Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

498 results found

virtual observatory

(Encyclopedia)virtual observatory, a collection of integrated astronomical data archives and software tools that utilize computer networks to create an environment in which research can be conducted. Several countr...

cryptography

(Encyclopedia)cryptography krĭptŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=hidden writing], science of secret writing. There are many devices by which a message can be concealed from the casual reader, e.g., invisible writing, but t...

Kasparov, Garry

(Encyclopedia)Kasparov, Garry kəspärˈôf, –ŏf [key], 1963–, Armenian chess player, b. Azerbaijan (then in the USSR) as Garik Kimovich Wainshtein. He became the world junior champion at the age of 16 and was...

lock and key

(Encyclopedia)lock and key, fastening fitted to an entryway, such as a gate or door, or a container, such as a cabinet, drawer or safe, to keep it closed and/or prevent unauthorized access or use. Locks typically c...

cryotron

(Encyclopedia)cryotron krīˈōtrŏnˌ [key], magnetically controlled electronic switching device that operates at extremely low temperatures; it is designed to supplant, in part, the transistor in special electron...

Grove, Andy

(Encyclopedia)Grove, Andy (Andrew Stephen Grove) [key], 1936–2016, American computer-industry executive, b. Budapest, Hungary, as András István Gróf, immigrated to the United States 1957, Ph.D. Univ. of Calif...

Getty Center

(Encyclopedia)Getty Center, art museum complex in Brentwood, Calif., operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust. It consists of six buildings on 124 acres (50 hectares) located on a spectacular promontory overlooking Los ...

Lorenz, Edward Norton

(Encyclopedia)Lorenz, Edward Norton, 1917–2008, American meteorologist and pioneer of chaos theory, b. West Hartford, Conn., Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1948. Lorenz became interested in meteorol...

Windsor, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Windsor wĭnˈzər [key], town (1990 pop. 27,817), Hartford co., N Conn., at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers, just N of Hartford. Settled by Plymouth Colony in 1633, the town w...

Waltham

(Encyclopedia)Waltham wôlˈthăm, –thəm [key], city (1990 pop. 57,878), Middlesex co., E Mass., a suburb of Boston, on the Charles River; settled c.1634, set off from Watertown 1738, inc. as a city 1884. It is ...