zebra mussel Either of two species of tiny mussels (genus Dreissena) that are prominent freshwater pests. They proliferate quickly and adhere in
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zebu ► Zeno of Citium I 2105
great numbers to virtually any surface. The voracious mussels disrupt food webs by wiping out phytoplankton, and their massive clustering on water- intake valves and pipes, bridge abutments, and other structures can cause severe commercial damage. They made their first known attack on Europe in the early 19th century and were carried (probably in ship water ballasts) to North America c. 1986; their invasion of all the Great Lakes has had devastating effects on the lakes’ native mussel and fish populations.
zebu See Brahman
Zechariah \,zek-9-'rI-9\ (fl. 6th century bc) One of the 12 Minor Proph¬ ets of the Hebrew scriptures, whose prophecies are recorded in the book of Zechariah. (The work is part of a larger book. The Twelve, in the Jew¬ ish canon.) His visions concern the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile, the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, and the world’s recognition of Israel’s God. The book also includes his apoca¬ lyptic visions of the end of time.
Zedillo \sa-'de-yo\ (Ponce de Leon), Ernesto (b. Dec. 27, 1951, Mexico City, Mex.) President of Mexico (1994-2000). Raised in a working-class family, he joined Mexico’s ruling party in 1971 and earned a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. As secretary of the Ministry of Programming and Budget, he controlled Mexico’s huge foreign debt, reduced inflation, and balanced the budget. Elected president after the assassination of the original PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) can¬ didate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, he undertook reforms to reduce poverty, root out corruption, and continue democratizing the electoral system. His devaluation of the peso in 1994 led to an economic crisis that was turned around with massive U.S. aid. A rebellion in Chiapas plagued his admin¬ istration, which was charged with human-rights abuses in that region.
Zee, James Van Der See James Van Der Zee
Zeeman \'za-,man\ effect Splitting of a spectral line (see spectrum) into two or more lines of different frequencies. The effect occurs when the light source is placed in a magnetic field. It has helped identify the energy levels in atoms; it also provides a means of studying atomic nuclei and electron paramagnetic resonance (see magnetic resonance) and is used in measuring the magnetic field of the Sun and other stars. It was discovered in 1896 by Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943); he shared the second Nobel Prize for Physics (1902) with Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, who had hypothesized that a magnetic field would affect the frequency of the light emitted.
Zefat \'tse-,fat\ City (pop., 2004 est.: 27,300), northern Israel. Located near Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), it is one of the four holy cities of Juda¬ ism. It was fortified in the 1st century ad by Flavius Josephus and in the Middle Ages by the Crusaders (see Crusades). It was the seat of an impor¬ tant school of Jewish mysticism (see Kabbala) in the 16th century, and it became part of the modem State of Israel in 1948. It is now an artists’ colony, with an economy based on light industry and tourism.
Zeffirelli \,ze-f9-'re-le. Franco orig. Gianfranco Corsi (b. Feb. 12, 1923, Florence, Italy) Italian director, producer, and stage designer. In 1946 he joined Luchino Visconti’s Morelli-Stoppa Co. as an actor and stage director. After serving as Visconti’s assistant on films such as La terra trema (1948), he turned to stage design. His major operatic produc¬ tions, noted for their visual richness, began with LTtaliana in Algeri (1952-53) and include Lucia di Lammermoor (1959) and La Boheme (1963, 1981), among many others; he directed films of La traviata (1983) and Otello (1986). His other films include The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Romeo and Juliet (1968), Endless Love (1981), Jane Eyre (1996), and Tea with Mussolini (1999).
Zeiss Vtsls,\ English \'zls\, Carl (b. Sept. 11, 1816, Weimar, Thuring- ian States—d. Dec. 3, 1888, Jena) German industrialist. In 1846 Zeiss opened a workshop for producing microscopes and other optical instru¬ ments. He later formed a partnership with the physicist and mathemati¬ cian Ernst Abbe (1840-1905). The chemist Otto Schott developed about 100 new kinds of optical glass and numerous types of heat-resistant glass for the company. After Zeiss’s death, Abbe donated the firm and his share in the glassworks to the Carl Zeiss Foundation; in 1923 Schott added his share in the glassworks.
Zemes mate \'ze-mes-'ma-te\ In Baltic religion, the female aspect of nature and the source of all life. Together with Dievs, she stimulates and protects the power of life. Libations of beer were offered to her at the opening of every festival, and bread, ale, and herbs were buried in the ground, thrown into rivers and lakes, or tied to trees in her honour. Her
various functions were eventually assumed by demigoddesses of forests, fields, stones, animals, water, and, in the Christian era, by the Virgin Mary.
zemstvo Vzemst-v3\ plural zemstvos Rural elected assembly in the Russian Empire. Established by Tsar Alexander II in 1864 to provide social and economic services, the zemstvos became a liberal influence in impe¬ rial Russia. The assemblies, formed at the district and province levels, were composed of delegates representing the landed proprietors and the peasant village communes. They expanded education, improved roads, and provided health care. From the 1890s they agitated for constitutional reform, and they stimulated activity in the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 (see Russian Revolution of 1905; Russian Revolution of 1917). They were abolished after the Bolsheviks came to power. The term zem¬ stvo also refers to a 16th-century institution for tax collection.
Zen Important school of Buddhism that claims to transmit the experience of enlightenment achieved by the Buddha Gautama. Arising as Chan in China in the 6th century (introduced by Bodhidharma), it divided into two schools, the Southern school, which believed in sudden enlightenment, and the Northern school, which believed in gradual enlightenment. By the 8th century only the Northern school survived. Zen developed fully in Japan by the 12th century and had a significant following in the West by the later 20th century. Zen teaches that the potential to achieve enlight¬ enment is inherent in everyone but lies dormant because of ignorance. It is best awakened not by the study of scripture, the practice of good deeds, rites and ceremonies, or worship of images, but by breaking through the boundaries of mundane logical thought. Methods employed vary among different schools and may emphasize the practice of zazen (in the Soto school), the use of koans (in the Rinzai school), or the continual invoca¬ tion of Amida (in the Obaku school; see Amitabha).
Zend-Avesta See Avesta
Zeng Guofan or Tseng Kuo-fan Vdzon-'gwo-'fanN (b. Nov. 26, 1811, Xiangxiang, Hunan province, China—d. March 12, 1872, Nanjing) Chinese military leader most responsible for suppressing the Taping Rebel¬ lion, thus staving off the collapse of the Qing dynasty. Having passed the highest examinations in the Chinese examination system, Zeng entered the Hanun Academy and worked successfully as a bureaucrat. In 1852 he was asked to help combat the Taiping rebels, who had reached the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) valley and were threatening the dynasty’s survival. The imperial troops being weak, Zeng and other members of the scholar- gentry organized local militias. His army seized the rebels’ supply areas along the upper Yangtze and besieged and captured their capital, Nanjing, in 1864. In 1865 he was called on to help suppress the Nian Rebellion; a year later he asked that Li Hongzhang take over the campaign. See also Zhang Zhidong.
Zenger, John Peter (b. 1697, Germany—d. July 28, 1746, New York, N.Y.) German-born U.S. printer and journalist. He immigrated to New York at age 13 and was indentured to a printer before starting his own printing business (1726). In 1733 he began publishing the New York Weekly Journal. Arrested for libel in 1734 for his attacks on the policies of the colonial governor, he was acquitted on the grounds that his charges were based on fact (a key consideration in libel cases since that time). It was the first important victory for freedom of the press in Britain’s North American colonies.