Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

424 results found

Bol, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Bol, Ferdinand fĕrˈdĭnänt bôl [key], 1616–80, Dutch painter. He studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam, and his early work (e.g., Elizabeth Bas, Amsterdam) has sometimes been confused with that of...

Bessenyei, György

(Encyclopedia)Bessenyei, György dyörˈdyə bĕˈshĕnyā [key], 1747–1811, Hungarian dramatist and writer. In Vienna he came in contact with French rationalism and was an ardent follower of Voltaire and the Enc...

carbon black

(Encyclopedia)carbon black, mixture of partially burned hydrocarbons. Carbon black is produced by partial combustion of natural gas. It is used as a black pigment for inks and paints, and is used in large amounts b...

false imprisonment

(Encyclopedia)false imprisonment, complete restraint upon a person's liberty of movement without legal justification. Actual physical contact is not necessary; a show of authority or a threat of force is sufficient...

McCarthy, Charles

(Encyclopedia)McCarthy, Charles, 1873–1921, American political scientist and author, b. Brockton, Mass. He organized and directed (1901–21) at Madison, Wis., the first official legislative reference library in ...

Briosco, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Briosco, Andrea ändrĕˈä brēôsˈkō [key], 1470?–1532, Italian architect and sculptor, known also as Andrea Riccio [curly-headed], b. Padua. As an architect, he created models for the church of...

Smolenskin, Perez

(Encyclopedia)Smolenskin, Perez pĕrˈĕts smōlĕnˈskĭn [key], c.1842–1885, Russian novelist and essayist who wrote in Hebrew. He settled in Vienna and founded the Hebrew monthly journal Ha-Shahar, which he ed...

Pechstein, Max

(Encyclopedia)Pechstein, Max mäks pĕkhˈshtīn [key], 1881–1955, German expressionist painter and graphic artist. Early contact with the art of Van Gogh stimulated his development toward expressionism. In 1906,...

human papillomavirus

(Encyclopedia)human papillomavirus (HPV), any of a family of more than 100 viruses that cause various growths, including plantar warts and genital warts, a sexually transmitted disease. Genital warts, sometimes cal...

toxoplasmosis

(Encyclopedia)toxoplasmosis, infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasitic microorganism that can infect most warm-blooded animals but reproduces only in animals of the cat family, who shed the p...