Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

207 results found

mulberry

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Red mulberry, Morus rubra mulberry, common name for the Moraceae, a family of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, often climbing, mostly of pantropical distribution, and characterized by ...

Kellogg, John Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Kellogg, John Harvey, 1852–1943, American physician, health-food advocate, and breakfast cereal developer, b. Tyrone, N.Y., grad. New York Univ. (M.D., 1875) and continued his medical studies in Eur...

kudzu

(Encyclopedia)kudzu ko͝odˈzo͞o [key], plant of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to Japan. Kudzu (Pueraria thunbergiana) has a woody stem, broad leaves, and clusters of large purple flowers. It is us...

hop

(Encyclopedia)hop, herbaceous perennial vine of the family Moraceae (mulberry family), widely cultivated since early times for brewing purposes. The commercial hop (Humulus lupulus) is native to Eurasia but is now ...

irritable bowel syndrome

(Encyclopedia)irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), condition characterized by constipation, diarrhea, or alternating constipation and diarrhea in the absence of any disease process. It is usually accompanied by abdomina...

coquilla nut

(Encyclopedia)coquilla nut kōkēˈyə, kōkēlˈyə [key] [Span.,=little coconut], fruit of a Brazilian palm (Attalea funifera), closely related to the coconut palm. Its fruit, 3 to 4 in. (7.6–10.2 cm) long, is ...

polyurethanes

(Encyclopedia)polyurethanes pŏlˌēyo͝orˈəthānz [key], group of plastics that may be either thermosetting or thermoplastic. Polyurethane can be made into both flexible and rigid foams. The flexible foam is oft...

Riemann, Bernhard

(Encyclopedia)Riemann, Bernhard (Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann) gāˈôrk frēˈdrĭkh bĕrnˈhärt rēˈmän [key], 1826–66, German mathematician. He studied at the universities of Göttingen and Berlin and w...

Bloembergen, Nicolaas

(Encyclopedia)Bloembergen, Nicolaas nēˈkəläs blo͞omˈbĕrgən, –bûrgən [key], 1920–2017, American physicist, b. Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Educated in the Netherlands, he began work at Harvard in 1946, ...

cluster munitions

(Encyclopedia)cluster munitions or cluster bombs, air-dropped or ground-launched weapons that open in mid-air and scatter dozens, hundreds, or thousands of smaller submunitions (or bomblets) over a wide area. Such ...

Browse by Subject