Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

271 results found

Watertown

(Encyclopedia)Watertown. 1 Town (1990 pop. 20,456), Litchfield co., W Conn.; set off from Waterbury and inc. 1780. Textiles, plastics, chemicals, mattresses, and brass goods are among its manufactures. A method for...

condensate

(Encyclopedia)condensate, matter in the form of a gas of atoms, molecules, or elementary particles that have been so chilled that their motion is virtually halted and as a consequence they lose their separate ident...

minimalism

(Encyclopedia)minimalism, schools of contemporary art and music, with their origins in the 1960s, that have emphasized simplicity and objectivity. In music, the minimalist movement was, like minimal art, a react...

logical positivism

(Encyclopedia)logical positivism, also known as logical or scientific empiricism, modern school of philosophy that attempted to introduce the methodology and precision of mathematics and the natural sciences into t...

turbine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Types of turbines turbine, rotary engine that uses a continuous stream of fluid (gas or liquid) to turn a shaft that can drive machinery. A water, or hydraulic, turbine is used to drive electr...

Long, Huey Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Long, Huey Pierce, 1893–1935, American political leader, b. Winnfield, La.; brother of Earl Long. Originally a farm boy, he was an extremely successful traveling salesman before studying law at Tula...

personality

(Encyclopedia)personality, in psychology, the patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion unique to an individual, and the ways they interact to help or hinder the adjustment of a person to other people and situatio...

Strindberg, Johan August

(Encyclopedia)Strindberg, Johan August strĭndˈbərg, Swed. yo͞oˈhän ouˈgəst strĭndˈbĕrˌyə [key], 1849–1912, Swedish dramatist and novelist. He was a master of the Swedish language and an innovator in ...

Guam

(Encyclopedia)Guam gwäm [key], Chamorro Guåhan, officially Territory of Guam, the largest, most populous, and southernmost of the Mariana Islands (see also Northern Mariana Islands), an unincorporated territory o...

Blaine, James Gillespie

(Encyclopedia)Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830–93, American politician, b. West Brownsville, Pa. As Secretary of State, Blaine was particularly energetic in fostering closer relations with the Latin American natio...

Browse by Subject