Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626

After being disgraced as a public figure by accusations of corruption, Lord Bacon turned to philosophical writing. His major works included his Essays (1597), The Advancement of Learning (1605), De Sapientia Veterum Liber (1609, translated as The Wisedome of the Ancients, 1619), Novuum Organum (1620), History of Henry VII (1622), De Augmentis Scientiarum (1623), and New Atlantis (1627), as well as numerous other historical, biographical, political, and philosophical publications.

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817

Austen's major novels include Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818). A minor novel, Lady Susan, was first published in the 1871 edition of James Edward Austen-Leigh's A Memoir of Jane Austen along with the fragment The Watsons and a synopsis of the unfinished Sanditon. Austen is also appreciated for her comic juvenilia, especially Love & Freindship (1922).

Aubrey, John, 1626-1697

English antiquary, biographer, and pioneer archaeologist. His notable works include Brief Lives (written between 1669 and 1696), Monumenta Britannica (written between 1663 and 1693), and Naturall Historie (written between 1659 and 1671), all published posthumously.

Athena (Greek deity)

Also known as Pallas Athene, Athena, the Greek personification of wisdom, is goddess of strategic warfare and arts and crafts such as spinning and weaving. She was born of Zeus and Metis after Zeus swallowed Metis, fearing she would have a son stronger than himself. The god Hephaestus struck Zeus on the forehead with an axe, and Athena sprang from the opening fully armed. Athena is often equated with the Roman goddess Minerva.