Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Pence, Mike (Michael Richard Pence), 1959–, Vice President of the United States (2017–21), b. Columbus, Ind., grad. Hanover College, 1981, Indiana Univ. law school, 1986. A Republican, he twice ra...

(Encyclopedia) Lamb, Charles, 1775–1834, English essayist, b. London. He went to school at Christ's Hospital, where his lifelong friendship with Coleridge began. Lamb was a clerk at the India House from 1792 to 18...

(Encyclopedia) neutron star, extremely small, extremely dense star, with as much as double the sun's mass but only a few miles in radius, in the final stage of stellar evolution. Astronomers Baade and Zwicky predict...

(Encyclopedia) Aso, Taro täˈrō äˈsō [key], 1940–, Japanese politician, prime minister of Japan (2008–9). Grandson of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida and son of a successful industrialist, he attended Gakush...

(Encyclopedia) marsh antelope, name for members of a group of deerlike African antelopes, usually found in reeds or tall grasses near water. The males of this group have horns that curve back, up, and forward; femal...

(Encyclopedia) Bacon's Rebellion, popular revolt in colonial Virginia in 1676, led by Nathaniel Bacon. High taxes, low prices for tobacco, and resentment against special privileges given those close to the governor,...

(Encyclopedia) Mousavi, Mir Hossein mēr hōsānˈ mo͞osävēˈ [key], 1941–, Iranian political leader and architect. Active in Islamic groups and in the opposition to the Shah's rule, he was (1979) a founder of ...

(Encyclopedia) Dravidian languages drəvĭdˈēən [key], family of about 23 languages that appears to be unrelated to any other known language family. The Dravidian languages are spoken by more than 200 million peo...

(Encyclopedia) celestial mechanics, the study of the motions of astronomical bodies as they move under the influence of their mutual gravitation. Celestial mechanics analyzes the orbital motions of planets, dwarf pl...

(Encyclopedia) contour or contour line, line on a topographic map connecting points of equal elevation above or below mean sea level. It is thus a kind of isopleth, or line of equal quantity. Contour lines are drawn...