Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nome

(Encyclopedia)Nome nōm [key], city (1990 pop. 3,500), W Alaska, on the southern side of Seward Peninsula, on Norton Sound; founded c.1898, when gold was discovered on the beach there. It is the commercial, governm...

O'Faoláin, Seán

(Encyclopedia)O'Faoláin, Seán shôn ōfălˈən [key], 1900–1991, Irish writer. The relation of the individual to society was often the theme of his novels and stories. He frequently wrote about Ireland, analyz...

Austerlitz

(Encyclopedia)Austerlitz ôˈstərlĭts, Ger. ouˈ– [key], Czech Slavkov u Brna, town, S Czech Republic, in Moravia. An agricultural center, the town has sugar refineries and cotton mills. It became a seat of the...

Mauldin, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Mauldin, Bill (William Henry Mauldin), 1921–2003, American cartoonist, b. Mountain Park, N.Mex. During World War II, in which he served as an infantryman-cartoonist in Italy, France, and Germany, Ma...

Lippold, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Lippold, Richard lĭpˈōld [key], 1915–2002, American sculptor, engineer, and designer, b. Milwaukee. Until 1941, Lippold worked as an industrial designer. As a sculptor, he achieved startling effe...

Bode, Johann Elert

(Encyclopedia)Bode, Johann Elert yōˈhän āˈlĕrt bōˈdə [key], 1747–1826, German astronomer. From 1772 to 1825 he was astronomer of the Academy of Science, Berlin, and from 1786, director of the Berlin Obse...

sky

(Encyclopedia)sky, apparent dome over the earth, background of the clouds, sun, moon, and stars. The blue color of the clear daytime sky results from the selective scattering of light rays by the minute particles o...

actinometer

(Encyclopedia)actinometer ăkˌtənŏmˈətər [key], instrument used to measure the heating power of radiation. Actinometers are used chiefly in meteorology to measure solar radiation as transmitted directly by th...

Thales

(Encyclopedia)Thales thāˈlēz [key], c.636–c.546 b.c., pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of Miletus and reputed founder of the Milesian school of philosophy. He is the first recorded Western philosopher. Thales ta...

Vega

(Encyclopedia)Vega vāˈgə [key], brightest star in the constellation Lyra; Bayer designation Alpha Lyrae; 1992 position R.A. 18h36.7m, Dec. +38°47′. A white main-sequence star of spectral class A0 V, its appar...