Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hauser, Kaspar käsˈpär houˈzər [key], 1812?–1833, mysterious German foundling. He appeared in Nuremberg in 1828 in a state of semi-idiocy, producing dubious documents and giving an incoherent a...

(Encyclopedia) Kelsey, Frances Oldham, 1914–2015, Canadian-American pharmacologist, b. Cobble Hill, British Columbia, as Frances Kathleen Oldham, grad. McGill Univ. (B.Sc. 1934, M.Sc. 1935), Univ. of Chicago (Ph.D...

(Encyclopedia) Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin shärl ōgüstăNˈ săNt-böv [key], 1804–69, French literary historian and critic. The first major professional literary critic, he developed the art of appreciating...

(Encyclopedia) Mauriac, François fräNswäˈ mōryäkˈ [key], 1885–1970, French writer. Mauriac achieved success in 1922 and 1923 with Le Baiser au lépreux and Genitrix (tr. of both in The Family, 1930). Genera...

(Encyclopedia) brasses, ornamental. Brass, a copper-zinc alloy produced since imperial Roman times, is closely associated in art with bronze, a copper-tin alloy (see bronze sculpture). Brass was generally fashioned ...

(Encyclopedia) bamboo, plant of the family Poaceae (grass family), chiefly of warm or tropical regions, where it is sometimes an extremely important component of the vegetation. It is most abundant in the monsoon ar...

(Encyclopedia) Keynes, John Maynard, Baron Keynes of Tilton kānz [key], 1883–1946, English economist and monetary expert, studied at Eton and Cambridge. Keynesian economics stands as the most influential eco...

(Encyclopedia) Wilson, James, 1742–98, American jurist, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. near St. Andrews, Scotland. He studied at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and, after emigrating to Pe...

(Encyclopedia) Weil, Simone sēmônˈ vīl [key], 1909–43, French philosopher and mystic. After receiving her baccalauréat with honors at 15, she studied philosophy for four years, then entered (1928) the prestig...

(Encyclopedia) Valais välāˈ [key], Ger. Wallis, canton (1993 pop. 262,400), 2,021 sq mi (5,234 sq km), S Switzerland. Sion is the capital. Bordering on France and Italy, the Valais extends from the Bernese Alps i...