Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Turrell, James, 1943–, American installation and land artist, b. Los Angeles, grad. Pomona College (B.A., 1965), Claremont Graduate School (M.F.A., 1973). Turrell's career began in the 1960s art sce...

(Encyclopedia) Russian State Library (RSL), Russia's national library, located in Moscow; one of the world's largest libraries. Moscow's first public library, the RSL was founded in 1862 as the library portion of th...

(Encyclopedia) plateresque plătərĕskˈ [key] [Span.,=silversmith], earliest phase of Spanish Renaissance architecture and decoration, in the early 16th cent. Its richness of effect was primarily based upon the wo...

(Encyclopedia) selection. In Darwinism, the mechanism of natural selection is considered of major importance in the process of evolution. Popular formulations sometimes envisage a struggle for existence in which dir...

(Encyclopedia) Gabo, Naum noum gäˈbō [key], 1890–1977, Russian sculptor, architect, theorist, and teacher, brother of Antoine Pevsner. Gabo lived in Munich and Norway until the end of the revolution, when he re...

(Encyclopedia) Cunningham, Merce (Mercier Philip Cunningham), 1919–2009, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Centralia, Wash. Cunningham studied modern dance with Martha Graham and ballet at Balanchine's ...

(Encyclopedia) ventilation, process of supplying fresh air to an enclosed space and removing from it air contaminated by odors, gases, or smoke. Proper ventilation requires also that there be a movement or circulati...

(Encyclopedia) Norwalk nôrˈwôkˌ [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 94,279), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; settled in the 1850s, inc. 1957. With the arrival (1875) of the Southern Pacific RR, it became a center for the dairy ...

(Encyclopedia) Ascension əsĕnˈchən [key], island, 34 sq mi (88 sq km), in the S Atlantic, NW of Saint Helena and belonging to the British St. Helena overseas territory. Georgetown i...

(Encyclopedia) noise, any signal that does not convey useful information. Electrical noise consists of electrical currents or voltages that interfere with the operation of electronic systems. Electrical noise limits...