Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Du Pont, Pete

(Encyclopedia) Du Pont, Pete (Pierre Samuel du Pont IV), 1935-2021, Wilmington, Del, Princeton Univ. (Mech. Engr., 1956); Harvard Law School (J.D., 1963). Du Pont wa...

Hancock, John

(Encyclopedia)Hancock, John, 1737–93, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Braintree, Mass. From an uncle he inherited Boston's leading mercantile firm, and n...

Kirke, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Kirke, Sir David kûrk [key], 1597–1655?, English merchant adventurer, b. France. In 1627 he and his brothers Lewis and Thomas sailed on a fleet outfitted by their father, Gervase Kirke, and Sir Wil...

Strauss, David Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Strauss, David Friedrich däˈvēt frēˈdrĭkh shtrous [key], 1808–74, German theologian and philosopher. In Berlin he studied (1831–32) Hegelian philosophy. As tutor at Tübingen he lectured on ...

bolometer

(Encyclopedia)bolometer bōlŏmˈətər, bə– [key], instrument for detecting and measuring radiation, e.g., visible light, infrared radiation, and ultraviolet radiation, in amounts as small as one millionth of a...

Bourbaki, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Bourbaki, Nicolas, pseudonym under which a group of 20th cent. mathematicians has written a series of treatises on pure mathematics. The mathematicians have all been associated with the Ecole Normale ...

Bowles, Chester Bliss

(Encyclopedia)Bowles, Chester Bliss bōlz [key], 1901–86, U.S. public official, b. Springfield, Mass.; grandson of Samuel Bowles (1851–1915). At first a journalist and an advertising man, Bowles was later (1942...

counterpoint

(Encyclopedia)counterpoint, in music, the art of combining melodies each of which is independent though forming part of a homogeneous texture. The term derives from the Latin for “point against point,” meaning ...

Old Catholics

(Encyclopedia)Old Catholics, Christian denomination established by German Catholics who separated themselves from the Roman Catholic Church when they rejected (1870) the decrees of the First Vatican Council, especi...

Brethren

(Encyclopedia)Brethren, German Baptist religious group. They were popularly known as Dunkards, Dunkers, or Tunkers, from the German for “to dip,” referring to their method of baptizing. The Brethren evolved fro...

Browse by Subject