Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

320 results found

Merryman, ex parte

(Encyclopedia)Merryman, ex parte, case decided in 1861 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney sitting as a federal circuit judge in Baltimore. John Merryman, a citizen of Maryland, was imprisoned by the U.S. army on suspi...

Robinson, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Bill, 1878–1949, African-American tap dancer popularly known as “Bojangles,” b. Richmond, Va., as Luther Robinson. An influential virtuoso tap dancer, he was a tap innovator and repute...

actinometer

(Encyclopedia)actinometer ăkˌtənŏmˈətər [key], instrument used to measure the heating power of radiation. Actinometers are used chiefly in meteorology to measure solar radiation as transmitted directly by th...

Chih-i

(Encyclopedia)Chih-i chēˈ-ē [key], 538–97, Chinese Buddhist scholar and founder of the T'ien-t'ai (in Japan, called Tendai, or Lotus) school of Buddhism. Chih-i produced a conceptual framework that integrated ...

Juvarra, Filippo

(Encyclopedia)Juvarra, Filippo fēlēpˈpō yo͞ovärˈrä [key], 1678–1736, Italian architect of the late baroque and early rococo periods. Trained in the studio of Carlo Fontana in Rome, he entered (1714) the s...

Viñoly, Rafael

(Encyclopedia)Viñoly, Rafael, 1944–, Uruguayan-American architect, b. Montevideo. Even before receiving his architectural degrees (1968, 1969) from the Univ. of Buenos Aires, he and six associates founded Argent...

code, in communications

(Encyclopedia)code, in communications, set of symbols and rules for their manipulation by which the symbols can be made to carry information. By this extended definition all written and spoken languages are codes. ...

Formula One

(Encyclopedia)Formula One (F1), type of racecar used in Grand Prix automobile racing. Capable of speeds exceeding 230 mph (370 kph), the technologically sophisticated F1 cars are low-slung, open-wheeled, single-sea...

electricity

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Electrical and radio symbols electricity, class of phenomena arising from the existence of charge. The basic unit of charge is that on the proton or electron—the proton's charge is designate...

Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr. əlēˈtō [key], 1950–, U.S. government official and judge, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2006–), b. Trenton, N.J., grad. Pr...