Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Carolus-Duran

(Encyclopedia)Carolus-Duran kärôlüsˈ-düräNˈ [key], 1837–1917, French painter whose original name was Charles Auguste Émile Durand. He was influenced by Courbet and studied in Lille and Paris. In 1861 he w...

Herrings, Battle of the

(Encyclopedia)Herrings, Battle of the, 1429, episode in the siege of Orléans by the English in the Hundred Years War. The French, under Jean, comte de Dunois, attacked a supply train commanded by Sir John Fastolf....

positivism

(Encyclopedia)positivism pŏˈzĭtĭvĭzəm [key], philosophical doctrine that denies any validity to speculation or metaphysics. Sometimes associated with empiricism, positivism maintains that metaphysical questio...

Franche-Comté

(Encyclopedia)Franche-Comté fräNsh-kôNtāˈ [key] or Free County of Burgundy, former province and former administrative region, E France. It is coextensive with Haute-Saône, Doubs, and Jura depts. Dôle was the...

Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre Samuel pyĕr sämüĕlˈ dü pôN də nəmo͞orˈ [key], 1739–1817, French economist, one of the physiocrats. Early in his career he attracted the attention of François Q...

de Vries, Hugo

(Encyclopedia)de Vries, Hugo hüˈgō də vrēs [key], 1848–1935, Dutch botanist. He opened a new approach to the study of evolution by using the experimental method to investigate the processes of evolution. His...

De Wint, Peter

(Encyclopedia)De Wint, Peter, 1784–1849, English landscape painter. He was a leading watercolorist. Most of De Wint's landscapes are distinctly English in subject and treatment, Lincolnshire scenes being favorite...

Browse by Subject