Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

464 results found

Oort, Jan Hendrik

(Encyclopedia)Oort, Jan Hendrik ōrt [key], 1900–1992, Dutch astronomer. He confirmed (1927) Bertil Lindblad's theory of the Milky Way galaxy's rotation. In the 1950s he and his colleagues used radio astronomical...

Bieler, Manfred

(Encyclopedia)Bieler, Manfred mänˈfrĕt bēˈlər [key], 1934–, German dramatist and novelist. Among Bieler's plays, written for radio, are Die achte Trübsal [the eighth misery] (1960), attacking anti-Semitism...

Morse code

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Morse code [for S. F. B. Morse], the arbitrary set of signals used on the telegraph (see code). It may also be used with a flash lamp for visible signaling. The international (or continental) M...

amplifier

(Encyclopedia)amplifier, device that accepts a varying input signal and produces an output signal that varies in the same way as the input but has a larger amplitude. The input signal may be a current, a voltage, a...

chart

(Encyclopedia)chart, term referring to maps prepared for marine navigation and for air navigation. All charts show, in some convenient scale, geographic features useful to the navigator, as well as indications of d...

Klein, Ralph Phillip

(Encyclopedia)Klein, Ralph Phillip, 1942–2013, Canadian politician, b. Calgary. He served in the Canadian air force and worked in public relations and as a weathercaster and reporter in radio and television befor...

Glorioso Islands

(Encyclopedia)Glorioso Islands glōrˌēōˈsō, –zō [key], Fr. Îles Glorieuses, island group, c.2 sq mi (5 sq km), in the Mozambique Channel, W Indian Ocean, 125 mi (200 km) WNW of N Madagascar, part of the Sc...

Cole, Nat “King”

(Encyclopedia)Cole, Nat “King,” 1919–65, American musician and composer, b. Montgomery, Ala., as Nathaniel Adams Coles. A jazz pianist, he played Los Angeles nightclubs and in 1938 formed the King Cole Trio. ...

Paulist Fathers

(Encyclopedia)Paulist Fathers, American society of Roman Catholic priests, officially named the Society of Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle (Latin abbr., C.S.P.). It was founded (1858) by Isaac Hecker, wh...

Saint-Cloud

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Cloud săN-klo͞oˈ [key], town (1990 est. pop. 28,673), Hauts-de-Seine dept., N central France, a suburb W of Paris on the Seine River. It is a residential town and resort, with a famous racetr...

Browse by Subject