Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) micromechanics, the combination of minuscule electrical and mechanical components in a single device less than 1 mm across, such as a valve or a motor. Although micromechanical production processes an...

(Encyclopedia) gold rush, influx of prospectors, merchants, adventurers, and others to newly discovered gold fields. One of the most famous of these stampedes in pursuit of riches was the California gold rush. The d...

(Encyclopedia)  Who, The, English rock music group formed in 1964. The members were Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend, 1945–, Chiswick, London, U.K., guitar, ...

(Encyclopedia) Anne, 1665–1714, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1702–7), later queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1707–14), daughter of James II and Anne Hyde; successor to William III. Queen Anne ...

(Encyclopedia) Peregrinus, Petrus (Peter the Pilgrim) pēˈtrəs pĕrəgrĭnˈəs [key], c.1220–?, medieval scholar and soldier. The tutor of Roger Bacon, he wrote the first important study of magnetism, Epistola ...

(Encyclopedia) Earle or Earl, Ralph, 1751–1801, American portrait and landscape painter, b. Worcester co., Mass. He is purported to have painted four scenes of the battle of Lexington as an eyewitness, but is best...

(Encyclopedia) CS, chemical compound (orthochlorobenzalmalonitrile) used in riot control and, by the military, as a harassing agent. The compound is dispersed as an aerosol or as a finely divided powder. Exposure to...

(Encyclopedia) Susah so͞os [key], ancient Hadrumetum, city (1994 pop. 125,000), NE Tunisia, on the Gulf of Hammamat, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a fishing port and export point for olive oil. The city wa...

(Encyclopedia) Williams, Robert R., Jr., 1886–1965, American chemist, b. India, grad. Univ. of Chicago (B.S., 1907); brother of Roger John Williams. Research undertaken in 1910, while he was chemist (1908–15) at...

(Encyclopedia) Safaqis sfäks [key], city (1994 pop. 230,900), E Tunisia, on the Gulf of Qabis (Gabès), an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It is Tunisia's second largest city and has exports of phosphates, olive oil,...