Columbia Encyclopedia
Search results
500 results found
San Jose scale
(Encyclopedia)San Jose scale, common name for a scale insect, Aspidiotus perniciosus, introduced from China into San Jose, Calif., c.1870 on nursery stock. The insect has since spread throughout much of the United ...Saha, Meghnad
(Encyclopedia)Saha, Meghnad māgnädˈ säˈhä [key], 1893–1956, Indian physicist. He was a professor at Allahabad Univ. from 1923 to 1938 and a professor and physics department head at Calcutta Univ. from 1938....liquid crystal
(Encyclopedia)liquid crystal, liquid whose component particles, atoms or molecules, tend to arrange themselves with a degree of order far exceeding that found in ordinary liquids and approaching that of solid cryst...phase diagram
(Encyclopedia) CE5 Phase diagram for a substance, like water, which expands on freezing phase diagram, graph that shows the relation between the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of a substance (see states of ma...boiling point
(Encyclopedia)boiling point, temperature at which a substance changes its state from liquid to gas. A stricter definition of boiling point is the temperature at which the liquid and vapor (gas) phases of a substanc...liquefaction
(Encyclopedia)liquefaction, change of a substance from the solid or the gaseous state to the liquid state. Since the different states of matter correspond to different amounts of energy of the molecules making up t...air conditioning
(Encyclopedia) CE5 Cross section of air conditioning unit. air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air i...key, in music
(Encyclopedia)key. 1 In music, term used to indicate the scale from which the tonal material of a given composition is derived. To say, for example, that a composition is in the key of C major means that it uses as...mushroom
(Encyclopedia) CE5 The poisonous mushroom Amanita mushroom, type of basidium fungus characterized by spore-bearing gills on the underside of the umbrella- or cone-shaped cap. The name toadstool is popularly rese...wind
(Encyclopedia)wind, flow of air relative to the earth's surface. A wind is named according to the point of the compass from which it blows, e.g., a wind blowing from the north is a north wind. The diurnal, or dai...Browse by Subject
- Earth and the Environment +-
- History +-
- Literature and the Arts +-
- Medicine +-
- People +-
- Philosophy and Religion +-
-
Places
+-
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia and Oceania
- Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
- Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
- Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
- Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
- United States, Canada, and Greenland
- Plants and Animals +-
- Science and Technology +-
- Social Sciences and the Law +-
- Sports and Everyday Life +-
