Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) window, in architecture, the casement or sash, fitted with glass, which closes an opening in the wall of a structure without excluding light and air. It may have a square, round, or pointed head; may ...

(Encyclopedia) symmetry, generally speaking, a balance or correspondence between various parts of an object; the term symmetry is used both in the arts and in the sciences. In art and design, it is often used in a s...

(Encyclopedia) virtual reality (VR) or virtual environment (VE), computer-generated environment with and within which people can interact. The advantage of VR is that it can immerse people in an environment that wou...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Types of tracery tracery, bands or bars of stone, wood, or other material, either subdividing an opening or standing in relief against a wall and forming an ornamental pattern of solid members...

(Encyclopedia) Beaubourg zhôrzh pôNpēdo͞oˈ [key], museum in Paris, France; the popular name is derived from the district in which it is located. Proposed by French president Georges Pompidou in 1969, the center...

(Encyclopedia) radiator, device used to heat an area surrounding it or to cool a fluid circulating within it. The familiar radiators of steam and hot water heating systems in buildings are misnamed, as they operate ...

(Encyclopedia) red shift or redshift, in astronomy, the systematic displacement of individual lines in the spectrum of a celestial object toward the red, or longer wavelength, end of the visible spectrum. The effect...

(Encyclopedia) Giorgione jōrjôˈnā [key], c.1478–1510, Venetian painter, b. Castelfranco Veneto; fellow student of Titian under Giovanni Bellini in Venice. Giorgione was known also as Zorgo or Zorgi da Castelfr...

(Encyclopedia) Euclid yo͞oˈklĭd [key], fl. 300 b.c., Greek mathematician. Little is known of his life other than the fact that he taught at Alexandria, being associated with the school that grew up there in the l...

(Encyclopedia) meteorology, branch of science that deals with the atmosphere of a planet, particularly that of the earth, the most important application of which is the analysis and prediction of weather. Individual...