Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

404 results found

Minot, George Richards

(Encyclopedia)Minot, George Richards mīˈnət [key], 1885–1950, American physician and pathologist, b. Boston, M.D. Harvard, 1912. From 1928 to 1948 he was professor of medicine at Harvard and director of the Th...

atrophy

(Encyclopedia)atrophy ătˈrəfē [key], diminution in the size of a cell, tissue, or organ from its fully developed normal size. Temporary atrophy may occur in muscles that are not used, as when a limb is encased ...

Laënnec, René Théophile Hyacinthe

(Encyclopedia)Laënnec, René Théophile Hyacinthe rənāˈ tāôfēlˈ yäsaNtˈ läānĕkˈ [key], 1781–1826, French physician. While connected with the Necker Hospital in Paris he invented the stethoscope, whi...

Rowley, Janet Davison

(Encyclopedia)Rowley, Janet Davison, 1925–2013, American physician and geneticist, b. New York City, M.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1948. Rowley was associated with the Univ. of Chicago from 1962, and was a full professo...

tracheotomy

(Encyclopedia)tracheotomy trākēŏtˈəmē [key], surgical incision into the trachea, or windpipe. The operation is performed when the windpipe has become blocked, e.g., by the presence of some foreign object or b...

Cohn, Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Cohn, Ferdinand fĕrˈdĕnänt kōn [key], 1828–98, German botanist. He is considered a founder of the science of bacteriology. From his early studies of microscopic life he developed theories of th...

dermatology

(Encyclopedia)dermatology dûrmətŏlˈəjē [key], branch of medicine concerned with diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders of the skin. Dermatologists also study the structure and function of the skin,...

Dorset, Marion

(Encyclopedia)Dorset, Marion dôrˈsət [key], 1872–1935, American biochemist, b. Columbia, Tenn.; grad. Univ. of Tenn. (B.S., 1893) and Columbian (now George Washington) Univ. (M.D. 1896). He began working as a ...

blood count

(Encyclopedia)blood count, method for determining the number of red (erythrocytes) and white (leukocytes) blood cells in a certain volume of blood. This test can be used as a preliminary step in diagnosing some dis...

virology

(Encyclopedia)virology, study of viruses and their role in disease. Many viruses, such as animal RNA viruses and viruses that infect bacteria, or bacteriophages, have become useful laboratory tools in genetic studi...