Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kirchhoff, Gustav Robert

(Encyclopedia)Kirchhoff, Gustav Robert go͝osˈtäf rōˈbĕrt kĭrkhˈhôf [key], 1824–87, German physicist. He served as professor of physics at the universities of Breslau (1850–54), Heidelberg (1854–74), ...

Yerkes, Robert Mearns

(Encyclopedia)Yerkes, Robert Mearns yûrˈkēz [key], 1876–1956, American psychologist, b. Bucks co., Pa., grad. Harvard (B.A. 1898; Ph.D.1902). He taught (1902–17) at Harvard, served (1919–24) on the Nationa...

Mann, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Mann, Thomas tōˈmäs män [key], 1875–1955, German novelist and essayist, the outstanding German novelist of the 20th cent., b. Lübeck; brother of Heinrich Mann. A writer of great intellectual br...

Somerset, Robert Carr, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Somerset, Robert Carr, earl of, 1587?–1645, Scottish favorite of James I of England. His family name also appears as Ker. He may have accompanied James to England as a page in 1603, but he appears t...

Thomas, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Lewis, 1913–93, American physician and biologist, b. Flushing, New York. In his youth he often accompanied his physician father on his rounds and decided early on to be a doctor or a writer....

Shadwell, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Shadwell, Thomas, 1642?–1692, English dramatist and poet. His plays, written in the tradition of Jonson's comedy of humours, are distinguished for their realistic pictures of London life and for the...

Browse by Subject