Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

327 results found

Taiwan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Taiwan tīˈwänˈ, Portuguese Formosa, officially Republic of China, island nation (2015 est. pop. 23,486,000), 13,885 sq mi (35,961 sq km), in the Pacific Ocean, separated from the mainland o...

Maryland

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Maryland mârˈələnd, one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States. It is bounded by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean (E), the District of Columbia (S), Virginia and West Virginia, l...

artificial intelligence

(Encyclopedia)artificial intelligence (AI), the use of computers to model the behavioral aspects of human reasoning and learning. Research in AI is concentrated in some half-dozen areas. In problem solving, one mus...

American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)American Revolution, 1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called th...

Tennessee, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Tennessee tĕnˈəsēˌ, tĕnˌəsēˈ, state in the SE central United States. It is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia (N), North Carolina (E), Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi (S), and, acros...

mystery

(Encyclopedia)mystery or mystery story, literary genre in which the cause (or causes) of a mysterious happening, often a crime, is gradually revealed by the hero or heroine; this is accomplished through a mixture o...

Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Ireland, Irish Eire ârˈə [to it are related the poetic Erin and perhaps the Latin Hibernia], island, 32,598 sq mi (84,429 sq km), second largest of the British Isles. The island is divided into two...

directing

(Encyclopedia)directing, the art of leading dramatic performances on the stage or in films. The modern theatrical director is in complete charge of all the artistic aspects of a dramatic presentation. It is the dir...

portraiture

(Encyclopedia)portraiture, the art of representing the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary individual. The principal portrait media are painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography. From earl...

rock music

(Encyclopedia)rock music, type of music originating in the United States in the mid-1950s and increasingly popular throughout much of the world. A turning point in rock music occurred in the mid-1970s in the ...

Browse by Subject