Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

296 results found

Linnaeus, Carolus

(Encyclopedia)Linnaeus, Carolus kärōˈləs lĭnāˈəs [key], 1707–78, Swedish botanist and taxonomist, considered the founder of the binomial system of nomenclature and the originator of modern scientific clas...

Marxism

(Encyclopedia)Marxism, economic and political philosophy named for Karl Marx. It is also known as scientific (as opposed to utopian) socialism. Marxism has had a profound impact on contemporary culture; modern comm...

Spargo, John

(Encyclopedia)Spargo, John spärˈgō [key], 1876–1966, American reformer and author, b. Cornwall, England. An early socialist, he was active in the Socialist party of the United States but resigned in 1917 becau...

Spitteler, Carl Friedrich Georg

(Encyclopedia)Spitteler, Carl Friedrich Georg kärl frēˈdrĭkh gāˈôrkh shpĭtˈələr [key], 1845–1924, Swiss poet, whose pseudonym was Carl Felix Tandem. He was awarded the 1919 Nobel Prize in Literature. H...

Graun, Carl Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Graun, Carl Heinrich kärl hīnˈrĭkh groun [key], 1704–59, German composer, best known for his oratorio Der Tod Jesu (1755), for many years performed annually in Germany. As musical director to Fr...

Hertz, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Hertz, Gustav go͝osˈtäf hĕrts [key], 1887–1975, German physicist. He is noted for his work on the atom, and he shared with James Franck the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics for research (1914) on the...

Weizsäcker, Richard Karl Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Weizsäcker, Richard Karl Freiherr von, 1920–2015, German political leader. After serving in World War II, Weizsäcker earned a law degree from the Univ. of Göttingen (1953), then worked in the pri...

Bednorz, Johannes Georg

(Encyclopedia)Bednorz, Johannes Georg yōhänˈəs gāôrkhˈ bĕdˈnôrts [key], 1950–, German physicist. After earning his doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, he began (1982) work at the I...

Sternheim, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Sternheim, Carl kärl shtĕrnˈhīm [key], 1878–1943, German dramatist. In his successful comedy Die Hose (1911, tr. A Pair of Drawers, 1927) and in his later works he satirized as corrupt the manne...

Siegbahn, Kai Manne Borje

(Encyclopedia)Siegbahn, Kai Manne Borje, 1918–2007, Swedish physicist, son of Karl Siegbahn. He earned his doctorate at the Univ. of Stockholm in 1944 and later taught at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockh...
 

Browse by Subject