1.
Maine (province)
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Maine is one of the traditional provinces of France. It corresponds to the former County of Maine, whose capital was also the city of Le Mans, the area, now divided into the departments of Sarthe and Mayenne, contains about 857,000 inhabitants. In the 8th and 9th centuries there existed a Duchy of Normandy and this duchy was a march that may have included several counties including Maine, and extended into Lower Normandy, all the way to the Seine. In 748, Pepin the Short, then Mayor of the Palace and thus the most powerful man in France after the king, in 790 Charlemagne in turn gave it to his younger son, Charles the Younger. Charlemagnes grandson, the future Charles the Bald, and his son Louis the Stammerer inherited the title, ragenold, who may have been the son of Renaud dHerbauges, died in 885 fighting the Vikings who were pillaging Rouen. The son-in-law of Charlemagne, Rorgon, was the count of Maine between 832 and 839, in the last half of the 9th century, Maine took on strategic importance because of invasions from Normandy and Brittany. Rorgons son Gauzfrid in turn became Count of Maine and he fought against Salomon, King of Brittany and in 866 participated in the battle of Brissarthe alongside Robert the Strong, the Frankish Margave of Neustria. In 924 King Rudolph of France was said to give Maine to the Norse nobleman Rollo, bordering the county of Anjou to the south and the Duchy of Normandy to the north, Maine became a bone of contention between the rulers of these more powerful principalities. Hugh III of Maine was forced to recognize Fulk III, Count of Anjou as his overlord, sometime between 1045 and 1047 Hugh IV married Bertha, daughter of Odo II, Count of Blois and widow of Alan III, Duke of Brittany. The Angevins did not want Maine to come under the influence of Blois, but the Normans did not want Maine to return to the Angevin orbit, so were pulled into the conflict. The precise chronology is disputed, but it is clear that in 1051 Hugh IV died, Anjou wound up with effective control of most of the county, but the Normans did take several important strongholds on the Maine–Normandy border. Hugh IVs son Herbert II fled to the Norman court and his death in 1062 precipitated a succession crisis, Herbert died childless in 1062 after declaring William the Bastard, then Duke of Normandy, his heir. His sister Marguerite was engaged to Williams eldest son, Robert Curthose and Herbert had taken refuge at Williams court in 1056 when Geoffrey Martel, Duke of Anjou, while the county was in Angevin hands, Anjou had its own succession problem. Duke William of Normandy claimed the county on their behalf of Herberts young sister Margaret, the other claimant was Herberts aunt Biota, a sister of Hugh IV, and her husband Walter, Count of the Vexin. Biota and Walter were captured at the taking of Le Mans and they died sometime later in 1063, poisoned, it was rumoured, though there is no hard evidence for this. Norman control of Maine secured the border of Normandy against Anjou and is one factor which enabled William to launch his successful invasion of England in 1066. In 1069 the citizens of Le Mans revolted against the Normans, soon some of the Manceaux barons joined the revolt, the Normans were expelled in 1070, and young Hugh V was proclaimed Count of Maine. He was the son of Azzo dEste and his wife Gersendis, Azzo returned to Italy, leaving Gersendis in charge
2.
Acoustics
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Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of technology may be called an acoustical engineer. The application of acoustics is present in almost all aspects of society with the most obvious being the audio. Hearing is one of the most crucial means of survival in the animal world, accordingly, the science of acoustics spreads across many facets of human society—music, medicine, architecture, industrial production, warfare and more. Likewise, animal species such as songbirds and frogs use sound, art, craft, science and technology have provoked one another to advance the whole, as in many other fields of knowledge. Robert Bruce Lindsays Wheel of Acoustics is a well accepted overview of the fields in acoustics. The word acoustic is derived from the Greek word ἀκουστικός, meaning of or for hearing, ready to hear and that from ἀκουστός, heard, audible, which in turn derives from the verb ἀκούω, I hear. The Latin synonym is sonic, after which the term used to be a synonym for acoustics. Frequencies above and below the range are called ultrasonic and infrasonic. If, for example, a string of a length would sound particularly harmonious with a string of twice the length. In modern parlance, if a string sounds the note C when plucked, a string twice as long will sound a C an octave lower. In one system of tuning, the tones in between are then given by 16,9 for D,8,5 for E,3,2 for F,4,3 for G,6,5 for A. Aristotle understood that sound consisted of compressions and rarefactions of air which falls upon, a very good expression of the nature of wave motion. The physical understanding of acoustical processes advanced rapidly during and after the Scientific Revolution, mainly Galileo Galilei but also Marin Mersenne, independently, discovered the complete laws of vibrating strings. Experimental measurements of the speed of sound in air were carried out successfully between 1630 and 1680 by a number of investigators, prominently Mersenne, meanwhile, Newton derived the relationship for wave velocity in solids, a cornerstone of physical acoustics. The eighteenth century saw advances in acoustics as mathematicians applied the new techniques of calculus to elaborate theories of sound wave propagation. Also in the 19th century, Wheatstone, Ohm, and Henry developed the analogy between electricity and acoustics, the twentieth century saw a burgeoning of technological applications of the large body of scientific knowledge that was by then in place. The first such application was Sabine’s groundbreaking work in architectural acoustics, Underwater acoustics was used for detecting submarines in the first World War
3.
Mersenne prime
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In mathematics, a Mersenne prime is a prime number that is one less than a power of two. That is, it is a number that can be written in the form Mn = 2n −1 for some integer n. They are named after Marin Mersenne, a French Minim friar, the first four Mersenne primes are 3,7,31, and 127. If n is a number then so is 2n −1. The definition is therefore unchanged when written Mp = 2p −1 where p is assumed prime, more generally, numbers of the form Mn = 2n −1 without the primality requirement are called Mersenne numbers. The smallest composite pernicious Mersenne number is 211 −1 =2047 =23 ×89, Mersenne primes Mp are also noteworthy due to their connection to perfect numbers. As of January 2016,49 Mersenne primes are known, the largest known prime number 274,207,281 −1 is a Mersenne prime. Since 1997, all newly found Mersenne primes have been discovered by the “Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search”, many fundamental questions about Mersenne primes remain unresolved. It is not even whether the set of Mersenne primes is finite or infinite. The Lenstra–Pomerance–Wagstaff conjecture asserts that there are infinitely many Mersenne primes,23 | M11,47 | M23,167 | M83,263 | M131,359 | M179,383 | M191,479 | M239, and 503 | M251. Since for these primes p, 2p +1 is congruent to 7 mod 8, so 2 is a quadratic residue mod 2p +1, since p is a prime, it must be p or 1. The first four Mersenne primes are M2 =3, M3 =7, M5 =31, a basic theorem about Mersenne numbers states that if Mp is prime, then the exponent p must also be prime. This follows from the identity 2 a b −1 = ⋅ = ⋅ and this rules out primality for Mersenne numbers with composite exponent, such as M4 =24 −1 =15 =3 ×5 = ×. Though the above examples might suggest that Mp is prime for all p, this is not the case. The evidence at hand does suggest that a randomly selected Mersenne number is more likely to be prime than an arbitrary randomly selected odd integer of similar size. Nonetheless, prime Mp appear to grow increasingly sparse as p increases, in fact, of the 2,270,720 prime numbers p up to 37,156,667, Mp is prime for only 45 of them. The lack of any simple test to determine whether a given Mersenne number is prime makes the search for Mersenne primes a difficult task, the Lucas–Lehmer primality test is an efficient primality test that greatly aids this task. The search for the largest known prime has somewhat of a cult following, consequently, a lot of computer power has been expended searching for new Mersenne primes, much of which is now done using distributed computing
4.
Polymath
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A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas, such a person is known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. The term was first used in the 17th century, the related term, the term is often used to describe great thinkers of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment who excelled at several fields in science and the arts. In the Italian Renaissance, the idea of the polymath was expressed by Leon Battista Alberti and this term entered the lexicon during the twentieth century and has now been applied to great thinkers living before and after the Renaissance. Renaissance man was first recorded in written English in the early 20th century and it is now used to refer to great thinkers living before, during, or after the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci has often described as the archetype of the Renaissance man. These polymaths had an approach to education that reflected the ideals of the humanists of the time. A gentleman or courtier of that era was expected to speak several languages, play an instrument, write poetry. The idea of an education was essential to achieving polymath ability. At this time, universities did not specialize in specific areas but rather trained students in an array of science, philosophy. This universal education gave them a grounding from which they could continue into apprenticeship toward becoming a master of a specific field, aside from Renaissance man as mentioned above, similar terms in use are Homo Universalis and Uomo Universale, which translate to universal person or universal man. The related term generalist—contrasted with a used to describe a person with a general approach to knowledge. The term Universal Genius or Versatile Genius is also used, with Leonardo da Vinci as the prime example again. The term seems to be used especially when a person has made lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which he was involved. When a person is described as having knowledge, they exhibit a vast scope of knowledge. This designation may be anachronistic, however, in the case of such as Eratosthenes whose reputation for having encyclopedic knowledge predates the existence of any encyclopedic object. One whose accomplishments are limited to athletics would not be considered a polymath in the sense of the word. An example is Howard Baker, who was called a sporting polymath by the Encyclopedia of British Football for winning high jump titles and playing cricket, football, many polymaths from across the centuries have their roots in medical applications. One of the well known polymaths, Leonardo da Vinci, was known for his immense interest in human anatomical structure
5.
