Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Air Force, United States Department of the

(Encyclopedia)Air Force, United States Department of the, military department within the U.S. Dept. of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). The Air Force traces its roots to the founding of the Aeron...

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

(Encyclopedia)Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, 30,300 acres (12,272 hectares), W central Colorado, in the Rocky Mts. The park embraces the most spectacular stretch of the 53-mi (85-km) long Black Canyon,...

Hyatt, Alpheus

(Encyclopedia)Hyatt, Alpheus, 1838–1902, American zoologist, b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard, 1862. He was a devoted follower of Louis Agassiz. From 1870, Hyatt was custodian and later curator of the Boston So...

calcareous soil

(Encyclopedia)calcareous soil kălkârˈēəs [key], soil formed largely by the weathering of calcareous rocks and fossil shell beds. Different varieties usually contain chalk, marl, and limestone and frequently a ...

Saint Austell

(Encyclopedia)Saint Austell sŭnt ôˈstəl; [key], town (1991 pop. 36,639), Cornwall, SW England, at the mouth of the Fowey River on St. Austell Bay. China clay (discovered there c.1755) is produced and exported, ...

Dinotherium

(Encyclopedia)Dinotherium dīnəthērˈēəm [key] [Gr.,=terrible beast], extinct mammal related to the elephant, fossil remains of which have been found in Miocene and Pliocene formations of Africa, Europe, and In...

Browse by Subject