Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

309 results found

Brown, Charles Brockden

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Charles Brockden, 1771–1810, American novelist and editor, b. Philadelphia, considered the first professional American novelist. After the publication of Alcuin: A Dialogue (1798), he wrote s...

von Klitzing, Klaus

(Encyclopedia)von Klitzing, Klaus, 1943–, German physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Würzburg, 1972. He was a professor at the Technical Univ. of Munich (1980–85) and then director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid ...

Caldwell, Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Caldwell, Taylor (Janet Taylor Caldwell), 1900–1985, American novelist, b. London, England. Her best-selling works ranged from romance to satire to fictionalized biography, often reflecting her Chri...

Quinn, Edmond Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Quinn, Edmond Thomas, 1868–1929, American sculptor and painter, b. Philadelphia, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with Thomas Eakins, and in Paris. His monumental work is marked...

Busch, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Busch, Wilhelm, 1832–1908, German cartoonist, painter, and poet. After studying at the academies of Antwerp, Düsseldorf, and Munich, he joined the staff of the Fliegende Blätter, to which he contr...

Heisenberg, Werner

(Encyclopedia)Heisenberg, Werner vĕrˈnər hīˈzənbĕrk [key], 1901–76, German physicist. One of the founders of the quantum theory, he is best known for his uncertainty principle, or indeterminacy principle, ...

Moskenstraumen

(Encyclopedia)Moskenstraumen mālˈstrəm [key], tidewater whirlpool in the Lofoten Islands, NW Norway. Formed when tidal currents flow through coastal fjords and a maze of small islands, it is c.2.5 mi (4 km) wide...

Algren, Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Algren, Nelson ôlˈgrən [key], 1909–81, American novelist, b. Detroit. He grew up in Chicago, and much of his fiction is set in the city's slums. His novels, such as Never Come Morning (1942), The...

Rutledge, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Rutledge, Ann, 1813?–1835, American historical figure, alleged fiancée of Abraham Lincoln. Her father kept the inn at New Salem, Ill., where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Ann's sudden death from...

Berkhamstead

(Encyclopedia)Berkhamstead, formerly also Great Berkhampstead both: bûrkˈəmstĕd, bärkˈ– ...