Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ga, black African ethnic group

(Encyclopedia)Ga gä [key], black African ethnic group, SE Ghana. The Ga speak a Kwa language and, together with the closely related Adangme, number over 1 million. Inheritance and succession to public office are d...

Genzel, Reinhard

(Encyclopedia)Genzel, Reinhard, 1952–, German astrophysicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Bonn, 1978. He was on the faculty at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, from 1980 to 1986, when he left to become director at the Max P...

Comyn, John (Black Comyn), d. c.1300, Scottish nobleman

(Encyclopedia)Comyn, John kŭmˈĭn [key], d. c.1300, Scottish nobleman, known as the Black Comyn. In 1286 he became one of the six regents for Margaret Maid of Norway and, as such, agreed to the treaty of 1290, by...

Maximilian, prince of Baden

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian, prince of Baden (Max of Baden), 1867–1929, German statesman, last chancellor of imperial Germany. A liberal, he was made imperial chancellor at the end of World War I as Germany neared d...

blackbody

(Encyclopedia)blackbody, in physics, an ideal black substance that absorbs all and reflects none of the radiant energy falling on it. Lampblack, or powdered carbon, which reflects less than 2% of the radiation fall...

Eigen, Manfred

(Encyclopedia)Eigen, Manfred, 1927–2019, German biophysicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Göttingen, 1951. Eigen was on the faculty at the Univ. of Göttingen from 1951 to 1953. He joined the Max Planck Institute for Physica...

Deisenhofer, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Deisenhofer, Johann dīˈzənhōˌfər [key], 1943–, German chemist, Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, 1974. He was a researcher at the Max Planck Institute until 1987 when he joined the ...

Dekker, Eduard Douwes

(Encyclopedia)Dekker, Eduard Douwes məltätüˈlē [key], 1820–87, Dutch novelist. His experiences in the Dutch colonial service in Java (1838–57) made him an ardent advocate of reform in colonial administrati...

Deutsches Theater

(Encyclopedia)Deutsches Theater doiˈchəs tāäˈtər [key], German private theater organization founded in 1883. Under its first director, Adolph L'Arronge, the Deutsches merged with the Freie Bühne (Otto Brahm,...

Cecil, Lord David

(Encyclopedia)Cecil, Lord David sĭsˈəl, sĕs– [key] (Lord Edward Christian David Gascoyne Cecil), 1902–86, English biographer. He was professor of English literature at Oxford (1948–70). Cecil's works are ...