Van Nostrand’s Encyclopedia of Chemistry has been a standard reference since it first appeared in 1956, but it has not been updated for twenty years, so preparation of this new edition has been an enormous task. According to the editors, 75% of the text is new. The number of entries has been increased from about 1250 to 2750, so the text has been condensed and the use of tables and graphs has been increased to keep the volume to a manageable size. The entries vary in length from just a few lines to a dozen pages, so there may be much to read about some subjects but very little about others. Many of the entries are little more than definitions; others are longer, but still concise, expositions of important topics in chemistry or technology. Even with twelve pages of text, the articles on olefin polymers or organic chemistry are severely condensed. Most of the longer articles have references for further reading. The book is extensively cross-referenced, and there is a comprehensive index.

Encyclopedias are among the best places to go to begin learning about a specific subject, but by their nature they must be selective. In most cases Van Nostrand’s Encyclopedia of Chemistry will provide you with what you need; in others it will leave you a bit frustrated. For example, in browsing the book I found a nice entry on Brazing, about one page long, that explained the technique clearly. It was just what I wanted to know. The one-page discussion of the Boltzmann distribution is accurate and informative, though not elementary since it uses the concept of phase space. Between these two articles, however, is a four-line entry on Bosons that would probably be unintelligible to someone who did not already know what they were. The cross-reference to Particles (subatomic) leads readers to a good ten-page summary of modern particle physics, including an extensive bibliography that, unfortunately, isn’t much help in understanding exactly what a boson is. I cite these examples not to criticize the editors—they have done a remarkable job—but to point out that encyclopedias are inherently limited. They cannot do everything equally well.

Every science library should have a copy of this updated edition. It is a reference that will be consulted regularly and those who use it once will return again and again because of the breadth and accuracy of the content. For the quantity and quality of information presented, the price is quite reasonable.