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
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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.