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British spy for the Soviet Union. John Cairncross (KARN-kraws) was born in 1913 in Scotland, one of eight children. Following initial studies at Glasgow University, he completed a degree in both French and German at the Université Paris Sorbonne and acquired a degree in modern languages from Trinity College, Cambridge University. While at Trinity, Cairncross met four other young men—Donald Duart Macean, Anthony Blunt, Kim Philby, and Guy Burgess—who, together with Cairncross, would later become spies and came to be called variously the Cambridge Five, the Cambridge Ring, or the Cambridge Apostles. Cairncross was seduced into the group largely by Burgess. After graduating from Trinity, Cairncross began work at the British Foreign Office in 1936 after having achieved the highest score ever on both the foreign office and the home office exams. He secretly joined the Communist Party in 1937.

Rob Roy (rawb roy) was born the third son of Donald Glas MacGregor of Glengyle, Scotland. Though his father technically did not own the family’s land, his influence as well as his hereditary tenantship led to his using the customary title “of.” Rob Roy’s father was the chief of the MacGregor clan living in the area. Rob Roy inherited his red hair from his mother, Margaret Campbell, which resulted in his Gaelic name of Raibert Ruadh (ruadh meaning “red”). It is likely that while growing up Rob Roy had some education in the nearby Lowlands, for he was able to write in English. It would have been necessary for him to speak English in order to deal with the Lowlands traders.

Cerf, with colleague Robert Kahn, created the protocols under which the Internet exchanges information from one computer network to another, leading to the development of the World Wide Web.

Human beings have an inherent capacity to create and re-create their environments. Human technological prowess far outstrips that of any other species. The ability of human beings to reshape landscapes, for example, can be easily observed from orbit. With the advent of industrialization and mass production and distribution, the pace and intensity of technological change accelerated.

Ever since the influenza pandemic of 1918–19 (a natural event), which killed some forty million people around the world, a heightened awareness has existed of the potential for the spread of harmful, even lethal, biological cultures among human populations. Among the purposeful biological attacks that have been perpetrated, perhaps the one with which the most Americans are familiar is the case in which letters containing the bacterium that causes anthrax were sent to addresses in New York City, Washington, DC, and Boca Raton, Florida, in October and November of 2001, shortly following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This case greatly increased awareness of the need for government agencies (including the US Postal Service) to learn how to identify and respond effectively to any biological crisis. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Canada in 2002–3, which quickly spread from one to more than two hundred persons in Toronto-area hospitals and resulted in thirty-three deaths among patients and health workers, also demonstrated the need for improvements in government and health care responses to epidemic and pandemic disease outbreaks. The investigation and prevention of biological terrorism have become foremost components of nations’ efforts to improve their homeland security.

Historian and educator. Benjamin Arthur Quarles was born in Boston, the son of a subway porter, but little else is known about his childhood. He took summer jobs as a bellhop on steamboats in Boston harbor and worked occasional summers in hotels in Florida. After graduating from high school, Quarles entered the oldest black institution of higher education in America, Shaw University in North Carolina. He graduated in 1931 with a history degree, then went on to receive a master’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1933. He pursued doctoral studies full time for the next year and a half and then became an instructor of history while continuing to work on his dissertation.

Nazi war criminal. Three months following the illegitimate birth of Klaus Barbie, his parents married. His alcoholic father was first an office worker but later became a schoolteacher. In 1923, after Barbie moved away to the Friedrich-Wilhelm school in Trier, he was relieved finally to be free of his disciplinarian father. Two years later, however, his entire family moved to Trier, and Barbie moved back in with them. In 1933, the year Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, both Barbie’s father and younger brother died.

DEFINITION: Deliberate introduction or propagation of human-desired characteristics into populations of wild or domesticated species of microorganisms, fungi, plants, or animals

DEFINITION: Purposeful introduction of iron into the oceans on a large scale to encourage plankton blooms as a measure to decrease global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Biochemist. Paul Berg was born to Sarah and Harry Berg on June 30, 1926, in Brooklyn. Paul Berg graduated from the New York City public schools in 1943 with a great interest in microbiology, fostered by Mrs. Wolf, a high school teacher who ran an after-school science club. Berg entered Pennsylvania State University in 1943, served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1946 and returned to school to graduate with a degree in biochemistry in 1948. He then moved to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, graduating with a doctorate in biochemistry in 1952 and taking a yearlong American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship with Herman Kalckar at the Institute of Cytophysiology in Copenhagen, Denmark, and then a second fellowship with Arthur Kornberg at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1956, he became an assistant professor of microbiology. He accepted the position of professor of biochemistry at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in 1959.

Caltech is one of the leading research universities in the world, specializing in science and technology disciplines. The university faculty and staff have made significant breakthroughs in a variety of science and engineering fields.

Since ancient times young people have traveled to other lands to acquire new languages, improve their existing language skills, broaden their understanding of foreign customs, access historical sites and geography, and reflect on the meaning of these experiences. The rise of universities, and particularly their expansion within the modern era, has created a context for these experiences to become more formalized. Under organized exchange student programs, students spend time in other countries with structured educational aims in mind for set periods of time and report back to supervisors within their home institutions.

Following the American Revolution, state and local governments became responsible for the creation and maintenance of public roads. Some elected to charge tolls for the use of these roads. The first such public toll road, from Alexandria, Virginia, to Snickers Gap in the Shenandoah Mountains, opened in 1785. The condition of the roads, the need to link various towns and cities, and problems related to predictability of revenue generation and the enforcement of fees caused states to reach out to the private sector for a more workable solution to public transportation needs. Precedent for this overture had been set by the success of private toll bridge companies that were chartered in the northeast, beginning in 1786 with the Charles River Bridge in Boston. These toll bridges brought their investors a healthy annual rate of return.

American evangelist. Graham created the modern citywide crusade, pioneered national and global television and radio broadcasts, and wrote popular books that reached millions around the world with a simple gospel. A consistent feature of his public ministry was his personal contact with world leaders and other famous people.

Education, both formal and informal, has always been crucial to immigrants as they have entered the United States. This has helped these new arrivals to adjust to the US culture and way of life, and to advance their personal and family goals. Throughout the history of the United States, academic institutions and public and immigrant attitudes toward education have adapted to reflect the economic and political changes of each era.

The Red Sea is one of Earth's most dynamic and interesting geological features. Its location and continuing geological activity make it essential in the geological history and development of both Africa and Asia and an important source of information about geological processes and their impacts.

DEFINITION: Movements of chemical elements among parts of the earth, including the atmosphere, the earth’s crust, oceans, and living things