Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Persian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Persian art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the region of Asia traditionally known as Persia and now called Iran. Bounded by fierce mountains and deserts, the high plateau of...

Bible

(Encyclopedia)Bible [Gr.,=the books], term used since the 4th cent. to denote the Christian Scriptures and later, by extension, those of various religious traditions. This article discusses the nature of religious ...

magnetism

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lines of induction around a single bar magnet and between opposite poles of different magnets magnetism, force of attraction or repulsion between various substances, especially those made of i...

cosmology

(Encyclopedia)cosmology, area of science that aims at a comprehensive theory of the structure and evolution of the entire physical universe. The earliest pre-Ptolemaic theories assumed that the earth was the cent...

Europe

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Europe yo͝orˈəp [key], 6th largest continent, c.4,000,000 sq mi (10,360,000 sq km) including adjacent islands (2015 est. pop. 740,814,000). It is actually a vast peninsula of the great Euras...

Ontario, province, Canada

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ontario ŏntârˈēō [key], province (2001 pop. 11,410,046), 412,582 sq mi (1,068,587 sq km), E central Canada. Before the arrival of Europeans the Ontario region was inhabited by several Al...

cat

(Encyclopedia)cat, name applied broadly to the carnivorous mammals constituting the family Felidae, and specifically to the domestic cat, Felis catus. The great roaring cats, the lion, tiger, and leopard are anatom...

Mississippi, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mississippi, river, principal river of the United States, c.2,350 mi (3,780 km) long, exceeded in length only by the Missouri, the chief of its numerous tributaries. The combined Missouri-Mississippi ...

architecture

(Encyclopedia)architecture, the art of building in which human requirements and construction materials are related so as to furnish practical use as well as an aesthetic solution, thus differing from the pure utili...

Arabia

(Encyclopedia)Arabia ərāˈbēə [key], peninsula (1991 est. pop. 35,000,000), c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), SW Asia. It is bordered on the W by the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, on the S by the Gulf of Ad...