Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Sierra Maestra syāˈrä mäāˈsträ [key], rugged mountain range, SE Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Consisting of connecting ranges with local names, the Sierra Maestra is the highest system ...

(Encyclopedia) Benchley, Robert Charles, 1889–1945, American humorist, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1912. He was drama critic of Life (1920–29) and of the New Yorker (1929–40). Benchley was known for a ...

(Encyclopedia) Beit, Alfred bīt [key], 1853–1906, South African financier, b. Hamburg. He went to South Africa in 1875, grew rich from the development of diamond mines, and was a colleague and lieutenant of Cecil...

(Encyclopedia) Tayma tāˈmä [key], large oasis, SW Saudi Arabia. Cuneiform inscriptions possibly dating from the 6th cent. b.c. have been recovered from Tayma. In ancient Arabic tradition the oasis was noted as a ...

(Encyclopedia) spinel, magnesium aluminum oxide, MgAl2O4, a mineral crystallizing in the isometric system, usually as octahedrons. It occurs as an accessory mineral in basic igneous rocks, in aluminum-rich metamorph...

(Encyclopedia) Thoma, Hans häns tōˈmä [key], 1839–1924, German painter and lithographer. He was influenced by Courbet. His later, individual style, modeled on that of old German woodcuts, shows rich coloring a...

(Encyclopedia) Encarnación ĕngkärnäsyōnˈ [key], city, capital of Itapúa dept., SE Paraguay, a port on the ...

(Encyclopedia) halophyte hălˈəfītˌ [key], any plant, especially a seed plant, that is able to grow in habitats excessively rich in salts, such as salt marshes, sea coasts, and saline or alkaline semideserts and...

(Encyclopedia) Gretchaninov, Aleksandr Tichonovich əlyĭksänˈdər tēkônôˈvĭch grĕchänēˈnŏf [key], 1864–1956, Russian composer; pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov. Among his works are four symphonies, two operas...

(Encyclopedia) Li Shang-yin lēˈ shăngˌ-yĭnˈ [key], 813?–858, Chinese poet. Of his 598 extant works, the best known are untitled love poems that describe in rich, sensuous detail scenes of beautiful courtesan...