Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Dawkins, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Dawkins, Richard (Clinton Richard Dawkins), 1941– British evolutionary biologist and ethologist, b. Kenya, Ph.D. Oxford, 1966. He was a research assistant under Nikolaas Tinbergen at Oxford until 19...

Baldessari, John

(Encyclopedia)Baldessari, John (John Anthony Baldessari), 1931–2020, American artist, b. National City, Calif., grad. San Diego State College (now Univ.; B.A., 1953; M.F.A., 1957). A founder of conceptual art, he...

Karens

(Encyclopedia)Karens kərĕnzˈ [key], members of a Thai-Chinese cultural group, one of the most important minorities in Myanmar, living in the Kayah State, Kayin State, Tanintharyi, and the Ayeyarwady delta. They ...

Boyle, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Boyle, Robert, 1627–91, Anglo-Irish physicist and chemist. The seventh son of the 1st earl of Cork, he was educated at Eton and on the Continent and conducted most of his researches at his own labor...

Merovingian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Merovingian art and architecture mĕrˌəvĭnˈjēən [key]. This period is named for Merovech, the founder of the first Germanic-Frankish dynasty (c.a.d. 500–a.d. 751). The Merovingian period was m...

Moseley, Henry Gwyn Jeffreys

(Encyclopedia)Moseley, Henry Gwyn Jeffreys mōzˈlē [key], 1887–1915, English physicist, grad. Trinity College, Oxford, 1910. He began his research under Ernest Rutherford while serving as lecturer at the Univ. ...

realism, in literature

(Encyclopedia)realism, in literature, an approach that attempts to describe life without idealization or romantic subjectivity. Although realism is not limited to any one century or group of writers, it is most oft...

thulium

(Encyclopedia)thulium tho͞oˈlēəm [key] [from Thule, an ancient name for Scandinavia], metallic chemical element; symbol Tm; at. no. 69; at. wt. 168.93421; m.p. about 1,545℃; b.p. 1,947℃; sp. gr. 9.3; valenc...

rhodium

(Encyclopedia)rhodium rōˈdēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Rh; at. no. 45; at. wt. 102.90550; m.p. about 1,966℃; b.p. 3,727±100℃; sp. gr. 12.41 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. Rhodium ...

Cousin, Victor

(Encyclopedia)Cousin, Victor vēktôrˈ [key], 1792–1867, French educational leader and philosopher, founder of the eclectic school. He lectured at the Sorbonne from 1814 until 1821, when political reaction force...

Browse by Subject