Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bell, Alexander Graham

(Encyclopedia)Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847–1922, American scientist, inventor of the telephone, b. Edinburgh, Scotland, educated at the Univ. of Edinburgh and University College, London; son of Alexander Melville...

Krapp, George Philip

(Encyclopedia)Krapp, George Philip, 1872–1934, American scholar, b. Cincinnati. Krapp joined the faculty of Columbia Univ. in 1897, was professor of English at the Univ. of Cincinnati (1908–10) and at Columbia ...

Babel

(Encyclopedia)Babel bāˈbəl [key] [Heb.,=confused], in the Bible, place where Noah's descendants (who spoke one language) tried to build a tower reaching up to heaven to make a name for themselves. For this presu...

Logan, James, chief of the Mingo

(Encyclopedia)Logan, James, c.1725–1780, chief of the Mingo, b. Pennsylvania. He took his name from James Logan (1674–1751) and is frequently called simply Logan. He was a leader of the Native Americans on the ...

Stephen, Saint, Christian martyr

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Saint, d. a.d. 36?, first Christian martyr, stoned at Jerusalem. He was one of the seven deacons. Accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. His speech defending ...

Herodes Atticus

(Encyclopedia)Herodes Atticus (Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes) ătˈĭkəs [key], c.101–c.177, Greek Sophist, rhetorician, and patron of learning, b. Marathon. A great public benefactor, he used his fortune to...

Broca, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Broca, Paul pōl brôkäˈ [key], 1824–80, French pathologist, anthropologist, and pioneer in neurosurgery. A professor in Paris at the Faculty of Medicine and at the Anthropological Institute, he w...

Kabyles

(Encyclopedia)Kabyles kəbīlzˈ [key], people, predominantly agricultural, of North Africa, whose center is the rugged Kabylia region of Algeria. Of uncertain origin, they form one of the larger divisions of the B...

aphasia

(Encyclopedia)aphasia əfāˈzhə [key], language disturbance caused by a lesion of the brain, making an individual partially or totally impaired in his ability to speak, write, or comprehend the meaning of spoken ...

Crawford, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, Thomas, 1813–57, American sculptor, b. New York City. He was apprenticed to a wood carver and later worked for a firm of tombstone cutters. He achieved his first success with decorations f...