Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kelly, Ellsworth

(Encyclopedia)Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923–2015, American painter, b. Newburgh, N.Y. He moved to New York City in 1941, studying at Pratt Institute, and later attended the Boston Museum Arts School. In Paris during the...

Koch, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Koch, Kenneth (Kenneth Jay Koch) kōk [key], 1925–2002, American poet, novelist, and playwright, b. Cincinnati. After studying at Harvard and Columbia he was associated with the Artist's Theatre, Lo...

hemoglobin

(Encyclopedia)hemoglobin hēˈməglōˌbĭn [key], respiratory protein found in the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of all vertebrates and some invertebrates. A hemoglobin molecule is composed of a protein group, kn...

Great Rift Valley

(Encyclopedia)Great Rift Valley, geological fault system of SW Asia and E Africa. It extends c.3,000 mi (4,830 km) from N Syria to central Mozambique. The northernmost extension runs S through Syria and Lebanon, th...

grouse

(Encyclopedia)grouse, common name for a game bird of the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 18 species. Grouse are henlike terrestrial birds, protectively plumaged in shades of red, brown, and...

Magritte, René

(Encyclopedia)Magritte, René rənāˈ mägrētˈ [key], 1898–1967, Belgian surrealist painter. Strongly influenced by Chirico, Magritte developed a style in which a misleading sort of realism is combined with mo...

Marie

(Encyclopedia)Marie mərēˈ [key], 1875–1938, queen of Romania, consort of Ferdinand. The daughter of Alfred, duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she was the granddaughter of Czar Alexander II of Russia ...

Kirshon, Vladimir Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Kirshon, Vladimir Mikhailovich vlədyēˈmĭr mēkhīˈləvĭch kērshônˈ [key], 1902–38, Russian dramatist. He began his career with Red Dust (1927, tr. 1930), a play showing the degeneration of ...

heartwood

(Encyclopedia)heartwood, the central, woody core of a tree, no longer serving for the conduction of water and dissolved minerals; heartwood is usually denser and darker in color than the outer sapwood. Before the s...

Garner, John Nance

(Encyclopedia)Garner, John Nance, 1868–1967, Vice President of the United States (1933–41), b. Red River co., Tex. A lawyer, he served (1898–1902) in the Texas legislature and then (1902) was elected to Congr...