Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

445 results found

Wilkins, Roy

(Encyclopedia)Wilkins, Roy, 1901–81, American social reformer and civil-rights leader, b. St. Louis, Mo.; grad. Univ. of Minnesota (B.A., 1923). While a student, Wilkins served as secretary of the local chapter o...

teleportation, in science fiction

(Encyclopedia)teleportation, in science fiction, the process of instantaneously transporting a person or an object between two points, usually by disappearing from one place and reappearing at a second place as a p...

Tordesillas, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Tordesillas, Treaty of tōrˌᵺāsēˈlyäs [key], 1494, agreement signed at Tordesillas, Spain, by which Spain and Portugal divided the non-Christian world into two zones of influence. In principle ...

Becher, Johannes Robert

(Encyclopedia)Becher, Johannes Robert yōhänˈəs rōˈbĕrt bĕkhˈər [key], 1891–1958, German poet and essayist. After an early association with the Expressionist movement, Becher turned to Communism. His ant...

integrated circuit

(Encyclopedia)integrated circuit (IC), electronic circuit built on a semiconductor substrate, usually one of single-crystal silicon. The circuit, often called a chip, is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or a ...

Shakers

(Encyclopedia)Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the tremblin...

Draco, Athenian politician and law codifier

(Encyclopedia)Draco drāˈkŏn [key], fl. 621 b.c., Athenian politician and law codifier. Of his codification of Athenian customary law only the section dealing with involuntary homicide is preserved. From this and...

Dartmouth College Case

(Encyclopedia)Dartmouth College Case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1819. The legislature of New Hampshire, in 1816, without the consent of the college trustees, amended the charter of 1769 to make Dartmouth...

Lerner, Abba Ptachya

(Encyclopedia)Lerner, Abba Ptachya äbˈə pətächˈyə lĕrˈnər, lûrˈnər [key], 1903–82, American economist, b. Romania. After studying at the London School of Economics in the 1930s, he collaborated with ...

Kobayashi, Makoto

(Encyclopedia)Kobayashi, Makoto, 1944–, Japanese physicist, Ph.D. Kyoto Univ., 1972. Kobayashi taught at Kyoto Univ. (1972–79) and the National Laboratory of High Energy Physics, Tsukuba, Japan (1979–97). He ...