Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Watts Towers, group of folk-art towers in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The complex was built (1921–54) single-handedly by the self-taught Italian immigrant Simon Rodia (also spelled Rodilla, 18...

(Encyclopedia) Trujillo tro͞ohēˈyō [key], city (1993 pop. 256,744), capital of La Libertad dept., NW Peru, in a fertile oasis of the coastal desert. A thriving commercial and industrial center, Trujillo processe...

(Encyclopedia) Berlin Philharmonic, orchestra, Berlin, Germany, founded 1882 by musicans who had left an ensemble led by Benjamin Bilse. The orchestra performs in the modernist Philharmonie concert hall (1963). Amon...

(Encyclopedia) Musil, Robert rōˈbĕrt mo͞oˈzĭl [key], 1880–1942, Austrian novelist. His style, which has been compared to Proust's, is marked by subtle psychological analysis. This is evident in the novel You...

(Encyclopedia) Opitz, Martin märˈtĭn ōˈpĭts [key], 1597–1639, leader of the Silesian school of German poetry. His influence as poet, critic, and metrical reformer was widely recognized during his time; he wa...

(Encyclopedia) Bolzano, Bernard bōltsäˈnō [key], 1781–1848, Czech philosopher, mathematician, and theologian. Though as a Catholic priest he himself was primarily concerned with religious and ethical questions...

(Encyclopedia) Alesius, Ales, or Aless, Alexander əlēˈshəs, əlĕsˈ [key], 1500–1565, Scottish Protestant theologian. As canon of the collegiate church at St. Andrews he tried to reclaim Patrick Hamilton from...

(Encyclopedia) Fechner, Gustav Theodor go͝osˈtäf tāˈōdōr fĕkhˈnər [key], 1801–87, German philosopher and physicist, founder of psychophysics, educated at Dresden and Leipzig. He became professor of physi...

(Encyclopedia) Weierstrass, Karl Wilhelm Theodor kärl vĭlˈhĕlm tāˈōdōr vīˈərshträs [key], 1815–97, German mathematician. From 1864 he was professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Berlin. His developmen...

(Encyclopedia) Wieland, Christoph Martin krĭsˈtôf märˈtĭn vēˈlänt [key], 1733–1813, German poet and novelist. His style, typical of the German rococo, is elegant, satiric, and often playful. He borrowed s...