Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

games, theory of

(Encyclopedia)games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n i...

Heath, Sir Edward Richard George

(Encyclopedia)Heath, Sir Edward Richard George, 1916–2005, British statesman. Educated at Oxford, he served in the Royal Artillery during World War II, rising to the rank of colonel. He was elected to Parliament ...

Leicester, Robert Dudley, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Leicester, Robert Dudley, earl of lĕsˈtər [key], 1532?–1588, English courtier and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. A younger son of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, he was early brought into th...

Farnese

(Encyclopedia)Farnese färnāˈzā [key], Italian noble family that ruled Parma and Piacenza from 1545 to 1731. In the 12th cent. the Farnese held several fiefs in Latium. They became one of the most prominent fami...

Lyonnais

(Encyclopedia)Lyonnais lyônāˈ [key], region and former province, E central France, now divided into the Rhône and Loire depts. It included Lyonnais proper (the region around Lyons, its capital), which Philip IV...

Mazo, Juan Bautista Martínez del

(Encyclopedia)Mazo, Juan Bautista Martínez del hwän boutēsˈtä märtēˈnĕth dĕl mäˈthō [key], c.1612–1667, Spanish portrait and landscape painter. He was the pupil and son-in-law of Velázquez, with who...

Mende

(Encyclopedia)Mende mäNd [key], city (1990 pop. 12,667), capital of Lozère dept., S France, on the Lot River. Mende is a tourist resort. It was originally a small Gallo-Roman city that became an episcopal see in ...

Lawrie, Lee

(Encyclopedia)Lawrie, Lee lōˈrē [key], 1877–1963, American sculptor, b. Germany. Brought to America as an infant, he studied with Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Philip Martiny. Lawrie specialized in architectural ...

march, in music

(Encyclopedia)march, in music, composition intended to accompany marching. The only constant characteristics of a march are duple meter and a fairly simple rhythmic design. In mood, marches range from the moving de...

Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazán, marqués de

(Encyclopedia)Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazán, marqués de älˈvärō ᵺā bäthänˈ märkāsˈ dā sänˈtä kro͞oth [key], 1526–88, Spanish admiral. He fought in various actions against the Ottomans and disti...

Browse by Subject