Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Richthofen, Ferdinand, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Richthofen, Ferdinand, Baron von fĕrˈdēnänt bärōnˈ fən rĭkhtˈhōfən [key], 1833–1905, German geographer, geologist, and traveler. He took part in a Prussian expedition in E Asia (1860–6...

Oppenheimer, J. Robert

(Encyclopedia)Oppenheimer, J. Robert ŏpˈənhīˌmər [key], 1904–67, American physicist, b. New York City, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1925), Ph.D. Univ. of Göttingen, 1927. He taught at the Univ. of California and t...

Merrill, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Merrill, Robert, 1917–2004, American baritone, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Moishe Miller. In 1945 he won the Metropolitan Opera's Auditions of the Air and in the same year made his debut as Germont in Ver...

Anderson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Robert, 1805–71, American army officer, defender of Fort Sumter, b. near Louisville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1825. He fought in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican wars and was promoted t...

Henryson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Henryson, Robert, c.1425–c.1506, Scottish poet. It is thought that he was a schoolmaster at Dunfermline Abbey. His principal poem is The Testament of Cresseid, which was written as a harshly moral e...

Brown, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Robert, 1773–1858, Scottish botanist and botanical explorer. In 1801 he went as a naturalist on one of Matthew Flinders's expeditions to Australia, returning (1805) to England with valuable c...

Neuhof, Theodor, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Neuhof, Theodor, Baron von tāˈōdôrˈ bärōnˈ fən noiˈhōf [key], 1694–1756, German adventurer, b. Metz, France. After a career as a soldier and diplomat, he was persuaded by Corsicans rebell...

Klinger, Friedrich Maximilian von

(Encyclopedia)Klinger, Friedrich Maximilian von frēˈdrĭkh mäkˌsēmēˈlyän fən klĭngˈər [key], 1752–1831, German dramatist. A friend of the young Goethe, he was a playwright for a theatrical troupe and ...

Hofmann, August Wilhelm von

(Encyclopedia)Hofmann, August Wilhelm von ouˈgo͝ost vĭlˈhĕlm fən hôfˈmän [key], 1818–92, German organic chemist. He was professor at the Univ. of Berlin from 1865 and was a founder (1868) of the German C...

Eck, Johann Maier von

(Encyclopedia)Eck, Johann Maier von yōˈhän mīˈər fən ĕk [key], 1486–1543, German Roman Catholic theologian. He was of peasant stock, the name von Eck being taken from his birthplace in Swabia. He was a br...

Browse by Subject