Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

azimuth

(Encyclopedia)azimuth ăzˈəməth [key], in astronomy, one coordinate in the altazimuth coordinate system. It is the angular distance of a body measured westward along the celestial horizon from the observer's sou...

amobarbital

(Encyclopedia)amobarbital ămˌōbärˈbĭtäl [key], drug that acts as a nervous system depressant. See barbiturate. ...

Ganymede, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Ganymede gănˈēmēdˌ [key], in astronomy, one of the moons, or natural satellites, of Jupiter; the largest natural satellite in the solar system, it is larger than the planet Mercury. ...

Kennan, George

(Encyclopedia)Kennan, George, 1845–1924, American authority on Siberia, b. Norwalk, Ohio. In 1864 he made the first of his journeys to East Asia as an engineer. His articles on Siberia, for many years almost the ...

smaltite

(Encyclopedia)smaltite smôlˈtīt [key], opaque tin-white to steel-gray mineral of the pyrite group, a compound of cobalt and arsenic. It occurs in massive form, occasionally in crystals (cubes) of the isometric s...

Saint-Pierre, Charles Irénée Castel, Abbé de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Pierre, Charles Irénée Castel, Abbé de shärl ērānāˈ kästĕlˈ äbāˈ də săN-pyĕrˈ [key], 1658–1743, French social philosopher. An advocate of natural religion and toleration, he ...

testis

(Encyclopedia)testis tĕsˈtĭkəl [key], one of a pair of glands that produce the male reproductive cells, or sperm. In fetal life the testes develop in the abdomen, then descend into an external sac, the scrotum....

Tian Shan

(Encyclopedia)Tian Shan or Tien Shan both: tēĕn shän [key] [Chin.,=celestial mountains], mountain system of central Asia, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) from the Pamir Mts., Tajikistan, NE through the Xinjiang ...

Oswego, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Oswego ŏswēˈgō [key], city (1990 pop. 19,195), seat of Oswego co., N central N.Y., on Lake Ontario and the Oswego River; founded 1722, inc. as a city 1848. The largest U.S. port on Lake Ontario, i...

antifreeze

(Encyclopedia)antifreeze, substance added to a solvent to lower its freezing point. The solution formed is called an antifreeze mixture. Antifreeze is typically added to water in the cooling system of an internal-c...