Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

292 results found

Klug, Sir Aaron

(Encyclopedia)Klug, Sir Aaron klo͞og [key], 1926–2018, British biochemist, b. Lithuania. Raised and educated in South Africa, he moved to England and completed his doctorate at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 195...

Maritime Territory

(Encyclopedia)Maritime Territory or Primorsky Kray prēmôrˈskē krī [key], administrative division (1992 pop. 2,309,000), c.64,900 sq mi (168,100 sq km), Russian Far East, between China (Manchuria or the Northea...

scintillation counter

(Encyclopedia)scintillation counter, device for detecting and measuring radiation by means of tiny visible flashes produced by the radiation when it strikes a sensitive substance known as a phosphor (see phosphores...

Udaipur

(Encyclopedia)Udaipur māwärˈ [key], city and former princely state, now part of Rajasthan state, NW India. The Udaipur region, thickly wooded in the south and west, is mostly an alluvial plain watered by many in...

peroxide

(Encyclopedia)peroxide pərŏkˈsīd [key], chemical compound containing two oxygen atoms, each of which is bonded to the other and to a radical or some element other than oxygen; e.g., in hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, ...

Cartagena, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Cartagena, Lat. Carthago Nova, city, Murcia prov., SE Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. A major seaport and naval base, it has a fine natural harbor,...

nihonium

(Encyclopedia)nihonium nĭhōˈnēəm [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Nh; at. no. 113; mass number of most stable isotope 284; m.p., b.p., sp. gr., and valence unknown. Situated in...

ore

(Encyclopedia)ore, metal-bearing mineral mass that can be profitably mined. Nearly all rock deposits contain some metallic minerals, but in many cases the concentration of metal is too low to justify mining the ore...

Novaya Zemlya

(Encyclopedia)Novaya Zemlya nôˌvīə zĭmlyäˈ [key] [Rus.,=New Land], archipelago, c.35,000 sq mi (90,650 sq km), in the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara seas, NW Russia. It consists of two main island...

San Luis Potosí, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)San Luis Potosí sän lo͞oēsˈ pōtōsēˈ [key], state (1990 pop. 2,003,187), 24,417 sq mi (63,240 sq km), central Mexico. San Luis Potosí is the capital. Most of the state lies on the eastern tab...