Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

402 results found

corticosteroid drug

(Encyclopedia)corticosteroid drug kôrˌtəkōstârˈoid [key], any one of several synthetic or naturally occurring substances with the general chemical structure of steroids. They are used therapeutically to mimic...

cortisone

(Encyclopedia)cortisone kôrˈtĭsōnˌ [key], steroid hormone whose main physiological effect is on carbohydrate metabolism. It is synthesized from cholesterol in the outer layer, or cortex, of the adrenal gland u...

marines

(Encyclopedia)marines, troops that serve on board ships of war or in conjunction with naval operation. A British marine corps was established in 1664, and the need for skilled riflemen aboard military vessels broug...

Irving, Sir Henry

(Encyclopedia)Irving, Sir Henry, 1838–1905, English actor and theatrical manager, originally named John Henry Brodribb. He made his debut in 1856 and achieved fame in 1871 with his portrayal of Mathias in Leopold...

Kahneman, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Kahneman, Daniel, 1934–, Israeli-American psychologist, b. Tel Aviv, Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1961. Born to Lithuanian parents, he spent his youth in France, and immigrated to what soon ...

Seidman, L. William

(Encyclopedia)Seidman, L. William (Lewis William Seidman) sēdˈmən [key], 1921–2009, U.S. government official and accountant, b. Grand Rapids, Mich., grad. Dartmouth (A.B., 1943), Harvard (LL.B., 1948), Univ. o...

Rumi, Jalal ad-Din

(Encyclopedia)Rumi, Jalal ad-Din jälälˈ ĕd-dēnˈ ro͞oˈmē [key], 1207–73, great Islamic Persian sage and poet mystic, b. in Balkh. His father, a scholar, was invited by the Seljuk sultan of Rum to settle i...

Nobile, Umberto

(Encyclopedia)Nobile, Umberto o͞ombĕrˈtō nōˈbēlā [key], 1885–1978, Italian aeronautical engineer and arctic explorer. He designed the dirigible Norge and piloted it in the Amundsen-Ellsworth flight over t...

Watkins, Carleton Eugene

(Encyclopedia)Watkins, Carleton Eugene, 1829–1916, America's premier 19th-century landscape photographer, b. Oneonta, N.Y. Watkins created images that helped define the American West for his contemporaries and th...

Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von nēˈkōlous lo͝otˈvĭkh gräf fən tsĭnˈtsəndôrf [key], 1700–1760, German churchman, patron and bishop of the refounded Moravian Church, b. Dresden. Rear...