Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) gluon, an elementary particle that mediates, or carries, the strong, or nuclear, force. In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the quantum field theory of strong interactions, the interaction of quarks (to ...

(Encyclopedia) photographic processing, set of procedures by which the latent, or invisible, image produced when a photographic film is exposed to light is made into a permanent visible image. The negative may b...

(Encyclopedia) Lochner, Stephan shtĕfˈän lôkhˈnər [key], d. 1451, German religious painter of the school of Cologne. He combined the Gothic tradition with a new naturalism and a pure color sense. A Last Judgme...

(Encyclopedia) dextrin, any one of a number of carbohydrates having the same general formula as starch but a smaller and less complex molecule. They are polysaccharides and are produced as intermediate products in t...

(Encyclopedia) flame test, test used in the identification of certain metals. It is based on the observation that light emitted by any element gives a unique spectrum when passed through a spectroscope. When a salt ...

(Encyclopedia) Fama, Eugene Francis, 1939–, 1939–, U.S. economist, b. Boston, Mass., grad. Univ. of Chicago (M.B.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1964). He has taught at the Univ. of Chicago's Graduate School of Business since 19...

(Encyclopedia) chameleon kəmēˈlēən, –mēlˈyən [key], small- to medium-sized lizard of the family Chamaeleonidae. More than 150 species are found in sub-Saharan Africa, with a few in S Europe and S Asia. The...

(Encyclopedia) Maxwell, James Clerk klärk [key], 1831–79, great Scottish physicist. After a brilliant career at Edinburgh and Cambridge, where he won early recognition with mathematical papers, he was a professor...

(Encyclopedia) pigment, substance that imparts color to other materials. In paint, the pigment is a powdered substance which, when mixed in the liquid vehicle, imparts color to a painted surface. The pigments used i...

(Encyclopedia) Caro, Sir Anthony Alfred, 1924–2014, British sculptor, one of the most important and influential modernist sculptors of the late 20th cent. Educated as an engineer (grad. Cambridge, 1944), he studie...