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Rating: 
Summary: Well, it's big...
Review: ...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 Really, isn't getting this sort of spotty, high-level and often outdated scientific information exactly what the Internet is good for?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.
Rating:
Summary: Well, it's big...
Review: ...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 Really, isn't getting this sort of spotty, high-level and often outdated scientific information exactly what the Internet is good for?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.
Rating:
Summary: Handy reference book for educational purposes.
Review: 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that purchasing references books such as this fine example, would almost be preferable to buying textbooks that will be out of date within six months.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
Rating: 
Summary: Only appropriate for the general, non-science public
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Too light for a science book.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Untrustworthy
Review: The book lost immediatly credibility for me when the first thing I looked up contained a serious factual error. The biographical entry for Alan Turing in the Computing section states that he was American, whereas he was in fact British. Even if this were the only error in the whole book, how can you trust a book that so immediatly shows itself to be flawed.
Rating: 
Summary: What a great book
Review: This is a terrific book. Practically every other sentence is a statistic! I love the big list of discoveries and inventions, which dates back to the discovery of fire!
I love the huge section on computer science, amazing book! worth ten times the price!
Rating:
Summary: Does What It's Supposed To Do
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe everything you read
Review: While I love the concept of this book, my personal experience was that I flipped, more or less randomly, to four different pages and found errors on EVERY page. Perhaps that was just rotten luck, but it makes me suspicious of all the answers in the book. I think you'd be better off looking at a reference that's written by experts, rather than generalists. Buy a copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica CD-ROM.
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