Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

224 results found

ant

(Encyclopedia)ant, any of the 2,500 insect species constituting the family Formicidae of the order Hymenoptera, to which the bee and the wasp also belong. Like most members of the order, ants have a “wasp waist,�...

electronic music

(Encyclopedia)electronic music or electro-acoustic music, term for compositions that utilize the capacities of electronic media for creating and altering sounds. Initially, a distinction must be made between the te...

Pleistocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Pleistocene epoch plīˈstəsēn [key], 6th epoch of the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table). According to a classification that considered its depos...

rock

(Encyclopedia)rock, aggregation of solid matter composed of one or more of the minerals forming the earth's crust. The scientific study of rocks is called petrology. Rocks are commonly divided, according to their o...

glass

(Encyclopedia)glass, hard substance, usually brittle and transparent, composed chiefly of silicates and an alkali fused at high temperature. Glass has become invaluable in modern architecture, illumination, elect...

tunnel

(Encyclopedia)tunnel, underground passage usually made without removing the overlying rock or soil. Although tunnels are approximately horizontal, they must be built with sufficient gradient for proper drainage. Tu...

Ford, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Henry, 1863–1947, American industrialist, pioneer automobile manufacturer, b. Dearborn, Mich. Henry Ford's son, Edsel Bryant Ford, 1893–1943, b. Detroit, shared in the control of the vast ...

apartheid

(Encyclopedia)apartheid əpärtˈhīt [key] [Afrik.,=apartness], system of racial segregation peculiar to the Republic of South Africa, the legal basis of which was largely repealed in 1991–92. Despite public de...

social welfare

(Encyclopedia)social welfare or public charity, organized provision of educational, cultural, medical, and financial assistance to the needy. Modern social welfare measures may include any of the following: the car...

Bush, George Herbert Walker

(Encyclopedia)Bush, George Herbert Walker, 1924–2018, 41st President of the United States (1989–93), b. Milton, Mass., B.A., Yale Univ., 1948. Bush's handling of domestic affairs was less successful. The savi...