Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bliss, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Bliss, Sir Arthur, 1891–1975, English composer. Bliss's teachers included Charles Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst. He was made Master of the Queen's Musick in 1953. His early work...

utilitarianism

(Encyclopedia)utilitarianism yo͞oˌtĭlĭtrˈēənĭzəm, yo͞otĭˌ– [key], in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happines...

Shee, Sir Martin Archer

(Encyclopedia)Shee, Sir Martin Archer, 1769–1850, British portrait painter and writer, b. Dublin; pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He attained popularity in court and theatrical circles and executed many royal commi...

Manicouagan

(Encyclopedia)Manicouagan mănĭkwägˈən [key], river, 310 mi (499 km) long, rising in E central Que., Canada, and flowing S to the St. Lawrence River near Baie Comeau. The river is an important source of hydroel...

Benjamin, Asher

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Asher, 1773–1845, American architect, b. Greenfield, Mass. His Country Builder's Assistant was published in 1797 and The American Builder's Companion, with Daniel Reynard, in 1806. Benjami...

Ananias

(Encyclopedia)Ananias ănˌənīˈəs [key] [Gr.,=Heb. Ananiah and Hananiah]. 1 In the Acts of the Apostles, man who, with his wife Sapphira, held back part of a gift to the early Jerusalem church and lied about it...

Haynes, John

(Encyclopedia)Haynes, John, c.1594–1654, colonial governor of Massachusetts and then of Connecticut. He emigrated (1633) from England to Massachusetts and as governor (1635) banished Roger Williams, an act he lat...

Bridgman, Percy Williams

(Encyclopedia)Bridgman, Percy Williams, 1882–1961, American physicist, b. Cambridge, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1904; Ph.D., 1908). From 1910 he taught at Harvard, as professor from 1919. He won the 1946 Nobel P...

Steele, Wilbur Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Steele, Wilbur Daniel, 1886–1970, American author, b. Greensboro, N.C., grad. Univ. of Denver, 1907. He studied art in Boston, Paris, and New York City. He was particularly noted for his short stori...

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

(Encyclopedia)Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin mēˈnē, mēˈnē, tēˈkəl, yo͞ofärˈsĭn [key], in the Bible, the mysterious riddle written by a hand on the wall at Belshazzar's feast. These Aramaic words may be tr...
 

Browse by Subject