Science and Technology Encyclopedia

Good single-volume reference works abound for individual branches of science--among them, to name but a few, the Cassell Dictionary of Chemistry, the Penguin Dictionary of Biology, P. H. Collins's Dictionary of Ecology and the Environment, and Oxford University Press's Dictionary of Earth Sciences and Dictionary of Astronomy.

Comprising more than 6,500 entries on terms used in medicine, information technology, engineering, chemistry, astronomy, and several other sciences, and carrying some 20,000 cross-references and 250 illustrations, the University of Chicago Press Science and Technology Encyclopedia does not wholly supplant such specialized reference works. It is, however, an extraordinarily useful compendium that ranges easily across several disciplines (and often combines material from them). The encyclopedia provides concise definitions of terms ranging from aa (a blocklike lava found in Hawaii and elsewhere) to zygote (the cell formed by the fusion of a male and female gamete). It also contains biographical sketches of important scientists, such as Kurt Gödel (who proved that the truth of certain mathematical statements can never be decided), Frederick Sanger (who discovered the structure of insulin), and Marie Curie (who described the properties of radium and several of its compounds). Compact enough to carry to class, the volume stands up well to casual browsing and directed searches. --Gregory McNamee