Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

410 results found

Evans, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Charles, 1850–1935, American librarian and bibliographer, b. Boston. He organized many major American libraries including the Indianapolis public library, the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Balt...

Ersch, Johann Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Ersch, Johann Samuel yōˈhän zäˈmo͞oĕl ĕrsh [key], 1766–1828, German encyclopedist, first editor of the great encyclopedia known as Ersch and Gruber's. At his death, 17 volumes had been compl...

hemoglobin

(Encyclopedia)hemoglobin hēˈməglōˌbĭn [key], respiratory protein found in the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of all vertebrates and some invertebrates. A hemoglobin molecule is composed of a protein group, kn...

ligand

(Encyclopedia)ligand lĭgˈənd [key], charged or uncharged molecule with one or more unshared pairs of electrons that can attach to a central metallic atom or ion to form an aggregate known as a complex ion (see c...

aromatic compound

(Encyclopedia)aromatic compound, any of a large class of compounds that includes benzene and compounds that resemble benzene in certain of their chemical properties. Originally applied to a small class of pleasant-...

Jenner, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Jenner, Edward, 1749–1823, English physician; pupil of John Hunter. His invaluable experiments beginning in 1796 with the vaccination of eight-year-old James Phipps proved that cowpox provided immun...

Barbier, Antoine Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Barbier, Antoine Alexandre äNtwänˈ älĕksäNˈdrə bärbyāˈ [key], 1765–1825, French bibliographer and government librarian. Barbier was one of a committee appointed to collect works suppresse...

compound

(Encyclopedia)compound, in chemistry, a substance composed of atoms of two or more elements in chemical combination, occurring in a fixed, definite proportion and arranged in a fixed, definite structure. A compound...

element

(Encyclopedia)CE5 element, in chemistry, a substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by chemical means. A substance such as a compound can be decomposed into its constituent elements by means o...

Hertz, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Hertz, Gustav go͝osˈtäf hĕrts [key], 1887–1975, German physicist. He is noted for his work on the atom, and he shared with James Franck the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics for research (1914) on the...