Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) van der Waals, Johannes Diderik yōhäˈnəs dēˈdərĭk vän dər väls [key], 1837–1923, Dutch physicist. It had been known for some time that the behavior of real gases differs from that of an i...

(Encyclopedia) Van Druten, John William văn dro͞oˈtən [key], 1901–57, English dramatist. His best-known plays, primarily light comedies, include Old Acquaintance (1940), The Voice of the Turtle (1943), I Remem...

(Encyclopedia) Van de Graaff, Robert Jemison văn də gräf [key], 1901–67, American physicist, b. Tuscaloosa, Ala., grad. Univ. of Alabama (B.S., 1922), Ph.D. Oxford, 1928. He was research associate at Massachuse...

(Encyclopedia) Vondel, Joost van den yōst vän dĕn vônˈdəl [key], 1587–1679, Dutch poet and dramatist, b. Cologne. He is generally considered the greatest Dutch writer. During the emergence of the Dutch natio...

(Encyclopedia) Oldenbarneveldt, Johan van yōhänˈ vän ôlˌdənbärˈnəvĕlt [key], 1547–1619, Dutch statesman. He aided William the Silent in the struggle for Dutch independence from Spain and opposed the dic...

(Encyclopedia) van Loon, Hendrik Willem văn lōn [key], 1882–1944, American author and journalist, b. Rotterdam, Netherlands. He emigrated to the United States in 1903 and studied at Harvard and Cornell (B.A., 19...

(Encyclopedia) Van Rensselaer, Martha, 1864–1932, American home economist and pioneer in the development of extension courses for women in rural areas, b. Randolph, N.Y. In 1900 she joined the faculty of Cornell t...

(Encyclopedia) Snowdon, Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of, 1930–2017, British photographer. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, he married Princess Margaret in 1960 and was created earl the following ...

(Encyclopedia) Deventer, Sir Jacob Louis van yäˈkōp lo͞oēˈ fän dĕfˈəntər [key], 1874?–1922, Boer general. In the South African War he commanded guerrilla forces in the Cape Colony. During World War I he...

(Encyclopedia) Siebold, Philipp Franz van fēˈlĭp fränts fen zēˈbôlt [key], 1796–1866, German naturalist and physician; son of A. E. von Siebold. He was noted for his studies of the natural history, ethnogra...