Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cowper, William

(Encyclopedia)Cowper, William ko͞oˈpər, kouˈ– [key], 1731–1800, English poet. Physically and emotionally unfit for the professional life, he was admitted to the bar but never practiced. After a battle with ...

Ghez, Andrea Mia

(Encyclopedia)Ghez, Andrea Mia, 1965–, American astrophysicist, b. New York City, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1992. She has been on the faculty at the Univ. of California, Los Angeles, since 1994. G...

Casiphia

(Encyclopedia)Casiphia kāsĭfˈēə, kăsĭfīˈə [key], in the Bible, place, on the way from Babylon to Jerusalem. ...

Mistassini, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Mistassini, Lake, c.840 sq mi (2,180 sq km), S Que., Canada, NW of Lake St. John, in sparsely settled country. It drains W to James Bay by way of the Rupert River (380 mi/612 km long). ...

control systems

(Encyclopedia)control systems, combinations of components (electrical, mechanical, thermal, or hydraulic) that act together to maintain actual system performance close to a desired set of performance specifications...

Jansky, Karl Guthe

(Encyclopedia)Jansky, Karl Guthe, 1905–50, American radio engineer; b. Norman, Okla. After graduating (1927) from the Univ. of Wisconson, he joined the Bell Telephone Laboratories. While trying to determine the c...

Bonus Marchers

(Encyclopedia)Bonus Marchers, in U.S. history, more than 20,000 veterans, most of them unemployed and in desperate financial straits, who, in the spring of 1932, spontaneously made their way to Washington, D.C. The...

scabies

(Encyclopedia)scabies skāˈbēz [key], highly contagious parasitic skin disease caused by the itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei). The disease is also known as itch. It is acquired through close contact with an infested...

Charolais cattle

(Encyclopedia)Charolais cattle shârˈəlāˌ [key], breed of beef animal with a rugged, muscular appearance and solid creamy to wheat-colored coat. Originated in France, it was first imported to the United States ...

Maloyaroslavets

(Encyclopedia)Maloyaroslavets mäˌləyärəsläˈvyĭts [key], city, E central European Russia, on the Luzh River. In Oct., 1812, Russian forces in the city barred the road to Kaluga against Napoleon's retreating ...