The Mountain Encyclopedia: An A to Z Compendium of Over 2,300 Terms, Concepts, Ideas, and People - Softcover

Hartemann, Frederic; Hauptman, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589791614 ISBN 13: 9781589791619

Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

The Mountain Encyclopedia is the first A to Z compendium on all matters related to mountains including geological, geographical, and zoological terms and concepts as well as climbing and historical details. This books is both a reference and a guide for mountain and outdoor enthusiasts such as hikers, climbers, and mountaineers. It's filled with spectacular color photographs of breathtaking climbing and mountain scenes, many taken by the authors during their expeditions. Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of the late Tenzing Norgay wrote the forward.

About this title

About the Author:

Frederic Harteman is an ILSA Fellowat Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and an Associate Research Physicist at the University of California, Davis. Robert Hauptman is a professor at St. Cloud State University where he is Coordinator of Reference.

From Booklist:

Though it is described in the preface as "an overview of all things connected to mountains," this volume does not have the lengthy definitions of mountain environments, animals, geology, or peoples that one might expect to find in an encyclopedia. Rather, the emphasis seems to be on mountaineering. Definitions are brief and often leave many aspects of the term defined in question. The entry for Marmot explains that climbers must hang their food away from the ground because of this mammal, but other than stating it is about the size of a woodchuck, it gives^B no clear idea of what a marmot is. The longest entry in the book is under the term Clothing. There are short biographical entries on hundreds of mountaineering personalities; these can be difficult to locate elsewhere. There are also entries for several-hundred mountain peaks, containing information not previously found in one source.

All countries and territories of the world (omitting East Timor), U.S. states, and Canadian provinces have individual entries providing their highest and lowest points and occasionally a brief commentary. In addition to some black-and-white illustrations found throughout the text, more than 400 color photos and maps of mountains are collected in the middle of the volume, sorted by country or region. The appendixes include lists of the world's 1,000 highest peaks, the world's highest volcanoes, and unclimbed peaks above 7,000 meters. Also included are a long list of climbing-related Web sites and a bibliography of books and articles that the authors consulted in their writing.

The volume is functional as a compendium of mountaineering information but not as a comprehensive encyclopedia of mountains. It could certainly be useful in a public library setting as long as its limitations are considered. Steve Stratton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1589791614
• ISBN 13: 9781589791619
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400