Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Whittingham, Michael Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Whittingham, Michael Stanley, 1941–, British-American chemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1968. Whittingham worked for Exxon Research & Engineering from 1972 to 1984, then joined Schlumberger Ltd. In 1988, h...

Wrexham

(Encyclopedia)Wrexham rĕkˈsəm [key], Welsh Wrescam, town (1981 pop. 39,929) and county borough, 193 sq mi (499 sq km), NE Wales. It lies in the coal field of N Wales. Wrexham's industries include the manufacture...

Walker, Sir John Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Sir John Ernest, 1941–, English biochemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1969. He has been a researcher at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge since 1974. In 1997 Walk...

breakwater

(Encyclopedia)breakwater, offshore structure to protect a harbor from wave energy or deflect currents. When it also serves as a pier, it is called a quay; when covered by a roadway it is called a mole. In the Unite...

Stark, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Stark, Johannes, 1874–1957, German physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Munich, 1897. From 1900 until he retired in 1922, Stark served short stints on the faculties of several academic institutions, including ...

tendril

(Encyclopedia)tendril, slender, sensitive structure of many climbing plants that by a response to contact (see auxin) supports the plant. Tendrils are modified stems, leaves, or leaf parts or roots. Most young tend...

truss

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. King post truss B. Queen, with princess posts truss, in architecture and engineering, a supporting structure or framework composed of beams, girders, or rods commonly of steel or wood lying...

Tikal

(Encyclopedia)Tikal tēkälˈ [key], ruined city of the Classic Period of the Maya, N central Petén, Guatemala. The largest and possibly the oldest of the Maya cities, Tikal consists of nine groups of courts and p...

Schäffle, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Schäffle, Albert älˈbĕrt shĕfˈlə [key], 1831–1903, German economist and sociologist. He taught economics at the universities of Tübingen and Vienna. His views were based partly on the ideali...

Schwann, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Schwann, Theodor tāˈōdōr shvän [key], 1810–82, German physiologist and histologist. He was a student of J. P. Müller and professor at the universities of Louvain (1838–48) and Liège (from 1...