The Addison-Wesley Science Handbook (Helix Books)

Presents facts about biology, chemistry, physics, geology, and mathematics

This new handbook brings together in one easy-to-use volume important information high-school science students and technical writers need at their fingertips. Each of the major disciplines of science--biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and mathematics--has its own section with charts, graphs, and diagrams. These are preceded by a chart of Constants for Science, a section of Units and Conversions, and one on Translating Science into English. Each section has a detailed table of contents and a short introduction. The information included is exactly what the preface claims: "key concepts, formulas, illustrations and tables." The broad range of topics includes the Greek alphabet, numerical prefixes, SI units, conversion factors, Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes, taxonomy, anatomy, ecological cycles, states and properties of matter, thermochemistry, a chemical index, a key to minerals, a chart of crystal systems, symbols and formulas in physics, thermodynamics, charts of physical data, formulas and operations in all branches of mathematics, and much more. Many pages have interesting, humorous quotations such as, "Imagination is more important than knowledge" --Albert Einstein; "There is no sin except stupidity" --Oscar Wilde; "The great tragedy of science--the slaying of a beautiful theory by an ugly fact." --T. H. Huxley. The only criticism of an otherwise excellent book is that some of the diagrams are too dark to be clear; for example, the drawing of oxidative phosphorylation, in which some of the labels disappear in the dark background. The dark blue used in charts sometimes obscures the black print, as in the periodic table.

A similar title is The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference [RBB D 1 95]. It has a broader scope, containing biographies of scientists, glossaries, and bibliographies for further reading, but is considerably more expensive. High-school librarians will find the Addison-Wesley title an excellent supplement to the science curriculum, and its low price allows the purchase of copies for each science classroom. Academic and public libraries will want multiple copies of this handbook.