Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

clef

(Encyclopedia)clef, in music: see musical notation. ...

signature

(Encyclopedia)signature, in music: see musical notation. ...

tonic sol-fa

(Encyclopedia)tonic sol-fa: see musical notation. ...

hourglass

(Encyclopedia)hourglass, glass instrument for measuring time, usually consisting of two bulbs united by a narrow neck. One bulb is filled with fine sand that runs through the neck into the other bulb in an hour's t...

snare drum

(Encyclopedia)snare drum, small drum having a drumhead at either end. One head is struck with wooden drumsticks, and on the other are stretched several strings, called snares, which cause a rattling against the hea...

Baird, John Logie

(Encyclopedia)Baird, John Logie, 1888–1946, Scottish inventor. In 1926 he gave the first demonstration of true television with a televisor of his own invention that differed from later instruments in being partia...

Kitt Peak National Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Kitt Peak National Observatory, astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Ariz.; it was founded in 1958 under contract with the National Science Foundation and is administered by the Assoc...

Middlesborough

(Encyclopedia)Middlesborough, city (1990 pop. 11,328), Bell co., S Ky., in the Cumberland Mts. near the point where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet; inc. 1890. It is a coal-mining center with meat and coal p...

Sacré-Cœur

(Encyclopedia)Sacré-Cœur säkrā-körˈ [key], basilica in Paris, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a famous landmark atop the Montmartre, from which it dominates the city. Built (1875–1914) by subs...

Williams, Robert R., Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Robert R., Jr., 1886–1965, American chemist, b. India, grad. Univ. of Chicago (B.S., 1907); brother of Roger John Williams. Research undertaken in 1910, while he was chemist (1908–15) at...