Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

472 results found

ink

(Encyclopedia)ink, pigmented fluid used for writing and drawing, or a viscous compound used for printing, both of various colors but most frequently black. The oldest known variety, India ink or China ink, is still...

Corea, Chick

(Encyclopedia) Corea, Chick (Armando Anthony), 1941-2021, American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, b. Chelsea, Ma. Corea’s father was a bandleader in Boston...

oscillator, electronic

(Encyclopedia)oscillator, electronic ŏsˈəlāˌtər [key], electronic circuit that produces an output signal of a specific frequency. An oscillator generally consists of an amplifier having part of its output ret...

apparition

(Encyclopedia)apparition, spiritualistic manifestation of a person or object in which a form not actually present is seen with such intensity that belief in its reality is created. The ancient and widespread belief...

Niigata

(Encyclopedia)Niigata nēˈgätä [key], city (1990 pop. 486,097), capital of Niigata prefecture, N Honshu, Japan, on the Sea of Japan at the mouth of the Shinano River. It is the main port for the west coast of Ho...

lewisite

(Encyclopedia)lewisite lo͞oˈəsītˌ [key], liquid chemical compound used as a poison gas. Like mustard gas and nitrogen mustard, it is a blistering agent; when inhaled, it is a powerful respiratory irritant. The...

creosote

(Encyclopedia)creosote krēˈəsōt [key], volatile, heavy, oily liquid obtained by the distillation of coal tar or wood tar. Creosote derived from beechwood tar has been used medicinally as an antiseptic and in th...

Alfvén, Hannes Olof Gösta

(Encyclopedia)Alfvén, Hannes Olof Gösta, 1908–95, Swedish physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Uppsala, 1934. He was a lecturer at Uppsala from 1934 to 1937 and a researcher at the Nobel Institute of Physics from 1937 to ...

pastry

(Encyclopedia)pastry, general name for baked articles of food made of paste or having paste as a necessary ingredient. The name is also used for the paste itself. The essential elements of paste are flour, liquid (...

isoprene

(Encyclopedia)isoprene or 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene īˈsəprēn, byo͞oˌtədīˈēn [key], colorless liquid organic compound. It is a hydrocarbon, and is insoluble in water but soluble in many organic solvents; it b...