Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) lyric, in ancient Greece, a poem accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre. Although the word is still often used to refer to the songlike quality in poetry, it is more generally used to ref...

(Encyclopedia) utilitarianism yo͞oˌtĭlĭtrˈēənĭzəm, yo͞otĭˌ– [key], in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happines...

(Encyclopedia) will, in philosophy and psychology, term used to describe that which is alleged to stimulate the motivation of purposeful activity. It is characteristic of the will that it can be observed only in one...

(Encyclopedia) Rupert, Prince, 1619–82, count palatine of the Rhine. Born in Prague, he was the son of Frederick the Winter King, elector palatine and king of Bohemia, and Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England...

(Encyclopedia) Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer, 1874–1965, British statesman, soldier, and author; son of Lord Randolph Churchill. Churchill was undoubtedly one of the greatest public figures of the 20t...

(Encyclopedia) social science, term for any or all of the branches of study that deal with humans in their social relations. Often these studies are referred to in the plural as the social sciences. Although human s...

(Encyclopedia) stratigraphy, branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequ...

(Encyclopedia) Wellesley, Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess, 1760–1842, British colonial administrator; brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington. He became earl of Mornington on his father's death ...

(Encyclopedia) Eden, Anthony, 1st earl of Avon āˈvən [key], 1897–1977, British statesman. After service in World War I ...

(Encyclopedia) Edwards, Jonathan, 1703–58, American theologian and metaphysician, b. East Windsor (then in Windsor), Conn. He was a precocious child, early interested in things scientific, intellectual, and spirit...