Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

165 results found

hydrometer

(Encyclopedia)hydrometer hīdrŏmˈətər [key], device used to determine directly the specific gravity of a liquid. It usually consists of a thin glass tube closed at both ends, with one end enlarged into a bulb t...

Mississippi Scheme

(Encyclopedia)Mississippi Scheme, plan formulated by John Law for the colonization and commercial exploitation of the Mississippi valley and other French colonial areas. In 1717 the French merchant Antoine Crozat t...

Artaud, Antonin

(Encyclopedia)Artaud, Antonin äNtônăNˈ ärtōˈ [key], 1896–1948, French poet, actor, and director. During the 1920s and 30s he was associated with various experimental theater groups in Paris, and he cofound...

Pascal, Blaise

(Encyclopedia)Pascal, Blaise blĕz päskälˈ [key], 1623–62, French scientist and religious philosopher. Studying under the direction of his father, a civil servant, Pascal showed great precocity, especially in ...

Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, sieur de zhäN bätēstˈ lə mwän syör də byăNvēlˈ [key], 1680–1768, colonizer and governor of Louisiana, b. Ville Marie (on the site of Montreal), Canada; ...

bromine

(Encyclopedia)bromine brōˈmēn, –mĭn [key] [Gr.,=stench], volatile, liquid chemical element; symbol Br; at. no. 35; at. wt. 79.904; m.p. –7.2℃; b.p. 58.78℃; sp. gr. of liquid 3.12 at 20℃; density of va...

naturalism, in literature

(Encyclopedia)naturalism, in literature, an approach that proceeds from an analysis of reality in terms of natural forces, e.g., heredity, environment, physical drives. The chief literary theorist on naturalism was...

Turenne, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Turenne, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de äNrēˈ də lä to͞or dōvĕrˈnyə vēkôNtˈ də tərĕnˈ [key], 1611–75, marshal of France, one of the greatest of French commanders. The son o...

Versailles

(Encyclopedia)Versailles vərsīˈ, Fr. vĕrsīˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 91,029), capital of Yvelines dept., N central France. It was an insignificant rural hamlet when Louis XIII constructed a small retreat there ...

Rodin, Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Rodin, Auguste ōgüstˈ rōdăNˈ [key], 1840–1917, French sculptor, b. Paris. He began his art study at 14 in the Petite École and in the school of Antoine Barye, earning his living by working fo...

Browse by Subject