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Bouguer, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Bouguer, Pierre pyĕr bo͞ogĕrˈ [key], 1698–1758, French mathematician and hydrographer. He made some of the first photometric measurements, calculating the intensity of the light of the sun as co...

Staël, Germaine de

(Encyclopedia)Staël, Germaine de zhĕrmĕnˈ də stäl [key], 1766–1817, French-Swiss woman of letters, whose full name was Anne Louise Germaine Necker, baronne de Staël-Holstein. Born in Paris, the daughter of...

Solís y Rivadeneyra, Antonio de

(Encyclopedia)Solís y Rivadeneyra, Antonio de äntōˈnyō ᵺā sōlēsˈ ē rēˌväᵺānāˈrä [key], 1610–86, Spanish historian and dramatic poet. His intricate comic dramas were popular at court and the b...

Ronsard, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Ronsard, Pierre de pyĕr də rôNsärˈ [key], 1524–1585, French poet. As page, then squire, Ronsard seemed destined for a career at court both in France and abroad. However, deafness turned him to ...

De la Warr, Thomas West, 12th Baron

(Encyclopedia)De la Warr, Thomas West, 12th Baron dĕlˈəwər [key], 1577–1618, English colonial governor of Virginia. He saw fighting in the Netherlands and was knighted when serving in Ireland. He succeeded to...

Hanotaux, Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Hanotaux, Gabriel gäbrēĕlˈ änôtōˈ [key], 1853–1944, French historian and statesman. Twice minister of foreign affairs (1894–95, 1895–98), he greatly furthered the Franco-Russian rapproch...

Ercilla y Zúñiga, Alonso de

(Encyclopedia)Ercilla y Zúñiga, Alonso de älōnˈsō ᵺā ārthēˈlyä ē tho͞oˈnyēgä [key], 1533–94, Spanish poet. In Chile (1556–63) he fought against the Araucanian, and while there he began the epi...

Lamennais, Félicité Robert de

(Encyclopedia)Lamennais or La Mennais, Félicité Robert de fālēsētāˈ rōbĕrˈ də lämənāˈ [key], 1782–1854, French Roman Catholic apologist and liberal, b. Saint-Malo. He was largely self-educated by w...

Parras

(Encyclopedia)Parras dā lä fwānˈtā [key], city (1990 pop. 26,160), Coahuila state, N Mexico. It is a road and rail junction located in a well-watered valley of a semiarid region. Parras, an agricultural center...

Peralta Barnuevo, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Peralta Barnuevo, Pedro de pāˈᵺrō ᵺā pārälˈtä bärnwāˈvō [key], 1664–1743, Peruvian writer. Although his major literary interests were drama and poetry, he also wrote on astronomy, ma...