Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hirschman, Albert Otto

(Encyclopedia)Hirschman, Albert Otto, 1915–2012, U.S. economist and social scientist, b. Berlin, Germany, as Otto Albert Hirschmann, Ph.D. Univ. of Trieste, 1938. Of Jewish descent, he fled Germany when Hitler ca...

Guericke, Otto von

(Encyclopedia)Guericke, Otto von ôˈtō fən gāˈrĭkə [key], 1602–86, German physicist, noted for his study of pneumatics. He carried out his most important researches while burgomaster (1646–81) of Magdebu...

Kahn, Otto Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Kahn, Otto Hermann kän [key], 1867–1934, American banker and patron of the arts, born and educated in Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1893 and in 1897 joined the banking firm of Kuhn,...

Fischer, Ernst Otto

(Encyclopedia)Fischer, Ernst Otto, 1918–2007, German chemist, Ph.D. Technical Univ. of Munich (TUM), 1952. Fischer was a professor at TUM (1954–57) and the Univ. of Munich (1957–64). He returned to TUM in 196...

Pérez Molina, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Pérez Molina, Otto, 1950–, Guatemalan army officer and politician, b. Guatemala City. Pérez rose through the officer ranks to become a general, leading troops and then military intelligence during...

Runge, Philipp Otto

(Encyclopedia)Runge, Philipp Otto fēˈlĭp ôtˈō ro͝ongˈə [key], 1777–1810, German painter. Immersed in the mysticism of the romantic movement in Germany, Runge became a central figure of romantic painting....

Otto, Austrian archduke

(Encyclopedia)Otto: see Hapsburg, Otto von.

Otto, Frei Paul

(Encyclopedia)Otto, Frei Paul ôˈtō [key], 1925–2015, German architect. Most notable for his tensile and pneumatic structures, Otto was among the first major architects to experiment with lightweight design. H...

Otto, Nikolaus August

(Encyclopedia)Otto, Nikolaus August nēˈkōlous ouˈgo͝ost ôˈtō [key], 1832–91, German engineer. He was coinventor (1867) of an internal-combustion engine, and he devised (1876) the four-stroke Otto cycle, w...

Warburg, Otto Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Warburg, Otto Heinrich ŏtˈō hīnˈrĭkh värˈbo͝orkh [key], 1883–1970, German physiologist. He was director (1931–53) of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (now Max Planck Institute) for cell physi...