Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Henry, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Henry, Joseph, 1797–1878, American physicist, b. Albany, N.Y., educated at Albany Academy. He taught (1826–32) mathematics and natural philosophy at Albany Academy and was professor of natural phi...

Ptolemy

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), fl. 2d cent. a.d., celebrated Greco-Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He made his observations in Alexandria and was the last great astronomer of ancie...

parochial school

(Encyclopedia)parochial school pərōˈkēəl [key], school supported by a religious body. In the United States such schools are maintained by a number of religious groups, including Lutherans, Seventh-day Adventis...

Jewish liturgical music

(Encyclopedia)Jewish liturgical music, the music used in the religious services of the Jews. The Bible and the Talmud record that spontaneous music making was common among the ancient Jews on all important occasion...

periodic law

(Encyclopedia)periodic law, statement of a periodic recurrence of chemical and physical properties of the elements when the elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic number. Such an arrangement in the for...

school

(Encyclopedia)school, term commonly referring to institutions of pre-college formal education. It also properly includes colleges, universities, and many types of special training establishments (see adult educatio...

television

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Video transmission and reception of color and black-and-white television: The camera lens focuses collected light rays into mirrors, which separate the image into its three primary color compon...

Norris, John

(Encyclopedia)Norris, John, 1657–1711, English clergyman and philosopher. As the most prominent follower of Malebranche he wrote, in exposition of that philosopher's system, An Essay towards the Theory of the Ide...

Notre Dame, University of

(Encyclopedia)Notre Dame, University of nōˈtər dām, nōˈtrə [key], at Notre Dame, Ind., near South Bend; Roman Catholic; coeducational; est. and opened 1842, chartered 1844. It has a noted law school and comp...

Long Range

(Encyclopedia)Long Range, mountain range, extending c.300 mi (480 km) along the west coast of Newfoundland island, Canada; rises to 2,672 ft (814 m) in the Lewis Hills. It forms the Great Northern Peninsula of NW N...