Integer
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An integer is a number that can be written without a fractional component. For example,21,4,0, and −2048 are integers, while 9.75, 5 1⁄2, the set of integers consists of zero, the positive natural numbers, also called whole numbers or counting numbers, and their additive inverses. This is often denoted by a boldface Z or blackboard bold Z standing for the German word Zahlen, ℤ is a subset of the sets of rational and real numbers and, like the natural numbers, is countably infinite. The integers form the smallest group and the smallest ring containing the natural numbers, in algebraic number theory, the integers are sometimes called rational integers to distinguish them from the more general algebraic integers. In fact, the integers are the integers that are also rational numbers. Like the natural numbers, Z is closed under the operations of addition and multiplication, that is, however, with the inclusion of the negative natural numbers, and, importantly,0, Z is also closed under subtraction. The integers form a ring which is the most basic one, in the following sense, for any unital ring. This universal property, namely to be an object in the category of rings. Z is not closed under division, since the quotient of two integers, need not be an integer, although the natural numbers are closed under exponentiation, the integers are not. The following lists some of the properties of addition and multiplication for any integers a, b and c. In the language of algebra, the first five properties listed above for addition say that Z under addition is an abelian group. As a group under addition, Z is a cyclic group, in fact, Z under addition is the only infinite cyclic group, in the sense that any infinite cyclic group is isomorphic to Z. The first four properties listed above for multiplication say that Z under multiplication is a commutative monoid. However, not every integer has an inverse, e. g. there is no integer x such that 2x =1, because the left hand side is even. This means that Z under multiplication is not a group, all the rules from the above property table, except for the last, taken together say that Z together with addition and multiplication is a commutative ring with unity. It is the prototype of all objects of algebraic structure. Only those equalities of expressions are true in Z for all values of variables, note that certain non-zero integers map to zero in certain rings. The lack of zero-divisors in the means that the commutative ring Z is an integral domain
6.
Mersenne's laws
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Mersennes laws are laws describing the frequency of oscillation of a stretched string or monochord, useful in musical tuning and musical instrument construction. The equation was first proposed by French mathematician and music theorist Marin Mersenne in his 1637 work Traité de lharmonie universelle. Mersennes laws govern the construction and operation of string instruments, pianos, harps, lower strings are thicker, thus having a greater mass per unit length. Higher-pitched strings typically are thinner, have higher tension, and may be shorter and this result does not differ substantially from Galileos, yet it is rightly known as Mersennes law, because Mersenne physically proved their truth through experiments. Mersenne investigated and refined these relationships by experiment but did not himself originate them, though his theories are correct, his measurements are not very exact, and his calculations where greatly improved by Joseph Sauveur through the use of acoustic beats and metronomes. These laws are derived from Mersennes equation 22, f 0 = ν λ =12 L F μ. The formula for the frequency is, f 0 =12 L F μ. Beat Cycloid Long-string instrument Mersenne conjectures Overtone Standing wave
7.
Guitar
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The guitar is a musical instrument classified as a fretted string instrument with anywhere from four to 18 strings, usually having six. The sound is projected either acoustically, using a wooden or plastic and wood box, or through electrical amplifier. It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers, the guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning. There are three types of modern acoustic guitar, the classical guitar, the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of a guitar is produced by the strings vibration, amplified by the hollow body of the guitar. The term finger-picking can also refer to a tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass. The acoustic bass guitar is an instrument that is one octave below a regular guitar. Early amplified guitars employed a body, but a solid wood body was eventually found more suitable during the 1960s and 1970s. As with acoustic guitars, there are a number of types of guitars, including hollowbody guitars, archtop guitars and solid-body guitars. The electric guitar has had a influence on popular culture. The guitar is used in a variety of musical genres worldwide. It is recognized as an instrument in genres such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk, reggae, rock, soul. The term is used to refer to a number of chordophones that were developed and used across Europe, beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas. The modern word guitar, and its antecedents, has applied to a wide variety of chordophones since classical times. Many influences are cited as antecedents to the modern guitar, at least two instruments called guitars were in use in Spain by 1200, the guitarra latina and the so-called guitarra morisca. The guitarra morisca had a back, wide fingerboard. The guitarra Latina had a sound hole and a narrower neck. By the 14th century the qualifiers moresca or morisca and latina had been dropped, and it had six courses, lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representations reveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist
8.
Piano
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The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word piano is a form of pianoforte, the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument. The first fortepianos in the 1700s had a sound and smaller dynamic range. An acoustic piano usually has a wooden case surrounding the soundboard and metal strings. Pressing one or more keys on the keyboard causes a padded hammer to strike the strings. The hammer rebounds from the strings, and the continue to vibrate at their resonant frequency. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies by more efficiently coupling the acoustic energy to the air, when the key is released, a damper stops the strings vibration, ending the sound. Notes can be sustained, even when the keys are released by the fingers and thumbs and this means that the piano can play 88 different pitches, going from the deepest bass range to the highest treble. The black keys are for the accidentals, which are needed to play in all twelve keys, more rarely, some pianos have additional keys. Most notes have three strings, except for the bass that graduates from one to two, the strings are sounded when keys are pressed or struck, and silenced by dampers when the hands are lifted from the keyboard. There are two types of piano, the grand piano and the upright piano. The grand piano is used for Classical solos, chamber music and art song and it is used in jazz. The upright piano, which is compact, is the most popular type, as they are a better size for use in private homes for domestic music-making. During the nineteenth century, music publishers produced many works in arrangements for piano, so that music lovers could play. The piano is widely employed in classical, jazz, traditional and popular music for solo and ensemble performances, accompaniment, with technological advances, amplified electric pianos, electronic pianos, and digital pianos have also been developed. The electric piano became an instrument in the 1960s and 1970s genres of jazz fusion, funk music. The piano was founded on earlier technological innovations in keyboard instruments, pipe organs have been used since Antiquity, and as such, the development of pipe organs enabled instrument builders to learn about creating keyboard mechanisms for sounding pitches
9.
Music theory
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Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. The term is used in three ways in music, though all three are interrelated. The first is what is otherwise called rudiments, currently taught as the elements of notation, of key signatures, of time signatures, of rhythmic notation, Theory in this sense is treated as the necessary preliminary to the study of harmony, counterpoint, and form. The second is the study of writings about music from ancient times onwards, Music theory is frequently concerned with describing how musicians and composers make music, including tuning systems and composition methods among other topics. However, this medieval discipline became the basis for tuning systems in later centuries, Music theory as a practical discipline encompasses the methods and concepts composers and other musicians use in creating music. The development, preservation, and transmission of music theory in this sense may be found in oral and written music-making traditions, musical instruments, and other artifacts. In ancient and living cultures around the world, the deep and long roots of music theory are clearly visible in instruments, oral traditions, and current music making. Many cultures, at least as far back as ancient Mesopotamia and ancient China, have also considered music theory in more formal ways such as written treatises, in modern academia, music theory is a subfield of musicology, the wider study of musical cultures and history. Etymologically, music theory is an act of contemplation of music, from the Greek θεωρία, a looking at, viewing, contemplation, speculation, theory, also a sight, a person who researches, teaches, or writes articles about music theory is a music theorist. University study, typically to the M. A. or Ph. D level, is required to teach as a music theorist in a US or Canadian university. Methods of analysis include mathematics, graphic analysis, and especially analysis enabled by Western music notation, comparative, descriptive, statistical, and other methods are also used. See for instance Paleolithic flutes, Gǔdí, and Anasazi flute, several surviving Sumerian and Akkadian clay tablets include musical information of a theoretical nature, mainly lists of intervals and tunings. The scholar Sam Mirelman reports that the earliest of these dates from before 1500 BCE. Further, All the Mesopotamian texts are united by the use of a terminology for music that, much of Chinese music history and theory remains unclear. The earliest texts about Chinese music theory are inscribed on the stone and they include more than 2800 words describing theories and practices of music pitches of the time. The bells produce two intertwined pentatonic scales three tones apart with additional pitches completing the chromatic scale, Chinese theory starts from numbers, the main musical numbers being twelve, five and eight. Twelve refers to the number of pitches on which the scales can be constructed, the Lüshi chunqiu from about 239 BCE recalls the legend of Ling Lun. On order of the Yellow Emperor, Ling Lun collected twelve bamboo lengths with thick, blowing on one of these like a pipe, he found its sound agreeable and named it huangzhong, the Yellow Bell
10.
