Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Syracuse University

(Encyclopedia)Syracuse University, main campus at Syracuse, N.Y.; coeducational; chartered 1870, opened 1871. Syracuse is noted for its research programs in government and industry; facilities include the Center fo...

cryptography

(Encyclopedia)cryptography krĭptŏgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=hidden writing], science of secret writing. There are many devices by which a message can be concealed from the casual reader, e.g., invisible writing, but t...

Hoffmann, Roald

(Encyclopedia)Hoffmann, Roald, 1937–, American chemist, b. Złoczów, Poland (now Zolochiv, Ukraine), Ph.D. Harvard, 1962. After receiving his degree and working with Robert Woodward at Harvard (1962–65), he be...

Jeans, Sir James Hopwood

(Encyclopedia)Jeans, Sir James Hopwood, 1887–1946, English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was professor of applied mathematics at Princeton (1905–9), later lectured at Cambridge (1910–12) and Ox...

ether, in physics and astronomy

(Encyclopedia)ether or aether, in physics and astronomy, a hypothetical medium for transmitting light and heat (radiation), filling all unoccupied space; it is also called luminiferous ether. In Newtonian physics a...

Harris, Chapin Aaron

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Chapin Aaron, 1806–60, American dentist, b. Pompey, N.Y. One of the founders of dentistry as a profession, he was the author of The Dental Art (1839; later called Principles and Practice of ...

Pearson, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Pearson, Karl, 1857–1936, English scientist. He studied law, taught geometry, and applied mathematics and mechanics, and in 1911 became professor of eugenics at the Univ. of London and director of t...

degree, academic

(Encyclopedia)degree, academic, title bestowed upon a student on the fulfillment of certain requirements or given as an honor to an eminent person. The practice of awarding degrees originated in the universities of...

Washington University

(Encyclopedia)Washington University, at St. Louis, Mo.; coeducational; est. as Eliot Seminary 1853, opened 1854, renamed 1857. It has a well-known medical school and school of social work as well as research center...

Sputnik

(Encyclopedia)Sputnik: see satellite, artificial; space exploration. ...