Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

cryosurgery

(Encyclopedia)cryosurgery krīˈōsrˌjərē [key], bloodless surgical technique using a supercooled probe to destroy diseased or superfluous tissue. Liquid nitrogen circulating through the instrument cools it to t...

contrabassoon

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Contrabassoon contrabassoon, large, deep-toned instrument of the oboe family, also called double bassoon. Its tube, over 16 ft (5 m) long, is doubled upon itself four times. It was first made ...

Hawkins, Coleman

(Encyclopedia)Hawkins, Coleman, 1904–69, American jazz musician, b. St. Joseph, Mo. He began playing saxophone at the age of 9. He was part of Fletcher Henderson's band from 1924 until 1934. Hawkins established t...

Nunes, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Nunes, Pedro pĕˈdro͝o no͞oˈnəsh [key], Lat. Petrus Nonius, 1502–1578, Portuguese mathematician, geographer, and writer on navigation and geometry. He was the first (1534) to demonstrate an ins...

vielle

(Encyclopedia)vielle vyĕl [key], bowed string instrument used throughout Europe from the 13th cent. through the 15th cent. The vielle resembles the violin, of which it is a direct precursor, but it has a longer bo...

Quantz, Johann Joachim

(Encyclopedia)Quantz, Johann Joachim yōˈhän yōˈäkhĭm kvänts [key], 1697–1773, German flutist and composer for the flute. In 1741 he became chamber musician and teacher of the flute to Frederick the Great,...

Douglas, Norman

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Norman (George Norman Douglas), 1868–1952, British novelist and essayist, b. Scotland. He spent the years from 1894 to 1896 in diplomatic service in Russia but resigned from the foreign ser...

Hud

(Encyclopedia)Hud ho͞od [key], a pre-Qur'anic prophet of Islam. Hud unsuccessfully exhorted his South Arabian people, the Ad, to worship the One God. The Qur'an mentions that their incredulity was punished by a de...

Marston, John Westland

(Encyclopedia)Marston, John Westland, 1819–90, English playwright and critic. Although his poetic dramas, including The Patrician's Daughter (1842) and The Favourite of Fortune (1866), were popular, he is more no...

Arches National Park

(Encyclopedia)Arches National Park, 76,519 acres (30,979 hectares), E Utah; est. as a national monument 1929, designated a national park 1971. Located in red-rock country and overlooking the gorge of the Colorado R...