Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

196 results found

CAT scan

(Encyclopedia)CAT scan kăt [key] [computerized axial tomography], X-ray technique that allows relatively safe, painless, and rapid diagnosis in previously inaccessible areas of the body; also called CT scan. An X-...

hydrometer

(Encyclopedia)hydrometer hīdrŏmˈətər [key], device used to determine directly the specific gravity of a liquid. It usually consists of a thin glass tube closed at both ends, with one end enlarged into a bulb t...

sea cucumber

(Encyclopedia)sea cucumber, any of the flexible, elongated echinoderms belonging to the class Holothuroidea. Although sea cucumbers have the basic echinoderm radial symmetry (see Echinodermata), they do not have ar...

Bunsen burner

(Encyclopedia)Bunsen burner, gas burner, commonly used in scientific laboratories, consisting essentially of a hollow tube which is fitted vertically around the flame and which has an opening at the base to admit a...

trachea

(Encyclopedia)trachea trāˈkēə [key] or windpipe, principal tube that carries air to and from the lungs. It is about 41⁄2 in. (11.4 cm) long and about 3⁄4 in. (1.9 cm) in diameter in the adult. It extends fr...

Coolidge, William David

(Encyclopedia)Coolidge, William David, 1873–1975, American physical chemist, b. Hudson, Mass., grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1896. He joined the General Electric Company in 1905 and served as direc...

bugle

(Encyclopedia)bugle, brass wind musical instrument consisting of a conical tube coiled once upon itself, capable of producing five or six harmonics. It is usually in G or B flat. Its principal use is for military a...

Torricelli, Evangelista

(Encyclopedia)Torricelli, Evangelista āvänjālēˈstä tōr-rēchĕlˈlē [key], 1608–47, Italian physicist and mathematician. He was Galileo's secretary (1641–42) and his successor as professor of philosophy...

bassoon

(Encyclopedia)bassoon băso͞onˈ [key], double-reed woodwind instrument that plays in the bass and tenor registers. Its 8-ft (2.4-m) conical tube is bent double, the instrument thus being about 4 ft (1.2 m) high. ...

sand dollar

(Encyclopedia)sand dollar, common name for a marine animal in the same phylum as the starfish (see sea star). The sand dollar has a rigid, flattened, disk-shaped test, or shell, made of firmly united plates lying j...

Browse by Subject