INTRODUCTION

The study of biography has always held an important, if not explicitly stated, place in school curricula. The absence in schools of a class specifically devoted to studying the lives of the giants of human history belies the focus most courses have always had on people. From ancient times to the present, the world has been shaped by the decisions, philosophies, inventions, discoveries, artistic creations, medical breakthroughs, and written works of its myriad personalities. Librarians, teachers, and students alike recognize that our lives are immensely enriched when we learn about those individuals who have made their mark on the world we live in today.

Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Volume 20, provides biographical information on 200 individuals not covered in the 17-volume second edition of Encyclopedia of World Biography (EWB) and its supplements, Volumes 18 and 19. Like other volumes in the EWB series, this supplement represents a unique, comprehensive source for biographical information on those people who, for their contributions to human culture and society, have reputations that stand the test of time. Each original article ends with a bibliographic section. There is also an index to names and subjects, which cumulates all persons appearing as main entries in the EWB second edition, the Volume 18 and 19 supplements, and this supplement—nearly 7,600 people!

Articles. Arranged alphabetically following the letter-by-letter convention (spaces and hyphens have been ignored), the articles begin with the full name of the person profiled in large, bold type. Next is a boldfaced, descriptive paragraph that includes birth and death years in parentheses. It provides a capsule identification and a statement of the person's significance. The essay that follows is approximately 2000 words in length and offers a substantial treatment of the person's life. Some of the essays proceed chronologically while others confine biographical data to a paragraph or two and move on to a consideration and evaluation of the subject's work. Where very few biographical facts are known, the article is necessarily devoted to an analysis of the subject's contribution.

Following the essay is a Further Reading section. Bibliographic citations contain books and periodicals as well as Internet addresses for World Wide Web pages, where current information can be found.

Portraits accompany many of the articles and provide either an authentic likeness, contemporaneous with the subject, or a later representation of artistic merit. For artists, occasionally self-portraits have been included. Of the ancient figures, there are depictions from coins, engravings, and sculptures; of the moderns, there are many portrait photographs.

Index. The EWB Supplement Index is a useful key to the encyclopedia. Persons, places, battles, treaties, institutions, buildings, inventions, books, works of art, ideas, philosophies, styles, movements—all are indexed for quick reference just as in a general encyclopedia. The Index entry for a person includes a brief identification with birth and death dates and is cumulative so that any person for whom an article was written who appears in volumes 1 through 19 (excluding the volume 17 index) as well as volume 20 can be located. The subject terms within the Index, however, apply only to volume 20. Every Index reference includes the title of the article to which the reader is being directed as well as the volume and page numbers.

Because EWB Supplement, Volume 20, is an encyclopedia of biography, its Index differs in important ways from the indexes to other encyclopedias. Basically, this is an Index of people, and that fact has several interesting consequences. First, the information to which the Index refers the reader on a particular topic is always about people associated with that topic. Thus the entry 'Quantum theory (physics)' lists articles on people associated with quantum theory. Each article may discuss a person's contribution to quantum theory, but no single article or group of articles is intended to provide a comprehensive treatment of quantum theory as such. Second, the Index is rich in classified entries. All persons who are subjects of articles in the encyclopedia, for example, are listed in one or more classifications in the index—abolitionists, astronomers, engineers, philosophers, zoologists, etc.

The Index, together with the biographical articles, make EWB Supplement an enduring and valuable source for biographical information. As school course work changes to reflect advances in technology and further revelations about the universe, the life stories of the people who have risen above the ordinary and earned a place in the annals of human history will continue to fascinate students of all ages.

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The Editors
Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement
Gale Group
27500 Drake Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
Phone: (800) 347-4253