Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) meson mēˈzŏn [key] [Gr.,=middle (i.e., middleweight)], class of elementary particles whose masses are generally between those of the lepton class of lighter particles and those of the baryon class ...

(Encyclopedia) corn, in botany. The name corn is given to the leading cereal crop of any major region. In England corn means wheat; in Scotland and Ireland, oats. The grain called corn in the United States is Indian...

(Encyclopedia) coronary artery disease, condition that results when the coronary arteries are narrowed or occluded, most commonly by atherosclerotic deposits of fibrous and fatty tissue. Coronary artery disease is t...

(Encyclopedia) Cossacks kŏsˈăks, –əks [key], Rus. Kazaki, Ukr. Kozaky, peasant-soldiers in Ukraine and in several regions of Russia who, until 1918, held certain privileges in return for rendering military ser...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Pleurobrachia, representative of the phylum Ctenophora Ctenophora tĭnŏfˈərə [key], a small phylum of exclusively marine, invertebrate animals, commonly known as comb jellies. Because they...

(Encyclopedia) James, William, 1842–1910, American philosopher, b. New York City, M.D. Harvard, 1869; son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James and brother of the novelist Henry James. In 1872 he joined the ...

(Encyclopedia) Wallace, Henry Agard, 1888–1965, vice president of the United States (1941–45), b. Adair co., Iowa; grad. Iowa State Univ. He was (1910–24) associate editor of Wallaces' Farmer, an influential a...

(Encyclopedia) production, in economics, all those activities that have to do with the creation of commodities, by imparting to raw materials utility, added value, or the ability to satisfy human wants. The farmer w...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Longitudinal cross section of a root root, in botany, the descending axis of a plant, as contrasted with the stem, the ascending axis. In most plants the root is underground, but in epiphytes ...

(Encyclopedia) Seoul sāˈo͞ol, sāˈo͝ol, sōl [key], city (1995 pop. 10,229,262), capital of South Korea, NW South Korea, on the Han River. It has special status equivalent to that of a province. The political, ...