Columbia Encyclopedia

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garden

(Encyclopedia)garden, land set aside for the cultivation of flowers, herbs, vegetables, or small fruits, for either utility or ornament. Gardens range in size from window boxes and small dooryard plots to the publi...

museums of science

(Encyclopedia)museums of science, institutions or buildings where collections relevant to science and technology are preserved and displayed to promote education and research. While the preponderance of these museu...

deafness

(Encyclopedia)deafness, partial or total lack of hearing. It may be present at birth (congenital) or may be acquired at any age thereafter. A person who cannot detect sound at an amplitude of 20 decibels in a frequ...

geology

(Encyclopedia)geology, science of the earth's history, composition, and structure, and the associated processes. It draws upon chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and mathematics (notably statistics) for suppor...

bat

(Encyclopedia)bat, winged mammal of the order Chiroptera, which includes 900–1,000 species classified in about 200 genera and 17 families. Bats range in size from a wingspread of over 5 ft (150 cm) to a wingsprea...

bee

(Encyclopedia)bee, name for flying insects of the superfamily Apoidea, in the same order as the ants and the wasps. Bees are characterized by their enlarged hind feet, typically equipped with pollen baskets of stif...

topology

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Möbius strip: On the ordinary flat loop (A), an ant walking along the middle of the strip will pass only around the outside of the strip. If the strip is cut along the dotted line, twisted onc...

embryo

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Development of the human embryo embryo ĕmˈbrēō [key], name for the developing young of an animal or plant. In its widest definition, the embryo is the young from the moment of fertilizatio...

Fungi

(Encyclopedia)Fungi fŭnˈjī [key], kingdom of heterotrophic single-celled, multinucleated, or multicellular organisms, including yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. The organisms live as parasites, symbionts, or saprob...

evolution

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Plant and animal evolution [Modified from Alfred Gunderson in Brooklyn Botanic Garden Leaflets, Ser. 18, No. 4 (1930); used by permission.] evolution, concept that embodies the belief that ex...