Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tracy, Benjamin Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Tracy, Benjamin Franklin, 1830–1915, American lawyer, cabinet member, and soldier, b. Owego, N.Y. He was admitted to the bar in 1851 and later served (1853–59) as district attorney of Tioga co., N...

relay

(Encyclopedia)relay, electromechanical switch operated by a flow of electricity in one circuit and controlling the flow of electricity in another circuit. A relay consists basically of an electromagnet with a soft ...

Quay, Matthew Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Quay, Matthew Stanley kwā [key], 1833–1904, American political leader, b. Dillsburg, Pa. He studied law in Pittsburgh and was admitted (1854) to the bar. He fought in the Civil War, and after the w...

Rashi

(Encyclopedia)Rashi räˈshē [key], 1040–1105, Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal authority, b. Troyes, France. The name he is known by is an acronym of Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac. He studied in Worms and Mainz,...

Nelson, Knute

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Knute kəno͞otˈ [key], 1843–1923, U.S. Senator (1895–1923), b. Voss, Norway. He was brought to the United States at the age of six, grew up on a Wisconsin farm, and served in the Union a...

Wythe, George

(Encyclopedia)Wythe, George wĭth [key], 1726–1806, American lawyer, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Elizabeth City co., Va. Admitted to the bar in 1746, Wythe was a member (1754–55, 1758–68) an...

Sorabji, Cornelia

(Encyclopedia)Sorabji, Cornelia sōräbˈjē [key], c.1870–1954, Indian lawyer and author. She took a law degree at Oxford in 1893. She served (1904–23) as a special legal adviser to the Court of Wards of Benga...

Bayard, James Asheton, 1767–1815, U.S. Representative and Senator from Delaware

(Encyclopedia)Bayard, James Asheton bīˈərd [key], 1767–1815, U.S. representative (1797–1803) and senator (1805–13) from Delaware, b. Philadelphia. Admitted to the bar in 1787, he began practice at Wilmingt...

Young's modulus

(Encyclopedia)Young's modulus [for Thomas Young], number representing (in pounds per square inch or dynes per square centimeter) the ratio of stress to strain for a wire or bar of a given substance. According to Ho...

Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st earl of bûrˈkənhĕdˌ [key], 1872–1930, British statesman and jurist. He was called to the bar in 1899 and entered the House of Commons as a Conservative in...