Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

383 results found

Bouts, Dierick

(Encyclopedia)Bouts, Dierick, Dirk, or Thierry dēˈrĭk, dĭrk, tyĕˈrē bouts [key], c.1420–1475, early Netherlandish painter, b. Haarlem, active in Louvain. Bouts was influenced by Roger van der Weyden, the v...

Who, The

(Encyclopedia) Who, The, English rock music group formed in 1964. The members were Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend, 1945–, Chiswick, London, U.K., guitar, ...

calculator

(Encyclopedia)calculator or calculating machine, device for performing numerical computations; it may be mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic. The electronic computer is also a calculator but performs other...

Griswold, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Griswold, Matthew grĭzˈwəld [key], 1714–99, American jurist and politician, b. Lyme, Conn. Admitted to the bar in 1743, he was very learned in the law and was active in Connecticut politics. As d...

Earle, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Earle or Earl, Ralph, 1751–1801, American portrait and landscape painter, b. Worcester co., Mass. He is purported to have painted four scenes of the battle of Lexington as an eyewitness, but is best...

CS, chemical compound

(Encyclopedia)CS, chemical compound (orthochlorobenzalmalonitrile) used in riot control and, by the military, as a harassing agent. The compound is dispersed as an aerosol or as a finely divided powder. Exposure to...

Peregrinus, Petrus

(Encyclopedia)Peregrinus, Petrus (Peter the Pilgrim) pēˈtrəs pĕrəgrĭnˈəs [key], c.1220–?, medieval scholar and soldier. The tutor of Roger Bacon, he wrote the first important study of magnetism, Epistola ...

Safaqis

(Encyclopedia)Safaqis sfäks [key], city (1994 pop. 230,900), E Tunisia, on the Gulf of Qabis (Gabès), an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It is Tunisia's second largest city and has exports of phosphates, olive oil,...

Williams, Robert R., Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Robert R., Jr., 1886–1965, American chemist, b. India, grad. Univ. of Chicago (B.S., 1907); brother of Roger John Williams. Research undertaken in 1910, while he was chemist (1908–15) at...

Beaune

(Encyclopedia)Beaune bōn [key], town, Côte-d'Or dept., E France, in Burgundy. It is a noted center for Bu...