Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hall, Stuart, 1932–2014, Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist, b. Kingston, Jamaica. Hall attended Jamaica College and moved to Eng...

(Encyclopedia) Puszta po͞oˈstä [key], arid grasslands that once covered a large part of the Alföld, E Hungary. They were used for extensive cattle raising. With the irrigation and drainage projects of the late 1...

(Encyclopedia) European Investment Bank, nonprofit bank created in 1958 by the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (now part of the European Union [EU]). The bank makes or guarantees loans to E...

(Encyclopedia) wildlife refuge, haven or sanctuary for animals; an area of land or of land and water set aside and maintained, usually by government or private organization, for the preservation and protection of on...

(Encyclopedia) wind chill, the cooling effect of wind and temperature combined, expressed in terms of the effect produced by a lower, windless temperature, also called wind chill factor, wind chill temperature, wind...

(Encyclopedia) Baker, James Addison, 3d, 1930–, U.S. political leader, b. Houston, Tex. After graduating from Princeton, he served in the U.S. Marines and earned a law degree from the Univ. of Texas. A successful ...

(Encyclopedia) irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e...

(Encyclopedia) Suitland, uninc. city (1990 pop. 35,400 including Silver Hill), Prince Georges co., central Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C. The Suitland Federal Center houses offices of the U.S. Census Bureau, Nati...

(Encyclopedia) Audubon Society, National, one of the oldest and best-known U.S. environmental organizations; founded 1886 by George Cird Grinnell and named for John James Audubon. The nonprofit organization, which h...

(Encyclopedia) neem tree or margosa tree, a fast-growing broad-leaved evergreen, Azadirachta indica, native to India and Myanmar. Its extracts have been used for centuries in Asia as pesticides, toothpaste, medicine...