Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Qian Zhongshu or Ch'ien Chung-shu, 1910–98, Chinese writer and scholar, grad. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (1933). After attending Oxford and the Sorbonne, he returned (1939) to China and taught at sever...

(Encyclopedia) Jayawardene, Junius Richard jīˌəwärˈdēn [key], 1906–96, prime minister (1977–78) and president (1978–88) of Sri Lanka. Active in Sri Lankan politics since the early 1940s, he was a foundin...

(Encyclopedia) solicitor, in English law, person duly admitted to practice before the supreme court of judicature. He is the agent of the person whose suit he handles, and is distinguished from a barrister, who argu...

(Encyclopedia) Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, 1930, passed by the U.S. Congress; it brought the U.S. tariff to the highest protective level yet in the history of the United States. President Hoover desired a limited upwar...

(Encyclopedia) Kosterlitz, John Michael, 1943–, British physicist, b. Scotland, Ph.D. Oxford, 1969. He was on the faculty at the Univ. of Birmingham, England, from 1974 to 1982, when he became a professor at Brown...

(Encyclopedia)  Bennett, Naftali, 1972-, Israeli politician and prime minister (2021-), b. Haifa. The son of American immigrant parents, Naftali served in the Israeli ...

(Encyclopedia) illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...

(Encyclopedia) Manhattan, borough (1990 pop. 1,487,536), 28 sq mi (57 sq km), New York City, SE N.Y., coextensive with New York co. Manhattan is the cultural and commercial heart of the city, and its dramatic skylin...

(Encyclopedia) New York State Canal System, waterway system, 524 mi (843 km) long, traversing New York state and connecting the Great Lakes with the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River, and Lake Champlain. The waterway, ...

(Encyclopedia) Tilley, Sir Samuel Leonard, 1818–96, Canadian political leader, b. New Brunswick. He was active in provincial politics and led the government from 1861 to 1865. An advocate of a united Canada, he wa...