Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Milky Way

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Position of the sun in the Milky Way Milky Way, the galaxy of which the sun and solar system are a part, seen as a broad band of light arching across the night sky from horizon to horizon; if ...

conducting

(Encyclopedia)conducting, in music, the art of unifying the efforts of a number of musicians simultaneously engaged in musical performance. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance the conductor was primarily a time beat...

acceleration

(Encyclopedia)acceleration, change in the velocity of a body with respect to time. Since velocity is a vector quantity, involving both magnitude and direction, acceleration is also a vector. In order to produce an ...

uncertainty principle

(Encyclopedia)uncertainty principle, physical principle, enunciated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927, that places an absolute, theoretical limit on the combined accuracy of certain pairs of simultaneous, related measur...

Steichen, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Steichen, Edward stīˈkən [key], 1879–1973, American photographer, b. Luxembourg, reared in Hancock, Mich. Steichen is credited with the transformation of photography into an art form. At 16, whil...

Hérold, Louis Joseph Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Hérold, Louis Joseph Ferdinand lwē zhôzĕfˈ fĕrdēnäNˈ ārôldˈ [key], 1791–1833, French composer. He composed a number of operas, two of which—Zampa (1831) and Le Pré aux clercs (1832)...

Jaazaniah

(Encyclopedia)Jaazaniah jāˌāzənīˈə [key], in the Bible. 1 Head of a number of idolatrous priests whom Ezekiel saw in a vision. 2 Captain active in the politics of Palestine at the time of the fall of Jerusal...

Luton

(Encyclopedia)Luton lo͞oˈtən [key], borough and unitary authority (1991 pop. 163,209), S central England on the Lea River. Hats, automobiles, ball bearings, and aircraft parts are among the products manufactured...

Allobroges

(Encyclopedia)Allobroges əlŏˈbrəjēz [key], Celtic tribe in Gaul, inhabiting later Dauphiné and Savoy. They were conquered (121 b.c.) by Quintus Fabius Maximus, who was called Allobrogicus in commemoration of ...

John I, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona

(Encyclopedia)John I, 1350–95, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1387–95), son and successor of Peter IV. During his reign Aragón lost (1388) the duchy of Athens. An enthusiastic patron of learning and a...
 

Browse by Subject