Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

van't Hoff, Jacobus Hendricus

(Encyclopedia)van't Hoff, Jacobus Hendricus yäkōˈbəs hĕndrēˈkəs vänt hôf [key], 1852–1911, Dutch physical chemist. He taught at the universities of Amsterdam (1878–96) and Berlin (from 1896). For his ...

Van Tyne, Claude Halstead

(Encyclopedia)Van Tyne, Claude Halstead, 1869–1930, American historian, b. Tecumseh, Mich. An assistant professor at the Univ. of Michigan (1903–6) and a professor there from 1906 to his death, he became head o...

Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck

(Encyclopedia)Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck, 1899–1980, American physicist, b. Middletown, Conn., Ph.D. Harvard, 1922. As a professor at Harvard, Van Vleck developed fundamental theories on the quantum mechanics of m...

Woestijne, Karel van de

(Encyclopedia)Woestijne, Karel van de käˈrəl vän də vo͞oˈstīnə [key], 1878–1929, Flemish symbolist poet and novelist. He also had some reputation as a painter. He worked for a time as journalist and from...

Weyden, Roger van der

(Encyclopedia)Weyden, Roger van der vän dər vīˈdən [key], c.1400–1464, major early Flemish master, known also as Roger de la Pasture. He is believed to have studied with Robert Campin. His early works also s...

Velde, Henri van de

(Encyclopedia)Velde, Henri van de äNrēˈ väN də vĕld [key], 1863–1957, Belgian designer and architect. Beginning as a painter, critic, and crafts designer in Belgium and in France, he received his first grea...

Werve, Claus van de

(Encyclopedia)Werve, Claus van de klous vän də vĕrˈvə [key], d. 1439, Flemish sculptor. The nephew and student of Claus Sluter, Werve succeeded his uncle as chief sculptor to Philip the Bold, whose tomb he des...

Cinna, d. 44 b.c., Roman tribune

(Encyclopedia)Cinna (Caius Helvius Cinna), d. 44 b.c., Roman tribune. At the funeral of Julius Caesar the mob mistook him for Lucius Cornelius Cinna and killed him. He was probably the minor poet Cinna, a friend of...

Fabian, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Fabian, Saint fāˈbēən [key], pope (236–50), a Roman; successor of St. Anterus and predecessor of St. Cornelius. He recast the ecclesiastical organization in Rome. Fabian was martyred under Deciu...

Pompeii

(Encyclopedia)Pompeii pŏmpāˈ, Ital. pōmpĕˈē [key], ancient city of S Italy, a port near Naples and at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. Possibly an old Oscan settlement, it was a Samnite city for centuries before it...