Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Galton, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Galton, Sir Francis gôlˈtən [key], 1822–1911, English scientist, founder of eugenics; cousin of Charles Darwin. He turned from exploration and meteorology (where he introduced the theory of the a...

Digby, Sir Kenelm

(Encyclopedia)Digby, Sir Kenelm, 1603–65, English author and man of affairs. In 1628 he conducted a highly successful privateering raid against a French and Venetian fleet at Scanderoon (now Iskenderun, Turkey). ...

Gide, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Gide, Charles zhēd [key], 1847–1932, French economist. A professor at the universities of Bordeaux, Montpellier, and Paris, Gide was an expert on international monetary problems. He also played an...

Borden, Sir Robert Laird

(Encyclopedia)Borden, Sir Robert Laird, 1854–1937, Canadian political leader, prime minister during World War I, b. Grand-Pré, N.S. Called to the bar in 1878, he won a reputation as a constitutional lawyer. He w...

Waller, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Waller, Sir William, 1597–1668, English parliamentary general. He fought (1620–22) in the Thirty Years War and was knighted in 1622. A zealous Puritan, he sat in the Long Parliament (see English c...

Burchfield, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Burchfield, Charles (Charles Ephraim Burchfield), 1893–1967, American painter, b. Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, studied Cleveland School of Art. Living at first in Ohio, then moving (1921) to upstate New ...

Lovell, Sir Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Lovell, Sir Bernard (Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell), 1913–2012, English radio astronomer, b. Oldland Common, Gloucestershire, England, Ph.D. Univ. of Bristol, 1936. He was a member of the cosmic...

Garnier, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Garnier, Charles (Saint Charles Garnier) shärl gärnyāˈ [key], 1606–49, French missionary in North America, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1624 and...

Scribner, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Scribner, Charles, 1821–71, American publisher, b. New York City. He founded in 1846 the publishing house that in 1878 became Charles Scribner's Sons and in 1870 he began Scribner's Monthly, which i...

Browse by Subject