This encyclopedia can only be described in superlatives. Since 1960, when the first edition of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology first appeared, it has served the science information needs of students, scholars, and the general public by offering authoritative, up-to-date, and comprehensive coverage of all disciplines in science and engineering. This new 8th edition, which successfully continues to fulfill this purpose, represents the culmination of five years of substantial revision and updating to reflect the numerous important scientific and technological developments that have occurred since the 7th edition (1992).

The material on entire disciplines, including biochemistry, chemistry, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, paleontology, physics, electronics, computers, telecommunications, and the earth sciences, has been extensively revamped. Some 3500 distinguished scientists and engineers from around the world (including 19 Nobel laureates) participated in this exemplary work of accurate, lucid, objective, thorough, and rigorous scholarship.

Prepared with the assistance of a 15-member international editorial advisory board and 74 distinguished consulting editors, the encyclopedia contains 7100 signed, cross-referenced, and alphabetically arranged articles (from "A15 Phases" to "Zygomycotina")-1750 entirely new, 1600 totally new or revised-covering 78 major subject areas from acoustics to virology. Subjects for new entries were selected on the basis of advances in knowledge, new technological applications, and perceived needs of readers.

Each article begins with a clear definition of the subject, establishing the conceptual foundation for the following discussion that moves progressively from elementary to advanced concepts. The articles consistently discuss both theoretical and practical aspects, thus providing valuable insights into real-world connections between the two.

Lavishly illustrated, the set contains more than 13,000 drawings, maps, charts, diagrams, and graphs, mostly in two colors, as well as photographs (1750 of which are new to this edition). The volumes are exceptionally well designed with an outstanding visual layout (wide margins, easy-to-read type, and bold headings). Numbered figures, chemical and mathematical equations, and reaction schemes are referenced throughout the text; 60,000 cross references allow quick access to related articles; and up-to-date bibliographies of books and articles (many with references as recent as 1994 and a few as late as 1995) facilitate further research. Numerical data are given throughout in both U.S. customary and international (SI) units.

The chemistry articles, of course, predominate, covering areas of analytical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, geochemistry, and inorganic, organic, petroleum, and physical chemistry; but many, especially those of an interdisciplinary nature, appear elsewhere. Most of the articles are written by authorities who are prominent in their subjects: for example, Fred Basolo on coordination chemistry, Glenn H. Brown on liquid crystals, Herbert C. Brown on hydroboration, Harry B. Gray on electron transfer reactions, Harold W. Kroto on fullerenes, and Glenn T. Seaborg on actinides, transuranium elements, and related topics.

Volume 20 contains a list of contributors, their professional affiliations, and titles of their articles (110 double-column pages); a 9-page discussion of scientific notation with conversion tables; and six new comprehensive study guides based on standard curriculum outlines in biology, chemistry, engineering and technology, geosciences, health, and physics. It also includes a topical index (33 four-column pages) listing alphabetically all 7,100 article titles under the 78 major subject areas, making subject-related browsing easy, and an exhaustive analytical index (more than 170,000 entries in 520 four-column pages, used by library science schools as a teaching tool and called the "perfect index" by Library Journal) permitting quick access to specific terms. Thus information can be located in four ways: through its alphabetical position in the appropriate volume, the analytical or topical index, and the study guides. By using the indices and cross references one can gain a reasonable, basic education in almost any scientific or technical field. An additional new feature is a separate 25-page Activity Guide, listing 20 activities for involving students in science and including five pages of notes for instructors on how to use the guide. The encyclopedia can be updated annually by the McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology, which is cross-referenced to the parent set and features the same extensive illustrations and bibliographies.

This series still remains the preeminent, essential reference source for accurate information in any area of science or technology. Of course, its cost will probably limit its purchase to libraries and laboratories, and therefore students, teachers, scholars, and laypersons may wish to buy the one-volume McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 3rd edition, abridged from the encyclopedia's 7th edition (Sybil P. Parker, Ed.; 2241 pp, $115.50, 1994).