Minim (religious order)
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The Minims are members of a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Saint Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The Order soon spread to France, Germany and Spain, at present there are only two fraternities of the Minim tertiaries, both are in Italy. The founder of the Order, Saint Francis of Paola, was born in 1416 and named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. The boy became ill when he was one month old. Her prayer was granted, and at 13 years of age Francis fulfilled that votive year, after this year he dedicated himself to a life of solitude and penance as a hermit. In 1435, two followers joined Francis and began the community, which was first called the Poor Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, Francis and his followers founded hermitages at Paterno in 1444 and Milazzo, Sicily, in 1469. At that time, the Pope also changed their status from that of hermits to mendicant friars, the name Minims comes from the Italian word minimo, meaning the smallest or the least, and their founder would call himself il minimo dei minimi. Francis of Paola wanted to distinguish himself as being of less significance than the Friars Minor founded by his patron saint. Francis composed a rule for the community in 1493, which was approved under the name of Hermits of the Order of the Minims. The definitive version of the rule was approved by Pope Julius II in the Bull Inter ceteros, July 28,1506. This vow is for perpetual abstinence from all meat and dairy products, veganism, except in case of grave illness, because of asceticism, The Order is also discalced in character and there are other acts of humility. Due to the somberness and morosity of the Lenten way of life, the Minim habit consists of a black tunic, with broad sleeves, a hood. It has a thick, black cord with a tassel to gird the robe, the Order of the Minims spread throughout Italy in the fifteenth century and was introduced to France in 1482, and later to Spain and to Germany in 1497. The houses in Spain, Germany, and France were suppressed during the following the French Revolution. By the turn of the 20th century, only 19 friaries remained, all, on 31 December 2010, the Order had 46 communities with 174 members,112 of them priests. The Munich friary of the German Minims brewed beer as means of support, but after the friars were expelled and it continues to brew the Paulaner brand of beer, which draws its name from Francis of Paola. Francis was called to France in 1483 by King Louis XI to serve as his deathbed confessor, while he was there, the Spanish ambassador, Don Pedro de Lucena, who was a very pious man, grew to know and admire him. He sent reports of the friar to his family back in Jaén
11.
Theology
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Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as a discipline, typically in universities, seminaries. Augustine of Hippo defined the Latin equivalent, theologia, as reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity, the term can, however, be used for a variety of different disciplines or fields of study. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument to help understand, explain, test, critique, the English equivalent theology had evolved by 1362. Greek theologia was used with the discourse on god in the fourth century BC by Plato in The Republic, Book ii. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of discourse, mythical, rational and civil. Theologos, closely related to theologia, appears once in some manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation, apokalypsis ioannoy toy theologoy. The Latin author Boethius, writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of study, dealing with the motionless. Boethius definition influenced medieval Latin usage, Theology can also now be used in a derived sense to mean a system of theoretical principles, an ideology. They suggest the term is appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently. Kalam. does not hold the place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for theology in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is appropriate, can only do so, he says, I take theology not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God, within Hindu philosophy, there is a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God and of the Atman. The Sanskrit word for the schools of Hindu philosophy is Darshana. Nevertheless, Jewish theology historically has been active and highly significant for Christian. It is sometimes claimed, however, that the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law, the history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. Modern Western universities evolved from the institutions and cathedral schools of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages
12.
Philosophy
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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation, classic philosophical questions include, Is it possible to know anything and to prove it. However, philosophers might also pose more practical and concrete questions such as, is it better to be just or unjust. Historically, philosophy encompassed any body of knowledge, from the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to the 19th century, natural philosophy encompassed astronomy, medicine and physics. For example, Newtons 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy later became classified as a book of physics, in the 19th century, the growth of modern research universities led academic philosophy and other disciplines to professionalize and specialize. In the modern era, some investigations that were part of philosophy became separate academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology. Other investigations closely related to art, science, politics, or other pursuits remained part of philosophy, for example, is beauty objective or subjective. Are there many scientific methods or just one, is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy. Major sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of science, since the 20th century, professional philosophers contribute to society primarily as professors, researchers and writers. Traditionally, the term referred to any body of knowledge. In this sense, philosophy is related to religion, mathematics, natural science, education. This division is not obsolete but has changed, Natural philosophy has split into the various natural sciences, especially astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. Moral philosophy has birthed the social sciences, but still includes value theory, metaphysical philosophy has birthed formal sciences such as logic, mathematics and philosophy of science, but still includes epistemology, cosmology and others. Many philosophical debates that began in ancient times are still debated today, colin McGinn and others claim that no philosophical progress has occurred during that interval. Chalmers and others, by contrast, see progress in philosophy similar to that in science, in one general sense, philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and a search for knowledge. In that sense, all cultures and literate societies ask philosophical questions such as how are we to live, a broad and impartial conception of philosophy then, finds a reasoned inquiry into such matters as reality, morality and life in all world civilizations. Socrates was an influential philosopher, who insisted that he possessed no wisdom but was a pursuer of wisdom
13.
Sarthe
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Sarthe is a French department situated in the Grand-Ouest of the country. It is named after the River Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers, in the late 18th century, before it was officially Sarthe, the nobility built their Mansions and Chateaus there, as an escape from Paris. The department was created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, pursuant to the law of 22 December 1789, the latter was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and Mayenne to the west. In Roman times, this contained the city of Mans. The Roman Thermal Bathhouse attracts many tourists, as does the Theater of Aubigné-Racan, marin Mersenne, perhaps the most important scientific figure in the early 17th century, was born in the vicinity of Sarthe. The department of Sarthe is at the end of the administrative region of Pays-de-la-Loire. It is south of Normandy and on the edge of the Armorican Massif. It is bordered by the departments of Orne, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire, approximately 300,000 people, comprising more than half of the departments population, live in Le Mans, its conurbation, or the essentially urban communes close by. The rest of the department retains a rural character, with agriculture as the part of the economy. The arrival of the railways in 1854 boosted trade for the local economy, a TGV connection was constructed in 1989, connecting the community to high-speed transport. In terms of connections, the A11 autoroute, which was constructed to Le Mans from the east in 1978. The department was the base of former Prime Minister Francois Fillon
14.
Le Mans
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Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department, Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles, since 1923, the city has hosted the internationally famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum, or Cenomanus. Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, a 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the century when workers were mobilized to build the citys defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive, as the use of the French language replaced late Vulgar Latin in the area, Cenomanus, with dissimilation, became known as Celmans. Cel- was taken to be a form of the French word for this and that, and was replaced by le, gregory of Tours mentions a Frankish sub-king Rigomer, who was killed by King Clovis I in his campaign to unite the Frankish territories. As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror successfully invaded England, in 1069 the citizens of Maine revolted and expelled the Normans, resulting in Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine. Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda of England in the cathedral and their son Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, was born here. The airfield was declared operational on 3 September and designated as A-35 and it was used by several American fighter and transport units until late November of that year in additional offensives across France, the airfield was closed. Le Mans has an old town and the Cathédrale St-Julien, dedicated to St Julian of Le Mans. Remnants of a Roman wall are visible in the old town and these walls are highlighted every summer evening in a light show that tells the history of the town. Arboretum de la Grand Prée Part of the former Cistercian abbey de lEpau, founded by Queen Berengaria, jardin des Plantes du Mans Musée de la reine Bérengère, a museum of Le Mans history located in a gothic manor house. Musée de Tessé, the arts museum of the city, displaying painting. Le Mans has an oceanic climate influenced by the mild Atlantic air travelling inland, summers are warm and occasionally hot, whereas winters are mild and cloudy. Precipitation is relatively uniform and moderate year round, at the 1999 French census, there were 293,159 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Le Mans, with 146,105 of these living in the city proper
15.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
16.
Nevers
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Nevers is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the city of the former province of Nivernais. It is 260 km south-southeast of Paris, Nevers first enters written history as Noviodunum, a town held by the Aedui at Roman contact. After his failure before Gergovia, the Aedui at Noviodunum massacred those who were there to look after stores, the negotiatores, and the travellers who were in the place. They divided the money and the horses themselves, carried off in boats all the corn that they could. Thinking they could not hold the town, they burnt it and this was a great loss to Caesar, and it may seem that he was imprudent in leaving such great stores in the power of treacherous allies. But he was in straits during this year, and probably he could not do otherwise than he did, dio Cassius tells the story out of Caesar of the affair of Noviodunum. He states incorrectly what Caesar did on the occasion, and he shows that he understood his original nor knew what he was writing about. The city was later called Nevirnum, as the name appears in the Antonine Itinerary, in the Tabula Peutingeriana, it is corrupted into Ebrinum. In still other sources the name appears as Nebirnum and it became the seat of a bishopric at the end of the 5th century. The county dates at least from the beginning of the 10th century, the citizens of Nevers obtained charters in 1194 and in 1231. For a short time in the 14th century the town was the seat of a university, transferred from Orléans, Nevers is situated on the slope of a hill on the right bank of the Loire River. Narrow winding streets lead from the quay through the town there are numerous old houses dating from the 14th to the 17th century. The apse and transept at the west end are the remains of a Romanesque church, while the nave and eastern apse are in the Gothic style, there is no transept at the eastern end. The lateral portal on the south belongs to the late 15th century. The church of Saint Etienne is a specimen of the Romanesque style of Auvergne of which the disposition of the apse with its three radiating chapels is characteristic and it was consecrated at the close of the 9th century, and belonged to a priory affiliated to Cluny. The Ducal Palace was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and is one of the principal feudal edifices in central France, the façade is flanked at each end by a turret and a round tower. A middle tower containing the staircase has its windows adorned by sculptures relating to the history of the House of La Marck by the members of which the greater part of the palace was built
17.
