Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

127 results found

Witwatersrand

(Encyclopedia)Witwatersrand wĭtwôˈtərzrăndˌ [key] [Afrik.,=white water ridge] or the Rand, region, Gauteng prov. (formerly a part of Transvaal), South Africa. The area, which forms the watershed between the V...

tantalum

(Encyclopedia)tantalum tănˈtələm [key] [from Tantalus], metallic chemical element; symbol Ta; at. no. 73; at. wt. 180.94788; m.p. 2,996℃; b.p. 5,400±100℃; sp. gr. 16.65 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +4, or +5....

bootlegging

(Encyclopedia)bootlegging, in the United States, the illegal distribution or production of liquor and other highly taxed goods. First practiced when liquor taxes were high, bootlegging was instrumental in defeating...

Tel Aviv

(Encyclopedia)Tel Aviv tĕl əvēvˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 355,200), W central Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. Oficially named Tel Aviv–Jaffa, it is Israel's commercial, financial, communications, and cultural...

Antwerp, city, Belgium

(Encyclopedia)Antwerp, Du. Antwerpen, Fr. Anvers, city (2020 pop. 1,042,000), capital of Antwerp prov., N Belgium, on the Scheldt River. It is one of the busiest ports in Europe; a commercial, in...

Abrahams, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Abrahams, Peter, 1919–2017, South African novelist and journalist, b. Peter Henry Abrahams Deras. Though he lived mostly in exile, he exposed the injustices of the apartheid system and the politics ...

fullerene

(Encyclopedia)fullerene, any of a class of carbon molecules in which the carbon atoms are arranged into 12 pentagonal faces and 2 or more hexagonal faces to form a hollow sphere, cylinder, or similar figure. The sm...

diffraction

(Encyclopedia)diffraction, bending of waves around the edge of an obstacle. When light strikes an opaque body, for instance, a shadow forms on the side of the body that is shielded from the light source. Ordinarily...

viper

(Encyclopedia)viper, any of a large number of heavy-bodied, poisonous snakes of the family Viperidae, characterized by erectile, hypodermic fangs. The fangs are folded back against the roof of the mouth except when...

Bowie, David

(Encyclopedia)Bowie, David, 1947–2016, British rock-and-roll singer and songwriter who successfully, merged rock, art, and fashion, b. London as David Robert Jones. After singing with five different bands in the ...