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Many reference books contain short biographical entries. Listed below is a selected list of biographical sources available in the Reference Collection on the first floor of Owens Library. Others can be located in the Library Catalog or by asking at the first floor Library Services Desk.
NOTE:
- An * before the title of an entry indicates that the work is indexed in the Abridged Biography and Genealogy Master Index . This volume is located in the Reference section on first floor and may be used to identify whether individuals are included in the #'d titles.
- Use the Find command
on the Netscape toolbar to search for sources that list individuals with specific
characteristics or occupations (i.e., mathematician, black, Hispanic, or women).
100 Most Popular Scientists
for Young Adults : Biographical Sketches and Professional Paths
This book provides biographies for and traces the career paths of 100 scientists
throughout history. Included are entries on popular scientist such as Einstein,
Newton, George Washington Carver, and more.
African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary
This single volume work includes biographies of African American women who
have made significant contributions to social reform, politics, arts, entertainment,
religion, business, education and other professions. Nearly 300 women who lived
from the 18th century to the present are described. The entries include analytical
information about a woman's contributions, significance and works. A bibliography
of sources about each woman is included at the end of individual entries.
*American Men & Women
of Science
This work contains profiles of living scientists in the physical and life
sciences. It includes public health scientists, engineers, mathematicians, statisticians,
and computer scientists.
American Political Leaders 1789-2000
This book contains short biographical entries for American political leaders
between 1789 and 2000. Also included are chronologies for certain political
positions over time, including Presidents and Vice Presidents, cabinet members,
Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress, and state governors.
*Baker's Biographical
Dictionary of Musicians
Entries range from Beethoven to the Beatles in this comprehensive volume.
Some entries include bibliographies and lists of works composed.
Biographical Dictionary
of Black Americans
Nearly 200 entries, covering black Americans from the earliest days of colonial
America to the present, are included in this reference source.
Biographical Dictionary
of Mathematicians
Brief biographical sketches of mathematicians who lived throughout the ages
are followed by extensive bibliographies in this four-volume set.
Biographical Dictionary
of the History of Technology
Nearly 1,300 individuals who have made a significant contribution to technology
are included in this volume. Brief biographical entries are followed by sections
including honors and distinctions, a bibliography of the persons works, and
a Further Reading list of suggested articles about the person.
The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists
This dictionary provides historical reviews of the sciences of astronomy,
biology, chemistry, engineering and technology, geology, mathematics, and physics.
Also included are biographical entries for important scientists of the past
and present that have made an impact in one of the fields of science.
Biographical Dictionary
of Twentieth-Century Philosophers
More than 1,000 philosophers who have lived all or part of their lives in
the twentieth century are described in this volume. Individuals are included
if they have been discussed in major reference works, published widely in philosophy
journals, and/or published several philosophical books. Brief bibliographies
are included in each entry.
*Biographical Directory
of the Governors of the United States
This collection of biographies recounts the careers and achievements of
all those who have served in their respective statehouses from 1988 through
1994.
Biographical Encyclopedia of 20th-Century World Leaders
"The five volumes of the Biographical Encyclopedia of 20th-Century
World Leaders profile 483 leaders from ninety-eight countries who left their
mark on a country, a region, or, in some cases, the political landscape of the
world."
Black Women in America:
An Historical Encyclopedia
Individual biographies of 641 black women who played a role on the national
stage or who made national news form the core of this reference.
Cambridge Biographical
Dictionary
A wide spectrum of figures who were popular in public culture or influenced
historical events form the subject matter for this reference work.
Chambers Biographical
Dictionary
This sixth edition of the work originally published in Britain, 1897, focuses
on European biography. It has short, precise descriptions of persons from all
walks of life in all time periods.
*Contemporary Authors
Biographical information on persons both living and deceased are included
in this multi-volume set. Writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, motion
pictures, television, and other fields are included. The entries vary from a
few paragraphs to several pages in length. For more information on this source
use the Contemporary
Authors Guide.
*Contemporary Black Biography
Informative biographical profiles of important and influential persons of
African heritage who form the international black community are included in this
work. Persons of various nationalities in a wide variety of fields, including
architecture, art, business, dance, education, fashion, film, industry, journalism,
law, literature, medicine, music, politics and government, publishing, religion,
science and technology, social issues, sports, television, theater and others
are profiled. Selected individuals from earlier in this century whose influence
continues to impact contemporary life are included. A unique feature of this reference
work is the inclusion of important and influential persons who are not yet household
names and are therefore likely to be ignored by other biographical reference series.
*Current Biography
This monthly reference source provides objective, accurate and well-documented
biographical articles about leaders in all fields of human accomplishment from
1940 to the present.
Dictionary of American
Biography
Entries are included for persons of all periods who lived in the territory
now known as the United States. More than 13,600 biographies are included.
Dictionary of Art
This work is a comprehensive history of visual arts worldwide, from prehistory
to present times. Art mediums included are photography, architecture, painting,
sculpture, performance art and multimedia (excluding film). More than one half
of the 45,000 entries in this work are biographies.
Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes
This dictionary contains several hundred entries on important subjects and
people concerning the avant-garde. Included is an index of names, as well as
a subject index.
