Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Alembert, Jean le Rond d'

(Encyclopedia)Alembert, Jean le Rond d' zhäN lərôNˈ däläNbĕrˈ [key], 1717–83, French mathematician and philosopher. The illegitimate son of the chevalier Destouches, he was named for the St. Jean le Rond ...

Roman de la Rose, Le

(Encyclopedia)Roman de la Rose, Le lə rōmäNˈ də lä rōz [key], French poem of 22,000 lines in eight-syllable couplets. It is in two parts. The first (4,058 lines) was written (c.1237) by Guillaume de Lorris a...

Foakes-Jackson, Frederick John

(Encyclopedia)Foakes-Jackson, Frederick John, 1855–1941, English theologian and church historian. A fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, from 1886, he was lecturer there from 1882 and dean from 1895 to 1916. From ...

Westmorland, Ralph Neville, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Westmorland, Ralph Neville, 1st earl of, 1364–1425, English nobleman. His family was one of the most powerful in England and shared domination of the northern counties with the Percy family, with wh...

Sheba, region, Arabian Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Sheba, biblical name of a region, called in Arabic Saba, of S Arabia, including present-day Yemen and the Hadhramaut. Its inhabitants were called Sabaeans or Sabeans. According to some passages in Gen...

Leighton, Frederick Leighton, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Leighton, Frederick Leighton, Baron lāˈtən [key], 1830–96, English painter and sculptor. He studied in Florence. His first exhibited picture, which showed Cimabue's Madonna being carried through ...

Liebig, Justus, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Liebig, Justus, Baron von yo͝osˈto͝os bärônˈ fən lēˈbĭkh [key], 1803–73, German chemist. As professor at Giessen (1824–52), he was among the first to establish a chemical teaching labora...

Knyphausen, Wilhelm, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Knyphausen, Wilhelm, Baron von vĭlˈhĕlm bärônˈ fən kənüpˈhouzən [key], 1716–1800, German general in British service in the American Revolution. He served in the army of Frederick the Grea...

Haussmann, Georges Eugène, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Haussmann, Georges Eugène, Baron zhôrzh özhĕnˈ bärôNˈ ōsmänˈ [key], 1809–91, French civic official and city planner. Distinguished for his bold alterations in the layout of Paris under Na...

Browse by Subject