Notable People (2)

There is a part two to my Notable People Page because WordPress, for some odd reason, can’t handle long pages. Le sigh.

[+]Pompeian, pertaining to Pompeii, a city buried under the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 excavated since 1755. Read more about Mt. Vesuvius at this University of North Dakota page. Read other technical explanations at this University of Virginia page.
[+]Sibylline Books, prophetic books containing the prophecies of the Eritrean Sibyl, offered to Tarquinius Superbus (the last king of Rome (534-510 AD) by the Cumaean sibyl of which he ultimately bought 3 for the price he had refused to give for 9. In ancient Greece the name “sibyl” was applied to a series of feminine characters whose main role was to foretell the future using natural phenomena (Source ). Although the monarch initially rejected them, in the end he took the books to Rome and deposited them in the Capitol. They remained there until they were destroyed by a fire in 81 AD. Years later they were partially recovered, but ultimately the emperor Honorius (395-423) ordered their destruction

[+]Rankine, pertaining to an absolute scale of temperature on which the units are same as those on the Fahrenheit scale (William J. M. Rankine [1820 – 1872]). The ice point is thus 491.69 degrees Rankine and the boiling point of water is 671.69 degrees Rankine. (NASA).
[+]Ramism, system of logic by Peter Ramus [1515 – 1572]. He is also known as Pierre de la Ramée or Petrus Ramus. His work has an “avowedly anti-Aristotelian” tilt as it drove toward simplification of all knowledge. (Source: University of Virginia.)
[+]Proustite, a red silverware sulphide of arsenic and silver (J. L. Proust [1754 – 1826] French chemist who distinguished it from pyragyrite). According to St. Louis University, it was the work of Joseph Louis Proust that led to the law of constant composition of chemical compounds, namely, that every compound contains a fixed ratio of elements by mass
[+]Owenite, a disciple of Robert Owen [1771 – 1858] who proposed to establish society on basis of socialistic co-operation. He is often billed as “‘Father of Co-operation’ and of British socialism (National Co-operation Archives)
[+]Seven Against Thebes, the war of seven heroes to re-instate Polynices in Thebes against Eteocles. This episode of Greek mythology concerns the conflict that arose between the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, after the exile of their father. Visit this UC Berkeley page for more about this conflict. For actual excerpts, visit this MIT page.
[+]Seven Champions of Christendom: St. George of England, St. Andrew for Scotland, St. Patricia for Ireland, St. David for Wales, St. Denis for France, St. James for Spain, and St. Anthony for Italy. Visit this Univ. of Pittsburgh page for more on these 7 champs or check out Athelstane E-texts for more.
[+]Seven sages are: Solon of Athens [594 BC], Thales of Miletus, Pittacus of Mitylene (c.650 – c. 570 B.C.), Bias of Priene in Caria (fl. 6th century B.C.), Chilon of Sparta (fl. 6th century B.C.), Cleobulus tyrant of Lindus in Rhodes (fl. 6th century B.C.) and Periander tyrant of corinth (d. 585 B.C.) (About.com). Read more about each sage here. It is an Eastern cycle of tales in which 7 wise men contend in storytelling against a woman for the life of a belied prince.
[+]Seven Sleepers of Ephesus: 7 christian youths at Ephesus were said to have slept walled up in a cave [c. AD 250 – 447]. Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constantine were the 7 alleged sleepers who were walled up in a cave under Decius (250) and found alive there 200 years later (Source: St. Patrick DC).
[+]Seven Years War: the struggle for Silesia between Frederick the Great and Empress Maria Theresa [1756 – 1763]. Read more about this 7-year war at the University of Mannheim‘s page and more about Maria Theresa at New Advent.
[+]Seven Stars: the planets known to the ancients as the Plough or the Pleiades. The constellation known as Taurus “the Bull” contains two star clusters, the Hyades and the Pleiades, famous both in Greek mythology and modern astronomy. The Pleiades were being pursued by Orion, the mighty hunter, in an attempt to win their affection. After several years, Zeus helped them and they flew into the heavens and joined their sisters, the Hyades, in the constellation Taurus (US Centennial of Flight Commission and Howard Univ.).
