Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Lubbock, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Lubbock, Sir John lŭbˈək [key], 1834–1913, English banker, statesman, and naturalist. As a member of Parliament from 1870, he introduced many reform bills, especially in banking, including legisl...

Bailey, Liberty Hyde

(Encyclopedia)Bailey, Liberty Hyde, 1858–1954, American botanist and horticulturist, b. South Haven, Mich., grad. Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State Univ.), 1882. At Cornell he was professor of hor...

raft

(Encyclopedia)raft, floating platform of wood, cork, or air-inflated rubber for conveying goods or people. Originally, several logs, bound together by vines, strips of animal skin, and later rope, formed a flat sur...

Rubinstein, Anton Grigoryevich

(Encyclopedia)Rubinstein, Anton Grigoryevich əntônˈ grîgôrˈyəvĭch ro͞oˈbĭnstīn [key], 1829–94, Russian pianist, composer, and educator. As a piano virtuoso he was celebrated for his perfect technique ...

Service, Robert William

(Encyclopedia)Service, Robert William, 1874–1958, Canadian poet and novelist, b. England, educated at the Univ. of Glasgow. He went to Canada in 1897 and held odd jobs in British Columbia and at Whitehorse in the...

Martha

(Encyclopedia)Martha, in the New Testament, friend of Jesus, sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany. In Christian literature, Martha has been a symbol of the active, as opposed to the contemplative, life. Feast: Jul...

Bell, John Joy

(Encyclopedia)Bell, John Joy, 1871–1934, Scottish author. He wrote a number of humorous stories and plays, frequently in dialect, of life in Glasgow, but is best remembered for his story Wee Macgreegor (1902). ...

Thompson, Daniel Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Thompson, Daniel Pierce, 1795–1868, American novelist, b. Charlestown, Mass. He wrote adventure novels, many of which deal with life in Vermont. His notable work is The Green Mountain Boys (1839). ...

Douglas, George

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, George, pseud. of George Douglas Brown, 1869–1902, English novelist, b. Scotland. His reputation rests on his single novel, The House with the Green Shutters (1901), a somber story of Scott...

Kafue National Park

(Encyclopedia)Kafue National Park, c.8,650 sq mi (22,400 sq km), S central Zambia, S Africa; est. 1950. It is a haven for the animal and bird life of a diverse region that includes grasslands, forests, and marshes....

Browse by Subject