Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Stark, Johannes, 1874–1957, German physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Munich, 1897. From 1900 until he retired in 1922, Stark served short stints on the faculties of several academic institutions, including ...

(Encyclopedia) Stead, Christina, 1902–83, Australian novelist, b. Rockdale, New South Wales. She worked in the United States in the 1940s, emigrated to England in 1953, then returned to Australia in 1974. Her nove...

(Encyclopedia) Chao K'uang-yin jou kwäng-yĭn [key], Chinese emperor (960–79), founder of the Sung dynasty. A leading general during the short-lived Later Chou dynasty (951–60), he usurped the throne, and by th...

(Encyclopedia) Kochanowski, Jan yän kôkhänôfˈskē [key], 1530–84, esteemed as the greatest poet of the Polish Renaissance. Kochanowski assimilated the poetic traditions of Italy and France and created new rhy...

(Encyclopedia) pleurisy plo͝orˈĭsē [key], inflammation of the pleura (the membrane that covers the lungs and lines the chest cavity). It is sometimes accompanied by pain and coughing. The inflammation may be dry...

(Encyclopedia) Phelps, Edmund Strother, Jr., 1933–, American economist, b. Evanston, Ill., Ph.D. Yale, 1959. He has been a professor at Yale (1960–66), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1966–71), Columbia (1971–), ...

(Encyclopedia) Calamy, Edmund kălˈəmē [key], 1600–1666, English Presbyterian preacher. In 1636 his opposition to the observance of certain church ceremonies forced his withdrawal as lecturer at Bury St. Edmund...

(Encyclopedia) Sillanpää, Frans Eemil fräns āˈmĭl sĭlˈlänpăˌ [key], 1888–1964, Finnish novelist. As a young man Sillanpää studied natural science at Helsinki and came under the influence of an artisti...

(Encyclopedia) Winters, Yvor, 1900–1968, American poet and critic, b. Chicago, educated at the Univ. of Chicago, Univ. of Colorado (M.A., 1925), and Stanford (Ph.D., 1934). From 1928 until his death he was a membe...

(Encyclopedia) bazooka, in warfare, portable, lightweight metal tube from which rockets are launched, usually operated by two men. It is used by infantry as an antitank weapon and also for attacking pillboxes and bu...