Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

298 results found

Makart, Hans

(Encyclopedia)Makart, Hans häns mäˈkärt [key], 1840–84, Austrian history painter, studied with Karl von Piloty. His early success was phenomenal. The emperor of Austria provided him with a studio, and his sho...

Cantor, Georg

(Encyclopedia)Cantor, Georg gāˈôrkh känˈtôr [key], 1845–1918, German mathematician, b. St. Petersburg. He studied under Karl Weierstrass and taught (1869–1913) at the Univ. of Halle. He is known for his w...

Linnaeus, Carolus

(Encyclopedia)Linnaeus, Carolus kärōˈləs lĭnāˈəs [key], 1707–78, Swedish botanist and taxonomist, considered the founder of the binomial system of nomenclature and the originator of modern scientific clas...

Marxism

(Encyclopedia)Marxism, economic and political philosophy named for Karl Marx. It is also known as scientific (as opposed to utopian) socialism. Marxism has had a profound impact on contemporary culture; modern comm...

Hertz, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Hertz, Gustav go͝osˈtäf hĕrts [key], 1887–1975, German physicist. He is noted for his work on the atom, and he shared with James Franck the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics for research (1914) on the...

Graun, Carl Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Graun, Carl Heinrich kärl hīnˈrĭkh groun [key], 1704–59, German composer, best known for his oratorio Der Tod Jesu (1755), for many years performed annually in Germany. As musical director to Fr...

Spargo, John

(Encyclopedia)Spargo, John spärˈgō [key], 1876–1966, American reformer and author, b. Cornwall, England. An early socialist, he was active in the Socialist party of the United States but resigned in 1917 becau...

Bednorz, Johannes Georg

(Encyclopedia)Bednorz, Johannes Georg yōhänˈəs gāôrkhˈ bĕdˈnôrts [key], 1950–, German physicist. After earning his doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, he began (1982) work at the I...

Raeder, Erich

(Encyclopedia)Raeder, Erich āˈrĭkh rāˈdər [key], 1876–1960, German admiral. As chief of staff to Admiral Franz von Hipper in World War I, he took part in the battles of Dogger Bank (1915) and Jutland (1916)...

Spitteler, Carl Friedrich Georg

(Encyclopedia)Spitteler, Carl Friedrich Georg kärl frēˈdrĭkh gāˈôrkh shpĭtˈələr [key], 1845–1924, Swiss poet, whose pseudonym was Carl Felix Tandem. He was awarded the 1919 Nobel Prize in Literature. H...