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Lowell, Josephine Shaw

(Encyclopedia)Lowell, Josephine Shaw, 1843–1905, American political reformer, b. Roxbury, Mass. Lowell, brother of Robert Gould Shaw and widow of Colonel Charle...

Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovich əlyĭksänˈdər ēväˈnəvĭch hârˈtsĭn [key], 1812–70, Russian revolutionary leader and writer. A member of the aristocracy, he was appalled at the brutality of hi...

social contract

(Encyclopedia)social contract, agreement or covenant by which men are said to have abandoned the “state of nature” to form the society in which they now live. The theory of such a contract, first formulated by ...

knight

(Encyclopedia)knight, in ancient and medieval history, a noble who did military service as a mounted warrior. As the feudal system disintegrated, knight service was with growing frequency commuted into cash pay...

sociology

(Encyclopedia)sociology, scientific study of human social behavior. As the study of humans in their collective aspect, sociology is concerned with all group activities—economic, social, political, and religious. ...

Lagrange, Joseph Louis, Comte

(Encyclopedia)Lagrange, Joseph Louis, Comte zhôzĕfˈ lwē kôNt lägräNzhˈ [key], 1736–1813, French mathematician and astronomer, b. Turin, of French and Italian descent. Before the age of 20 he was professor...

Hogarth, William

(Encyclopedia)Hogarth, William, 1697–1764, English painter, satirist, engraver, and art theorist, b. London. At the age of 15 he was apprenticed to a silver-plate engraver. He soon made engravings on copper for b...

Gentileschi, Artemisia

(Encyclopedia)Gentileschi, Artemisia ärˌtāmēˈzhə jānˌtēlĕsˈkē [key], c.1597–c.1652, Tuscan painter, daughter and pupil of Orazio Gentileschi, b. Rome. She studied with her father's collaborator, Agost...

Antunes, António Lobo

(Encyclopedia)Antunes, António Lobo, 1942–, Portuguese novelist. Trained as a physician, he was a field hospital doctor in Angola in the 1960s and later worked in a children's cancer hospital; both experiences s...

Tiahuanaco

(Encyclopedia)Tiahuanaco tyäwänäˈkō [key], ancient native ruin, W Bolivia, 34 mi (55 km) S of Lake Titicaca on the Tiahuanaco R. in the S central Andes, near the Peruvian border; also called Tiwanaku or Tiahua...