Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ganymede, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Ganymede gănˈēmēdˌ [key], in astronomy, one of the moons, or natural satellites, of Jupiter; the largest natural satellite in the solar system, it is larger than the planet Mercury. ...

Kennan, George

(Encyclopedia)Kennan, George, 1845–1924, American authority on Siberia, b. Norwalk, Ohio. In 1864 he made the first of his journeys to East Asia as an engineer. His articles on Siberia, for many years almost the ...

lintel

(Encyclopedia)lintel, in architecture, the horizontal member that spans an opening, such as a door or window, or that connects two columns. The post-and-lintel, or trabeated, system of construction, with spans limi...

smaltite

(Encyclopedia)smaltite smôlˈtīt [key], opaque tin-white to steel-gray mineral of the pyrite group, a compound of cobalt and arsenic. It occurs in massive form, occasionally in crystals (cubes) of the isometric s...

Oregon, University of

(Encyclopedia)Oregon, University of, mainly at Eugene; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1872, opened 1876. Its is one of seven institutions in the Oregon Univ. System. The university has schools and colleg...

Duncan Smith, Iain

(Encyclopedia)Duncan Smith, Iain, 1954–, British political leader, b. Edinburgh. Educated at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, he served in the Scots Guards from 1975 to 1981, leaving the army for a series o...

aorta

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Aorta aorta āôrˈtə [key], primary artery of the circulatory system in mammals, delivering oxygenated blood to all other arteries except those of the lungs. The human aorta, c.1 in. (2.54 c...

antifreeze

(Encyclopedia)antifreeze, substance added to a solvent to lower its freezing point. The solution formed is called an antifreeze mixture. Antifreeze is typically added to water in the cooling system of an internal-c...

guild socialism

(Encyclopedia)guild socialism, form of socialism developed in Great Britain that advocated a system of industrial self-government through national worker-controlled guilds. The theory, as originated by Arthur J. Pe...

Walsingham, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Walsingham, Sir Francis wôlˈsĭng-əm [key], 1532?–1590, English statesman. A zealous Protestant, he went abroad during the reign of Queen Mary I but returned on the accession (1558) of Elizabeth ...