Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kitt Peak National Observatory, astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Ariz.; it was founded in 1958 under contract with the National Science Foundation and is administered by the Assoc...

(Encyclopedia) Konrad, George, or György Konrád dyûrˈdyēkônˈräd [key], 1933–2019, Hungarian novelist and dissident. Konrad's first novel, The Case Worker (1969; tr. 1974), was based on his experiences as a...

(Encyclopedia) Kraepelin, Emil krĕpəlēnˈ [key], 1856–1926, German psychiatrist, educated at Würzburg (M.D., 1878). He also studied under Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig, and was appointed professor of psychiatry at ...

(Encyclopedia) South China Sea, western arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), between the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo. It is connected with the East China Sea b...

(Encyclopedia) Fastolf, Sir John făsˈtŏlf [key], 1378?–1459, English soldier. He won distinction for his long service in the latter part of the Hundred Years War. He was knighted some time prior to 1418 for ser...

(Encyclopedia) fraction [Lat.,=breaking], in arithmetic, an expression representing a part, or several equal parts, of a unit. When fractions having the same denominator, as 3⁄10 and 4⁄10, are added, only the ...

(Encyclopedia) inflection, in grammar. In many languages, words or parts of words are arranged in formally similar sets consisting of a root, or base, and various affixes. Thus walking, walks, walker have in common ...

(Encyclopedia) Zuma, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa, 1942–, South African political leader, b. Indkandla, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) prov. Zuma received no formal schooling and joined the African National Congress (ANC) when...

(Encyclopedia) friction, resistance offered to the movement of one body past another body with which it is in contact. In certain situations friction is desired. Without friction the wheels of a locomotive could not...

(Encyclopedia) manslaughter, homicide committed without justification or excuse but distinguished from murder by the absence of the element of malice aforethought. Modern criminal statutes usually divide it into deg...