Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Campbell, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, Alexander, 1788–1866, clergyman, cofounder with his father, Thomas Campbell, 1763–1854, of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Of Scottish lineage, both were born in Ireland and ...

Pfeffer, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Pfeffer, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm pfĕˈfər [key], 1845–1920, German plant physiologist. He was professor of botany successively at the universities of Bonn, Basel, Tübingen, and Leipzig (from 1887). W...

Carstens, Asmus Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Carstens, Asmus Jacob äsˈmo͝os yäˈkôp kärˈstəns [key], 1754–98, German historical painter and engraver, b. Schleswig. He studied in Copenhagen and in Italy. He was influenced by the work of...

serial music

(Encyclopedia)serial music, the body of compositions whose fundamental syntactical reference is a particular ordering (called series or row) of the twelve pitch classes—C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B—t...

games, theory of

(Encyclopedia)games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n i...

Lucifer

(Encyclopedia)Lucifer lo͞oˈsĭfər [key] [Lat.,=light-bearing], in Christian tradition a name for Satan. In the Vulgate, Lucifer served as a translation of the Hebrew epithet meaning “Day Star,” a name associ...

Dehaene, Jean-Luc

(Encyclopedia)Dehaene, Jean-Luc, 1940–2014, Belgian political leader, b. Montepellier, France. A member of the Flemish Christian People's (after 2001, Christian Democratic) party, he held numerous administrative ...

doxology

(Encyclopedia)doxology dŏksŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr. doxa=glory] formulaic ascription of praise to God, encountered in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition. The best-known doxologies of the Christian church are Gl...

Talmage, Thomas De Witt

(Encyclopedia)Talmage, Thomas De Witt tălˈmĭj [key], 1832–1902, American Presbyterian clergyman, b. near Bound Brook, N.J., grad. New Brunswick Theological Seminary (1856). His work in Brooklyn, N.Y., began in...

Unity

(Encyclopedia)Unity, religious movement incorporated as the Unity School of Christianity, with headquarters at Lee's Summit, Mo. Although the movement used the name Unity after 1891, it was founded earlier by Charl...