Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Lepidodendron and Sigillaria

(Encyclopedia)Lepidodendron sĭjĭlârˈēə [key], two principal genera of an extinct group of primitive vascular trees. They dominated the forests of the early Carboniferous period until the ferns gained ascendan...

Levi, Primo

(Encyclopedia)Levi, Primo prēˈmō lāˈvē [key], 1919–87, Italian writer. A chemist of Jewish descent, Levi was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz during World War II. His first memoir, If This Is a M...

Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2d earl of, 1770–1828, English statesman. He was elected to Parliament as a Tory in 1790 and succeeded his father to the peerage in 1808. He served as foreign secr...

lobefin

(Encyclopedia)lobefin, common name for any of a group of lunged, fleshy-finned, bony fishes, also called crossopterygians, that were dominant in the Devonian period and may have given rise to amphibians. They had h...

Macon, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Macon, Nathaniel māˈkən [key], 1758–1837, American political leader, b. near the present Warrenton, N.C. He served in the American Revolution and later became a political figure in North Carolina...

Tetzel, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Tetzel, Johann yōˈhän tĕtˈsəl [key], c.1465–1519, German preacher, b. Pirna, Germany. He joined the Dominicans. He became a well-known preacher and was made inquisitor general of Poland at the...

Thompson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Thompson, Francis, 1859–1907, English poet. His poetry, usually on religious subjects, is noted for its brilliant imagery and sonorous language. He was educated for the Roman Catholic priesthood at ...

scale, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)scale, in zoology, an outgrowth, either bony or horny, of the skin of an animal. The major component of the scales of fishes is bone, and they are formed directly in the skin membrane as the fish grow...

Scheler, Max

(Encyclopedia)Scheler, Max mäks shāˈlər [key], 1874–1928, German philosopher. He taught at the universities of Jena (1901–7) and Munich (1907–10), where he was influenced by Franz Brentano and the followe...

Sidney, Algernon

(Encyclopedia)Sidney or Sydney, Algernon, 1622–83, English politician; son of Robert Sidney, earl of Leicester. He served in the parliamentary forces during the English civil war and was a member (1652–53) of t...