The N.Y. Public Library Sci Desk Ref 95

...and fun to flip through. And the section on computer science has a handy ASCII chart. Really, isn't getting this sort of spotty, high-level and often outdated scientific information exactly what the Internet is good for? (Do you know that the Internet "has now grown to possibly 2 million host computers all over the world?" - The NYPLSDR does.) If you think a random, off-line, walk through the science tree sounds like fun, get this book. I do and i did and i'm satisfied.

This is a terrific book. Practically every other sentence is a statistic! I love the big list of discoveries and inventions, which dates back to the discovery of fire!I love the huge section on computer science, amazing book! worth ten times the price!

Anyone who is in the sciences, especially the biological sciences, know that the information being discovered it growing at an exponential rate. This makes it incredibly difficult to write a textbook for science, since one way or another, you are going to miss recent knowledge which may not be widely available yet. It is also difficult to decide what science is important to learn. This is one of the major problems in developing science educational standards that all students between K-12th grade should be expected to learn. I am inclined to think that purchasing references books such as this fine example, would almost be preferable to buying textbooks that will be out of date within six months. A reference manual such as this is not intended to be used for reading straight through to gain information on one particular science. Rather it acts as a basic foundation from which to springboard science knowledge. The concept of recommending current reference books, distributing science journal papers and using the vast amount of science knowledge now available on the web is an idea that has been used at the college level for several years. It is now a good idea to extend this practice to the junior high and high school level, rather than attempting to cram textbooks full of scientific information which may or may not be valid and useful to students by the time they complete the class. My main objections to this reference book are two. First, for most deaf students (and for nondisabled students too) reseach has demonstrated that the more visual information given in terms of pictures, graphics, photographs, mathematical equations, etc., the more likely students will remember science. This book could definitely use more pictures and graphics, and it could definitely use color for enhancing learning. This particular reference would be great for on-line, especially if the New York Public Library was willing (or Macmillan) to keep it up-to-date...pictures, graphics, and photographs could easily be scanned to make the information more potent to the learner. The other objection is the placement of a large field of study, Neuroscience, in the biology section and it is given barely a nod, when it is as vital to our understanding as genetics is. Even though Neuroscience is considered to be a rather new field, its impact on medicine and behavioral sciences is too large to be dismissed. Perhaps the publishers will rectify this error the next time around.Otherwise, I find this to be an excellent resource, both for me and for those I teach. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

This Book, along with the rest of the New York Public Library Desk References, provides a good overview of a broad category that requires thousands of text books and research papers to cover in any depth. It is a great kicking off place for research into a myriad of science oriented fields. It's too bad that some students don't understand the value of this sort of reference book. To expect it to cover in depth all of the fields that it addresses shows a misunderstanding of the purpose of an encyclopedic reference. It gives one a start on his or her in-depth research, and provides enough information for many investigations. I found it to be a most useful reference book. It is also a very convenient one volume source of most conversion tables and equivalents. Want to convert furlongs per fortnight to miles per hour? With the information included here you can do it.I cannot end this review without commenting on the statement made by one reviewer that he had covered all this material in his high school science classes. What an amazing science department to cover everything from Astronomy to Evolutionary Theory to Genetics to Nuclear and Quantum Physics to Environmental Sciences to Space Exploration and to Paleontology to name but a few. I'd like to send my children to his or her school.

What should one expect from a reference book that covers such a broad subject as "Science/"1. A breakdown into various fields of science.2. Some idea of why each field of science is important.3. Basic concepts within each field4.Biographical information about men and women who have made key contributions to the field under discussion.5. Historical highlights within the field under discussion6. Terminology used in each field.7. Lists of additional sources of information available to the researcher in need of more in-depth information.How well does THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE DESK REFERENCE meet these criteria?It is broken down into 14 major categories; 3 categories of general information -- "Scientific Measurement," Scientific Symbols and Signs," and "Time." The next 10 sections are devoted to specific fields of science such as "Biology," "Physics," and "Environmental Science." The final section is devoted to "Useful Science Resources" such as zoos, museums, scientific organizations, et al.Using the section on Chemistry as an example, each section is broken down into subsections along these lines: A general definition of ChemistryA listing of the generally recognized branches of Chemistry (Analytical, Bio-, Geo-, etc.)Classifications, Atomic Structures, States of Matter, Periodic Table of the Elements, and many othersAn alphabetical listing of key contributors to the field of Chemistry throughout historyA chronological listing of key discoveries in Chemistry from 600 B. C. to the presentA list of common terms used in ChemistryFinally, a list of 8 sources (Text Books, Scientific Papers, etc.) of additional information for those who wish to go into a more detailed study of a particular aspect of Chemistry.This same type of information is provided in the section devoted to each of the other main categories of science.It is my opinion that this book provides exactly the sort of information that one might expect from a one volume reference book covering such a broad field, and, through its sections on additional sources of information, provides the information needed by a student or researcher who wishes to delve deeper into a specific subject.