. 1957) and economics (Ph.D. 1962) at the University of Minnesota. He taught

Kennebunk, Maine, U.S.—d. May

Hugh McCulloch

COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

1222 I McGill University > McKinley

economics at the University of California, Berkeley (1963-79 and from 1990), Yale University (1977-78), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1978—91). In 1974 McFadden developed conditional logit analysis—a method for determining how people make choices that maxi¬ mize the utility of their decisions. His work has helped predict usage rates for mass transit, and his statistical methods have been applied to labour- force participation, health care, housing, and the environment.

McGill University Privately endowed but state-supported university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1821 through a gift left by the Scottish-born Canadian merchant James McGill (1744-1813). It is internationally known for its work in chemistry, medicine, and biology. In addition, it has faculties of agricultural and environmental sciences, arts, dentistry, education, engineering, law, management, music, religious studies, and science. The language of instruction is English, though stu¬ dents may write examinations in French.

McGillivray Vmo-'gil-s-.vraV Alexander (b. c. 1759 —d. Feb. 17, 1793, Pensacola, Fla.) Principal chief of the Creek Indians in the years following the American Revolution. Of French and Creek descent, he was tutored by whites in Charleston, S.C., before being made a Creek chief. Distrustful of American land speculators, he signed a treaty (1784) with the Spanish in Florida putting the Creek under Spain’s protection. After repeated U.S. entreaties, he agreed to American sovereignty over Creek lands as long as the Creek could remain there free of American encroach¬ ments.

McGovern, George S(tanley) (b. July 19, 1922, Avon, S.D., U.S.) U.S. politician. After earning a doctorate in history at Northwestern Uni¬ versity, he taught at Dakota Wesleyan University in South Dakota. Active in Democratic politics from 1948, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1957-61) and the U.S. Senate (1963-81), where he held important hearings on hunger in the U.S. He was a leading critic of the U.S. role in the Vietnam War. In 1972 he won the Democratic presiden¬ tial nomination but lost the general election to Pres. Richard Nixon by a large margin. He was reelected to the Senate in 1974 but lost his seat in 1980. He returned to to teaching, lecturing, and writing and remained a prominent spokesman for liberal causes.

McGraw, John (Joseph) (b. April 7, 1873, Truxton, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb. 25, 1934, New Rochelle, N.Y.)

U.S. baseball player and manager.

McGraw was a star infielder for the Baltimore National League team in the 1890s. His batting average of .391 in 1899 remains the highest ever for a third baseman. As manager of the New York Giants (1902-32), he led the team to 10 National League championships and 3 World Series titles (1905, 1921, 1922). For his shrewdness and veneer of harsh¬ ness, he acquired the nickname “Little Napoleon.”

McGuffey, William Holmes

(b. Sept. 23, 1800, Pennsylvania,

U.S.—d. May 4, 1873, Charlottes¬ ville, Va.) U.S. educator remembered chiefly for his series of elementary readers. McGuffey taught in the Ohio frontier schools and then at Miami University (1826-36). His elementary school series, starting with The Eclectic First Reader, was published between 1836 and 1857. Collections of didactic tales, apho¬ risms, and excerpts from great books, the readers reflect McGuffey’s view that the proper education of young people required their introduction to a wide variety of topics and practical matters. They became standard texts in nearly all states for the next 50 years and sold more than 125 million copies. In these years McGuffey also served as president of Cincinnati College (1836—39) and of Ohio University, Athens (1839^13). He was a founder of the common school system of Ohio. In 1845 he was elected to the chair of mental and moral philosophy at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, a position he held until his death.

McGwire, Mark (David) (b. Oct. 1, 1963, Pomona, Calif., U.S.) U.S. baseball player. McGwire played first base in college, then joined the Oakland Athletics in 1987 and quickly displayed the strength that would become his trademark. His 49 home runs hit during his first season in the majors set a record, and he was named the American League’s Rookie of the Year. In 1989 his .343 postseason batting average guided Oakland to the World Series championship. Injuries plagued him in 1993-95. Traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997, he hit 58 homers. In 1998 he topped Roger Maris’s 37-year-old season record of 61 home runs. He and Sammy Sosa thrilled fans with their home-run competition, and McGwire achieved the new record with 70; the record was broken in 2001 by Barry Bonds (73). In 1999 McGwire hit 65 home runs. Following the 2001 sea¬ son he retired from professional play.

McHugh, Jimmy orig. James Francis McHugh (b. July 10,1894, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. May 23, 1969, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. song composer. McHugh became a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and began writ¬ ing songs for Broadway and Cotton Club revues. His extensive work for Broadway and Hollywood included collaborations with Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, and especially Dorothy Fields, with whom he wrote “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.”

McKay, Claude (b. Sept. 15, 1890, Jamaica, British West Indies—d. May 22, 1948, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) Jamaican-born U.S. poet and novelist. He published two volumes of Jamaican dialect verse before moving to the U.S. in 1912. With the publication of the poetry volumes Spring in New Hampshire (1920) and Harlem Shadows (1922), he emerged as the first and most militant voice of the Harlem Renaissance. An advocate of civil rights and racial solidarity, in his writings he searched among the common people for a distinctive black identity. His Home to Harlem (1928) was the most popular novel by an American black to that time. He lived abroad in various countries from 1922 to 1934.

McKellen, Sir Ian (Murray) (b. May 25, 1939, Burnley, Lanca¬ shire, Eng.) British actor. Educated at Cambridge University, he made his professional stage debut in 1961 and won acclaim as Richard II and Edward II at the Edinburgh Festival in 1969. He cofounded the Actors’ Co. in 1971 but left in 1974 to join the Royal Shakespeare Co. A versa¬ tile and passionate actor, he has played in a repertory ranging from Eliza¬ bethan to contemporary. In 1981 he won a Tony Award for Amadeus. His films include Plenty (1985), Scandal (1988), Richard III (1995), and Gods and Monsters (1998), and in 2001 he played the wizard Gandalf in the film version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. He has been a vocal supporter of gay rights since 1988. He was knighted in 1991.

McKim, Charles Follen (b. Aug. 24, 1847, Chester County, Pa., U.S.—d. Sept. 14, 1909, St. James, Long Island, N.Y.) U.S. architect. He was educated at Harvard University and in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts. In 1879 he joined William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White to found McKim, Mead & White, the most successful U.S. architectural firm of its time. Until 1887 the firm excelled at Shingle style residences. In later years it championed the formal Renaissance tradition and its Classical antecedents, helping to inspire a Neoclassical revival. Among the widely admired examples of McKim’s formal planning are the Boston Public Library (1887), the Columbia University Library (1893), the building program of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893, with Daniel H. Burnham and Richard Morris Hunt), and in New York City the Morgan Library (1903) and the magnificent Pennsylvania Railway Sta¬ tion (1904-10; demolished 1963).

McKinley, Mount Athabascan Denali \do-'na-le\ Highest mountain in North America. Located near the centre of the Alaska Range in south- central Alaska, U.S., and in Denali National Park, it rises to 20,320 ft (6,194 m). The northern peak was first scaled in 1910, and in 1913 Hud¬ son Stuck and Harry Karstens ascended the southern peak, the true sum¬ mit. It was named Densmores Peak in 1889 after a prospector but was renamed in 1896 in honour of Pres. William McKinley.

McKinley, William (b. Jan. 29, 1843, Niles, Ohio, U.S.—d. Sept. 14, 1901, Buffalo, N.Y.) 25th president of the U.S. (1897-1901). He served in the American Civil War as an aide to Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, who later encouraged his political career. He served in the U.S. House of Repre¬ sentatives (1877-91), where he favoured protective tariffs; he was the principal sponsor of the McKinley Tariff of 1890. With the support of Mark Hanna, he won two terms as governor of Ohio (1892-96). As the Republican presidential candidate in 1896 he decisively defeated Demo-

John McGraw, 1910.

THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE

McLuhan > mead I 1223

crat William Jennings Bryan. In 1897 he signed the Dingley Tariff, the highest protective tariff in American history to that time. In 1898 the USS Maine exploded and sank in the har¬ bour of Havana, Cuba, then a colony of Spain; believing the Spanish responsible, McKinley demanded independence for the island, which Spain refused. The U.S. easily won the brief Spanish-American War.

McKinley supported ratification of the peace treaty that ceded the Span¬ ish possessions of Puerto Rico,

Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S., claiming that the U.S. had an obligation to assume responsibility for “the welfare of an alien people.”

Following his inauguration in 1901 he began a speaking tour of the west¬ ern states, during which he urged control of the trusts and commercial reciprocity to boost foreign trade. On Sept. 6, 1901, he was fatally shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. He was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.

William McKinley

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.

McLuhan \mok Tii-onV (Herbert) Marshall (b. July 21, 1911, Ed¬ monton, Alta., Can.—d. Dec. 31, 1980, Toronto, Ont.) Canadian commu¬ nications theorist and educator. He taught from 1946 at the University of Toronto and became popular for his aphorism “the medium is the mes¬ sage,” which summarized his view of the potent influence of “hot media”—television, computers, and other electronic information disseminators—in shaping styles of thinking and thought, whether in soci¬ ology, art, science, or religion. He regarded the printed book, a “cool medium,” as fated to disappear. His highly influential works include The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), Understanding Media (1964), and The Medium Is the Massage (with Q. Fiore, 1967).

McMahon Line Frontier between Tibet and Assam in British India, negotiated between Tibet and Britain at the end of the Shimla (Simla) Conference in 1913-14. It was named for the chief British negotiator, Sir Henry McMahon. China refused to recognize the boundary on the grounds that Tibet, being subordinate to China, could not make treaties. A conflict in 1962 between India and China failed to resolve the border dispute; China still considers the boundary illegal.

McMaster University Privately endowed university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1887 through a gift from Sen. Wil¬ liam McMaster (1811-87). It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, business, engineer¬ ing, and other fields. Campus resources include a nuclear reactor, educa¬ tion research facilities, and the Bertrand Russell Archives.

McMurdo Sound Bay, western extension of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Lying at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, the channel is 92 mi (148 km) long and up to 46 mi (74 km) wide; it has been a major centre for Antarctic explorations. First discovered in 1841 by Scottish explorer James C. Ross, it served as one of the main access routes to the Antarctic continent. Ross Island, on the shores of the sound, was the site of headquarters for Brit¬ ish explorers Robert Falcon Scon and Ernest Shackleton.

McMurtry, Larry (Jeff) (b. June 3, 1936, Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S.) U.S. novelist. The son of a rancher, he is noted for novels set in the American West, often in Texas. The Last Picture Show (1966) examines the isolation of small-town life. Lonesome Dove (1985, Pulitzer Prize) is part of an epic frontier series that also includes Streets of Laredo (1993), Dead Man’s Walk (1995), and Comanche Moon (1997). His other novels include Horseman, Pass By (1961), Terms of Endearment (1975), and Buffalo Girls (1990). Many of his novels were adapted for film or tele¬ vision.

McNally, Terrence (b. Nov. 3, 1939, St. Petersburg, Fla., U.S.) U.S. dramatist. He worked as a newspaper reporter, as tutor for the children of John Steinbeck, and as stage manager at the Actors Studio. His plays, which often explore relationships and are characterized by dark humour, include Bad Habits (1971), Master Class (1995), Love! Valour! Compas¬ sion! (1995, Tony Award; film, 1997), and the controversial Corpus Christi (1998, Tony Award). He wrote the book for the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993).

McNamara Vmak-no-mar-oV, Robert S(trange) (b. June 9, 1916, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) U.S. secretary of defense (1961-68). He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley (1937), earned a graduate degree at the Harvard Business School (1939), and later joined the Harvard faculty. He developed logistical and statistical systems for the military during World War II. After the war, he was one of the “Whiz Kids” hired to revitalize the Ford Motor Company, and in 1960 he became the first president of the company who was not a member of the Ford family. In 1961 he was appointed secretary of defense by John F. Kennedy. Though initially a supporter of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, by 1967 he advocated peace negotiations; his opposition to the bombing of North Vietnam caused him to lose influence with Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson. He resigned in 1968 to become president of the World Bank (1968-81).

McNeill, Don (b. Dec. 23, 1907, Galena, Ill., U.S.—d. May 7, 1996, Evanston, Ill.) U.S. radio entertainer. He entered radio in the 1920s as part of a singing team. In 1933 he took over as host of an NBC morning program in Chicago and created The Breakfast Club. Usually unscripted, it relied on listeners’ comments, poems, and folksy humour. It was the longest-running show in radio network history when it ended in 1968.

McPhee, John (Angus) (b. March 8,1931, Princeton, N.J., U.S.) U.S. journalist and nonfiction writer. He attended Princeton University. After working as an associate editor at Time (1957-64), he became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1965. His nonfiction covers a wide variety of top¬ ics. His first book was on Bill Bradley; places he has written about include New Jersey, Alaska, the American West (several books), and Switzerland; other topics include the citrus industry, aeronautical engineering, the birch-bark canoe, and nuclear terrorism. He has taught journalism at Princeton since 1975. His later works include Annals of the Former World (1998, Pulitzer Prize).

McPherson, Aimee Semple orig. Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy

(b. Oct. 9, 1890, near Ingersoll, Ont., Can.—d. Sept. 27, 1944, Oakland, Calif., U.S.) Canadian-born U.S. Pentecostal evangelist. Bom on a farm, she began preaching at age 17, and in 1908 she went as a missionary to China with her husband, Robert Semple. After his death she came to the U.S., where her second marriage, to Harold McPherson, ended in 1918 when she became an itinerant evangelist and healer. She settled in Los Angeles and founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. For nearly 20 years she preached to large audiences at her Angelus Temple; she also built a radio station, wrote books and pamphlets, and established about 200 missions. In 1926 she disappeared mysteriously for five weeks; on her reappearance her tale of kidnapping was greeted with skepticism. A third marriage ended in divorce, and she faced numerous trials for financial irregularities. She died from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

McQueen, (Terence) Steve(n) (b. March 24, 1930, Beech Grove, Ind., U.S.—d. Nov. 7, 1980, Juarez, Mex.) U.S. film actor. He served time in a reform school and a stint in the U.S. Marines before studying acting in New York City. He won notice on Broadway in A Hatful of Rain (1955) and made his screen debut in Somebody up There Likes Me (1956), then starred in the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-61). Cool and stoical, his loner heroes spoke through actions and rarely with words in films such as The Great Escape (1963), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Bul¬ litt (1968), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Papillon (1973), and The Towering Inferno (1974).

McRae, Carmen (b. April 8, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Nov. 10, 1994, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. singer and pianist. McRae was influ¬ enced by Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. She began her career in 1943 singing at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, absorbing the innovations of the first bebop musicians. Working as a soloist from the mid-1950s, McRae became one of the most accomplished scat singers and ballad interpret¬ ers in jazz.

