The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference (The New York Public Library Series) (Paperback)

by Patricia Barnes-Svarney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Considering this volume is a mere 668 pages, it does a remarkable job of covering the major concepts and facts of biology, human anatomy, chemistry, physics, astronomy, Earth sciences, meteorology, environmental sciences, and engineering. Not surprising, as it was written by the New York Public Library staff who know what questions are most frequently asked by a knowledge-hungry public.

The ultimate test of such a reference volume is scrutiny of areas with which one is intimately familiar, then reading up on areas about which one is woefully ignorant. This book passed both tests: The biology chapter was sound (though I wanted much more information about evolutionary principles), and the section on particle physics was informative. Even if you already have a collection of several thousand books covering most of the sciences (like myself), this is a handy reference. And if you're a student or want access to a lot of scientific knowledge in the smallest possible non-digital package, this resource is essential for those times when you simply can't get to the library.

From Library Journal
From formulas to the periodic table of the elements, from a list of endangered animals to computer terminology, this is an excellent sourcebook of scientific information. You could not find a more comprehensive and readable desk-sized one-volume science encyclopedia. Thirteen chapters cover major divisions of science (e.g., astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer and environmental sciences, technology) listing basic facts, formulas, terms, and processes. One additional chapter lists "useful resources" such as books, organizations, museums, zoos, national parks, and planetariums. This is more of a reference book than the Carnegie Library's Science and Technology Desk Reference (LJ 3/15/93), which contains "1500 answers to frequently asked questions" such as which dog breeds are the most dangerous. Clearly written and well indexed, this will be an excellent reference book for all school and public libraries. Highly recommended for all ages.?Laura E. Lipton, Ctr. for Urban Horticulture, Seattle
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 758 pages
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company.; 1 edition (September 25, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028604032
• ISBN-13: 978-0028604039
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,514 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only appropriate for the general, non-science public, November 22, 1997

By	Christopher Moore ([e-mail]) (California or New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews

I found this book to cover quite a few fine areas of science. However, its treatment of the topics was regularly light and simple. Attempting to learn about proteins, I learned only of their existence and their purpose, nothing about their variety or the nature of the polypeptide system, etc. It is a nice book (though a bit pricy) for perhaps younger children, but for any amount of depth, this is not the one.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too light for a science book., April 22, 1999

By	Morgan Hua (Sunnyvale, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Since it was a very thick book, I was hoping for a more indepth book on science and concepts. I wanted a real reference book. After going through the book and reading random pages, I discovered that what they covered was what I already learned in High School science classes. Good for young readers, but not what I was looking for.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy reference book for educational purposes., June 11, 2001

By	K. L Sadler (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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