Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

navigation satellite

(Encyclopedia)navigation satellite, artificial satellite designed expressly to aid the navigation of sea and air traffic. Early navigation satellites, from the Transit series launched in 1960 to the U.S. navy's Nav...

rapid transit

(Encyclopedia)rapid transit, transportation system designed to allow passenger travel within or throughout an urban area, usually employing surface, elevated, or underground railway systems or some combination of t...

Dibrugarh

(Encyclopedia)Dibrugarh dĭbˈro͝ogər [key], city, Assam state, NE India, at the confluence of the Brahmaputra ...

mosquito

(Encyclopedia)mosquito məskēˈtō [key], small, long-legged insect of the order Diptera, the true flies. The females of most species have piercing and sucking mouth parts and apparently they must feed at least on...

Warner Robins

(Encyclopedia)Warner Robins, city (1990 pop. 43,726), Houston co., central Ga., in an agricultural region; inc. 1943. The surrounding area yields peanuts, grain, fruit, and livestock. There is diverse manufacturing...

chain reaction

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Chain reaction: A neutron (n) strikes the uranium nucleus (U-235), causing it to split into fission products A and B and release two neutrons. These neutrons can in turn cause further fissions....

humidity

(Encyclopedia)humidity, moisture content of the atmosphere, a primary element of climate. Humidity measurements include absolute humidity, the mass of water vapor per unit volume of natural air; relative humidity (...

Tedder, Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Tedder, Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron, 1890–1967, British air marshal. He saw service in the infantry and the Royal Flying Corps in World War I. After 1919 he held important positions in the Roya...

key, in music

(Encyclopedia)key. 1 In music, term used to indicate the scale from which the tonal material of a given composition is derived. To say, for example, that a composition is in the key of C major means that it uses as...

De Pere

(Encyclopedia)De Pere dĭ pēr [key], city (2020 pop. 25,410), Brown co., E central Wis., on the Fox River;...

Browse by Subject