Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Haring, Keith hârˈĭng [key], 1958–90, American artist, b. Kutztown, Pa. He moved to New York City in 1975 and studied at the School of Visual Arts (1978–79). Fascinated with the 1970s graffiti ...

(Encyclopedia) silicone, polymer in which atoms of silicon and oxygen alternate in a chain; various organic radicals, such as the methyl group, CH3, are bound to the silicon atoms. Silicones, which are unusually sta...

(Encyclopedia) Sotomayor, Sonia sōtōmīyôrˈ [key], 1954–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2009–), b. Bronx, N.Y., to Puerto Rican parents, grad. Princeton (B.A. 1976), Yale (J.D. 1979). She work...

(Encyclopedia) verdict, in law, official decision of a jury respecting questions of fact that the judge has laid before it. In the United States, verdicts must be unanimous in federal courts; majority verdicts are c...

(Encyclopedia) beta particle, one of the three types of radiation resulting from natural radioactivity. Beta radiation (or beta rays) was identified and named by E. Rutherford, who found that it consists of high-spe...

(Encyclopedia) scarlet fever or scarlatina, an acute, communicable infection, caused by group A hemolytic streptococcal bacteria (see streptococcus) that produce an erythrogenic toxin. The disease is now uncommon, p...

(Encyclopedia) Spratly Islands, group of about 100 low islands and coral reefs in the central South China Sea, intersecting busy shipping lanes. The whole group is claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and parts ar...

(Encyclopedia) function, in mathematics, a relation f that assigns to each member x of some set X a corresponding member y of some set Y; y is said to be a function of x, usually denoted f(x) (read “f of x ”)....

(Encyclopedia) legislative apportionment, subdivision of a political body (e.g., a state or province) for the purpose of electing legislative representatives. In the United States, the Constitution requires that Con...

(Encyclopedia) Law, William, 1686–1761, English clergyman, noted for his controversial, devotional, and mystical writings. One of the nonjurors, Law was deprived of his fellowship in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, a...