Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Herbert, Zbigniew

(Encyclopedia)Herbert, Zbigniew zbēgˈnyĕf khĕrˈbĕrt [key] 1924–98, Polish poet, essayist, and playwright, b. Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine). Herbert, who had degrees in economics, philosophy, and law, wa...

Akhmadulina, Bella

(Encyclopedia)Akhmadulina, Bella (Izabella Akhatovna Akhmadulina), 1937–2010, Russian poet, b. Moscow, grad. (1960) Gorky Literary Institute, Moscow. Her first poem was published in 1955 and her earliest collecti...

Feldman, Morton

(Encyclopedia)Feldman, Morton, 1926–87, American modernist composer, b. New York City. An associate of John Cage and other experimental composers, Feldman was part of the so-called New York school. He was also a ...

recitative

(Encyclopedia)recitative rĕsˌĭtətēvˈ [key], musical declamation for solo voice, used in opera and oratorio for dialogue and for narration. Its development at the close of the 16th cent. made possible the rise...

vibration

(Encyclopedia)vibration, in physics, commonly an oscillatory motion—a movement first in one direction and then back again in the opposite direction. It is exhibited, for example, by a swinging pendulum, by the pr...

Marcus, Rudolph Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Marcus, Rudolph Arthur, 1923–, American chemist, b. Montreal, Canada. A professor at the California Institute of Technology, he was awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a theory ...

atonement

(Encyclopedia)atonement, the reconciliation, or “at-one-ment,” of sinful humanity with God. In Judaism both the Bible and rabbinical thought reflect the belief that God's chosen people must be pure to remain in...

epistemology

(Encyclopedia)epistemology ĭpĭsˌtəmŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr.,=knowledge or science], the branch of philosophy that is directed toward theories of the sources, nature, and limits of knowledge. Since the 17th cent. e...

Lyell, Sir Charles

(Encyclopedia)Lyell, Sir Charles līˈəl [key], 1797–1875, British geologist. After studying and briefly practicing law, he spent most of his life in travel and in popularizing scientific ideas. He championed an...

Maxwell, James Clerk

(Encyclopedia)Maxwell, James Clerk klärk [key], 1831–79, great Scottish physicist. After a brilliant career at Edinburgh and Cambridge, where he won early recognition with mathematical papers, he was a professor...