mattock Vma-t3k\ Picklike digging implement, one of the oldest tools of agriculture. It resembles the modern hoe but with a stone or wooden blade rather than a metal one, set at right angles to a long wooden handle. Though large-scale agriculture uses plows, harrows, and rotary hoes that open many rows of a field simultaneously, home gardeners and horticul¬ turists may still use mattocks to loosen dirt and to chop weeds.
Maturidiyyah \ma-,tur-e- , de-9\ Muslim orthodox school of theology named after its founder, Abu Mansur Muhammad al-Maturldl (d. 944). It is characterized by reliance on the Qur’an with minimal reasoning and little scope for inteipretation. On the question of free will, it once emphasized the absolute omnipotence of God and allowed only limited freedom of action, but it later stated unequivocally that humans have the utmost freedom to act. Unlike the AsiTariyyah (followers of al-AsiTARi), who believed that only God could determine whether a person was saved, the Maturidiyyah asserted that a Muslim who sincerely performed all religious duties as prescribed in the Qur’an was assured of a place in heaven.
Mau Mau Vmau-.maiA Militant KiKUYU-led nationalist movement of the 1950s in Kenya. The Mau Mau (the name’s origin is uncertain) advocated violent resistance to British domination in Kenya. In response to actions by Mau Mau rebels, the British Kenya government banned the movement in 1950 and launched a series of military operations between 1952 and 1956. Some 11,000 Kikuyu, 100 Europeans, and 2,000 African loyalists were killed in the fighting; another 20,000 Kikuyu were put into deten¬ tion camps. Despite their losses, Kikuyu resistance spearheaded the inde¬ pendence movement, and Jomo Kenyatta, jailed as a Mau Mau leader in 1953, became prime minister of independent Kenya in 1963. In 2003 the ban on the Mau Mau was lifted.
Mauchly Vmak-leV John W(illiam) (b. Aug. 30, 1907, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.—d. Jan. 8, 1980, Ambler, Pa.) U.S. physicist and engineer. He joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania after completing his graduate studies. During World War II he and J. Presper Eckert were asked by the U.S. Army to devise ways to accelerate the recomputation of artil¬ lery firing tables, for which they eventually developed the electronic com¬ puter ENIAC. The two men formed a computer-manufacturing firm in 1948, and in 1949 they produced the Binary Automatic Computer (BINAC), which used magnetic tape instead of punched cards for data storage. Their third computer, the UNIVAC I, was designed to handle business data.
Maud See Matilda
Maudslay \'modz-le\, Henry (b. Aug. 22, 1771, Woolwich, Kent, Eng.—d. Feb. 14, 1831, London) British engineer and inventor. The son of a workman, he became the inventor of machines fundamentally impor¬ tant to the Industrial Revolution, most outstandingly the metal lathe. He also invented methods for printing calico cloth and for desalting seawa¬ ter for ships’ boilers, as well as a measuring machine that was accurate to 0.0001 in. (0.00025 cm), and he designed and built many stationary and marine engines. Several outstanding engineers, notably James Nasmyth and Joseph Whitworth, learned their profession in Maudslay’s shop. See also Joseph Bramah.
The Matterhorn overlooking an Alpine valley.
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Maugham VmomX, W(illiam) Somerset (b. Jan. 25, 1874, Paris, France—d. Dec. 16, 1965, Nice)
English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer. He abandoned a short career in medicine when his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), had some success. His plays, mainly Edwardian social comedies, brought him financial security. His reputation rests primarily on the novels Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Cakes and Ale (1930), and The Razor’s Edge (1944), all of which were adapted for film and some for television. His short stories often portray the confu¬ sion of Europeans in alien surround¬ ings. His works, regarded less highly today than formerly, are character¬ ized by a clear, unadorned style, cos¬ mopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature.
W. Somerset Maugham.
MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/VENICE, CAUF.
Mauna Kea V.mau-na-'ke-oX Dormant volcano, north-central Hawaii island, Hawaii, U.S. Rising to 13,796 ft (4,205 m), it is the highest point in the state and is the chief feature of a state park occupying 500 acres (202 hectares). Its name means “white mountain,” referring to its snowcapped peak. Its dome is 30 mi (48 km) across and is the site of a major astronomi¬ cal observatory. The volcano’s lava flows have buried the southern slopes of the Kohala Mountains to the northwest, and its own western and south¬ ern slopes are covered with lava from its neighbour, Mauna Loa.
Mauna Loa Volcano, south-central Hawaii island, Hawaii, U.S. Located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, it is one of the world’s largest moun¬ tain masses. It rises to 13,678 ft (4,169 m) and has a dome 75 mi (120 km) long and 64 mi (103 km) wide. Mokuaweoweo, its pit crater, has an area of nearly 4 sq mi (10 sq km) and a depth of 500-600 ft (150-180 m). It has averaged one eruption every 3.5 years since 1832. Many of its eruptions are confined within Mokuaweoweo; others are from fissures and vents. Its lava flows occupy more than 2,000 sq mi (5,120 sq km) of the island. See also Kilauea.
Mauretania Ancient region of North Africa, corresponding to present- day northern Morocco and western and central Algeria. It was settled by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians from the 6th century bc. Its later inhab¬ itants were known to the Romans as the Mauri and Massaeyli. It was
annexed to Rome c. ad 42 and divided into two provinces. It became vir¬ tually independent in the 5th century but was overrun by the Vandals and then by the Arabs in the 7th century.
Mauriac Vmor-'yakV, Francois (b. Oct. 11, 1885, Bordeaux, France—d. Sept. 1, 1970, Paris) French writer. Mauriac grew up in a pious and strict Catholic family, and he subsequently placed at the heart of all his works the soul grappling with the problems of sin, grace, and salva¬ tion. He is best known for his austere, psychological novels, including Young Man in Chains (1913); The Kiss to the Leper (1922); Therese (1927); Vipers’ Tangle (1932), often considered his masterpiece; and A Woman of the Pharisees (1941). He wrote polemical works against totali¬ tarianism and fascism in the 1930s and worked with the Resistance dur¬ ing World War II. In 1952 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Maurice of Nassau Dutch in full Maurits, prince van Oranje, count van Nassau (b. Nov. 13, 1567, Dillenburg, Nassau—d. April 23, 1625, The Hague) Dutch general and statesman. The son of William I (the Silent), he was invested in 1585 as stadtholder (chief executive) of the northern provinces of the Netherlands. With political direction from Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Maurice consolidated the power of the prov¬ inces against Spain and made them trade and shipping centres. He used military planning and siege warfare to defeat Spanish forces in the north and east but failed to take the southern Netherlands and was forced to conclude a truce with Spain in 1609. His development of military strat¬ egy and tactics made the Dutch army the most modern in Europe. In 1618 he consolidated his political power after removing Oldenbarnevelt from office, and as prince of Orange, count of Nassau, he became effectively king of the Netherlands.
Maurier, Daphne du See Daphne du Maurier Maurier, George du See George du Maurier
Mauritania officially Islamic Republic of Mauritania Country, northwestern Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. Area: 398,000 sq mi (1,030,700 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 3,069,000. Capitaclass="underline"