Product Description
The most comprehensive state project of its kind, the Dictionary provides information on some 4,000 notable North Carolinians whose accomplishments and occasional misdeeds span four centuries. Much of the bibliographic information found in the six volumes has been compiled for the first time. All of the persons included are deceased. They are native North Carolinians, no matter where they made the contributions for which they are noted, or non-natives whose contributions were made in North Carolina. ... Read more

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The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography includes more than 18,000 people from around the globe and from all periods of history. All continents, fields of endeavor, and historical eras are richly represented: the likes of Plato, Aristotle, and Michelangelo rub shoulders with Sir V. S. Naipaul, Jesse Jackson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Each entry begins with the person"s full name, birth and death dates, nationality, and occupation, allowing the reader to locate this most basic information at a glance. The person"s life, education, and achievements are detailed, as is information on the historical milieu in which he or she was active.
The book also includes 300 special feature boxes, which provide detailed information about a variety of noteworthy people, such as the Ottoman emperor Suleyman the Magnificent, the singer Ella Fitzgerald, the sculptor Henry Moore, and the poet Robert Burns. Quotations often impart some of the spirit of these impressive people. Readers learn that the last words of Ludwig van Beethoven, the deaf composer, were "I shall hear in heaven," and that Bruce Springsteen said of Bob Dylan, "He had the freedom and the talent to make a pop record that contained the whole world."
This is an indispensable resource for schools, libraries, and individuals who need an up-to-date and authoritative biographical reference. ... Read more

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Discover essential, reliable information on over 800 Christian personalities, groups, and literature to the end of the sixth century A.D. in this unique, concise volume. It includes descriptions of the principal sects and heresies that challenged orthodox Christianity on several fronts during the early years. A remarkably comprehensive work, this volume evolved from the distinguished four-volume Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature. For anyone serious about the early church and the people who made indelible marks in its story, this is a fundamental resource.

• Features reliable sketches of major Christian personalities of the first six centuries.
• Analyzes the documents, creeds, and literature of the early church and its opponents.
• Describes the principal sects and heretics of early Christianity, including discussions of the theological tendencies of these opponents.
• Covers more than 600 years of church history in one convenient volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent!
This book should be in any pastor, scholar, teacher, professor, or student's library.It is a comprehensive guide to over 800 Christian personalities, groups, and literature from the time of Christ to the end of the sixth century, from Abercius to Zosimus.These men are the shoulders on which today's Christians stand, and learning about them deepens our own understanding who Christians are and what they believe.Buy and use this helpful reference book! ... Read more

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Partly Based Upon The Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Biography And Mythology By William Smith Revised With Numerous Corrections And Additions By Charles Anthon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Rare and Important Resource of Science and Scientists
This book, can be read from start to finish, but really, it is best as a well done resource of scientists. I would probably say that this may even be the most authoritative source on scientific biography, although the Encyclopedia Britannica, Oxford Dictionary, Asimov and others (I have not done an extensive search) have very well researched info on scientists and scientific discoveries. In addition there are the "timetables of science", Sarton's books, etc. However, there is, currently no major movie dedicated to science, or even to evolution...and that blows my mind...that is just shocking to me. On a hopeful note, the National Science Foundation contributed funding to the making of this concise edition. This book sells used for $25, and new for $160(damn!). The copy I have is marked "discard" by the Phoenix Arizona public library system (perhaps they have the online edition, otherwise I can't see why somebody would toss out a rare and important resource like this). This is the concise version of the massive 1981 16 volume scientist biographies. The biographical info, to me, is of less importance than the interpretation of science findings. For example, in the entry for Pupin, there is mostly biographical info. I'm glad I found this resource, and happy that it was produced. It's a valuable resource, and from the few articles I have read it seems to be very concise, tackling very abstract and corrupted science and what very well may be proven inaccurate or pseudoscience in the future, clearly and concisely.

Great Reference Book
This book is invaluable as a reference for me in writing college history of science lectures, and in reading historical works, as so much of the information that I need is right at my fingertips. While not as comprehensive as the complete edition, the biographies are substantial enough, and the historical range vast enough, so that this work stands as an excellent source for putting the individuals in science into perspective.

