Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gómez, Juan Vicente gōˈmĕs [key], 1857–1935, caudillo of Venezuela (1908–35). Of indigenous and white parentage, Gómez was born on a ranch in the Western Andes and grew up a nearly illiterat...

(Encyclopedia) Furtwängler, Wilhelm fo͝ortˈvĕng-lər [key], 1886–1954, German conductor, b. Berlin; son of Adolf Furtwängler. One of the greatest orchestral conductors of the 20th cent., he studied music in ...

(Encyclopedia) aerodynamics, study of gases in motion. As the principal application of aerodynamics is the design of aircraft, air is the gas with which the science is most concerned. Although aerodynamics is primar...

(Encyclopedia) Sino-Tibetan languages, family of languages spoken by over a billion people in central and SE Asia. This linguistic family is second only to the Indo-European stock in the number of its speakers. It i...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Image formation by curved mirrors and lenses reflection, return of a wave from a surface that it strikes into the medium through which it has traveled. The general principles governing the ref...

(Encyclopedia) Mishima, Yukio yo͞oˈkēō mĭshˈēmä [key], 1925–70, Japanese author, b. Tokyo. His original name was Kimitake Hiraoka and he was born into a samurai family. Mishima wrote novels, short stories,...

(Encyclopedia) British Library, national library of Great Britain, located in London; one of the world's great libraries. Long a part of the British Museum, the library collection originated in 1753 when the governm...

(Encyclopedia) diatom dīˈətŏmˌ, –tōmˌ [key], unicellular organism of the kingdom Protista, characterized by a silica shell of often intricate and beautiful sculpturing. Most diatoms exist singly, although s...

(Encyclopedia) diffraction, bending of waves around the edge of an obstacle. When light strikes an opaque body, for instance, a shadow forms on the side of the body that is shielded from the light source. Ordinarily...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Drums drum, in music, percussion instrument, known in various forms and played throughout the world and throughout history. Essentially a drum is a frame over which one or more membranes or sk...