Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) zinc, metallic chemical element; symbol Zn; at. no. 30; at. wt. 65.38; m.p. 419.58℃; b.p. 907℃; sp. gr. 7.133 at 25℃; valence +2. Zinc is a lustrous bluish-white metal. It is found in Group 12 o...

(Encyclopedia) translation [Lat.,=carrying across], the rendering of a text into another language. Applied to literature, the term connotes the art of recomposing a work in another language without losing its origin...

(Encyclopedia) Sand, George ämäNdēnˈ ôrôrˈ lüsēˈ düpăN, bärônˈ düdväNˈ [key], 1804–76, French novelist. Other variant forms of her maiden name include Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. Born of an ari...

(Encyclopedia) Mesopotamia mĕsˌəpətāˈmēə [key] [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian...

(Encyclopedia) Australian literature, the literature of Australia. Because the vast majority of early Australian settlers were transported prisoners, the beginnings of Australian literature were oral rather than wri...

(Encyclopedia) Defoe or De Foe, Daniel dĭfōˈ [key], 1660?–1731, English writer, b. London. He was nearly sixty when he turned to writing novels. In 1719 he published his famous Life and Strange Surprising Adv...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Longitudinal cross section of a flower at the time of fertilization, showing a pollen grain and a pollen tube. flower, name for the specialized part of a plant containing the reproductive orga...

(Encyclopedia) poker, card game, believed to have originated in Asia and first played in the United States in the 19th cent. A traditional cutthroat gambling game at first, it is now also an internationally popular ...

(Encyclopedia) wood carving, as an art form, includes any kind of sculpture in wood, from the decorative bas-relief on small objects to life-size figures in the round, furniture, and architectural decorations. The w...

(Encyclopedia) Middle Eastern religions, religious beliefs and practices of the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East. Little was known about the religions of the city-states of W Asia until stores of religious lit...