Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Anatahan, uninhabited volcanic island, 12.5 sq mi (32 sq km), Saipan dist., Northern Mariana Islands, in the W Pacific Ocean some 85 mi (140 km) N of Saipan. The island is dominated by two overlapping...

(Encyclopedia) Great South Bay, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.45 mi (72 km) long, between the southern shore of Long Island and offshore barrier islands, SE N.Y. With the rapid population growth along its shores, the...

(Encyclopedia) Cape Canaveral kənăvˈərəl [key], low, sandy promontory extending E into the Atlantic Ocean from a barrier island, E Fla., separated from Merritt Island by the Banana River, a lagoon; named (1963)...

(Encyclopedia) Kauai kouˌwīˈ [key], circular island (1990 pop. 51,177), 549 sq mi (1,422 sq km), 32 mi (52 km) in diameter, N Hawaii, separated from Oahu island to the southeast by Kauai Channel. Lihue (1990 pop....

(Encyclopedia) Sakhalin sägälyĕnˈ [key], island (c.29,500 sq mi/76,400 sq km), off the coast of Asian Russia, between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan; separated from the Russian mainland on the west by t...

(Encyclopedia) lie detector, instrument designed to record bodily changes resulting from the telling of a lie. Cesare Lombroso, in 1895, was the first to utilize such an instrument, but it was not until 1914 and 191...

(Encyclopedia) Lao Tzu lou dzə [key], fl. 6th cent. b.c., Chinese philosopher, reputedly the founder of Taoism. It is uncertain that Lao Tzu [Ch.,=old person or old philosopher] is historical. His biography in Ssu-...

(Encyclopedia) decompression sickness, physiological disorder caused by a rapid decrease in atmospheric pressure, resulting in the release of nitrogen bubbles into the body tissues. It is also known as caisson disea...

(Encyclopedia) Bulfinch, Charles, 1763–1844, American architect, b. Boston. A member of the Boston board of selectmen in 1791, he was chosen chairman in 1799—an office equivalent to mayor and held by Bulfinch fo...

(Encyclopedia) exchange-traded fund (ETF), in finance, an investment company that in exchange for the deposit of a portfolio of stocks, bonds, commodities, or other assets issues securities that represent those asse...