Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

international gold standard

(Encyclopedia)international gold standard: see international monetary system. ...

European Currency Unit

(Encyclopedia)European Currency Unit: see European Monetary System. ...

encounter theory

(Encyclopedia)encounter theory, in astronomy, see solar system. ...

Tien Shan

(Encyclopedia)Tien Shan, mountain system: see Tian Shan. ...

Commonwealth of Independent States

(Encyclopedia)Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), community of independent nations established by a treaty signed at Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 8, 1991, by the heads of state of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Bet...

multiple sclerosis

(Encyclopedia)multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic, slowly progressive autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks the protective myelin sheaths that surround the nerve cells of the brain and spinal co...

Apennines

(Encyclopedia)Apennines ăpˈənīnz [key], Ital. Appennino, mountain system, running the entire length of the Italian peninsula. It extends south c.840 mi (1,350 km) from the Cadibona Pass in Liguria, NW Italy, wh...

echo sounder

(Encyclopedia)echo sounder, an older instrumentation system for indirectly determining ocean floor depth. Echo sounding is based on the principle that water is an excellent medium for the transmission of sound wave...

common-ion effect

(Encyclopedia)common-ion effect, decrease in solubility of an ionic salt, i.e., one that dissociates in solution into its ions, caused by the presence in solution of another solute that contains one of the same ion...

Savigny, Friedrich Karl von

(Encyclopedia)Savigny, Friedrich Karl von frēˈdrĭkh kärl fən säˈvĭnyē [key], 1779–1861, German jurist and legal historian, a founder of the historical school of jurisprudence. He taught (1810–42) Roman...