Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Field, Marshall, 1834–1906, American merchant, b. Conway, Mass. In 1856, after five years' apprenticeship in a general store in Pittsfield, Mass., he went to Chicago and became a clerk for Cooley, W...

(Encyclopedia) Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), fl. 2d cent. a.d., celebrated Greco-Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He made his observations in Alexandria and was the last great astronomer of ancie...

(Encyclopedia) Ute yo͞ot, yo͞oˈtē [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Shoshonean group of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In t...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Van Allen radiation belts: The solar wind, a stream of protons, electrons, and ions coming from the sun, gives the belts their asymmetrical shape. Van Allen radiation belts, belts of radiation...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Signs of the zodiac CEE zodiac zōˈdēăk [key] [Gr. zoion=animal], in astronomy, zone of the sky that includes about 8° on either side of the ecliptic. The apparent paths of the sun, the...

(Encyclopedia) wild rice, tall aquatic plant (Zizania aquatica) of the family Poaceae (grass family), of a genus separate from common rice (Oryza). Wild rice (called also Canada rice, Indian rice, and water oats) is...

(Encyclopedia) radiation rāˌdēāˈshən [key], term applied to the emission and transmission of energy through space or through a material medium and also to the radiated energy itself. In its widest sense the te...

(Encyclopedia) Grand Canyon, great gorge of the Colorado River, one of the natural wonders of the world; c.1 mi (1.6 km) deep, from 4 to 18 mi (6.4–29 km) wide, and 217 mi (349 km) long, NW Ariz. The canyon shows ...

(Encyclopedia) Plato plāˈtō [key], 427?–347 b.c., Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization. Many of the late dialogues are devoted to te...

(Encyclopedia) Inca ĭngˈkə [key], pre-Columbian empire, W South America. The name Inca may specifically refer to the emperor, but is generally used to mean the empire or the people. When Francisco Pizarro lande...