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despotism

(Encyclopedia)despotism, government by an absolute ruler unchecked by effective constitutional limits to his power. In Greek usage, a despot was ruler of a household and master of its slaves. The title was applied ...

Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de

(Encyclopedia)Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de ātyĕnˈ bônōˈ də kôNdēyäkˈ [key], 1715–80, French philosopher who developed the theory of sensationalism (i.e., that all knowledge comes from the senses and t...

Cooper, Leon Neil

(Encyclopedia)Cooper, Leon Neil, 1930–, American neuroscientist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Columbia, 1954. Cooper was a researcher at the Univ. of Illinois from 1955 to 1957 and at Ohio State Univ. from 1957 to 195...

Pound, Roscoe

(Encyclopedia)Pound, Roscoe, 1870–1964, American jurist, b. Lincoln, Nebr. He studied (1889–90) at Harvard law school, but never received a law degree. Pound was a prominent botanist as well as a jurist, and sp...

Rumford, Benjamin Thompson, Count

(Encyclopedia)Rumford, Benjamin Thompson, Count, 1753–1814, American-British scientist and administrator, b. Woburn, Mass. In 1776 he went to England, where he served (1780–81) as undersecretary of the colonies...

Parsons, Talcott

(Encyclopedia)Parsons, Talcott, 1902–79, American sociologist, b. Colorado Springs, Colo., educated at Amherst College (B.A., 1924), London School of Economics, and Univ. of Heidelberg (Ph.D., 1927). He was on th...

Werner, Abraham Gottlob

(Encyclopedia)Werner, Abraham Gottlob äˈbrähäm gôtˈlōp vĕrˈnər [key], 1750–1817, German geologist. In 1775 he became inspector and teacher in the mining academy at Freiberg, which through his efforts be...

Weierstrass, Karl Wilhelm Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Weierstrass, Karl Wilhelm Theodor kärl vĭlˈhĕlm tāˈōdōr vīˈərshträs [key], 1815–97, German mathematician. From 1864 he was professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Berlin. His developmen...

Marcus, Rudolph Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Marcus, Rudolph Arthur, 1923–, American chemist, b. Montreal, Canada. A professor at the California Institute of Technology, he was awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a theory ...

atonement

(Encyclopedia)atonement, the reconciliation, or “at-one-ment,” of sinful humanity with God. In Judaism both the Bible and rabbinical thought reflect the belief that God's chosen people must be pure to remain in...