Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Harvey, William Henry, 1811–66, Irish botanist. An authority on algae, he wrote A Manual of the British Algae (1841), Phycologia Britannica (4 vol., 1846–51), and Phycologia Australica (5 vol., 18...

(Encyclopedia) Shrewsbury shro͞ozˈbərē [key], town (1990 pop. 24,146), Worcester co., central Mass.; inc. 1727. Plastics, furniture, candy, fire alarm systems, and textiles are manufactured. Gen. Artemas Ward wa...

(Encyclopedia) Proteus prōˈtēəs, –tyo͞os [key], in Greek mythology, prophetic old man of the sea who tended the seals of Poseidon. He could change himself into any shape he pleased, but if he were nevertheles...

(Encyclopedia) terrace, a level field built on top of a hillslope into the floor of a deep valley to improve cultivation of crops. Terracing uses the runoff from the hill to increase soil retentiveness and arability...

(Encyclopedia) Haavelmo, Trygve trügˈvə hävelmō [key], 1911–99, Norwegian economist. In the 1940s, he was a pioneer in the field of econometrics, using mathematics and statistics in the formation of economic ...

(Encyclopedia) Menshikov, Aleksandr Danilovich, Prince əlyĭksänˈdər dənyēˈləvĭch mĕnˈshĭkəf [key], 1672?–1729, Russian field marshal and statesman. Of lowly origin, he became an intimate companion of...

(Encyclopedia) marquetry märˈkətrē [key], branch of cabinetwork in which a decorative surface of wood or other substance is glued to an object on a single plane. Unlike inlaying, in which the secondary material ...

(Encyclopedia) decathlon dĭkăthˈlŏn [key], in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. It consists of the long jump; the high jump; the discus throw; ...

(Encyclopedia) Alberti, Leone Battista, 1404–72, Italian architect, musician, painter, and humanist, active at the papal court, Florence, Rimini, and Mantua. Alberti was the first architect to argue for the correc...

(Encyclopedia) weight, measure of the force of gravity on a body (see gravitation). Since the weights of different bodies at the same location are proportional to their masses, weight is often used as a measure of m...