Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Schneerson, Menachem Mendel

(Encyclopedia)Schneerson, Menachem Mendel, 1902–94, American rabbi, b. Nikolayev, Russia (now in Ukraine). The son of a prominent rabbi, he studied at the Univ. of Berlin and the Sorbonne, immigrating to the Unit...

petrology

(Encyclopedia)petrology, branch of geology specifically concerned with the origin, composition, structure, and properties of rocks, primarily igneous and metamorphic, and secondarily sedimentary. It includes petrog...

Sarsi

(Encyclopedia)Sarsi särˈsē [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Athabascan branch of the Nadene linguistic stock (see also Native American languages). They are also known as the Sarcee. At...

Red River, river, China and Vietnam

(Encyclopedia)Red River, Chinese Yuan Chiang, Vietnamese Song Hong, chief river of N Vietnam, 730 mi (1,175 km) long, rising in Yunnan prov., S China, and flowing southeast, in deep, narrow gorges, through N Vietna...

Rickover, Hyman George

(Encyclopedia)Rickover, Hyman George, 1900–1986, American admiral, b. Russia. In World War II he served as head of the electrical section of the navy's Bureau of Ships. After the war he was assigned (1946) to the...

naturopathy

(Encyclopedia)naturopathy or naturopathic medicine, branch of alternative medicine concerned with holistic and noninvasive methods of treating illness and maintaining health. Centered on the use of natural substanc...

Office of War Information

(Encyclopedia)Office of War Information (OWI), U.S. agency created (1942) during World War II to consolidate government information services. The OWI absorbed the functions of the Office of Facts and Figures, the O...

Catawba, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Catawba kətôˈbə [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They have for centuries occupied a r...

Bayreuth

(Encyclopedia)Bayreuth bīroitˈ [key], city, capital of Upper Franconia, Bavaria, S Germany, on the Red Ma...

Sutherland, George

(Encyclopedia)Sutherland, George, 1862–1942, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1922–38), b. Buckinghamshire, England. He was taken by his family to Springville, Utah from England in 1864. After study...