Columbia Encyclopedia
Search results
500 results found
distortion
(Encyclopedia)distortion, in electronics, undesired change in an electric signal waveform as it passes from the input to the output of some system or device. In an audio system, distortion results in poor reproduct...Flanagan, Richard
(Encyclopedia)Flanagan, Richard, 1961–, Australian novelist, b. Longford, Tasmania, studied Univ. of Tasmania (grad. 1982), Oxford (Rhodes scholar). Flanagan, whose novels explore the past and present of his nati...Bragg, Sir William Henry
(Encyclopedia)Bragg, Sir William Henry, 1862–1942, English physicist, educated at King William's College, Isle of Man, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He served on the faculties of the Univ. of Adelaide in Austra...Villèle, Jean Baptiste Séraphin Joseph, comte de
(Encyclopedia)Villèle, Jean Baptiste Séraphin Joseph, comte de zhäN bätēstˈ sāräfăNˈ zhôzĕfˈ kôNt də vēlĕlˈ [key], 1773–1854, French statesman and premier (1822–28). Elected (1815) a deputy af...Yeager, Chuck
(Encyclopedia)Yeager, Chuck (Charles Elwood Yeager) yāˈgər [key], 1923–2020, American aviator, b. Myra, W.Va. An ace fighter pilot during World War II, he was a military test pilot during the early postwar yea...Pickford, Mary
(Encyclopedia)Pickford, Mary, 1893–1979, American movie actress, b. Toronto, Ont. In 1909 she began working with D. W. Griffith. Specializing in playing young girls, she was dubbed “America's Sweetheart.” Her...basenji
(Encyclopedia)basenji bəsĕnˈjē [key], breed of medium-sized hound whose origins can be traced back several thousand years to Africa and the courts of the Egyptian pharaohs. It stands about 17 in. (43.2 cm) high...Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th earl of
(Encyclopedia)Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th earl of, 1718–92, British politician. He served variously as secretary of state (1763–65, 1770–71) and first lord of the admiralty (1748–51, 1763, 1771–82). He ea...Coxe, Tench
(Encyclopedia)Coxe, Tench kŏks [key], 1755–1824, American political economist, b. Philadelphia. He entered his father's mercantile business in 1776, but after 1790, when he became assistant to Alexander Hamilton...French horn
(Encyclopedia) CE5 French horn French horn, brass wind musical instrument. Fundamentally a metal tube of narrow conical bore, it is curved into circles because of its great length. The horn ends in a wide flare....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 +-
