Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) exobiology or astrobiology, search for extraterrestrial life within the solar system and throughout the universe. Philosophical speculation that there might be other worlds similar to ours dates back ...

(Encyclopedia) Cenozoic era sēnəzōˈĭk, sĕn– [key], last major division of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) lasting from 65 million years ago to the present. The Cenozoic...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Examples of asexual reproduction reproduction, capacity of all living systems to give rise to new systems similar to themselves. The term reproduction may refer to this power of self-duplicati...

(Encyclopedia) library school, educational institution providing professional training for librarians (see also library). Librarians were trained by apprenticeship until the late 19th cent. The first school for trai...

(Encyclopedia) capital, in economics, the elements of production from which an income is derived, usually defined with the exception of land and labor. As originally used in business, capital denoted interest-bearin...

(Encyclopedia) Sieyès, Emmanuel Joseph ĕmänüĕlˈ zhôzĕfˈ syāĕsˈ [key], 1748–1836, French revolutionary and statesman. He was a clergyman before the Revolution and was known as Abbé Sieyès. His pamphle...

(Encyclopedia) mineral, inorganic substance occurring in nature, having a characteristic and homogeneous chemical composition, definite physical properties, and, usually, a definite crystalline form. A few of the mi...

(Encyclopedia) serotonin sĕrˌətōˈnĭn [key], organic compound that was first recognized as a powerful vasoconstrictor occurring in blood serum. It was partially purified, crystallized, and named in 1948, and it...

(Encyclopedia) European Economic Community (EEC), organization established (1958) by a treaty signed in 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany (now Germany); it was known infor...

(Encyclopedia) multiple personality, a very rare psychological disorder in which a person has two or more distinct personalities, each with its own thoughts, feelings, and patterns of behavior. The personalities oft...