Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Collins, Patricia Hill, 1948–, American sociologist and social theorist, b. Philadelphia, Ph.D. Brandeis University, 1984. A noted ...

(Encyclopedia) sickle cell disease or sickle cell anemia, inherited disorder of the blood in which the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin pigment in erythrocytes (red blood cells) is abnormal. This “hemoglobin-S” crysta...

(Encyclopedia) Rodney, Walter, 1942–1980, Scholar and revolutionary, b. Georgetown, British Guiana. Ph.D. School of African and Oriental Studies, 1966. A Pan-African...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Africa ăfˈrĭkə [key], second largest continent (2015 est. pop. 1,194,370,000), c.11,677,240 sq mi (30,244,050 sq km) including adjacent islands. Broad to the north (c.4,600 mi/7,400 km wide...

(Encyclopedia) Nebo nēˈbō [key], in the Bible. 1 Town of Moab, near Mt. Pisgah and S of Heshbon. 2 City of Judah of postexilic times. 3 Hebrew name for Babylonian god of knowledge, literature, and agriculture. ...

(Encyclopedia) Carpenter, George Rice, 1863–1909, American educator, b. Labrador, grad. Harvard, 1886. After study abroad, he returned to teach at Harvard (1888–90) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (189...

(Encyclopedia) Virginia, in Roman legend, daughter of the centurion Virginius. Her father stabbed her to save her from the lust of Appius Claudius Crassus, decemvir. This precipitated the fall of the decemvirs. The ...

(Encyclopedia) Lagerkvist, Pär Fabian pâr fäˈbēän läˈgərkvĭst [key], 1891–1974, Swedish poet, dramatist, and novelist. Lagerkvist is considered one of the most significant figures of modern Swedish liter...

(Encyclopedia) Norse, another name for the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). The modern Norse languages—Danish, Fae...

(Encyclopedia) Mommsen, Theodor tāˈōdōr mômˈsən [key], 1817–1903, German historian. Appointed (1848) professor of civil law at the Univ. of Leipzig, he supported the Revolution of 1848 and lost his chair be...