Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

164 results found

electricity

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Electrical and radio symbols electricity, class of phenomena arising from the existence of charge. The basic unit of charge is that on the proton or electron—the proton's charge is designate...

Tunisia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Tunisia to͞onēˈzhə, tyo͞o– [key], Fr. Tunisie, officially Republic of Tunisia, republic (2015 est. pop. 11,274,000), 63,378 sq mi (164,150 sq km), NW Africa. Occupying the eastern portio...

ballet

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The five classical positions in ballet ballet bălˈā, bălāˈ [key] [Ital. ballare=to dance], classic, formalized solo or ensemble dancing of a highly controlled, dramatic nature performed ...

Chinese literature

(Encyclopedia)Chinese literature, the literature of ancient and modern China. Fiction during the first years after the 1949 Communist revolution depicted the great social transformations taking place. Party leade...

Bush, George Walker

(Encyclopedia)Bush, George Walker, 1946–, 43d President of the United States (2001–9), b. New Haven, Conn. The eldest son of President George H. W. Bush, he was was raised in Texas and, like his father, attende...

American literature

(Encyclopedia)American literature, literature in English produced in what is now the United States of America. The years immediately after World War I brought a highly vocal rebellion against established socia...

Nobel Prizes (table)

(Encyclopedia)Nobel Prizes

communism

(Encyclopedia)communism, fundamentally, a system of social organization in which property (especially real property and the means of production) is held in common. Thus, the ejido system of the indigenous people of...

South Carolina

(Encyclopedia)CE5 South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and, across the Savannah River, Georgia (SW). World War II and the postwar pe...

physics

(Encyclopedia)physics, branch of science traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and is still known by this na...