[+]Pestalozzian: pertaining to Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi [1746 – 1827] or his program of educational reform. He was a Swiss educational reformer whose theories laid the foundation of modern elementary education (Source: InfoPlease, Britannica).
[+]Metonic: pertaining to Athenian astronomer, Meton, or his cycle of 19 years after which the moon’s phases occur on the same days of the year [433 BC]. Meton is known for the 19-year “Metonic cycle”, which he introduced into the ancient Athenian luni-solar calendar as a fixed system for recording astronomical observations. In the 19-year Metonic cycle, there were 12 years of 12 lunar months and seven years of 13 lunar months. (Source: Technology Museum of Thessaloniki, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)
[+]Cal(l)ppic pertaining to Athenian astronomer, Kal(l)ippos [c. 350 BC] whose cycle was a 76 year cycle equivalent to 4 Metonic cycles less 1 day. This Kallippic cycle is a refinement of the Metonic cycle of 6940 days in which 235 lunar months fits almost exactly into 19 solar years. (Source: Tyndale House)

[+]Neronian: pertaining to Nero, the Roman Empero from AD 54 – 68. Nero © Nero (Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar) was the fifth Roman emperor, in succession to his stepfather Claudius I. He is billed as one of the “Five Worst Roman Emperors.” (Sources: BBC, About.com)
[+]Nestorian: pertaining to Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople [428 – 431] or to his teaching that divinity and humanity of Christ were not united in a single self-conscious personality. In 431 CE at the Council of Ephesus, Nestorius was excommunicated for teaching Nestorianism, which proclaimed the existence of two Christs (one Divine and one human) dwelling in the body of Jesus. In fact, Nestorius did not teach Nestorianism and was wrongly condemned as a heretic (Sources: Creighton University, Metamind Bookstore).
[+]Nietzschean: pertaining to Friedrich Nietzsche [1844 – 1900] or to his philosophy. According to Stanford’s project, he challenged the foundations of traditional morality and Christianity because he believed in “life, creativity, health, and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated in a world beyond.”
[+]Napierian: pertaining to John Napier of Merchiston [1550 – 1617] or to his system of Logarithms now applied to natural logarithms, logarithms to the base e; the limit of (1 + (1/m)) m m → infinity, Napier’s own base being a quantity depends on e-1. According to ThinkQuest, four products of his genius are now recorded in the history of mathematics. These are the invention of logarithms; a clever mnemonic, known as the rule of circular parts, for reproducing the formulas used in solving right spherical triangles; at least two trigonometric formulas of a group of four known as Napier’s analogies, useful in the solution of oblique spherical triangles; and the invention of a device, called Napier’s rods, or Napier’s bones, used for mechanically multiplying, dividing, and taking square roots of numbers (Source).
[+]Paracelsian: pertainingto famous German-Swiss philosopher and physician, Paracelsus [1493 – 1541] or resembling his theory or practice. He is more properly known as Theophrastus Phillippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim and was born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland in 1493. He believed in the “three principles” of Arabian alchemists, consisting of mercury (characterized by fluidity, heaviness, and metallicity), sulfur (characterized by the principle of inflammability), and salt (characterized by the principles of solidity and relative chemical inertness). Nonetheless, he is known as the father of modern pharmacology because of his work in the chemical treatment of medical ailments (Sources: NIH, Wolfram Research Inc.).
[+]Periclean: of Pericles [d. 429 BC] or the golden age of letters and art at Athens. He made Sparta the envy of other Greek states. His early training was committed to the ablest and most advanced teachers of the day: Damon instructed him in music, Zeno the Eleatic revealed to him the powers of dialectic and the philosopher Anaxagoras. (Sources: From Old Books, Fordham University)
[+]Hegelian: pertaining to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel [1770 – 1831] or his philosophy. Check out the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Blupete.com.
