Biographies P

 

William Paley (1743-1805) British theologian, advocates for Deism.

 

Parcelsus (1493-1541) German alchemist and physician.

 

Blaise Pascal (1623-1666) French mathematician and writer, author of Pensees.

 

Saint Paul (d. AD 67) Christian missionary and saint, famous for his letters to his followers included in the New Testament.

 

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Russian physiologist, famous for his experiments with reflex behavior in dogs, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine (1904).

 

Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866) British Romantic novelist and poet.

 

Philostratus (500?-420 BC) "[Ancient Greek writer who studied at Athens and some time after 202 entered the circle of the philosophical Syrian empress of Rome, Julia Domna. On her death he settled in  Tyre. He wrote the Gymnasticus (a treatise dealing with athletic contests); a life of the  Pythagorean philosopher Apollonius of Tyana; Bioi sophiston (Lives of the Sophists),  treating both the classical Sophists of the 5th century BC and later philosophers and  rhetoricians; a discourse on nature and law; and the epistles ("Love Letters"), of  which one forms the basis of the English poet Ben Jonson's "Drink to Me Only with  Thine Eyes" [Britannica Online].

 

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss developmental psychologist, a pioneer in the study of the development of intellect and emotion in children.

 

Pico de Mirandola (1463-1494). Italian humanist philosopher, author of On the Dignity of Man.

 

Harold Pinter (1930- ) British playwright (The Dumb Waiter, Homecoming, The Birthday Party), closely identified with the Theatre of the Absurd, screenwriter, and director.

 

Plotinus (AD 205-70) Roman philosopher, author of The Enneads and founder of Neoplatonism.

 

Roman Polanski (1933- ) Polish-born filmmaker, best known for such works as Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown.

 

Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) Hungarian-born British scientist and thinker, author of such books as The Tacit Dimension and Personal Knowledge.

 

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) American fiction writer, author of Pale Horse, Pale Rider, Ship of Fools, and other books.

 

Ezra Pound (1885-1972) Controversial American expatriate poet and critic, best known for his multi-volume Cantos. Imprisoned after World War II for his advocacy of the fascist cause in a series of Italian radio broadcasts.

 

Marcel  Proust (1871-1922) French writer, author of the multi-volume novel À la recherche du temps perdu.