Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

53 results found

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

(Encyclopedia)National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), federal observatory for radio astronomy, founded in 1956 and operated under contract with the National Science Foundation by Associated Universities, Inc.,...

Giacconi, Riccardo

(Encyclopedia)Giacconi, Riccardo, 1931–2018, Italian-American astrophysicist, b. Milan, Italy, Ph.D. Univ. of Milan 1954. He was a researcher at American Science and Engineering Corporation (1959–73), professor...

Benjamin, Karl Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Karl Stanley, 1925–2012, American painter, b. Chicago, grad. Univ. of Redlands (B.A., 1949), Claremont Graduate School (M.A., 1960). Largely self-taught, Benjamin was part of an art scene ...

echo sounder

(Encyclopedia)echo sounder, an older instrumentation system for indirectly determining ocean floor depth. Echo sounding is based on the principle that water is an excellent medium for the transmission of sound wave...

Hinshelwood, Sir Cyril Norman

(Encyclopedia)Hinshelwood, Sir Cyril Norman, 1897–1967, British chemist, D.Sc. Oxford, 1924. In 1937 Hinshelwood became a professor at Oxford, where he remained until his retirement in 1964. He shared the 1956 No...

Arches National Park

(Encyclopedia)Arches National Park, 76,519 acres (30,979 hectares), E Utah; est. as a national monument 1929, designated a national park 1971. Located in red-rock country and overlooking the gorge of the Colorado R...

bionics

(Encyclopedia)bionics, the study of living systems with the intention of applying their principles to the design of engineering systems. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in the mechanical and life sciences, bi...

Mount Wilson Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Mount Wilson Observatory, astronomical observatory located in California on Mt. Wilson, near Pasadena. Mt. Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George E. Hale. Its equipment includes 100-in. (2.5...

Mauna Kea Observatories

(Encyclopedia)Mauna Kea Observatories mouˈnə kāˈə [key], astronomical observatory complex located on Mauna Kea peak, the “white mountain” on the island of Hawaii, at an altitude of more than 13,600 ft (4,1...

optical sensing

(Encyclopedia)optical sensing, in general, any method by which information that occurs as variations in the intensity, or some other property, of light is translated into an electric signal. This is usually accompl...
 

Browse by Subject