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Nussbaum, Martha Craven

(Encyclopedia)Nussbaum, Martha C., 1947–, American philosopher, b. New York City, Ph.D. Harvard University, 1975. The Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor o...

Dreyer, Carl Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Dreyer, Carl Theodor kärl tāˈōdôrˌ drīˈər [key], 1889–1968, Danish motion picture director. He began making films in Denmark in 1919. His Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), widely regarded as a...

esophagus

(Encyclopedia)esophagus ĭsŏfˈəgəs [key], portion of the digestive tube that conducts food from the mouth to the stomach. When food is swallowed it passes from the pharynx into the esophagus, initiating rhythmi...

Hughes, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hughes, Richard, 1900–1976, English novelist. After graduating from Oxford in 1922, he helped found the Portmadoc Players and was for a time vice president of the Welsh National Theatre. In addition...

Huntington, Ellsworth

(Encyclopedia)Huntington, Ellsworth, 1876–1947, American geographer, b. Galesburg, Ill., grad. Beloit College, 1897, M.A. Harvard, 1902, Ph.D. Yale, 1909. He taught at Euphrates College, Turkey (1897–1901); acc...

haiku

(Encyclopedia)haiku hīˈko͞o [key], an unrhymed Japanese poem recording the essence of a moment keenly perceived, in which nature is linked to human nature. It usually consists of 17 jion (Japanese symbol-sounds)...

Groote Schuur

(Encyclopedia)Groote Schuur khro͝oˈtə skür [key] [Afrik.,=large barn], estate, Cape Town, Western Cape, SW South Africa. The main building of the estate, which is a good example of Dutch colonial architecture, ...

Ford, Paul Leicester

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Paul Leicester lĕsˈtər [key], 1865–1902, American historian and novelist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. His father, Gordon L. Ford, then possessed probably the best library of Americana in the country;...

Moore, Barrington

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Barrington, 1913–2005, American sociologist and political scientist. Moore wrote a number of books on historical sociology that focus on Soviet society. Based at the Russian Research Center a...

mermaid

(Encyclopedia)mermaid, in folklore, sea-dwelling creature commonly represented as having the head and body of a woman and a fishtail instead of legs. Belief in mermaids, and in their counterpart, mermen, has existe...