Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pasteurization

(Encyclopedia)pasteurization păsˌcho͝orĭzāˈshən, –rīzāˈshən [key], partial sterilization of liquids such as milk, orange juice, wine, and beer, as well as cheese, to destroy disease-causing and other u...

purine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Purines found in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) purine, type of organic base found in the nucleotides and nucleic acids of plant and animal tissue. The German chemist Emil Fischer did much of the...

Richards, Ann Willis

(Encyclopedia)Richards, Ann Willis, 1933–2006, American politician, b. Lakeview, Tex., as Dorothy Ann Willis. She began her career in politics in the early 1970s after having raised four children. A Democrat, she...

paraldehyde

(Encyclopedia)paraldehyde pârălˈdəhīdˌ [key], nervous system depressant similar to alcohol in its effects and used as a sedative. A colorless flammable liquid with a disagreeable odor, paraldehyde produces sl...

palmitin

(Encyclopedia)palmitin pălˈmətĭn [key], fat that is the triglyceride of palmitic acid, CH3(CH2)14CO2H, i.e., the tripalmitate ester of glycerol. It is a white crystalline solid at ordinary temperatures, insolub...

viscose process

(Encyclopedia)viscose process vĭsˈkōs [key], method widely used for the commercial preparation of rayon. Cellulose, prepared from either wood pulp or, less commonly, cotton linters, is treated with sodium hydrox...

Williams, Roger John

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Roger John, 1893–1988, American chemist, b. India, grad. Univ. of Redlands, Redlands, Calif. (B.S., 1914), Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1919; brother of the chemist Robert R. Williams, Jr. He t...

basic oxygen process

(Encyclopedia)basic oxygen process, method of producing steel from a charge consisting mostly of pig iron. The charge is placed in a furnace similar to the one used in the Bessemer process of steelmaking except tha...

verdigris

(Encyclopedia)verdigris vûrˈdəgrēsˌ [key], one of three copper acetates: blue verdigris, Cu(CH3COO)2·CuO·6H2O; green verdigris, 2Cu(CH3COO)2·CuO·6H2O; or neutral verdigris, Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O; or a mixture o...

immunosuppressive drug

(Encyclopedia)immunosuppressive drug, any of a variety of substances used to prevent production of antibodies. They are commonly used to prevent rejection by a recipient's body of an organ transplanted from a donor...

Browse by Subject