Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) boiling point, temperature at which a substance changes its state from liquid to gas. A stricter definition of boiling point is the temperature at which the liquid and vapor (gas) phases of a substanc...

(Encyclopedia) cinchona chĭngkōˈnə [key], name for species of the genus Cinchona, evergreen trees of the madder family native to the Andean highlands from Bolivia to Colombia and also to some mountainous regions...

(Encyclopedia) Harpers Ferry, town (2020 pop. 285), Jefferson co., easternmost W Va., at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers; inc. 1763. The town is a ...

(Encyclopedia) pterosaur tĕrˈəsôrˌ [key] [Gr., = winged lizard], extinct flying reptile (commonly called pterodactyl [Gr., = wing finger]) of the order Pterosauria, common in the late Triassic and Creta...

(Encyclopedia) playing cards, parts of a set or deck, used in playing various games of chance or skill. The origin of playing cards is unknown, and almost as many theories exist as there are historians of the subjec...

(Encyclopedia) theory, in music, discipline involving the construction of cognitive systems to be used as a tool for comprehending musical compositions. The discipline is subdivided into what can be called speculati...

(Encyclopedia) eyeglasses or spectacles, instrument or device for aiding and correcting defective sight. Eyeglasses usually consist of a pair of lenses mounted in a frame to hold them in position before the eyes. Th...

(Encyclopedia) depression, in psychiatry, a symptom of mood disorder characterized by intense feelings of loss, sadness, hopelessness, failure, and rejection. The two major types of mood disorder are unipolar disord...

(Encyclopedia) Bruegel, Brueghel, or Breughel all: broiˈgəl, Du. bröˈgəl [key], outstanding family of Flemish genre and landscape painters. The foremost, Pieter Bruegel, the Elder, c.1525–1569, called Peasan...

(Encyclopedia) Hadrian hāˈdrēən [key], a.d. 76–138, Roman emperor (117–138), b. Spain. His name in full was Publius Aelius Hadrianus. An orphan, he became the ward of Trajan. Hadrian distinguished himself as...