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Webb, Walter Prescott

(Encyclopedia)Webb, Walter Prescott, 1888–1963, U.S. historian, b. Panola co., Tex. He joined the faculty of the history department at the Univ. of Texas in 1918, received his Ph.D. in 1932, and became full profe...

Talmud

(Encyclopedia)Talmud tălˈməd [key] [Aramaic from Heb.,=learning], in Judaism, vast compilation of the Oral Law with rabbinical elucidations, elaborations, and commentaries, in contradistinction to the Scriptures...

Aristarchus of Samothrace

(Encyclopedia)Aristarchus of Samothrace sămˈəthrās [key], c.217–c.145 b.c., Greek scholar, successor to his teacher, Aristophanes of Byzantium, as librarian at Alexandria. He was an innovator of scientific sc...

Matthiessen, F. O.

(Encyclopedia)Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto Matthiessen) măthˈĭsĕn [key], 1902–50, American critic, b. Pasadena, Calif., grad. Yale Univ., 1923, B.Litt., Oxford, 1925, Ph.D., Harvard, 1927. A Rhodes schola...

Rangabe, Alexandros Rizos

(Encyclopedia)Rangabe or Rhangavis, Alexandros Rizos älĕkˈsänᵺrôs rēˈzôs räNgäbāˈ, rängˌgävēsˈ [key], 1810–92, Greek scholar, author, and diplomat, b. Constantinople. After 1831 he held governm...

Natsume Soseki

(Encyclopedia)Natsume Soseki näˈtso͞oˈmĕ sōˈsĕˈkē [key], 1867–1916, Japanese writer. Soseki ranks along with Mori Ogai as one of two giants of early modern Japanese letters. Although Soseki began his ca...

Crichton, James

(Encyclopedia)Crichton, James krīˈtən [key], 1560?–1583?, Scottish adventurer and scholar, called the Admirable Crichton. A graduate of the Univ. of St. Andrews, he spent some time in France, possibly in milit...

Enchi, Fumiko

(Encyclopedia)Enchi, Fumiko fo͞oˈmēˈkō ĕnˈchē [key], 1905–86, Japanese novelist and literary critic. The daughter of a well-known Japanese literary scholar, she first wrote for the theater, later turning ...

Eratosthenes

(Encyclopedia)Eratosthenes ĕrətŏsˈthənēz [key], c.275–c.195 b.c., Greek scholar, b. Cyrene. A pupil of Callimachus in Athens, he became (c.240 b.c.) head of the library at Alexandria. Known for his versatil...

Gasquet, Francis Aidan

(Encyclopedia)Gasquet, Francis Aidan găsˈkĭt [key], 1846–1929, English prelate and scholar, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, a Benedictine. In historical studies of English religious and social life in t...