Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

D'Alembert's principle

(Encyclopedia)D'Alembert's principle dălˈəmbârzˌ [key], in mechanics, principle permitting the reduction of a problem in dynamics to one in statics. This is accomplished by introducing a fictitious force equal...

Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich mēkhəyēlˈ vəsēˈlyəvĭch ləmənôˈsəf [key], 1711–65, Russian scientist, scholar, and writer, an outstanding figure in 18th-century Russia. Lomonosov was the...

baroque, in art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)baroque bərōkˈ [key], in art and architecture, a style developed in Europe, England, and the Americas during the 17th and early 18th cent. The baroque style is characterized by an emphasis on unity...

Clausius, Rudolf Julius Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Clausius, Rudolf Julius Emanuel ro͞oˈdôlf yo͞oˈlyo͝os āmäˈno͞oĕl klouˈzēo͝os [key], 1822–88, German mathematical physicist. A pioneer in the science of thermodynamics, he introduced th...

physics

(Encyclopedia)physics, branch of science traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and is still known by this na...

Brighton and Hove

(Encyclopedia)Brighton and Hove, city and unitary authority and district, SE England. It was formed by the merger of the boroughs of Brighton and Hove in 1997, and be...

Leopold and Loeb

(Encyclopedia)Leopold and Loeb lōb [key], notorious American murderers defended by Clarence Darrow in 1924. The gregarious, dominating Richard A. Loeb (1905–1936) and the shy, submissive Nathan F. Leopold, Jr. (...

Philemon and Baucis

(Encyclopedia)Philemon and Baucis, in Greek mythology, Phrygian husband and wife. When Zeus and Hermes visited earth as men, only Philemon and Baucis offered them hospitality. As a reward they were saved from a pun...

Bonnie and Clyde

(Encyclopedia)Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker, 1910–34, b. Rowena, Tex., and Clyde Barrow, 1909–34, b. Tellice, Tex., notorious American criminals during the Great Depression. Joining forces in 1932, they trave...

Browse by Subject