Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

235 results found

McCain, John Sidney, 3d

(Encyclopedia)McCain, John Sidney, 3d, 1936–2018, U.S. politician, b. Panama Canal Zone. A much decorated navy veteran, he was born into a career naval family and a...

merger

(Encyclopedia)merger, in corporate business, fusion of two or more corporations by the transfer of all property to a single corporation. The remaining corporation continues in existence, having absorbed the other(s...

Baudrillard, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Baudrillard, Jean, 1929–2007, French social theorist and cultural critic. Trained as a sociologist, he taught at the Univ. of Paris X, Nanterre, from 1966 to 1987 and was a prolific writer. Influenc...

Fielding, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Fielding, Henry, 1707–54, English novelist and dramatist. Born of a distinguished family, he was educated at Eton and studied law at Leiden. Settling in London in 1729, he began writing comedies, fa...

apple

(Encyclopedia)apple, any tree (and its fruit) of the genus Malus of the family Rosaceae (rose family). Apples were formerly considered species of the pear genus Pyrus, with which they share the characteristic pome ...

Maccabees, books of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Maccabees, two books included in the Septuagint and placed as the last two books in the Old Testament of the Vulgate; they are not included in the Hebrew Bible and are placed in the Apocrypha in Prote...

mechanized warfare

(Encyclopedia)mechanized warfare, employment of modern mobile attack and defense tactics that depend upon machines, more particularly upon vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel engines. Central to the waging of m...

South Sea Bubble

(Encyclopedia)South Sea Bubble, popular name in England for the speculation in the South Sea Company, which failed disastrously in 1720. The company was formed in 1711 by Robert Harley, who needed allies to carry t...

Calvinism

(Encyclopedia)Calvinism, term used in several different senses. It may indicate the teachings expressed by John Calvin himself; it may be extended to include all that developed from his doctrine and practice in Pro...

Steinbeck, John

(Encyclopedia)Steinbeck, John, 1902–68, American writer, b. Salinas, Calif., studied at Stanford. He is probably best remembered for his strong sociological novel The Grapes of Wrath, considered one of the great ...

Browse by Subject