mode See mean, median, and mode
Model T Automobile built by the Ford Motor Co. from 1908 until 1927, the first widely affordable mass-produced car. Assembly-line production methods introduced by Henry Ford in 1913 enabled the price of this five- seat touring car to drop from $850 in 1908 to $300 in 1925. Over 15 mil¬ lion Model T’s were built. The car was offered in several body styles, all mounted on a standard chassis. Various colors were initially available, but after 1913 its sole color was black. It was replaced by the popular Model A in 1928.
modem Vmo-.domV Electronic device that converts digital data into analog (modulated-wave) signals suitable for transmission over analog telecommunications circuits (e.g., traditional phone lines) and demodu¬ lates received analog signals to recover the digital data transmitted. The “modulator/demodulator” thus makes it possible for existing communi¬ cations channels to support a variety of digital communications, includ¬ ing e-mail, Internet access, and fax transmissions. An ordinary modem, operating over traditional phone lines, has a data transmission speed limit of about 56 kilobits per second. ISDN lines allow communications at over twice that rate, and cable modems and DSL lines have transmission rates of over a million bits per second.
modem, cable See cable modem
Modena \'mo-da-na\ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 175,442), Emilia- Romagna region, northern Italy. It lies between the Secchia and Panaro rivers, northwest of Bologna. An ancient Etruscan city, it was made a Roman colony in 183 bc. It was attacked and pillaged by the Huns under Attila and later by the Lombards. It passed to the house of Este in 1288. It was taken by France in 1796 and made part of Napoleon’s kingdom of Italy in 1805. It reverted to Este rule in 1815 before joining unified Italy in 1860. The automobile industry is important to its economy; it is also an agricultural market centre. Sites of interest include the 11th-century cathedral and the university (founded 1175).
modern dance Theatrical dance that developed in the U.S. and Europe in the 20th century as a reaction to traditional ballet. Precursors included Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan. Formal teaching of modern dance began
with the establishment of the Denishawn schools by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in 1915. Many of their students, principally Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham, further contributed to modem dance’s definition as a technique based on principles of fall and recovery (Humphrey) and of contraction and release (Graham). Movement often stressed the expres¬ sion of emotional intensity and contemporary subjects rather than focus¬ ing on the formal, classical, and often narrative aspects of ballet. Later developments included a revolt in the 1950s against Graham’s expres¬ sionism, led by Merce Cunningham, whose choreography included ballet technique and the element of chance. See also Agnes de Mille; Hanya Holm; Jose Limon; Alwin Nikolais; Anna Sokolow; Paul Taylor; Twyla Tharp.
Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) U.S. jazz ensemble. It was founded in 1951 by pianist John Lewis (1920-2001), vibraphonist Milt Jackson (1923-99), drummer Kenny Clarke (1914-85), and bassist Ray Brown (1926-2002). They originally worked together as the rhythm section for Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in 1946. The quartet established a reserved and subtle approach to the modern jazz innovations of the mid-1940s, incor¬ porating elements of classical chamber music with original compositions and jazz standards. Percy Heath (1923-2005) replaced Brown in 1952, and Connie Kay (1927-94) replaced Clarke in 1955. The group disbanded in 1974 but reunited for annual tours beginning in the 1980s. Upon Kay’s death, Percy’s brother Albert (“Tootie”) Heath (b. 1935) joined the group.
Modernism In the arts, a radical break with the past and concurrent search for new forms of expression. Modernism fostered a period of experimentation in the arts from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, particularly in the years following World War I. In an era characterized by industrialization, rapid social change, advances in science and the social sciences (e.g., Darwinism, Freudian theory), Modernists felt a grow¬ ing alienation incompatible with Victorian morality, optimism, and con¬ vention. The Modernist impulse is fueled in various literatures by industrialization and urbanization, by the search for an authentic response to a much-changed world. Among English-language writers, the best- known Modernists are T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, and Virginia Woolf. Composers, including Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern, sought new solutions within new forms and used as-yet- untried approaches to tonality. In dance a rebellion against both balletic and interpretive traditions had its roots in the work of Emile Jaques- Delcroze, Rudolf Laban, and Loie Fuller. Each of them examined a specific aspect of dance—such as the elements of the human form in motion or the impact of theatrical context—and helped bring about the era of mod¬ ern dance. In the visual arts the roots of Modernism are often traced back to painter Edouard Manet, who beginning in the 1860s broke away from inherited notions of perspective, modeling, and subject matter. The avant- garde movements that followed—including Impressionism, Post- Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Constructivism, De Stul, and Abstract Expressionism —are generally defined as Modernist. Over the span of these movements, artists increasingly focused on the intrinsic qualities of their media—e.g., line, form, and colour—and moved away from inher¬ ited notions of art. By the beginning of the 20th century, architects also had increasingly abandoned past styles and conventions in favour of a form of architecture based on essential functional concerns. In the period after World War I these tendencies became codified as the International style, which utilized simple, geometric shapes and unadorned facades and which abandoned any use of historical reference; the buildings of Lud¬ wig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier embodied this style. After World War II the style manifested itself in clean-lined, unadorned glass sky¬ scrapers and mass housing projects.
Modernismo Spanish-language literary movement of the late 19th— early 20th century, founded by Ruben Dario. Reacting against the senti¬ mental romantic writers then popular in Latin America, modernistas wrote on exotic themes and often about artificial worlds—the ancient past, the distant Orient, and the lands of childhood fancy and sheer creation. With “art for art’s sake” as their creed, they brought about the greatest revital¬ ization of language and poetic technique in Spanish since the 17th cen¬ tury. Its adherents included Peru’s Jose Santos Chocano (1875-1934) and Cuba’s Jose Marti. Though the movement was over by 1920, its influence continued well into the 20th century.
modernization Transformation of a society from a rural and agrarian condition to a secular, urban, and industrial one. It is closely linked with industrialization. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increas¬ ingly important, gradually replacing the family, community, or occupa¬ tional group as the basic unit of society. Division of labour, characteristic
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of industrialization, is also applied to institutions, which become more highly specialized. Instead of being governed by tradition or custom, society comes to be governed according to abstract principles formulated for that puipose. Traditional religious beliefs often decline in importance, and distinctive cultural traits are often lost.