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Kristeva, Julia

(Encyclopedia)Kristeva, Julia, 1941–, French critic, psychoanalyst, semiotician, and writer, b. Sliven, Bulgaria. Writing in French, she has explored many subjects including structuralist linguistics and semiotic...

Matta

(Encyclopedia)Matta (Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren) rōbĕrˈtō sābästyänˈ äntōnˈyō mätˈtä ĕkhärˈrĕn [key], 1911?–2002, Chilean painter who left his native country for Paris (1935) an...

St. Clair, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)St. Clair, Arthur, 1734–1818, American general, b. Thurso, Scotland. He left the Univ. of Edinburgh to become (1757) an ensign in the British army and served in the French and Indian War at Louisbur...

naval architecture

(Encyclopedia)naval architecture, science of designing ships. A naval architect must consider especially the following factors: floatability, i.e., the ability of the ship to remain afloat while meeting the require...

Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich, 1908–79, U.S. public official, governor of New York (1959–73), Vice President of the United States (1974–77), b. Bar Harbor, Maine; grandson of John D. Rockefeller. ...

sedition

(Encyclopedia)sedition sĭdĭˈshən [key], in law, acts or words tending to upset the authority of a government. The scope of the offense was broad in early common law, which even permitted prosecution for a remar...

Comstock Lode

(Encyclopedia)Comstock Lode, richest known U.S. silver deposit, W Nevada, on Mt. Davidson in the Virginia Range. It is said to have been discovered in 1857 by Ethan Allen Grosh and Hosea Ballou Grosh, sons of a Pen...

Gautier, Théophile

(Encyclopedia)Gautier, Théophile gōtyāˈ [key], 1811–72, French poet, novelist, and critic. He was a leading exponent of “art for art's sake”—the belief that formal, aesthetic beauty is the sole purpose...

Dillard, Annie

(Encyclopedia)Dillard, Annie, 1945–, American writer, b. Pittsburgh, Pa., as Meta Ann Doak, grad. Hollins College (B.A., 1967; M.A., 1968). She has taught writing at Western Washington Univ. and Wesleyan Univ. Th...

English sparrow

(Encyclopedia)English sparrow or house sparrow, small bird, Passer domesticus, common throughout most of the world. English sparrows are 4 to 7 in. (10–18 cm) long, with short, stout bills. The male is brown with...