Me 109 See Messerschmitt 109 Me Nam River See Chao Phraya River

mead Alcoholic beverage fermented from honey and water. It can be light or rich, sweet or dry, or even sparkling. Alcoholic drinks made from honey were common in ancient Scandinavia, Gaul, Teutonic Europe, and Greece; they were particularly common in northern Europe, where grape¬ vines do not flourish. By the 14th century, ale and sweetened wine were surpassing mead in popularity. Today mead is made as a sweet or dry wine of low alcoholic strength. Spiced mead is called metheglin.

1224 I Mead ► Meany

Mead, George Herbert (b. Feb. 27, 1863, South Hadley, Mass., U.S.—d. April 26, 1931, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. philosopher, sociologist, and social psychologist prominent in the development of pragmatism. He stud¬ ied at Oberlin College, graduated from Harvard University (B.A., 1888), and went on to study philosophy and psychology at the Universities of Leipzig and Berlin (1888-91). Mead then taught philosophy and psychol¬ ogy at the University of Michigan (1891-94) with John Dewey and Charles Horton Cooley. In 1894 he joined Dewey in moving to the University of Chicago and taught there the rest of his life. Mead’s focus was the rela¬ tionship between the self and society, particularly the emergence of the human self in the process of social interaction. His works include The Philosophy of the Present (1932) and Mind, Self, and Society (1934). See also INTERACTIONS.

Mead, Lake Reservoir of the Hoover Dam, on the Arizona-Nevada bor¬ der in the U.S. One of the largest man-made lakes in the world, it was formed by the damming of the Colorado River. Lake Mead is 115 mi (185 km) long and 1-10 mi (1.6-16 km) wide; it has a capacity of over 31 million acre ft (38 billion cubic m), with a surface area of 229 sq mi (593 sq km). It was named after Elwood Mead, commissioner of reclamation. Lake Mead National Recreation Area (established 1936) has an area of 2,338 sq mi (6,055 sq km) and extends 240 mi (386 km) along the river.

Mead, Margaret (b. Dec. 16, 1901, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. Nov. 15, 1978, New York, N.Y.) U.S. anthropologist. She studied under Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict at Columbia University and did fieldwork in Samoa before completing her Ph.D. (1929). The first and most famous of her 23 books, Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), presents evidence in support of cultural determinism with respect to the formation of personality or tem¬ perament. Her other books include Sex and Temperament in Three Primi¬ tive Societies (1935), Male and Female (1949), and Culture and Commitment (1970). Her theories caused later 20th-century anthropolo¬ gists to question both the accuracy of her observations and the soundness of her conclusions. In her later years she became a prominent voice on such wide-ranging issues as women’s rights and nuclear proliferation, and her great fame owed as much to the force of her personality and her out¬ spokenness as to the quality of her scientific work. She served in cura¬ torial positions at the American Museum of Natural History for over 50 years.

Meade, George G(ordon) (b. Dec. 31, 1815, Cadiz, Spain—d. Nov. 6, 1872, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) U.S. general in the American Civil War. He was the son of a U.S. naval agent in Spain. After graduating from West Point in 1835, he worked as a surveyor. He reentered the army in 1842 and in 1861 was commissioned brigadier general in the Pennsylvania volun¬ teers. He fought at Bull Run, Antietam, and Chancellorsville. Three days before the Battle of Gettysburg, he replaced Joseph Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac. At Gettysburg he repulsed the Confederate attack but was criticized for failing to pursue Robert E. Lee’s forces. From 1864 he was subordinate to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, whom he served loy¬ ally. After the war he commanded several military departments.

meadowlark Any sharp-billed, plump songbird of the genus Sturnella (family Icteridae), 8-11 in. (20-28 cm) long. The two North American species are streaked brown above and have a yellow breast crossed by a black V; the short tail has distinctive white outer feathers. The eastern, or common, meadowlark ( S. magna), from eastern Canada to Brazil, has a simple four-note whistle; the western meadowlark ( S. neglecta ), from western Canada to Mexico, has an intricate fluting song. Meadowlarks eat insects in summer and seeds in fall and winter. Their nests are grass domes hidden in fields.

mealybug Any insect of the family Pseudococcidae (order Homoptera). Not a true bug, the mealybug is covered by a white sticky powder resembling cornmeal. The females, about 0.4 in. (1 cm) long, and “crawlers” (the active young) cluster along the veins and undersides of leaves, especially of citrus trees and potted plants; the males are active two-winged fliers. Common species are the citrus mealybug ( Pseudococ¬ cus citri) and the citrophilus mealybug (P gahani).

mean life In radioactivity, the average lifetime of all the nuclei of a par¬ ticular unstable atomic species. This time interval is the sum of the life¬ times of all the individual unstable nuclei in a sample, divided by the total number of unstable nuclei present. It is the reciprocal of the decay con¬ stant. For a given isotope, the mean life is always 1.443 times its half- life. For example, lead-209 decays to bismuth-209 with a half-life of 3.25 hours and a mean life of 4.69 hours.

mean, median, and mode In mathematics, the three principal ways of designating the average value of a list of numbers. The arithmetic mean is found by adding the numbers and dividing the sum by the number of numbers in the list. This is what is most often meant by an average. The median is the middle value in a list ordered from smallest to largest. The mode is the most frequently occurring value on the list. There are other types of means. A geometric mean is found by multiplying all values in a list and then taking the root of that product equal to the number of val¬ ues (e.g., the square root if there are two numbers). The geometric mean is typically used in cases of exponential growth or decline (see exponen¬ tial function). In statistics, the mean of a random variable is its expected value—i. e., the theoretical long-run arithmetic mean of the outcomes of repeated trials, such as a large number of tosses of a die.

mean-value theorems In mathematics, two theorems, one associ¬ ated with differential calculus and one with integral calculus. The first pro¬ poses that any differentiable function defined on an interval has a mean value, at which a tangent line is parallel to the line connecting the end¬ points of the function’s graph on that interval. For example, if a car cov¬ ers a mile from a dead stop in one minute, it must have been traveling exactly a mile a minute at some point along that mile. In integral calcu¬ lus, the mean value of a function on an interval is, in essence, the arith¬ metic mean (see mean, median and mode) of its values over the interval. Because the number of values is infinite, a true arithmetic mean is not possible. The theorem shows how to find the mean value using a definite integral. See also Rolle's theorem.

meander \me-'an-d9r\ Extreme U-bend in a stream, usually occurring in a series, that is caused by flow characteristics of the water. Mean¬ ders form in stream-deposited sedi¬ ments and may stack up upstream of an obstruction, resulting in a goose¬ neck or extremely bowed meander. A cutoff may form through the goose¬ neck and allow the former meander bend to be sealed off as an oxbow lake. Silt deposits may eventually fill the lake to form a marsh or a mean¬ der scar.

meaning In philosophy and lin¬ guistics, the sense of a linguistic expression, sometimes understood in contrast to its referent. For example, the expressions “the morning star” and “the evening star” have different meanings, though their referent (Venus) is the same. Some expres¬ sions have meanings but no referents (“the present king of France”) or ref¬ erents but no meanings (“that”). The literal or conventional meaning of an expression may differ from what a speaker of that expression means by uttering it on a particular occasion; this is the case with similes, statements uttered ironically, and statements that convey various “conversational implicatures,” as in the following examples: “She entered the house and shot him” implicates that she shot him in the house after she entered it, though this is not part of the sen¬ tence’s literal meaning; “John has three sons” implicates that John has no more than three sons, though again the sentence does not literally say this. Other non-literal aspects of meaning include the potential for carrying out various “speech acts” (see speech act theory); e.g., uttered in the appropri¬ ate circumstances, the sentence “I christen thee the Joseph Stalin ,” con¬ stitutes the act of naming a ship, and the sentence “I am cold” constitutes a request to close the window. See also pragmatics; semantics.

Meany, George (b. Aug. 16, 1894, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 10, 1980, Washington, D.C.) U.S. labour leader. A plumber by trade, he joined the United Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters in 1915 and rose through the ranks as a union official. He was elected secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1939 and became its presi¬ dent in 1952. He led the merger of the AFL and the Congress of Indus¬ trial Organizations (CIO) in 1955, helping reconcile the two federations despite their competitiveness and long-standing differences. Conservative and anticommunist, as president of the AFL-CIO (1955-79) he steered the

measles ► Mecherino I 1225

U.S. labour movement away from radicalism. Feisty and often dictatorial, he expelled the Teamsters union from the AFL-CIO in 1957, and he lost the United Automobile Workers in 1967 after disputes with Walter Reuther. Meany wielded considerable influence in the Democratic Party through the 1970s.

measles or rubeola V.ru-be-'o-ls, rii-'be-'o-loX Highly contagious viral childhood disease. It initially resembles a severe cold with red eyes and fever; a blotchy rash and higher fever later develop. After recovery, patients have lifelong immunity. Adult patients tend to have more severe cases. Antibiotics now prevent death from secondary infections. Measles itself, for which there is no drug, requires only bed rest, eye protection, and steam for bronchial irritation. A vaccine developed in the 1960s proved not to give permanent immunity and is too heat-sensitive for use in tropical areas. The worldwide incidence of measles continues to rise. Research is currently directed toward development of a more stable vac¬ cine. See also rubella.

measure theory In mathematics, a generalization of the concepts of length and area (see length, area, and volume) to arbitrary sets of points not composed of line segments or rectangles. A measure is any rule for associating a number with a set. The result must be nonnegative and also additive, meaning that the measure of two nonoverlapping sets equals the sum of their individual measures. This is simple enough for sets consist¬ ing of line segments or rectangles, but the measure of sets such as curved regions or intervals with missing points requires more abstract methods, including limits and upper and lower bounds.

measurement Association of numbers with physical quantities and natural phenomena by comparing an unknown quantity with a known quantity of the same kind. Weights and measures are standard quantities with which such comparisons are made. The earliest ones measured mass (weight), volume (liquid or dry measure), length, and area using units mostly based on dimensions of the human body. The cubit, representing the distance from elbow to fingertips, was the most widespread unit of measure in the ancient world. As such units were standardized, more were added, including units of temperature, luminosity, pressure, and electric current. Measurements made by the senses instead of by measurement devices are called estimates (see estimation).

meat Flesh and other edible parts of animals, particularly mammals, used for food. Not only the muscles and fat but also organs such as the liver, kidney, and heart are consumed as meat. Meat is valued as a complete- protein food, containing all the amino acids necessary for the human body. It is digested slowly, largely because of the presence of fats. Worldwide, pork is the most widely consumed meat; beef is second. Mutton and lamb, goat, venison, and rabbit are other common meats. The U.S. produces and consumes about a third of the world’s meat, while much of the world’s population eats little if any meat, though it is generally prized.

Mecca Arabic Al-Makkah V.al-'ma-koV City (pop., 1992: 965,697), western Saudi Arabia. The holiest city of Islam, it was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. It was his home until ad 622, when he was forced to flee to Medina (see also Hijrah); he returned and captured the city in 630. It came under the control of the Egyptian MamlGk dynasty in 1269 and of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. King Ibn Sa'Od occupied it in 1925, and it became part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is a religious cen¬ tre to which Muslims must attempt a pilgrimage (see hajj) once during a lifetime; only Muslims may enter Mecca. Services related to pilgrimages are the main economic activity. It is the site of the Haram Mosque, which contains the Ka'bah.

mechanical advantage Force-amplifying effectiveness of a simple machine (lever, wedge, wheel and axle, pulley, or screw). The theoretical mechanical advantage of a system is the ratio of the force that performs the useful work to the force applied, assuming there is no friction in the system. In practice, the actual mechanical advantage will be less than the theoretical value by an amount determined by the amount of friction.

mechanical efficiency See efficiency

mechanical energy Sum of a system’s kinetic energy (KE) and poten¬ tial energy (PE). Mechanical energy is constant in a system that experi¬ ences no dissipative forces such as friction or air resistance. For example, a swinging pendulum that experiences only gravitation has greatest KE and least PE at the lowest point on the path of its swing, where its speed is greatest and its height least. It has least KE and greatest PE at the extremities of its swing, where its speed is zero and its height is greatest.

As it moves, energy is continuously passing back and forth between the two forms. Neglecting friction and air resistance, the pendulum’s mechanical energy is constant.

mechanical engineering Branch of engineering concerned with the design, manufacture, installation, and operation of engines, machines, and manufacturing processes. Mechanical engineering involves application of the principles of dynamics, control, thermodynamics and heat transfer, fluid MECHANICS, STRENGTH OF MATERIALS, MATERIALS SCIENCE, ELECTRONICS, and MATHEMAT¬ ICS. It is concerned with machine tools, motor vehicles, textile machinery, packaging machines, printing machinery, metalworking machines, weld¬ ing, air conditioning, refrigerators, agricultural machinery, and many other machines and processes essential to an industrial economy.

mechanical system Any building service using machines. They include plumbing, elevators, escalators, and heating and air-conditioning systems. The introduction of mechanization in buildings in the early 20th century brought about major adjustments; the new equipment demanded floor space, and the design team began to include electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning) engineers. Heating and cooling changed dramatically. Modern buildings, with their large heat gains, turned central heating into little more than a supplement. Heat removal is a much more serious burden, especially in warm weather. The roofs of high-rises are occupied by cooling towers and mechanical penthouses; entire floors are often dedicated to the containment of blowers, compres¬ sors, water chillers, boilers, pumps, and generators.

mechanics Science of the action of forces on material bodies. It forms a central part of all physical science and engineering. Beginning with Newton's laws of motion in the 17th century, the theory has since been modified and expanded by the theories of quantum mechanics and relativ¬ ity. Newton’s theory of mechanics, known as classical mechanics, accu¬ rately represented the effects of forces under all conditions known in his time. It can be divided into statics, the study of equilibrium, and dynamics, the study of motion caused by forces. Though classical mechanics fails on the scale of atoms and molecules, it remains the framework for much of modem science and technology.

mechanism In mechanical construction, the means of transmitting and modifying motion in a machine or an assembly of mechanical parts. The chief characteristic of the mechanism of a machine is that all members have constrained motion; that is, the parts can move only in certain ways in relation to each other. Despite its complexity, the mechanism of a machine can always be analyzed as a group of simple basic mechanisms, each of which contains members that transmit motion from one moving link to another. In general, motion is transmitted in one of three ways: by a wrapping connector such as a chain drive or belt drive, by direct contact as in a cam or gear, or by a pin-connected linkage.

mechanism Form of materialism that holds that all natural processes can be explained in terms of laws of matter in motion. Upholders of mecha¬ nism were mainly concerned with eliminating from science all occult entities, such as substantial form, that could not be empirically observed or mathematically treated. It thus opposed the use of teleological assump¬ tions as explanatory principles in natural science (see teleology). See also ATOMISM.

mechanization Use of machines, either wholly or in part, to replace human or animal labour. Unlike automation, which may not depend at all on a human operator, mechanization requires human participation to pro¬ vide information or instruction. Mechanization began with human- operated machines to replace the handwork of craftspeople; today computers are frequently used to control mechanized processes.

mechanoreception X.me-ko-no-ri-'sep-shonN Ability to detect and respond to mechanical stimuli in one’s environment. A slight deformation of a mechanoreceptive neuron causes an electric charge at its surface, activating a response. Mechanoreceptors in “pain spots” (pressure points) in the skin (probably clusters of nerve endings) vary in sensitivity. They respond to a wide range of stimuli, sometimes with a reflex (e.g., a pricked finger pulled away before the brain registers pain). The structures that respond to sound (see ear), sense orientation with respect to gravity (see inner ear), or detect the position and movement of limbs (see propriocep¬ tion) are mechanoreceptors. Some animals have mechanoreceptors that detect water motion or air currents. See also sense.

