Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Brownian movement

(Encyclopedia)Brownian movement or motion, zigzag, irregular motion exhibited by minute particles of matter when suspended in a fluid. The effect has been observed in all types of colloidal suspensions (see colloid...

Grey, Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl

(Encyclopedia)Grey, Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl, 1851–1917, English statesman, nephew of the 3d Earl Grey. In 1880 he entered the House of Commons as a Liberal, but he lost his seat as a result of his oppo...

Libby, Willard Frank

(Encyclopedia)Libby, Willard Frank, 1908–80, American chemist, b. Grand Valley, Colo., grad. Univ. of California (B.S., 1931; Ph.D., 1933). He taught (1933–45) at the Univ. of California and was a chemist (1941...

Princeton

(Encyclopedia)Princeton, borough (1990 pop. 12,016) and surrounding township (1990 pop. 13,198), Mercer co., W central N.J.; settled late 1600s, borough inc. 1813, township est. 1838. A leading education center, it...

Piccard, Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Piccard, Auguste ōgüstˈ pēkärˈ [key], 1884–1962, Swiss physicist, b. Basel. He became a professor at the Univ. of Brussels in 1922. He and his twin brother Jean Felix (d. 1963) are known for t...

dark energy

(Encyclopedia)dark energy, repulsive force that opposes the self-attraction of matter (see gravitation) and causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The search for dark energy was triggered by the discov...

Hunt, R. Timothy

(Encyclopedia)Hunt, R. Timothy (Richard Timothy Hunt), 1943–, British biochemist, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1968. Hunt was a researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City (1968–81) and a professor...

Yang, Chen-ning

(Encyclopedia)Yang, Chen-ning chĕn-nĭng yäng [key], 1922–, American physicist, b. China, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1948. Yang was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, N.J. from 1949 to 1955...

ether, in physics and astronomy

(Encyclopedia)ether or aether, in physics and astronomy, a hypothetical medium for transmitting light and heat (radiation), filling all unoccupied space; it is also called luminiferous ether. In Newtonian physics a...

photoelectric effect

(Encyclopedia)photoelectric effect, emission of electrons by substances, especially metals, when light falls on their surfaces. The effect was discovered by H. R. Hertz in 1887. The failure of the classical theory ...