Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

abacus, in architecture

(Encyclopedia)abacus ăbˈəkəs [key], in architecture, flat slab forming the top member of a capital. In classical orders it varies from a square form having unmolded sides in the Greek Doric, to thinner proporti...

Ulloa, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Ulloa, Francisco de ᵺā o͞olyōˈä [key], d. c.1540, Spanish explorer in Mexico. Against the orders of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, Hernán Cortés sent Ulloa to explore the Gulf of California. In...

Le Châtelier, Henri Louis

(Encyclopedia)Le Châtelier, Henri Louis äNrēˈ lwē lə shätəlyāˈ [key], 1850–1936, French industrial chemist. He made many contributions to industrial chemistry, but is best known for his work on the stru...

Cassel, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Cassel, Gustav go͝osˈtäf käˈsəl [key], 1866–1945, Swedish economist and authority on international monetary problems. He was a delegate to many world economic conferences and wrote valuable pa...

candle, unit of luminous intensity

(Encyclopedia)candle, in weights and measures, unit of luminous intensity; it is defined as 1⁄60 of the intensity of a blackbody, or ideal radiator, at the temperature at which platinum solidifies (2,046K). The...

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

electroweak theory

(Encyclopedia)electroweak theory, a unified field theory that describes two of the fundamental forces in nature, electromagnetism (see electromagnetic radiation) and the weak interaction. The electroweak theory der...

Alcántara

(Encyclopedia)Alcántara älkänˈtärä [key], town, Cáceres prov., W Spain, in Extremadura, near the Tagus River. A fine Roman bridge (Arabic al-kantara) built (a.d. 105–106) in ...

Fetterman, William Judd

(Encyclopedia)Fetterman, William Judd, 1833?–1866, American army officer. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union army from Delaware; he served throughout the Civil War and was twice brevetted for gallant conduct. After...

Palsgrave, John

(Encyclopedia)Palsgrave, John pălzˈgrāv, pôlzˈ– [key], d. 1554, English scholar, educated at Oxford and at the Univ. of Paris. Palsgrave was tutor to Henry VIII's daughter Mary (later Mary I), who used her i...