Szechwan See Sichuan
Szell Vsel, 'zel\, George (b. June 7, 1897, Budapest, Hung., Austria- Hungary—d. July 30, 1970, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. conductor. He made his debut as a pianist at age 11, and before his 20th birthday he had appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic as pianist, con¬ ductor, and composer. He established himself as an opera conductor in various German cities, including Berlin (1924-30) and Prague (1930-36). When World War II broke out, he settled in the U.S., conducting at the Metropolitan Opera (1942-46) and then serving as musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra (1946-70). There he imposed stern discipline but won his players’ devotion by his own fierce dedication. Under his direc¬ tion the orchestra became known for its precision in playing and was con¬ sidered one of the world’s finest.
Szent-Gyorgyi \sant-'jorj, sant-'jor-je\, Albert (b. Sept. 16, 1893, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—d. Oct. 22, 1986, Woods Hole, Mass., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. biochemist. His discoveries about the roles played by certain organic compounds, especially vitamin C, in the oxidation (see oxidation-reduction) of nutrients by cells brought him a 1937 Nobel Prize. He found and isolated an organic reducing agent from plant juices and adrenal gland extracts and showed it was identical to vitamin C. His work on intermediates in the cell laid the foundation for the elucidation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle by Hans Adolf Krebs. In later years he worked on the biochemistry of muscular action (demonstrating the role of ATP) and of cell division.
Szilard \'zi-,lard\, Leo (b. Feb. 11, 1898, Budapest, Hung., Austria- Hungary—d. May 30, 1964, La Jolla, Calif., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. physicist. He taught at the University of Berlin (1922-33), then fled to England (1934-37) and the U.S., where he worked at the University of Chicago from 1942. In 1929 he established the relation between entropy and transfer of information, and in 1934 he helped develop the first method of separating isotopes of artificial radioactive elements. He helped Enrico Fermi conduct the first sustained nuclear chain reaction and con¬ struct the first nuclear reactor. In 1939 he was instrumental in establish¬ ing the Manhattan Project, in which he helped develop the atomic bomb. After the first use of the bomb, he promoted the peaceful uses of atomic energy and the control of nuclear weapons, founding the Council for a Livable World. In 1959 he received the Atoms for Peace Award.
Szymborska \shim-'b6r-sk3\, Wisfawa (b. July 2, 1923, Bnin, Pol.) Polish poet. From 1953 to 1981 Szymborska was on the staff of the weekly Zycie Literackie (“Literary Life”), gaining a reputation as a poet, book reviewer, and translator of French poetry. Her first two volumes of poetry were attempts to conform to Socialist Realism. Later poems, notable for their precise and concrete language and ironic detachment, express her dissatisfaction with communism and explore philosophical, moral, and ethical issues. A selection of her poems was published in English trans¬ lation as View with a Grain of Sand (1995). She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1860 I T cell ► Tabriz
T cell With the B cell, one of the two main types of white blood cell, essen¬ tial parts of the immune system. T cells originate in the bone marrow, mature in the thymus, and travel in the blood to other lymphoid tissues, such as the spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes. Through receptor molecules on their surfaces, T cells directly attack invaders (antigens) by binding to them and helping remove them from the body. Because the body contains millions of T and B cells, many of which carry unique receptors, it can respond to virtually any antigen. See also antibody, immunology.
T Tauri Vte-'t6r-I\ star Any of a class of very young stars with masses less than about twice the Sun’s. Characterized by unpredictable changes in brightness, they represent an early stage in stellar evolution, having only recently been formed by the gravitational con¬ densation of interstellar gas and dust. The energy by which they shine derives from the gravitational col¬ lapse itself. These young stars, though now contract¬ ing more slowly, are still relatively unstable and will remain so until their interior temperatures become high enough to support nuclear fusion for energy gen¬ eration. More than 500 T Tauri stars have been observed.
T1 Type of broadband telecommunications connection (see broad¬ band technology) used especially to connect Internet service providers to the Internet’s infrastructure. Developed by Bell Labs in the 1960s, the “T-carrier systems” offer entirely digital, full-duplex exchange of data over traditional wire, coaxial cable, optical fibre, microwave relay, or other communications media. The T1 lines carry about 1.5 megabits of data per second, while the related T3 lines carry over 40. However, such systems are generally too expensive for individual network users, who turn instead to ISDN lines, cable modems, DSL connections, or some form of wireless or satellite system for high-speed Internet access.
Ta hsueh See Da xue T'a-li-mu Ho See Tarim River Ta-lien See Dalian
Ta-wen-k'ou culture See Dawenkou culture Ta Yu See Da Yu
Taaffe Vta-foV Eduard, count von (b. Feb. 24, 1833, Vienna, Austria—d. Nov. 29, 1895, Ellischau, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary) Aus¬ trian politician and prime minister (1868-70, 1879-93). A boyhood friend of the future emperor Francis Joseph, he entered the civil service in 1852 and rose rapidly, serving as governor of upper Austria, minister of the interior (1867, 1870-71, 1879), governor of Tirol (1871-79), and prime minister. In his second term as premier, he forged a conservative coali¬ tion that restored a degree of order among the Austrian Empire’s quar¬ reling nationalities by granting concessions to the Polish and Czech nationalists and bringing them into the Habsburg civil service.
Taal \ta-’al, 'tal. Lake formerly Lake Bombon Lake, southwestern Luzon, Philippines. It covers an area of 94 sq mi (244 sq km) and occu¬ pies a volcanic crater less than 10 ft (3 m) above sea level. Volcano Island (984 ft or 300 m), which rises from the lake and is also called Taal Vol¬ cano, contains another small crater (Yellow Lake). The volcano has erupted 25 times since 1572, most recently in 1970. Located within a national park, the lake is a major tourist attraction.
Tabari \'ta-ba-re\, al- in full Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (b. c. 839, Amol, Iran—d. 923, Baghdad, Iraq) Muslim scholar, Qur’anic commentator, and historian. After studying in Islamic centres of learning in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt, he wrote the compendious Commentary on the Qur'an (see TAFSlR), in which he annotated Islam’s holy book with all of the juridical, lexicographical, and historical explanations transmitted in the Hadith. His other major work was the History of Proph¬ ets and Kings, which charted the history of human civilization from cre¬ ation to the fall of the Umayyad dynasty.
Tabasco \t3-'bas-ko\ State (pop., 2000: 1,891,829), southeastern Mexico. It covers an area of 9,756 sq mi (25,267 sq km), and its capital is Villahermosa. Pre-Columbian Indian cultures included those of the Quiche, Olmec, Tabasca, and Nahua peoples. The area was first visited by Europeans in 1518; in 1519 Hernan Cortes clashed with the Indians, who were partially subdued in the 1530s and ’40s. Tabasco became a state in
Agriculture, forestry, beekeeping, commercial fishing, and cattle¬ raising provided much of the state’s income before petroleum exploita¬ tion began in the 1960s. The state is now a major oil producer.