Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kölreuter, Joseph Gottlieb

(Encyclopedia)Kölreuter or Koelreuter, Joseph Gottlieb both: yōˈzĕf gôtˈlēp kölˈroiˌtər [key], 1733–1806, German botanist. In 1764 he became professor of natural history and director of the botanical g...

Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen

(Encyclopedia)Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen skōˈĭn [key], 1840–1922, English poet and political writer. After retiring c.1872 from the diplomatic service, he began a career of travel and political crusading. He wrote ...

Buck, Pearl Sydenstricker

(Encyclopedia)Buck, Pearl Sydenstricker sīˈdənstrĭkˌər [key], 1892–1973, American author, b. Hillsboro, W.Va., grad. Randolph-Macon Women's College, 1914, the first American woman to receive (1938) the Nobe...

pizzicato

(Encyclopedia)pizzicato pĭtˌsəkäˈtō [key], in music, the technique of plucking the strings of an instrument that is usually bowed. Directions for playing pizzicato are found in early 17th-century music. Pagan...

hourglass

(Encyclopedia)hourglass, glass instrument for measuring time, usually consisting of two bulbs united by a narrow neck. One bulb is filled with fine sand that runs through the neck into the other bulb in an hour's t...

Baird, John Logie

(Encyclopedia)Baird, John Logie, 1888–1946, Scottish inventor. In 1926 he gave the first demonstration of true television with a televisor of his own invention that differed from later instruments in being partia...

snare drum

(Encyclopedia)snare drum, small drum having a drumhead at either end. One head is struck with wooden drumsticks, and on the other are stretched several strings, called snares, which cause a rattling against the hea...

Kitt Peak National Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Kitt Peak National Observatory, astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Ariz.; it was founded in 1958 under contract with the National Science Foundation and is administered by the Assoc...

chinook, warm, dry air mass

(Encyclopedia)chinook, warm, dry air mass that descends the eastern slopes of the U.S. and Canadian Rocky Mts. after having lost moisture by condensation over the western slopes. Chinooks occur mainly in winter. Th...

Head, Bessie

(Encyclopedia)Head, Bessie, 1937–86, South African writer. Born in South Africa to a white mother and black father, she was placed in foster homes and orphanages as a child. After 1964, she lived in exile in Bots...