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Calypso, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Calypso kəlĭpˈsō [key], nymph, daughter of Atlas, in Homer's Odyssey. She lived on the island of Ogygia and there entertained Odysseus for seven years. Although she offered to make him immortal if...

Burnham, Sherburne Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Burnham, Sherburne Wesley, 1838–1921, American astronomer, b. Thetford, Vt. After serving as observer at Dearborn Observatory, Chicago (1877–81, 1882–84), and as astronomer at Lick Observatory (...

tyrant

(Encyclopedia)tyrant, in ancient history, ruler who gained power by usurping the legal authority. The word is perhaps of Lydian origin and carried with it no connotation of moral censure. With the growth of the con...

Barnard, Edward Emerson

(Encyclopedia)Barnard, Edward Emerson, 1857–1923, American astronomer, b. Nashville, Tenn., grad. Vanderbilt Univ., 1887. From 1887 to 1895 he was astronomer at Lick Observatory in California, and from 1895 he wa...

Aristarchus of Samos

(Encyclopedia)Aristarchus of Samos ărˌĭstärˈkəs, sāˈmŏs [key], fl. c.310 b.c.–c.230 b.c., Greek astronomer and mathematician of the Alexandrian school. He is said to have been the first to propose a heli...

Callimachus, fl. 2d half of 5th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor from Athens

(Encyclopedia)Callimachus kəlĭmˈəkəs [key], fl. 2d half of 5th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor from Athens. He was famous as the maker of the gold lamp in the Erechtheum and a seated image of Hera for a temple at P...

Airy, Sir George Biddell

(Encyclopedia)Airy, Sir George Biddell, 1801–92, English astronomer. The son of a poor farmer, he distinguished himself as Senior Wrangler at Cambridge, where he was elected fellow of Trinity College (1824) and a...

Bradley, James

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, James, 1693–1762, English astronomer. His discovery of the aberration of light, announced in 1728, provided an important line of evidence for the motion of the earth around the sun. In 1742...

Flamsteed, John

(Encyclopedia)Flamsteed, John flămˈstēd [key], 1646–1719, English astronomer. He was appointed (1675) astronomer royal by King Charles II and carried on his researches at Greenwich Observatory. Over his protes...

Maskelyne, Nevil

(Encyclopedia)Maskelyne, Nevil măsˈkəlīn [key], 1732–1811, English astronomer. Maskelyne received his education at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Appointed astronomer royal at the Royal Ob...