[+]Eusebian: pertaining to Eusebius of Caeserea, father of ecclesiastical history (died 340) or to the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia (died 342)
[+]Eustachian: pertaining to Italian physician, Bartolomeo Eustachio (died 1574). He was the first to describe the teeth in detail, including their basic composition of enamel and dentin. He published the first accounts of the adrenal gland and thoracic duct as well as the first accurate description of the auditory tube (“Eustachian tube”) which links the middle ear to the throat (Sources: Who Named It, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee).
[+]Eutychian: of doctrine of Eutychius, a 6th century archimandrite of Constantinople who held that Christ’s human nature was merged in the divine. Eutychius evolved a heretical opinion denying the resurrection of the body. (Sources: Christian Classics Ecclesiastical Library, Answers.com)
[+]Febronianism: a system of doctrine antagonistic to the claims of the Pope and asserting the independence of national churches propounded in 1763 by Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim under the pseudonym Justinus Febronius. The main propositions defended by Febronius were as follows: The constitution of the Church is not, by Christ’s institution, monarchical, and the pope, though entitled to a certain primacy, is subordinate to the Universal Church. In short, his sovereignty over the Church is not one of jurisdiction, but of order and collaboration (Absolute Astronomy.
[+]Origenist: follower of Origen [c. AD 185 – 254] in his allegorical method of sriptural interpretation or his theology especially his heresies the subordination through eternal generation of the Logos, pre-existence of all universal restoration even of the Devil. As a philosopher, he is famous for composing the seminal work of Christian Neoplatonism and his main doctrines including “that of the Holy Trinity (based upon standard Middle Platonic triadic emanation schemas); the pre-existence and fall of souls; multiple ages and transmigration of souls; and the eventual restoration of all souls to a state of dynamic perfection in proximity to the godhead.” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
[+]Sassanid: one of the Sassanid(a)e that ruled Persia from AD 296 – 641. The Sassanid empire was the last native dynasty to reign in Persia before the Arab conquest. Its reign lasted from 224 to 651 (Livius). The lasting heritage of the Sassanid empire is the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism. Visit the State Hermitage Museum for more about the Sassanian culture.
[+]Liebig: beer extract first prepared by the German chemist, Justus Baron Von Liebig [1803 – 1873]. He was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on May 12, 1803.According to this Univ. of Wisconsin article, Liebig made great contributions to the science of plant nutrition and soil fertility. He made a scientific case for plant requirements for mineral elements from the soil, carbon from CO2 in the air, and H and O2 from water.
[+]Trotskyism: form of communism associated with Leon Trotsky (pseudonym of Levi Davidovich Bronstein [1879 – 1940] who advocated world wide revolution). According to Answers.com, Trotsky was represented by Snowball the pig in George Orwell’s allegorical 1945 novel Animal Farm. Visit the Wikipedia and Encarta MSN entries on him.
[+]Toricellian: pertaining to Italian mathematican, Evangelista Toricelli [1608 – 1649] who discovered in 1643, the principle of the barometer. He basically discovered that the rise of a liquid in a tube, as in the barometer, is due to atmospheric pressure. He was one of Galileo’s assistants.
[+]Thomism: the doctrines of Thomas Aquinas [b. probably about 1225 – and died about 1274]. He is noted for his defense of the mendicant orders and, of greater historical importance, “countered both the Averroistic interpretations of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy” (Source:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Read more about the Thomist philosophy here.
[+]Galenic: pertaining to Galenos, the 2nd century Greek physician or to his methods and theories. Also Galen of Pergamum [born AD 129 at Pergamum, Mysia, Anatolia (now Bergama, Tur.) and died c. 216 (Britannica and Science Mag). However, this site claims, he was born on 22 September 131 in Pergamum, Asia Minor, and died in Rome in 201. Yet another site has Galenos as Claudius Galenus, A.D. 131-200.
[+]Campbellite: member of a sect known as Disciples of Christ founded by Alex Campbell. He was born in Ireland, September 12, 1788, died in Bethany, West Virginia, March 4, 1866. Get an overdose of him at Memorial University of Newfoundland and at the Spalding Studies Library.
