Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

Shaw, Richard Norman

(Encyclopedia)Shaw, Richard Norman, 1831–1912, English architect. Breaking away from contemporary Victorian house designs and returning to the Queen Anne and Georgian styles and to traditional English craftsmansh...

cultivation

(Encyclopedia)cultivation, tilling or manipulation of the soil, done primarily to eliminate weeds that compete with crops for water and nutrients. Cultivation may be used in crusted soils to increase soil aeration ...

Harrison, Frederic

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Frederic, 1831–1923, English jurist and sociologist. He served on various law commissions and was (1877–89) professor of jurisprudence and international law under the Council of Legal Ed...

Legazpi, Miguel López de

(Encyclopedia)Legazpi, Miguel López de mēgĕlˈ lōˈpāth dā lāgäsˈpē [key], d. 1572, Spanish navigator, conqueror of the Philippines. In 1545 he went to Mexico and was later chosen by the viceroy to head a...

tularemia

(Encyclopedia)tularemia to͞olərēˈmēə [key] or rabbit fever, acute, infectious disease caused by Francisella tularensis (Pasteurella tularensis). The greatest incidence is among people who handle infected wild...

cricket, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)cricket, common name of the slender, chirping, hopping insects forming the family Gryllidae in the order Orthoptera. Most crickets have long antennae, muscular hind legs for jumping, and two pairs of ...

Florey, Howard Walter Florey, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Florey, Howard Walter Florey, Baron, 1898–1968, British pathologist, b. Australia. He was educated at Adelaide Univ. and at Cambridge and Oxford and returned to Oxford as professor of pathology in 1...

protease inhibitor

(Encyclopedia)protease inhibitor prōˈtē-āsˌ [key], any of a class of drugs that interfere with replication of the AIDS virus (HIV), by blocking an enzyme (protease) necessary in the late stages of its reproduc...

kidney, artificial

(Encyclopedia)kidney, artificial, mechanical device capable of assuming the functions ordinarily performed by the kidneys. In treating cases of kidney failure a tube is inserted into an artery in the patient's arm ...