Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

bibliography

(Encyclopedia)bibliography. The listing of books is of ancient origin. Lists of clay tablets have been found at Nineveh and elsewhere; the library at Alexandria had subject lists of its books. Modern bibliography b...

Lloyd, Harold

(Encyclopedia)Lloyd, Harold, 1893–1971, American movie actor. Born in tiny Burchard, Kans., he came to California in 1912. Lloyd became famous for his comic portrayals of a wistful innocent with horn-rimmed glass...

sound

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Sound waves: An air pressure wave radiating outward from a loudspeaker is perceived as sound. sound, any disturbance that travels through an elastic medium such as air, ground, or water to be ...

Ligeti, György

(Encyclopedia)Ligeti, György, 1923–2006, Hungarian composer. He studied music in Romania and Hungary, and was a teacher at the Budapest Academy of Music until he fled to Vienna (1956) after the Soviet invasion o...

stereophonic sound

(Encyclopedia)stereophonic sound, sound recorded simultaneously through two or more electronic channels. For live recordings, microphones are placed in different positions relative to the sound source. The recorded...

acoustics

(Encyclopedia)acoustics əko͞oˈstĭks [key] [Gr.,=the facts about hearing], the science of sound, including its production, propagation, and effects. Various branches of acoustics that deal with different aspects...

echo, in acoustics

(Encyclopedia)echo, reflection of a sound wave back to its source in sufficient strength and with a sufficient time lag to be separately distinguished. If a sound wave returns within 1⁄10 sec, the human ear is in...

Sabin, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Sabin, Joseph săbˈĭn [key], 1821–81, American bibliophile, b. England. Sabin came to the United States in 1848 and established himself as a dealer in rare books in New York City and Philadelphia....

Long Island Sound

(Encyclopedia)Long Island Sound, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.90 mi (145 km) long and 3–20 mi (5–32 km) wide, separating Long Island, N.Y., from the SE New York mainland and Connecticut. On the W the East River...

Puget Sound

(Encyclopedia)Puget Sound pyo͞oˈjĕt [key], arm of the Pacific Ocean, NW Wash., connected with the Pacific by Juan de Fuca Strait, entered through the Admiralty Inlet and extending in two arms c.100 mi (160 km) S...
 

Browse by Subject