Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

82 results found

barograph

(Encyclopedia)barograph, instrument used to make a continuous recording of atmospheric pressure. The pressure-sensitive element, a partially evacuated metal cylinder, is linked to a pen arm in such a way that the v...

Keene, Charles Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Keene, Charles Samuel, 1823–91, English pen-and-ink artist and caricaturist. In 1851 he began his long association with Punch, where the bulk of his work appeared. His drawings ranged from interesti...

optical character recognition

(Encyclopedia)optical character recognition (OCR), method for the machine-reading of typeset, typed, and, in some cases, hand-printed letters, numbers, and symbols using optical sensing and a computer. The light re...

Darley, Felix Octavius Carr

(Encyclopedia)Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, 1822–88, American illustrator, lithographer, and painter, b. Philadelphia. He is best known for his pen-and-ink drawings, which, for their inventiveness, versatility, vi...

Pennell, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pennell, Joseph pĕnˈəl [key], 1857–1926, American illustrator, etcher, lithographer, and author, b. Philadelphia, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Much of his time was spent ...

personal digital assistant

(Encyclopedia)personal digital assistant (PDA), lightweight, hand-held computer designed for use as a personal organizer with communications capabilities; also called a handheld. A typical PDA has no keyboard, rely...

Rackham, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Rackham, Arthur răkˈəm [key], 1867–1939, English illustrator and watercolorist. He is known for imaginative, delicately colored, and cheerful pen drawings, especially for children's books. Among ...

Avellaneda, Alonso Fernández de

(Encyclopedia)Avellaneda, Alonso Fernández de älônˈsō fārnänˈdāth dā ävĕlyänāˈᵺä [key], pen name used by the unknown Spanish writer who published a spurious second part of Don Quixote in 1614, bef...

Smith, Seba

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Seba, 1792–1868, American humorist, b. Buckfield, Maine. He founded the Portland Courier in 1829 and in it began (1830) a series of humorous letters on politics under the pen name Major Jack ...

Sandeau, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Sandeau, Jules zhül säNdōˈ [key], 1811–83, French novelist. His best-known work is the romance Mademoiselle de la Seiglière (1848), dramatized in 1851. He collaborated several times with author...

Browse by Subject