Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

288 results found

Siemens, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Siemens, Sir William, 1823–83, English electrical engineer, b. Germany; brother of Ernst Werner von Siemens. Originally his name was Carl Wilhelm Siemens. After visiting England to introduce an elec...

Goldschmidt, Richard Benedikt

(Encyclopedia)Goldschmidt, Richard Benedikt, 1878–1958, American zoologist and geneticist, b. Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Heidelberg, 1902. Goldschmidt taught at the Univ. of Munich (1903–14) and was at the Kaiser ...

Harnack, Adolf von

(Encyclopedia)Harnack, Adolf von äˈdôlf fən härˈnäk [key], 1851–1930, German theologian and church historian. He was professor of church history successively in the universities of Leipzig, Giessen, Marbur...

Bastian, Adolf

(Encyclopedia)Bastian, Adolf äˈdôlf bäsˈtyän [key], 1826–1905, German anthropologist. Often called the father of ethnography, he recorded his observations of peoples and cultures in Der Mensch in der Geschi...

Wassermann, August von

(Encyclopedia)Wassermann, August von wŏsˈərmən, Ger. ouˈgo͝ost fən väsˈərmän [key], 1866–1925, German physician and bacteriologist. In Berlin he was director of the department of experimental therapy a...

Bialik, Hayyim Nahman

(Encyclopedia)Bialik, Hayyim Nahman hīˈyəm näˈmən byäˈlēk [key], 1873–1934, Hebrew poet, publisher in Odessa, Berlin, and Tel-Aviv, b. Volhynia, Russia. As an editor and publisher Bialik spread the ideas...

credit union

(Encyclopedia)credit union, cooperative, not-for-profit financial institution that makes low-interest personal loans to its members. It is usually composed of persons from the same occupational group or the same lo...

Lasker, Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Lasker, Emanuel āmäˈno͞oĕl [key], 1868–1941, German chess player. He won the world championship in 1894 when he defeated Wilhelm Steinitz and held it until he was defeated by José Raúl Capabl...

toy

(Encyclopedia)toy, article designed to be played with, chiefly for children. Archaeological research has revealed numerous playthings from prehistoric civilizations. Early Egyptian, Greek, and Roman dolls, tops, ba...

Schadow, Johann Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Schadow, Johann Gottfried yōˈhän gôtˈfrēt shäˈdôf [key], 1764–1850, German sculptor of the neoclassical school. He studied in Rome. In 1788 he returned to Berlin, where he became court scul...