Syracuse:

ancient city located SE corner Sicily, a major power in Mediterranean, founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans, became a powerful city-state, allied with Sparta & Corinth, most important city of Magna Graecia, exerted influence over that entire region.  In 366 BC, the tyrant of Syracuse on the suggestion of his uncle Dion, invited Plato to Syracuse to act as an advisor; however other courtiers feared  Dion & false charges of treason were laid against him; he was exiled.  Plato, now without his protector was ignored & forced to leave the island.

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Euclid:

(lived circa 300 BC) Greek mathematician, father of geometry, active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I (323–283 BC); deduced the principles of plane & solid geometry from a small set of axioms; wrote on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory & rigor; his seminal Elements has influenced mathematics & especially geometry to the current day.

 

Pascal:

(1623-1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian; earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences, he made important contributions to the study of fluids, clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalizing the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also wrote in defense of the scientific method.

 

Leibniz:

(1646- 1716) German polymath & philosopher, developed differential & integral calculus (independent of Newton) & established notation for calculus; worked on mechanical calculators; refined the binary number system; developed topology theories;  one of the great rationalists of the 17th-century; his philosophy also looks back to the scholastic tradition (conclusions are produced by applying reason to first principles rather than empirical evidence)

 

Kwan-tsi:

(720-645 BC) [or Guan Zhong] chancellor & reformer of the State of Qi during the "Spring and Autumn period" of Chinese history (from 771-476 BC).  On recommendation was appointed Prime Minister of Qi in 685 BC; through his reforms and skillful diplomacy Qi became the most powerful of the feudal states.  His economic reforms saw state monopolies on salt & iron; his administrative reforms employed professional bureaucrats rather than aristocrats; this allowed the centralizing of power.

 

Confucius:* see Endnote 70

(551-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history.  The philosophy of Confucius, also known as Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness in social relationships, justice and sincerity.  His followers competed successfully with other schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought.  However in the Qin Dynasty they were suppressed in favor of the Legalists.  Following the collapse of Qin Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were developed into a system known as Neo-Confucianism,

 

Hobbes:

(1588 -1679) English philosopher, a founder of modern political philosophy; best known for his Leviathan (1651), which established the social contract theory, the foundation for most later Western political philosophy; although a champion of absolutism, also developed ideas such as rights of the individual, the natural equality of all men, and that all legitimate political power must be "representative" and based on the consent of the people.

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epistemology:

branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

 

Cromwellian: * see Endnote 71

of, relating to the politics & practices of Oliver Cromwell and his regime.

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Cromwell (1599- 1658) was an English military & political leader, later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland & Ireland.  Following religious conversion (1630s) became an Independent Puritan with a generally tolerant view towards the many Protestant sects of his period;  intensely religious man, a Puritan Moses, believed that God was guiding his victories.

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analysis situs:

Latin-a former name for topology

 

Louis XIV:

(1638-1715) aka the Sun King, Bourbon ruler of France 1643-1715; as adherent of divine right of kings consolidated system of absolute monarchy; continued his father’s work creating a centralized state eliminating remnants of feudalism by compelling nobility to live at Versailles (many participated in the Fronde rebellion); rescinded the Edict of Nantes, forcing Huguenots to emigrate or convert; under him France was the leading European power, fighting 3 major wars.

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Grand Monarch:

One of Louis XIV’s names.

 

memorandum…(1672): * see Endnote 72

an attempt to distract & deflect French ambitions towards Egypt and away from a prostate Germany

 

Wagram:

1809, battle in Napoleonic Wars, a decisive victory for Napoleon; his army fought against the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen. The battle led to the breakup of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian and British-led alliance against France.