Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) glycolysis glīkŏlˈĭsĭs [key], term given to the metabolic pathway utilized by most microorganisms (yeast and bacteria) and by all “higher” animals (including humans) for the degradation of gl...

(Encyclopedia) minimalism, schools of contemporary art and music, with their origins in the 1960s, that have emphasized simplicity and objectivity. In music, the minimalist movement was, like minimal art, a react...

(Encyclopedia) holography hŏlŏgˈrəfē, hō– [key], method of reproducing a three-dimensional image of an object by means of light wave patterns recorded on a photographic plate or film. Holography is sometimes...

(Encyclopedia) potato or white potato, common name for a perennial plant (Solanum tuberosum) of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family) and for its swollen underground stem, a tuber, which is one of the most widel...

(Encyclopedia) poultry, domesticated fowl kept primarily for meat and eggs; including birds of the order Galliformes, e.g., the chicken, turkey, guinea fowl, pheasant, quail, and peacock; and natatorial (swimming) b...

(Encyclopedia) colon cancer, cancer of any part of the colon (often called the large intestine). Colon cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. Epidemiological evidence has shown that ...

(Encyclopedia) Homeland Security, United States Department of (DHS), executive department of the federal government charged with protecting the security of the American homeland as its main responsibility. Its prima...

(Encyclopedia) horseshoe crab, large, primitive marine arthropod of the family Limulidae, related to the spider and scorpion and sometimes called a king crab (a name also used for the largest of the edible true crab...

(Encyclopedia) convention, in U.S. politics, a gathering of delegates to nominate candidates for elective office and to formulate party policy. They are held at the national, state, and local levels. State convent...

(Encyclopedia) shoe, foot covering, usually of leather, consisting of a sole and a portion above the sole called an upper. In prehistoric times skins or hides may have been tied around the foot for protection and wa...