[+]Antisthenes of Athens (444-366 BCE) was a student of Gorgias and a follower of Socrates who is generally touted as the “father of Cynicism (University of Evansville); His order (Trappist Monks) are characterized by an ostentatious contempt for riches, art , science and amusements so-called by their morose manner. Read more about Antisthenes at Ohion State Univ. and CSU Dominguez Hills.
[+]Quantum Theory: Planck’s theory of the emission and absorption of energy not continuously, but in finite steps. Visit Yale and Purdue universities for detailed explanations.
[+]Quantum number: any of a set of integers or half-intergers which together describe the state of a particle or system of particles.
[+]Lie algebra: (Le) that dealing with groups (Lie groups) of quantities subject to relationships reducing the number which are independent ((Marius) Sophus Lie [1842 – 1899] Norwegian mathematician. Visit St. Lawrence Univ. and Wolfram for explanation of Lie algebra.
[+]Osmanli: of the dynasty of Osman who founded the Turkish empire in Asia and reigned 1288 – 1326. The Osmanli Dynasty traces its origins to Osman Khan Ghazi, founder of the Turkish Empire and son of Ertugrul, leader of the Kayi clan of the Oghuz tribe, during the late 13th century. The tribe reputedly descends from Noah, through his grandson, Oghuz (Royal Ark). The Ottoman Empire arose from a Turkish principality founded in Anatolia (Asia Minor) at the end of the 13th century, when the empire of the Seljuk Turks had collapsed and the Byzantine Empire was crumbling. The Ottoman or Osmanli Turks were named after the founder of the royal dynasty, Osman I (Uthman in Arabic), whose descendants reigned for more than 600 years (The World of Royalty, Britannica)
[+]Rontgen or Roentgen: of German physicist, Konrad von Rontgen [1845 – 1923], discoverer of Rontgen rays or X-rays or gamma rays defined in terms of ionisation it produces in air under stated conditions. Read about his discovery of X-rays at Pennsylvania State Univ.
[+]Van Allen radiation belts: zones of intense particle radiation surrounding the Earth at a distance of above 1200 miles (1930km) from it (J. A. Van Allen, American physicist of the University of Iowa[b. 1914]). Visit this NASA page for more about this belt.Read about this belt’s discovery on another NASA page.
[+]Kennelly-Heaviside layer or region: It is that portion of the ionosphere existing between approximately 95 and 130 km above the surface of the Eartha strongly ionised region of the upper atmosphere (US Dept. of Commerce) & about 60 miles up in which wireless waves are deflected. It was named after Edwin Kennelly (1861–1939), American physicist, and Oliver Heaviside (1850–1925), British physicist (Bartleby)
[+]Diophantine: pertaining to the Alexandrian mathematician, Diophantos c. AD 275. Read a brief blurb on him by Univ. of Chicago. Number theory as we know it today began with the Greek mathematician according to the Univ. of West Alabama. Get his full biography at Univ. of St. Andrews.
[+]Diophantine analysis: the part of algebra which treats of finding particular rational values for general expressions under a surd form.
[+]Diophantine equations: indeterminate equations for which integral or rational solutions are required [+]Magna Carta: the Great Chapter obtained from King John in 1215, the basis of English political and personal liberty [+]Apollinarian: of Apollinaris [d. c. AD 390], Bishop of Laodicea in Syria or of his doctrine that in Christ, the Logos took the place of a soul. He departed from orthodoxy in his belief that “divinity and humanity could not be united and reconciled in one person, Jesus Christ; he thought that Jesus did not have a human consciousness, but only a divine one” (Source). Read more about the Apollonian heresy.
[+]Logos: in Stoic philosophy, the active principle living in and determining the world. No complete work by any of the first three heads of the Stoic school of philosophy (Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus) survives (Source)
[+]Logarithmic spiral: the path of a point travelling along a radius vector with a velocity increasing as its distance from the pole. Its polar equation being r = aebθ or θ = K log r. It was dubbed the “Spira Mirabilis” by Jakob Bernouilli. (Sources: Wolfram, University of Bath and UGA)