Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

limpet

(Encyclopedia)limpet, marine gastropod mollusk with a simple, flattened, conical shell, found in cooler waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Certain species creep over rocks, feeding on algae during high ...

Kinorhyncha

(Encyclopedia)Kinorhyncha kĭnˌərĭngˈkə [key], phylum containing about 150 species of tiny pseudocoelomate worms, it is widely distributed in marine sediments. The kinorhynch body is divided into 13 segments, ...

Goldberg, Rube

(Encyclopedia)Goldberg, Rube (Reuben Lucius Goldberg), 1883–1970, American cartoonist and sculptor, b. San Francisco. After drawing cartoons for San Francisco newspapers, he moved to New York City. There he worke...

Inchbald, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Inchbald, Elizabeth ĭnchˈbôld [key], 1753–1821, English author. The daughter of a farmer, Joseph Simpson, she went to London in 1772 to seek her fortune on the stage. The same year she married a ...

Justus of Ghent

(Encyclopedia)Justus of Ghent, fl. c.1460–c.1480, Flemish religious and portrait painter, now generally identified with Joos van Wassenhove; also known as Jodocus or Joos of Ghent. His simple, quiet style provide...

Eikon Basilike

(Encyclopedia)Eikon Basilike īˈkŏn bəsĭlˈĭkē [key] [Gr.,=royal image], subtitled “the Portraiture of His Sacred Majesty in His Solitudes and Sufferings,” a work published soon after the execution of Cha...

compressed air

(Encyclopedia)compressed air, air whose volume has been decreased by the application of pressure. Air is compressed by various devices, including the simple hand pump and the reciprocating, rotary, centrifugal, and...

Barlach, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Barlach, Ernst ĕrnst bärˈläkh [key], 1870–1938, German expressionist sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. After studying at the Dresden Art Academy he lived in Paris (1895–96) and in Berlin, ...

Po Chü-i

(Encyclopedia)Po Chü-i bô jü-ē [key], 772–846, Chinese poet. He occupied several important government posts, rising to the presidency of the imperial board of war in 841. He wrote over 3,000 poems, brief, top...

Prada, Miuccia

(Encyclopedia)Prada, Miuccia, 1949–, Italian fashion designer, b. Milan as Maria Bianchi. She studied political science (Ph.D. Univ. of Milan, 1973) and then studied and performed mime at Milan's Teatro Piccolo. ...