Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

470 results found

air navigation

(Encyclopedia)air navigation, science and technology of determining the position of an aircraft with respect to the surface of the earth and accurately maintaining a desired course (see navigation). Basic to air ...

Dewey, John

(Encyclopedia)Dewey, John, 1859–1952, American philosopher and educator, b. Burlington, Vt., grad. Univ. of Vermont, 1879, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1884. He taught at the universities of Minnesota (1888–89), Michig...

lobotomy

(Encyclopedia)lobotomy lōbŏtˈəmē, lə– [key], surgical procedure for cutting nerve pathways in the frontal lobes of the brain. The operation has been performed on mentally ill patients whose behavioral patte...

Rautavaara, Einojuhani

(Encyclopedia)Rautavaara, Einojuhani, 1928–2016, Finnish composer, b. Helsinki, studied Sibelius Academy, Helsinki (where he was later a professor of composition), and Juilliard. He is regarded as the finest Finn...

glockenspiel

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Glockenspiel glockenspiel glŏkˈənspēl [key] [Ger.,=bell-play], percussion instrument. The medieval glockenspiel was a sort of miniature carillon (see bell), sometimes played mechanically b...

Quedlinburg

(Encyclopedia)Quedlinburg kvādˈlēnbo͝orkh [key], city (1994 pop. 26,853), Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, at the foot of the lower Harz Mts. It is an industrial center and an agricultural market. Manufactures i...

Harnoncourt, Nikolaus

(Encyclopedia)Harnoncourt, Nikolaus (Johann Nikolaus Graf de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt), 1929–2016, Austrian conductor, b. Berlin, studied Vienna Music Academy (1948–52). A pioneer in the early-mu...

Kassel

(Encyclopedia)Kassel käsˈəl [key], city (1994 pop. 202,160), Hesse, central Germany, on the Fulda River. It is an industrial, rail, and cultural center. Manufactures include textiles, optical and precision instr...

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel bäkh [key], 1714–88, German composer; second son of J. S. Bach, his only teacher. While harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great, where his chief duty for 28 y...

Piazzolla, Ástor Pantaleón

(Encyclopedia)Piazzolla, Ástor Pantaleón, 1921–92, Argentinian composer and player of the bandoneón (a large accordionlike instrument), b. Mar del Plata. He spent much of his childhood in New York, returned (1...