Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Atanasoff, John Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Atanasoff, John Vincent, 1903–1995, inventor of the digital computer, b. Hamilton, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Florida (B.S., 1925), Iowa State College (M.S., 1926), Univ. of Wisconsin (Ph.D., 1930). While...

McPherson, James Birdseye

(Encyclopedia)McPherson, James Birdseye, 1828–64, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Sandusky co., Ohio. After teaching (1853–54) at West Point, he worked on various engineering projects. In the Civil ...

Pontoppidan, Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Pontoppidan, Henrik hănˈrēk pôntôˈpĭdän [key], 1857–1943, Danish novelist. He shared the 1917 Nobel Prize in Literature with Karl Gjellerup. Pontoppidan devoted himself to engineering, journ...

Bury St. Edmunds

(Encyclopedia)Bury St. Edmunds bĕrˌ sənt ĕdˈməndz [key], town, Suffolk, E central England. It is the market and processing ...

Sunderland

(Encyclopedia)Sunderland, city and metropolitan borough (1991 pop. 195,064), NE England, at the mouth of the Wear River. The city was established as a shipbuilding center and a coal-shipping port in the 14th cent; ...

Tainan

(Encyclopedia)Tainan or T'ai-nan both: tīˈnänˈ [key], special municipality (2010 pop. 1,840,257), W central Taiwan, on the Taiwan Strait. It was created in 2010 when Tainan city was merged with Tainan co. Taina...

Whorf, Benjamin Lee

(Encyclopedia)Whorf, Benjamin Lee hwôrf [key], 1897–1941, American linguist and anthropologist, b. Winthrop, Mass. Although he was trained in chemical engineering and worked for an insurance company, Whorf made ...

blasting

(Encyclopedia)blasting, shattering, breaking, or splitting of rock or other material by the discharge of an explosive placed within or in contact with it. It is a necessary part of many engineering operations. An a...

Baghdad Railway

(Encyclopedia)Baghdad Railway, railroad of international importance linking Europe with Asia Minor and the Middle East. The line runs from İstanbul, Turkey, to Basra, Iraq; it connected what were distant regions o...

Sibiu

(Encyclopedia)Sibiu sēbyo͝oˈ [key], Ger. Hermannstadt, Hung. Nagyszeben, city (1990 pop. 188,385), central Romania, at the foot of the Transylvanian Alps. There are mechanical engineering works and industries pr...