Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Banks, Sir Joseph, 1743–1820, British naturalist and patron of the sciences. He accompanied Capt. James Cook on his voyage around the world and made large collections of biological specimens, most o...

(Encyclopedia) Woolf, Virginia, 1882–1941, English novelist and essayist, b. Adeline Virgina Stephen; daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen. A successful innovator in the form of the novel, she is considered a significan...

(Encyclopedia) Altman, Robert, 1925–2006, American film director, b. Kansas City, Mo. One of the most original talents in late-20th-century American filmmaking, he created complex, often loosely plotted movies mar...

(Encyclopedia) Byatt, A. S. (Antonia Susan Byatt) bīˈət [key], 1936–, British novelist; sister of Margaret Drabble. Educated at Cambridge, Bryn Mawr College, Pa., and Oxford, she is a noted critic and novelist ...

(Encyclopedia) disco, style of popular music that flourished during the 1970s. Originating in the United States, it evolved mainly from funk, soul, and salsa and became popular worldwide. Characterized by a heavy, t...

(Encyclopedia) Fleming, Ian Lancaster, 1908–64, English spy novelist, b. London. Son of a Conservative member of Parliament, Fleming was educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and Munich and Geneva universities and worked a...

(Encyclopedia) Lipchitz, Jacques zhäk lēpshētsˈ [key], 1891–1973, French sculptor, b. Lithuania as Chaim Jacob Lipchitz. From 1909, Lipchitz studied in Paris, where he became a member of the Esprit Nouveau gro...

(Encyclopedia) Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient leather and papyrus scrolls first discovered in 1947 in caves on the NW shore of the Dead Sea. Most of the documents were written or copied between the 1st cent. b.c. and the...

(Encyclopedia) Pinero, Sir Arthur Wing pĭnērˈō [key], 1855–1934, English dramatist. He achieved initial success with farces, such as The Magistrate (1885), and sentimental comedies, such as Sweet Lavender (188...

(Encyclopedia) Mackenzie, Henry, 1745–1831, English author, b. Scotland. He had an active political and legal life, serving as comptroller of taxes for Scotland from 1804 until his death. His first and most famous...