Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

180 results found

Daimler, Gottlieb

(Encyclopedia)Daimler, Gottlieb dāmˈlər, Ger. gôtˈlēp dīmˈlər [key], 1834–1900, German engineer, inventor, and pioneer automobile manufacturer. His improvements in the internal-combustion engine, made in...

cooling system

(Encyclopedia)cooling system: see air conditioning; internal-combustion engine; refrigeration. ...

vacuum

(Encyclopedia)vacuum, theoretically, space without matter in it. A perfect vacuum has never been obtained; the best human-generated vacuums contain less than 100,000 gas molecules per cc, compared to about 30 billi...

antifreeze

(Encyclopedia)antifreeze, substance added to a solvent to lower its freezing point. The solution formed is called an antifreeze mixture. Antifreeze is typically added to water in the cooling system of an internal-c...

biodiesel

(Encyclopedia)biodiesel, fuel made from natural, renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats, for use in a diesel engine. Biodiesel has physical properties very similar to petroleum-deriv...

machine

(Encyclopedia)machine, arrangement of moving and stationary mechanical parts used to perform some useful work or to provide transportation. From a historical perspective, many of the first machines were the result ...

autogiro

(Encyclopedia)autogiro jīˈrəplān [key], type of aircraft supported in the air by a horizontally mounted airfoil similar to that of a helicopter but unpowered. Invented by the Spaniard Juan de la Cierva, it was ...

Roebuck, John

(Encyclopedia)Roebuck, John, 1718–94, English physician, chemist, and inventor. He acted as a chemical consultant to local industries in Birmingham and invented the lead chamber process of manufacturing sulfuric ...

Baldwin, Matthias William

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin, Matthias William, 1795–1866, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J. After earlier business successes, Baldwin became interested in steam-engine pr...

Rankine, William John Macquorn

(Encyclopedia)Rankine, William John Macquorn răngˈkĭn [key], 1820–72, Scottish engineer and physicist. Serving as a professor of engineering at the Univ. of Glasgow from 1855, he made valuable contributions to...