Cech \'chek\, Thomas (Robert) (b. Dec. 8, 1947, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) U.S. biochemist, molecular biologist, and Nobel laureate. He received his Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley in 1975. In 1982 he became the first to show that an RNA molecule could catalyze a chemical reaction. He and Sidney Altman were awarded a 1989 Nobel Prize for their independent discov¬ eries that RNA, previously thought to be only a messenger of genetic information, can also catalyze cellular chemical reactions essential to life.
Cecil Vse-sslV Robert, 1st earl of Salisbury (b. June 1, 1563, London, Eng.—d. May 24, 1612, Marlborough, Wiltshire) English states¬ man. Trained in statesmanship by his father, William Cecil, Robert entered the House of Commons in 1584. He became acting secretary of state in 1590 and was formally appointed to the post by Elizabeth I in 1596. He succeeded his father as chief minister in 1598 and guided the peaceful succession of Elizabeth by James I, for whom he continued as chief min¬ ister from 1603 and lord treasurer from 1608. He negotiated the end of the war with Spain in 1604 and allied England with France.
Cecil (of Chelwood), (Edgar Algernon) Robert Gascoyne- Cecil, 1st Viscount (b. Sept. 14, 1864, London, Eng.—d. Nov. 24, 1958, Tunbridge Wells, Kent) British statesman. The son of the marquess of Salisbury, he served during World War I as minister of blockade and as assistant secretary of state for foreign affairs. He was one of the principal draftsmen of the League of Nations covenant in 1919 and, as president of the League of Nations Union (1923^15), one of the League’s most loyal workers until it was superseded by the United Nations. In 1937 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Cecil, William, 1st Baron Burghley Vbor-le\ (b. Sept. 13, 1520, Bourne, Lincolnshire, Eng.—d. Aug. 5, 1598, London) English statesman, principal adviser to Elizabeth I through most of her reign and a master of Renaissance statecraft. Having served as a councillor and cosecretary to Edward VI, he was appointed Elizabeth’s sole secretary when she became queen in 1558. A dedicated and skillful adviser to the queen, Cecil was created Baron Burghley in 1571 and appointed lord high treasurer (1572— 98). He obtained the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, thus securing the Protestant succession, and his preparations enabled England to survive the Spanish Armada. But he failed to induce Elizabeth to marry or to reform her church along more Protestant lines.
Cecilia, Saint (fl. 3rd century, Rome; feast day November 22) Early Christian martyr and patron saint of music. According to a late 5th-century tradition, she was a noble Roman who had dedicated her virginity to God as a child and was married against her will to Valerian, a noble pagan. She told him of her vow, and he promised he would let her keep it if he could see the angel with whom she conversed. After being baptized, Vale¬ rian saw Cecilia talking to the angel. Valerian’s brother also converted, and both were eventually martyred. Cecilia’s good works infuriated the
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358 I cedar ► celestial mechanics
Roman prefect, who ordered her burned at the stake; when the flames did not harm her, she was beheaded. Her relics were discovered in the 9th century by Pope Paschal I, who moved them to the church in Rome that bears her name.
cedar Any of four species of tall ornamental and timber evergreen conif¬ erous trees of the genus Cedrus, in the pine family. Three cedars are native to mountainous areas of the Mediterranean region and one to the western Himalayas. These “true” cedars are the Atlas cedar (C. atlan- tica ), the Cyprus cedar (C. brevifo- lia), the deodar (C. deodara), and the cedar of Lebanon (C. libani ). Cedar- wood is light, soft, resinous, and durable, even when in contact with soil or moisture. Many other conifers known as cedars resemble true cedars in being evergreen and in hav¬ ing aromatic, often red or red-tinged wood that in many cases is decay- resistant and insect-repellent. The giant arbor vitae, incense cedar, and some junipers (red cedar) provide the familiar “cedarwood” of pencils, chests, closet linings, and fence posts. See also white cedar.
Cedar Breaks National Monument Preserve, southwestern Utah, U.S. Established as a national monument in 1933, it consists of a vast natural amphitheatre (10 sq mi [26 sq km]) eroded in a limestone escarp¬ ment. Iron and manganese oxide impurities in the cliff produce an amaz¬ ing variety of colours that change constantly.
Cedar Rapids City (pop., 2000: 120,758), eastern Iowa, U.S. Origi¬ nally called Rapids City, it was settled in the 1830s next to rapids of the Cedar River, a source of waterpower. With the coming of the railroads, it developed as a grain and livestock market. Neighbouring Kingston was annexed in 1870, and Kenwood Park in 1926. Its manufactures include electronic equipment and farm machinery. It was the home of the artist Grant Wood.
Cedar River River, northern central U.S. Flowing from southeastern Minnesota southeasterly across Iowa, it joins the Iowa River about 20 mi (32 km) from the Mississippi River. Over its 329-mi (529-km) course it passes through many cities, including Cedar Rapids. The river is named for the stands of red cedar along its lower course.
ceiling Overhead surface of a room, and the underside of a floor or roof. Suspended ceilings, which hang from the beams above, are used to con¬ ceal construction, mechanical equipment, wiring, and light fixtures. Dur¬ ing the Renaissance, ceilings were often coffered (see coffer), vaulted (see vault), or transformed into one large framed painting.
Cela (Trulock) Vtha-la\, Camilo Jose (b. May 11, 1916, Iria Flavia, Spain—d. Jan. 17, 2002, Madrid) Spanish writer. As a young man Cela served with Francisco Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War; his lit¬ erary works, however, represent a renunciation of his former Falangist sympathies. Primarily novels, short narratives, and travel diaries of Spain and Latin America, they are characteristically experimental and innova¬ tive in form and content. He is sometimes credited with establishing tre- mendismo, a narrative style tending to emphasize violence and grotesque imagery. He is perhaps best known for his first novel. The Family of Pas - cual Duarte (1942); other works include The Hive (1951) and the avant- garde San Camilo, 1936 (1969). In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
celadon Chinese, Korean, Siamese, and Japanese stoneware decorated with glazes the colour range of which includes greens of various shades, olive, blue, and gray. The colours are the result of a wash of slip (lique¬ fied clay) containing a high proportion of iron that is applied to the body before glazing. The iron interacts with the glaze during the firing and colours it. Celadons were prized in Eastern cultures long before their comparatively late introduction to the West. A wide demand led to their export to India, Persia, and Egypt in the Tang dynasty (618-907) and to most of Asia in the Song (960-1279) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. The ware was popular because of its beauty, because of a superstition that a celadon dish would break or change colour if poisoned food were put
into it, and because, to the Chinese, it resembled jade. Yue ware, first made in the Han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220), is the earliest celadon.
Celan Vtsa-.lanV Paul orig. Paul Antschel (b. Nov. 23, 1920, Cer- nauti, Rom.—d. May 1, 1970, Paris, France) Romanian poet who wrote in German. When Romania came under Nazi control during World War II, Celan, a Jew, was sent to a forced-labour camp; his parents were mur¬ dered. He moved to Vienna in 1947 and published his first volume of poetry, The Sand from the Urns, in 1948. His second volume, Poppy and Memory (1952), established his reputation in West Germany. He produced seven more volumes before taking his own life by drowning in the Seine. Celan’s dense and complex verse is marked by his experience of World War II; his early poem “Todesfuge” is one of the most famous poetic expressions of the Holocaust.