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Matthew of Westminster

(Encyclopedia)Matthew of Westminster, name for many years given to the supposed author of an English chronicle in Latin, the Flores historiarum. The chronicle was actually written by various monks. The portion cove...

Pappus

(Encyclopedia)Pappus păpˈəs [key], fl. c.300, Greek mathematician of Alexandria. He recorded and enlarged on the results of his predecessors, including Euclid and Apollonius of Perga, in his Mathematical Collect...

Roa, Raúl

(Encyclopedia)Roa, Raúl (Raúl Roa García) räo͞olˈ rōˈä [key], 1907–82, Cuban minister of foreign affairs (1959–76). A lawyer, he was also a university professor in the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote prolifi...

Willughby, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Willughby, Francis wĭlˈəbē [key], 1635–72, English naturalist. He is known especially for his early systematic work on birds and fishes, in which he made some of the most important contributions...

Adelard of Bath

(Encyclopedia)Adelard of Bath ădˈəlärd [key], fl. 12th cent., English scholastic philosopher, celebrated for his study of Arabic learning. He translated Euclid from Arabic into Latin. His major works were Perdi...

Ulugh-Beg

(Encyclopedia)Ulugh-Beg or Ulug-Beg both: o͞oˈlo͞og bĕg [key], 1394–1449, Timurid ruler and astronomer. The grandson of Timur (or Tamerlane), he succeeded to the Timurid domain in 1447. A patron of the arts a...

Bacon, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Robert, 1860–1919, American banker and government official, b. Jamaica Plain, Mass. He embarked upon a career in business and in 1894 accepted a partnership with J. P. Morgan and Company. He ...

Verrius Flaccus, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Verrius Flaccus, Marcus märˈkəs vĕrˈēəs flăkˈəs [key], fl. 20 b.c., Roman grammarian. A freedman, he was appointed by Augustus to educate his grandsons and died at an advanced age during the...

More, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)More, Sir Thomas (Saint Thomas More), 1478–1535, English statesman and author of Utopia, celebrated as a martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. He received a Latin education in the household of Cardin...

Boccaccio, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Boccaccio, Giovanni jōvänˈnē [key], 1313–75, Italian poet and storyteller, author of the Decameron. Born in Paris, the illegitimate son of a Tuscan merchant and a French woman, he was educated a...