The Facts on File Dictionary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering

Book by Steinberg, Mark L., Ph.D., Cosloy, Sharon D., Ph.D.

Biotechnology dictionaries are a combination of medical, chemical, and engineering dictionaries. The current information explosion and the latest advancements in molecular biology and cutting-edge technology have created a new vocabulary that places heavy demands on editors and require frequent revisions and updates of dictionaries. But this publication just isn't in the running. It includes only about half the number of terms in James Coombs's Dictionary of Biotechnology (Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1992. 2d ed.), and the definitions provided seem generally briefer and less informative. Abbreviations in a separate section could have been more usefully incorporated into the main text. Brief biographical notes on 20 scientists should have either been expanded and increased in number or dropped altogether. The current selection is too fragmentary to be useful. Biotech dictionaries have room for improvement, but this title isn't one that provides it. Not recommended.
Mary Chitty, Cambridge Healthtech, Waltham, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.