The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference 1st Edition

by Patricia Barnes-Svarney (Editor)

23 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0028604039

ISBN-10: 0028604032

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A definitive overview of the world of science encompasses hundreds of entries and visual images spanning ten separate disciplines, including meteorology, measurement, time, biological science, chemistry, physics, astronomy, environmental science, earth science, and engineering.

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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.

Publisher : Macmillan; 1st edition (September 25, 1995)
Language : English
Paperback : 668 pages
ISBN-10 : 0028604032
ISBN-13 : 978-0028604039
Grade level : 6 - 12
Item Weight : 3.15 pounds
Dimensions : 7.38 x 2 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,359,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,118 in Secondary Education
- #19,700 in Science & Mathematics
- #85,376 in Education & Teaching (Books)

Customer Reviews:
23 ratings

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4 star		8%
3 star		8%
2 star		4%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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frankye fletcher

great seller

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2019

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this book is fantastic if you need to know about anything of the sciences this is the book, it has extreme detail on all of the sciences, great book for studies, a lot of questions answered

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Chris Shields

A good addition for the home library.

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2020

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Purchased for my kids study. So far three of them have used it.

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Jeffrey E. Platt

good elementary reference work

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2014

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covers many sciences in extended dictionary format. this book is for an teenager just getting interested in the world around them.
may spark an interest in pursuing a career in science. good elementary reference work.

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Denise Sisler

A great reference book

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2013

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I enjoy this reference book because of all the history it shares about anything your'e looking for whether it's how the body functions or a history of physics.

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K. L Sadler

Handy reference book for educational purposes.

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2001

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

5 people found this helpful

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Loren D. Morrison

THE BASICS OF THE MOST COMMONLY STUDIED SCIENCES

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2001

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 field
4.Biographical information about men and women who have made key contributions to the field under discussion.
5. Historical highlights within the field under discussion
6. 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 Chemistry
A 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 others
An alphabetical listing of key contributors to the field of Chemistry throughout history
A chronological listing of key discoveries in Chemistry from 600 B. C. to the present
A list of common terms used in Chemistry
Finally, 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.

10 people found this helpful

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Phil Libin

Well, it's big...

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2002

...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.

3 people found this helpful

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Morgan Hua

Too light for a science book.

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 1999

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.

12 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

David Hoskin

A science reference for all the family.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2017

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An excellent science reference book .It answers all the questions a family and student are likely to ask.
There should be a more update one by now.
I like the feel of a book rather than an impersonal computer search but that's just me.

Chopinsky

Knowledge.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

The Science Desk Reference is an incredible useful book;and contains a massive
amount of scientific information. Since constant study is necessary for any scientific dicipline,I suggest that this book provides pretty-well 90% of the means for that purpose.EXCELLENT!!

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The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference 1st Edition

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