Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Angkor ăngˈkôr [key], site of several capitals of the Khmer Empire, north of Tônlé Sap, NW Cambodia, for about five and a half centuries (9th to 15th), the heart of the empire. Extending over an ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 A. AM transmitter B. AM receiver radio, transmission or reception of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range. The term is commonly applied also to the equipment used, especially...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Plan of Greek amphitheater CE5 Proscenium theater CE5 Theater-in-the-round theater, building, structure, or space in which dramatic performances take place. In its broadest sense theater...

(Encyclopedia) meteor, appearance of a small particle flying through space that interacts with the earth's upper atmosphere. While still outside the atmosphere, the particle is known as a meteoroid. Countless meteor...

(Encyclopedia) parachute, umbrellalike device designed to retard the descent of a falling body by creating drag as it passes through the air. The development of modern aircraft has led to many experiments in the aer...

(Encyclopedia) materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought...

(Encyclopedia) star cluster, a group of stars near each other in space and resembling each other in certain characteristics that suggest a common origin for the group. Stars in the same cluster move at the same rate...

(Encyclopedia) insulation ĭnˌsəlāˈshən, ĭnˌsyo͝o– [key], use of materials or devices to inhibit or prevent the conduction of heat or of electricity. Common heat insulators are, fur, feathers, fiberglass, ...

(Encyclopedia) Ionic order īŏnˈĭk [key], one of the early orders of architecture. The spreading scroll-shaped capital is the distinctive feature of the Ionic order; it was primarily a product of Asia Minor, wher...

(Encyclopedia) Feynman, Richard Phillips fīnˈmən [key], 1918–88, American physicist, b. New York City, B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1939, Ph.D. Princeton, 1942. From 1942 to 1945 he worked on the...