Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

181 results found

Fox, Paula

(Encyclopedia)Fox, Paula, 1923–, American writer, b. New York City. Fox's six cooly acute novels reflect her own life, particularly her miserable childhood and its psychological aftermath. Poor George (1967), her...

thermite

(Encyclopedia)thermite [from Thermit, a trade name], mixture of powdered or granular aluminum metal and powdered iron oxide. When ignited it gives off large amounts of heat. In wartime it has been used in incendiar...

Wagner, Honus

(Encyclopedia)Wagner, Honus hōˈnŭs wăgˈnər [key], 1874–1955, American baseball player, b. Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pa. His real name was John Peter Wagner. He played semiprofessional ball in Ohio and was g...

Baselitz, Georg

(Encyclopedia)Baselitz, Georg gāôrkhˈ bäˈzəlĭtsˌ [key], 1938–, German artist, b. Deutschbaselitz, Germany, as Hans-Georg Dern. A leading figure in the neoexpressionist movement (see neoexpressionism), he ...

Steinberger, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Steinberger, Jack (Hans Jakob Steinberger), 1921–2020, American physicist, b. Kissingen, Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1948. He and a brother were sent to the United States in 1934 as the Nazis r...

Eisler, Hanns

(Encyclopedia)Eisler, Hanns häns īsˈlər [key], 1898–1962, German composer, pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In 1926, he joined the German Communist party, thereafter producing protest songs and other music express...

Peck, Justin

(Encyclopedia)Peck, Justin, 1987–, American ballet dancer and choreographer, b. Washington, D.C. He trained at New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet, where he was influenced by the choreography of Geor...

bassoon

(Encyclopedia)bassoon băso͞onˈ [key], double-reed woodwind instrument that plays in the bass and tenor registers. Its 8-ft (2.4-m) conical tube is bent double, the instrument thus being about 4 ft (1.2 m) high. ...

Kokoschka, Oskar

(Encyclopedia)Kokoschka, Oskar ôsˈkär kōkôshˈkä [key], 1886–1980, Austrian expressionist painter and writer. After teaching at the art academy in Dresden (1920–24), Kokoschka traveled extensively in Euro...

Gabrieli, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Gabrieli, Andrea jōvänˈnē [key], c.1555–1612. Giovanni was for a time a singer in the court choir under Lasso in Munich and became (1585) second organist at St. Mark's, succeeding to first organ...