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Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan

(Encyclopedia)Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan kōˈnən, kŏnˈən [key], 1859–1930, British author and creator of Sherlock Holmes, b. Edinburgh. Educated at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, he received a medical degree...

LaFontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte

(Encyclopedia)LaFontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte ləwēˈ ēpôlētˈ läfôNtĕnˈ [key], 1807–64, Canadian political leader, b. Lower Canada (now Quebec). A lawyer, he entered (1830) the Legislative Assembly of Lo...

Schuster, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Schuster, Sir Arthur, 1851–1934, English physicist, b. Germany. At Owens College, Manchester Univ., he was professor of applied mathematics (1881–88) and professor of physics (1888–1907). He is ...

Abercromby, Sir Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Abercromby, Sir Ralph, 1734–1801, British general. After serving in the Seven Years War, he returned to service in 1793 against France, where he commanded a brilliant retreat in Flanders in the wint...

Mackintosh, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Mackintosh, Sir James, 1765–1832, British writer and public servant, b. Scotland. He was trained as a physician, but after settling (1788) in London he became a writer and lawyer. His Vindiciae Gall...

Arkwright, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Arkwright, Sir Richard, 1732–92, English inventor. His construction of a machine for spinning, the water frame, patented in 1769, was an early step in the Industrial Revolution. His machines and his...

Filmer, Sir Robert

(Encyclopedia)Filmer, Sir Robert, d. 1653, English royalist political writer, author of Patriarcha; or, The Natural Power of Kings (pub. posthumously in 1680), a defense of the divine right of monarchs by an exposi...

Wilkie, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Wilkie, Sir David, 1785–1841, Scottish genre painter. He studied in Edinburgh and at the Royal Academy and won early popularity with his admirable little scenes of everyday life. Anecdotal painting ...

Hooker, Sir William Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Hooker, Sir William Jackson, 1785–1865, English botanist. A leading authority of his time on ferns, he formed a famous herbarium and built up the Glasgow Garden and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew....

Craig, Sir James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Craig, Sir James Henry, 1748–1812, British soldier, governor of Canada (1807–11), b. Gibraltar. He served in the British army from 1763, fighting in the American Revolution and later holding posts...