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griffin, legendary creature

(Encyclopedia)griffin, in ancient and medieval legend, creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Its name also appears as griffon and gryphon. The griffin originated in ancient Middle Eas...

materialism

(Encyclopedia)materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought...

William of Occam

(Encyclopedia)William of Occam or Ockham both: ŏkˈəm [key], c.1285–c.1349, English scholastic philosopher. A Franciscan, Occam studied and taught at Oxford from c.1310 until 1324, when he was summoned to the p...

Crates

(Encyclopedia)Crates krāˈtēz [key], fl. 449 b.c., Athenian comic dramatist. He is said to have introduced into comedy themes other than those of personal satire, and he was one of the first to show the comic pos...

Ptah

(Encyclopedia)Ptah ptä [key], in Egyptian religion, great god of Memphis. He was one of the important gods of ancient Egypt and, according to Memphite theology, created the universe through the thought of his hear...

Hummel, Johann Nepomuk

(Encyclopedia)Hummel, Johann Nepomuk yōˈhän nāˈpōmo͝ok ho͝omˈəl [key], 1778–1837, Hungarian-born pianist and composer. In piano technique and improvisatory ability Hummel was thought to rival Beethoven....

Itzamna

(Encyclopedia)Itzamna ētsämˈnä [key], chief deity of the Maya. Son of Hunab Ku, the creator, he was believed to be lord of the heavens, day, and night. Thought by the Maya to have been the inventor of writing a...

Brosamer, Hans

(Encyclopedia)Brosamer, Hans häns brōˈzämər [key], c.1500–1554, German painter and engraver. His work shows the influence of Cranach, Dürer, and Holbein. Recent scholarship has attempted to reattribute a la...

Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish

(Encyclopedia)Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish äˌnəndäˈ kĕnˈtĭsh ko͝omäˌrəswäˈmē [key], 1877–1947, art historian, b. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Raised in London by an English mother, he returned to Ceylon...

Müller, Karl Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Müller, Karl Alexander, 1927–, Swiss physicist, Ph.D. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 1958. In 1983, Müller and co-researcher Johannes Georg Bednorz discovered superconductivity in a cerami...