Mecherino See Domenico Beccafumi

1226 I Meckel ► Medici

Meckel, Johann Friedrich (b. Oct. 17, 1781, Halle, Prussia—d. Oct. 31, 1833, Halle) German anatomist. He was the first to describe the embryonic cartilage (Meckel cartilage) that becomes part of the lower jaw in fishes, amphibians, and birds and also described a congenital pouch (Meckel diverticulum) of the small intestine. He wrote a treatise on patho¬ logical anatomy and an atlas of human abnormalities.

Med fly See Mediterranean fruit fly

medal Piece of metal struck with a design to commemorate a person, place, or event. Medals can be of various sizes and shapes, ranging from large medallions to small plaques, or plaquettes. Most medals are made of gold, silver, bronze, or lead, the precious metals being used for the finer productions. The art of the medalist began in the mid-15th century with bronze medals of Ital¬ ian Renaissance rulers and human¬ ists. Some of the most beautiful were made by Benvenuto Cellini.

Medan \ma-'dan\ City (pop., 1995 est.: 1,843,919), northeastern

Sumatra. After tobacco plantations were introduced in 1873, Medan became the commercial centre of an agricultural region where cash crops, including tobacco and rubber, were raised for export. It was made a city by the Dutch in 1886. It was occu¬ pied by the Japanese during World War II. The sultan of Deli’s palace dates to the 19th century. Medan is the seat of the University of North Sumatra and the Islamic University of North Sumatra.

Medawar Vme-do-worV Sir Peter B(rian) (b. Feb. 28, 1915, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—d. Oct. 2, 1987, London, Eng.) Brazilian-born British zoologist. Educated at Oxford, he began transplant research in 1949. His finding (1953) that adult animals injected with foreign cells early in life accept skin grafts from the original donor or its twin lent support to Mac- farlane Burnet’s hypothesis that cells learn, during and just after birth, to distinguish “own” from “foreign.” He found that nonidentical cattle twins accept skin grafts from each other, proving that antigens “leak” between the embryos’ yolk sacs, and showed with mice that each cell contains genetic antigens important to immunity. His work deflected immunology from dealing with the fully developed immunity mechanism to attempt¬ ing to alter the mechanism itself (e.g., suppression of transplant rejection). He and Burnet shared a 1960 Nobel Prize.

Medea Nmo-'de-oX In Greek mythology, the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis. After helping Jason, leader of the Argonauts, to obtain the Golden Fleece from her father, the two were married and she returned with him to Iolcos, where she killed the king who had deprived Jason of his inheritance. Forced into exile, the couple settled in Corinth. In Eurip¬ ides' tragedy Medea, Jason later deserts her for the daughter of King Creon, and Medea takes revenge by killing Creon, his daughter, and her own two children by Jason before fleeing to Athens.

Medecins Sans Frontieres See Doctors Without Borders

Medellin \,ma-tha-'yen\ City (pop., 2003: 1,955,753), northwestern Colombia. It is one of the country’s largest cities and is heavily indus¬ trialized. Founded in 1675 as a mining town, it grew rapidly after the completion of the Panama Canal and the arrival of the railroad in 1914. It is now noted for its textile mills, clothing factories, and steel mills. It is one of Colombia’s largest trading centres for coffee. It also became a centre for the illegal international distribution of narcotics (mainly cocaine) in the late 20th century.

Media Vme-de-oV Ancient country, Middle East. It was situated in present-day northwestern Iran and was home to the Medes, an Iranian people. In 625 bc Cyaxares united the area’s tribes into a kingdom. In 614 bc he captured Ashur and later defeated the Assyrian empire and seized territory in Iran, northern Assyria, and Armenia. In 550 bc it became part of the new Persian Achaemenian dynasty under Cyrus II. Alexander the Great occupied it in 330 bc. In the partition of his empire, southern Media was

given to the Macedonians and then to the Seleucids; northern Media became the kingdom of Atropatene, which passed to Parthia, Armenia, and Rome. In 226 bc the whole of Media passed to the Sasanians, another Persian dynasty.

median See mean, median, and mode

mediation In law, a nonbinding intervention between parties to pro¬ mote resolution of a grievance, reconciliation, settlement, or compromise. It is used especially in labour disputes. In many industrialized countries, the government provides mediation services in order to protect the pub¬ lic interest. In the U.S., the National Mediation Board functions in this capacity. Mediation is also commonly used in international conflicts. See also ARBITRATION.

medical examiner See coroner medical imaging See diagnostic imaging

medical jurisprudence or legal medicine Science of applying medical facts to legal problems. Routine tasks include filling out birth and death certificates, deciding insurance eligibility, and reporting infectious disease. Perhaps more significant is medical testimony in court. When merely relating observations, doctors are ordinary witnesses; interpreting facts based on medical knowledge makes them expert witnesses, required to present their opinions without bias toward the side that called them. Conflicts between medicine and law can occur, usually over medical con¬ fidentiality. See also forensic medicine.

Medicare and Medicaid U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. Part B, a supplementary plan, pays for doctors’ services, tests, and other services. Requirements and benefits are com¬ plex. Patients pay deductibles and copayments. Medicaid, a joint federal- state program, covers low-income people under age 65 and those who have exhausted Medicare benefits. It pays for hospital care, doctors’ ser¬ vices, nursing-home care, home health services, family planning, and screening. Participating states must offer Medicaid to all persons on pub¬ lic assistance but decide their own eligibility guidelines. Many physicians refuse to treat Medicaid patients because of low reimbursement levels.

Medici, Alessandro de' (b. 1510/11, Florence—d. Jan. 5-6, 1537, Florence) First duke of Florence (1532-37). A member of the elder branch of the Medici family, he was probably the illegitimate son of Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (later Pope Clement VII). The pope made Cardinal Passerini regent in Florence for Alessandro, but they were forced to flee when the unpopular regency provoked a revolt in 1527. An agreement between the pope and Emperor Charles V restored the Medici in Florence (1530), and Alessandro was declared a hereditary duke (1532). A tyrannical ruler, he sought to solidify his control by marrying Charles V’s daughter, Marga¬ ret of Austria, in 1536. In an unsuccessful attempt to cause a revolt, a distant cousin, Lorenzino de’ Medici (1514-48), murdered Alessandro in

Medici Vme-do-.cheV, Cosimo de' known as Cosimo the Elder (b.

Sept. 27, 1389, Florence—d. Aug. 1, 1464, Careggi, near Florence) Founder of one of the main lines of the Medici family. The son of the Flo¬ rentine banker Giovanni di Bicci de’Medici (1360-1429), Cosimo repre¬ sented the Medici bank and handled papal finances, becoming the wealthiest man of his time. Another leading family, the Albizzi, had him imprisoned (1433) and tried to assassinate him, but a year later the Med¬ ici regained power in Florence, and Cosimo triumphantly returned. He was the architect of the Peace of Lodi (1454). An alliance with the Sfor- zas of Milan provided him with troops to crush a coup d’etat in 1458, after which he created a Senate composed of 100 loyal supporters (the Cento). He was a patron of scholarship and the arts, including such fig¬ ures as Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi.

Medici, Cosimo I de' See Cosimo I

Medici, Giovanni de' orig. Lodovico (b. April 6, 1498, Forli, Papal States—d. Nov. 30, 1526, Mantua, marquisate of Mantua) Italian general. A member of the younger branch of the Medici family, he was the son of Giovanni de’ Medici, who died soon after his birth, and Caterina Sforza, of the powerful Sforza family of Milan. He took his father’s name, trained as a soldier, and fought for a Medici cousin. Pope Leo X, in 1516-17 and 1521. In the service of the French (1522, 1525) he fought with the army of the League of Cognac in 1526 and was mortally wounded in the battle

Henry IV and Marie de Medicis por¬ trayed on the obverse side of a bronze- gilt medal by Guillaume Dupre, 1603; in the National Gallery of Art, Wash¬ ington, D.C.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., SAMUEL H. KRESS COLLECTION

Medici ► Mediterranean Sea I 1227

near Mantua. He was known as Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (“of the Black Bands”) for the black banners his army (or bands) carried in mourning for Leo X after 1521.

Medici, Giuliano de' (b. 1479—d. March 17, 1516, Florence) Ruler of Florence (1512-13). A member of the elder branch of the Medici fam¬ ily, he was the son of Lorenzo de’ Medici. In 1494 his brother, Piero de’ Medici, was ousted as ruler of Florence by the republicans, aided by the French. In 1512 Pope Julius II demanded that Florence enter his Holy League against France and allow the exiled Medici to return to Florence. Giuliano returned as ruler (Piero having died in 1503) and used harsh measures to suppress a conspiracy. In 1513, after another brother became Pope Leo X, he went to Rome as a cardinal. In 1515 he received the French title of duke de Nemours.

Medici, Lorenzo de' known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (b. Jan. 1, 1449, Florence—d. April 9, 1492,

Careggi, near Florence) Florentine statesman and patron of arts and let¬ ters. The grandson of Cosimo de'Medici, he was the most brilliant of the Medici family. He ruled Florence with his younger brother, Giuliano, from 1469. Giuliano was assassi¬ nated in 1478 by the Pazzi, a leading Florentine banking family, which was in league with Pope Sixtus IV (who did not support the assassina¬ tion) and the king of Naples. Loren¬ zo’s direct appeal to the king allowed him to regain power in Florence, and he was sole ruler of the city until his death. His 13-year-old son Giovanni was created a cardinal by Pope Inno¬ cent VIII and later became pope as Leo X. Lorenzo used the Medici riches to patronize many artists, including Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo, and he remains perhaps the most famous patron of all time. His policies bank¬ rupted the Medici bank, but the political power of the Medici remained strong in Florence and Tuscany.

Medici family Italian bourgeois family that ruled Florence and later Tuscany from c. 1430 to 1737. The family, noted for its often tyrannical rulers and its beneficent patrons of the arts, also provided the church with four popes (Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV, and Leo XI) and married into the royal families of Europe, notably in France (Catherine de Medicis and Marie de Medicis). The effective founder of the family was Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (1360-1429), a merchant who amassed great wealth in trade and was the virtual ruler of Florence from 1421 to 1429. From his two sons derived the major branches of the family. The so-called elder branch began with Cosimo de’ Medici. His grandson, Lorenzo de’ Medici, or Lorenzo the Magnificent, greatly expanded the family’s power. His son Giuliano de’ Medici became duke de Nemours. Another son, Giovanni, became Pope Leo X. Lorenzo’s great-granddaughter was Catherine de Medicis. Another of Cosimo’s grandsons, Giulio de’ Medici (1478-1534) became pope as Clement VII. His probable illegitimate son, Alessandro de’ Medici, a tyrant, was the last of the direct male line of the elder branch. The so-called younger branch of the family began with Giovanni’s younger son Lorenzo de’ Medici. His son Giovanni married Caterina Sforza of the powerful Sforza family, and their son Giovanni de’ Medici became a noted general. His son Cosimo I became duke of Florence, and Cosimo’s son Francesco de’ Medici (1541-87) was the father of Marie de Medicis. Cosimo I’s grandson Cosimo II (1590-1621) gave up the family practice of banking and commerce. Cosimo II’s grandson Cosimo III (1642-1723) was a weak ruler, under whom Tuscany’s power declined. His son Gian Gastone de’ Medici (1671-1737), who died without issue, was the last grand duke of Tuscany.

medicine Set of scientific fields related to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and maintenance of health, practiced in doctors’ offices, health maintenance organization facilities, hospitals, and clinics. In addition to family practice, internal medicine, and specialties for specific body systems, it includes research, public health, epidemiology, and pharmacology. Each country sets its own requirements for medical degrees (M.D.’s) and

licenses. Medical boards and councils set standards and oversee medical education. Boards of certification have stringent requirements for physi¬ cians seeking to practice a specialty and stress continuing education. Advances in therapy (see therapeutics) and diagnosis have raised complex legal and moral issues in areas such as abortion, euthanasia, and patients’ rights. Recent changes include treating patients as partners in their own care and taking cultural factors into consideration.

Medicine Bow Mountains Northwest section of the Front Range, in the central Rocky Mountains, U.S. Averaging a height of 10,000 ft (3,050 m), the mountains run southeast for about 100 mi (160 km) from Medi¬ cine Bow, Wyo., to Cameron Pass, Colo., just northwest of Rocky Moun¬ tain National Park. The highest summit, Medicine Bow Peak, reaches 12,014 ft (3,662 m). The name refers to the practices of local Indians, who collected wood for bows in the area and held ceremonial medicine dances.

medicine man Priestly healer or shaman, especially among the Ameri¬ can Indians. The medicine man (often a woman in some societies) com¬ monly carries a kit of objects such as feathers, stones, or hallucinogenic plants that have magical associations. The work of healing often involves the extraction—by sucking, pulling, or other means—of offending sub¬ stances from the patient’s body. Singing, recitation of myths, and other ceremonies often accompany the healing rite.

Medicis, Catherine de See Catherine de Medicis Medicis, Marie de See Marie de Medicis

Medill \m3-'dil\, Joseph (b. April 6, 1823, near Saint John, N.B., Can.—d. March 16, 1899, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.) Canadian-born U.S. editor and publisher. Bom into a family of shipbuilders, he studied law in the U.S. and was admitted to the bar in 1846. He turned to newspaper publishing in 1849. As managing editor of the Chicago Tribune (from 1855), he set its antislavery editorial policy. He helped found the Repub¬ lican Party (1854) and worked for Abraham Lincoln’s nomination. As mayor of Chicago (1871-74), he helped establish the Chicago Public Library (1872-74). In 1874 he resigned as mayor and acquired a control¬ ling share in the Chicago Tribune. Four of his grandchildren, including Robert McCormick, also ran newspapers.

