Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Shetland sheepdog

(Encyclopedia)Shetland sheepdog, breed of small, agile working dog perfected in the Shetland Islands in the 19th cent. It stands from 13 to 16 in. (33.0–40.6 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 15 lb (7 kg)...

Arklow

(Encyclopedia)Arklow ärˈklō [key], town, Co. Wicklow, E Republic of Ireland, on St. George's Channel at the mouth of the Avoca River. The town has become a popular resort and has a s...

monotreme

(Encyclopedia)monotreme mŏnˈətrēmˌ [key], name for members of the primitive mammalian order Monotremata, found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. The only members of this order are the platypus, or duckbi...

fuzzy logic

(Encyclopedia)fuzzy logic, a multivalued (as opposed to binary) logic developed to deal with imprecise or vague data. Classical logic holds that everything can be expressed in binary terms: 0 or 1, black or white, ...

Hiroshima

(Encyclopedia)Hiroshima hĭrˌōshēˈmə, hērōˈshmä [key], city, capital of Hiroshima prefectu...

Jay, Ricky

(Encyclopedia)Jay, Ricky, 1946–2018, American magician, actor, and writer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Richard Jay Potash. The grandson of a fine amateur magician, Jay first performed at age four and as a teenager bega...

Zawahiri, Ayman al-

(Encyclopedia)Zawahiri or Zawahri, Ayman al- both: īˈmän äl-zäwäˈrē [key], 1951–, militant Egyptian Islamist. A surgeon by education and training, he became involved with the Muslim Brotherhood and joined...

air forces

(Encyclopedia)air forces, those portions of a nation's military organization employing heavier-than-air aircraft for reconnaissance, support of ground troops, aerial combat, and bombing of enemy lines of communicat...

Blair, Tony

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Tony (Anthony Charles Lynton Blair), 1953–, British politician, b. Edinburgh. An Oxford-educated lawyer, he was first elected to Parliament in 1983 as the Labour party candidate from a distri...

Aves Island

(Encyclopedia)Aves Island äˈvĕs [key] or Bird Island, Span. Isla de Aves, small, low-lying sand and coral island, a dependency of Venezuela, in the E Caribbean Sea 380 mi (610 km) N of the Venezuelan mainland. V...