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Gilbert de la Porrée

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert de la Porrée zhēlbĕrˈ də lä pôrāˈ [key], 1076–1154, French scholastic philosopher, b. Poitiers. He taught for 20 years at Chartres, where he was for some time chancellor. He later l...

space probe

(Encyclopedia)space probe, space vehicle carrying sophisticated instrumentation but no crew, designed to explore various aspects of the solar system (see space exploration). Unlike an artificial satellite, which is...

Epstein, Sir Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Epstein, Sir Jacob ĕpˈstīn [key], 1880–1959, sculptor, b. New York City. He studied with Rodin in Paris and later worked chiefly in England. In revolt against the ornate and the pretty in art, Ep...

Mérimée, Prosper

(Encyclopedia)Mérimée, Prosper prôspĕrˈ mārēmāˈ [key], 1803–70, French author. He first wrote a collection of plays in imitation of Spanish drama, The Plays of Clara Gazul (1825, tr. 1825), and a collect...

Nin, Anaïs

(Encyclopedia)Nin, Anaïs ənīˈĭs nĭn, nēn [key], 1903–77, American writer, b. Paris. The daughter of the Spanish composer Joaquín Nin, she came to the United States as a child. She was a psychoanalytic pat...

O'Toole, Peter

(Encyclopedia)O'Toole, Peter (Peter Seamus O'Toole), 1932–2013, British actor, b. Connemara, Ireland, grad. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London (1955). A classical stage actor, he appeared (1955–58) with the ...

Bronzino, Il

(Encyclopedia)Bronzino, Il ēl brōntsēˈnō [key], 1503–72, Florentine painter, an important mannerist (see mannerism), whose real name was Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano. Bronzino was a pupil and adopted son of J...

Eaton, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Eaton, Amos ēˈtən [key], 1776–1842, American naturalist, b. Chatham, N.Y., grad. Williams College, 1799. After practicing law for a time, he conducted pioneer geological surveys in Albany and Ren...

Miller, Perry

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Perry, 1905–63, U.S. historian, b. Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the Univ. of Chicago in 1931 and taught at Harvard from 1931 until his death. A towering figure in the field of America...

Leyner, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Leyner, Mark, 1956–, American writer, b. Jersey City, N.J. His hyperliterate postmodernist short stories, collected in I Smell Esther Williams (1983), My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist (1990), and To...