Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Schwarzenberg, Karl Philipp, Fürst zu

(Encyclopedia)Schwarzenberg, Karl Philipp, Fürst zu fürst tso͞o shvärˈtsənbĕrk [key], 1771–1820, Austrian field marshal and diplomat. In 1810 he was made ambassador to France, and he led the Austrian forc...

Santa Cruz de Barahona

(Encyclopedia)Santa Cruz de Barahona bäräōˈnä [key], city (1993 pop. 61,600), SW Dominican Republic, on Neiba Bay, an arm of the Caribbean Sea. Santa Cruz de Barahona is a provincial capital and a port. It has...

Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail, Prince mēkhəyēlˈ, bərklīˈ də tôˈlyē [key], 1761–1818, Russian field marshal, of Scottish descent. He gained prominence in the Napoleonic Wars, became minister o...

Purbeck

(Encyclopedia)Purbeck, district (1991 pop. 42,600), Dorset, England. Purbeck is filled with the clays of the Hampshire Basin, and is therefore largely infertile. Some minor farming occurs on the chalk plateaus and ...

Draper, John William

(Encyclopedia)Draper, John William, 1811–82, American scientist, philosopher, and historian, b. near Liverpool, England, M.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1836. In 1839 he became professor of chemistry at the Univ. of ...

Mach's principle

(Encyclopedia)Mach's principle mäks [key] [for E. Mach], assertion that the inertial effects of mass are not innate in a body, but arise from its relation to the totality of all other masses, i.e., to the universe...

Louis I, emperor of the West

(Encyclopedia)Louis I or Louis the Pious, Fr. Louis le Pieux or Louis le Débonnaire, 778–840, emperor of the West (814–40), son and successor of Charlemagne. He was crowned king of Aquitaine in 781 and co-empe...

vole

(Encyclopedia)vole, name for a large number of mouselike rodents, related to the lemmings. Most range in length from 31⁄2 to 7 in. (9–18 cm) and have rounded bodies with gray or brown coats, blunt muzzles, smal...

cable

(Encyclopedia)cable, originally wire cordage of great strength or heavy metal chain used for hauling, towing, supporting the roadway of a suspension bridge, or securing a large ship to its anchor or mooring. Today ...

zoology

(Encyclopedia)zoology, branch of biology concerned with the study of animal life. From earliest times animals have been vitally important to man; cave art demonstrates the practical and mystical significance animal...