Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

154 results found

tellurium

(Encyclopedia)tellurium tĕlo͝orˈēəm [key] [Lat.,=earth], semimetallic chemical element; symbol Te; at. no. 52; at. wt. 127.60; m.p. 450℃; b.p. 990℃; sp. gr. 6.24 at 20℃; valence −2, +4, or +6. Telluriu...

Scheler, Max

(Encyclopedia)Scheler, Max mäks shāˈlər [key], 1874–1928, German philosopher. He taught at the universities of Jena (1901–7) and Munich (1907–10), where he was influenced by Franz Brentano and the followe...

caricature

(Encyclopedia)caricature, a satirical drawing, plastic representation, or description which, through exaggeration of natural features, makes its subject appear ridiculous. Although 16th-century Northern painters, s...

secession, in art

(Encyclopedia)secession, in art, any of several associations of progressive artists, especially those in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna, who withdrew from the established academic societies or exhibitions. The artists ...

Siebold

(Encyclopedia)Siebold tāˈōdōr ĕrnst [key], 1804–85, also a physician, was one of the foremost biologists of his time. He specialized in the comparative anatomy of invertebrates and wrote the first volume (18...

dream

(Encyclopedia)dream, mental activity associated with the rapid-eye-movement (REM) period of sleep. It is commonly made up of a number of visual images, scenes or thoughts expressed in terms of seeing rather than in...

tracer

(Encyclopedia)tracer, an identifiable substance used to follow the course of a physical, chemical, or biological process. In chemistry the ideal tracer has the same chemical properties as the molecule it replaces a...

Biedermeier

(Encyclopedia)Biedermeier bēˈdərmīər [key], name applied, at first in a joking spirit, to a period of European culture and a style of furniture, decoration, and art originating in Germany early in the 19th cen...

snake, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)snake, common name for an elongated, limbless reptile of the order Squamata, which also includes the xlizards. Most snakes live on the ground, but some are burrowers, arboreal, or aquatic; one group i...

Brno

(Encyclopedia)Brno bûrˈnô [key], Ger. Brünn, city, SE Czech Republic, at the confluence of the Svratka ...