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Espy, James Pollard

(Encyclopedia)Espy, James Pollard ĕsˈpē [key], 1785–1860, American meteorologist. He developed a convection theory of storms, explaining it in 1836 before the American Philosophical Society and in 1840 before ...

Hartman, David

(Encyclopedia)Hartman, David, 1931–2013, Israeli rabbi and philosopher, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. The son of Hasidim who immigrated to the United States from Israel, he trained as a rabbi at Yeshiva Univ., New York City,...

Hettner, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Hettner, Alfred älˈfrĕt hĕtˈnər [key], 1859–1942, German geographer and teacher; a founder of modern German geography. His methodology and his materialistic philosophy, grounded in the work of...

Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins

(Encyclopedia)Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins, 1852–1930, American author, b. Randolph, Mass. Her stories and novels paint a picture of Massachusetts and Vermont still under the influence of Puritanism, in her view...

Giner de los Ríos, Francisco

(Encyclopedia)Giner de los Ríos, Francisco fränthēsˈkō hēnārˈ dā lōs rēˈōs [key], 1839–1915, Spanish educator and philosopher. He founded the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, a school that sought to...

Genovesi, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Genovesi, Antonio äntôˈnyō jānōvĕˈzē [key], 1712–69, Italian philosopher and economist, a pioneer in writing philosophy in Italian instead of in Latin. Genovesi introduced new ideas, partic...

Appleton, Sir Edward Victor

(Encyclopedia)Appleton, Sir Edward Victor, 1892–1965, English physicist, grad. St. John's College, Cambridge. After returning from active service in World War I, he became assistant demonstrator in experimental p...

Nahmanides

(Encyclopedia)Nahmanides nähmänˈĭdēz [key], 1194–c.1270, Jewish scholar, exegete, and kabbalist, b. Spain. He wrote commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. A mystic, he rejected part of Maimonides' ...

Olcott, Henry Steel

(Encyclopedia)Olcott, Henry Steel, 1832–1907, American religious leader and author, cofounder of Theosophist movement, b. Orange, N.J. After working as an agricultural scientist and a lawyer, he and Helena Blavat...

Mansel, Henry Longueville

(Encyclopedia)Mansel, Henry Longueville mănˈsəl [key], 1820–71, English philosopher and theologian. A disciple of Sir William Hamilton, he systematized his teacher's conception of the relativity of knowledge, ...