Medina Arabic Al-Madinah X.al-ma-'de-noX ancient Yathrib. City (pop., 1992: 608,295), western Saudi Arabia, north of Mecca. It devel¬ oped from an oasis settled by Jews c. ad 135. In 622 the Prophet Muham¬ mad fled from Mecca to Medina (see Hijrah). It served as capital of the Islamic state until 661. Held by the Ottoman Empire (1517-1804), it then was seized by the Wahhabiyyah. An Ottoman-Egyptian force retook it in 1812. Ottoman rule ceased during World War I (1914-18), and in 1925 it fell to the forces Ibn Sa'Gd. A sacred city of Islam, it is second only to Mecca as a place of Muslim pilgrimage; among its many mosques is the Prophet’s Mosque, containing the tomb of Muhammad.

medina worm See guinea worm

meditation Private religious devotion or mental exercise, in which techniques of concentration and contemplation are used to reach a height¬ ened level of spiritual awareness. The practice has existed in all religions since ancient times. In Hinduism it has been systematized in the school of Yoga. One aspect of Yoga, dhyana (Sanskrit: “concentrated medita¬ tion”), gave rise to a school of its own among the Buddhists, becoming the basis of Zen. In many religions, meditation involves verbal or mental repetition of a single syllable, word, or text (e.g., a mantra). Visual images (e.g., a mandala) or mechanical devices such as prayer wheels or rosaries can be useful in focusing concentration. In the 20th century, movements such as Transcendental Meditation emerged to teach meditation techniques outside a religious context.

Mediterranean fruit fly or Med fly Fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata) proven to be particularly destructive to citrus crops, at great economic cost. The Med fly lays up to 500 eggs in citrus fruits (except lemons and sour limes), and the larvae tunnel into the fruit, making it unfit for human consumption. Because of this pest, quarantine laws regulating fruit impor¬ tation have been enacted worldwide.

Mediterranean Sea Inland sea enclosed by Europe, Africa, and Asia. Its west-east extent is approximately 2,500 mi (4,000 km), while its aver¬ age north-south extent is about 500 mi (800 km). The Mediterranean Sea occupies an area of about 970,000 sq mi (2,510,000 sq km). It has a maxi¬ mum depth of about 16,000 ft (4,900 m). In the west the Strait of Gibral-

Lorenzo de' Medici, terra-cotta bust by Andrea del Verrocchio, c. 1485; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., SAMUEL H. KRESS COLLECTION, 1943

1228 I Medusa ► Meher Baba

tar connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean. In the northeast the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, and the Bosporus link it with the Black Sea. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea in the southeast. A submarine ridge between Sicily and Africa divides the sea into eastern and western parts, which are subdivided into the Adriatic, Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Ligurian seas. Its largest islands are Majorca, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus, and Rhodes. The Rhone, Po, and Nile rivers form its only large deltas.

Medusa In Greek mythology, the most famous of the monsters known as Gorgons. Anyone who looked directly at Medusa turned to stone. She was the only Gorgon who was mortal. The hero Perseus, looking only at her reflection in a shield given to him by Athena, killed her by cutting off her head. Perseus later gave the severed head to Athena, who placed it in her shield; according to another account, he buried it in the marketplace of Argos.

medusa \mi-'du-s3\ In zoology, one forms; the typical form of the jelly¬ fish. Its name derives from its ten¬ tacles, resembling the snakes borne by Medusa in place of hair. The medusoid body is bell- or umbrella¬ shaped. Hanging downward from the center is a stalklike structure, the manubrium, bearing the mouth at its tip. The mouth opens into the main body cavity, which connects with radial canals extending to the outer rim of the bell. A free-swimming form, the medusa moves by rhythmic muscular contractions of the bell, providing a slow propulsive action against the water. The other princi¬ pal cnidarian body type is the polyp.

Meegeren Vma-k3-re,\ English Vma-go-ronV Han van orig. Hen- ricus Antonius van Mee¬ geren (b. Oct. 10, 1889, Deventer,

Neth.—d. Dec. 30, 1947, Amster¬ dam) Dutch art forger. He forged at least 14 “Old Masters” and sold them at enormous profit; critics had hailed his Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus as a Johannes Vermeer master¬ piece. His activities came to light after World War II, when a commission was established to restore to their owners artworks collected by Nazi leaders. Discovering a work purportedly by Vermeer among those amassed by Hermann Goring, the commission traced it to Meegeren. Charged with collaboration, he confessed. He died of a heart attack before his one-year sentence began.

meerkat or suricate Colonial species ( Suricata suricatta ) of the mon¬ goose family (Herpestidae). It is a burrowing carnivore found in south¬ western Africa that differs from mongooses in having four (rather than five) toes on each foot. Meerkats are noted for their constant vigilance for predators. This sentinel behaviour involves one member of the group finding an elevated position, standing on its hind legs, and alerting the group of danger when it is seen. The meerkat grows to a total length of 17-24 in. (43-60 cm). Insects and other small animals constitute most of its diet, but bulbous roots are also eaten for the water they contain. It is diurnal and easily tamed as a pet. The yellow mongoose ( Cynictis peni- cillata) is sometimes called the red meerkat.

meerschaum Vmir-shom, , mir- l shom\ Fibrous hydrated magnesium silicate that is opaque and white, gray, or cream in colour. Also called sepiolite, meerschaum (German: “sea foam”) is easily fashioned, and has been used in jewelry and for tobacco pipes. It is soft when first extracted, but it hardens on drying. Meerschaum is an alteration product of serpen¬ tine. The most important commercial deposit is the plain of Eski§ehir, Tur., where it is found as irregular nodules in alluvial deposits; it also occurs in France, Greece, the Czech Republic, the U.S., and elsewhere.

megalith Huge, often undressed stone used in various types of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monuments. The most ancient form of megalithic construction is probably the dolmen, a type of burial chamber consisting of several upright supports and a flat roofing slab. Another form is the

menhir, a simple upright stone usually placed with others to form a circle, as at Stonehenge and Avebury in England, or a straight alignment, as at Carnac in France. The meaning of megalithic monuments remains largely unknown, but all share certain architectural and technical features sug¬ gesting that their creators sought to impose a conspicuously human design on the landscape and imbue it with cultural symbols. See also rock art.

megalopolis V.me-go-Ta-po-lisX A major conurbation. Generally the term describes any densely populated social and economic entity encom¬ passing two or more cities and the increasingly urbanized space between them. It particularly came to describe the urbanized region of the north¬ eastern U.S. that arose in the second half of the 20th century. Stretching between the metropolitan areas of Boston on the northeast to Washing¬ ton, D.C., on the southwest, it included the metropolitan areas of New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, Md. The name, meaning “great city,” was coined by French geographer Jean Gottmann.

Megalopolis \,me-ga-T6-p6-les\ Ancient city, central Peloponnese, Greece. Occupying both banks of the Helisson River, it was founded in 371-368 bc by Epaminondas of Thebes as the seat of the Arcadian League. Attacked several times by Sparta, it joined the Achaean League in 234 bc. It declined rapidly after being plundered by Cleomenes III of Sparta in 223 bc, and by the 2nd century ad it lay in ruins. The nearby modem town lies in a rich lignite-bearing region that fuels thermal power stations.

Megara \'me-g3-ra\ Port city (pop., 1991: urban agglom., 20,403), Greece. Situated on the Saronic Gulf and west of Athens, it served as the capital of ancient Megaris. A maritime power, by the 7th century bc it had established colonies in Sicily, Chalcedon, Byzantium, Bithynia, and Crimea. During the Peloponnesian War (431-404 bc) it was subjugated by Athens and forced into financial ruin. In the 4th century ad it recovered some prosperity, but in 1500 it was depopulated by the Venetians. It was the birthplace of Eucleides, founder of the Megarian school of philosophy.

Megarian school \me-'gar-e-3n\ or Megarics School of philosophy founded in Greece in the early 4th century bc by Eucleides of Megara (died c. 380 bc). It is noted more for its criticism of Aristotle and its influ¬ ence on Stoic logic (see Stoicism) than for its doctrines. Among Eucleides’ successors was Eubulides of Miletus, who criticized Aristotle’s doctrines of categories, movement, and potentiality. Other Megarians were Diodorus Cronus (fl. 4th century bc) and Stilpo (fl.c. 380-300 bc); Stilpo taught Zeno of Citium, and Menedemus (339?-c. 265 bc). The school died out at the beginning of the 3rd century bc.

megaron Vme-g3-,ran\ In ancient Greece and the Middle East, an archi¬ tectural form consisting of a porch, vestibule, and large hall with a cen¬ tral hearth. The megaron was found in all Mycenaean palaces and also in houses. It probably originated in the Middle East, later attaining the uniquely Aegean aspect of the open porch supported by columns.

Meghalaya \,ma-g3-Ta-3\ State (pop., 2001 prelim.: 2,306,069), north¬ eastern India. Occupying an area of 8,660 sq mi (22,429 sq km), it is bor¬ dered by Bangladesh and Assam state. Its few urban centres include Shillong, its capital. The tribal hill people of Meghalaya trace their origin to pre-Aryan times in India. The area came under nominal British rule in the 19th century; it was included in Assam and was made a separate state in 1972. Although it has vast mineral resources, its economy centres on agriculture.

Meghna River Vmag-noV River, Bangladesh. It is formed by the Surma River. Flowing south, it is joined southeast of Dhaka by the Padma River, which is formed from the waters of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. After a course of about 164 mi (264 km) it empties into the Bay of Ben¬ gal through four mouths. A river of depth and velocity, it is navigable all year but often dangerous. At spring tide the sea rushes upriver in a single 20-ft (6-m) wave.

Megiddo \mi-'gi-do\ City, ancient Palestine. It occupied a strategic location at the crossing of military and trade routes; it was also famous as a battlefield and is thought to be the biblical Armageddon. The first town was built early in the 4th millennium bc. It was captured by the Egyptian king Thutmose III c. 1468 bc. It later passed to the Israelites, and King Solomon rebuilt it as a military centre. British Gen. Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby defeated Ottoman forces near the site in 1918.

Meher Baba Vma-hor-'ba-baV orig. Merwan Sheriar Irani (b.

Feb. 25, 1894, Poona, India—d. Jan. 31, 1969, Ahmednagar) Indian spiri¬ tual master. Born into a Zoroastrian family of Persian descent, he created

of the two principal cnidarian body

Medusa stage of a jellyfish

TOM MCHUGH-PHOTO RESEARCHERS

Mehmed II ► Meinhof I 1229

a system of spiritual beliefs according to which the goal of life was to realize the oneness of God, from whom the whole universe emanates. Convinced that his calling was to awaken the world to that realization through love, he worked zealously with the poor and the physically and mentally ill. Though he attracted a sizable following in India and abroad, he did not try to establish a religion. For the last 44 years of his life he maintained silence, communicating by means of gestures and an alpha¬ bet board. His tomb at Meherabad is a place of pilgrimage.

Mehmed \me-'met\ II byname Mehmed the Conqueror (b. March 30, 1432, Adrianople, Thrace, Ottoman Empire—d. May 3, 1481, near Constantinople) Ottoman sultan (1444-46,1451-81). His father, Murad II, abdicated in his favour when Mehmed was 12 but reclaimed the throne two years later in the aftermath of a Christian Crusade. Mehmed regained the throne when his father died (1451) and began to plan the conquest of Con¬ stantinople (Istanbul), the feat for which he is most renowned. In 1453 he captured the city and undertook returning it to its previous level of gran¬ deur. In the next 25 years he conquered large sections of the Balkans. Under his reign, criminal and civil laws were codified in one body of law; he col¬ lected a library of Greek and Latin works and had eight colleges built.

Mei Juecheng (b. May 19, 1681, Xuan Cheng, Anhui province, China—d. Nov. 20, 1763, China) Chinese court official, mathematician, and astronomer. He learned mathematics from his grandfather Mei Wen¬ ding. In 1713 he joined the Mengyangzhai (imperial bureau created to synthesize Western and Chinese scientific knowledge) as one of the chief editors of Liili yuanyuan (c. 1723; “Source of Mathematical Harmonics and Astronomy”)- Purely a work of Chinese authorship, the Liili yuanyuan reapportioned credit to Chinese scholars for many discoveries that earlier Jesuit-Chinese compendiums had credited to Europeans. Studying West¬ ern algebra enabled Mei to decipher Chinese mathematical treatises from the Song (920-1279) and Yuan (1206-1368) dynasties whose methods had been lost; this led him to expound a theory of the Chinese origin of Western knowledge. While now acknowledged as grossly overstated, Mei’s views helped to revive interest in traditional Chinese mathematics and remained highly influential for many decades.

Mei Wending (b. 1633, Xuangcheng, Anhui province, China—d. 1721, China) Chinese writer on astronomy and mathematics whose work rep¬ resented an association of Chinese and Western knowledge. In his com¬ parative study, Lixue yiwen (c. 1701; “Inquiry on Mathematical Astronomy”), Mei tried to situate the new European knowledge properly within the historical framework of Chinese knowledge. In Jihe bubian (“Complements of Geometry”) he calculated the volumes and relative dimensions of regular and semi-regular polyhedrons by traditional Chi¬ nese methods. Mei helped rehabilitate traditional Chinese mathematics. The comprehensive collection of his works, Lisuan quanshu, was pub¬ lished in 1723.

Meidias \'ma-de-9s\ Painter (fl. c. 420-400 bc, Greece) Greek vase painter known for his theatrical “florid” style. A large hydria (water ves¬ sel) with scenes from the rape of the daughters of Leucippus and of Her¬ acles in the garden of the Hesperides, now in the British Museum, is representative of his work.

