Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pinchot, Gifford

(Encyclopedia)Pinchot, Gifford pĭnˈshō [key], 1865–1946, American forester and public official, b. Simsbury, Conn. He studied forestry in Europe and then undertook (1892) systematic work in forestry at the Van...

Ban, Shigeru

(Encyclopedia)Ban, Shigeru, 1957–, Japanese architect. After graduating (1984) from the Cooper Union School of Architecture, New York City, he established (1985) a practice in Tokyo, later adding offices in Paris...

Papandreou, George, 1888–1968, Greek political leader

(Encyclopedia)Papandreou, George päˌpəndrāˈo͞o [key], 1888–1968, Greek political leader, father of Andreas Papandreou and grandfather of George Papandreou (b. 1952). As a young man he became involved in ant...

Osaka

(Encyclopedia)Osaka ōˈsäkä [key], city (1990 pop. 2,623,801), capital of Osaka prefecture, S Honshu, Japan, on Osaka Bay, at the mouth of the Yodo River. One of Japan's largest cities and principal industrial a...

mosque

(Encyclopedia)mosque mŏsk [key], building for worship used by members of the Islamic faith. Muhammad's house in Medina (a.d. 622), with its surrounding courtyard and hall with columns, became the prototype for the...

membrane

(Encyclopedia)membrane, structure composed mostly of lipid and protein that forms the external boundary of cells and of major structures within cells. Membrane organization is based on a sheet two molecules thick�...

asthenosphere

(Encyclopedia)asthenosphere ăsthēnˈəsfēr [key], region in the upper mantle of the earth's interior, characterized by low-density, semiplastic (or partially molten) rock material chemically similar to the overl...

Mainland

(Encyclopedia)Mainland. 1 Island (1991 pop. 14,150), 178 sq mi (461 sq km), N Scotland. The largest of the Orkney Islands, it is also called Pomona. Kirkwall, the seat of the Orkney Islands council area, is on the ...

Freetown

(Encyclopedia)Freetown, city (1995 est. pop. 519,500), capital of Sierra Leone, W Sierra Leone, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. Located on the Sierra Leone peninsula, Freetown is the nation's administrative, communic...

Guggenheim Museum

(Encyclopedia)Guggenheim Museum, officially Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, major museum of modern art in New York City. Founded in 1939 as the Museum of Non-objective Art, the Guggenheim is known for its remarkable ...