Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Biko, Steve (Steven Biko) bēˈkō [key], 1946–77, South African political leader. A medical student, ...

(Encyclopedia) temporary worker, an employee, hired through a specialized employment agency, who generally works less than a year on one assignment, regardless of the number of hours worked per week. Temporary worke...

(Encyclopedia) Gaius gāˈyəs [key], in the New Testament. 1 Corinthian Christian, Paul's host. 2 Corinthian baptized by Paul. 3 Companion of Paul, native of Derbe. 4 Macedonian companion of Paul. 5 Christian to wh...

(Encyclopedia) József, Attila äˈtĭlä yōˈzhĕf [key], 1905–37, Hungarian poet. Born in Budapest of a poor family, József had to support himself from the age of seven with menial jobs; he was never able to e...

(Encyclopedia) Ashkin, Arthur, 1922–2020, American physicist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Ph.D. Cornell, 1952. Ashkin worked for four decades at Bell Laboratories, retiring in 1992. Ashkin researched microwaves, nonlinear ...

(Encyclopedia) Salam, Abdus, 1926–96, Pakistani physicist. After attending Government College at Lahore, he received a Ph.D. from Cambridge (1952). He taught in Lahore for three years before returning to England, ...

(Encyclopedia) Timothy, two letters of the New Testament. With Titus they comprise the Pastoral Epistles, in which St. Paul addresses his coworkers as the guardians and transmitters of his teaching. Modern scholars ...

(Encyclopedia) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accord establishing a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. NAF...

(Encyclopedia) Romans, letter of the New Testament, written by St. Paul, probably from Corinth before his last trip to Jerusalem, c.a.d. 58. It is a treatise addressed to the Christian church at Rome, apparently to ...

(Encyclopedia) Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577–1640, foremost Flemish painter of the 17th cent., b. Siegen, Westphalia, where his family had gone into exile because of his father's Calvinist beliefs. Almost every princ...