Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ramusio, Giambattista

(Encyclopedia)Ramusio, Giambattista jämˌbät–tēˈstä rämo͝oˈzyō [key], 1485–1557, Italian editor and compiler, b. Treviso. He served in diplomatic posts for the Venetian state and eventually in the Coun...

Copper, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Copper, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in the Wrangell Mts., SE Alaska, and flowing S through the Chugach Mts. to the Gulf of Alaska. Copper deposits near the upper river, long mined by natives...

observatory, orbiting

(Encyclopedia)observatory, orbiting, research satellite designed to study solar radiation, electromagnetic radiation from distant stars, the earth's atmosphere, or the like. Because the atmosphere and other aspects...

McDonnell, James Smith

(Encyclopedia)McDonnell, James Smith, 1899–1980, American aviation pioneer, b. Denver, B.S. Princeton, 1921, M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1925. He designed the Doodlebug (1929), a small monoplane, ...

parity

(Encyclopedia)parity or space parity, in physics, quantity that refers to the relationship between an object or process and the image that it can produce in a mirror. For example, any right-handed object will produ...

Mendocino, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Mendocino, Cape mĕndəsēˈnō [key], westernmost point of California, c.200 mi (320 km) N of San Francisco in Humboldt co. It was discovered and named in 1543 in honor of Antonio de Mendoza by Barto...

MacKaye, Benton

(Encyclopedia)MacKaye, Benton məkīˈ [key], 1879–1975, American forester and regional planner, b. Stamford, Conn., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1900; M.A. School of Forestry, 1905); son of Steele MacKaye. He was a rese...

Gosnold, Bartholomew

(Encyclopedia)Gosnold, Bartholomew gŏzˈnōld [key], fl. 1572–1607, English explorer and colonizer. In 1602 he commanded the Concord on a voyage of exploration. He navigated the coast from Maine to Narragansett ...

Puno

(Encyclopedia)Puno po͞oˈnō [key], city (1993 pop. 97,796), alt. 12,648 ft (3,855 m), capital of Puno dept., SE Peru, on an embayment of Lake Titicaca. It is a commercial, tourist, and transportation center of SE...

Duarte, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Duarte dwärˈtə [key], 1391–1438, king of Portugal (1433–38), eldest of the five sons of John I. He was a “philosopher-king,” notable for his legal reforms and as the author of O leal consel...

Browse by Subject