Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) precipitation, in chemistry, a process in which a solid is separated from a suspension, sol, or solution. In a suspension such as sand in water the solid spontaneously precipitates (settles out) on st...

(Encyclopedia) Balbus (Lucius Cornelius Balbus) bălˈbəs [key], fl. 1st cent. b.c., Roman statesman, b. Gades (now Cádiz, Spain). He won notice for brilliant service against Sertorius, and Pompey brought him to R...

(Encyclopedia) Wilson, J. Tuzo (John Tuzo Wilson), 1908–93, Canadian geologist and geophysicist, b. Ottawa, Ph.D. Princeton (1936), M.A. Cambridge (1940). He worked for the Geological Survey of Canada (1936–39) ...

(Encyclopedia) bail, in law, procurement of release from prison of a person awaiting trial or an appeal, by the deposit of security to insure his submission at the required time to legal authority. The monetary valu...

(Encyclopedia) Ballinger, Richard Achilles bălˈĭnjər [key], 1858–1922, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1909–11), b. Boonesboro (now in Boone), Iowa. He was mayor of Seattle (1904–6) and commissioner of the...

(Encyclopedia) spinal puncture, surgical penetration of the spinal canal by a hollow needle introduced between two of the lumbar vertebrae. The arrangement permits injection of antibiotics or anesthetics (see anesth...

(Encyclopedia) Garland, Augustus Hill, 1832–99, American lawyer and politician, b. Tipton co., Tenn. He became a prominent lawyer in Arkansas and during the Civil War served in the Confederate House of Representat...

(Encyclopedia) Taney, Roger Brooke tôˈnē [key], 1777–1864, American jurist, 5th chief justice of the United States (1836–64), b. Calvert co., Md., grad. Dickinson College, 1795. The Senate, incensed by Tan...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Chain reaction: A neutron (n) strikes the uranium nucleus (U-235), causing it to split into fission products A and B and release two neutrons. These neutrons can in turn cause further fissions....

(Encyclopedia) punctuation [Lat.,=point], the use of special signs in writing to clarify how words are used; the term also refers to the signs themselves. In every language, besides the sounds of the words that are ...