Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

320 results found

Warner, John William III

(Encyclopedia) Warner, John William III, 1927-2021, U.S. politician, b. Washington, D.C., Washington and Lee Univ. (B.A., 1949), Univ. of Va. School of Law (J.D., 19...

National Science Foundation

(Encyclopedia)National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent agency in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government concerned with promoting a national science policy by supporting basic research and educ...

computer-aided design

(Encyclopedia)computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), form of automation that helps designers prepare drawings, specifications, parts lists, and other design-related elements using...

Greene and Greene

(Encyclopedia)Greene and Greene, architectural firm working in the American arts and crafts style, formed by the brothers Charles Sumner Greene, 1868–1957, and Henry Mather Greene, 1870–1954, both b. Brighton (...

Suzhou

(Encyclopedia)Suzhou, Soochow wo͞oˈshēĕnˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 710,900), SE Jiangsu prov., E central China, on the Grand Canal near Tai Lake. Suzhou, famous for its silks since the Sung dynasty, is still a ...

DeGeneres, Ellen Lee

(Encyclopedia) DeGeneres, Ellen Lee, 1958- , American actor and talk-show host, b. Metairie, La. DeGeneres’s parents split in 1974, and she subsequently ...

Henry, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Henry, Joseph, 1797–1878, American physicist, b. Albany, N.Y., educated at Albany Academy. He taught (1826–32) mathematics and natural philosophy at Albany Academy and was professor of natural phi...

libretto

(Encyclopedia)libretto ləbrĕtˈō [key] [Ital.,=little book], the text of an opera or an oratorio. Although a play usually emphasizes an integrated plot, a libretto is most often a loose plot connecting a series ...

atomic force microscope

(Encyclopedia)atomic force microscope (AFM), device that uses a spring-mounted probe to image individual atoms on the surface of a material, first developed by Gerd Binnig in 1986. Unlike the scanning tunneling mic...

Safdie, Moshe

(Encyclopedia)Safdie, Moshe mōshāˈ säfˈdē [key], 1938–, Israeli-Canadian architect, b. Haifa. He grew up in Israel, moved to Canada with his family at 15, studied architecture at McGill Univ. and with Louis...