Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

325 results found

Luria, Salvador Edward

(Encyclopedia)Luria, Salvador Edward, 1912–1991, American physician, b. Turin, Italy, M.D., Univ. of Turin, 1935. He conducted research and taught at the Institute of Radium in Paris (1938–40), Columbia (1940�...

Muller, Hermann Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Muller, Hermann Joseph mŭlˈər [key], 1890–1967, American geneticist and educator, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (B.A., 1910; Ph.D., 1916). A student of Thomas Hunt Morgan, he taught (1915–18...

magnetic resonance imaging

(Encyclopedia)magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), noninvasive diagnostic technique that uses nuclear magnetic resonance to produce cross-sectional images of organs and other internal body structures. The patient lies...

second

(Encyclopedia)second, abbr. sec or s, fundamental unit of time in all systems of measurement. In practical terms, the second is 1/60 of a minute, 1/3,600 of an hour, or 1/86,400 of a day. Since the length of the da...

polycythemia

(Encyclopedia)polycythemia pŏlˌēsīthēˈmēə [key], condition characterized by an increase in the production of red blood cells, or erythrocytes, in the blood. Primary polycythemia, also called erythremia, or ...

psoriasis

(Encyclopedia)psoriasis sôrīˈəsĭs [key], occasionally acute but usually chronic and recurrent inflammation of the skin. The exact cause is unknown, but the disease appears to be an inherited, possibly autoimmu...

radioactive waste

(Encyclopedia)radioactive waste, material containing the unusable radioactive byproducts of the scientific, military, and industrial applications of nuclear energy. Since its radioactivity presents a serious health...

Hodgkin's disease

(Encyclopedia)Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer of the lymphatic system. First identified in 1832 in England by Thomas Hodgkin, it is a type of malignant lymphoma. Incidence peaks in young adults and the elderly....

Allison, James Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Allison, James Patrick, 1948–, American immunologist, b. Alice, Tex., Ph.D. Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1973. Allison was a researcher at the Univ. of Texas System Cancer Center in Houston from 1977 to ...

physical fitness

(Encyclopedia)physical fitness, combined good health and physical development. The object of any program of physical fitness is to maximize an individual's health, strength, endurance, and skill relative to age, se...