Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Symons, Arthur sĭmˈənz [key], 1865–1945, English poet and critic. A leader of the symbolists in England, Symons interpreted French decadent poetry to the English through translations, criticism, ...

(Encyclopedia) spastic paralysis, form of paralysis in which the part of the nervous system that controls coordinated movement of the voluntary muscles is disabled. In spastic paralysis the nerves controlling muscle...

(Encyclopedia) Gordin, Jacob Mikhailovich yäˈkôb mĭkhīˈləvyĭch gôrˈdĭn [key], 1853–1909, American writer of Yiddish plays, b. Russia. He was for some years a teacher and a newspaper writer in St. Peters...

(Encyclopedia) Liang Ch'i-ch'ao lyäng chē-chou [key], 1873–1929, Chinese reform leader. Liang was a disciple of K'ang Yu-wei. Stunned by China's disastrous defeat by Japan (see Sino-Japanese War, First), K'ang a...

(Encyclopedia) Maathai, Wangari Muta wän-gäˈrē mātīˈ [key], 1940–2011, Kenyan environmental...

(Encyclopedia) New Thought, popular philosophical movement with religious implications; it affirms “the creative power of constructive thinking.” A successor of New England transcendentalism, New Thought grew ou...

(Encyclopedia) joint, in anatomy, juncture between two bones. Some joints are immovable, e.g., those that connect the bones of the skull, which are separated merely by short, tough fibers of cartilage. Movable joint...

(Encyclopedia) Proud Boys, American political movement. Founded in 2016 by Vice Media cofounder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys promotes the philosophy of far-right, ne...

(Encyclopedia) feminism, movement for the political, social, and educational equality of women with men; the movement has occurred mainly in Europe and the United States. It has its roots in the humanism of the 18th...

(Encyclopedia) Parks, Rosa Louise, 1913–2005, American civil-rights activist, b. Tuskegee, Ala., as Rosa Louise McCauley. A seamstress and long-time activist-member of the Montgomery, Ala., chapter of the National...