Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sims, James Marion

(Encyclopedia)Sims, James Marion, 1813–83, American gynecologist and surgeon, b. Lancaster co., S.C., M.D. Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 1835. He initially practiced in Mt. Meigs and Montgomery, in Ala...

Brahic, André Fernand

(Encyclopedia)Brahic, André Fernand, 1942–2016, French astrophysicist, b. Paris. He was introduced to astrophysics by Evry Schatzman, a leading French theoretician, and obtained his doctorate from the Univ. of P...

Büsching, Anton Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Büsching, Anton Friedrich änˈtōn frēˈdrĭkh büshˈĭng [key], 1724–93, German geographer and educator. He was professor of philosophy in Göttingen, was a Protestant minister, and was directo...

backgammon

(Encyclopedia)backgammon băkˈgămˌən, băkˌgămˈən [key], game of chance and skill played by two persons upon a specially marked board divided by a space, called the bar, into two tables (inner table and out...

Baden-Baden

(Encyclopedia)Baden-Baden bäˈdən-bäˈdən [key], city (2020 pop. 55,499), Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, in ...

William, prince of Wied

(Encyclopedia)William, prince of Wied, 1876–1945, mpret [ruler] of Albania (1914), third son of William, prince of Wied, nephew of Elizabeth of Romania. A German army officer, he was selected by the great powers ...

Winslow, Cameron McRae

(Encyclopedia)Winslow, Cameron McRae wĭnzˈlō [key], 1854–1932, American naval officer, b. Washington, D.C. He served on the Nashville in the Spanish-American War, and for his heroism off Cienfuegos, Cuba—whe...

castrato

(Encyclopedia)castrato kăsträˈtō [key] [Ital.,=castrated], a male singer with an artificially created soprano or alto voice, the result of castration in boyhood. The combination of the larynx of a youth and the...

Boyle, Kay

(Encyclopedia)Boyle, Kay, 1903–93, American writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. A European expatriate in the interwar years, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for the New Yorker (1946–53) and subsequently taught...

tower

(Encyclopedia)tower, structure, the greatest dimension of which is its height. Towers have belonged to two general types. The first embodies practical uses such as defense (characteristic of the Middle Ages), to ca...