Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

soap

(Encyclopedia)soap, a cleansing agent. It cleanses by lowering the surface tension of water, by emulsifying grease, and by absorbing dirt into the foam. Ancient peoples are believed to have employed wood ashes and ...

dynamite

(Encyclopedia)dynamite, explosive made from nitroglycerin and an inert, porous filler such as wood pulp, sawdust, kieselguhr, or some other absorbent material. The proportions vary in different kinds of dynamite; o...

Aleijadinho

(Encyclopedia)Aleijadinho älāzhädēˈnyō [key] [Port.,=little cripple], 1730–1814, Brazilian sculptor. His real name was Antônio Francisco Lisboa. Although he was maimed in hands and feet, he is known for th...

Crawford, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, Thomas, 1813–57, American sculptor, b. New York City. He was apprenticed to a wood carver and later worked for a firm of tombstone cutters. He achieved his first success with decorations f...

Henryson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Henryson, Robert, c.1425–c.1506, Scottish poet. It is thought that he was a schoolmaster at Dunfermline Abbey. His principal poem is The Testament of Cresseid, which was written as a harshly moral e...

Grangemouth

(Encyclopedia)Grangemouth grānjˈməth, –mouth [key], town (1981 pop. 21,744), Falkirk, central Scotland, on the Forth River at the eastern terminus of the Forth and Clyde canal. Grangemouth is an important oil ...

joinery

(Encyclopedia)joinery, craft of assembling exposed woodwork in the interiors of buildings. Where carpentry refers to the rougher, simpler, and primarily structural elements of wood assembling, joinery has to do wit...

japanning

(Encyclopedia)japanning jəpănˈing [key], method of varnishing a surface, such as wood, metal, or glass, to obtain a durable, lustrous finish. The term is derived from a process popular in England, France, the Ne...

Nordhausen

(Encyclopedia)Nordhausen nôrtˈhouˌzən [key], city (1994 pop. 44,744), Thuringia, central Germany, at the southern foot of the Harz Mts. It is an industrial center and rail junction. Manufactures include clothin...

lye

(Encyclopedia)lye, name commonly used for a strongly alkaline solution. It originally meant a solution of potassium carbonate (potash) prepared by leaching wood ashes with water, but now the name also means a solut...