Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Oliver, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Oliver, Mary, 1935–2019, American poet, b. Cleveland, Ohio, studied Ohio State Univ., Vassar. She published her first collection of poems, No Voyage and Other Poems, in 1963. She was a keen observer...

Fizeau, Armand Hippolyte Louis

(Encyclopedia)Fizeau, Armand Hippolyte Louis ärmäNˈ ēpôlētˈ lwē fēzōˈ [key], 1819–96, French physicist. The first to measure (1849) the velocity of light in air, he also determined its speed in water. ...

seeing

(Encyclopedia)seeing, in astronomy, the clarity with which stars and other celestial objects can be observed. It is primarily determined by the atmosphere of the earth. The most obvious phenomenon is twinkling, whe...

Cornu, Marie Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Cornu, Marie Alfred märēˈ älfrĕdˈ kôrnüˈ [key], 1841–1902, French physicist. From 1867 he was professor at the École polytechnique, Paris. He measured the velocity of light and made import...

Local Group

(Encyclopedia)Local Group, in astronomy, loose cluster of at least 40 nearby galaxies, including our own Milky Way galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Magellanic Clouds. The Local Group is spread over an ellipsoi...

relativity

(Encyclopedia)relativity, physical theory, introduced by Albert Einstein, that discards the concept of absolute motion and instead treats only relative motion between two systems or frames of reference. One consequ...

Ångström, Anders Jöns

(Encyclopedia)Ångström, Anders Jöns änˈdərs yöns ōngˈström [key], 1814–74, Swedish physicist. He was educated at the Univ. of Uppsala and in 1839 became a member of its faculty. He is particularly noted...

near-death experience

(Encyclopedia)near-death experience, phenomenon reported by some people who have been clinically dead, then returned to life. Descriptions of the experience differ slightly in detail from person to person, but usua...

cytology

(Encyclopedia)cytology sītŏlˈəjē [key], in biology, the study of the structure of all normal and abnormal components of cells and the changes, movements, and transformations of such components. The discipline ...

Greb, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Greb, Harry, 1894–1926, American boxer, b. Pittsburgh. Although blind in one eye, Greb was one of the most feared fighters in American ring history. He was a natural middleweight, but fought light h...