The Handy Science Answer Book

Informative, easy-to-use guide to everyday science questions, concepts and fundamentals celebrates its twenty-fifth year and over one million copies sold!

Science is everywhere, and it affects everything! DNA and CRISPR. Artificial sweeteners. Sea level changes caused by melting glaciers. Gravitational waves. Bees in a colony. The human body. Microplastics. The largest active volcano. Designer dog breeds. Molecules. The length of the Grand Canyon. Viruses and retroviruses. The weight of a cloud. Forces, motion, energy, and inertia. It can often seem complex and complicated, but it need not be so difficult to understand. The thoroughly updated and completely revised fifth edition of The Handy Science Answer Book makes science and its impact on the world fun and easy to understand.

Clear, concise, and straightforward, this informative primer covers hundreds of intriguing topics, from the basics of math, physics, and chemistry to the discoveries being made about the human body, stars, outer space, rivers, mountains, and our entire planet. It covers plants, animals, computers, planes, trains, and cars. This informative book answers more than 1,600 of the most frequently asked, most interesting, and most unusual science questions, including ...

When was a symbol for the concept of zero first used?

Why do golf balls have dimples?

What is a light-year?

What was the grand finale of the Cassini mission?

How many exoplanets have been discovered?

Where is the deepest cave in the United States?

How long is the Grand Canyon?

What is the difference between weather and climate?

What is cell cloning and how is it used in scientific research?

How did humans evolve?

What is the most abundant group of organisms?

How do insects survive the winter in cold climates?

Which animals drink seawater?

Why do cats’ eyes shine in the dark?

Which industries release the most toxic chemicals?

What causes most wildfires in the United States?

Which woman received the Nobel Prize in two different fields (two different years)?

What is the difference between science and technology?

For anyone wanting to know how the universe, Earth, plants, animals, and human beings work and fit into our world, The Handy Science Answer Book will help anyone’s science questions!

James Bobick helped compile The Handy Science Answer Book during his sixteen years as Head of the Science and Technology Department at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, and he has been instrumental in every revision since it first published over twenty-five years ago. He previously taught at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences, and with G. Lynn Berard of Carnegie Mellon University he wrote Science and Technology Resources: A Guide for Information Professionals and Researchers. He has master’s degrees in both biology and library science. He lives in Pittsburgh.

Naomi E. Balaban, a reference librarian for more than twenty-five years at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, has extensive experience in the areas of science and consumer health. She edited, with James Bobick, all the previous editions of The Handy Science Answer Book as well as The Handy Anatomy Answer Book, The Handy Biology Answer Book, and The Handy Technology Answer Book. She has a background in linguistics and a master’s degree in library science. She resides in Pittsburgh.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has answered hundreds of thousands of questions in the fields of science and technology. Established in 1902, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was the first major library to devote a separate department to science and technology. Since then, it has patiently answered reference questions from patrons at a rate of more than 80,000 per year. The answers to many of those questions have been collected and compiled for The Handy Science Answer Book.