Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

geomorphology

(Encyclopedia)geomorphology, study of the origin and evolution of the earth's landforms, both on the continents and within the ocean basins. It is concerned with the internal geologic processes of the earth's crust...

Dione, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Dione dīōˈnē [key], in astronomy, one of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn IV (or S4), Dione is 695 mi (1,120 km) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a mean distanc...

Ontario, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Ontario, Lake, 7,540 sq mi (19,529 sq km), 193 mi (311 km) long and 53 mi (85 km) at its greatest width, between SE Ont., Canada, and NW N.Y.; smallest and lowest of the Great Lakes. It has a surface ...

gas

(Encyclopedia)gas, in physics, one of the three commonly recognized states of matter, the other two being solid and liquid. A substance in the gaseous state has neither definite shape nor definite volume. Like liqu...

Helsinki

(Encyclopedia)Helsinki hĕlˈsĭngkē [key], Swed. Helsingfors, city (2020 pop. 653,835), capital of Finlan...

Juneau

(Encyclopedia)Juneau jo͞oˈnō [key], city (1990 pop. 26,751), state capital, SE Alaska, in the Alaska Panhandle; settled by gold miners 1880, inc. 1900. A port on Gastineau Channel, Juneau is a trade center for t...

phase diagram

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Phase diagram for a substance, like water, which expands on freezing phase diagram, graph that shows the relation between the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of a substance (see states of ma...

Nelson, Byron

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Byron (John Byron Nelson, Jr.), 1912–2006, American golfer, b. Fort Worth, Tex. In 1926 he began playing golf as a caddie, and in 1932 he entered upon his professional career. Noted for the ...

Newsom, Gavin Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Newsom, Gavin Christopher, 1967– American businessman and politician, b. San Francisco. He was a cofounder (1991) of the PlumpJack Group, whose businesses grew from a wine store to include wineries,...

Manning, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Manning, Daniel, 1831–87, American journalist and political leader, b. Albany, N.Y. At the age of 11 he went to work for the Albany Atlas, which in 1856 was consolidated with the Argus; he became ed...

Browse by Subject