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Apollonius of Perga

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius of Perga, fl. 247–205 b.c., Greek mathematician of the Alexandrian school. He produced a treatise on conic sections that included, as well as his own work, much of the work of his predece...

Apollonius of Tyana

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius of Tyana, fl. 1st cent. a.d., Greek philosopher, b. Tyana, Cappadocia. A philosopher of the Neo-Pythagorean school, he traveled widely and became famous for his wisdom and reputed magical p...

apple of discord

(Encyclopedia)apple of discord: see Paris, in Greek mythology. ...

Aqaba, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Aqaba, Gulf of, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, 118 mi (190 km) long and 10 to 15 mi (16.1 to 24.1 km) wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas; a part of the Great Rift Valley. The gulf, which...

Aragón, house of

(Encyclopedia)Aragón, house of, family that ruled in Aragón, Catalonia, Majorca, Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Athens, and other territories in the Middle Ages. It was descended from Ramiro I of Aragón (1035–63), ...

Arden, Forest of

(Encyclopedia)Arden, Forest of, well-wooded area, formerly very extensive, in Warwickshire, central England. It is the setting for Shakespeare's As You Like It. ...

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...

Aristarchus of Samothrace

(Encyclopedia)Aristarchus of Samothrace sămˈəthrās [key], c.217–c.145 b.c., Greek scholar, successor to his teacher, Aristophanes of Byzantium, as librarian at Alexandria. He was an innovator of scientific sc...

Aristophanes of Byzantium

(Encyclopedia)Aristophanes of Byzantium bĭzănˈshēəm, –tēəm [key], c.257–180 b.c., Greek scholar. He was librarian at Alexandria, edited various texts, and reputedly invented the Greek diacritical marks. ...

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