Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Fugard, Athol (Athol Harold Lanigan Fugard) ätōlˈ fyo͞oˈgard, fo͞o– [key], 1932–, South African playwright, actor, and director. In 1965 he became director of the Serpent Players in Port Eli...

(Encyclopedia) radar, system or technique for detecting the position, movement, and nature of a remote object by means of radio waves reflected from its surface. Although most radar units use microwave frequencies, ...

(Encyclopedia) matter, anything that has mass and occupies space. Matter is sometimes called koinomatter (Gr. koinos=common) to distinguish it from antimatter, or matter composed of antiparticles. The atomic th...

(Encyclopedia) Oakland, city (1990 pop. 372,242), seat of Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1852. Together with San Francisco and San Jose, the city comprises the fourth largest m...

(Encyclopedia) larynx lârˈĭngks [key], organ of voice in mammals. Commonly known as the voice box, the larynx is a tubular chamber about 2 in. (5 cm) high, consisting of walls of cartilage bound by ligaments and ...

(Encyclopedia) histology hĭstŏlˈəjē [key], study of the groups of specialized cells called tissues that are found in most multicellular plants and animals. Histologists study the organization of tissues at all ...

(Encyclopedia) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), federal observatory for radio astronomy, founded in 1956 and operated under contract with the National Science Foundation by Associated Universities, Inc.,...

(Encyclopedia) niobium nīōˈbēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Nb; at. no. 41; at. wt. 92.90638; m.p. about 2,468℃; b.p. 4,742℃; sp. gr. 8.57 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +4, or +5. Niobium is a rare...

(Encyclopedia) motorcycle, motor vehicle whose design is based on the bicycle. The German inventor Gottlieb Daimler is generally credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885. The motorcycle did not ...

(Encyclopedia) Dick, Philip K. (Philip Kindred Dick), 1928–82, American science-fiction writer, b. Chicago. Dick often wrote of the psychological states of individuals caught in altered realities where the everyda...