Columbia Encyclopedia

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abandonment

(Encyclopedia)abandonment, in law, voluntary, intentional, and absolute relinquishment of rights or property without conveying them to any other person. Abandonment also means willfully leaving one's spouse or chil...

Iron Age

(Encyclopedia)Iron Age, period in the development of industry that begins with the general use of iron and continues into modern times. In Asia, Egypt, and Europe it was preceded by the Bronze Age. It did not begin...

Savannah, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Savannah, city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. A rail, fishing, and industrial center, it is a leading southern port ...

relativity

(Encyclopedia)relativity, physical theory, introduced by Albert Einstein, that discards the concept of absolute motion and instead treats only relative motion between two systems or frames of reference. One consequ...

humidity

(Encyclopedia)humidity, moisture content of the atmosphere, a primary element of climate. Humidity measurements include absolute humidity, the mass of water vapor per unit volume of natural air; relative humidity (...

predestination

(Encyclopedia)predestination, in theology, doctrine that asserts that God predestines from eternity the salvation of certain souls. So-called double predestination, as in Calvinism, is the added assertion that God ...

Ferrier, James Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Ferrier, James Frederick fĕrˈēər [key], 1808–64, Scottish philosopher. He was a professor at Edinburgh (1842–45) and at St. Andrews from 1845 until his death. His major work, the Institutes of...

Celsius temperature scale

(Encyclopedia)Celsius temperature scale sĕlˈsēəs [key], temperature scale according to which the temperature difference between the reference temperatures of the freezing and boiling points of water is divided ...

Clarke, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Clarke, Samuel, 1675–1729, English philosopher and divine. His chief interest was rational theology, and, although a critic of the deists, he was in sympathy with some of their ideas. He supported t...

Mswati III

(Encyclopedia)Mswati III, 1968–, king of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). Given the title of Prince Makhosetive at an early age, he was crowned king in 1986, following a regency after his father, King Sobhuza II, d...