Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

phonetics

(Encyclopedia)phonetics fōnĕtˈĭks, fə– [key], study of the sounds of languages from three basic points of view. Phonetics studies speech sounds according to their production in the vocal organs (articulatory...

Griffith, D. W.

(Encyclopedia)Griffith, D. W. (David Llewelyn Wark Griffith), 1875–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his film career as an...

Dolby, Ray Milton

(Encyclopedia)Dolby, Ray Milton, 1933–2013, American inventor, audio engineer, and corporate executive, B.S. Stanford, 1957, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1961. While a teenager, he worked for Ampex Corp. (1949–57), helping...

shock wave

(Encyclopedia)shock wave, wave formed of a zone of extremely high pressure within a fluid, especially the atmosphere, that propagates through the fluid at a speed in excess of the speed of sound. A shock wave is ca...

multimedia

(Encyclopedia)multimedia, in personal computing, software and applications that combine text, high-quality sound, two- and three-dimensional graphics, animation, photo images, and full-motion video. In order to wor...

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge

(Encyclopedia)Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, vehicular suspension bridge, S Honshu, Japan, across the Akashi Strait, a busy shipping lane, linking the city of Kobe with Awaji Island and part of a link between Honshu and Shi...

Rufiji

(Encyclopedia)Rufiji ro͞ofēˈjē [key], river, c.375 mi (600 km) long, rising in the highlands of SW Tanzania, E Africa, and flowing NE then E to the Indian Ocean opposite Mafia Island. The Great Ruaha River is i...

Taymyra

(Encyclopedia)Taymyra or Taimyra both: tīmēˈrə [key], river, c.400 mi (640 km) long, rising in the center of the Taymyr Peninsula, N Siberian Russia. It flows NE through Lake Taymyr (c.2,700 sq mi/6,990 sq km) ...

Bidasoa

(Encyclopedia)Bidasoa bēˈdäsōä, Span. bēᵺäsōˈä [key] or Bidassoa, river, 35 mi (56 km) long, Basque Country, N Spain, and Pyrénées Atlantiques dept., SW France. The river rises in Spain on the souther...

Matagorda Bay

(Encyclopedia)Matagorda Bay mătəgôrˈdə [key], inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, c.50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 12 mi (4.8–19 km) wide, SE Tex., protected by a long sandspit, Matagorda Peninsula. It receives t...