Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

compressed air

(Encyclopedia)compressed air, air whose volume has been decreased by the application of pressure. Air is compressed by various devices, including the simple hand pump and the reciprocating, rotary, centrifugal, and...

Deadwood

(Encyclopedia)Deadwood, city (2020 pop. 1,271), seat of Lawrence co., W S.Dak.; settled 1876 after discovery of gold. A Black Hills tourist center, it is also a trade...

firing

(Encyclopedia)firing, process of treating clay or other plastic ceramic materials with heat to produce a hard, durable but brittle material such as pottery. Primitive potters baked their clay in an open fire, but f...

Heron of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Heron of Alexandria hērˈŏn [key] or Hero, mathematician and inventor. The dates of his birth and death are unknown; conjecture places them between the 2d cent. b.c. and the 3d cent. a.d. He is beli...

Holyrood Palace

(Encyclopedia)Holyrood Palace hŏlˈēro͞od [key] [i.e., holy cross], royal residence, Edinburgh, SE Scotland. In 1128, David I founded Holyrood Abbey on this site, where according to legend he was saved from an i...

Habib, Philip Charles

(Encyclopedia)Habib, Philip Charles häbēbˈ [key], 1920–92, American diplomat, b. New York City. A career foreign service officer (1949–80), he served in various embassy and State Dept. posts. Habib took part...

Fuego

(Encyclopedia)Fuego fwēˈgō [key] [Span.,=volcano of fire], active volcano, 12,346 ft (3,763 m) high, S central Guatemala, near the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala. One of Central America's most active volcan...

Gateshead

(Encyclopedia)Gateshead gātsˈhĕd [key], metropolitan borough, NE England, on the Tyne River opposite ...

Flaming Gorge Dam

(Encyclopedia)Flaming Gorge Dam, in a deep canyon of the Green River, NE Utah; built 1958–63 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a major unit in the Colorado River storage project. The dam regulates the flow of ...

Merapi, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Merapi, Mount məräˈpē [key] [Indonesian=mountain of fire], volcano, 9,551 ft (2,911 m) high, central Java, Indonesia, 20 mi (32 km) NNE of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of Indonesia's many vol...

Browse by Subject