Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) flowering maple: see mallow.

(Encyclopedia) flowering quince: see quince.

(Encyclopedia) Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan äˈbo͞o äl-färajˈ älēˈ, ĕsfähänˈ [key], 897–967, Arabic scholar from Iran. He is mainly known for his invaluable Kitab al-Aghani (book of songs), which provid...

(Encyclopedia) Ekkehard ĕkˈəhärt [key], name of several medieval German authors, monks of the monastery of St. Gall, which is in present-day Switzerland. Ekkehard I wrote the famous Latin epic Waltharius (c.930)...

(Encyclopedia) culture, in anthropology, the integrated system of socially acquired values, beliefs, and rules of conduct which delimit the range of accepted behaviors in any given society. Cultural differences dist...

(Encyclopedia) flowering almond, name for several species of ornamental shrubs of the genus Prunus, of the family Rosaceae (rose family), chiefly those which also include the true almond, peach, plum, cherry, and ap...

(Encyclopedia) Middle Ages, period in Western European history that followed the disintegration of the West Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th cent. and lasted into the 15th cent., i.e., into the period of the Renaissa...

(Encyclopedia) Scot, Michael, c.1175–c.1234, medieval scholar, b. Scotland. He served as astrologer and physician at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, where with other scholars he translated Aristotle ...

(Encyclopedia) Al-Khowarizmi äl-khōwärēzˈmē [key], fl. 820, Arab mathematician of the court of Mamun in Baghdad. His treatises on Hindu arithmetic and on algebra made him famous. He is said to have given algeb...

(Encyclopedia) Capella, Martianus märshēāˈnəs kəpĕlˈə [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Latin writer, b. Carthage. His one famous work, The Marriage of Mercury and Philology, also called the Satyricon and Disciplinae,...