Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

73 results found

Schapiro, Meyer

(Encyclopedia)Schapiro, Meyer shəpĭrˈō [key], 1904–96, American art historian, b. Siauliai, Lithuania. Schapiro came to the United States in 1907 and later attended Columbia Univ., where he began teaching in ...

instinct

(Encyclopedia)instinct, term used generally to indicate an innate tendency to action, or pattern of behavior, elicited by specific stimuli and fulfilling vital needs of an organism. Examples of almost purely instin...

totem

(Encyclopedia)totem tōˈtəm [key], an object, usually an animal or plant (or all animals or plants of that species), that is revered by members of a particular social group because of a mystical or ritual relatio...

Carter, Angela

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Angela, 1940–92, English writer. She was a newspaper reporter before studying at the Univ. of Bristol (B.A., 1965), where she explored medieval literature, Freud, surrealism, and feminism, a...

Niebuhr, Reinhold

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Reinhold rīnˈhōld nēˈbo͝or [key], 1892–1971, American religious and social thinker, b. Wright City, Mo. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he served (1915–28) as pastor of Bethel E...

Hammerstein, Oscar, 2d

(Encyclopedia)Hammerstein, Oscar, 2d, 1895–1960, American lyricist and librettist, b. New York City, grad. Columbia, 1916; grandson of Oscar Hammerstein. His first success was Wildflower (1923), with music by Vin...

Kertész, Imre

(Encyclopedia)Kertész, Imre kĕrtĕshˈ [key], 1929–2016, Hungarian novelist, b. Budapest. Of Jewish descent, as a teenager Kertész spent two years in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, experien...

Bonaparte

(Encyclopedia)Bonaparte bwōnäpärˈtā [key], family name of Napoleon I, emperor of the French. Of the second generation of the family the most important was Louis Bonaparte's son, Louis Napoleon, who became e...

anxiety

(Encyclopedia)anxiety, anticipatory tension or vague dread persisting in the absence of a specific threat. In contrast to fear, which is a realistic reaction to actual danger, anxiety is generally related to an unc...

Browse by Subject