Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) day, period of time for the earth to rotate once on its axis. The ordinary day, or solar day, is measured relative to the sun, being the time between successive passages of the sun over a stationary o...

(Encyclopedia) time and motion study, analysis of the operations required to produce a manufactured article in a factory, with the aim of increasing efficiency. Each operation is studied minutely and analyzed in ord...

(Encyclopedia) Mercury, in astronomy, nearest planet to the sun, at a mean distance of 36 million mi (58 million km); its period of revolution is 88 days. Mercury passes through phases similar to those of the moon a...

(Encyclopedia) period, unit of time on the geologic timescale. Periods are shorter than an era and longer than an epoch. Periods are of variable length, generally lasting tens of millions of years, with characterist...

(Encyclopedia) time, in music: see tempo; meter; rhythm; syncopation; metronome and musical notation. ...

(Encyclopedia) corona, luminous envelope surrounding the sun, outside the chromosphere. Its density is less than one billionth that of the earth's atmosphere. The corona is visible only at the time of totality durin...

(Encyclopedia) Hammerfest häˈmərfĕst [key], town, Finnmark co., N Norway, on Kvaløy island. It is the n...

(Encyclopedia) time, sequential arrangement of all events, or the interval between two events in such a sequence. The concept of time may be discussed on several different levels: physical, psychological, philosophi...

(Encyclopedia) Pacific Rim National Park, 60 sq mi (155 sq km), along the west coast of Vancouver Island, near Ucluelet, SE British Columbia, Canada; est. 1971. The park includes Long Beach, several islands, the his...

(Encyclopedia) growing season, period during which plant growth takes place. In temperate climates the growing season is limited by seasonal changes in temperature and is defined as the period between the last killi...