Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) rhythm, biological, or biorhythm, cyclic pattern of physiological changes or changes in activity in living organisms, most often synchronized with daily, monthly, or annual cyclical changes in the env...

(Encyclopedia) Roberts, John Glover, Jr., 1955–, American public official, 17th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2005–), b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Harvard (B.A. 1976, J.D. 1979). He clerked (1980–81) for...

(Encyclopedia) Thomson, Sir Joseph John, 1856–1940, English physicist. From 1884 to 1919 he was Cavendish professor of experimental physics at Cambridge. J. J. Thomson was one of the founders of modern physics. Wi...

(Encyclopedia)  Davis, Sammy, Jr. (Samuel George), 1925-1990, American entertainer, b. Harlem, New York City, N.Y. Both of Davis’s parents were dancers who performe...

(Encyclopedia) Liddon, Henry Parry, 1829–90, English clergyman, a noted preacher and lecturer. As canon of St. Paul's Cathedral (1870–90) and Dean Ireland professor of exegesis at Oxford (1870–82), he exercise...

(Encyclopedia) Munkácsy, Mihály mĭˈhälyə mo͝onˈkächĭ [key], 1844–1909, Hungarian genre and historical painter, whose original name was Michael Lieb. In 1868 he went to Düsseldorf, where he painted The L...

(Encyclopedia) Major, John, 1469–1550, Scottish theologian and historian. He studied and taught at the Univ. of Paris. His works, all in Latin, were published there. He was one of the most famous teachers of schol...

(Encyclopedia) Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802–58, American merchant and diplomatic agent, b. Charlestown, Mass. He settled (1832) in Monterey, Calif., where he became a successful merchant trading with Mexico and the...

(Encyclopedia) Le Gallienne, Richard, 1866–1947, English man of letters. As literary critic and contributor to the Yellow Book, he was associated with the fin-de-siècle aesthetes of the 1890s before becoming a re...

(Encyclopedia) Hill, Sir Rowland, 1795–1879, English educator, inventor, and postal reformer. He introduced the system of self-government in his school at Hazelwood in Birmingham. In his Plans for the Government a...