Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kimball, Fiske (Sidney Fiske Kimball), 1888–1955, American architect and writer, b. Newton, Mass. He was professor of architecture and fine arts at the Univ. of Michigan (1912–19) and of art and a...

(Encyclopedia) Barlaam and Josaphat bärˈläəm, jōˈsəfăt [key], legend popular in medieval times. It corresponds in part to the legend of Buddha. Versions of the story have been found in nearly every language....

(Encyclopedia) spectroheliograph, device for photographing the surface of the sun in a single wavelength of light, usually one corresponding to a chief element contained in the sun, e.g., hydrogen or calcium; the re...

(Encyclopedia) Powys, John Cowper pōˈĭs [key], 1872–1963, British author and lecturer. In addition to his widely admired novels Wolf Solent (1929), and A Glastonbury Romance (1932), Powys also wrote poetry and ...

(Encyclopedia) Fontane, Theodor tāˈōdôr fôntäˈnə [key], 1819–98, German writer. Although he is primarily important as a novelist, he did not begin to write fiction until he was almost 60 years old. Thereaf...

(Encyclopedia) Weld, Theodore Dwight, 1803–95, American abolitionist, b. Hampton, Conn. In 1825 his family moved to upstate New York, and he entered Hamilton College. While in college he became a disciple of the e...

(Encyclopedia) oasis ōāˈsĭs [key], an area within a desert where the water table reaches the surface, with enough moisture to permit the growth of vegetation. The water may come up to the surface in springs, or ...

(Encyclopedia) Opelousas ŏpəlo͞oˈsəs [key], city (1990 pop. 18,151), seat of St. Landry parish, S central La.; inc. 1821. Its industries are based chiefly on the agricultural products and livestock of the surro...

(Encyclopedia) Crowley krouˈlē [key]. <1> City (2020 pop. 11,710), seat of Acadia parish, SW La.; in...

(Encyclopedia) Arabian Desert or Eastern Desert, c.86,000 sq mi (222,740 sq km), E Egypt, bordered by the Nile valley in the west and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez in the east. It extends along most of Egypt's ea...