Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Palermo

(Encyclopedia)Palermo pälĕrˈmō [key], Lat. Panormus, city (1991 pop. 698,556), capital of Palermo prov. and of Sicily, NW Sicily, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Situated on the edge of the Conca d'Oro (Golden Co...

value, in economics

(Encyclopedia)value, in economics, worth of a commodity in terms of other commodities, or in terms of money (see price). Value depends on both desirability and scarcity. The marginal theory of value, pioneered in t...

squash racquets

(Encyclopedia)squash racquets or squash, game played on a four-walled court, 16 ft (4.88 m) high by 181⁄2 ft (5.64 m) wide by 32 ft (9.75 m) long. The back wall, shorter than the front wall, usually measures 9 ft...

differential geometry

(Encyclopedia)differential geometry, branch of geometry in which the concepts of the calculus are applied to curves, surfaces, and other geometric entities. The approach in classical differential geometry involves ...

transfinite number

(Encyclopedia)transfinite number, cardinal or ordinal number designating the magnitude (power) or order of an infinite set; the theory of transfinite numbers was introduced by Georg Cantor in 1874. The cardinal num...

Madison, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Madison. 1 City (1990 pop. 12,006), seat of Jefferson co., SE Ind., on the Ohio River; settled c.1806, inc. 1838. It is a port of entry and a tobacco marketing center. Among its manufactures are trans...

Heidelberg

(Encyclopedia)Heidelberg hīˈdəlbĕrkh [key], city, Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, picturesquely situated ...

Great Smoky Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Appalachian system, on the N.C.–Tenn. border; highest range E of the Mississippi and one of the oldest uplands on earth. The mountains are named for the smokelike ...

cladistics

(Encyclopedia)cladistics fīˌlōjənĕtˈĭk [key], an approach to the classification of living things in which organisms are defined and grouped by the possession of one or more shared characteristics (called cha...

plow

(Encyclopedia)plow or plough, agricultural implement used to cut furrows in and turn up the soil, preparing it for planting. The plow is generally considered the most important tillage tool. Its beginnings in the B...