Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Anthropocene Epoch, an unofficial term used by scientists to describe a period of time—up to the present—in which humanity has impacted the planet on a global scale. The phrase was fir...

(Encyclopedia) cardinal [Lat.,=attached to and thus “belonging to” the hinge], in the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the highest body of the church. The sacred college of cardinals of the Holy Roman Church i...

(Encyclopedia) Pharisees fârˈĭsēz [key], one of the two great Jewish religious and political parties of the second commonwealth. Their opponents were the Sadducees, and it appears that the Sadducees gave them th...

(Encyclopedia) Derrida, Jacques zhäkˈ dĕrˌrēdäˈ [key], 1930–2004, French philosopher, b. El Biar, Algeria. A graduate of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, he taught there and at the Sorbonne, the Éc...

(Encyclopedia) Greenspan, Alan, 1926–, American economist, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (1987–2006), b. New York City. Influenced by the philosophy of Ayn Rand, Greenspan is a strong supporter of the fr...

(Encyclopedia) Myers, Frederic William Henry mīˈərz [key], 1843–1901, English essayist and poet. His works include the poem St. Paul (1867) and Essays, Classical and Modern (1883). He is well known for his inve...

(Encyclopedia) Patara pătˈərə [key], ancient Mediterranean port of Lycia, S Asia Minor (now Turkey). It was a Dorian colony, and became the seat of the Lycian League (167 b.c.–a.d. 43). According to the Acts o...

(Encyclopedia) Lebrun, Albert älbĕrˈ ləbröNˈ [key], 1871–1950, French statesman, last president of the Third Republic. Elected to the chamber of deputies in 1900, he later became a senator and held various c...

(Encyclopedia) Nicopolis nĭkŏpˈəlĭs, nī– [key] [Gr.,=city of victory], ancient city, NW Greece, in Epirus. It was founded by Octavian (later Augustus) to celebrate the victory (31 b.c.) at Actium, which is n...

(Encyclopedia) Montreuil môNtröˈyə [key], town (1990 pop. 95,038), Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France, a suburb of Paris. Long famous for its peaches and pears, Montreuil has a variety of light industri...