Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Di Rupo, Elio āˈlēō dē ro͞oˈpō [key], 1951–, Belgian political leader. Born to Italian immigrant parents, he is a chemist by education and was a lecturer (1977–78) at the Univ. of Leeds, E...

(Encyclopedia) breakwater, offshore structure to protect a harbor from wave energy or deflect currents. When it also serves as a pier, it is called a quay; when covered by a roadway it is called a mole. In the Unite...

(Encyclopedia) Donauwörth dōˈnouvört [key], town, Bavaria, SW Germany, a port at the confluence of the Donau ...

(Encyclopedia) Benedict's solution, deep-blue alkaline solution used to test for the presence of the aldehyde functional group, −CHO. The substance to be tested is heated with Benedict's solution; formation of a b...

(Encyclopedia) Schuman, Robert rōbĕrˈ sho͞omäNˈ [key], 1886–1963, French statesman and lawyer, b. grand duchy of Luxembourg. A member of the Catholic Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP), he was finance mi...

(Encyclopedia) Cassiopeia, in astronomy, prominent northern constellation located almost directly opposite the Big Dipper across the north celestial pole. Five bright stars in the constellation form a rough W (or M)...

(Encyclopedia) Kodok fəshōˈdə [key], town, NE South Sudan, on the White Nile. In 1898 it was the scene of the Fashoda Incident, which brought Britain and France to the brink of war and resulted, in 1899, in an A...

(Encyclopedia) Franconia Mountains frăngkōˈnēə [key], range in the White Mts., N N.H., rising to 5,249 ft (1,600 m) at Mt. Lafayette; part of White Mts. National Forest. Franconia Notch, a scenic, narrow pass (...

(Encyclopedia) Walker, Sir John Ernest, 1941–, English biochemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1969. He has been a researcher at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge since 1974. In 1997 Walk...

(Encyclopedia) ureter yo͝orēˈtər [key], thick-walled tube that conveys urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder. It is approximately 10 in. (25.4 cm) long, with the upper half located in the abdomen and the ...