302 Appendix 1
of the Quraysh “tribe” and the Bani-Hashim clan. Muhammad’s father
died shortly before he was born and his mother died when Muham-
mad was six. Therefore Muhammad was raised by his uncle’s family.
As a young man he worked as a shepherd and merchant. He gained a
reputation as an especially trustworthy merchant, and at this time met
and married his wife Khadija, a wealthy widow. It was not until he was
forty years old that Muhammad had his fi rst prophetic mission. In 610
he fl ed Mecca to meditate and refl ect in nearby mountains. While he
stayed there, in a cave on the mountain, he received his fi rst revelation
from God, and from this point the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet
over the course of twenty-three years.
Newton, Isaac (1642–1727). Revolutionary mathematician and physicist.
He is one of the greatest natural philosophers in history and made major
contributions to astronomy, mechanics, optics, alchemy, and theology.
He invented calculus almost ten years before Leibniz did so indepen-
dently, although Leibniz has had more infl uence on contemporary cal-
culus. His masterpiece is Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathema-
tica in which he gives his principle of inertia, three laws of motion,
and a new concept of mass. Wollstonecraft deems him a genius of such
extraordinary talent that he “was probably a being of a superior order,
accidentally caged in a human body,” a condition which resembles that
of woman whose yet unrealized capabilities are hidden from view.
Octavian, later Augustus (63 BCE –14 CE). Augustus was the fi rst Ro-
man Emperor. He was born Gaius Octavius — Octavian —but became
Augustus in 27 BCE. Octavian was adopted by his great-uncle Julius
Caesar according to the terms of his last will, which ultimately allowed
him to attain supreme authority in Rome after defeating his competi-
tors. After the assassination of Caesar, in 44 BCE, Octavian formed the
Second Triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus. Initially
they divided the Roman Republic into three parts and shared rule over it.
However, competition among them resulted fi rst in the exiling of Mar-
cus Lepidus, and then Octavian’s defeating Marc Anthony. Octavian
was able to undermine Antony in part by using Antony’s relationship
with the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, against him, and then by winning
a major naval victory at the Battle of Actium, after which Antony and
Cleopatra committed suicide.
Piozzi, Hester Lynch (1741–1821). British writer. She was a close friend
of Samuel Johnson, who lived with her and her fi rst husband, Henry
Thrale, for a span of several years. However, when Hester remarried and
became Hester Piozzi, she and Johnson became estranged. Piozzi me-