Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bacon, Sir Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1509–79, English jurist. Called to the bar in 1533, he was made attorney of the court of wards and liveries in 1546 and, although a staunch Protestant, held this office through ...

genetic engineering

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Genetic engineering: Gene-splicing techniques genetic engineering, the use of various methods to manipulate the DNA (genetic material) of cells to change hereditary traits or produce biologica...

Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de zhäN bätēstˈ lə mwän syör də byăNvēlˈ [key], 1680–1768, colonizer and governor of Louisiana, b. Ville Marie (on the site of Montreal), Canada; ...

balance

(Encyclopedia)balance, instrument used in laboratories and pharmacies to measure the mass or weight of a body. A balance functions by measuring the force of gravity that the earth exerts on an object, i.e., its wei...

Constantine, Learie

(Encyclopedia)Constantine, Learie kŏnˈstăntīnˌ [key], 1902–71, West Indian cricket player and the first black man to sit in the British House of Lords, b. Trinidad. The son of a sugar plantation foreman, he ...

Chew, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Chew, Benjamin, 1722–1810, American public official and judge, b. Anne Arundel co., Md. He read law in Philadelphia under Andrew Hamilton and was admitted (1746) to the bar. After practicing law at ...

Hastings, Serranus Clinton

(Encyclopedia)Hastings, Serranus Clinton sĕrˈənəs [key], 1814–93, American judge, b. Jefferson co., N.Y. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1836 and moved to Iowa soon afterward. He served in the first Iow...

Frelinghuysen, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 1787–1862, American politician and educator, b. Franklin, N.J. Admitted to the bar in 1808, he practiced law in Newark and soon gained political prominence. As U.S. senator ...

LaLanne, Jack

(Encyclopedia)LaLanne, Jack ləlānˈ [key], 1914–2011, American fitness advocate and television personality, b. San Francisco as François Henri LaLanne. Widely regarded as the founder of the modern fitness move...

backgammon

(Encyclopedia)backgammon băkˈgămˌən, băkˌgămˈən [key], game of chance and skill played by two persons upon a specially marked board divided by a space, called the bar, into two tables (inner table and out...