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Hooke, Robert
(Encyclopedia)Hooke, Robert ho͝ok [key], 1635–1703, English physicist, mathematician, and inventor. He became curator of experiments for the Royal Society (1662), professor of geometry at Gresham College (1665),...Alain de Lille
(Encyclopedia)Alain de Lille älăNˈ də lēl [key], c.1128–c.1202, French scholastic philosopher, a Cistercian, honored by his contemporaries as the Universal Doctor. He was born in Lille; he taught at Paris an...Chuang-tzu
(Encyclopedia)Chuang-tzu or Chuang-tze both: jwäng-dzŭ [key], c.369–c.286 b.c., Chinese Taoist writer. Little is known about his life. He was a native of the state of Meng, on the border of present-day Shandong...Don Juan
(Encyclopedia)Don Juan dŏn wän, jo͞oˈən, Span. dōn hwän [key], legendary profligate. He has a counterpart in the legends of many peoples, but the Spanish version of the great libertine has become the most un...Francis Ferdinand
(Encyclopedia)Francis Ferdinand, 1863–1914, Austrian archduke, heir apparent (after 1889) of his uncle, Emperor Francis Joseph. In 1900 he married a Czech, Sophie Chotek. She was made duchess of Hohenberg, but be...Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne
(Encyclopedia)Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne zhäk bānēˈnyə bôsüāˈ [key], 1627–1704, French prelate, one of the greatest orators in French history. At an early age he was made a canon at Metz; he became bishop...universals
(Encyclopedia)universals, in philosophy, term applied to general or abstract objects such as concepts, qualities, relations, and numbers, as opposed to particular objects. The exact nature of a universal deeply con...Wang Yang-ming
(Encyclopedia)Wang Yang-ming wäng yäng-mĭng [key], 1472–1529, Chinese philosopher. He developed an idealist interpretation of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Chu ...human rights
(Encyclopedia)human rights, universal rights held to belong to individuals by virtue of their being human, encompassing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms, and based on the notion ...Sirk, Douglas
(Encyclopedia)Sirk, Douglas, 1900–87, German-American film director, b. Hamburg as Claus Detlef Sierck. A successful director in German theater and film, he fled the Nazi regime in 1937. Two years later he emigra...Browse by Subject
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