Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Geissler tube gīsˈlər [key], gas discharge tube in which light is produced when an electric discharge passes through the rarefied gas in the tube. The color of the glow depends on the gas used. The...

(Encyclopedia) Keyser, Thomas de də kīˈzər [key], c.1596–1667, Dutch portrait and figure painter of Amsterdam. He was the outstanding practitioner in his field prior to Rembrandt. De Keyser's work is distingui...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Video transmission and reception of color and black-and-white television: The camera lens focuses collected light rays into mirrors, which separate the image into its three primary color compon...

(Encyclopedia) casein kāˈsēn [key], well-defined group of proteins found in milk, constituting about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk, but only 40% in human milk. Casein is a remarkably efficient nutrient, suppl...

(Encyclopedia) Chabrier, Alexis Emmanuel älĕksēˈ ĕmänüĕlˈ shäbrēāˈ [key], 1841–94, French composer. His best-known works are an orchestral rhapsody, España (1883); an opera, Le Roi malgré lui (1887)...

(Encyclopedia) Shannon, Sir James Jebusa, 1862–1923, English portrait and figure painter, b. Auburn, N.Y. To study art he moved (1878) to London, where he won recognition from English society and became one of Eng...

(Encyclopedia) whale oil, oil extracted from the blubber and other parts of certain species of whales. It varies in composition, color, and the degree of fishy odor according to the method and extent of refining. Fo...

(Encyclopedia) aquatint äˈkwətĭntˌ [key], etching technique. The plate is covered with a porous ground, or resist, through which acid bites many tiny pockmarks in the metal. If an area is to be completely white...

(Encyclopedia) Louisville lo͞oˈēvĭl [key], city (1990 pop. 269,063), seat of Jefferson co., NW Ky., at the Falls of the Ohio; inc. 1780. It is the largest city in Kentucky, a port of entry, and an important indu...

(Encyclopedia) tattoo, the marking of the skin with punctures into which pigment is rubbed. The word originates from the Tahitian tattau [to mark]. The term is sometimes extended to scarification, which consists of ...