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Galahad, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Galahad, Sir gălˈəhădˌ [key], hero of Arthurian legend. He was the son of Launcelot and Elaine, the daughter of King Pelles. Because he was the noblest and purest of the knights of Christendom, h...

Gawain, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Gawain, Sir gäˈwān, –wĭn [key], one of the most popular heroes of Arthurian legend; nephew of King Arthur. He was regarded, particularly in the early romances, as the model of chivalry—pure, b...

Markham, Sir Clements Robert

(Encyclopedia)Markham, Sir Clements Robert märˈkəm [key], 1830–1916, English geographer and writer. While in the navy he served on a British expedition (1850–51) to the Arctic to search for the explorer Sir ...

Frankland, Sir Edward

(Encyclopedia)Frankland, Sir Edward, 1825–99, English chemist. He studied under Bunsen and Liebig and taught at several English institutions. In working on the synthesis and isolation of compounds he evolved the ...

Robertson, Sir William Robert

(Encyclopedia)Robertson, Sir William Robert, 1860–1933, British field marshal. He enlisted in the army in 1877 and became an officer in 1888. He was in the intelligence department in India (1892–96) and served ...

Holyoake, Sir Keith Jacka

(Encyclopedia)Holyoake, Sir Keith Jacka hōˈlē-ōkˌ, hōlˈyōk [key], 1904–83, New Zealand statesman. A farmer, he was active in agricultural organizations in the 1930s and 40s. He entered Parliament in 1932....

Brangwyn, Sir Frank William

(Encyclopedia)Brangwyn, Sir Frank William brăngˈwĭn [key], 1867–1956, British painter, etcher, and designer, b. Belgium (to British parents). In his youth he worked in the studio of William Morris and later tr...

Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck

(Encyclopedia)Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck, 1899–1980, American physicist, b. Middletown, Conn., Ph.D. Harvard, 1922. As a professor at Harvard, Van Vleck developed fundamental theories on the quantum mechanics of m...

Symonds, John Addington

(Encyclopedia)Symonds, John Addington sĭmˈənz [key], 1840–93, English author. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, constant ill health exiled him for the greater part of his life to Italy and Switzerland. His many w...

Launcelot, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Launcelot, Sir lănˈsəlŏtˌ, lŏnˈ–, lônˈ– [key], in Arthurian legend, bravest and most celebrated knight at the court of King Arthur. He was kidnapped as an infant by the mysterious Lady of...