1、Biography of AristotleAristotle is one of the big three in ancient Greek philosophy, along with and. (Socrates taught Plato, who in turn instructed Aristotle.) Aristotle spent nearly 20 years at Platos Academy, first as a student and then as a teacher. After Platos death he travelled widely and educ
2、ated a famous pupil, , the Macedonian who nearly conquered the world. Later Aristotle began his own school in Athens, known as the Lyceum. Aristotle is known for his carefully detailed observations about nature and the physical world, which laid the groundwork for the modern study of biology. Among
3、his works are the texts Physics, Metaphysics, Rhetoric and Ethics. Biography of ArchimedesArchmedes (ar-ke-me-deez), a renowned mathematician. His astonishing skill in mechanics was such that some of the greatest real triumphs of antiquity may be ascribed to him. His inventions amazed his contempora
4、ries: the lifting of weights by means of pulleys and the endless screw are among them. A Roman historian celebrates the warlike engines produced by the skill of Archimedes. His mind ever fruitful of extraordinary resources, when Syracuse was besieged by Marcellus, he constructed a burning-glass on a
5、 scale of such magnitude that by means of it the enemys fleet was fired. Eventually, the city being taken, he was found among the slain.Biography of Dante An exiled and wandering figure during his writing lifetime, Dante is now considered Italys greatest poet - so much a literary giant that he is ge
6、nerally known by his first name alone. The Divine Comedy, by far his most famous work, is the story of a journey through Hell, Purgatory and finally Paradise. (The journey through Hell is often referred to independently as Dantes Inferno.) In the poem the first two stages are guided by the Roman poe
7、t, and the final visit to Paradise is led by a woman named Beatrice - a girl Dante met briefly when he was nine and whom he idolized the rest of his life. The Divine Comedy is the source of many famous classical images, inspiring works by and others, and is famous for its inscription on the gates of
8、 Hell: All hope abandon, ye who enter here. Joan of Arc (1412-1431)A hero of the Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc remains a French national hero six centuries later. As a teenager she heard voices from on high urging her to save France from English domination. Despite being a young woman, she was plac
9、ed at the head of an army; she attacked the English and forced them to retreat from Orlans. Later she was captured by the English, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake. In 1920 she was canonized by the Catholic Church. Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was born in 1451 Calvi (), northwes
10、t of the island, 200km from Ajaccio. He was the oldest of five children. As a child, he helped his father as a weaver. He always liked the sea. Genoa was an important seaport. There is no doubt that as a child he caught rides on ships. He had little schooling but was a genius with the sea. His plan
11、was not to prove that the world was flat, but it was to find a shortcut to the Spice Islands. He wanted to establish a city there for trade, seaports, and much more. When he grew into a man he was interested in sailing to Asia by going west. First he went to the king of and presented his idea before
12、 him. Italy wasnt looking for a way to Asia, they were still recieving riches from their old trade routes. His three ships were the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta. Pensacola News Journal - 路 FOUNDED/ESTABLISHED: 1828. 路 HISTORY: This city, named for Christopher Columbus, is located on a bluff
13、overlooking the Chattahoochee River. It is the third largest city in Georgia and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state. Coca-Cola . Philadelphia Enquirer - COLUMBUS, Ga. - Georgia schools students usually are allowed no more than five non-excused absences before they are considered truan
14、t. The boys of summer from Columbus who are still swinging away in the Little League World Series have been given the . Toledo Blade - COLUMBUS - St. Francis de Sales outgained Columbus DeSales by 187 yards, but DeSales' special teams were superior in knocking off the Knights 24-21 last night i
15、n a season-opener. After Knights quarterback Matt Meinert hit Mike Jesionowski for a six . Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci is best remembered as the painter of the (1503-1506) and The Last Supper (1495). But hes almost equally famous for his astonishing multiplicity of talents: he dabbled in arch
16、itecture, sculpture, engineering, geology, hydraulics and the military arts, all with success, and in his spare time doodled parachutes and flying machines that resembled inventions of the 19th and 20th centuries. He made detailed drawings of human anatomy which are still highly regarded today. Leon
17、ardo also was quirky enough to write notebook entries in mirror (backwards) script, a trick which kept many of his observations from being widely known until decades after his death. Nicolas CopernicusNicolas Copernicus was born into a well-to-do family, and after his father died in 1483 he was put
18、under the guardianship of his uncle, a bishop of Warmia (Poland). He went to university in Krakow and spent a decade in Italy, studying law and mathematics. A canon of the cathedral at Frombork, Copernicus carried out administrative duties and, from his house, observed the stars and planets. For yea
19、rs he worked on his theory that the planets in our solar system revolved around the sun (Ptolemy of ancient Greece had explained that the universe was a closed system revolving around the earth, and the Catholic church concurred). Hesitant to publish his work for fear of being charged with heresy, C
20、opernicus summarized it in 1530 and circulated it among Europes scholars, where it was greeted with enthusiasm. His work, titled De revolutionibus orbium coelestium was finally published in 1543, apparently just a few weeks before he diedSocratesSocrates is credited with laying the foundation for We
21、stern philosophical thought. His Socratic Method involved asking probing questions in a give-and-take which would eventually lead to the truth. Socratess iconoclastic attitude didnt sit well with everyone, and at age 70 he was charged with heresy and corruption of local youth. Convicted, he carried
22、out the death sentence by drinking hemlock, becoming one of historys earliest martyrs of conscience. Socratess most famous pupil was, who in turn instructed the philosopher ConfuciusAlso Known As: Kong Fu-Zi Confucius was a teacher, scholar and minor political figure, whose commentary on Chinese lit
23、erary classics developed into a pragmatic philosophy for daily life. Not strictly religious, his teachings were a utilitarian approach to social harmony and the moral obligations between individuals and social systems.Biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti Perhaps the greatest influence on western art
24、 in the last five centuries, Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, architect, painter and poet in the period known as the High Renaissance. His great works were almost entirely in the service of the Catholic Church, and include a huge statue of the Biblical hero David (over 14 feet tall) in Florence
25、, sculpted between 1501 and 1504, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome (commissioned by), painted between 1508 and 1512. After 1519 Michelangelo was increasingly active in architecture; he designed the dome of St. Peters Basilica, completed after his death. Along with contemporaries and, he
26、 is considered one of the great masters of European art.Ferdinand MagellanPortuguese name: Fernao de MagalhaesMagellan was born in Portugal, but it was under the Spanish flag that he sailed in 1519 with the intention of reaching the Spice Islands by sailing west around South America. After much hard
27、ship he succeeded in reaching and then sailing across the Pacific Ocean. Soon thereafter he was killed while trying to subdue the natives on what is now the island of Mactan in the Philippines. After still more hardships, one of his original five ships, Victoria, eventually made it back to Spain. Th
28、ough Magellan didnt complete the entire circumnavigation, as the expeditions leader he is usually credited with being the first man to circle the globeMiguel de CervantesFull name: Miguel de Cervantes SaavedraCervantes wrote the epic satire, regarded as the first true modern novel. Little is known o
29、f Cervantess early life; at 23 he enlisted in the Spanish militia and then fought against the Turks in the battle of Lepanto (1571) where a gunshot wound permanently crippled his left hand. He spent four more years at sea and then another five as a slave after being captured by Barbary pirates. Rans
30、omed by his family, he returned to Madrid but his disability hampered him; it was in debtors prison that he began to write Don Quixote. The, a dreamy middle-aged nobleman, sets out through Spain on a makeshift quest to fight injustice through acts of chivalry. Cervantes wrote many other works, including poems and plays, but none had the impact or popularity of his masterpiece.Shakes