CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 87th Edition (Hardcover)

~ David R. Lide (Editor) "These tables give the 2002 self-consistent set of values of the basic constants and conversion factors of physics and chemistry recommended by the Committee on..." (more)
Key Phrases: hex cry, hyg cry, orth cry, Intensity Wavelength, Name Synonym Mol, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A goldmine of information….
- JACS, Vol. 127, No. 12.

A standard text in libraries everywhere…this resource is an invaluable source of data.
- Medical Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 3, Fall 2005

The CRC Handbook has been, in successive editions, on my bedside table for the last 55 years.
- Oliver Sacks, Neurologist and author

This is still the old standby. There's probably a copy in every lab around the world. And if there isn't, it's because someone from another lab came and borrowed it.
- Books-On-Line, January 2007

This latest edition…continues to provide current, critically evaluated chemical and physical data in a one-volume format.
-JACS, Vol. 129, No. 3, 2007

Product Description

For more than 90 years, researchers around the world have relied on the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics for authoritative, up-to-date data. This year will be no exception. Many of the most heavily used tables in the book receive major updates and expansions, most notably: Physical Properties of Inorganic Compounds features nearly 25% more compounds; Bond Dissociation Energies includes 70% more compounds, including for the first time more than 1200 molecular ions; and Chemical Carcinogens was updated in accordance with the recent report from the National Toxicology Program. New references will also help keep readers up to date.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 2608 pages
• Publisher: TF-CRC; 87 edition (June 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849304873
• ISBN-13: 978-0849304873
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 3.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #438,150 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Represents our Technological Civilisation, July 30, 2004

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: CRC Handbook Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition (Hardcover)

Some years ago, an author in a science fiction magazine put forth a gedanken (thought experiment). Suppose you would be transported to another planet and you had to attempt to rebuild our civilisation. But you could only take 6 books with you.

What would you take?

Well, that author gave a list of his suggestions. One of which was this; well an earlier edition anyway. He pointed out something about the Rubber Handbook, which is what anyone who regularly uses this book calls it. So easy to take for granted, because in any lab, you can usually rummage around and find some edition of it. But it represents millions of hours of engineering and research to measure and collate its results.

If there is one book that summarises the engineering of our civilisation, it is this.

Always nice to see CRC continually updating it. But having said the above, whether you need this latest edition is another matter. The changes are incremental. If you have an older edition, and there is no specific reason to upgrade, then you probably shouldn't. Note that I did not say never. Just tell yourself you can defer it till next year. Then, at that time, ask yourself again.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to see How stuff works: basic reference, August 24, 2004

By	P. Nagy "revreader" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: CRC Handbook Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition (Hardcover)

CRC Handbook Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition, includes facsimile of the first 1913 edition by David R. Lide (CRC Press) This is the 85th Edition of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and, coincidentally, the 15th edition produced by the current Editor-in-Chief. A facsimile of the First Edition of the Handbook, which appeared in 1913 and contained 116 pages, is being distributed with this volume. Comparison of the two provides a dramatic lesson on the rapid advance of science and technology in the ensuing nine decades. When the First Edition wits published only 81 elements were known, the electron had been discovered only 17 years before, and the proton and neutron were still unknown. Madame Curie had just won her second Nobel Prize, and Max Planck, Niels Bohr, and Albert Einstein had yet to be recognized with this honor. The size and scope of the Handbook have expanded in step with the growth of scientific knowledge. It has not only served as a reference source for professionals and students, but has provided inspiration to many young people as they developed their interest in science. The late Linus Pauling, in his Foreword to the 74th Edition, wrote "I attribute much of my knowledge about substances and their properties to my study of the information that the Handbook provided.
Throughout its history the overall philosophy of the Handbook has been to provide broad coverage of all types of data commonly encountered by physical scientists and engineers, with as much depth as can be accommodated in a one-volume format. While the Internet has spawned numerous large, comprehensive databases covering narrow areas of science, we feel there is still a need for a concise reference source spanning the full range of the physical sciences and focusing on key data that are frequently needed by R&D professionals, engineers, and students. We hope the CRC Handbook, in its print, CD-ROM, and Internet formats, can continue to serve these needs.
The 85th Edition includes updates and expansions of several tables, such as Aqueous Solubility of Organic Compounds, Thermal Conductivity of Liquids, and Table of the Isotopes. A new table on Azeotropic Data for Binary Mixtures has been added, as well as tables on Index of Refraction of Inorganic Crystals and Critical Solution Temperatures of Polymer Solutions. In response to user requests, several topics such as Coefficient of Friction and Miscibility of Organic Solvents have been restored to the Handbook. The latest recommended values of the Fundamental Physical Constants, released in December 2003, are included in this edition. Finally, the Appendix on Mathematical Tables has been revised by Dr. Daniel Zwillinger, editor of the CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulae; it includes new information on factorials, Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, orthogonal polynomials, statistical formulas, and other topics.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Distilled Wisdom About Everything, December 1, 2004

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: CRC Handbook Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition (Hardcover)

I can't imagine a scientist or engineer of nearly any stripe without a copy of this book. I can't imagine a lab without at least one edition sitting around somewhere. The title says it's on chemistry and physics. And it is. But it's so much more. It's the consise summary of all of our technical knowledge. It represents the facts pulled out of nature by thousands of researchers since we humans began writing things down. And it's all in one place.

Yes, you could go to the web and find out nearly anything that's listed here, but it would take you decades. And when you're in the midst of doing something you want to reach up (this book is always on an upper shelf where you can see it) grab it and get the information you need right now.

Each edition, has expanded incrementally. You don't need to buy a new edition each year (unless you're in charge of the company library). But the changes add up, and every few years you need to upgrade.

With this edition, there's a freebie, a copy of the first edition. In the first edition you can read about all of the eighty one known elements. You can read about the electron (discovered only a few years before), but the proton and neutron hadn't been invented yet. And as for quarks. Well for quarks you need the new edition.