Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

398 results found

Bridges, Calvin Blackman

(Encyclopedia)Bridges, Calvin Blackman, 1889–1938, American geneticist, b. Schuyler Falls, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.S., 1912; Ph.D., 1916). In his research he collaborated with T. H. Morgan, A. H. Sturtevant, and ...

Bethlem Royal Hospital

(Encyclopedia)Bethlem Royal Hospital bĕthˈləm [key], the oldest institution for the care and confinement of the mentally ill in England, and one of the oldest in Europe. A priory in 1247, the building was conver...

Mount Wilson Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Mount Wilson Observatory, astronomical observatory located in California on Mt. Wilson, near Pasadena. Mt. Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George E. Hale. Its equipment includes 100-in. (2.5...

library school

(Encyclopedia)library school, educational institution providing professional training for librarians (see also library). Librarians were trained by apprenticeship until the late 19th cent. The first school for trai...

synagogue

(Encyclopedia)synagogue sĭnˈəgŏg [key] [Gr.,=assembly], in Judaism, a place of assembly for worship, education, and communal affairs. The origins of the institution are unclear. One tradition dates it to the Ba...

Rockefeller Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller Foundation, philanthropic institution established (1913) by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., to promote “the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” During its first 14 years the foundat...

Dwight, Timothy, 1828–1916, American educator

(Encyclopedia)Dwight, Timothy, 1828–1916, American educator, b. Norwich, Conn., grad. Yale, 1849; grandson of Timothy Dwight (1752–1817). Appointed professor of sacred literature at Yale, he assisted in the reo...

David and Lucile Packard Foundation

(Encyclopedia)David and Lucile Packard Foundation, private philanthropic institution that funds nonprofit organizations. It was founded in 1964 by David Packard (1912–96), co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., and h...

Fish, Carl Russell

(Encyclopedia)Fish, Carl Russell, 1876–1932, American historian, b. Central Falls, R.I. From 1900 to his death he taught history at the Univ. of Wisconsin. Fish considered the Univ. of Wisconsin the “most democ...

Harper, William Rainey

(Encyclopedia)Harper, William Rainey, 1856–1906, American educator and Hebrew scholar, b. New Concord, Ohio, grad. Muskingum College, 1870, Ph.D. Yale, 1875. The author of many texts on Hebrew language and litera...

Browse by Subject