Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Goyen, Jan Josephszoon van

(Encyclopedia)Goyen, Jan Josephszoon van yän yōˈzəfsōn vän gōˈyən [key], 1596–1656, Dutch landscape painter. He studied at Leiden and Haarlem. In 1631 he settled at The Hague. His typically Dutch landsca...

Jamal, Ahmad

(Encyclopedia)Jamal, Ahmad, 1930–, American jazz pianist, b. Pittsburgh, Pa. He started playing the piano at the age of three and became interested in jazz during the bop era. He began playing professionally at 1...

Appia, Adolphe

(Encyclopedia)Appia, Adolphe ädôlfˈ äpˈpyä [key], 1862–1928, Swiss theorist of modern stage lighting and décor. In interpreting Wagner's ideas in scenic designs for his operas, Appia rejected painted scene...

avionics

(Encyclopedia)avionics āˌvēŏnˈĭks [key], electronic instruments used in air or space flight; also the design and production of such instruments. Early planes had few instruments, but as aviation and aircraft ...

lettre de cachet

(Encyclopedia)lettre de cachet lĕˈtrə də käshāˈ [key], formerly in French law, private, sealed document, issued as a communication from the king. Such a letter could order imprisonment or exile for an indivi...

Rogers, William Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, William Pierce, 1913–2001, U.S. government official, b. Norfolk, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1937, he served (1947–50) as chief counsel to two Senate investigating committees before becomi...

adenoids

(Encyclopedia)adenoids ădˈənoidzˌ [key], common name for the pharyngeal tonsils, spongy masses of lymphoid tissue that occupy the nasopharynx, the space between the back of the nose and the throat. Normally the...

Vulcan, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Vulcan, in astronomy, hypothetical planet whose existence was proposed by Le Verrier to explain part of the advance of the perihelion of Mercury, not all of which could be accounted for by gravitation...

Bradley, Francis Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, Francis Herbert, 1846–1924, English philosopher. He was educated at Oxford, where he became a fellow of Merton College in 1876. His works include Ethical Studies (1876), Principles of Logic...

Boccioni, Umberto

(Encyclopedia)Boccioni, Umberto o͞ombĕrˈtō bŏt-chôˈnē [key], 1882–1916, Italian futurist painter and sculptor. He played a primary role in the drafting of the manifesto of futurism in 1910 and was the maj...

Browse by Subject