Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gamow, George

(Encyclopedia)Gamow, George gămˈŏf [key], 1904–68, Russian-American theoretical physicist and author, b. Odessa. A nuclear physicist, Gamow is better known to the public for his excellent books popularizing ab...

Indiana University

(Encyclopedia)Indiana University, main campus at Bloomington; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1820 as a seminary, opened 1824. It became a college in 1828 and a university in 1838. The medical center (run...

White Sulphur Springs

(Encyclopedia)White Sulphur Springs, city (1990 pop. 2,779), Greenbrier co., SE W.Va., in the Allegheny Mts. near the Virginia border; settled c.1750. A mineral springs health resort since early 1800s, it is the si...

Two Rivers

(Encyclopedia)Two Rivers, city (1990 pop. 13,030), Manitowoc co., E Wis., on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Twin River; inc. 1878. Two Rivers is closely associated with its twin city, Manitowoc, both of which ar...

power, electric

(Encyclopedia)power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some ...

magnetohydrodynamics

(Encyclopedia)magnetohydrodynamics măgnēˌtōhīˌdrōdīnămˈĭks [key], study of the motions of electrically conducting fluids and their interactions with magnetic fields. The principles of magnetohydrodynamic...

Latina

(Encyclopedia)Latina lätēˈnä [key], city (1991 pop. 106,203), capital of Latina prov., in Latium, central Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is an industrial, commercial, and agricultural center. Manufactures i...

Snowdon

(Encyclopedia)Snowdon, Welsh Yr Wyddfa, highest mountain of Wales, 3,560 ft (1,085 m) high, Gwynedd, NW Wales. Its five peaks are separated by passes. There is a rack and pinion railway (opened 1896) from Llanberis...

cruise missile

(Encyclopedia)cruise missile, low-flying, continuously powered offensive missile designed to evade defense systems. A cruise missile typically uses an aircraft engine rather than a rocket engine to fly at subsonic ...

frigate

(Encyclopedia)frigate frĭgˈĭt [key], originally a long, narrow nautical vessel used on the Mediterranean, propelled by either oars or sail or both. Later, during the 18th and early 19th cent., the term was appli...

Browse by Subject