Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

65 results found

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(Encyclopedia)amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) āˌmīətrōfˈik, sklĭrōˈsĭs [key] or motor neuron disease, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, degenerative disease that affects motor neurons in the brai...

Charcot, Jean Martin

(Encyclopedia)Charcot, Jean Martin zhäN märtăNˈ shärkōˈ [key], 1825–93, French neurologist. At the Salpêtrière in Paris he developed the greatest clinic of his time for diseases of the nervous system. He...

Gehrig, Lou

(Encyclopedia)Gehrig, Lou (Louis Gehrig) gârˈĭg [key], 1903–41, American baseball player, b. New York City. He studied and played baseball at Columbia, where he was spotted by a scout for the New York Yankees....

multiple sclerosis

(Encyclopedia)multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic, slowly progressive autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks the protective myelin sheaths that surround the nerve cells of the brain and spinal co...

neurotransmitter

(Encyclopedia)neurotransmitter, chemical that transmits information across the junction (synapse) that separates one nerve cell (neuron) from another nerve cell or a muscle. Neurotransmitters are stored in the nerv...

Hawking, Stephen William

(Encyclopedia)Hawking, Stephen William, 1942–2018, British theoretical physicist, b. Oxford, England, grad. University College, Oxford, 1962, Ph.D. Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 1966. In 1962 Hawking was diagnosed as ...

L

(Encyclopedia)L, 12th letter of the alphabet. It is a usual symbol for a lateral consonant, as in the English lateral. The Greek correspondent is lambda. L is the Roman numeral for 50. ...

meristem

(Encyclopedia)meristem mĕrˈistĕmˌ [key], a specialized section of plant tissue characterized by cell division and growth. Much of the mature plant's growth is provided by meristems. Apical meristems found at th...

Cruveilhier, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Cruveilhier, Jean zhäN krüvĕyāˈ [key], 1791–1874, French physician. The first professor of pathology at the Univ. of Paris (from 1836), he introduced the descriptive method into the study of th...

Browse by Subject