Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Waley, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Waley, Arthur, 1889–1966, English orientalist, b. London as Arthur David Schloss, educated at Cambridge. He was and still is considered one of the world's great Asian scholars. His most important wo...

Menotti, Gian-Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Menotti, Gian-Carlo jänˈ-kärˈlō mānôtˈtē [key], 1911–2007, Italian composer. Menotti was taught music by his mother and composed his first opera at 10. He studied at the Verdi Conservatory,...

Spallanzani, Lazzaro

(Encyclopedia)Spallanzani, Lazzaro lädˈdzärō späl-läntsäˈnē [key], 1729–99, Italian naturalist. He was professor at the universities of Modena (1763–69) and Pavia (from 1769). Spallanzani studied regen...

flame

(Encyclopedia)flame, phenomenon associated with the chemical reaction of a gas that has been heated above its kindling temperature with some other gas, usually atmospheric oxygen (see combustion). The heat and ligh...

Le Châtelier's principle

(Encyclopedia)Le Châtelier's principle, chemical principle that states that if a system in equilibrium is disturbed by changes in determining factors, such as temperature, pressure, and concentration of components...

Progressive party

(Encyclopedia)Progressive party, in U.S. history, the name of three political organizations, active, respectively, in the presidential elections of 1912, 1924, and 1948. At Philadelphia in July, 1948, a new...

taxis

(Encyclopedia)taxis tăkˈsĭs [key], movement of animals either toward or away from a stimulus, such as light (phototaxis), heat (thermotaxis), chemicals (chemotaxis), gravity (geotaxis), and touch (thigmotaxis). ...

fog

(Encyclopedia)fog, aggregation of water droplets or ice crystals immediately above the surface of the earth (i.e., a cloud near the ground). A light or thin fog is usually called a mist. Fog may occur when the mois...

welding

(Encyclopedia)welding, process for joining separate pieces of metal in a continuous metallic bond. Cold-pressure welding is accomplished by the application of high pressure at room temperature; forge welding (forgi...

Abbot, George

(Encyclopedia)Abbot, George, 1562–1633, archbishop of Canterbury. He was one of the collaborators (from the Univ. of Oxford) on the Authorized Version of the Bible and was an authority on geography. He became arc...

Browse by Subject