Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) poison gas, any of various gases sometimes used in warfare or riot control because of their poisonous or corrosive nature. These gases may be roughly grouped according to the portal of entry into the ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Generator: The rotation of the conducting coil of wire in a magnetic field causes a current to be induced in the coil. This current is alternating and is conducted from the coil by means of sli...

(Encyclopedia) African languages, geographic rather than linguistic classification of languages spoken on the African continent. Historically the term refers to the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, which do not belo...

(Encyclopedia) criminal law, the branch of law that defines crimes, treats of their nature, and provides for their punishment. A tort is a civil wrong committed against an individual; a crime, on the other hand, is ...

(Encyclopedia) London Company, corporation composed of stockholders residing in and about London, which, together with the Plymouth Company (see Virginia Company), was granted (1606) a charter by King James I to fou...

(Encyclopedia) Anthony, Susan Brownell, 1820–1906, American reformer and leader of the woman-suffrage movement, b. Adams, Mass.; daughter of Daniel Anthony, Quaker abolitionist. From the age of 17, when she was a ...

(Encyclopedia) Netanyahu, Benjamin or Binyamin bēnˈyəmēnˌ nĕtənyäˈho͞o [key], 1949–, Isr...

(Encyclopedia) monopoly mənōpˈəlē [key], market condition in which there is only one seller of a certain commodity; by virtue of the long-run control over supply, such a seller is able to exert nearly total con...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 A. Eclipsing binary: Primary component passing behind secondary (dimmer) component B. Light curve for eclipsing binary binary star or binary system, pair of stars that are held together by the...

(Encyclopedia) Dulles, John Foster dŭlˈəs [key], 1888–1959, U.S. secretary of state (1953–59), b. Washington, D.C.; brother of Allen Dulles, grandson of John Watson Foster, secretary of state under President ...