Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) van Basten, Marco, 1964–, Dutch soccer player. A powerful striker/forward, he began his professional playing career at Ajax Amsterdam (1982–87), where he was a key factor in the team's capturing t...

(Encyclopedia) Saussure, Ferdinand de fĕrdēnäNˈ də sōsürˈ [key], 1857–1913, Swiss linguist. One of the founders of modern linguistics, he established the structural study of language, emphasizing the arbit...

(Encyclopedia) Granger, Clive William John, 1934–2009, British economist, b. Swansea, Wales, Ph.D. Univ. of Nottingham, 1959. A specialist in econometrics, the use of statistics to study the economy, Granger taugh...

(Encyclopedia) paleomagnetism, study of the intensity and orientation of the earth's magnetic field as preserved in the magnetic orientation of certain minerals found in rocks formed throughout geologic time. Paleom...

(Encyclopedia) data communications, application of telecommunications technology to the problem of transmitting data, especially to, from, or between computers. In popular usage, it is said that data communications ...

(Encyclopedia) cane, walking stick. Probably used first as a weapon, it gradually took on the symbolism of strength and power and eventually authority and social prestige. Ancient Egyptian rulers carried the symboli...

(Encyclopedia) sidereal day: see sidereal time. ...

(Encyclopedia) L'Engle, Madeleine, 1918–2007, American writer, b. New York City, grad. Smith College, 1941. A devout Episcopalian, L'Engle served as librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of St....

(Encyclopedia) Simonides of Ceos sīmŏnˈĭdēz, sēˈŏs [key], c.556–468? b.c., Greek lyric poet, b. Ceos. At Athens for a time under the patronage of Hipparchus, he seems then to have gone to Thessaly, returni...

(Encyclopedia) Young, Edward, 1683–1765, English poet and dramatist. After a disappointing political life he took holy orders about 1724, serving for a time as the royal chaplain before becoming rector of Welwyn i...