Annunciation
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Gabriel told Mary to name her son Yehoshua, meaning YHWH is salvation. According to Luke 1,26, the Annunciation occurred in the month of Elizabeths pregnancy with John the Baptist. Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, an approximation of the vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas. In England, this came to be known as Lady Day and it marked the new year until 1752. The 2nd-century writer Irenaeus of Lyon regarded the conception of Jesus as 25 March coinciding with the Passion, the Annunciation has been a key topic in Christian art in general, as well as in Marian art in the Catholic Church, particularly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A work of art depicting the Annunciation is sometimes called an Annunciation. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured,29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary,31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible,38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her,19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS,35 In answer the angel said to her, Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason the one who is born will be called holy, manuscript 4Q246 of the Dead Sea Scrolls reads, shall be great upon the earth. O king, all people shall make peace, and all shall serve him and he shall be called the son of the Great God, and by his name shall he be hailed as the Son of God, and they shall call him Son of the Most High. It has been suggested that the similarity in content is such that Lukes version may in some way be dependent on the Qumran text, the Annunciation is described in the Quran, in Sura 003,045 verses 45–51,45 Behold. Muslim tradition holds that the Annunciation took place during the month of Ramadan, in Greek, the Annunciation is known as the Good Tidings or Evangelism. In the Orthodox Churches that use a new style Calendar, the feast is celebrated on March 25, in churches using the old style Julian calendar, the feast day is April 7. The traditional hymn for the feast of the Annunciation goes back to St Athanasius, indeed, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Great and Holy Friday only when the latter coincides with the feast of the Annunciation
18.
Pierre Petit (engineer)
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Pierre Petit was a French astronomer, physicist, mathematician and instrument maker. He succeeded his father in his office, but went to Paris in 1633 to dedicate himself to the sciences. He was a member of the circle around Marin Mersenne, and knew Etienne Pascal, Blaise Pascal, later he was a member of the Academy of Montmor. On 4 April 1667 he became a fellow of The Royal Society and he also served as a military engineer and geographer to Louis XIII and Louis XIV, in roles such as Superintendent of Fortifications. He died in Lagny-sur-Marne in 1677, cometarum natura motus et origo at Google Books 1681 Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference
19.
Gilles de Roberval
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Gilles Personne de Roberval, French mathematician, was born at Roberval near Beauvais, France. His name was originally Gilles Personne or Gilles Personier, with Roberval the place of his birth, like René Descartes, he was present at the siege of La Rochelle in 1627. In the same year he went to Paris, and in 1631 he was appointed the chair at Gervais College. Two years after that, in 1633, he was made the chair of mathematics at the Royal College of France. Notwithstanding this, Roberval was able to keep the chair till his death, another of Roberval’s discoveries was a very general method of drawing tangents, by considering a curve as described by a moving point whose motion is the resultant of several simpler motions. He also discovered a method of deriving one curve from another, to these curves, which were also applied to effect some quadratures, Evangelista Torricelli gave the name Robervallian lines. Traité de Mécanique des Poids Soutenus par des Puissances sur des Plans Inclinés à l’Horizontale, le Système du Monde d’après Aristarque de Samos. Divers Ouvrages de M. de Roberval, a Study of the Traité des Indivisibles of Gilles Persone de Roberval. New York, Teachers College, Columbia University, un Savant Méconnu, Gilles Personne de Roberval. Roberval Philosophe, Journal des Savants, pp. 129–149, carroll, Maureen T. Dougherty, Steven T. Perkins, David. Indivisibles, Infinitesimals and a Tale of Seventeenth-Century Mathematics, La Lettre de Torricelli à Roberval dOctobre 1643. Les Étendues Géométriques et la Ligne Droite de Roberval, eléments de Géométrie de G. P. de Roberval. New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, Vol.11, p. 486–491, works by or about Gilles de Roberval at Internet Archive OConnor, John J. Robertson, Edmund F. Gilles de Roberval, MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews. Gilles de Roberval at the Mathematics Genealogy Project Roberval in Galileo Project Roberval in the Notable Names Database
20.
Thomas Hobbes
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Thomas Hobbes, in some older texts Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, was an English philosopher who is considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, which established the social theory that has served as the foundation for most later Western political philosophy. Thomas Hobbes was born at Westport, now part of Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, born prematurely when his mother heard of the coming invasion of the Spanish Armada, Hobbes later reported that my mother gave birth to twins, myself and fear. His childhood is almost completely unknown, and his mothers name is unknown and his father, Thomas Sr. was the vicar of Charlton and Westport. Thomas Hobbes, the younger, had a brother Edmund, about two years older, and a sister, Thomas Sr. was involved in a fight with the local clergy outside his church, forcing him to leave London and abandon the family. The family was left in the care of Thomas Sr. s older brother, Francis, Hobbes was a good pupil, and around 1603 he went up to Magdalen Hall, the predecessor college to Hertford College, Oxford. The principal John Wilkinson was a Puritan, and he had influence on Hobbes. At university, Hobbes appears to have followed his own curriculum and he did not complete his B. A. Hobbes became a companion to the younger William and they both took part in a grand tour of Europe in 1610. Hobbes was exposed to European scientific and critical methods during the tour and it has been argued that three of the discourses in the 1620 publication known as Horea Subsecivae, Observations and Discourses, also represent the work of Hobbes from this period. Although he associated with figures like Ben Jonson and briefly worked as Francis Bacons amanuensis. His employer Cavendish, then the Earl of Devonshire, died of the plague in June 1628, the widowed countess dismissed Hobbes but he soon found work, again as a tutor, this time to Gervase Clifton, the son of Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet. This task, chiefly spent in Paris, ended in 1631 when he found work with the Cavendish family, tutoring William. Over the next seven years, as well as tutoring, he expanded his own knowledge of philosophy and he visited Florence in 1636 and was later a regular debater in philosophic groups in Paris, held together by Marin Mersenne. Hobbess first area of study was an interest in the doctrine of motion. Despite his interest in this phenomenon, he disdained experimental work as in physics and he went on to conceive the system of thought to the elaboration of which he would devote his life. He then singled out Man from the realm of Nature and plants, finally he considered, in his crowning treatise, how Men were moved to enter into society, and argued how this must be regulated if Men were not to fall back into brutishness and misery. Thus he proposed to unite the separate phenomena of Body, Man, Hobbes came home, in 1637, to a country riven with discontent which disrupted him from the orderly execution of his philosophic plan. However, by the end of the Short Parliament in 1640, he had written a treatise called The Elements of Law, Natural
21.
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc
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His research included a determination of the difference in longitude of various locations in Europe, around the Mediterranean, and in North Africa. Peiresc was born in Belgentier and educated in Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, at Toulon, he first became interested in astronomy. Studying law and becoming interested in archaeology, he travelled to Italy, Switzerland and France in 1599 and it was also in 1604 that he assumed the name Peiresc after a domain in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence which he had inherited from his father, although he himself never visited it. After receiving his degree, he travelled to Paris, London and he held this post until 1615. From 1615 until 1622, Peiresc again visited Paris with du Vair and he then returned to Provence to serve as senator of the sovereign court. He became a patron of science and art, studied fossils, Peirescs position as a great intellectual at the time of the scientific revolution has led to his being called a Prince of the Republic of Letters. His correspondence to François de Malherbe throws light on the personality of Malherbes troubled son Marc-Antoine Malherbe, Peirescs house in Aix-en-Provence was a veritable museum, and held a mix of antique sculptures, modern paintings, medals, books and gardens with exotic plants. He acquired the Byzantine Barberini ivory and offered it to Francesco Barberini and he had the Codex Luxemburgensis, the surviving Carolingian copy of the Chronography of 354 in his possession for many years, after his death it disappeared. He owned over 18,000 coins and medals, and was also an archaeologist, amateur artist, historian, Egyptologist, botanist, zoologist, physiologist, geographer, and ecologist. Peiresc also made detailed observations of the Orion Nebula in 1610, Peiresc also wrote letters to Galileo, Pierre Gassendi and Tommaso Campanella, two of whom he defended when they were arrested by the Inquisition. Peiresc wrote an history of Provence, but died before editing it, it was only published in 1982. With Gassendis support, notably financially, he and the engraver Claude Mellan began to produce a map of the Moons surface, Peiresc died on 24 June 1637 in Aix-en-Provence. His home near the palais de Justice was demolished to build the present Palais, the village museum in Peyresq near Digne-les-Bains is wholly given over to his work. Peiresc was honored in 1935 by the naming of the lunar crater Peirescius, list of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics Bigourdan, G. La decouverte de la nebuleuse dOrion par Peiresc, the Mirrour Of True Nobility & Gentility, being the life of N. C. Miller, Peter N. Peiresc’s Europe, learning and virtue in the seventeenth century, miller, Peter N. Peiresc’s Orient, antiquarianism as cultural history in the seventeenth century. Miller, Peter N. Peiresc’s Mediterranean World, les Rues DAix, Ou Recherches Historiques Sur Lancienne Capitale de la Provence. Tolbert, Jane T. Fabri De Peirescs Quest for a Method to Calculate Terrestrial Longitude
22.
