Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

168 results found

Barth, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Barth, Karl bärt [key], 1886–1968, Swiss Protestant theologian, one of the leading thinkers of 20th-century Protestantism. He helped to found the Confessing Church and his thinking formed the theol...

Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von

(Encyclopedia)Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von foiˈərbäkh [key], 1775–1833, German jurist; father of Ludwig Feuerbach. His work was in the field of criminal law. In Kritik des natürlichen Rechts [critique o...

gymnastics

(Encyclopedia)gymnastics, exercises for the balanced development of the body (see also aerobics), or the competitive sport derived from these exercises. Although the ancient Greeks (who invented the building called...

Ford, Ford Madox

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Ford Madox, 1873–1939, English author; grandson of Ford Madox Brown. He changed his name legally from Ford Madox Hueffer in 1919. The author of over 60 works including novels, poems, criticism...

bipolar disorder

(Encyclopedia)bipolar disorder, formerly manic-depressive disorder or manic-depression, severe mental disorder involving manic episodes that are usually accompanied by episodes of depression. The term “manic-depr...

Reed, Ishmael Scott

(Encyclopedia) Reed, Ishmael Scott, 1938- , African-American novelist, poet, and social critic, b. Chattanooga, Tn. When he was a child, Reed’s family moved ...

classicism

(Encyclopedia)classicism, a term that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic qual...

Slovak literature

(Encyclopedia)Slovak literature. The earliest documents written in the Slovak language date from the 15th cent. Following the Czech Hussite movement, many Czech cultural leaders emigrated to Slovakia (16th cent.); ...

Biedermeier

(Encyclopedia)Biedermeier bēˈdərmīər [key], name applied, at first in a joking spirit, to a period of European culture and a style of furniture, decoration, and art originating in Germany early in the 19th cen...

Schliemann, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Schliemann, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh shlēˈmän [key], 1822–90, German archaeologist, discoverer of the ruins of Troy. He accumulated a fortune in the indigo trade and as a military contractor and reti...