Meier \'ml-3r\, Richard (Alan) (b. Oct. 12, 1934, Newark, N.J., U.S.) U.S. architect. Educated at Cornell University, Meier’s early experience included work with the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and with Mar¬ cel Breuer. Early in his career he executed a series of spectacular private residences. These houses typically feature refinements of and variations on classic Modernist principles—pure geometry, open space, and an emphasis on light—and they often display a crisp whiteness that contrasts sharply with the natural setting; the Douglas House, Harbor Springs, Mich. (1973), is a dramatically sited example. Building upon the success of his resi¬ dences, beginning in the mid 1970s Meier began to receive large public commissions. These structures are characterized by geometric clarity and order, which is often punctuated by curving ramps and railings, and by a contrast between the light-filled, transparent surfaces of public spaces and the solid white surfaces of interior, private spaces. His Getty Center in Los Angeles (1984-97), with its terraced gardens, is a resplendent acropolis in travertine stone. Meier received the 1984 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Meiji \'ma-je\ Constitution Constitution of Japan from 1890 to 1947. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), Japan’s leaders sought to create a con¬ stitution that would define Japan as a capable, modern nation deserving of Western respect while preserving their own power. The resultant docu¬ ment called for a bicameral parliament (the Diet) with an elected lower

house and a prime minister and cabinet appointed by the emperor. The emperor was granted supreme control of the army and navy. A privy council composed of the Meiji leaders (see genro), created prior to the constitution, advised the emperor and wielded actual power. Voting restrictions, which limited the electorate to about 5% of the adult male population, were loosened over the next 25 years, resulting in universal male suffrage. Political parties made the most of their limited power in the 1920s, but in the 1930s the military was able to exert control without violating the constitution. After World War II, a U.S.-approved constitu¬ tion stating that “sovereign power resides with the people” replaced the Meiji Constitution. See also Ito Hirobumi.

Meiji emperor orig. Mutsuhito (b. Nov. 3, 1852, Kyoto, Japan—d. July 30, 1912, Tokyo) Emperor of Japan during whose reign (1867-1912) the Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown, Japan was transformed into a world power, and the imperial throne came to the forefront of the politi¬ cal scene after centuries of being overshadowed by shogunal rule. He believed in the need to modernize Japan along Western lines. Under the Meiji emperor the domains (ban) and old class system were abolished, a new school system was introduced, and the Meiji Constitution was pro¬ mulgated. Also during his reign Taiwan was annexed after the SlNO- Japanese War (1894-95), Korea was annexed (1910), and Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). See also Tokugawa period; Meiji period; Meiji Restoration.

Meiji period (1868-1912) Period in Japanese history beginning with the enthronment of the Meiji emperor and ending with his death. It was a time of rapid modernization and westernization. Feudal domains were abolished and replaced with prefectures; daimyo and samurai were relieved of their special privileges. Not all samurai were happy with the changes, and there were numerous rebellions, notably that of Saigo Takamori. To secure a strong central government, a national army was formed and uni¬ versal conscription was enacted. A new agricultural tax was instituted to finance the new government, and a decimal currency was introduced. Eager to encourage economic growth, the government aided the textile industry, established railways and shipping lines, and founded an iron¬ works. Education was also reformed, and compulsory coeducational elementary schools were introduced. By 1912 the goals of the reforming movement called the Meiji Restoration had been largely accomplished: the unequal treaties with Western powers had been revised, the country was developing well economically, and its military power had won the respect of the West. See also Charter Oath; Meiji Constitution.

Meiji Restoration Overthrow of Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate (see Tokugawa period) and restoration of direct imperial rule (through the Meiji emperor) in 1868. In the 19th century the shogunate’s policy of isolation was challenged by Russia, England, and the U.S., making Japanese feu¬ dal leaders aware of Japan’s vulnerability to superior Western firepower. After the visit of Commodore Matthew Perry, the country was forced to sign a series of unequal treaties, which, as in China, gave Western nations special privileges in Japan. In response, young samurai from feudal domains historically hostile to the Tokugawa regime took up arms against the government. In January 1868 they announced the restoration of the emperor to power, and in May 1869 the last Tokugawa forces surrendered. The revolutionaries had the emperor issue the Charter Oath, which prom¬ ised a break with the feudal class restrictions of the past and a search for knowledge that could transform Japan into a “rich country with a strong military.” The restoration ushered in the Meiji period, a time of rapid mod¬ ernization and Westernization. See also ChoshO; Ii Naosuke; Okubo Toshimi- chi; Saigo Takamori; Satsuma; Tosa.

Meillet\me-'ye\, Antoine (b. Nov. 11,1866, Moulins, France—d. Sept. 21, 1936, Chateaumeillant) French linguist. He argued that any attempt to account for linguistic change must recognize that language is a social phe¬ nomenon. His Introduction to the Comparative Study of the Indo-European Languages (1903) explained the relationships of the Indo-European lan¬ guages to each other and to their parent tongue. Meillet suggested that lan¬ guages that develop farther from a centre of common origin are less disturbed by changes at the point of origin and more likely to retain archaic characteristics. He produced authoritative grammars of classical Armenian and Old Iranian and made notable contributions to Slavic studies.

Meinhof \ , mIn- l hof\ / Carl (b. July 23, 1857, Barzwitz, near Schlawe, Pomerania, Prussia—d. Feb. 10, 1944, Greifswald, Ger.) German scholar of African languages. A specialist in the Bantu languages who also stud¬ ied Khoisan and other African language families, he was one of the first

1230 I Meinong ► Mekong River

to treat African languages in terms of phonetics and morphology. His books include Outline of the Phonetics of the Bantu Languages (1899) and Principles of the Comparative Grammar of the Bantu Languages (1906).

Meinona Vml-noqV Alexius, Ritter (knight) von Hand- schuchsheim (b. July 17, 1853, Lemberg, Galicia, Austrian Empire—d. Nov. 27, 1920, Graz, Austria) Austrian philosopher and psy¬ chologist. He taught at the University of Graz from 1889 until his death. Like his teacher Franz Brentano, Meinong considered intentionality, or object-directedness, to be the basic feature of mental states. He maintained that objects of thought have a kind of character or nature ( Sosein ; some¬ times rendered “subsistence”) that is distinct from being, or existence (Sein), which they may lack; thus the golden mountain or the round square “subsist” as objects of thought, though they do not exist in the world of sense experience. Meinong’s view briefly influenced Bertrand Russell. His major writings include On Possibility and Probability (1915) and On Emotional Presentation (1917).

meiosis \mI-'o-s3s\ or reduction division Division of a gamete- producing cell in which the nucleus splits twice, resulting in four sex cells (gametes, or eggs and sperm), each possessing half the number of chro¬ mosomes of the original cell. Meiosis is characteristic of organisms that reproduce sexually and have a diploid set of nuclear chromosomes (see ploidy). Before meiosis, chromosomes replicate and consist of joined sis¬ ter strands (chromatids). Meiosis begins as homologous paternal and maternal chromosomes line up along the midline of the cell. The chro¬ mosomes exchange genetic material by the process of crossing-over (see linkage group), in which chromatid strands from homologous pairs entangle and exchange segments to produce chromatids containing genetic material from both parents. The pairs then separate and are pulled to opposite ends of the cell, which then pinches in half to form two daughter cells, each containing a haploid set (half the usual number) of double-stranded chromosomes. In the second round of meiotic division, the double-stranded chromosomes of each daughter cell are pulled apart, resulting in four haploid gametes. When two gametes unite during fer¬ tilization, each contributes its haploid set of chromosomes to the new individual, restoring the diploid number. See also MITOSIS.

MeVr \ma-'ir\ (fl. 2nd century ad) Rabbi and scholar of Palestine. He fled Palestine during the persecutions that followed the Bar Kokhba revolt in ad 132-35 but later returned and helped reestablish the Sanhedrin. The patriarch of the Sanhedrin eventually threatened him with excommunica¬ tion over a question of protocol, and he left for Asia Minor, where he had been born. Known for his great dialectical skill, he is cited repeatedly in the Talmud and is remembered as the greatest of the tannaim, a group of masters of the Jewish oral law. Legends of his miraculous powers sprang up during the Middle Ages.

Meir \me-'ir\, Golda orig. Goldie Mabovitch later Goldie Myerson (b. May 3, 1898, Kiev,

Russian Empire—d. Dec. 8, 1978,

Jerusalem) Ukrainian-born Israeli stateswoman, fourth prime minister of Israel (1969-74). Her family immigrated to Milwaukee, Wis.,

U.S., in 1906, where she became a leader of the Milwaukee Labor Zion¬ ist Party. In 1921 she and her husband immigrated to Palestine, where she emerged as a forceful negotiator with British authorities during World War II (1939-45). A signer of Israel’s dec¬ laration of independence in 1948, she served in the Knesset (parliament;

1949-74) and held the posts of min¬ ister of labour (1949-56) and foreign minister (1956-66). As prime min¬ ister, she sought diplomatic solutions to ease the region’s tensions. The failure of her government to anticipate an Arab attack during the Yom Kip- pur War of 1973 (see Arab-Israeli wars) led her to resign six months later.

Meir of Rothenburg orig. Meir ben Baruch (b. c. 1215, Worms, Franconia—d. May 2, 1293, Ensisheim Fortress, Alsace) German Jewish scholar. After studying in France, he served as rabbi in several commu¬ nities in Germany, notably Rothenburg, where he opened a Talmudic school. He became famous as an authority on rabbinic law, writing notes and commentary on the Talmud and acting for nearly half a century as

the supreme court of appeals for Jews of Germany and surrounding coun¬ tries. Persecution prompted him to flee Germany with a group of follow¬ ers in 1286, but he was caught and imprisoned for the rest of his life in an Alsatian fortress.

Meissen porcelain \'ml-s 3 n\ German hard-paste, or true, porcelain produced at the Meissen factory, near Dresden in Saxony (now Ger¬ many), from 1710 until the present day. It was the first successfully pro¬ duced true porcelain in Europe and dominated the style of European por¬ celain until c. 1756. The high point of the Meissen factory was reached after 1731 with the modeling of Johann Joachim Kandler. The onion pattern, introduced c. 1739, was widely copied. Meissen porcelain is marked with crossed blue swords.

Meissonier \,ma-s 3 n-'ya\, Juste- Aurele (b. 1693/95, Turin,

Savoy—d. July 31, 1750, Paris,

France) French goldsmith, designer, and architect. Appointed goldsmith and cabinetmaker to Louis XV in 1726, he became a leading originator of the influential Rococo style. His highly inventive work included fantastic grottoes, animated metalwork designs, snuffboxes, watch cases, sword hilts, and tureens. His sketches for inte¬ rior decoration, furniture, and goldsmith designs became widely known through engravings. Few of his architectural plans were realized.

meistersinger Vml-stor-.siq-or, 'ml-star-.ziq-orV German "master singer" Any of certain German musicians and poets, chiefly of the arti¬ san and trading classes, in the 14th to 16th centuries. These amateur guilds spread throughout Germany until most towns had one. Their main activ¬ ity was monthly singing contests. Because of their educational aims of fostering morality and religious belief, they came to be instrumental in promulgating the Protestant message during the Reformation, though their music is not regarded as highly distinguished. The most famous meis¬ tersinger, Hans Sachs (1494-1576), devoted his art exclusively to the Lutheran cause after 1530.

Meitner Vmlt-narV, Lise (b. Nov. 7, 1878, Vienna, Austria—d. Oct. 27, 1968, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Eng.) German physicist. She worked at Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (1912-38), also teaching at the Uni¬ versity of Berlin (1926-38). At a laboratory that she set up with Otto Hahn, the two isolated the radioactive isotope protactinium-231. In the 1930s, with Hahn and Fritz Strassmann (1902-80), she investigated the products of neutron bombardment of uranium. She left Germany in 1938 for Sweden. After Hahn and Strassmann demonstrated that barium appears in neutron-bombarded uranium, she and her nephew Otto Frisch (1904-79) explained the physical characteristics of this division and in 1939 proposed the term fission for the process. She shared the 1966 Enrico Fermi Award with Hahn and Strassmann. Element 109, meitnerium, is named in her honour.

Mekhilta Vmo-'kil-tsX Hebrew commentary on the Book of Exodus. One of the exegetic commentaries known as the Halakhic Midrashim, the Mekhilta presents a composite of three kinds of materials concerning the Book of Exodus: exegeses of certain passages, propositional and argu¬ mentative essays on theological principles, and topical articles on the written and oral Torah. It was produced by a Talmudic school founded by Ishmael ben Elisha c. ad 300 and known as the House of Ishmael. The name Mekhilta (Hebrew: “measure”) refers to its use as a rule or norm for con¬ duct. See also Halakhah, Midrash, Talmud.

Meknes \mek-'nes\ City (pop., 1994: 459,958), north-central Morocco. It was one of Morocco’s four imperial cities, founded in the 10th century by a Berber tribe. Originally a group of villages among olive groves, it became the Moroccan capital in 1673 under Maulay Isma’Il, who built palaces and mosques that earned for Meknes the name “Versailles of Morocco.” After his death it declined, and in 1911 it was occupied by the French. It is now a commercial centre for agricultural products, fine embroidery, and carpets.

Mekong Vma-'koqX River Chinese Lancang Jiang or Lan-Ts'ang Chiang Vlan-'tsaq-'je-'agX Longest river of Southeast Asia. Rising in

Meissen hard-paste porcelain bird, c. 1750; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

COURTESY OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON; PHOTOGRAPH, EB INC.

Melanchthon ► Melies I 1231

southern Qinghai province, China, it flows south through eastern Tibet and across the highlands of Yunnan province. It then forms part of the border between Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, as well as between Laos and Thai¬ land. It runs through Laos and Cambodia before entering the South China Sea in a delta south of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam after a course of 2,700 mi (4,350 km). Vientiane, Laos, and Phnom Penh, Camb., stand on its banks. Since 1957 the Mekong Committee, an international effort, has initiated projects to harness the river for hydroelectricity and irrigation.

Melanchthon \mo-Taqk-th9n,\ German \ma-Tank-ton\, Philipp orig. Philipp Schwartzerd (b. Feb.

15, 1497, Bretten, Palatinate—d.

April 19, 1560, probably Wittenberg,

Saxony) German Protestant reformer. His education in Germany was greatly influenced by humanist learning, and he was named profes¬ sor of Greek at Wittenberg in 1518.

A friend and defender of Martin Luther, Melanchthon was the author of Loci communes (1521), the first systematic treatment of the prin¬ ciples of the Reformation, and of the Protestant creed known as the Augs¬ burg Confession (1530). He also reor¬ ganized the entire educational system of Germany, founding and reforming several of its universities.

His willingness to compromise with Catholics on theological issues in his later years became controversial.

