Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rheticus

(Encyclopedia)Rheticus (Georg Joachim von Lauchen) rāˈtēko͝os, gāˈôrk yōäˈkhĭm fən louˈkhən [key], 1514–76, German astronomer, mathematician, and first disciple of Copernicus. In 1540 he printed a s...

Oncken, Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Oncken, Hermann hĕrˈmän ôngˈkən [key], 1869–1946, German historian. He taught at the universities of Heidelberg, Munich, Chicago, and (1928–35) Berlin. He was forced to retire because of his...

Wrangell Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Wrangell Mountains, S Alaska, extending c.100 mi (160 km) SE from the Copper River to the Canadian border, where they meet the St. Elias Mts. Mt. Blackburn (16,523 ft/5,036 m) is the highest peak. The...

Sophia Charlotte

(Encyclopedia)Sophia Charlotte zōfēˈä shärlôtˈə [key], 1668–1705, first queen of Prussia, second wife of King Frederick I, daughter of Electress Sophia of Hanover, and sister of King George I of England. ...

geopolitics

(Encyclopedia)geopolitics, method of political analysis, popular in Central Europe during the first half of the 20th cent., that emphasized the role played by geography in international relations. Geopolitical theo...

yttrium

(Encyclopedia)yttrium ĭtˈrēəm [key] [for Ytterby, a town in Sweden], metallic chemical element; symbol Y; at. no. 39; at. wt. 88.90585; m.p. about 1,522℃; b.p. 3,338℃; sp. gr. about 4.45; valence +3. Yttriu...

Marx, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Marx, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm [key], 1863–1946, German statesman. A Reichstag member, he was a leading figure of the Catholic Center party and was elected its president in 1921. As chancellor (1923–24...

Murner, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Murner, Thomas tōˈmäs mo͝orˈnər [key], 1475–1537, German satirist and Franciscan monk, b. Strasbourg. He was the most scurrilous writer of his time and spared almost no one in his satire. He a...

Harden, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Harden, Sir Arthur, 1865–1940, British biochemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Erlangen, 1888. Harden was a lecturer at the Univ. of Manchester (1888–1897) before becoming a researcher (1897–1930) at the Bri...

Fried, Alfred Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Fried, Alfred Hermann älˈfrāt hĕrˈmän frēt [key], 1864–1921, Austrian pacifist. He moved to Berlin, where he was a bookseller and a writer. Influenced by Bertha von Suttner, he devoted himsel...