Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bloch, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Bloch, Ernst, 1885–1977, German Marxist philosopher. He taught at the Univ. of Leipzig (1918–33), drifting toward Marxist thought during the 1920s. He fled the Nazis after 1933, moving first to Sw...

Stahl, Georg Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Stahl, Georg Ernst gāˈôrkh ĕrnst shtäl [key], 1660–1734, German physician and chemist. He taught (1694–1716) at the Univ. of Halle, then went to Berlin as court physician. He is known for his...

Mayr, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Mayr, Ernst ĕrnst mīr [key], 1904–2005, American zoologist and author, b. Kempten, Germany. He began his career in Berlin and emigrated to the United States in 1931, where, until 1953, he was asso...

Ruska, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Ruska, Ernst, 1906–88, German electrical engineer. By applying the discovery that electron waves are 100,000 times shorter than those of light, Ruska built a microscope that used a beam of electrons...

Agricola, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Agricola, Johann or Johannes əgrĭkˈələ [key], c.1494–1566, German Protestant minister, whose family name was Schnitter (originally Schneider). He was born at Eisleben and is sometimes called M...

Kuhnau, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Kuhnau, Johann yōˈhän ko͞oˈnou [key], 1660–1722, German composer and performer. Kuhnau was J. S. Bach's predecessor as organist and cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. He wrote various trea...

Hedwig, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Hedwig, Johann yōˈhän hātˈvĭkh [key], 1730–99, German botanist, b. Transylvania. He was an authority on the lower plants, especially mosses, and was professor at the Univ. of Leipzig from 1786...

Fust, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Fust yōˈhän foust [key], d. 1466?, printer at Mainz. Johann Gutenberg borrowed substantial sums of money from Fust, a goldsmith, lawyer, and money lender. When Gutenberg was unable to repay these s...

Arndt, Ernst Moritz

(Encyclopedia)Arndt, Ernst Moritz ĕrnst mōˈrĭts ärnt [key], 1769–1860, German poet and historian. An ardent nationalist and opponent of Napoleon I, he was forced to flee to Sweden and Russia because of his p...

Pachelbel, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Pachelbel, Johann päkhĕlˈbĕl, päkhˈəlbĕlˌ [key], 1653–1706, German organist and composer, b. Nuremberg. He held a number of posts as an organist in German churches, returning to his birthpl...