Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Stephenson, George

(Encyclopedia)Stephenson, George, 1781–1848, British engineer, noted as a locomotive builder. He learned to read and write in night school at the age of 18, while working in a colliery. He constructed (1814) a tr...

Noland, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Noland, Kenneth nōˈlənd [key], 1924–2010, American painter, b. Asheville, N.C. An outstanding colorist, Noland was one of the best-known exponents of the abstract painting movement known as color...

Rice, Charles Moen

(Encyclopedia)Rice, Charles Moen, 1952–, American virologist, b. Sacramento, Calif., Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1981. Rice was a researcher at the Washington Univ. School of Medicine from 1986 to 2...

Rølvaag, Ole Edvart

(Encyclopedia)Rølvaag, Ole Edvart ōˈlə ĕdˈvärt rölˈvôkh [key], 1876–1931, Norwegian-American novelist, b. Helgeland, Norway, grad. St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., 1905. He emigrated to the United S...

hospital

(Encyclopedia)hospital, institution for the care of the sick, maintained by private endowment or public funds or both. General hospitals minister to all types of illness, while special hospitals are concerned with ...

insect repellent

(Encyclopedia)insect repellent, substance applied to the skin in order to provide protection against biting insects, primarily mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, fleas, and certain flies. The most effective such substanc...

isoniazid

(Encyclopedia)isoniazid īˌsōnīˈəzĭd [key], drug used to treat tuberculosis. Also known as isonicotinic acid hydrazide, isoniazid is the most effective antituberculosis drug currently available. The drug inhi...

electric shock

(Encyclopedia)electric shock, effect of the passage of a current of electricity through the body. Fatality may result from shocks of from 1 to 2 amperes and 500 to 1,000 volts. However, the effect of electric shock...

Hamilton, William Hamilton, 2d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, William Hamilton, 2d duke of, 1616–51, Scottish nobleman. With his brother James Hamilton, 3d marquess and 1st duke of Hamilton, he gained favor with Charles I of England. He was created (...

Julian, Percy Lavon

(Encyclopedia)Julian, Percy Lavon, 1899–1975, African-American chemist, inventor, and businessman, b. Montgomery, Ala., grad. DePauw Univ. (A.B., 1920), Harvard (M.A., 1923), and the Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1931)...

Browse by Subject