Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Vesta vĕsˈtə [key], in astronomy, the fourth asteroid to be discovered. It was found in 1807 by H. Olbers. It is the third largest asteroid in size, with a diameter of c.326 mi (525 km). Its averag...

(Encyclopedia) Bourrienne, Louis Antoine Fauvelet de lwē äNtwänˈ fōvəlāˈ də bo͞orēĕnˈ [key], 1769–1834, French political figure. He was a friend and for a time (1797–1802) private secretary to Napol...

(Encyclopedia) LaFontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte ləwēˈ ēpôlētˈ läfôNtĕnˈ [key], 1807–64, Canadian political leader, b. Lower Canada (now Quebec). A lawyer, he entered (1830) the Legislative Assembly of Lo...

(Encyclopedia) Duchesne, Louis Marie Olivier lwē märēˈ ōlēvyāˈ düshĕnˈ [key], 1843–1922, French Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, educator, church historian, and archaeologist. He made a scientific expeditio...

(Encyclopedia) Guillemin, Roger Charles Louis gēyəmăNˈ [key], 1924–, French-American physiologist, b. Dijon, France. Educated in France, he fought for the resistance during World War II. He taught primarily at...

(Encyclopedia) Failly, Pierre Louis Charles de pyĕr lwē shärl də fāyēˈ [key], 1810–92, French general. He fought in Algeria, in the Crimean War, and at Magenta and Solferino (1859) in the Italian War. Headi...

(Encyclopedia) Noailles, Louis Marie Antoine, vicomte de də nōīˈyə [key], 1756–1804, French general and statesman. During the American Revolution he fought with the marquis de Lafayette at Yorktown. As a mem...

(Encyclopedia) Louis II, 1506–26, king of Hungary and Bohemia (1516–26), son and successor of Uladislaus II. He was the last of the Jagiello dynasty in the two kingdoms. In the face of intensified attacks by Sul...

(Encyclopedia) Wadsworth, Louis Fenn, 1825–1908, American baseball player, b. Litchfield, Conn., grad. Washington College (now Trinity College), Hartford, 1844. After practicing law in New York City and presiding ...

(Encyclopedia) touch, tactile sensation received by the skin, enabling the organism to detect objects or substances in contact with the body. End organs (nerve endings) in the skin convey the impression to the brain...