Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Maimonides mīˈmən [key], 1135–1204, Jewish scholar, physician, and philosopher, the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, b. Córdoba, Spain, d. Cairo. He is sometimes called Rambam...

(Encyclopedia) Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered the period from ...

(Encyclopedia) Scopes trial, Tennessee legal case involving the teaching of evolution in public schools. A statute was passed (Mar., 1925) in Tennessee that prohibited the teaching in public schools of theories cont...

(Encyclopedia) Murdoch, Dame Iris (Dame Jean Iris Murdoch) mûrˈdŏk [key], 1919–99, British novelist and philosopher, b. Dublin, Ireland, grad. Oxford (1942). In 1948 she was named lecturer in philosophy at Oxfo...

(Encyclopedia) computer graphics, the transfer of pictorial data into and out of a computer. Using analog-to-digital conversion techniques, a variety of devices—such as curve tracers, digitizers, and light pens—...

(Encyclopedia) Baldwin, James, 1924–87, American author, b. New York City. He spent an impoverished boyhood in Harlem, became a Pentecostal preacher at 14, and left the church three years later. He moved to Paris ...

(Encyclopedia) Ackroyd, Peter, 1949–, British author, b. London; studied Clare College, Cambridge (M.A., 1971) and Yale. A literary journalist, he wrote for the Spectator (1973–82), where he was literary and the...

(Encyclopedia) Paganini, Niccolò nēkōlōˈ pägänēˈnē [key], 1782–1840, Italian violinist, whose virtuosity became a legend. He extended the compass of the violin by his use of harmonics, perfected the use ...

(Encyclopedia) Bogart, Humphrey DeForest bōˈgärt [key], 1899–1957, American film actor, b. New York City. After a succession of stage roles he achieved note with his portrayal of the gangster Duke Mantee in The...

(Encyclopedia) Goodrich, Leland Matthew, 1899–1990, American political scientist, b. Lewiston, Maine, grad. Bowdoin College, 1920, and Harvard (M.A., 1921; Ph.D., 1925). He taught political science at Brown Univ. ...