Giovanni Battista Doni
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Giovanni Battista Doni was an Italian musicologist and humanist who made an extensive study of ancient music. He is known, among other works, for having renamed the note Ut to Do and they had published the first Italian-language dictionary in 1612. Born in Florence, he studied Greek, rhetoric, poetry and philosophy at the Universities of Florence and Bologna and both mathematics and jurisprudence at the University of Rome. However, since Cujas died a few years before Giovanni Donis birth and this approach to legal studies was admired during the early French revolutionary period because it emphasised the importance of early Roman law, rather than the pretensions of French kings. Doni received the degree of doctor from the University of Pisa and was chosen to accompany Neri Corsini to Paris in 1621 where he acquainted with Marin Mersenne. On returning to Florence in 1622, Doni entered the service of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, Barberini was the elder brother of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, and the nephew of Maffeo Barberini who became Pope Urban VIII. He had studied at the University of Pisa where he was assisted by the family friend, later in 1633 Barberini served with the Inquisition tribunal investigating Galileo, but was one of three members of the tribunal who refused to condemn Galileo. Doni later accompanied the cardinal who was a legate sent to Cardinal Richelieu to Paris, and then in 1625 to Madrid. Doni made good use of the opportunities that arose from these journeys to acquire knowledge of ancient music. Among other things, he invented or reconstructed, a double lyre which, in honour of his patron. Giovanni returned to Florence once again, where he married and settled down as professor at the university where he continued his studies of ancient music and music theory, under guidance from Doni, Cardinal Barberini, was encouraged to venture into the production of an ancient version of opera. Ancient music did not have a beat, because the rhythm followed that of the poetry. Modern recitative music is sung without a beat. This kind of theatrical historicism bore fruit in 1640, a book on ancient theatrical practice He died only seven years after returning for Florence. Donis main contribution to the world of letters was the study of musical theory as it existed in antiquity. Between 1635 and 1639 he wrote a Treatise on Music for the Theatre which provides important history details for early opera. In the eleventh century, the music theorist Guido of Arezzo developed a six-note ascending scale that went as follows, ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and named the Aretinian syllables after him. The names were taken from the first verse of the Latin hymn Ut queant laxis, Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note Ut, renaming it Do
23.
Constantijn Huygens
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Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem, was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange, Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens. Constantijn Huygens was born in The Hague, the son of Christiaan Huygens, secretary of the Council of State. Constantijn was a child in his youth. His brother Maurits and he were educated partly by their father, when he was five years old, Constantijn and his brother received their first musical education. They started with singing lessons, and they learned their notes using gold colored buttons on their jackets and it is striking, that Christiaan senior imparted the modern system of 7 note names to the boys, instead of the traditional, but much more complicated hexachord system. Two years later the first lessons on the viol started, followed by the lute, Constantijn showed a particular acumen for the lute. Constantijn also had a talent for languages and he learned French, Latin and Greek, and at a later age Italian and English. He learned by practice, the way of learning techniques. Constantijn received education in maths, law and logic and he learned how to handle a pike, in 1614 Constantijn wrote his first Dutch poem, inspired by the French poet Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, in which he praises rural life. In his early 20s, he fell in love with Dorothea, however their relationship did not last, in 1616, Maurits and Constantijn started studies at Leiden University. Studying in Leiden was primarily seen as a way to build a social network, shortly after, Maurits was called home to assist his father. Constantijn finished his studies in 1617 and returned home and this was followed by six weeks of training with Antonis de Hubert, a lawyer in Zierikzee. In the Spring of 1618 Constantijn found employment with Sir Dudley Carleton, in the summer, he stayed in London in the house of the Dutch ambassador, Noël de Caron. During his time in London his social circle widened and he learned to speak English. In 1620, towards the end of the Twelve Years Truce, he travelled as a secretary of ambassador François van Aerssen to Venice and he was the only member of the legation who could speak Italian. In December 1621 he left with another delegation, this time with the aim of requesting support for the United Provinces, returning after a year, there was yet another trip to England in 1624. In 1619 Constantijn came into contact with Anna Roemers Visscher and with Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Huygens exchanged many poems with Anna
24.
Galileo Galilei
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Galileo Galilei was an Italian polymath, astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician. He played a role in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass, Galileos championing of heliocentrism and Copernicanism was controversial during his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism because of the absence of a stellar parallax. He was tried by the Inquisition, found vehemently suspect of heresy and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest. He has been called the father of observational astronomy, the father of modern physics, the father of scientific method, and the father of science. Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy, on 15 February 1564, the first of six children of Vincenzo Galilei, a famous lutenist, composer, and music theorist, and Giulia, three of Galileos five siblings survived infancy. The youngest, Michelangelo, also became a noted lutenist and composer although he contributed to financial burdens during Galileos young adulthood, Michelangelo was unable to contribute his fair share of their fathers promised dowries to their brothers-in-law, who would later attempt to seek legal remedies for payments due. Michelangelo would also occasionally have to borrow funds from Galileo to support his musical endeavours and these financial burdens may have contributed to Galileos early fire to develop inventions that would bring him additional income. When Galileo Galilei was eight, his family moved to Florence and he then was educated in the Vallombrosa Abbey, about 30 km southeast of Florence. Galileo Bonaiuti was buried in the church, the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. It was common for mid-sixteenth century Tuscan families to name the eldest son after the parents surname, hence, Galileo Galilei was not necessarily named after his ancestor Galileo Bonaiuti. The Italian male given name Galileo derives from the Latin Galilaeus, meaning of Galilee, the biblical roots of Galileos name and surname were to become the subject of a famous pun. In 1614, during the Galileo affair, one of Galileos opponents, in it he made a point of quoting Acts 1,11, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven. Despite being a genuinely pious Roman Catholic, Galileo fathered three children out of wedlock with Marina Gamba and they had two daughters, Virginia and Livia, and a son, Vincenzo. Their only worthy alternative was the religious life, both girls were accepted by the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri and remained there for the rest of their lives. Virginia took the name Maria Celeste upon entering the convent and she died on 2 April 1634, and is buried with Galileo at the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence. Livia took the name Sister Arcangela and was ill for most of her life, Vincenzo was later legitimised as the legal heir of Galileo and married Sestilia Bocchineri
25.
Dutch Republic
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It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
26.
Society of Jesus
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The Society of Jesus Latin, Societas Iesu, S. J. SJ or SI) is a religious congregation of the Catholic Church which originated in Spain. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents, Jesuits work in education, intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, and promote social justice, Ignatius of Loyola founded the society after being wounded in battle and experiencing a religious conversion. He composed the Spiritual Exercises to help others follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, ignatiuss plan of the orders organization was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 by a bull containing the Formula of the Institute. Ignatius was a nobleman who had a background, and the members of the society were supposed to accept orders anywhere in the world. The Society participated in the Counter-Reformation and, later, in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, the Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by a Superior General. The Society of Jesus on October 3,2016 announced that Superior General Adolfo Nicolás resignation was officially accepted, on October 14, the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected Father Arturo Sosa as its thirty-first Superior General. The headquarters of the society, its General Curia, is in Rome, the historic curia of St. Ignatius is now part of the Collegio del Gesù attached to the Church of the Gesù, the Jesuit Mother Church. In 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Jesuit Pope, the Jesuits today form the largest single religious order of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church. As of 1 January 2015, Jesuits numbered 16,740,11,986 clerics regular,2,733 scholastics,1,268 brothers and 753 novices. In 2012, Mark Raper S. J. wrote, Our numbers have been in decline for the last 40 years—from over 30,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 18,000 today. The steep declines in Europe and North America and consistent decline in Latin America have not been offset by the significant increase in South Asia, the Society is divided into 83 Provinces with six Independent Regions and ten Dependent Regions. On 1 January 2007, members served in 112 nations on six continents with the largest number in India and their average age was 57.3 years,63.4 years for priests,29.9 years for scholastics, and 65.5 years for brothers. The current Superior General of the Jesuits is Arturo Sosa, the Society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work, human rights, social justice and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in countries around the world and is particularly active in the Philippines. In the United States it maintains 28 colleges and universities and 58 high schools and he ensured that his formula was contained in two papal bulls signed by Pope Paul III in 1540 and by Pope Julius III in 1550. The formula expressed the nature, spirituality, community life and apostolate of the new religious order, the meeting is now commemorated in the Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre
27.
