Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Milhaud, Darius

(Encyclopedia)Milhaud, Darius däryüsˈ mēyōˈ [key], 1892–1974, French composer. Milhaud studied at the Paris Conservatory. In Brazil (1917–19) as an aide to Paul Claudel, poet and French minister to Brazil...

Leclerc, Charles Victor Emmanuel

(Encyclopedia)Leclerc, Charles Victor Emmanuel shärl vēktôrˈ ĕmänüĕlˈ ləklĕrˈ [key], 1772–1802, French general. He served under Napoleon Bonaparte in the Italian campaign, married (1797) Pauline Bonap...

Boulle, André Charles

(Encyclopedia)Boulle or Buhl, André Charles both: äNdrāˈ shärl bo͞ol [key], 1642–1732, French cabinetmaker, the master of a distinctive style of furniture, much imitated, for which his name has become a syn...

Brownian movement

(Encyclopedia)Brownian movement or motion, zigzag, irregular motion exhibited by minute particles of matter when suspended in a fluid. The effect has been observed in all types of colloidal suspensions (see colloid...

Afrofuturism

(Encyclopedia) Afrofuturism, artistic and cultural movement that is based on the wedding of African diasporic themes with modern technology and elements of science fiction and fantasy. The term is gener...

Barroso, José Manuel Durão

(Encyclopedia)Barroso, José Manuel Durão zho͞ozĕˈ mänwĕlˈ do͞orouNˈ bärōˈzo͞o [key], 1956–, Portuguese politician, b. Lisbon. A leftist activist while in law school, he became a Social Democrat in 1...

Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la

(Encyclopedia)Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la pyĕr gōtyāˈ də värĕnˈ syör də lä vāräNdrēˈ [key], 1685–1749, explorer in W Canada and the United States, b. Trois Rivières (Three...

East India Company, French

(Encyclopedia)East India Company, French, 1664–1769, commercial enterprise planned by Jean Baptiste Colbert and chartered by King Louis XIV for the purpose of trading in the Eastern Hemisphere. It failed to found...

Corneille, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Corneille, Pierre pyĕr kôrnāˈyə [key], 1606–84, French dramatist, ranking with Racine as a master of French classical tragedy. Educated by Jesuits, he practiced law briefly in his native Rouen ...

amylase

(Encyclopedia)amylase ămˈəlāsˌ [key], enzyme having physiological, commercial, and historical significance, also called diastase. It is found in both plants and animals. Amylase was purified (1835) from malt b...