Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Le Play, Pierre Guillaume Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Le Play, Pierre Guillaume Frédéric pyĕr gēyōmˈ frādārēkˈ lə plā [key], 1806–82, French sociologist and economist. As an engineer he traveled through Europe, gathering data on the budgets...

Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph ürbăNˈ zhäN zhôzĕfˈ ləvĕryāˈ [key], 1811–77, French astronomer who made calculations that led to the discovery of the planet Neptune. In considering the per...

Fontenelle, Bernard le Bovier de

(Encyclopedia)Fontenelle, Bernard le Bovier de bĕrnärˈ lə bōvyāˈ də fôNtənĕl [key], 1657–1757, French writer; nephew of Corneille. His forte was the interpretation of science. His works include Dialogu...

Alembert, Jean le Rond d'

(Encyclopedia)Alembert, Jean le Rond d' zhäN lərôNˈ däläNbĕrˈ [key], 1717–83, French mathematician and philosopher. The illegitimate son of the chevalier Destouches, he was named for the St. Jean le Rond ...

Roman de la Rose, Le

(Encyclopedia)Roman de la Rose, Le lə rōmäNˈ də lä rōz [key], French poem of 22,000 lines in eight-syllable couplets. It is in two parts. The first (4,058 lines) was written (c.1237) by Guillaume de Lorris a...

Simon, Claude Eugène Henri

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Claude Eugène Henri, 1913–2005, French novelist. He was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and studied at Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge. He fought in World War II both as a soldier and later i...

Westmorland, Ralph Neville, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Westmorland, Ralph Neville, 1st earl of, 1364–1425, English nobleman. His family was one of the most powerful in England and shared domination of the northern counties with the Percy family, with wh...

Stamford, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Stamford, town (1991 pop. 18,127), in the Parts of Kesteven, Lincolnshire, E central England, on the Welland River. It is a market town. Products include diesel engines, electrical equipment, bricks, ...

Normandy

(Encyclopedia)Normandy nôrmäNdēˈ [key], region and former province, NW France, bordering on the English Channel. It now includes five departments—Manche, Calvados, Eure, Seine-Maritime, and Orne. Normandy is ...

Browse by Subject