Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Merton, Thomas, 1915–68, American religious writer and poet, b. France. He grew up in France, England, and the United States and studied at Cambridge and at Columbia (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939). Conver...

(Encyclopedia) norovirus or Norwalk virus, highly contagious viral disease caused by infection with an RNA virus of the genus Norovirus. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, usually one to two days after infectio...

(Encyclopedia) cormorant kôrˈmərənt [key], common name for large aquatic birds, related to the gannet and the pelican, and found chiefly in temperate and tropical regions, usually on the sea but also on inland w...

(Encyclopedia) Kuchuk Kainarji, Treaty of ko͞ocho͞okˈ kīnärˈjē, Turk. küchükˈ kīˌnärjäˈ [key], 1774, peace treaty signed at the end of the first of the Russo-Turkish Wars undertaken by Catherine II of...

(Encyclopedia) Stirling engine, an external combustion reciprocating engine having an enclosed working fluid that is alternately compressed and expanded to operate a piston, thus converting heat from a variety of so...

(Encyclopedia) Baykal or Baikal both: bīkälˈ [key], lake, 12,160 sq mi (31,494 sq km), SE Siberian Russia. It is the largest freshwater lake of Eurasia, with a width up to 50 mi (80 km) and a length of c.395 mi (...

(Encyclopedia) sculpin, common name for a member of the superfamily Cottoidea, bizarre fishes with large, spiny or armored heads and short, tapering bodies, found in both marine and freshwater habitats. The sculpins...

(Encyclopedia) sea slug, name for a marine gastropod mollusk that lacks a shell as an adult and is usually brightly colored. Sea slugs, or nudibranchs, are distributed throughout the world, with the greatest numbers...

(Encyclopedia) Tabasco täbäsˈkō [key], state (1990 pop. 1,501,744), 9,783 sq mi (25,338 sq km), E Mexico, on the Gulf of Campeche. Villahermosa is the capital. Tabasco is predominantly a tropical plain, once den...

(Encyclopedia) whale, aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea, found in all oceans of the world. Members of this order vary greatly in size and include the largest animals that have ever lived. Cetaceans never leave the...