Melanesia \ 1 me-b- , ne-zho\ Island group, South Pacific Ocean. A sub¬ division of Oceania, it lies northeast of Australia and south of the Equa¬ tor and includes New Guinea, the Admiralty Isands, the Bismarck and Louisiade archipelagoes, the Solomon Isands, the Santa Cruz Islands, New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Norfolk Land, and numerous others. Two distinct populations and cultures exist in the region. The Papuans, who have inhabited the area for 40,000 years, devised one of the earliest agricultural systems and developed the Papuan anguages. Seafaring peoples with an Austronesian anguage and a Southeast Asian cultural tradition settled in the area about 3,500 years ago.

melanin Vme-ta-nonN Any of several organic compounds, dark biologi¬ cal pigments that give coloration (shades of yellow to brown) to skin, hair, feathers, scales, eyes, and some internal tissues, notably the substantia nigra in the brain. In humans, melanins help protect the skin against the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation, but meanoma may arise from cells that produce it. The amount in the skin depends on both genetic and environmental factors. Melanin is produced from the amino acid tyrosine; albinos lack the enzyme that catalyzes that reaction (see albinism).

melanism, industrial See industrial meanism

melanoma N.me-b-'no-moX Dark-coloured malignant tumour of skin cells that produce the protective skin-darkening pigment melanin. Mela¬ nomas are prone to metastasize (see cancer) and are associated with the highest death rate of any skin cancer. Removal, together with a collar of surrounding healthy skin, cures melanoma if done early. A common cause of melanoma is skin damage from sunlight. It is very rare in persons with dark skin.

melatonin \,me-b-to-nan\ Hormone secreted by the pineal gand of most vertebrates. It appears to be important in regulating sleeping cycles; more is produced at night, and test subjects injected with it become sleepy. Melatonin may be involved in seasonal affective disorder. In mammals other than humans, melatonin may act as a cue to breeding and mating in season.

Melba, Dame Nellie orig. Helen Porter Mitchell (b. May 19,

1861, Richmond, near Melbourne, Austl.—d. Feb. 23, 1931, Sydney) Australian soprano. After study with Mathilde Marchesi (1821-1913) in Paris, she debuted in Brussels in Rigoletto (1887), and in the next six years she sang in all the major opera houses of the world. One of the most cel¬ ebrated coloraturas in the years preceding World War I, she sang mostly at Covent Garden after 1902. Concentrating on a few Italian and French operas, she possessed abundant technique and vocal beauty. Two foods, Melba toast and peach Melba, were named for her.

Melbourne Vmel-bomX City (pop., 1999 est.: 3,417,200), capital of Victoria, southeastern Australia. Situated at the head of Port Phillip Bay and the mouth of the Yarra River, the area was discovered by Europeans in 1802 and incorporated into the colony of New South Wales. The first settlement was founded in 1835 by settlers from Tasmania, and in 1837 it was named for the British prime minister. Lord Melbourne. Made the capital of Victoria in 1851, it grew rapidly with the gold rush of the early 1850s. It served as the first capital of the Australian commonwealth (1901-27), until Canberra became the new capital. Second in size to Syd¬ ney, it is an industrial, commercial, and financial centre and the seat of several universities, including the University of Melbourne.

Melbourne, University of Public university in Melbourne, Austl. Founded as a liberal arts college in 1853, in subsequent decades it added schools or faculties of agriculture, architecture, commerce, dentistry, edu¬ cation, engineering, law, medicine, music, and veterinary medicine. It continued to expand during the 20th century, adding programs in nuclear science, applied economic research, and South and Southeast Asian stud¬ ies.

Melbourne (of Kilmore), William Lamb, 2nd Viscount (b.

March 15, 1779, London, Eng.—d. Nov. 24, 1848, Brocket, near Hatfield, Hertfordshire) British prime minister (1834, 1835-41). A lawyer, he entered the House of Commons in 1806 and the House of Lords in 1829. Although a Whig, he served in Tory governments as chief secretary for Ireland (1827-28) and advocated political rights for Roman Catholics. He served as home secretary (1830-34) in Earl Grey’s Whig government, reluctantly supporting the Reform Bill of 1 832. As prime minister (1834), he gained the support of Whigs and moderate Tories and opposed further parliamentary reform and efforts to repeal the Corn Laws. In his second administration (1835^11), he became the young Queen Victoria’s valued chief political adviser. His firm stand in foreign policy averted war with France over Syria (1840). His wife. Lady Caroline Lamb (1785-1828), was a minor novelist, famous for her affair with Lord Byron in 1812-13.

Melchior \'mel-ke-,6r\, Lauritz (Lebrecht Hommel) (b. March 20, 1890, Copenhagen, Den.—d. March 18, 1973, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) Danish-U.S. tenor. He debuted as a baritone in 1913 but further study extended his range upward, and he made his tenor debut as Tannhauser in 1918. Additional training readied him for Bayreuth, where he sang (1924- 31), and he remained the preeminent Wagnerian tenor of his time, regularly singing (often opposite Kirsten Fagstad) at Covent Garden (until 1939) and the Metropolitan Opera (1926-50) and making many recordings.

Melchizedek Xmel-'ki-zo-.dekX Canaanite king and priest revered by Abraham. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham rescues his kidnapped nephew, Lot, from the Mesopotamians, and on returning from battle he meets Melchizedek, king of Salem (probably another name for Jerusalem), who gives him bread and wine and blesses him in the name of “God Most High.” St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews treats Melchizedek as a fore¬ shadowing of Christ.

Melfi Vmel-fe\, Constitutions of or Liber Augustalis (1231) Legal code drawn up by Emperor Frederick II for the kingdom of Sicily. Based on Roman and canon law, the constitutions centralized royal admin¬ istration, established greater efficiency in the courts, and rationalized civil and criminal procedures in the inter¬ ests of justice.

Melies \mal-'yes\, Georges (b.

Dec. 8, 1861, Paris, France—d. Jan.

21, 1938, Paris) French filmmaker.

He was a professional magician and manager-director of the Theatre Robert-Houdin in Paris when he saw the first movies made by Auguste and Louis Lumiere in 1895. In his film experiments he exploited the basic camera tricks of slow motion, dis¬ solve, and fade-out. The first to film fiction narratives, from 1899 to 1912 he made more than 400 films, which combined illusion, comic burlesque, and pantomime in fantasy produc¬ tions, including A Trip to the Moon Melies (1902). He also filmed reconstructed RENE dazy-j.p. ziolo news events as an early form of

Philipp Melanchthon, engraving by Albrecht Durer, 1526.

COURTESY OF THE STAATUCHE MUSEEN KUPERST1CHKABINETT, BERUN

1232 I Melilla ► Memel

newsreel. Overtaken by the commercial growth of the film industry, he was forced to sell his studio in 1913.

Melilla \m9-'le-ya\ Spanish enclave and autonomous community (pop., 2001: 66,411), North Africa. It covers 5 sq mi (12 sq km) and is a mili¬ tary station and seaport. Located on Morocco’s northern coast, it was suc¬ cessively colonized by the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. It fell as a Berber town to Spain in 1497 and remained Spanish despite a long his¬ tory of attack and siege. In the early 20th century Spain modernized its port and made it an administrative centre for Spanish Morocco. It was the first Spanish town to rise against the Popular Front government in 1936, helping to precipitate the Spanish Civil War. It was retained by Spain when Morocco achieved independence in 1956.

Melkarth See Melqart

Mello, Fernando Collor de See Fernando Collor de Mello

Mellon, Andrew W(illiam) (b. March 24, 1855, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—d. Aug. 26, 1937, Southampton, N.Y.) U.S. financier. He joined his father’s banking house in 1874 and through the next three decades built up a financial empire by supplying capital for corporations in industries such as aluminum, steel, and oil. He helped found the Aluminum Co. of America (Alcoa) and the Gulf Oil Corp., and he joined Henry Clay Frick to found Union Steel Co. and Union Trust Co. By the early 1920s he was one of the richest men in the U.S. As secretary of the Treasury (1921— 32) he persuaded Congress to lower taxes in order to encourage business expansion. He was praised for the economic boom of the 1920s but criti¬ cized during the Great Depression, and in 1932 he resigned to serve as ambassador to England. A noted art collector and philanthropist, Mellon donated an extensive art collection and $15 million to establish the National Gallery of Art.

melodrama Sentimental drama marked by extravagant theatricality, subordination of character development to plot, and focus on sensational incidents. It usually has an improbable plot that features such stock char¬ acters as the noble hero, the long-suffering heroine, and the hard-hearted villain, and it ends with virtue triumphing over vice. Written by such playwrights as Guilbert de Pixerecourt and Dion Boucicault, melodramas were popular in Europe and the U.S. during the 19th century. They often featured spectacular events such as shipwrecks, battles, fires, earthquakes, and horse races. Melodrama died out as a theatrical form in the early 20th century but remained popular in silent film. It can still be seen in con¬ temporary film genres such as the action movie.

melody Rhythmic succession of single tones organized as an aesthetic whole. The melody is often the highest line in a musical composition. Melodies may suggest their own harmony or counterpoint. As fundamen¬ tal as rhythm AND metre (and more so than harmony), melody is common to all musical cultures.

melon Any of the seven groups of Cucumis melo, a trailing vine grown for its edible, sweet, musky-scented fruit. Members of the horticulturally diverse gourd family, melons are frost-tender annuals native to central Asia but widely grown in many cultivated varieties in warm regions worldwide. They have soft, hairy, trailing stems, large round to lobed leaves, yellow flowers, and large flat seeds. The fruits of the numerous cultivated varieties differ greatly in size, shape, surface texture, flesh colour, flavour, and weight. Examples include cantaloupe, honeydew, and casaba. Plants resembling true melons include the watermelon, the Chi¬ nese watermelon, the melon tree (see papaya), and the melon shrub, or pear melon {Solarium muricatum).

Melos \'me-,las\ Greek Milos Vme-,16s\ Island (pop., 1991: 4,302) of the Cyclades, Greece. It is 14 mi (23 km) long and occupies an area of 58 sq mi (151 sq km). Melos (Milos) is the chief town. On the ancient acropolis of Adamanda, the Venus de Milo (now in the Louvre Museum) was found in 1820. The settlement of Phylakopi, dating from 1550 bc, was destroyed c. 1100 bc by Dorian settlers. In 416 bc Melos was con¬ quered by Athens, which killed the entire male population in reprisal for the island’s neutrality in the Peloponnesian War. Lysander later restored the island to the Dorians, but it never recovered its prosperity. Later, under Crusader rule, it formed part of the duchy of Naxos.

Melqart or Melkarth Phoenician god, the chief deity of Tyre and of two of its colonies, Carthage and Gadir (Cadiz, Spain). Probably a sun god, he was often depicted as a bearded figure wearing a high, rounded hat and a kilt; he held an Egyptian ankh as a symbol of life and an ax as

a symbol of death. His sanctuary in Tyre was the scene of annual winter and spring festivals and is believed to have been the model for Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem.

meltdown Occurrence in which a huge amount of thermal energy and radiation is released as a result of an uncontrolled chain reaction in a nuclear power reactor. The chain reaction that occurs in the reactor’s core must be carefully regulated by control rods, which absorb neutrons, and a moderator, which reduces their energy. If the core becomes too hot, it can melt, releasing large amounts of radiation. See also Chernobyl accident.

melting point Temperature at which the solid and liquid states of a pure substance can exist in equilibrium. As heat is applied to a solid, its temperature increases until it reaches the melting point. At this tempera¬ ture, additional heat converts the solid into a liquid without a change in temperature. The melting point of solid water (ice) is 32°F (0°C). Though the melting point of a solid is generally considered to be the same as the freezing point of the corresponding liquid, they may differ because a liq¬ uid may freeze into different crystal systems and impurities can lower the freezing point.

Melville, Herman orig. Herman Melvill (b. Aug. 1, 1819, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Sept. 28, 1891, New York City) U.S. writer. Born to a wealthy New York family that suffered great financial losses, Melville had little formal schooling and began a period of wanderings at sea in 1839. In 1841 he sailed on a whaler bound for the South Seas; the next year he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. His adventures in Polyne¬ sia were the basis of his successful first novels, Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847). After his allegorical fantasy Mardi (1849) failed, he quickly wrote Redburn (1849) and White-Jacket (1850), about the rough life of sailors. Moby-Dick (1851), his masterpiece, is both an intense whaling narrative and a symbolic examination of the problems and possibilities of Ameri¬ can democracy; it brought him neither acclaim nor reward when pub¬ lished. Increasingly reclusive and despairing, he wrote Pierre (1852), which, intended as a piece of domestic “ladies” fiction, became a parody of that popular genre, Israel Potter (1855), The Confidence-Man (1857), and magazine stories, including “Bartleby the Scrivener” (1853) and “Benito Cereno” (1855). After 1857 he wrote verse. In 1866 a customs- inspector position finally brought him a secure income. He returned to prose for his last work, the novel Billy Budd, Foretopman, which remained unpublished until 1924. Neglected for much of his career, Melville came to be regarded by modern critics as one of the greatest American writers.

Melville Island One of the largest of the Parry Islands, in the Arctic Ocean, Canada. Located north of Victoria Island, it is 200 mi (320 km) long and 30-130 mi (50-210 km) wide, with an area of 16,274 sq mi (42,149 sq km). It has no human inhabitants, but it supports MUSK OXEN and has natural-gas deposits. It was discovered in 1819 by William Parry.

Melville Island Island in the Timor Sea, off the coast of Northern Ter¬ ritory, Australia. It is 80 miles (130 km) long and 55 mi (88 km) wide, with an area of 2,240 sq mi (5,800 sq km). It was sighted by the Dutch in 1644; the British built Fort Dundas there in 1824. Melville Island, known to Aboriginals as Yermalner, is one of the few areas in Australia still occupied by its original Aboriginal peoples, the Tiwi, and in 1978 ownership of the island passed from the Australian government to the Tiwi Land Council.

Melville Sound See Viscount Melville Sound

membrane In biology, the thin layer that forms the outer boundary of a living cell or of an internal cell compartment. The outer boundary is the plasma membrane, and the compartments enclosed by internal membranes are called organelles. Biological membranes have a dual function: sepa¬ ration of vital but incompatible metabolic processes conducted in the organelles; and passage of nutrients, wastes, and metabolic products between organelles and between the cell and the outside environment. Membranes consist largely of a double layer of lipids in which are embed¬ ded large proteins, many of which transport ions and water-soluble mol¬ ecules across the membrane. See also cytoplasm, eukaryote.

membrane structure Structure with a thin, flexible surface (mem¬ brane) that carries loads primarily through tensile stresses. There are two main types: tent structures and pneumatic structures. The Denver Interna¬ tional Airport (1995) features a terminal building roofed by a white mem¬ brane stretched from steel masts.

Memel See Klaipeda

Memel dispute ► Menander I 1233

Memel Yma-molX dispute Post-World War I dispute over sovereignty of the former German Prussian territory of Memelland. Located on the Baltic Sea north of the Memel River, the area was mainly inhabited by Lithuanians. In 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference, the newly formed state of Lithuania requested annexation of the area. A commission recom¬ mended formation of a free state, but Lithuanian inhabitants of the region took over the government in 1923. Protests by the Allied Powers resulted in the signing of the Memel Statute to establish Memelland as an autono¬ mous region within Lithuania.

