Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Bruno, Giordano jōrdäˈnō bro͞oˈnō [key], 1548–1600, Italian philosopher, b. Nola. The son of a professional soldier, he entered the Dominican order early in his youth and was ordained a pries...

(Encyclopedia) Bach bäkh [key], German family of distinguished musicians who flourished from the 16th through the 18th cent., its most renowned member being Johann Sebastian Bach (see separate articleBach, Johann S...

(Encyclopedia) Eckhart, Meister mīsˈtər ĕkˈhärt [key] (Johannes Eckhardt), c.1260–c.1328, German mystical theologian, b. Hochheim, near Gotha. He studied and taught in the chief Dominican schools, notably at...

(Encyclopedia) Servetus, Michael sərvēˈtəs [key], 1511–53, Spanish theologian and physician. His name in Spanish was Miguel Serveto. In his early years he came in contact with some of the leading reformers in ...

(Encyclopedia) astrology, form of divination based on the theory that the movements of the celestial bodies—the stars, the planets, the sun, and the moon—influence human affairs and determine the course of event...

(Encyclopedia) Kruger, Paul (Stephanas Johannes Paulus) kro͞oˈgər, Afrikaans stāfäˈnəs yōhäˈnəs pouˈləs krüˈgər [key], 1825–1904, South African Transvaal statesman, known as Oom Paul. As a child he...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Solar system CE5 solar system, the sun and the surrounding planets, natural satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets that are bound by its gravity. The sun is by far the ...

(Encyclopedia) Mainz mīnts [key], city (1994 pop. 185,487), capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany, a port on the E bank of the Rhine River opposite the mouth of the Main River. Its French name, also sometimes ...

(Encyclopedia) Erasmus dĕsĭdērˈēəs [key] [Gr. Erasmus, his given name, and Lat., Desiderius=beloved; both are regarded as the equivalent of Dutch Gerard, Erasmus' father's name], 1466?–1536, Dutch humanist, ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 The trigonometric parallax of a star, expressed by the angle θ, is a measure of its apparent motion against the background of more distant stars as a result of the earth's motions in its orbit...