Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

123 results found

Colet, John

(Encyclopedia)Colet, John kŏˈlĭt [key], 1467?–1519, English humanist and theologian. While studying on the Continent (1493–96), Colet became interested in classical scholarship and in theories of education. ...

Albert, German churchman

(Encyclopedia)Albert, 1490–1545, German churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. A member of the house of Brandenburg, he became (1514) archbishop of Mainz. Because Albert was underage, this appointment ...

Jacobsen, Jens Peter

(Encyclopedia)Jacobsen, Jens Peter yĕns pāˈtər yäˈkôpsən [key], 1847–85, Danish writer. His historical romance Marie Grubbe (1876, tr. 1917) deals with spiritual degeneration in 17th-century Denmark. Jaco...

rhea, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)rhea rēˈə [key], common name for a South American bird of the family Rheidae, which is related to the ostrich. Weighing from 44 to 55 lb (20–25 kg) and standing up to 60 in. (152 cm) tall, the rh...

evolution

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Plant and animal evolution [Modified from Alfred Gunderson in Brooklyn Botanic Garden Leaflets, Ser. 18, No. 4 (1930); used by permission.] evolution, concept that embodies the belief that ex...

Laski, John

(Encyclopedia)Laski, John yän lăsˈkē [key], Latin Johannes Alasco, 1499–1560, Polish Protestant reformer. A learned priest, he went in 1523 to Basel, where he was a close friend of Erasmus. After returning to...

Witteveen, H. Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Witteveen, H. Johannes (Hendrikus Johannes Witteveen), 1921–2019, Dutch economist and political leader. After receiving his doctorate from the Netherlands School of Economics (now Erasmus Univ. Rott...

Boece, Hector

(Encyclopedia)Boece or Boethius, Hector bōēsˈ, bois, bōēˈthēəs [key], 1465?–1536?, Scottish historian. He studied at the Univ. of Paris, where he knew Erasmus, and in 1498 he went to Aberdeen as the first...

Spencer, Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Spencer, Herbert, 1820–1903, English philosopher, b. Derby. In 1848 he moved to London, where he was an editor at The Economist and wrote his first major book, Social Statics (1851), which tried to ...

humanism

(Encyclopedia)humanism, philosophical and literary movement in which man and his capabilities are the central concern. The term was originally restricted to a point of view prevalent among thinkers in the Renaissan...