Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ptah

(Encyclopedia)Ptah ptä [key], in Egyptian religion, great god of Memphis. He was one of the important gods of ancient Egypt and, according to Memphite theology, created the universe through the thought of his hear...

Black Belt

(Encyclopedia)Black Belt, term applied to several areas of Mississippi and Alabama, the heart of the Old South, which are characterized by black soil and excellent cotton-growing conditions. The Black Belt area was...

Fort Peck Dam

(Encyclopedia)Fort Peck Dam, 21,430 ft (6,531 m) long and 250 ft (76 m) high, on the Missouri River, NE Mont.; one of the world's largest earth-filled dams. The dam was built (1933–40) by the U.S. Army Corps of E...

Pointe-Noire

(Encyclopedia)Pointe-Noire pwăNt-nwär [key], city (1984 pop. 294,203), SW Republic of the Congo, Africa, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. Offshore oil drilling and oil refining are the city's most important economic...

Port Charlotte

(Encyclopedia)Port Charlotte, uninc. town (1990 pop. 41,535), Charlotte co., SW Fla., on Charlotte Harbor (an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico) and the Peace and Myakka rivers. It is a planned residential community—on...

pyroxylin

(Encyclopedia)pyroxylin pīrŏkˈsĭlĭn [key], partially nitrated cellulose (see nitrocellulose). It is used in lacquers, plastics, and artificial leathers. Pyroxylin lacquers are made by dissolving pyroxylin in a...

oasis

(Encyclopedia)oasis ōāˈsĭs [key], an area within a desert where the water table reaches the surface, with enough moisture to permit the growth of vegetation. The water may come up to the surface in springs, or ...

bionics

(Encyclopedia)bionics, the study of living systems with the intention of applying their principles to the design of engineering systems. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in the mechanical and life sciences, bi...

Whipple, Fred Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Whipple, Fred Lawrence, 1906–2004, American astronomer, b. Red Oak, Iowa. After graduating from the Univ. of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1931), he accepted a position at Harvard, where he remained f...

McCullers, Carson

(Encyclopedia)McCullers, Carson, 1917–67, American novelist, b. Columbus, Ga. as Lula Carson Smith, studied at Columbia. The central theme of her novels is the spiritual isolation that underlies the human conditi...