Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Moore, George Edward

(Encyclopedia)Moore, George Edward, 1873–1958, English philosopher, b. Upper Norwood. He was educated at Cambridge, where he was a fellow (1898–1904) and then a lecturer (1911–25) in the department of moral s...

sharecropping

(Encyclopedia)sharecropping, an agricultural system in which a landowner allows a tenant to use their land in return for a share of the crop produced. In the United S...

Lindsay, Vachel

(Encyclopedia)Lindsay, Vachel (Nicholas Vachel Lindsay) lĭnˈzē [key], 1879–1931, American poet, b. Springfield, Ill., studied at Hiram College, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York School of Art. Li...

Anza, Juan Bautista de

(Encyclopedia)Anza, Juan Bautista de hwän boutēsˈtä dā änˈsä [key], 1735–88, Spanish explorer and official in the Southwest and the far West, reputed founder of San Francisco, b. Mexico. Accompanied by Fa...

Ellison, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Ellison, Ralph (Ralph Waldo Ellison), 1914–94, African-American author, b. Oklahoma City, studied Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee Univ.). Originally a trumpet player and aspiring composer, he moved...

More, Henry

(Encyclopedia)More, Henry, 1614–87, English philosopher, one of the foremost representatives of the school of Cambridge Platonists. His writings emphasized the mystical and theosophic phases of that philosophy, a...

Maslow, Abraham Harold

(Encyclopedia)Maslow, Abraham Harold măzˈlō [key], 1908–70, American psychologist, b. Brooklyn, New York, Ph.D. Univ. of Wisconsin (1934). He taught at Brooklyn College from 1937, then became head of the psych...

herb

(Encyclopedia)herb ûrb, hûrb [key], name for any plant that is used medicinally or as a spice and for the useful product of such a plant. Herbs as condiments and seasonings are still important in culinary art; th...

cofferdam

(Encyclopedia)cofferdam, temporary barrier for excluding water from an area that is normally submerged. Made commonly of wood, steel, or concrete sheet piling (see pile), cofferdams are used in constructing the fou...

Godwin, William

(Encyclopedia)Godwin, William, 1756–1836, English author and political philosopher. A minister in his youth, he was, however, plagued by religious doubts and gave up preaching in 1783 for a literary career. His E...