French Academy of Sciences
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The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Currently headed by Sébastien Candel, it is one of the five Academies of the Institut de France, the Academy of Sciences makes its origin to Colberts plan to create a general academy. He chose a group of scholars who met on 22 December 1666 in the Kings library. The first 30 years of the Academys existence were relatively informal, in contrast to its British counterpart, the Academy was founded as an organ of government. The Academy was expected to remain apolitical, and to avoid discussion of religious, on 20 January 1699, Louis XIV gave the Company its first rules. The Academy received the name of Royal Academy of Sciences and was installed in the Louvre in Paris, following this reform, the Academy began publishing a volume each year with information on all the work done by its members and obituaries for members who had died. This reform also codified the method by which members of the Academy could receive pensions for their work, on 8 August 1793, the National Convention abolished all the academies. Almost all the old members of the previously abolished Académie were formally re-elected, among the exceptions was Dominique, comte de Cassini, who refused to take his seat. In 1816, the again renamed Royal Academy of Sciences became autonomous, while forming part of the Institute of France, in the Second Republic, the name returned to Académie des sciences. During this period, the Academy was funded by and accountable to the Ministry of Public Instruction, the Academy came to control French patent laws in the course of the eighteenth century, acting as the liaison of artisans knowledge to the public domain. As a result, academicians dominated technological activities in France, the Academy proceedings were published under the name Comptes rendus de lAcadémie des sciences. The Comptes rendus is now a series with seven titles. The publications can be found on site of the French National Library, in 1818 the French Academy of Sciences launched a competition to explain the properties of light. The civil engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel entered this competition by submitting a new theory of light. Siméon Denis Poisson, one of the members of the judging committee, being a supporter of the particle-theory of light, he looked for a way to disprove it. The Poisson spot is not easily observed in every-day situations, so it was natural for Poisson to interpret it as an absurd result. However, the head of the committee, Dominique-François-Jean Arago, and he molded a 2-mm metallic disk to a glass plate with wax
28.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
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Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister and he achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. Historians note that, despite Colberts efforts, France actually became increasingly impoverished because of the Kings excessive spending on wars, Colbert worked to create a favourable balance of trade and increase Frances colonial holdings. He also founded royal tapestry works at Gobelins and supported those at Beauvais, Colbert worked to develop the domestic economy by raising tariffs and by encouraging major public works projects. Colbert also worked to ensure that the French East India Company had access to markets, so that they could always obtain coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper. In addition, Colbert founded the French merchant marine, Colbert issued more than 150 edicts to regulate the guilds. One such law had the intention of improving the quality of cloth, the edict declared that if the authorities found a merchants cloth unsatisfactory on three separate occasions, they were to tie him to a post with the cloth attached to him. Colberts father and grandfather operated as merchants in his birthplace of Reims and he claimed to have Scottish ancestry. A general belief exists that he spent his youth at a Jesuit college, working for a Parisian banker. Before the age of 20, Colbert had a post in the war office, Colbert spent some time as an inspector of troops, eventually becoming the personal secretary of Le Tellier. In 1647, through means, Colbert acquired the confiscated goods of an uncle. In 1648, he and his wife Marie Charron, received 40,000 crowns from an unknown source, in 1657, he purchased the Barony of Seignelay. Colbert was recommended to King Louis XIV by Mazarin, while Cardinal Mazarin was in exile, Louis trust in Colbert grew. In 1652 Colbert was asked to manage the affairs of the Cardinal while he was away and this new responsibility would detach Colbert from his other responsibility as commissaire des guerres. Although Colbert was not a supporter of Mazarin in principle, he would defend the cardinals interests with unflagging devotion. Colberts earliest recorded attempt at tax reform came in the form of a mémoire to Mazarin, showing that of the taxes paid by the people, the paper also contained an attack upon the Superintendent Fouquet. The postmaster of Paris, a spy of Fouquets, read the letter, in 1661, Mazarin died and Colbert made sure of the Kings favour by revealing the location of some of Mazarins hidden wealth. In short, Colbert acquired power in every department except that of war, a great financial and fiscal reform at once claimed all his energies
29.
Pierre de Fermat
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He made notable contributions to analytic geometry, probability, and optics. He is best known for his Fermats principle for light propagation and his Fermats Last Theorem in number theory, Fermat was born in the first decade of the 17th century in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France—the late 15th-century mansion where Fermat was born is now a museum. He was from Gascony, where his father, Dominique Fermat, was a leather merchant. Pierre had one brother and two sisters and was almost certainly brought up in the town of his birth, there is little evidence concerning his school education, but it was probably at the Collège de Navarre in Montauban. He attended the University of Orléans from 1623 and received a bachelor in law in 1626. In Bordeaux he began his first serious mathematical researches, and in 1629 he gave a copy of his restoration of Apolloniuss De Locis Planis to one of the mathematicians there, there he became much influenced by the work of François Viète. In 1630, he bought the office of a councillor at the Parlement de Toulouse, one of the High Courts of Judicature in France and he held this office for the rest of his life. Fermat thereby became entitled to change his name from Pierre Fermat to Pierre de Fermat, fluent in six languages, Fermat was praised for his written verse in several languages and his advice was eagerly sought regarding the emendation of Greek texts. He communicated most of his work in letters to friends, often little or no proof of his theorems. In some of these letters to his friends he explored many of the ideas of calculus before Newton or Leibniz. Fermat was a trained lawyer making mathematics more of a hobby than a profession, nevertheless, he made important contributions to analytical geometry, probability, number theory and calculus. Secrecy was common in European mathematical circles at the time and this naturally led to priority disputes with contemporaries such as Descartes and Wallis. Anders Hald writes that, The basis of Fermats mathematics was the classical Greek treatises combined with Vietas new algebraic methods, Fermats pioneering work in analytic geometry was circulated in manuscript form in 1636, predating the publication of Descartes famous La géométrie. This manuscript was published posthumously in 1679 in Varia opera mathematica, in these works, Fermat obtained a technique for finding the centers of gravity of various plane and solid figures, which led to his further work in quadrature. Fermat was the first person known to have evaluated the integral of power functions. With his method, he was able to reduce this evaluation to the sum of geometric series, the resulting formula was helpful to Newton, and then Leibniz, when they independently developed the fundamental theorem of calculus. In number theory, Fermat studied Pells equation, perfect numbers, amicable numbers and it was while researching perfect numbers that he discovered Fermats little theorem. Fermat developed the two-square theorem, and the polygonal number theorem, although Fermat claimed to have proved all his arithmetic theorems, few records of his proofs have survived
30.
Jean de Beaugrand
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Jean de Beaugrand was the foremost French lineographer of the seventeenth century. Though born in Mulhouse, de Beaugrand moved to Paris in 1581 and he also worked as a mathematician and published works on geostatics. He is credited with naming the cycloid and he lived and worked in Paris as an artist until his death in 1640. D Diderot, Encyclopédie, First edition, Book 4,596, george Hanton, French Lineography, Gregory Kline Books, New York,1927. H Nathan, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography, P Humbert, Les Astronomers français de 1610 à1667, Société détudes scientifiques et archéologiques de Draguignan, Memoires 63, 1-72
31.
Tommaso Campanella
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Tommaso Campanella OP, baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was a Dominican friar, Italian philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet. Born in Stignano in the province of Reggio di Calabria in Calabria, southern Italy, son of a poor and illiterate cobbler, he entered the Dominican Order before the age of fourteen, taking the name of fra Tommaso in honour of Thomas Aquinas. He studied theology and philosophy with several masters, Campanella wrote his first work, Philosophia sensibus demonstrata, published in 1592, in defence of Telesio. In 1590 he was in Naples where he was initiated in astrology, campanellas heterodox views, especially his opposition to the authority of Aristotle, brought him into conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities. Denounced to the Inquisition, he was arrested in Padua in 1594 and cited before the Holy Office in Rome, after his liberation, Campanella returned to Calabria, where he was accused of leading a conspiracy against the Spanish rule in his hometown of Stilo. Betrayed by two of his conspirators, he was captured and incarcerated in Naples, where he was tortured on the rack. He made a confession and would have been put to death if he had not feigned madness. He was tortured further and then, crippled and ill, was sentenced to life imprisonment, Campanella spent twenty-seven years imprisoned in Naples, in various fortresses. He defended Galileo Galilei in his first trial with his work The Defense of Galileo, be warned that while yours truly does state the thoroughly-forbidden opinion of the motion of the earth, you are not obliged to believe the reasons of those who contradict you. I doubt violence to people who do not know, the present Pope likely has not made his mind in this case. Campanella was finally released from his prison in 1626, through Pope Urban VIII, taken to Rome and held for a time by the Holy Office, Campanella was restored to full liberty in 1629. He lived for five years in Rome, where he was Urbans advisor in astrological matters, in 1634, however, a new conspiracy in Calabria, led by one of his followers, threatened fresh troubles. With the aid of Cardinal Barberini and the French Ambassador de Noailles, he fled to France, protected by Cardinal Richelieu and granted a liberal pension by the king, he spent the rest of his days in the convent of Saint-Honoré in Paris. His last work was a poem celebrating the birth of the future Louis XIV and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Campanella, Tommaso. Works in English translations The City of the Sun, A Poetical Dialogue between a Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitallers and a Genoese Sea-Captain, his guest, translated to English by editor Henry Morley, Project Gutenberg. Sonnets of Michelangelo Buonarrotti and Tommaso Campanella,1878, translated into Rhymed English, by John Addington Symonds, author of Renaissance in Italy
32.
