(Encyclopedia) Bartlett, John, 1820–1905, American compiler and publisher, b. Plymouth, Mass. While he worked in his university book store in Cambridge, he compiled the invaluable Familiar Quotations…
(Encyclopedia) Playfair, John, 1748–1819, Scottish mathematician, physicist, and geologist. He was educated at St. Andrews and Edinburgh and taught first mathematics and then physics and astronomy at…
(Encyclopedia) Ruskin, John, 1819–1900, English critic and social theorist. During the mid-19th cent. Ruskin was the virtual dictator of artistic opinion in England, but Ruskin's reputation declined…
(Encyclopedia) Banville, John, 1945–, Irish novelist. His novels, which stress language over plot and narrative, are written in a dense, elaborate, and highly original blend of poetry and prose. They…
(Encyclopedia) Rutledge, John, 1739–1800, American jurist and political leader, 2d chief justice of the United States, b. Charleston, S.C.; brother of Edward Rutledge. After studying law in London he…
(Encyclopedia) Ruysbroeck, John, Dutch Jan van RuusbroecRuysbroeck, John,yän vän roisˈbr&oomacr;k [key], 1293–1381, Roman Catholic mystic, b. Brabant (now in Belgium and the Netherlands). He was…
(Encyclopedia) Philips, John, 1676–1709, English poet. He was one of the few to write in blank verse in an age when the heroic couplet was the standard form. His Splendid Shilling (1701, 1705) is a…
(Encyclopedia) Prester John, legendary Christian priest and monarch of a vast, wealthy empire in Asia or in Africa. The legend first appeared in the latter part of the 12th cent. and persisted for…
(Encyclopedia) Bard, John, 1716–99, American physician, persuaded New York to establish on Bedloe Island its first quarantine station and was himself the first health officer. He wrote on yellow…
(Encyclopedia) Bardeen, JohnBardeen, Johnbärdēnˈ [key], 1908–91, American physicist, b. Madison, Wis., grad. Univ. of Wisconsin (B.S. 1928, M.S. 1929), Ph.D. Princeton, 1936. He was a research…