Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

physics

(Encyclopedia)physics, branch of science traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and is still known by this na...

Durant

(Encyclopedia)Durant, city (2020 pop. 18,589), seat of Bryan co., S central Okla., in the Red River valley farm area; inc. 1873. It is the commercial and processing c...

will-o'-the-wisp

(Encyclopedia)will-o'-the-wisp, phenomenon known also as ignis fatuus and jack-o'-lantern. It is seen at night as a pale, flickering light over marshland. There is no generally accepted explanation for it; it may r...

map projection

(Encyclopedia)map projection, transfer of the features of the surface of the earth or another spherical body onto a flat sheet of paper. Only a globe can represent accurately the shape, orientation, and relative ar...

Young, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Young, Thomas, 1773–1829, English physicist, physician, and Egyptologist. He established (1799) a medical practice in London and was elected (1811) to the staff of St. George's Hospital there. His l...

Cedar Falls

(Encyclopedia)Cedar Falls, city (2020 pop. 40,713), Black Hawk co., N Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. 1854. It developed as a milling center in the late 19th-century a...

operetta

(Encyclopedia)operetta ŏpərĕtˈə [key], type of light opera with a frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire and containing both spoken dialogue and much light, pleasant music. In the earl...

Churchill, Winston, American novelist

(Encyclopedia)Churchill, Winston, 1871–1947, American novelist, b. St. Louis, grad. Annapolis, 1894. He wrote several popular historical novels including Richard Carvel (1899), The Crisis (1901), and The Crossing...

atrium

(Encyclopedia)atrium āˈtrēəm [key], term for an interior court in Roman domestic architecture and also for a type of entrance court in early Christian churches. The Roman atrium was an unroofed or partially roo...

Bellflower, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Bellflower, city (2020 pop. 79,190), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1957. It is mainly residential with some light industry (fabricated metal products,...