Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

208 results found

gamma-ray astronomy

(Encyclopedia)gamma-ray astronomy, study of astronomical objects by analysis of the most energetic electromagnetic radiation they emit. Gamma rays are shorter in wavelength and hence more energetic than X rays (see...

Presbyterianism

(Encyclopedia)Presbyterianism, form of Christian church organization based on administration by a hierarchy of courts composed of clerical and lay presbyters. Holding a position between episcopacy (government by bi...

Paraguay, country, South America

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Paraguay pârˈəgwā, –gwī, Span. pärägwīˈ [key], officially Republic of Paraguay, republic (2015 est. pop. 6,639,000), 157,047 sq mi (406,752 sq km), S central South America. Paraguay ...

Counter Reformation

(Encyclopedia)Counter Reformation, 16th-century reformation that arose largely in answer to the Protestant Reformation; sometimes called the Catholic Reformation. Although the Roman Catholic reformers shared the Pr...

abolitionists

(Encyclopedia)abolitionists, in U.S. history, particularly in the three decades before the Civil War, members of the movement that agitated for the compulsory emancipation of the slaves. Abolitionists are distingui...

space exploration

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Moon mission assembly CE5 Stages in a moon mission shown counterclockwise from launching on the first day to splashdown on the ninth day. space exploration, the investigation of physical co...

State, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)State, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government responsible, under the President's direction, for the making and execution of American foreign policy. Before and ...

space science

(Encyclopedia)space science, body of scientific knowledge as it relates to space exploration; it is sometimes also called astronautics. Space science draws on the conventional sciences of physics, chemistry, biolog...

Texas

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Texas tĕkˈsəs [key], largest state in the coterminous United States. It is located in the south-central part of the country and is bounded by Oklahoma, across the Red River except in the Tex...

horse

(Encyclopedia)CE5 General anatomy of a horse horse, hoofed, herbivorous mammal now represented by a single extant genus, Equus. The term horse commonly refers only to the domestic Equus caballus and to the wild...