e=mc2

Einstein's famous equation (energy = mass x the speed of light squared), a discovery that lead to the discovery of nuclear energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

East Sussex

County in Southeast England. Barfield's final home, at The Walhatch, was located there in the town of Forest Row.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ectoplasm

In occult thought, refers to either a palpable substance which a medium produces during a séance or the ethereal "matter" that makes up the "body" of a spirit or ghost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ego

In Freud's tripartite conception of the human soul, the self seen as detached from other selves and the world; that aspect most expressly attached to the "reality principle."

 

 

 

 

 

 

eidos

A Greek word denoting appearance, constitutive nature, form, type, species, idea. See Peters, 46-51.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eight Ecumenical Council of Constanipole

"The sixth meeting [of the Catholic Church's ecumenical councils] at Constantinople is considered the Fourth Council of Constantinople by the Western church and is recognized as the eighth ecumenical council. It was convened by Basil I, Byzantine emperor, to confirm his deposition of Photius, patriarch of Constantinople. Photius, who was the principal instigator of the 9th-century schism between the Eastern and Western churches, was formally deposed. The council of 869-870 was not recognized by the Eastern church" [Microsoft Encarta].

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elysium

In Greek mythology, an after-life location of peace and happiness--a near equivalent to the Christian heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

empiricism

An approach to knowledge which gives exclusive priority to the observable and factual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

emotive utterance

According to British critic I. A. Richards, poetry is a form of language devoid of all reference to the real world and should be considered merely an "emotive utterance"--an exclamation without any real meaning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Endymion

According to Microsoft Encarta, Endymion was "in Greek mythology, a youth of exceptional beauty who sleeps eternally. Endymion was either the king of Elis, a hunter, or a shepherd. According to most accounts he was a shepherd on Mount Latmos in Caria. Selene, the goddess of the moon, fell in love with him and visited him every night as he lay asleep in a cave. She bore him 50 daughters, but she put him to sleep forever so that she might have him to herself.

"Other legends give different reasons for his eternal sleep. In one, the god Zeus offered him anything he desired, and Endymion chose an everlasting sleep, in which he might remain forever young. In another, his perpetual sleep was a punishment inflicted by Zeus for having dared to fall in love with Zeus's consort, Hera."

 

 

 

 

 

 

enfant terrible

"Literally, a terrible child. An embarrassing person, one who says or does awkward things at inconvenient times" (Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable).

 

 

 

Enlightenment

Ordinarily used to describe that period in history, roughly equivalent to the 18th century, dominated by a belief in progress and faith in the possibility of certain, scientific truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

entropy

1 a thermodynamic measure of the amount of energy unavailable for useful work in a system undergoing change

2 a measure of the degree of disorder in a substance or a system: entropy always increases and available energy diminishes in a closed system, as the universe 

3 in information theory, a measure of the information content of a message evaluated as to its uncertainty [New World Dictionary]

 

 

 

"Eolian Harp"

1895 poem by Coleridge included in Lyrical Ballads. See also Aeolian Harp.

 

 

 

epigenetically

Born out of a process of complexification; in evolutionary theory, the human brain is sometimes thought to produce the phenomenon we know as "mind" epigenetically out of the complexity of the physical brain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

epiphany

A moment of revelation, a flash of insight, usually one which brings greater understanding of the self. According to James Joyce, a short story should focus on a moment of epiphany in the life of its main character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

episteme

In the thought of Michael Foucault, the ideological way of knowing, the mind-set, that governs a particularly culture and a particular period in history.

 

 

 

epistemology

That branch of philosophy which studies the acquisition and nature of knowledge.

 

 

 

Erinyes

"In Greek mythology, they are the three goddesses of revenge, sometimes called the daughters of Night. They were brought about by murder, perjury, ingratitude, disrespect, harshness, violation of filial piety and the laws of hospitality. They are impartial and impersonal and pursue these wrongdoers until they are driven mad and die. But even in death, the criminal does not find rest until he shows remorse. Then the Erinyes become the Eumenides ("protectors of the suppliant", "the well-disposed ones") or the Semnai ("the venerable ones")"  [Encyclopedia Mythica].

 

 

 

eros

"Greek god of love and sexual desire (the word eros, which is found in the Iliad by Homer, is a common noun meaning sexual desire). He was also worshiped as a fertility god, believed to be a contemporary of the primeval Chaos, which makes Eros one of the oldest gods" [Encyclopedia Mythica].

 

 

 

 

 

 

esoteric

"Adj : confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle; 'a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories' [ant: exoteric]" [from Dictionary.com].

 

 

 

 

 

 

esthetics

That branch of philosophy which studies the nature and meaning of beauty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ether

1 an imaginary substance regarded by the ancients as filling all space beyond the sphere of the moon, and making up the stars and planets 

2 the upper regions of space; clear sky [New World Dictionary].

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eurydice

The wife of Orpheus. Although he descended into Hades to bring her back after she died, she was turned to stone when he disobeyed Hades'  injunction not to look back on their ascent  to the natural world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ex nihilo

Literally "from nothing." Christian doctrine holds that God made the universe "ex nihilo"--from nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exodus

The second book of the Old Testament, telling the story of the Jewish people's escape from slavery in Egypt, their wandering in the desert, and of the conferral of the Ten Commandments to Moses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Experiment in Criticism, An

1960 book by C. S. Lewis, primarily a meditation on the nature of readers and reading.