Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Simple transistor circuit transistor, three-terminal, solid-state electronic device used for amplification and switching. It is the solid-state analog to the triode electron tube; the transist...

(Encyclopedia) Riga rēˈgə [key], city (2011 provisional pop. 657,424), capital of Latvia, on the Daugava (Western Dvina) River near its entry into the Gulf of Riga. A major Baltic port, it is also a rail junction...

(Encyclopedia) diplomatic service, organized body of agents maintained by governments to communicate with one another. In the 20th and 21st cent. there have been numerous meetings of heads of state and foreign min...

(Encyclopedia) commerce, traffic in goods, usually thought of as trade between states or nations. Engaged in by all peoples from the earliest times, it has been carried on in some areas and by some peoples more than...

(Encyclopedia) weather, state of the atmosphere at a given time and place with regard to temperature, air pressure (see barometer), wind, humidity, cloudiness, and precipitation. The term weather is restricted to co...

(Encyclopedia) poll, technique for ascertaining the attitudes or opinions of the total, or some segment of the total, population on given questions, usually on political, economic, and social conditions. Sampling ...

(Encyclopedia) Gibraltar jĭbrôlˈtər [key], British overseas territory (2015 est. pop. 34,000), 2.5 sq mi (6.5 sq km), on a narrow, rocky peninsula extending into the Mediterranean Sea from SW Spain. Most of the ...

(Encyclopedia) news agency, local, national, international, or technical organization that gathers and distributes news, usually for newspapers, periodicals, and broadcasters. From 1915 until the 1940s, news age...

(Encyclopedia) marketing, in economics, that part of the process of production and exchange that is concerned with the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer. In popular usage it is defined as the dist...

(Encyclopedia) store, commonly a shop or other establishment for the retail sale of commodities, but also a place where wholesale supplies are kept, exhibited, or sold. Retailing—the sale of merchandise to the con...