Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

286 results found

Schuller, Gunther Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Schuller, Gunther Alexander, 1925–2015, American composer and conductor, b. Queens, N.Y. He studied French horn and flute, becoming principal hornist with the Cincinnati Symphony (1943–45) and Met...

Ponzi, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Ponzi, Charles or Carlo, 1882–1949), Italian-American swindler. He came to the United States from his native Italy in 1903, then went in 1907 to Canada, where he was convicted of check forgery. In 1...

cobalt, chemical element

(Encyclopedia)cobalt, metallic chemical element; symbol Co; at. no. 27; at. wt. 58.9332; m.p. 1,495℃; b.p. about 2,870℃; sp. gr. 8.9 at 20℃; valence +2 or +3. Cobalt is a silver-white, lustrous, hard, brittle...

Athena

(Encyclopedia)Athena pălˈəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian deities. According to myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would overthrow him, s...

Mackenzie

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, river, c.1,120 mi (1,800 km) long, issuing from Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, and flowing generally NW to the Arctic Ocean through a great delta. Between Great Slave Lake...

Colorado River storage project

(Encyclopedia)Colorado River storage project, a multipurpose plan, undertaken by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1956, to control the flow of the upper Colorado and its tributaries and to aid in the development o...

platypus

(Encyclopedia)platypus plătˈəpəs [key], semiaquatic egg-laying mammal, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Tasmania and E Australia. Also called duckbill, or duckbilled platypus, it belongs to the order Monotremata (s...

compressor

(Encyclopedia)compressor, machine that decreases the volume of air or other gas by the application of pressure. Compressor types range from the simple hand pump and the piston-equipped compressor used to inflate ti...

noise pollution

(Encyclopedia)noise pollution, human-created noise harmful to health or welfare. Transportation vehicles are the worst offenders, with aircraft, railroad stock, trucks, buses, automobiles, and motorcycles all produ...

boron

(Encyclopedia)boron bōrˈŏn [key] [New Gr. from borax], chemical element; symbol B; at. no. 5; interval in which at. wt. ranges 10.806–10.821; m.p. about 2,300℃; sublimation point about 2,550℃; sp. gr. 2.3 ...