Pierre Gassendi
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Pierre Gassendi was a French philosopher, priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the first data on the transit of Mercury in 1631, the lunar crater Gassendi is named after him. He wrote numerous works, and some of the positions he worked out are considered significant. Richard Popkin indicates that Gassendi was one of the first thinkers to formulate the scientific outlook. He clashed with his contemporary Descartes on the possibility of certain knowledge and his best known intellectual project attempted to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity. Gassendi was born at Champtercier, near Digne, in France to Antoine Gassend, a youthful prodigy, at a very early age he showed academic potential and attended the college at Digne, where he displayed a particular aptitude for languages and mathematics. Soon afterwards he entered the University of Aix-en-Provence, to study philosophy under Philibert Fesaye, in 1612 the college of Digne called him to lecture on theology. Four years later he received the degree of Doctor of Theology at Avignon, in the same year he answered a call to the chair of philosophy at Aix-en-Provence University, and seems gradually to have withdrawn from theology. He lectured principally on the Aristotelian philosophy, conforming as far as possible to the traditional methods while he followed with interest the discoveries of Galileo. He came into contact with the astronomer Joseph Gaultier de la Vallette, in 1623 the Society of Jesus took over the University of Aix. They filled all positions with Jesuits, so Gassendi was required to find another institution and he left, returning to Digne, and then travelled for the chapter to Grenoble. In 1624 he printed the first part of his Exercitationes paradoxicae adversus Aristoteleos and he spent some time with his patron Nicolas Peiresc. After 1628 Gassendi travelled in Flanders and in Holland where he encountered Isaac Beeckman and he returned to France in 1631, and two years later became provost of Digne Cathedral. During this time he wrote some works, at the insistence of Marin Mersenne and they included his examination of the mystical philosophy of Robert Fludd, an essay on parhelia, and some observations on the transit of Mercury. Gassendi then spent some years travelling through Provence with the duke of Angoulême, during this period he wrote only the one literary work, his Life of Peiresc, whose death in 1637 seemed to afflict him deeply, it received frequent reprintings and an English translation. He returned to Paris in 1641, where he met Thomas Hobbes, in 1642 Mersenne engaged him in controversy with René Descartes. His objections to the propositions of Descartes appeared in print in 1642
33.
Blaise Pascal
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Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He was a prodigy who was educated by his father. Pascal also wrote in defence of the scientific method, in 1642, while still a teenager, he started some pioneering work on calculating machines. After three years of effort and 50 prototypes, he built 20 finished machines over the following 10 years, following Galileo Galilei and Torricelli, in 1647, he rebutted Aristotles followers who insisted that nature abhors a vacuum. Pascals results caused many disputes before being accepted, in 1646, he and his sister Jacqueline identified with the religious movement within Catholicism known by its detractors as Jansenism. Following a religious experience in late 1654, he began writing works on philosophy. His two most famous works date from this period, the Lettres provinciales and the Pensées, the set in the conflict between Jansenists and Jesuits. In that year, he wrote an important treatise on the arithmetical triangle. Between 1658 and 1659 he wrote on the cycloid and its use in calculating the volume of solids, Pascal had poor health, especially after the age of 18, and he died just two months after his 39th birthday. Pascal was born in Clermont-Ferrand, which is in Frances Auvergne region and he lost his mother, Antoinette Begon, at the age of three. His father, Étienne Pascal, who also had an interest in science and mathematics, was a local judge, Pascal had two sisters, the younger Jacqueline and the elder Gilberte. In 1631, five years after the death of his wife, the newly arrived family soon hired Louise Delfault, a maid who eventually became an instrumental member of the family. Étienne, who never remarried, decided that he alone would educate his children, for they all showed extraordinary intellectual ability, the young Pascal showed an amazing aptitude for mathematics and science. Particularly of interest to Pascal was a work of Desargues on conic sections and it states that if a hexagon is inscribed in a circle then the three intersection points of opposite sides lie on a line. Pascals work was so precocious that Descartes was convinced that Pascals father had written it, in France at that time offices and positions could be—and were—bought and sold. In 1631 Étienne sold his position as president of the Cour des Aides for 65,665 livres. The money was invested in a government bond which provided, if not a lavish, then certainly a comfortable income which allowed the Pascal family to move to, but in 1638 Richelieu, desperate for money to carry on the Thirty Years War, defaulted on the governments bonds. Suddenly Étienne Pascals worth had dropped from nearly 66,000 livres to less than 7,300 and it was only when Jacqueline performed well in a childrens play with Richelieu in attendance that Étienne was pardoned
34.
Book of Genesis
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The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The basic narrative expresses the theme, God creates the world and appoints man as his regent. The new post-Flood world is also corrupt, God does not destroy it, instead calling one man, Abraham, to be the seed of its salvation. At Gods command Abraham descends from his home into the land of Canaan, given to him by God, Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus. The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, the books author or authors appear to have structured it around ten toledot sections, but modern commentators see it in terms of a primeval history followed by the cycle of Patriarchal stories. In Judaism, the importance of Genesis centers on the covenants linking God to his chosen people. It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, while the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book. The primeval history has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, God creates the world in six days and consecrates the seventh as a day of rest. God creates the first humans Adam and Eve and all the animals in the Garden of Eden but instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A talking serpent portrayed as a creature or trickster, entices Eve into eating it anyway. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel, Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abels offering but not Cains. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abels place, after many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by the sin of man and Nephilim, and God determines to wipe out mankind. First, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build a huge boat, then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises that he not destroy the world a second time with water with the rainbow as the symbol of his promise. But upon seeing mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, God instructs Abram to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. Abrams name is changed to Abraham and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah, because Sarah is old, she tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. God resolves to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people, Abraham protests and gets God to agree not to destroy the cities if 10 righteous men can be found. Angels save Abrahams nephew Lot and his family, but his wife back on the destruction against their command and is turned into a pillar of salt
35.
Magic (paranormal)
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Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
36.
Divination
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Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Divination can be seen as a method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed. Fortune-telling, on the hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion, divination is dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being superstition. Psychologist Julian Jaynes categorized divination into the four types, Omens. Chinese history offers scrupulously documented occurrences of births, the tracking of natural phenomena. Chinese governmental planning relied on this method of forecasting for long-range strategies and it is not unreasonable to assume that modern scientific inquiry began with this kind of divination, Joseph Needhams work considered this very idea. This consists of the casting of lots, or sortes, whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, coins, modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination. This ranks a set of given possibilities and it can be qualitative, for example, dowsing developed from this type of divination. The Romans, in times, used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy. Augury is normally considered to refer to divination by studying the flight patterns of birds. An unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, the answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some religions use a form of bibliomancy, they ask a question, riffle the pages of their holy book, other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of feng shui such as intuitive and fuzion. In this practice, the examines the hands of a person for whom they are divining for indications of their future. The Oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis was made famous when Alexander the Great visited it after delivering Egypt from Persian rule in 332 BC, deuteronomy 18, 10-12 or Leviticus 19,26 can be interpreted as categorically forbidding divination. However, some would claim that divination is indeed practiced in the Bible, such as in Exodus 28, communicating with God through prayer is not the same as divination, though both are open, typically two-way conversations with God. Both oracles and seers in ancient Greece practiced divination, oracles were the conduits for the gods on earth, their prophecies were understood to be the will of the gods verbatim. Because of the demand for oracle consultations and the oracles’ limited work schedule
37.
