Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

413 results found

Abu al-Ala al-Maarri

(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Ala al-Maarri äˈbo͞o äl-äläˈ äl-mä-är-rēˈ [key], 973–1057, Arab freethinking poet. He was born and lived most of his life in Maara, S of Aleppo. He was blind from childhood. Brill...

Park, Rosemary

(Encyclopedia)Park, Rosemary, 1907–2004, American educator, b. Andover, Mass., grad. Radcliffe (B.A., 1928; M.A., 1929), Univ. of Cologne (Ph.D., 1934). She was instructor in German (1930–32) and acting dean of...

Labé, Louise

(Encyclopedia)Labé, Louise lwēz läbāˈ [key], c.1520–1566, French poet. She was an active member of the so-called Lyons school of poets headed by Maurice Scève. Labé's elegies and sonnets, in Oeuvres (1555)...

Yen, James Y. C.

(Encyclopedia)Yen, James Y. C. yĕn [key], Mandarin Yen Yang-chu, 1893–1990, Chinese educator, b. Sichuan prov., China, educated at Yale (B.A., 1918) and Princeton (M.A., 1920) universities. Yen devised a simplif...

ecstasy

(Encyclopedia)ecstasy, either of two drugs used for their euphoric effects. The original ecstasy, a so-called designer drug, also known as MDMA, is an analog of methamphetamine (see amphetamine). The other drug is ...

Hannibal, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Hannibal, city (2020 pop. 17,108), Marion and Ralls counties, NE Mo., on the Mississippi River; inc. 1845. It is a river port and shipping center. Indus...

MacKaye, Benton

(Encyclopedia)MacKaye, Benton məkīˈ [key], 1879–1975, American forester and regional planner, b. Stamford, Conn., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1900; M.A. School of Forestry, 1905); son of Steele MacKaye. He was a rese...

Leach, Edmund Ronald

(Encyclopedia)Leach, Edmund Ronald, 1910–89, British anthropologist, grad. Cambridge (B.A., 1932; M.A., 1938) and Univ. of London (Ph.D., 1947). He was (1957–72) university reader in social anthropology at Camb...

ephedrine

(Encyclopedia)ephedrine ĭfĕdˈrĭn, ĕfˈĭdrēnˌ [key], drug derived from plants of the genus Ephedra (see Pinophyta), most commonly used to prevent mild or moderate attacks of bronchial asthma. Unlike epinephr...

Wilson, August

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, August, 1945–2005, American playwright and poet, b. Pittsburgh as Frederick August Kittel, Jr. Largely self-educated, Wilson first attracted wide critical attention with his Broadway debut, ...