Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Unity

(Encyclopedia)Unity, religious movement incorporated as the Unity School of Christianity, with headquarters at Lee's Summit, Mo. Although the movement used the name Unity after 1891, it was founded earlier by Charl...

Watt, James

(Encyclopedia)Watt, James, 1736–1819, Scottish inventor. While working at the Univ. of Glasgow as an instrument maker, Watt was asked to repair a model of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. He devised improvements t...

speleology

(Encyclopedia)speleology spēlēŏlˈəjē [key], systematic exploration of caves, popularly called spelunking. It includes the measuring and mapping of caves and reporting on the flora and fauna found in them. One...

Torrijos Espino, Martín Erasto

(Encyclopedia)Torrijos Espino, Martín Erasto, 1963–, Panamanian political leader, president of Panama (2004–), b. Panama City. The son of Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, he studied economics and political science ...

Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich yōhänˈ frēˈdrĭkh blo͞oˈmənbäkh [key], 1752–1840, German naturalist and anthropologist. He introduced and developed the science of comparative anatomy in German...

Brogan, Denis William

(Encyclopedia)Brogan, Denis William brōˈgən [key], 1900–1974, British historian and political scientist, b. Glasgow, Scotland. He was educated at the Univ. of Glasgow, Oxford, and Harvard and was professor of ...

Salford

(Encyclopedia)Salford sŏlˈfərd, sôlˈ– [key], city and metropolitan borough (1991 pop. 96,525), NW England, located in the Manchester metropolitan area on the Irwell River. Salford was long an important texti...

Savage, Minot Judson

(Encyclopedia)Savage, Minot Judson mīˈnət [key], 1841–1918, American Unitarian clergyman and writer, b. Norridgewock, Maine. After serving for nine years in the ministry of the Congregational Church, he became...

Signac, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Signac, Paul pōl sēnyäkˈ [key], 1863–1935, French neoimpressionist painter. First influenced by Monet, he was later associated with Seurat in developing the divisionist technique. Interested in ...

measurement

(Encyclopedia)measurement, determination of the magnitude of a quantity by comparison with a standard for that quantity. Quantities frequently measured include time, length, area, volume, pressure, mass, force, and...