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Poggendorff, Johann Christian

(Encyclopedia)Poggendorff, Johann Christian yōˈhän krĭsˈtyän pôgˈəndôrfˌ [key], 1796–1877, German physicist and chemist. He founded (1824) and edited the important Annalen der Physik und Chemie and edi...

classicism

(Encyclopedia)classicism, a term that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic qual...

Achenwall, Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Achenwall, Gottfried gôtˈfrēt äkhˈənväl [key], 1719–72, German statistician and political scientist. He used the term Statistik for the first time in his Staatsverfassung der heutigen vornehm...

Hartmann von Aue

(Encyclopedia)Hartmann von Aue härtˈmän fən ouˈə [key], c.1170–c.1220, German poet whose name is also spelled von Ouwe. His chivalric romances Erec and Iwain are tales of Arthurian legend. Other works inclu...

Sinding, Christian

(Encyclopedia)Sinding, Christian krĭsˈtyän sĭnˈdĭng [key], 1856–1941, Norwegian nationalist composer, best remembered for his lyrical, romantic piano works, including the popular Rustle of Spring. He also w...

Schwarz, Berthold

(Encyclopedia)Schwarz, Berthold bĕrˈtôlt shvärts [key], fl. 14th cent., German Franciscan monk and alchemist. It was formerly widely believed, especially in Germany, that he invented gunpowder and was the first...

Greville, Charles Cavendish Fulke

(Encyclopedia)Greville, Charles Cavendish Fulke grĕvˈĭl [key], 1794–1865, English diarist. As clerk of the Council in Ordinary (1821–59), he was closely associated with Wellington, Palmerston, and other poli...

Haynes, John

(Encyclopedia)Haynes, John, c.1594–1654, colonial governor of Massachusetts and then of Connecticut. He emigrated (1633) from England to Massachusetts and as governor (1635) banished Roger Williams, an act he lat...

Wolcott, Oliver, signer of the Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Wolcott, Oliver, 1726–97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. South Windsor (then in Windsor), Conn.; son of Roger Wolcott. He fought in King G...

Kant, Immanuel

(Encyclopedia)Kant, Immanuel ĭmänˈo͞oĕl känt [key], 1724–1804, German metaphysician, one of the greatest figures in philosophy, b. Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The impact of Kant's work has be...