The Greatest Scientists, as Fragile as the Rest of Us
Even the most diligent search of the world literature on biography will typically reveal little information about the personality and delicate human traits of some of the greatest thinkers in history.This book stands essentially alone as a complete but manageable compendium of the people who throughout time advanced mankind through creative thought, perseverance, and determination.Perhaps its greatest strength is in the brief but insightful histories of each scientist's life experiences as ordinary human beings who sought personal fulfillment and happiness first in relationships, love, and family.It is fascinating and exciting to discover how much in common the average person shares with the human frailties and emotions of Newton, Edison or Oppenheimer.The extensive illustrations and photographs further enhance the sense that these individuals who we imagine as larger than life were very much like the rest of us at heart.Each of the many hundreds of entries is well written, concise, and tightly focused.The authors' efforts at keeping the biographies limited in length are successful, but unfortunately this restricts the extent of information one might wish to have available for the most significant scientists, or those whose lives included particularly fascinating details. There are some surprising exlcusions of biography, such as Stephen Hawking and Jane Goodall, but the book includes so many other biographies that it would not be fair to quibble. In summary, this is a wonderful book to have in one's home reference library, particularly with children at home. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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Treating and preventing disease has always been one of the most important tasks in a society, and that task ultimately falls to one of the most respected and admired figures in any culture—the healer. This respect is understandable —medical practictioners ease pain, prolong life, and prevent disesase, making them among the most important figures in the daily lives of people everywhere. The Dictionary of Medical Biography provides authoritative biographical coverage of major medical practitioners in all times and cultures. While its emphasis is on practitioners within the Western medical tradition, it also covers practitioners of alternative medicines, as well as major figures within traditional Chinese, Indian, and Islamic medicine. In addition, special essays survey these medical traditions, which are more difficult to appreciate within a biographical framework. Overall, the Dictionary of Medical Biography concentrates on the nuances of medical practice, and the social context within which ideas of health, disease, and therapy exist.

The most complete work of its kind, the Dictionary of Medical Biography is essential for any library that serves those who seek to understand the importance of medicine in the lives of people everywhere.

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In Four Volumes. ... Read more

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Based largely upon original Ming documents, the Dictionary explores the lives of nearly 650 representative figures, both Chinese and foreign, who influenced the course of almost three hundred years of Chinese history. The articles span all classes, professions, and fields of endeavor, from emperors to artists, soldiers to missionaries, concubines, physicians, and pirates.

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Where do saints rub shoulders with sinners, and eccentrics brush up against pillars of the community? In the monumental Dictionary of Irish Biography, just published by Cambridge University Press with the Royal Irish Academy and edited by James McGuire and James Quinn. At over 8 million words, it is the biggest work ever published on the lives of the Irish.The Dictionary is made up of 9,700 biographies written by over 700 contributors, and spans over two thousand years of Ireland's history. It includes the entries on those who made a significant contribution in both Ireland and abroad-from St. Patrick to Brian Boru, Grainne O'Malley to Maureen O'Sullivan, The Clancy Brothers to Jack Dempsey, Arthur Guinness to Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Samuel Beckett to Christy Brown and Michael Collins to Bobby Sands.The biographies are arranged alphabetically from Jacques Abbadie (d. 1727), a Huguenot refugee who became dean of Killaloe, through to Zozimus (aka Michael Moran) d. 1846), the Liberties-born balladeer. St Brigit is the earliest woman featured and the earliest man was Palladius, an envoy sent to Ireland by Pope Celestine. The most recent biographical subject is Dorothy Walker, writer and critic, who died in December 2002. Approximately 1,000 of the 9,700 people featured were born outside of Ireland. The shortest-lived person in the Dictionary is Nellie Organ (1903-08), a pious child from Co. Waterford, whose cause for beatification received widespread popular support after her deathThe most common surnames in the Dictionary are: O'Connor, Butler, O'Brien, Mac/McCarthy and Murphy. Amongst the least well known figures are: Vere Goold, the only Wimbledon finalist to have been convicted of murder, and Percy Ludgate from Skibbereen, Co Cork who was a pioneer in digital computing.This nine-volume work has recently been awarded the 2009 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) for Best Multivolume Reference work in the Humanities and Social Sciences. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Informative, a must have in any potential historical essay.
This book may be the single most incredible work of genius of the modern ages. Its contents border on the incredulous to the scientific and are essential to anyone reviewing the past and its treasure of anecdotes andstories. Sir William displays the true patience of genius necessary in anywork of so tremendous an undertaking and his eye for detail along withhistorical dating and verification of sources are unmatched in anycomparable text. For the avid enthusiast who is reading for knowledge thetruths are paintakingly written with just the right amount of detail totantalize the reader while letting the reader visualize the text in itsbroadest scope. For the scientist, no book of this type will ever show thehistorical narrative as these volumes so richly do. I highly recommend thatthis work be a prerequisite of any study in the fields of History andArchaelogy.

