Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hirsch, Maurice, baron de

(Encyclopedia)Hirsch, Maurice, baron de mōrēsˈ bärôNˈ də hĭrsh [key], 1831–96, German Jewish financier and philanthropist. The benefactor of numerous organizations and causes, his most ambitious project w...

isthmus

(Encyclopedia)isthmus ĭsˈməs [key], narrow neck of land connecting two larger land areas. Since it commands the only land route between two large areas and is on two seas, an isthmus has great strategical and co...

savanna

(Encyclopedia)savanna or savannah both: səvănˈə [key], tropical or subtropical grassland lying on the margin of the trade wind belts. The climate of a savanna is characterized by a rainy period during the summe...

tinamou

(Encyclopedia)tinamou tĭnˈəmo͞o [key], common name for a South American game bird related to the ostrich. It is protectively colored in browns and grays. The females are the aggressors in courtship, and the mal...

ovenbird

(Encyclopedia)ovenbird, common name for a member of the family Furnariidae, primitive passerine birds, which build elaborate, domed nests of clay or dig tunnels in the ground to lay their eggs. Ovenbirds are most c...

Perrine, Charles Dillon

(Encyclopedia)Perrine, Charles Dillon pərīnˈ [key], 1867–1951, American astronomer, b. Steubenville, Ohio. He was on the staff of Lick Observatory (1893–1909) and was (1909–36) director of the Argentine Na...

Weddell Sea

(Encyclopedia)Weddell Sea wĕdˈəl [key], arm of the Atlantic Ocean, W Antarctica, SE of South America, bordered by the Antarctic Peninsula and Coats Land. The vast Ronne and Filchner ice shelves are at the head o...

Mitre, Bartolomé

(Encyclopedia)Mitre, Bartolomé bärˌtōlōmāˈ mēˈtrā [key], 1821–1906, Argentine statesman, general, and author, president of the republic (1862–68). An opponent of Juan Manuel de Rosas, he was forced in...

Maracaibo, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Maracaibo, Lake, largest lake of South America, c.5,100 sq mi (13,210 sq km), NW Venezuela, extending c.110 mi (180 km) inland. A strait, 34 mi (55 km) long, connects it with the Gulf of Venezuela. Di...

Head, Sir Francis Bond

(Encyclopedia)Head, Sir Francis Bond, 1793–1875, British administrator in Canada. A soldier (1811–25) and unsuccessful mining adventurer in South America, he had had little experience to prepare him for the pos...