Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

132 results found

Schwyz

(Encyclopedia)Schwyz shvēts [key], canton (1993 pop. 116,100), 351 sq mi (909 sq km), central Switzerland, one of the Four Forest Cantons. Bordering on the Lake of Zürich in the north and the Lake of Lucerne in t...

tracer

(Encyclopedia)tracer, an identifiable substance used to follow the course of a physical, chemical, or biological process. In chemistry the ideal tracer has the same chemical properties as the molecule it replaces a...

Conrad II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad II, c.990–1039, Holy Roman emperor (1027–39) and German king (1024–39), first of the Salian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. With the end of the Saxon line on the death of Henry II, the ...

Barth, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Barth, Karl bärt [key], 1886–1968, Swiss Protestant theologian, one of the leading thinkers of 20th-century Protestantism. He helped to found the Confessing Church and his thinking formed the theol...

Würzburg

(Encyclopedia)Würzburg vürtsˈbo͝ork [key], city (1994 pop. 128,875), capital of Lower Franconia, Bavaria, S central Germany, on the Main River. It is an industrial city, the center of a wine-producing region, a...

Opéra

(Encyclopedia)Opéra ôpāräˈ [key] (Académie de musique), former chief opera house of Paris, on the Place de l'Opéra, one of the main crossroads on the right bank of the Seine. Designed by J. L. C. Garnier and...

Bohemia

(Encyclopedia)Bohemia, Czech Čechy, historic region (20,368 sq mi/52,753 sq km) and former kingdom, in W and central Czech Republic. Bohemia is bounded by Austria in the southeast, by Germany in the west and north...

disease

(Encyclopedia)disease, impairment of the normal state or functioning of the body as a whole or of any of its parts. Some diseases are acute, producing severe symptoms that terminate after a short time, e.g., pneumo...

condensate

(Encyclopedia)condensate, matter in the form of a gas of atoms, molecules, or elementary particles that have been so chilled that their motion is virtually halted and as a consequence they lose their separate ident...

modern dance

(Encyclopedia)modern dance, serious theatrical dance forms that are distinct from both ballet and the show dancing of the musical comedy or variety stage. By the late 20th cent., distinctions among modern da...