Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) pneumatic tool no͝omătˈĭk [key], instrument activated by air pressure. Pneumatic tools are designed around three basic devices: the air cylinder, the vane motor, and the sprayer. The air cylinder ...

(Encyclopedia) spinning, the drawing out, twisting, and winding of fibers into a continuous thread or yarn. From antiquity until the Industrial Revolution, spinning was a household industry. The roughly carded fiber...

(Encyclopedia) Challoner, Richard chălˈənər [key], 1691–1781, English Roman Catholic prelate. Brought up a Protestant, he became a Roman Catholic in his teens and was ordained in 1716. In 1730 he returned from...

(Encyclopedia) Lowell, Abbott Lawrence, 1856–1943, American educator, president of Harvard (1909–33), b. Boston, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1877; LL.B., 1880); brother of Percival Lowell and Amy Lowell. He practiced l...

(Encyclopedia) Needham, Joseph nēdˈəm [key], 1900–1995, British biochemist, historian of science, and sinologist, b. London. He had a lifelong association with Cambridge, where he was educated (Ph.D. 1924), tau...

(Encyclopedia) Hsüan-tsang shüän-dzäng [key], 605?–664, Chinese Buddhist scholar and translator. He early entered monastic life and later traveled in China, teaching and studying. Between 629 and 645 he made a...

(Encyclopedia) instinct, term used generally to indicate an innate tendency to action, or pattern of behavior, elicited by specific stimuli and fulfilling vital needs of an organism. Examples of almost purely instin...

(Encyclopedia) bee fly, name for the small- to medium-sized flies of the family Bombyliidae, many of which resemble bees in appearance and behavior. This mimicry provides bee flies with some measure of protection ag...

(Encyclopedia) Arledge, Roone Pinckney, Jr., 1931–2002, American television executive, b. Forest Hills, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1952). He was a producer-director (1955–60) at the National Broadcasting Compan...

(Encyclopedia) piquet or picquet both: pēkāˈ [key], card game played by two persons with a deck of 32 cards—7 (low) up to ace (high) in each suit. Each player receives 12 cards, and eight cards are left on the ...