Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cîmpulung

(Encyclopedia)Cîmpulung kəmpo͝olo͞ongˈ [key], town, S central Romania, in Walachia, on the southern slope of the ...

Hopkins, Johns

(Encyclopedia)Hopkins, Johns, 1795–1873, American financier and philanthropist, founder of Johns Hopkins Univ., b. Anne Arundel co., Md. In 1819 he founded his own commission firm, later known as Hopkins Brothers...

Purdue University

(Encyclopedia)Purdue University pərdyo͞oˈ, –do͞oˈ [key], main campus at West Lafayette, Ind.; land-grant with state support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1874. It maintains campuses at Hammond (Calu...

Banu Musa

(Encyclopedia)Banu Musa bäno͞oˈ mo͞osäˈ [key], family of Arab mathematicians and astronomers of the 9th cent. a.d. The name means “sons of Musa” and refers to the three brothers, Muhammad, Ahmad, and al-H...

Rego, José Lins do

(Encyclopedia)Rego, José Lins do zho͝ozĕˈ lēnz dô rĕˈgo͝o [key], 1901–57, Brazilian novelist. His fame rests largely on his semiautobiographical “sugarcane cycle,” dealing with social transformation ...

Silius Italicus

(Encyclopedia)Silius Italicus sĭˈlēo͝osˈ ĭtăˈlĭko͝os [key], a.d. 25–a.d. 101, Latin poet. An orator and state functionary, Silius was made consul in a.d. 68 and proconsul in Asia Minor in a.d. 77. Retir...

Patos, Lagoa dos

(Encyclopedia)Patos, Lagoa dos ləgôˈə do͝os päˈto͝os [key] [Port.,=lake of the ducks], shallow tidal lagoon, c.150 mi (240 km) long and up to 30 mi (48 km) wide, Rio Grande do Sul state, SE Brazil. A wide s...

Nunes, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Nunes, Pedro pĕˈdro͝o no͞oˈnəsh [key], Lat. Petrus Nonius, 1502–1578, Portuguese mathematician, geographer, and writer on navigation and geometry. He was the first (1534) to demonstrate an ins...

Alves, Antônio de Castro

(Encyclopedia)Alves, Antônio de Castro əntôˈnyo͝o dĭ käsˈtro͝o älˈvəs [key], 1847–71, Brazilian poet. A disciple of Victor Hugo, he came to fame with Espumas flutuantes [tossing spume] (1871). Despite...

Couperus, Louis Marie Anne

(Encyclopedia)Couperus, Louis Marie Anne lwē märēˈ än ko͞opāˈro͝os [key], 1863–1923, Dutch novelist. In his early works he emphasized with graceful irony the determining forces of human history and envir...
 

Browse by Subject