museum Public institution dedicated to preserving and interpreting the primary tangible evidence of humans and their environment. Types of museums include general (multidisciplinary) museums, natural-history museums, science and technology museums, history museums, and art museums. In Roman times the word referred to a place devoted to schol¬ arly occupation (see Museum of Alexandria). The public museum as it is known today did not develop until the 17th—18th century. The first orga¬ nized body to receive a private collection, erect a building to house it, and make it publicly available was the University of Oxford; the resulting Ashmolean Museum opened in 1683. The 18th century saw the opening of great museums such as the British Museum, Louvre, and Uffizi Gallery. By the early 19th century the granting of public access to formerly pri¬ vate collections had become common. What followed for the next 100 years was the worldwide founding of museums intended for the public. In the 20th century, museums have broadened their roles as educational facilities, sources of leisure activity, and information centres. Many sites of historical or scientific significance have been developed as museums. Museum attendance has increased greatly, often attracted by “block¬ buster” exhibitions, though museums have had to become more finan¬ cially resourceful due to constraints in public funding.
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Museum in New York City, the world’s most comprehensive collection of U.S. and European art from
the late 19th century to the present. It was founded in 1929 by a group of private collectors. The original building on 53rd St. opened in 1939; a later addition and sculpture garden were designed by Philip Johnson (1953). A condominium tower and western wing, doubling the exhibition space, were completed in 1984. Its collections of Cubist, Surrealist, and Abstract Expressionist paintings are extensive; other holdings include sculpture, graphic arts, industrial design, architecture, photography, and film. Through its permanent collections, exhibitions, and many publica¬ tions, it exerts a strong influence on public taste and artistic production.
Museveni Xmu-'so-ven-.eX, Yoweri (Kaguta) (b. 1944, Mbarra dis¬ trict, Uganda) President of Uganda (from 1986). As a university student he led a group allied with African liberation movements. When Idi Amin came to power in 1971, Museveni went into exile. He founded the Front for National Salvation, which helped topple Amin in 1979. He replaced Milton Obote as president in 1986, winning election to the post in 1996. Though he rejected multiparty democracy, he allowed a free press and private enterprise. He is credited with bringing stability and economic growth to Uganda, though his support for rebels in other African coun¬ tries has been controversial.
Musgrave, Thea (b. May 27, 1928, Barnton, Edinburgh, Scot.) Scot¬ tish composer. She studied with Nadia Boulanger and Aaron Copland, and she later taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara (1970- 78) and elsewhere in the U.S. She has written a number of dramatic con¬ certos, some of which reflect her interest in music’s spatial dimension, but she is best known for her operas, including The Voice of Ariadne (1973), Mary, Queen of Scots (1977), and Simon Bolivar (1995).
Mushet Vmosh-otV, Robert Forester (b. 1811, Coleford, Gloucester¬ shire, Eng.—d. January 1891, Coleford) British steelmaker. He was the son of the ironmaster David Mushet (1772-1847). Robert’s discovery in 1868 that adding tungsten to steel greatly increases its hardness even after air cooling produced the first commercial steel alloy, a material that formed the basis for the development of tool steels for the machining of metals. Mushet also discovered that the addition of manganese to steel produced by the Bessemer process improved the steel’s ability to withstand rolling and forging at high temperatures.
mushroom Fleshy spore-bearing structure of certain fungi (see fungus), typically of the class Basidiomycetes. It arises from the mycelium, which may live hundreds of years or a few months, depending on its food sup¬ ply. Some species grow cellular strands (hyphae) in all directions, form¬ ing a circular mat with a “fairy ring” of fruiting bodies around the outside. Popularly, “mushroom” refers to the edible sporophores, while “toad¬ stool” refers to inedible or poisonous sporophores, but there is no scien¬ tific distinction between the two names. Mushrooms are classified by cap shape. Umbrella-shaped sporophores with spore-shedding gills on the undersurface are found chiefly in the agaric family (Agaricaceae). Mush¬ rooms that bear spores in an easily detachable layer on the underside of the cap belong to the family Boletaceae. Together the agarics and boletes include most of the forms known as mushrooms. The highly prized edible chanterelle is a bolete. The morels (class Ascomycetes) are popularly included with the true mushrooms because of their shape and fleshy struc¬ ture. Since some poisonous mushrooms closely resemble edible ones, mushrooms intended for eating must be accurately identified. Mushroom poisoning can cause nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, hallucinations, coma, and sometimes death. See illustration opposite.
mushroom poisoning or toadstool poisoning Sometimes fatal effect of eating any of the 70-80 species of poisonous mushrooms, or toadstools. Many contain toxic alkaloids. The most deadly, Amanita phal- loides (“death cup”), causes violent abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Severe liver, kidney, and central-nervous-system damage lead to coma. Over half the victims die. Treatment with thioctic acid, glucose, and penicillin or by filtering the blood with charcoal may be effective. A. muscaria causes vomiting, diarrhea, excessive perspiration, and confu¬ sion, with recovery within 24 hours. Gyromitra esculenta toxin is usually destroyed by cooking, but in susceptible people it affects the central ner¬ vous system and breaks down blood cells, causing jaundice. Some poi¬ sonous mushrooms resemble harmless ones, so extreme caution is needed in wild-mushroom gathering.
Musial Vmyii-ze-olV Stanley Frank) (b. Nov. 21,1920, Donora, Pa., U.S.) U.S. baseball player. Musial played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals (1941-63), starting as a pitcher but switching to the outfield and ultimately to first base. A left-handed batter, “Stan the Man” became
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music ► musicology I 1315
one of the game’s great hitters. His lifetime totals of hits (3,630), runs (1,949), and times at bat were second only to those of Ty Cobb, his total of runs batted in (1,951) was the fourth- highest of all time, and his total of extra-base hits (1,477) was only sur¬ passed later by Hank Aaron. Popular among fans for his unfailing gra¬ ciousness, he became a Cardinals executive after retirement.
music Art concerned with combin¬ ing vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expres¬ sion, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in most Western music, harmony.
Music most often implies sounds with distinct PlTCHes that are arranged into melodies and organized into pat¬ terns of rhythm and metre. The melody will usually be in a certain key or mode, and in Western music it will often suggest harmony that may be made explicit as accompanying chords or counterpoint. Music is an art that, in one guise or another, permeates every human society. It is used for such varied social purposes as ritual, worship, coordination of move¬ ment, communication, and entertainment.
music box Mechanical musical instrument in which projecting pins on a revolving brass cylinder or disk, encoding a piece of music, pluck tuned
Musial
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