Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gérard, Jean Ignace Isidore

(Encyclopedia)Gérard, Jean Ignace Isidore zhäN ēnyäsˈ ēzēdôrˈ zhārärˈ [key], 1803–47, French caricaturist, illustrator, and lithographer, better known as Grandville. He is noted for his spirited caric...

Ogier the Dane

(Encyclopedia)Ogier the Dane ōˈjēər, ōzhyāˈ [key], in the chansons de geste, a paladin of Charlemagne. Although his military feats save emperor and kingdom, he is for a time at odds with Charlemagne. In some...

Picard, Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Picard, Edmond ĕdmôNˈ pēkärˈ [key], 1836–1924, Belgian jurist and author. A brilliant lawyer, he was at various times president of the Belgian bar association and a member of the supreme court...

Monroe Doctrine

(Encyclopedia)Monroe Doctrine, principle of American foreign policy enunciated in President James Monroe's message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823. It initially called for an end to European intervention in the Americas,...

Mattei, Enrico

(Encyclopedia)Mattei, Enrico ānrēˈkō mät-tāˈ [key], 1906–62, Italian public administrator. After World War II he was given the task of dismantling the Italian Petroleum Agency, a Fascist state enterprise. ...

torsion balance

(Encyclopedia)torsion balance, instrument used to measure small forces. It is based on the principle that a wire or thread resists twisting with a force that is proportional to the stress. The torsion balance consi...

white snakeroot

(Encyclopedia)white snakeroot, North American woods perennial (Eupatorium urticifolium) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), having a flat-topped cluster of small white flowers. It is of the same genus as the b...

Duns Scotus, John

(Encyclopedia)Duns Scotus, John dŭnz skōˈtəs [key] [Lat. Scotus=Irishman or Scot], c.1266–1308, scholastic philosopher and theologian, called the Subtle Doctor. A native of Scotland, he became a Franciscan an...

Nodier, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Nodier, Charles shärl nôdyāˈ [key], 1780–1844, French novelist and poet. From 1824 he was librarian of the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris. His salon was the nucleus of the beginning romanti...

Moréas, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Moréas, Jean zhäN môrāäsˈ [key], 1856–1910, French poet, b. Athens. His name was originally Iannis Papadiamantopoulos. He went to Paris in 1872. He wrote two volumes of symbolist verse, Les Sy...

Browse by Subject