Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) crucifixion, hanging on a cross, in ancient times a method of capital punishment. It was practiced widely in the Middle East but not by the Greeks. The Romans, who may have borrowed it from Carthage, ...

(Encyclopedia) truck, automotive vehicle designed primarily for the transportation of goods. A truck is constructed on the general lines of the automobile but uses larger and heavier parts. It may be powered by a ga...

(Encyclopedia) Taurus [Lat.,= the bull], in astronomy, constellation NW of Orion and lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Gemini and Aries; it is one of the constellations of t...

(Encyclopedia) analog-to-digital or A/D conversion, the process of changing continuously varying data, such as voltage, current, or shaft rotation, into discrete digital quantities that represent the magnitude of th...

(Encyclopedia) Paul the Deacon, c.725–799?, Lombard historian. He received a good education, probably at Pavia, and he learned Latin thoroughly and some Greek. He lived at Monte Cassino and at Charlemagne's court....

(Encyclopedia) Kelley, Florence, 1859–1932, American social worker and reformer, b. Philadelphia, grad. Cornell, 1882, and Northwestern Univ. law school, 1894. Married in 1884 to a Polish doctor, Lazare Wishniewes...

(Encyclopedia) Avebury āˈbərē [key], village, Wiltshire, S central England. The village, with a medieval church and Elizabethan manor house, lies within Avebury Circle, a Neolithic circular group of upright ston...

(Encyclopedia) Perry, William James, 1927–, U.S. government official, b. Vandergrift, Pa. A Ph.D. in mathematics, former Stanford engineering professor, and founder of a military electronics firm, he served (1977�...

(Encyclopedia) monetarism, economic theory that monetary policy, or control of the money supply, is the primary if not sole determinant of a nation's economy. Monetarists believe that management of the money supply ...

(Encyclopedia) Draga dräˈgä [key], 1867–1903, queen consort of King Alexander of Serbia. A widow and a lady in waiting to the king's mother, Draga Mašin (Mashin) was accused by general rumor of a shady and pro...