Informative, a must have in any potential historical essay.
This book may be the single most incredible work of genius of the modern ages. Its contents border on the incredulous to the scientific and are essential to anyone reviewing the past and its treasure of anecdotes andstories. Sir William displays the true patience of genius necessary in anywork of so tremendous an undertaking and his eye for detail along withhistorical dating and verification of sources are unmatched in anycomparable text. For the avid enthusiast who is reading for knowledge thetruths are paintakingly written with just the right amount of detail totantalize the reader while letting the reader visualize the text in itsbroadest scope. For the scientist, no book of this type will ever show thehistorical narrative as these volumes so richly do. I highly recommend thatthis work be a prerequisite of any study in the fields of History andArchaelogy. ... Read more

Product Description
The most comprehensive state project of its kind, the Dictionary provides information on some 4,000 notable North Carolinians whose accomplishments and occasional misdeeds span four centuries. Much of the bibliographic information found in the six volumes has been compiled for the first time. All of the persons included are deceased. They are native North Carolinians, no matter where they made the contributions for which they are noted, or non-natives whose contributions were made in North Carolina. ... Read more

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"The purpose of the volume is to provide, in one location, sketches of persons important to American nursing. It is intended as a companion volume to Dictionary of American Medical Biography (Greenwood, 1984) and utilizes a similar layout :biographical information, annotations concerning the subject's contribution to American nursing, a maximum of five important or representative works, and several selective references. . . . The consolidation of biographical information and suggested references for detailed historical data makes this a useful tool for graduate and undergraduate students who are developing a paper or presentation." RQ ... Read more

Product Description
The most comprehensive state project of its kind, the Dictionary provides information on some 4,000 notable North Carolinians whose accomplishments and occasional misdeeds span four centuries. Much of the bibliographic information found in the six volumes has been compiled for the first time. All of the persons included are deceased. They are native North Carolinians, no matter where they made the contributions for which they are noted, or non-natives whose contributions were made in North Carolina. ... Read more

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"Clevelanders are rediscovering the richness of their history, and the encyclopedia project has played a vital role in this process." -- Northwest Ohio Quarterly

"These two volumes clearly establish a standard for encyclopedias devoted to city history and biography." -- Choice

"Both volumes are interesting to read and are useful reference tools." -- American Reference Books Annual

The first edition of this remarkable encyclopedia was published in 1987 to enthusiastic reviews. Out of print for several years, the Encyclopedia is now being reissued in an expanded, two-volume format to commemorate the bicentennial of Cleveland's founding. Volume One, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, contains more than 2000 entries, 150 photographs, maps and charts. Volume Two, the Dictionary of Cleveland Biography, with over 1600 entries, is the first major biographical guide to Cleveland published since the 1920s.

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Illustrated biographical dictionary of historic culinarians, from all places and periods except the immediate present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Packed with insights
Plenty of books cover culinary history and within these usually are scattered references to cooks who have influenced the genre over the decades - but nowhere else will you find a collection devoted entirely to culinary biographies, and nowhere else will the combined scholarship of over eighty culinary scholars achieve this result. Here are all the pro names you'd expect to read about, from Betty Crocker to Fannie Farmer, plus those from other countries lesser known (but no less important) such as Erna Horn or Kenneth Lo. From cookbook authors to farmers, restauranteurs, scientists and food writers, CULINARY BIOGRAPHIES is packed with insights, with each biography including not just a survey of the culinary figure's life, but an overview of contributions and influences, providing a good bit of period history in the process.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A Beautiful Book -- Of Food History
If you get a look at it in person, you can easily see why editor Alice Arndt wanted to self-publish.The book is beautiful: cover, paper, illustrations, typesetting.Of course, you'd also get it for the contents.

Culinary Biographies is an encyclopedia of hundreds of people who had a major influence on the history of food.Mostly chefs and cookbook writers, but also some major patrons, nutritionist and doctors.

Why I was thrilled to get the book -- and why I corresponded with Alice before it was published -- is that it contains the most material I've ever seen on the influential people of Asian cuisine.This is information I've been unable to find elsewhere (see some earlier posts on this board).

So, if you are into food history, you need this book.Better, if you have a friend who's into food and history, it would make a great gift. ... Read more