Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

269 results found

Alas, Leopoldo

(Encyclopedia)Alas, Leopoldo lāōpōlˈdō äˈläs [key], 1852–1901, Spanish novelist, short-story writer, and literary critic who wrote under the pseudonym Clarín, b. Zamora. Although he began his literary ca...

Fry, Roger Eliot

(Encyclopedia)Fry, Roger Eliot, 1866–1934, English art critic and painter. A champion of modern French schools of art, he introduced Cézanne and the postimpressionists to England. From 1905 to 1910 he was curato...

Derg, Lough

(Encyclopedia)Derg, Lough lŏkh dĕrg [key], in Ireland. 1 Expansion of the Shannon River, 23 mi (37 km) long and 1 to 5 mi (1.6–8 km) wide, W central Republic of Ireland. On the lake is the republic's first (192...

Silver, Abba Hillel

(Encyclopedia)Silver, Abba Hillel, 1893–1963, American rabbi and Zionist leader, b. Lithuania. He was taken to the United States in 1902. Educated at the Univ. of Cincinnati (B.A., 1915) and Hebrew Union College,...

Rayleigh, John William Strutt, 3d Baron

(Encyclopedia)Rayleigh, John William Strutt, 3d Baron rāˈlē [key], 1842–1919, English physicist. He was professor at Cambridge (1879–84) and at the Royal Institution (1887–1905), and chancellor of Cambridg...

Orion, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Orion ōrīˈən [key], in Greek mythology, Boeotian hunter. When Oenopion delayed giving his daughter Merope to him, Orion, when drunk, violated her. Oenopion then blinded him, but his vision was res...

heat exhaustion

(Encyclopedia)heat exhaustion, condition caused by overexposure to sunlight or another heat source and resulting in dehydration and salt depletion, also known as heat prostration. The symptoms are severe headaches,...

Benn, Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Benn, Gottfried gôtˈfrēt bĕn [key], 1886–1956, German poet and critic, a physician. His early verse and poetic dramas, such as Der Vermessungsdirigent [the surveyor] (1919), were strongly expres...

Müller, Johannes Peter

(Encyclopedia)Müller, Johannes Peter mŭlˈər [key], 1801–58, German physiologist and anatomist. From 1833 until the end of his career he was professor at Berlin. He was famed as a teacher; for his extensive r...

rare earths

(Encyclopedia)rare earths, in chemistry, oxides of the rare-earth metals. They were once thought to be elements themselves. They are widely distributed in the earth's crust and are fairly abundant, although they we...