*Dictionary of National
Biography
The scope of this work includes noteworthy British and American colonial
persons.
An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers
This work provides biographical entries for nearly 400 British women writers.
The majority of entries deal with writers from the eighteenth century or later.
Encyclopedia of Native
American Biography
Approximately 600 biographies of Native Americans or individuals significant
in Native American history are included in this one volume work. Multiple names
attributed to a single individual are noted in the entries.
Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court
This three volume set contains entries on members of the Supreme Court,
summaries of justices' careers, a time line, a categorized list of entries,
and over 1,000 essays on certain topics and cases in the history of the US Supreme
Court.
Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion
This two volume set contains several hundred articles written by women on
religious subjects that concern women's views. There is also a subject index
included for the articles. The topics covered range from Abortion to Yoni.
Great Lives from History
Persons with achievements in architecture, astronomy, business, diplomacy,
education, government, literature, the military, music, philosophy, physics,
politics, religion, social reform, the theater and other areas are among the
475 individuals profiled in this volume.
*Historic World Leaders
Historic World Leaders is a five-volume set of over 620 biographical
sketches of individuals from nations around the world. Many leaders not typically
covered in other biographical reference works are included.
Historical Biographical
Dictionaries Master Index
This reference work enables the user to easily locate citations to biographical
information from more than 304,000 entries in over 35 historical sources.
International Dictionary
of 20th Century Biography
Concise biographies of 5,650 notable modern men and women form the text
of this work. The authors believe these individuals have made significant contributions
during the twentieth century, were famous on a widespread scale, and represent
a range of ethnic, racial, gender, national and political backgrounds.
Larousse Dictionary of Scientists
This dictionary contains biographical entries for all Nobel prize winners
until the year of 1993, as well as all of the important scientists of the past
until this point in history.
Lives and Legacies
This is an encyclopedia that contains relatively detailed biographical entries
on scientists, mathematicians, and inventors who have made a historical impact
on the world because of their studies.
*McGraw-Hill Dictionary
of Art
Biographies of over 15,000 painters, architects, industrial designers, and
decorative artists from all periods and all countries are included in this work.
Native American Women:
A Biographical Dictionary
This one-volume collection of brief biographical sketches includes descriptions
of Native American women who are usually not included in other reference works
of women's biography. Short entries are followed by a list of references where
users may find more in-depth information.
*New York Times Biographical
Service
News articles from the New York Times newspaper which provide current
biographical information of general interest are reproduced in this volume.
Check the yearly indexes to see if the individual you are researching is included
in these volumes between 1976 and 1992. NOTE: This index includes only living
persons or those who recently died.
*Nobel Prize Winners
This biographical reference work contains profiles of all 566 men, women
and institutions who received the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 1986.
Notable Asian Americans
Two hundred fifty biographical sketches of noteworthy Asian Americans, both
living and deceased, from all fields of endeavor are included in this volume.
*Notable American Women
1607-1950
Biographical sketches of more than 1,350 women are included in this volume.
The criteria for inclusion is public distinction of more than local significance
unless she was the wife of a United States President.
Notable American Women:
The Modern Period
An additional 442 women who died between 1951 and 1975 are included in this
supplement to the volume described above.
*Notable Black American
Women
Five hundred black American women from colonial times to the present who
have made significant achievements in the United States are included in this
reference source.
*Notable Hispanic American
Women
Hispanic American women who have demonstrated a positive influence on the
local, national or international level are discussed in this volume.
Oxford Encyclopedia
of the Reformation
This work includes information relating to the history of the sixteenth
century. The editors of the four-volume set placed special emphasis on many
personalities not included in other reference works. A number of the individuals
included are known by variant names that are cross-referenced in the index.
Reference Guide to
English Literature
Volumes one and two of this three-volume set include entries describing
the life and works of writers from Britain, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New
Zealand, English-speaking Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Details included in
the biographical entries are education, military service, marriage(s), awards,
honors and a chronological life summary.
Research Guide to European
Historical Biography
This eight-volume set chronicles the lives of four hundred well known European
men and women born after 1450. Individuals included are explorers, monarchs,
heads of state, diplomats, political and military leaders, philosophers, political
theorists, theologians, popes, artists, writers and musicians. Each entry includes
a bibliography of works consulted.
Twentieth-Century Women Politicians
Included here are biographical entries, bibliographies, and chronologies
of 10 important women in the field of Twentieth-Century American politics.
*Who's Who Among Black
Americans
Candidates become eligible for inclusion in this volume by virtue of positions
held through election or appointment to office, notable career achievements,
or outstanding community service. More than 17,000 men and women are profiled.
*Who's Who in America
Biographical data on approximately 80,500 individuals (predominantly US
citizens) is included in this work. Some prominent persons from Canada and Mexico
are also profiled.
*Who's Who of American
Women
Thirty thousand biographical sketches of American women who hold positions
of responsibility or have attained a noteworthy level of achievement are incorporated
into this reference work.
*Who Was Who in America
Biographical sketches are transferred to this work from Who's Who in
America because of the death of the biographer. The date of death and, often,
the internment location are added.
All quoted material is from the respective source.
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