Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

128 results found

Giacometti, Alberto

(Encyclopedia)Giacometti, Alberto älbĕrˈtō jäkōmĕtˈtē [key], 1901–66, Swiss sculptor and painter; son of the impressionist painter Giovannia Giacometti; b. Stampa. He settled in Paris in 1922, studying w...

locust, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)locust, in zoology, name for certain migratory members of the short-horned grasshopper family (Acrididae). Like other members of this family, locusts have antennae shorter than their bodies, song-prod...

axolotl

(Encyclopedia)axolotl ăkˈsəlŏtˌəl [key], a salamander, Ambystoma mexicanum, found in certain lakes in the region of Mexico City, which reaches reproductive maturity without losing its larval characteristics. ...

McNally, Terrence

(Encyclopedia)McNally, Terrence, 1939–2020, American playwright, b. St. Petersburg, Fla., grad. Columbia, 1960. Known for his dark humor, social satire, and focus on human isolation and the need to connect, he of...

Tóibín, Colm

(Encyclopedia)Tóibín, Colm, 1955–, Irish writer, b. Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, grad. University College, Dublin (1975). A prolific and varied author who prose is lucid and often brilliant, Tóibín has written n...

games, theory of

(Encyclopedia)games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n i...

Chelicerata

(Encyclopedia)Chelicerata kəlĭsˌərätˈə [key], subphylum of Arthropoda, including the horseshoe crabs (order Xiphosura), the arachnids (class Arachnida), and the sea spiders (class Pycnogonida). The extinct g...

foot, in anatomy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Foot foot, in anatomy, terminal part of the land vertebrate leg. The term is also applied to any invertebrate appendage used either for locomotion or attachment, e.g., the legs of insects and ...

scorpion

(Encyclopedia)scorpion, any arachnid of the order Scorpionida with a hollow poisonous stinger at the tip of the tail. Scorpions vary from about 1/2 in. to about 6 in. (1–15 cm) long; most are from 1 to 3 in. (2.5...

diving, springboard and platform

(Encyclopedia)diving, springboard and platform, sport of entering the water from a raised position, often while executing tumbles, twists, and other acrobatic maneuvers. In most dives the upper part of the body ent...