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Gray, Asa

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Asa, 1810–88, one of America's leading botanists and taxonomists, b. Oneida co., N.Y. As professor of natural history at Harvard from 1842, he was the teacher of many eminent botanists. Throug...

Asa

(Encyclopedia)Asa āˈsə [key], in the Bible, king of Judah, son and successor of Abijah. He was a good king, zealous in his extirpation of idols. When Baasha of Israel took Ramah (a few miles N of Jerusalem), Asa...

Whitney, Asa

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, Asa, 1797–1872, American merchant and transcontinental railroad projector, b. North Groton, Conn. He entered the mercantile business in New York City, acted as a foreign buyer for several y...

Torrey, John

(Encyclopedia)Torrey, John, 1796–1873, American botanist and chemist, b. New York City, M.D. College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1818. He was professor of chemistry (1827–55) at his alma mater and professor of ...

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon

(Encyclopedia)Fernald, Merritt Lyndon fûrˈnəld [key], 1873–1950, American botanist, b. Orono, Maine, grad. Harvard, 1897. He taught at Harvard (1902–49) and was director of the Gray Herbarium there from 1937...

Gray, Elisha

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Elisha, 1835–1901, American inventor, b. Barnesville, Ohio. He patented many electrical devices, most of them having to do with the telegraph. His telautograph (1888) for transmitting handwrit...

Gray, George

(Encyclopedia)Gray, George, 1840–1925, American jurist, b. New Castle, Del. A lawyer, he was (1879–85) attorney general of Delaware and (1885–99) a Democratic senator. Gray often served (1898–1916) on inter...

Gray, Horace

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Horace, 1828–1902, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1881–1902), b. Boston. At first a reporter (1854–61) to the Massachusetts supreme court, he later entered i...

Gray, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Robert, 1755–1806, American sea captain, discoverer of the Columbia River, b. Tiverton, R.I. He probably served in the Continental navy in the American Revolution. In 1787 he and Capt. John Ke...

Gray, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Stephen, 1666–1736, English physicist. Gray, a dyer by trade, cultivated science as a hobby. In 1696 he published an account of a magnifying glass that interested the Royal Society and from th...