Columbia Encyclopedia

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cement

(Encyclopedia)cement, binding material used in construction and engineering, often called hydraulic cement, typically made by heating a mixture of limestone and clay until it almost fuses and then grinding it to a ...

ceramics

(Encyclopedia)ceramics sərămˈĭks [key], materials made of nonmetallic minerals that have been permanently hardened by firing at a high temperature, or objects made of such materials. Most ceramics resist heat a...

bibliography

(Encyclopedia)bibliography. The listing of books is of ancient origin. Lists of clay tablets have been found at Nineveh and elsewhere; the library at Alexandria had subject lists of its books. Modern bibliography b...

Staffordshire

(Encyclopedia)Staffordshire stăfˈərdshĭr [key], county (1991 pop. 1,020,300), 1,157 sq mi (2,997 sq km), W central England. The county seat is Stafford. Administratively, Staffordshire is divided into the distr...

arch

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Arches arch, the spanning of a wall opening by means of separate units (such as bricks or stone blocks) assembled into an upward curve that maintains its shape and stability through the mutual...

Cassius

(Encyclopedia)Cassius kăshˈəs [key], ancient Roman family. There were a number of well-known members. Spurius Cassius Viscellinus, d. c.485 b.c., seems to have been consul several times. In 493 b.c. he negotiate...

Devon

(Encyclopedia)Devon dĕvˈən [key], county, 2,591 sq mi (6,711 sq km), SW England. The county town is ...

James, Jesse

(Encyclopedia)James, Jesse (Woodson), 1847–82, American outlaw, b. Clay co., Mo. At the age of 15 he joined the Confederate guerrilla band led by William Quantrill and participated in the brutal and bloody civil ...

landslide

(Encyclopedia)landslide, rapid slipping of a mass of earth or rock from a higher elevation to a lower level under the influence of gravity and water lubrication. More specifically, rockslides are the rapid downhill...

typography

(Encyclopedia)typography tīpŏgˈrəfē [key], the art of printing from movable type. The term typographer is today virtually synonymous with a master printer skilled in the techniques of type and paper stock sele...