Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Karan, Donna

(Encyclopedia)Karan, Donna, 1948–, American fashion designer, b. Forest Hills, N.Y., as Donna Faske. Daughter of a tailor and a garment saleswoman, she started to design clothes as a teenager and studied at New Y...

Kirkland, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Kirkland, Samuel, 1741–1808, American missionary, b. Norwich, Conn. He visited the Oneida tribe in 1764 and in 1766 began living with them according to their customs, preaching to them, and becoming...

Braine, John Gerard

(Encyclopedia)Braine, John Gerard, 1922–86, English novelist, b. Bradford, Yorkshire. With his first novel, Room at the Top (1957), Braine established himself as one of England's angry young men. This novel bitte...

Watt, James

(Encyclopedia)Watt, James, 1736–1819, Scottish inventor. While working at the Univ. of Glasgow as an instrument maker, Watt was asked to repair a model of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. He devised improvements t...

Abbe, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Abbe, Ernst ĕrnst äˈbə [key], 1840–1905, German physicist. He was appointed professor at the Univ. of Jena in 1870 and director of its astronomical and meteorological observatories in 1878. From...

Chadwick, Lynn

(Encyclopedia)Chadwick, Lynn (Lynn Russell Chadwick), 1914–2003, English sculptor. After studying architecture, Chadwick began his career as a sculptor in 1945, working largely in metal. He came to international ...

Bosch, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Bosch, Carl, 1874–1940, German chemist and engineer, Ph.D. Univ. of Leipzig, 1898. In 1899, Bosch began working as a chemist for BASF, which merged with six other German chemical firms to become I. ...

Lorimer, George Horace

(Encyclopedia)Lorimer, George Horace lôrˈĭmər [key], 1867–1937, American editor, b. Louisville, Ky. After working for the Armour Packing Company (1887–95) and as a wholesale grocer, he went to work as a new...

Mun, Albert, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Mun, Albert, comte de älbĕrˈ kôNt də möN [key], 1841–1914, French Roman Catholic leader and politician. A monarchist at first, he later loyally supported the Third Republic. He was one of the ...

National Institute of Standards and Technology

(Encyclopedia)National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of “working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and st...