Memling Vmem-liq\, Hans or Hans Memlinc Vmem-liqk\ (b. c. 1430/35, Seligenstadt, near Frank¬ furt am Main—d. Aug. 11, 1494,

Bruges) Flemish painter. He settled in Bruges in 1465 and established a large workshop that became very successful and made him one of the city’s wealthiest citizens. Though somewhat derivative of the works of contemporary Flemish painters (Jan van Eyck, Dirck Bouts, Hugo van der Goes, and particularly Rogier van der Weyden), his art has great charm and a distinctive character. Memling’s religious paintings and portraits of wealthy patrons (e.g., Tommaso Por- tinari and His Wife, c. 1468) were, and remain, enormously popular.

Memminger Vme-mon-jorV Christopher G(ustavus) (b.

Jan. 9, 1803, Nayhingen, Wiirttem- berg—d. March 7, 1888, Charleston,

S.C., U.S.) German-bom U.S. public official. He immigrated to the U.S. in his teens and became a successful lawyer in Charleston, S.C. After South Carolina seceded from the Union (1860), he helped draft the pro¬ visional constitution of the Confederacy and was appointed its secretary of the treasury (1861-64). To raise money, he issued increasing amounts of paper currency, which depreciated greatly by 1863. Held responsible for the collapse of Confederate credit, he resigned in 1864. After receiv¬ ing a presidential pardon, he returned to the practice of law.

Memnon In Greek mythology, a king of the Ethiopians. The son of Tithonus (of the Trojan royal house) and Eos (Dawn), he fought bravely for his uncle Priam against the Greeks, and was slain by Achilles. Moved by the tears of Eos, Zeus granted him immortality. His companions, changed into birds, came every year to fight and lament over his grave. In Egypt his name was connected with the colossal stone statues of Amen- hotep III near Thebes; the harplike sounds these statues emitted when touched by the rays of the rising sun were believed to be the voice of Memnon responding to the greeting of his mother, Eos.

memoir History or record composed from personal observation and experience. Closely related to autobiography, a memoir differs chiefly in the degree of emphasis on external events. Unlike writers of autobiogra¬ phy, who are concerned primarily with themselves as subject matter, writ¬ ers of memoir usually have played roles in, or have closely observed, historical events, and their main purpose is describing or interpreting those events.

Memorial Day or Decoration Day U.S. holiday. Originally held (1868) in commemoration of soldiers killed in the American Civil War, its observance later extended to all U.S. war dead. Most states conform to the federal practice of observing it on the last Monday in May, but some retain the traditional day of celebration, May 30. National observance is marked by the placing of a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. Flags, insignia, and flowers are placed on the graves of veterans in local cemeteries.

Memorial University of Newfoundland Canadian public uni¬ versity in St. John’s, founded in 1925. It offers undergraduate and gradu¬ ate programs in the sciences, arts and humanities, social sciences, business administration, education, engineering, medicine, and other fields. Cam¬ pus facilities include centres for research in ocean resources, maritime history, and political economy.

memory In digital computers, a physical device used to store such infor¬ mation as data or programs on a temporary or permanent basis. Most digital computer systems have two types of memory, the main memory and one or more auxiliary storage units. In most cases, the main memory is a high-speed RAM. Auxiliary storage units include hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape drives. Besides main and auxiliary memories, other forms of memory include ROM and optical storage media such as videodiscs and compact discs (see CD-ROM).

memory Power or process of recalling or reproducing what has been learned or experienced. Research indicates that the ability to retain infor¬ mation is fairly uniform among normal individuals; what differs is the degree to which persons learn or take account of something to begin with and the kind and amount of detail that is retained. Attention, motivation, and especially association facilitate this process. Visual images are gen¬ erally better remembered than are other forms of sense-data. Memory prodigies, or people with “photographic” or “eidetic” memories, often draw heavily on visual associations, including mnemonics. Many psy¬ chologists distinguish between short- and long-term memory. The former (variously said to last 10 seconds to 3 minutes) is less subject to inter¬ ference and distortion than the latter. Long-term memory is sometimes divided into episodic (i.e., event-centred) and semantic (i.e., knowledge- centred) memory. Various models of memory have been proposed, from the Enlightenment notion of impressions made on brain tissues (restyled as “memory molecules” or coded “engrams” in the 20th century) to B.F. Skinner’s “black box” to more recent ideas concerning information pro¬ cessing or the formation of neuronal groups. Disorders of or involving memory include Alzheimer disease, amnesia, Korsakoff syndrome, post- traumatic stress disorder, and senile dementia. See also hypnosis.

Memphis Capital of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-c. 2130 bc), located on the western bank of the Nile River, south of modem Cairo. Founded c. 2925 bc by Menes, it was by the 3rd dynasty a flour¬ ishing community. Despite the rivalry of Heracleopolis and Thebes, it remained important, particularly in the worship of Ptah. Beginning in the 8th century bc, it fell successively to Nubia, Assyria, Persia, and Mace¬ donia under Alexander the Great. Its importance as a religious centre was undermined by the rise of Christianity and then of Islam. It was aban¬ doned after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in ad 640. Its ruins include the great temple of Ptah, royal palaces, and an extensive necropolis. Nearby are the pyramids of Saqqara and those at Giza.

Memphis City (pop., 2000: 650,100), southwestern Tennessee, U.S. Situated above the Mississippi River where the borders of Arkansas, Mis¬ sissippi, and Tennessee meet, it was founded in 1819 on the site of a Chickasaw Indian village and a U.S. fort. It was incorporated as a city in 1826. A Confederate military centre at the start of the American Civil War, it was captured by Union forces in 1862. In the 1870s yellow fever killed more than 5,000 residents, and the city was forced into bankruptcy. Rechartered in 1893, it was the state’s largest city by 1900. Sites of inter¬ est include Beale Street, made famous by W.C. Handy as the birthplace of the blues; and Graceland, the mansion of Elvis Presley. It is the seat of several educational institutions, including the University of Memphis.

Memphremagog V.mem-fri-'ma-.gagV Lake Lake that crosses the U.S.-Canadian border. Extending from northern Vermont, U.S., into southern Quebec, Can., it is 27 mi (43 km) long and only 1-2 mi (1.5-3 km) wide for most of its length. It has several large bays, including Fitch Bay and Sargents Bay. At its northern end the lake drains into the St. Frangois River. Its name is an Algonquian term meaning “where there is a big expanse of water.”

Menai Strait Vme-.nA Channel of the Irish Sea separating the Isle of Anglesey from the mainland of northern Wales. It extends 15 mi (24 km) and varies in width from 600 ft (180 m) to 2 mi (3 km). Two famous bridges span the strait: Thomas Telford’s suspension road bridge of 1827 and Robert Stephenson’s Britannia tubular railway bridge of 1849.

Menander Vmo-'nan-dorV (b. c. 342—d. c. 292 bc) Athenian dramatist. He produced his first play in 321 bc, and in 316 he won a festival prize with Dyscolus (“The Misanthrope”), the only one of his plays for which a com¬ plete text still exists. By the end of his career he had written more than 100 plays and had won eight victories at Athenian dramatic festivals. Menander was considered by ancient critics the supreme poet of Greek New Comedy. He excelled at presenting characters such as stem fathers, young lovers, and intriguing slaves. As adapted by the Romans Plautus and Terence, his plays influenced the later development of Renaissance comedy.

"Diptych with Madonna and Martin van Nieuwenhove" (left wing), oil on panel by Hans Memling, 1487; in the Memling-Museum, Brugge, Bel.

1234 I Mencius ► Mendenhall Glacier

Mencius \'men-she-3s\ Chinese Mengzi or Meng-tzu \'m9q-'ts3\ orig. Meng K'o (b. c. 372—d. c.

289 bc) Chinese philosopher. The book Mencius contains statements on innate human goodness, a topic warmly debated by followers of Con¬ fucius up to modern times. That the four principles (si duan )—the feel¬ ings of commiseration, shame, cour¬ tesy, and right and wrong—are all inborn in humans was a self-evident truth to Mencius; the four principles, when properly cultivated, will develop into the four cardinal virtues of ren (benevolence), righteousness, decorum, and wisdom. His develop¬ ment of orthodox Confucianism earned him the title “second sage.”

Mencius or Mengzi or Meng-

tzu Chinese Confucian text con¬ cerning government, written by Mencius. The book maintains that the welfare of the common people comes before every other consider¬ ation. When a ruler no longer prac¬ tices benevolence and righteousness, the mandate of heaven (his right to rule) is withdrawn and he should be removed. Mencius did not become a classic until the 12th century, when it was published by Zhu Xi together with Daxue, Zhongyong, and Lunyu (Analects) as the Four Books. See also Confucianism.

Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis) (b. Sept. 12, 1880, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—d. Jan. 29, 1956, Baltimore)

U.S. controversialist, humorous journalist, and critic. Mencken worked on the staff of the Baltimore Sun for much of his life. With George Jean Nathan (1882-1958), he coedited The Smart Set (1914-23) and cofounded and edited (1924-33) the American Mercury , both impor¬ tant literary magazines. Probably the most influential U.S. literary critic in the 1920s, he often used criticism to jeer at the nation’s social and cultural weaknesses. Prejudices (1919-27) collects many of his reviews and essays. In The American Language (1919; supplements 1945, 1948) he brought together American expres¬ sions and idioms; by the time of his death he was perhaps the leading authority on the language of the U.S.

Mendel Vmen-dalV Gregor (Johann) (b. July 22, 1822, Heinzen- dorf, Austria—d. Jan. 6, 1884, Briinn, Austria-Hungary) Austrian botanist and plant experimenter. He became an Augustinian monk in 1843 and later studied at the University of Vienna. In 1856, working in his monastery’s garden, he began the experiments that led to his formulation of the basic principle of heredity. He crossed varieties of the garden pea that had maintained constant differences in such single alternative traits as tallness and dwarfishness, flower colour, and pod form. He theorized that the occurrence of the visible alternative traits of the plants, in the constant varieties and in their descendants, was due to the occurrence of paired elementary units of heredity, now known as genes. What was new in Mendel’s interpretation of his data was his recognition that genes obey simple statistical laws. His system proved to be of general application and is one of the basic principles of biology. He achieved fame only after his death, through the work of Carl Erich Correns, Erich Tschermak von Sey- senegg, and Hugo de Vries, who independently obtained similar results and found that both the experimental data and the general theory had been published 34 years previously.

Mendele Moykher Sforim Vmen-ds-lo-mo-'ker-sfa-'remX or Men- dele Mokher Sefarim X.sef-o-'renA orig. Sholem Yankev Abra- movitsh Yiddish "Mendele the Book Peddler" (b. Nov. 20,1835,

Kopyl, near Minsk, Russia—d. Dec. 8, 1917, Odessa) Russian author. He lived much of his life in Ukraine, becoming a rabbi and head of a tradi¬ tional school (Talmud Torah) at Odessa. His stories, written with lively humour and gentle satire, are invaluable in the study of Jewish life in Eastern Europe at the time when its traditional structure was giving way. His greatest work is The Travels and Adventures of Benjamin the Third (1875), a panorama of Jewish life in Russia. He is considered the founder of both modem Yiddish and modern Hebrew narrative literature and the creator of modem literary Yiddish.

Mendeleyev X.men-da-'la-ofV, Dmitry (Ivanovich) Mendeleyev

also spelled Mendeleev (b. Feb. 8, 1834, Tobolsk, Siberia, Russia—d. Feb. 2, 1907, St. Petersburg) Russian chemist. He taught at the Univer¬ sity of St. Petersburg (1867-90) and later served as director of Russia’s bureau of weights and measures. He made a fundamental contribution to chemistry by establishing in 1869 the principle of periodicity of the ele¬ ments. His first periodic table was based on arranging the elements in ascending order of atomic weight and grouping them by similarity of prop¬ erties. Mendeleyev’s theory allowed him to predict the existence and atomic weights of several elements not discovered until years later.

Mendelsohn Vmen-dols-.zonV Erich (b. March 21, 1887, Allenstein, Ger.—d. Sept. 15, 1953, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) German architect. While studying architecture in Munich, he was influenced by the Blaue Reiter group of Expressionist artists. Mendelsohn’s Einstein Tower, Pots¬ dam (1919-21), a highly sculptural structure, reflects his early preoccupa¬ tion with science fiction. In the 1920s he designed a number of imaginative structures, including the Schocken stores in Stuttgart (1927) and Chemnitz (1928), notable for their prominent use of glass in strongly horizontal com¬ positions. He fled the Nazis in 1933 and eventually settled in the U.S.; his American works include the Maimonides Hospital, San Francisco (1946).

Mendelssohn (-Bartholdy), (Jakob Ludwig) Felix (b. Feb. 3, 1809, Hamburg—d. Nov. 4, 1847, Leipzig) German composer. Grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, he grew up in a wealthy Jewish family that had converted to Protestantism. He began to compose at age 11; at 16 he wrote his first masterpiece, the String Octet in E Flat Major (1825), followed by the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826). In 1829 he conducted the first performance in 100 years of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, greatly contributing to the Bach revival. He wrote the first of a series of elegant piano works, Songs Without Words, in 1830. His Reformation (1832) and Italian (1833) symphonies date from this period. He observed Classical models and practices while initiating key aspects of Romanticism, which exalted emotions and the imagination above rigid forms and traditions. After serving as music director of the Catholic city of Dusseldorf (1833-35), he took the parallel position in Protestant Leipzig. There he built up the Gewandhaus Orchestra, making Leipzig the musical capital of Germany. In his last decade he produced great works such as the Scottish Symphony ( 1842), the violin concerto (1844), and the oratorio Eli¬ jah (1846). His beloved sister, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-47), had been considered his equal in musical talent as a girl, but she was discour¬ aged from composing until her marriage to the painter Wilhelm Hensel (1794-1861); she eventually wrote more than 500 works. Her death was a severe shock to Mendelssohn; years of overwork simultaneously caught up with him, and he died six months after her.

Mendelssohn, Moses orig. Moses ben Menachem (b. Sept. 26, 1729, Dessau, Anhalt—d. Jan. 4, 1786, Berlin, Prussia) German Jewish philosopher and scholar. The son of an impoverished scribe, he began his career as a tutor but eventually won fame for his philosophical writings, which would become influential among the 19th-century U.S. Transcen- dentalists. He combined Judaism with the rationalism of the Enlighten¬ ment, becoming one of the principal figures in the Haskala, which helped bring Jews into the mainstream of European culture. His works include Phadon (1767), a defense of the immortality of the soul, and Jerusalem (1783), on the relationship of religion and the state. His friend Gotthold Lessing based the protagonist of his celebrated drama Nathan the Wise on Mendelssohn. He was the grandfather of the composer Felix Mendelssohn.

