Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tait, Peter Guthrie

(Encyclopedia)Tait, Peter Guthrie, 1831–1901, Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh from 1860 and conducted important investigations in thermodynamics and the k...

Sosthenes

(Encyclopedia)Sosthenes sŏsˈthənēz [key]. 1 In the New Testament, prominent Jew at Corinth, beaten by the crowd when Gallio refused to try Paul for heresy. Acts 18.17. 2 Early Christian. 1 Cor. 1.1. ...

Rutebeuf

(Encyclopedia)Rutebeuf rütəböfˈ [key], fl. between 1254 and 1285, French poet. He was the author of an early miracle play, Le Miracle de Théophile, and of fabliaux, allegories, saints' lives, and satires. Skil...

Quirinus

(Encyclopedia)Quirinus kwĭrˈĭnəs [key], in Roman religion, an early god, possibly of war. Worshiped originally by the Sabines, he was one of the chief gods of ancient Rome, associated with Jupiter and Mars. In ...

Pisidia

(Encyclopedia)Pisidia pĭsĭdˈēə, pī– [key], ancient country of S Asia Minor, S of Phrygia and N of Pamphylia. It was a mountainous country, traversed by the Taurus range. Its warlike tribes maintained their ...

Dorsey, Jimmy

(Encyclopedia)Dorsey, Jimmy (James Francis Dorsey), 1904–57, and his brother Tommy Dorsey (Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr.), 1905–1956, both b. Shenandoah, Pa., American jazz musicians and bandleaders during the Big...

combine

(Encyclopedia)combine kŏmˈbīn [key], agricultural machine that performs both harvesting and threshing operations. Although it was not widely used until the 1930s, the combine was in existence as early as 1830. E...

Chandler, Raymond Thornton

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, Raymond Thornton, 1888–1959, American author, b. Chicago, educated in England. After World War I, he entered the oil business in California. Bankrupt during the Depression, he published hi...

ethology

(Encyclopedia)ethology, study of animal behavior based on the systematic observation, recording, and analysis of how animals function, with special attention to physiological, ecological, and evolutionary aspects. ...

Innsbruck

(Encyclopedia)Innsbruck ĭnsˈbro͝ok [key], city, capital of Tyrol prov., SW Austria, on the Inn River. A ...