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Every day brings new discoveries in physics

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

The Facts On File Dictionary of Physics, Fourth Edition clearly explains the language and terms that play an integral part in this important branch of science. Completely updated and revised, this edition includes approximately 320 new entries, new line illustrations, new pronunciation symbols, a listing of Web sites, and a bibliography. Current entries and back matter have been revised accordingly. Covering every aspect of physical science, this comprehensive reference is the perfect companion to the other three new dictionaries in The Facts On File Science Dictionary series. New entries include: Age of the universe Black hole Cosmology Exotic nuclei Instability Maxwell's demon Quasar Sonic boom Variable star Z-boson. Excerpted from The Facts on File Dictionary of Physics by John Daintith, Richard Rennie All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Library Journal Review

These four titles all expand upon the second editions, released in 1988-89; each adds between 200 and 300 terms to keep the contents current, bringing the total number of entries up to approximately 3000 per volume. As in the previous editions, the definitions are concise and readable, targeted to the high school or undergraduate science student. Definitions range in length from a few lines in most cases to several paragraphs for more important or abstract terms. As with most technical dictionaries, etymological or pronunciation information is not provided, though line drawings enhance several of the definitions (approximately 50 per dictionary, double that in Mathematics). The use of British spellings, a drawback to the previous editions, has been eliminated here. Daintith, editor of three of the volumes, is a former research chemist in Great Britain. He is joined by Hine (life science editor of the Larousse Encyclopedia), science writer and editor Clark, and approximately a dozen contributors per dictionary. Each dictionary is supplemented by appropriate appendixes: taxonomic tables and amino acids (Biology); a periodic table, elemental information, fundamental particles, and constants (Chemistry); much the same for Physics; and conversion factors and useful symbols, formulae, and powers and roots (Mathematics). These are fine first references for the most common terms and concepts in their fields, filling a niche at the low-cost end of the market just above most concise subject dictionaries. Recommended for high school and undergraduate libraries.--Wade Lee, Univ. of Toledo Libs., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.