A Dictionary of Plant Sciences (Oxford Paperback Reference Series) [Paperback]

Michael Allaby (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192800779 | ISBN-13: 978-0192800770 | Publication Date: January 28, 1999 | Edition: 2

This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date paperback dictionary of botany available. Drawing on the information contained in the acclaimed Oxford Dictionary of Natural History, the text has been fully revised for this new edition, with over 5500 clear and concise entries. The Dictionary of Botany will be invaluable to students, amateur botanists and naturalists, and everyone with an interest in plants and their environments.

Key features of the Second Edition:

* Wide coverage including biochemistry, plant physiology, cytology, ecology, genetics, evolution, biogeography, Earth history, and the Earth sciences

* World-wide coverage of taxonomic groups--one-third of the entries are devoted to taxa, from bacteria and fungi to the main groups of flowering and non-flowering plants

* Many new entries added from the field of molecular biology

Editorial Reviews

Review

Allaby succeeds remarkably well over a wide range of disciplines ... leaves one a better informed person, and who could ask for more from a dictionary? THES

About the Author

About the Author Michael Allaby is a well-known writer on science and the environment. He is General Editor of The Oxford Dictionary of Natural History.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (January 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192800779
• ISBN-13: 978-0192800770
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful for school or college, but limited value for university botany, June 14, 2010

By 

R. A. Lang "madbioman" (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dictionary of Plant Sciences (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

Plant enthusiasts have been waiting a long time for the publication of a comprehensive dictionary of botany (Plant Science) which is useful at all readership levels up to upper-undergraduate (i.e. university). Unfortunately, Allaby's dictionary doesn't really make the grade. This dictionary does include sufficient entries about plants(with a bare minimum of detail in each entry)to make it a worthwile reference for school students and also for those college students who don't want to dig too deep; but even at this introductory level of knowledge, this dictionary offers little more than can be found in a few glossaries at the end of some biology textbooks.
[ What a pity, as Allaby's other effort(Oxford Dictionary of Zoology) is absolutely first rate. ]
This reference does not really do justice to the majesty and breadth and enormous scope of modern plant science; after all, plants are the basic support structure for all of the life that we currently know of in the entire universe.
Hmmmm....what went wrong? The problem with this dictionary is that a good part of the space in this fairly slim reference has been taken up with entries about bacteria and fungi. Once the editorial decision was made to include many entries about bacteria and fungi, there was never going to be enough room left in this book for enough breadth and depth of information about plants. Nobody would argue with the inclusion of some fungal entries in a botany book; but bacteria (microbiology) should be put in their own dictionary!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Purchased as a gift, January 3, 2010

By 

anonymous aussie (Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Dictionary of Plant Sciences (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

I purchased this book as a gift for my sister-in-law who is studying for her Environmental Science degree.
Given that the book was not for me I can only review the basics.

I have given the book 4 stars purely because I cannot confirm the adequacy of it's content, though it appears very good to the layman's eye:

- Nice, strong binding.
- Attractive and well presented.
- Perfect palm size
- Appears very thorough in content
- Great price

I'm happy with my purchase - and so was my S.I.L.