Table of Contents

Staff Consulting Editors Organization of the Encyclopedia Articles A-Z Appendix Contributors Index

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Reviews

Trade advertisements have put this reference in competition with Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia ( LJ 1/89; 7th ed.), so a close comparison between the two seems appropriate. The Van Nostrand is two volumes, 3,180 pages, with 6,773 entries. The McGraw-Hill is one volume, 2,222 pages, with 7700 entries at about half the price. Each has entries not in the other, but where they overlap, the coverage in the Van Nostrand is far more extensive. Two examples: Saturn rates one page in McGraw-Hill and 11 (!), including several excellent photos taken by Voyager 2, in the competitor; elasticity earns almost two pages, including most important mathematical equations, in the Van Nostrand and a bare half-page in McGraw. Both are good references, but for ease of handling, greater depth of coverage, and more rigorous treatment of topics in mathematics and physics, if you must choose only one, take the Van Nostrand .-- Harold D. Shane, Baruch Coll., CUNY