Syracuse City (pop., 2001: 147,306), central New York, U.S. The site, at the southern end of Lake Oneida, was once the territory of the Onon¬ daga Indians and the headquarters of the Iroquois Confederacy. The area was visited by the French in the 17th century. Indian hostility and the swampy location precluded settlement until the establishment of a trad¬ ing post in 1786. Soon a saltworks based on its brine springs began operation; it supplied most of the nation’s salt until 1870. An important port on the Erie Canal, Syracuse serves as a distribution centre for the central New York agricultural region. It also manufactures pharmaceuti¬ cals and electronics. It is the site of Syracuse University (1870) and the Everson Museum of Art (founded 1896).
Syria officially Syrian Arab Republic Country, Middle East, along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Area: 71,498 sq mi (185,180 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 17,794,000. Capitaclass="underline" Damascus. Arabs are
the main ethnic group, and Kurds are the largest minority. Languages: Arabic (offi¬ cial), Kurdish, Armenian. Religions: Islam o , so , 10 0 mi
(predominantly Sunni); also Christianity, —--—- 160km
Druze. Currency: Syrian pound. Syria con¬ sists of a coastal zone with abundant water supplies, a mountain zone that includes the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, and a portion of the Syrian Desert. The Euphrates River is its most important water source and only navigable river. Syria has a mixed economy based on agriculture, trade, and min¬ ing and manufacturing. Crops include cotton, cereals, fruits, tobacco, and livestock. The main mineral resources are petroleum, natural gas, and iron ore; manufactures include textiles, cement, and steel. Syria is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the presi¬ dent, who by law must be a Muslim. The legal system is based largely on Islamic law. The area that now comprises Syria has been inhabited for several thousand years. From the 3rd millennium bc it was under the con¬ trol variously of Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Egyptians, Hittites,
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Syrian Desert ► Szymborska I 1859
Assyrians, and Babylonians. In the 6th century bc it became part of the Persian Achaemenian Empire, which fell to Alexander the Great in 330 bc. Seleucid rulers governed it (301-c. 164 bc); then Parthians and Nabataean Arabs divided the region. It flourished as a Roman province (64 bc-ad 300) and as part of the Byzantine Empire (300-634), until Arab Muslims invaded and established control. Thereafter the region was ruled by vari¬ ous Muslim dynasties. It came under the Ottoman Empire in 1516, which held it, except for brief periods, until the British invaded in World War I (1914-18). After the war it became a French mandate; it was fully inde¬ pendent by 1946. It united with Egypt in the United Arab Republic (1958— 61). During the Six-Day War (1967), it lost the Golan Heights to Israel. Syrian troops frequently clashed with Israeli forces in Lebanon during the 1980s and ’90s. Hafiz al-Assad’s long regime (1971-2000) also was marked by antagonism toward Syria’s neighbours Turkey and Iraq.
Syrian Desert Arid wasteland, Middle East. It extends over much of northern Saudi Arabia, eastern Jordan, southern Syria, and western Iraq. Largely covered by lava flows, it formed a nearly impenetrable barrier between the populated areas of the Levant and Mesopotamia until modern times; several major highways and oil pipelines now cross it.
syrinx See panpipe
system of equations or simultaneous equations In algebra, two or more equations to be solved together (i.e., the solution must sat¬ isfy all the equations in the system). For a system to have a unique solu¬ tion, the number of equations must equal the number of unknowns. Even then a solution is not guaranteed. If a solution exists, the system is con¬ sistent; if not, it is inconsistent. A system of linear equations can be rep¬ resented by a matrix whose elements are the coefficients of the equations. Though simple systems of two equations in two unknowns can be solved by substitution, larger systems are best handled with matrix techniques.
systems analysis In information processing, a phase of systems engi¬ neering. The principal objective of the systems-analysis phase is the speci¬ fication of what the system needs to do to meet the requirements of end users. In the systems-design phase such specifications are converted to a hierarchy of charts that define the data required and the processes to be carried out on the data so that they can be expressed as instructions of a computer program. Many information systems are implemented with generic software, rather than with such custom-built programs.
systems ecology Branch of ecosystem ecology (the study of energy budgets, biogeochemical cycles, and feeding and behavioral aspects of ecological communities) that attempts to clarify the structure and func¬ tion of ecosystems by means of applied mathematics, mathematical mod¬ els, and computer programs. It concentrates on input and output analysis and has stimulated the development of applied ecology: the application of ecological principles to the management of natural resources, agricul¬ tural production, and problems of environmental pollution.
systems engineering Technique of using knowledge from various branches of engineering and science to introduce technological innova¬ tions into the planning and development stages of a system. Systems engineering was first applied to the organization of commercial telephone systems in the 1920s and ’30s. Many systems-engineering techniques were developed during World War II in an effort to deploy military equip¬ ment more efficiently. Postwar growth in the field was spurred by advances in electronic systems and by the development of computers and information theory. Systems engineering usually involves incorporating new technology into complex, man-made systems, in which a change in one part affects many others. One tool used by systems engineers is the flowchart, which shows the system in graphic form, with geometric fig¬ ures representing various subsystems and arrows representing their inter¬ actions. Other tools include mathematical models, probability theory, statistical analysis, and computer simulations.
systems programming Development of computer software that is part of a computer operating system or other control program, especially as used in computer networks. Systems programming covers data and program management, including operating systems, control programs, network software, and database management systems.
Szczecin \'shchet-,shen\ German Stettin \shte-'ten\ Seaport (pop., 2000 est.: 416,500), near the mouth of the Oder River, northwestern
Poland. A Slavic fishing and commercial centre for centuries, it was annexed to Poland by Mieszko I in the 10th century. Szczecin joined the Hanseatic League in 1360. It passed to Sweden in 1648 and to Prussia in 1720 and remained under German control until it was transferred to Poland after World War II. During the war the port was completely destroyed and the city greatly depopulated. Under Polish administration the port and city were rebuilt, and Szczecin is now part of Poland’s larg¬ est port complex. It is a cultural hub of western Poland, and several insti¬ tutions of higher education are located there.
Szechenyi Vsa-chen-yiV Istvan, Count (b. Sept. 21, 1791, Vienna, Austrian Empire—d. April 8, 1860, Dobling, near Vienna) Hungarian reformer and writer. Born to an aristocratic Hungarian family, he fought against Napoleon and then traveled extensively in Europe. He returned to Budapest to found the Hungarian National Academy of Sciences (1825) and wrote several works that called for economic reforms and urged the nobility to pay taxes to modernize Hungary. He led projects that improved roads, made the Danube River navigable to the Black Sea, and built the first suspension bridge at Budapest. In the 1840s he lost his following to the more radical Lajos Kossuth. Entering the cabinet in 1848, Szechenyi lost his sanity when conflict with Vienna erupted; he was removed to an asylum near Vienna and later committed suicide.