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Black, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Black, Joseph, 1728–99, Scottish chemist and physician, b. France. He was professor of chemistry at Glasgow (1756–66) and from 1766 at Edinburgh. He is best known for his theories of latent heat a...

Gregory, James

(Encyclopedia)Gregory, James, 1638–75, Scottish mathematician. He invented a reflecting telescope (1661), which he described in his Optica promota (1663). In 1668 he became professor of mathematics at the Univ. o...

Tait, Peter Guthrie

(Encyclopedia)Tait, Peter Guthrie, 1831–1901, Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh from 1860 and conducted important investigations in thermodynamics and the k...

Charles VII, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Charles VII (Charles the Well Served), 1403–61, king of France (1422–61), son and successor of Charles VI. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years War. Although excluded from the throne by the ...

Playfair, John

(Encyclopedia)Playfair, John, 1748–1819, Scottish mathematician, physicist, and geologist. He was educated at St. Andrews and Edinburgh and taught first mathematics and then physics and astronomy at the latter un...

Decius

(Encyclopedia)Decius (Caius Messius Quintus Decius) dēˈshəs [key], 201–51, Roman emperor (249–51), b. Pannonia. He was sent by Philip (Philip the Arabian) to quell a mutiny, but when the soldiers hailed him ...

Angevin

(Encyclopedia)Angevin ănˈjəvĭn [key] [Fr.,=of Anjou], name of two medieval dynasties originating in France. The first ruled over parts of France and over Jerusalem and England; the second ruled over parts of Fr...

Lerma, Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, duque de

(Encyclopedia)Lerma, Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, duque de fränthēsˈkō gōˈmāth dā sändōvälˈ ē rōˈhäs do͞oˈkā dā lārˈmä [key], 1553–1625, Spanish statesman, favorite of King Philip ...

Ferrier, James Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Ferrier, James Frederick fĕrˈēər [key], 1808–64, Scottish philosopher. He was a professor at Edinburgh (1842–45) and at St. Andrews from 1845 until his death. His major work, the Institutes of...

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