Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

321 results found

Schrödinger, Erwin

(Encyclopedia)Schrödinger, Erwin ĕrˈvĭn shröˈdĭng-ər [key], 1887–1961, Austrian theoretical physicist. He was educated at Vienna, taught at Breslau and Zürich, and was professor at the Univ. of Berlin (1...

coast protection

(Encyclopedia)coast protection, methods used to protect coastal lands from erosion. Beaches can exist only where a delicate dynamic equilibrium exists between the amount of sand supplied to the beach and the inevit...

Land's End

(Encyclopedia)Land's End, promontory, Cornwall, SW England, forming the westernmost extremity of the English mainland. Of wave-carved granite, it has cliffs c.60 ft (20 m) high. Offshore are reefs and rocky islets,...

Kearny

(Encyclopedia)Kearny kärˈnē [key], town (1990 pop. 34,874), Hudson co., NE N.J.; inc. 1899. The town was formerly the site of textile mills that dated to the late 1800s and shipyards and dry docks that were of g...

Passamaquoddy Bay

(Encyclopedia)Passamaquoddy Bay păsəməkwŏdˈē [key], inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between Maine and New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of it (including Campobello island) is within Canada's...

Lizard, The

(Encyclopedia)Lizard, The, peninsula, Cornwall, SW England. Its southern extremity (the southernmost point of Great Britain) is called Lizard Point or Lizard Head. The coast has colored serpentine rocks, small cove...

cyclone

(Encyclopedia)cyclone, atmospheric pressure distribution in which there is a low central pressure relative to the surrounding pressure. The resulting pressure gradient, combined with the Coriolis effect, causes air...

Hugli

(Encyclopedia)Hugli or Hooghly both: ho͞oˈglē [key], river, an arm of the Ganges, c.160 mi (260 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Bhagirathi, Jalangi, and Matabhanga rivers, West Bengal state, E India, a...

Patapsco

(Encyclopedia)Patapsco pətăpˈskō [key], river, c.65 mi (100 km) long, formed in central Md. by the confluence of the North Branch (c.45 mi/70 km long) and the South Branch and flowing SE into Chesapeake Bay at ...

springtail

(Encyclopedia)springtail, common name for any of the minute, primitive six-legged arthropods of the order Collembola. The springtail is named for a springlike mechanism on the underside of the abdomen. When at rest...

Browse by Subject