Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) navy, originally, all ships of a nation, whether for war or commerce; the term navy now designates only such vessels as are built and maintained specifically for war. There have been three major devel...

(Encyclopedia) magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

(Encyclopedia) elephant, largest living land mammal, found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Elephants have massive bodies and heads, thick, pillarlike legs, and broad, short padded feet, with toes bearing hea...

(Encyclopedia) army, large armed land force, under regular military control, organization, and discipline. With the advent of railroads and, later, highway systems it became possible after the mid-19th cent. to mo...

(Encyclopedia)  CE6 Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The modern revival of the Olympic games is due in a large measure to ...

(Encyclopedia) birth control, practice of contraception for the purpose of limiting reproduction. Although contraceptive techniques had been known in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the modern movement for birth ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Nerve cell CE5 Nervous system nervous system, network of specialized tissue that controls actions and reactions of the body and its adjustment to the environment. Virtually all members of ...

(Encyclopedia) portraiture, the art of representing the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary individual. The principal portrait media are painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography. From earl...

(Encyclopedia) rock music, type of music originating in the United States in the mid-1950s and increasingly popular throughout much of the world. A turning point in rock music occurred in the mid-1970s in the ...

(Encyclopedia) comic strip, combination of cartoon with a story line, laid out in a series of pictorial panels across a page and concerning a continuous character or set of characters, whose thoughts and dialogues a...