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Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas, 1897–1967, English physicist, educated at the Univ. of Manchester and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was a fellow of St. John's College (1928–46) and professor of n...

Geulincx, Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Geulincx, Arnold göˈlĭngks [key], 1624–69, Flemish Cartesian philosopher, b. Antwerp. One of the founders of occasionalism, his philosophy is characterized by a curious blending of rationalism an...

Gorgias

(Encyclopedia)Gorgias gôrˈjēəs [key], c.485–c.380 b.c., Greek Sophist. From his native city, Leontini, Sicily, he was sent as an ambassador to Athens, where he settled to teach and practice rhetoric. Gorgias ...

Davidson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, Thomas, 1842–1900, American scholar and philosopher, b. Scotland, grad. Univ. of Aberdeen, 1860. In 1866 he went to Canada and then to the United States. On a visit to London in 1883 he fo...

Davis, Angela Yvonne

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Angela Yvonne, 1944–, African-American political activist, b. Birmingham, Ala. She taught philosophy (1969–70) at the Univ. of California, Los Angeles, until she was finally denied reappoin...

Ferguson, Adam

(Encyclopedia)Ferguson, Adam fûrˈgəsən [key], 1723–1816, Scottish philosopher and historian. He was professor of philosophy at the Univ. of Edinburgh (1759–85). His Essay on the History of Civil Society (17...

Tyndall, John

(Encyclopedia)Tyndall, John tĭnˈdəl [key], 1820–93, British physicist, b. Ireland. He became (1853) professor of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution and in 1867 succeeded Michael Faraday, his friend an...

Valera, Diego de

(Encyclopedia)Valera, Diego de dyāˈgō dā välāˈrä [key], 1412?–1488?, Spanish adventurer and writer. Reared at the Castilian court, he was page to John II and later became one of his diplomatic agents. He ...

Varona y Pera, Enrique José

(Encyclopedia)Varona y Pera, Enrique José ānrēˈkā hōsāˈ värōˈnä ē pāˈrä [key], 1849–1933, Cuban philosopher and vice president of Cuba (1913–17). Varona was a professor at the Univ. of Havana an...

Palmer, George Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Palmer, George Herbert, 1842–1933, American educator, philosopher, and author, b. Boston, grad. Harvard, 1864, Andover Theological Seminary, 1870, studied (1867–69) in Europe. He became tutor in G...