Christian Kabbalah
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The Renaissance saw the birth of Christian Kabbalah/Cabala, also spelled Cabbala. Interest grew among some Christian scholars in what they saw to be the mystical aspects of Judaic Kabbalah, although somewhat obscure, the tradition of Christian Cabala or Catholic Cabala still persists today. The movement was influenced by a desire to interpret aspects of Christianity even more mystically than current Christian Mystics, Greek Neoplatonic documents came into Europe from Constantinople in the reign of Mehmet II. Neoplatonism had been prevalent in Christian Europe and had entered into Scholasticism since the translation of Greek, the Renaissance trend was a relatively short-lived phenomenon, ending by 1750. Later Christian Cabala is mostly based on Pico della Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin, after the 18th century, Kabbalah became blended with European occultism, some of which had a religious basis, but the main thrust of Christian Kabbalah was by then dead. An early expression of Christian Kabbalah was among the Spanish conversos from Judaism and these include Abner of Burgos and Pablo de Heredia. Heredias Epistle of Secrets is the first recognizable work of Christian Kabbalah, however, Heredia’s Kabbalah consists of quotes from non-existent Kabbalistic works, and distorted or fake quotes from real Kabbalistic sources. Christian Kabbalah fully arose during the Renaissance as a result of continuing studies of Greek texts, the invention of the printing press also played its part in the wider dissemination of texts. Among the first to promote the knowledge of Kabbalah beyond exclusively Jewish circles was Giovanni Pico della Mirandola a student of Marsilio Ficino at his Florentine Academy and his syncretic world-view combined Platonism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, Hermeticism and Kabbalah. Mirandolas work on Kabbalah was further developed by Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit priest, Hermeticist and polymath, in 1652, though they both worked from within the Christian tradition, both were more interested in the syncretic approach. Their work led directly into Occult and Hermetic Qabalah and that could not be said of Reuchlin, Knorr von Rosenroth and Kemper. Johann Reuchlin, was Picos most important follower and his main sources for Kabbalah were Menahem Recanati and Joseph Gikatilla. The five-letter name associated with this period is the tetragrammaton with the additional letter shin and this name, YHShVH, is also known as the pentagrammaton. The first of Reuchlins two books on Cabala, De verbo mirifico, speaks of the name of Jesus derived from the tetragrammaton. His second book, De arte cabalistica, is a broader, francesco Giorgi, was a Venetian Franciscan friar and has been considered a central figure in sixteenth-century Christian Kabbalah both by his contemporaries and by modern scholars. According to Giulio Busi, he was the most important Christian Cabalist second to its founder Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and his, De harmonia mundi, was a massive and curious book, all Hermetic, Platonic, Cabalistic, and Pinchian. Balthasar Walther, was a Silesian physician, despite his claim to have spent six years in these travels, it appears that he only made several shorter trips. Walther himself did not author any significant works of Christian Kabbalah, the following century produced Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit priest, scholar and polymath
38.
Animism
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Animism is the worlds oldest religion. Animism teaches that objects, places, and creatures all possess distinctive spiritual qualities, potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words—as animate and alive. Animism is the oldest known type of system in the world that even predates paganism. It is still practiced in a variety of forms in traditional societies. Although each culture has its own different mythologies and rituals, animism is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples spiritual or supernatural perspectives. The currently accepted definition of animism was only developed in the late 19th century by Sir Edward Tylor, Animism may further attribute souls to abstract concepts such as words, true names, or metaphors in mythology. Some members of the world also consider themselves animists. Earlier anthropological perspectives – since termed the old animism – were concerned with knowledge surrounding what is alive, the old animism assumed that animists were individuals who were unable to understand the difference between persons and things. Critics of the old animism have accused it of preserving colonialist and dualist worldviews, according to Tylor, animism often includes an idea of pervading life and will in nature, i. e. a belief that natural objects other than humans have souls. This formulation was little different from that proposed by Auguste Comte as fetishism, thus, for Tylor, animism was fundamentally seen as a mistake, a basic error from which all religion grew. The earliest known usage in English appeared in 1819, Tylors definition of animism was a part of a growing international debate on the nature of primitive society by lawyers, theologians, and philologists. The debate defined the field of research of a new science – anthropology and their religion was animism – the belief that natural species and objects had souls. With the development of property, these descent groups were displaced by the emergence of the territorial state. These rituals and beliefs eventually evolved over time into the vast array of developed religions, in 1869, the Edinburgh lawyer, John Ferguson McLellan, argued that the animistic thinking evident in fetishism gave rise to a religion he named Totemism. Primitive people believed, he argued, that they were descended of the species as their totemic animal. Subsequent debate by the armchair anthropologists remained focused on totemism rather than animism, indeed, anthropologists have commonly avoided the issue of Animism and even the term itself rather than revisit this prevalent notion in light of their new and rich ethnographies. Certain indigenous religious groups such as the Australian Aboriginals are more typically totemic, stewart Guthrie saw animism – or attribution as he preferred it – as an evolutionary strategy to aid survival. He argued that humans and other animal species view inanimate objects as potentially alive as a means of being constantly on guard against potential threats
39.
Pantheism
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Pantheism is the belief that all reality is identical with divinity, or that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent god. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal or anthropomorphic god. The term pantheism was not coined until after Spinozas death, and his work, Ethics, was the major source from which Western pantheism spread. Pantheistic concepts may date back thousands of years, and some religions in the East continue to contain pantheistic elements, Pantheism derives from the Greek πᾶν pan and θεός theos. There are a variety of definitions of pantheism, some consider it a theological and philosophical position concerning God. As a religious position, some describe pantheism as the polar opposite of atheism, from this standpoint, pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing, immanent God. All forms of reality may then be considered either modes of that Being, some hold that pantheism is a non-religious philosophical position. To them, pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical, pantheistic tendencies existed in a number of early Gnostic groups, with pantheistic thought appearing throughout the Middle Ages. These included a section of Johannes Scotus Eriugenas 9th-century work De divisione naturae, the Roman Catholic Church has long regarded pantheistic ideas as heresy. Giordano Bruno, an Italian monk who evangelized about an immanent and he has since become known as a celebrated pantheist and martyr of science. Bruno influenced many later thinkers including Baruch Spinoza, in the West, pantheism was formalized as a separate theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Sephardi Portuguese origin, whose book Ethics was an answer to Descartes famous dualist theory that the body, Spinoza held the monist view that the two are the same, and monism is a fundamental part of his philosophy. He was described as a God-intoxicated man, and used the word God to describe the unity of all substance, although the term pantheism was not coined until after his death, Spinoza is regarded as its most celebrated advocate. His work, Ethics, was the source from which Western pantheism spread. The breadth and importance of Spinozas work was not fully realized until years after his death. Spinozas magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophys most important thinkers, Hegel said, You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all. His philosophical accomplishments and moral character prompted 20th-century philosopher Gilles Deleuze to name him the prince of philosophers, Spinoza was raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam. He developed highly controversial ideas regarding the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish religious authorities issued a cherem against him, effectively excluding him from Jewish society at age 23
40.
Marsilio Ficino
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Marsilio Ficino was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of his day and his Florentine Academy, an attempt to revive Platos Academy, influenced the direction and tenor of the Italian Renaissance and the development of European philosophy. Ficino was born at Figline Valdarno, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the Italian humanist philosopher and scholar was another of his students. In 1459 John Argyropoulos was lecturing on Greek language and literature at Florence, when Cosimo decided to refound Platos Academy at Florence he chose Ficino as its head. In 1462, Cosimo supplied Ficino with Greek manuscripts of Platos work, among his many students was Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, who was considered by Ficino to be his successor as the head of the Florentine Platonic Academy. Diaccetos student, Giovanni di Bardo Corsi, produced a biography of Ficino in 1506. A physician and a vegetarian, Ficino became a priest in 1473, in 1474 Ficino completed his treatise on the immortality of the soul, Theologia Platonica de immortalitate animae. In the rush of enthusiasm for every rediscovery from Antiquity, he exhibited a great interest in the arts of astrology, in 1489 he was accused of magic before Pope Innocent VIII and needed strong defense to preserve him from the condemnation of heresy. This century appears to have perfected astrology, Ficinos letters, extending over the years 1474–1494, survive and have been published. Now if those little men grant life to the smallest particles of the world, neither to know that the Whole, in which we live and move and have our being, is itself alive, nor to wish this to be so. One metaphor for this integrated aliveness is Ficinos astrology, in the Book of Life, he details the interlinks between behavior and consequence. It talks about a list of things that hold sway over a mans destiny and those works, which were very popular at the time, dealt with astrological and alchemical concepts. Thus Ficino came under the suspicion of heresy, especially after the publication of the book in 1489. Ficino introduced the term and concept of love in the West. It first appeared in a letter to Alamanno Donati in 1476, after his death his biographers had a difficult task trying to refute those who spoke of his homosexual tendencies. But his sincere and deep faith, and membership of the clergy, put him beyond the reach of gossip, Ficino died on 1 October 1499 at Careggi. In 1521 his memory was honored with a bust sculpted by Andrea Ferrucci, harvard University Press, Latin with English translation. ISBN 0-674-01986-5 The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, English translation with extensive notes, the Language Department of the School of Economic Science
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mersenne, Marin". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
