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Hume, David

(Encyclopedia)Hume, David hyo͞om [key], 1711–76, Scottish philosopher and historian. Educated at Edinburgh, he lived (1734–37) in France, where he finished his first philosophical work, A Treatise of Human Nat...

Joplin, Scott

(Encyclopedia)Joplin, Scott jŏpˈlĭn [key], 1868–1917, American ragtime pianist and composer, b. Texarkana, Tex. Self-taught, Joplin left home in his early teens to seek his fortune in music. He lived in St. Lo...

James I, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)James I, 1394–1437, king of Scotland (1406–37), son and successor of Robert III. King Robert feared for the safety of James because the king's brother, Robert Stuart, 1st duke of Albany, who was v...

mushroom

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The poisonous mushroom Amanita mushroom, type of basidium fungus characterized by spore-bearing gills on the underside of the umbrella- or cone-shaped cap. The name toadstool is popularly rese...

Kennedy, Joseph Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, Joseph Patrick, 1888–1969, U.S. ambassador to Great Britain (1937–40), b. Boston, grad. Harvard, 1912. The founder of an American dynasty, he was the father of nine children, including Jo...

Lorde, Audrey Geraldine

(Encyclopedia)Lorde, Audre, 1934–1992, African-American poet, essayist, and civil rights activist, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (M.L.S. 1961). Lorde was born to...

Wells, H. G.

(Encyclopedia)Wells, H. G. (Herbert George Wells), 1866–1946, English author. Although he is probably best remembered for his works of science fiction, he was also an imaginative social thinker, working assiduous...

biotechnology

(Encyclopedia)biotechnology, the use of biological processes, as through the exploitation and manipulation of living organisms or biological systems, in the development or manufacture of a product or in the technol...

Steichen, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Steichen, Edward stīˈkən [key], 1879–1973, American photographer, b. Luxembourg, reared in Hancock, Mich. Steichen is credited with the transformation of photography into an art form. At 16, whil...

Plath, Sylvia

(Encyclopedia)Plath, Sylvia, 1932–63, American poet, b. Boston. Educated at Smith College and Cambridge, Plath published poems even as a child and won many academic and literary awards. Her first volume of poetry...