Mendenhall Glacier Blue ice sheet, 12 mi (19 km) long, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide, and more than 100 ft (30 m) high. It flows from the southern half of the huge Juneau Icefield, which lies in the Boundary Ranges in southeastern Alaska, U.S. A relic of the Little Ice Age (16th century to the mid-19th century), it recedes about 100-150 ft (30-45 m) a year. The adjacent Mendenhall Lake began to form about 1900 and is now 1.5 mi (2.4 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide.

Mencius, detail, ink and colour on silk; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM, TAIPEI, TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Sept. 12, 1880, Baltimore, Md.,

H.L. Mencken.

COURTESY OF THE ENOCH PRATT FREE LIBRARY, BALTIMORE; PHOTOGRAPH, ROBERT KNIESCHE

Menderes ► Menindee Lakes I 1235

Menderes Nmen-'der-osV Adnan (b. 1899, Aydin, Ottoman

Empire—d. Sept. 17, 1961, imrali, Tur.) Turkish prime minister (1950- 60). Son of an aristocrat, he entered parliament as a member of Mustafa Kemal AtatOrk’s Republican People’s Party (1930). In 1945 he cofounded the first opposition party, the Democrat Party, and won the premiership in the 1950, 1954, and 1957 elections. His policies included seeking closer ties with Muslim states, encouraging private enterprise, and lifting restraint on religious expression. Intolerant of critics, he instituted press censorship. In challenging Atatiirk’s ideals, he earned the enmity of the army and was overthrown (1960) and executed.

Menderes \,men-de-'res\ River Name of two rivers in Turkey. The first (Turkish: Biiyiik Menderes) runs through southwestern Turkey. It empties into the Aegean Sea after a course of 363 mi (584 km). Its Classical name, Maeander (whence the English meander), is derived from the winding course of its lower reaches. The second (Turkish: Kii^iik Menderes) was known in antiquity as the Scamander; it rises in northwestern Turkey and flows 60 mi (97 km) west across the plain of ancient Troy, emptying into the Dardanelles.

Mendes-France \ma n -des-'fra n s\, Pierre (b. Jan. 11, 1907, Paris, France—d. Oct. 18, 1982, Paris) French politician and premier (1954- 55). Born into a Jewish family, he became a lawyer and served in the Chamber of Deputies (1932^-0). In World War II he was imprisoned by the Vichy government but escaped to London, where he joined the Free French air force and served in finance posts in Charles de Gaulle’s pro¬ visional government. As a legislator in postwar France (1946-58), he criticized government policies on economics and the wars in Indochina and North Africa. In 1954 he became premier; he ended France’s involve¬ ment in Indochina and also helped effect autonomy for Tunisia. His pro¬ posed economic reforms led to his defeat in 1955. He sought without success to make the Radical-Socialist Party the centre of the noncommu¬ nist left and opposed de Gaulle’s presidency.

Menelaus \,me-n9-'la-9s\ In Greek mythology, the king of Sparta and the younger son of Atreus. When his wife, Helen, was abducted by Paris, he asked the other Greek kings to join him in an expedition against Troy, thus beginning the Trojan War. He served under his brother Agamemnon. At the war’s end he recovered Helen and brought her back to Sparta instead of killing her as he had intended. Having forgotten to appease the gods of defeated Troy, he endured a hard voyage home, and many of his ships were lost.

Menem Vme-nem\, Carlos (Saul) (b. July 2, 1930, Anillaco, Arg.) President of Argentina (1989-99). The son of Syrian immigrants, he con¬ verted to Roman Catholicism and joined the Peronist movement in 1956. He held typical Peronist views, favouring nationalism, expansion of the government, large raises for wage earners, and tax breaks for businesses. By the time he took office, however, inflation had risen to 28,000% and Argentina was in crisis; he consequently abandoned his party orthodoxy in favour of a fiscally conservative policy and succeeded in stabilizing the economy. A flamboyant figure, he enjoyed great popularity despite his controversial pardoning of convicted human-rights violators connected with the period of military rule. In 2001 Menem was placed under house arrest after he was indicted for illegal arms dealing, but he was released in 2002.

Menendez de Aviles Xmo-'nen-dos-da-.a-vo-'lasV Pedro (b. Feb. 15, 1519, Aviles, Spain—d. Sept. 17, 1574, Santander) Spanish conquistador. He ran away to sea at 14 and rose to captain of the Indies fleet (1554- 63). He was sent to Florida to establish a colony and remove a potential threat to Spain’s American possessions posed by a French settlement on the St. Johns River. In 1565 he entered the bay of St. Augustine, where he built a fort. He attacked the French colony at Fort Caroline and mas¬ sacred its entire population, calling its members heretics. He then explored the Atlantic coast and built a string of forts, firmly establishing Spain’s control of Florida.

Menendez Pidal Nma-.nan-dath-pe-'thalX, Ramon (b. March 13, 1869, La Coruna, Spain—d. Nov. 14, 1968, Madrid) Spanish language scholar. His work on the origins of the Spanish language and his critical editions of literary texts generated a revival of the study of medieval Spanish poetry and chronicles. His writings include Manual of Histori¬ cal Spanish Grammar (1904), The Cid and His Spain (1929), and The Spaniards in Their History (1947). He was twice president of the Span¬ ish Academy.

Mengele Vmeq-go-loV Josef (b. March 16, 1911, Giinzburg, Ger.—d. Feb. 7, 1979, Enseada da Bertioga, near Sao Paulo, Braz.) German Nazi doctor. Influenced by the racial ideology of Alfred Rosenberg, in 1934 Mengele joined the research staff of the newly founded Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. An ardent Nazi, he served in World War II as medical officer with the SS. In 1943 he was appointed chief doctor at AuscHWiTZ-Birkenau, where he selected incoming Jews for labour or extermination, becoming known as the “Angel of Death,” and conducted medical experiments on inmates in pseudoscientific racial stud¬ ies. After the war he escaped to South America, where he died in 1979 under the name of Wolfgang Gerhard, a Nazi he befriended in Brazil and whose identity he assumed.

Mengistu Haile Mariam Vmen-'gis-.tii-'hl-le-'mar-yamX (b. 1937, Kefa province, Eth.) Ethiopian army officer and head of state (1974-91). Mengistu headed a group of rebel soldiers that overthrew Haile Selassie (1974). After assassinating his rivals, Mengistu became the new regime’s acknowledged strongman. By 1978 he had crushed a major rebellion in Eritrea and, with Soviet and Cuban help, an invasion of the Ogaden region by the Somalis. In the 1980s he faced new rebellions in Eritrea and Tigray, and devastating droughts and famines drew attention to his failed agri¬ cultural policies. With the withdrawal of Soviet support in 1991, his power was weakened and he fled to Zimbabwe.

Mengs VmeqsV, Anton Raphael (b. March 22, 1728, Aussig, Bohemia—d. June 29, 1779, Rome, Papal States) German painter. After study in Dresden and Rome, he became painter to the Saxon court in Dresden in 1745. Back in Rome in the late 1740s and again in the early 1750s, he developed an enthusiasm for Classical antiquity. His fresco Parnassus (1760-61) at the Villa Albani helped establish the ascendancy of Neoclassical painting. He also worked extensively for the Spanish court in Madrid. He was regarded as Europe’s greatest living painter in his day, but his reputation has since declined.

menhaden \men-'ha-d 3 n\ or pogy Any of several species of Atlantic coastal fishes (genus Brevoortia of the herring family), used for oil, fish meal (mainly for animal feed), and fertilizer. Menhaden have a deep body, sharp-edged belly, large head, and tooth-edged scales. Adults are about 15 in. (38 cm) long and weigh 1 lb (0.5 kg) or less. Dense schools of menhaden range from Canada to South America. When feeding, they swim with mouth agape and gill openings widespread to strain out plankton.

menhir Vmen-.hirX Type of ancient megalithic stone monument (see megalith). Menhirs were simple upright stones, sometimes of great size, erected chiefly in Western Europe. Arrangements of menhirs often form vast circles, semicircles, or ellipses. Many were built in Britain, the best- known sites being Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire. Menhirs were also placed in parallel rows, called alignments, the most famous being the Carnac alignments in northwestern France, with 2,935 menhirs. These were probably used for ritual processions.

Menilek II Vmen-9-,lek\ orig. Sahle Miriam (b. Aug. 17, 1844, Ankober, Shewa, Eth.—d. Dec. 12,

1913, Addis Ababa) King of the semi-independent state of Shewa, or Shoa (1865-89), and emperor of Ethiopia (1889-1913). Captured and imprisoned for 10 years after his father, King Malakot of Shewa, was deposed by Tewodros II. he escaped in 1865 and returned to Shewa to assume the title of negus (king). On the death of Emperor Yohannes IV (r.

1872-89), he ascended to the Ethio¬ pian throne, taking his crown name from Menilek I, legendary son of Solomon and the queen of Sheba.

When Italy sought to make Ethiopia a protectorate, Menilek roundly defeated its forces at the Battle of Adwa (1896). In later years he expanded the empire, initiated mod¬ em educational programs, and built up the country’s infrastructure.

Menindee Lakes \m3-'nin-de\

Series of reservoirs, western New South Wales, Australia. Located near

Menilek II, detail of an oil painting by Paul Buffet, 1897; in the Senate Pal¬ ace, Paris.

J.E. BULLOZ

1236 I meninges ► Menotti

the town of Menindee, they are part of the Darling River Conservation Scheme. The lakes are flooded through creeks linking them with the Dar¬ ling River. The total capacity of the Menindee Lakes Storage Scheme is 2 million acre-ft (2.47 billion cubic-m). Menindee is an Aboriginal word meaning “egg yolk.”

meninges \mo-'nin-jez\ Three fibrous membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord to protect the central nervous system. The pia mater, a very thin membrane, adheres to the surface of the brain and spinal cord. The subarachnoid space, containing cerebrospinal fluid, separates the pia mater from a second membrane, the arachnoid. Around the brain, fine filaments connect these two membranes, which are believed to be imper¬ meable to fluid. The third membrane, the dura mater, is strong, thick, and dense. It envelops the arachnoid, covers the inside of the skull, and sur¬ rounds and supports the large venous channels carrying blood from the brain. Several septa divide it and support different parts of the brain. In the spine, the dura mater and the arachnoid mater are separated by the subdural space; the arachnoid and pia mater are separated by the sub¬ arachnoid space. The extradural space (between the dura mater and the wall of the vertebral canal) is the site of epidural anesthesia (see anesthe¬ siology).

meningitis N.me-non-'jl-tosV Inflammation of the meninges. Bacteria (including meningococcus, among others), often from infection elsewhere, produce the most dangerous forms. Symptoms develop rapidly: vomiting, then severe bursting headache, then stiff neck. Young children may have convulsions. The patient may die within hours. Pus in cerebrospinal fluid can block brain passages and spinal spaces, leading to life-threatening hydrocephalus. Speedy diagnosis (by lumbar puncture) and treatment (with antibiotics) can prevent brain damage and death. Viral meningitis usually has a short course and requires no therapy.

meningococcus Xmo-.niq-go-'ka-kosV Neisseria meningitidis, the bac¬ terium that causes meningococcal meningitis in humans, the only natural hosts in which it causes disease. Meningococci are spherical, frequently occur in pairs, and are strongly gram-negative (see gram stain). They enter the nasal passage and may cause no symptoms (up to 30% of the popu¬ lation may harbour them between epidemics), or they may enter the blood¬ stream and produce the symptoms of meningitis.

Menninger Vmen-irj-oiA family U.S. physicians and pioneers in psy¬ chiatric treatment. Charles Frederick Menninger (1862-1953) was bom in Tell City, Ind., and began practicing medicine in Topeka, Kan., in 1889. He saw the benefit of group medical practice after visiting the Mayo fami¬ ly’s clinic in 1908. His son Karl (1893-1990) was bom in Topeka and received psychiatric training in Boston. In 1919 the two founded the Menninger Diagnostic Clinic for the practice of general medicine and psychiatry. With Charles’s youngest son, William (1899-1966), they established the Menninger Sanitarium and Psychopathic Hospital (1925). Their belief that the mentally ill should be treated, not merely institution¬ alized, attracted attention and other scientists, and they made significant strides in establishing psychiatry as a legitimate science. In 1931 the sani¬ tarium became the first training facility for nurses specializing in psychi¬ atric care, and in 1933 it opened a neuropsychiatric residency program for physicians. They formed the Menninger Foundation in 1941 and the Men¬ ninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka four years later.

Menno Simonsz. Vsl-monz,

'se-mons\ or Menno Simons (b.

1496, Witmarsum, Friesland—d.

Jan. 31, 1561, near Liibeck, Hol¬ stein) Dutch Anabaptist leader. Born into a peasant family, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, but, doubting the doctrine of transub- stantiation, he came under the influ¬ ence of Lutheranism and withdrew from the church in 1536. Convinced that infant baptism was wrong and that only people of mature faith were eligible for membership in the church, he became a leader in the peaceful wing of the Anabaptist movement in 1537. Pronounced a heretic, he was in constant danger of

arrest for the rest of his life but continued to organize Anabaptist groups. He wrote and printed many theological works, and his followers founded the Mennonite Church.

Mennonite Vme-no-.nflA Member of a Protestant church named for Menno Simonsz. They trace their origins to the Swiss Brethren (established 1525), nonconformists who rejected infant baptism and stressed the sepa¬ ration of church and state. Persecution scattered them across Europe; they found political freedom first in the Netherlands and northern Poland, and from there moved to Ukraine and Russia. They first emigrated to North America in 1663. Many Russian Mennonites emigrated to the U.S. Mid¬ west and to Canada in the 1870s when they lost their exemption from Russian military service. Today Mennonites are found in many parts of the world, especially in North and South America. Their creed stresses the authority of the Scriptures, the example of the early church, and bap¬ tism as a confession of faith. They value simplicity of life, and many refuse to swear oaths or serve in the military. The various Mennonite groups include the strictly observant Amish and Hutterites as well as the more moderate Mennonite church.

Menominee Vmo-'na-mo-.neV North American Indian people who live mostly in northeastern Wisconsin, U.S., in a small portion of their tradi¬ tional territory along the Menominee River at the present-day Wisconsin- Michigan border. Their name is derived from an Ojibwa word meaning “person of the wild rice.” Their language is a member of the Algonquian language family. At the time of first contact, the Menominee lived in vil¬ lages of dome-shaped houses and collected wild plants, fished, and hunted to obtain food. Originally organized into clans, their social organization changed as a result of the fur trade, when they scattered in mobile bands. In 1852 the U.S. government moved most of the tribe to a reservation in Wisconsin. Sporadic uprisings occurred into the early 20th century, and political opposition was renewed in the 1960s and ’70s. There are about 8,000 enrolled members of the Menominee.