Author Description

Product Description The Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe is an authoritative and accessible reference book, giving a comprehensive overview of astronomy. Every important aspect and all major constituents of the universe are described in alphabetically arranged entries. The volume includes currenttheories of the birth and evolution of the universe and of individual stars and their sometimes catastrophic destruction as supernovae; neutron stars; pulsars; and black holes; coverage of the planets and satellites of the solar system; and planetary exploration. The book explains in clear, laylanguage the fundamental principles of physics-- for example, the theory of relativity--that underpin our understanding of astronomy. The editor has structured the book to provide, through cross-references, an explanation of the more technical entries. Readers are helped to understand complextheories through simple, colorful line drawings, as well as more elaborate artwork. Biographical entries on key astronomers add the human dimension to the study of the universe; surveys, scattered over several entries, are given of the centuries of intellectual upheaval and progressive thinking thathave brought us to the present day. A concise chart of the evolution of astronomy is also included. From Booklist The Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe is the last volume in the eight-volume Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia ($265 for eight text volumes plus index volume, set 0-19-869223-4). The Board has reviewed other volumes in the series, most recently the one on peoples and cultures [RBB Jl 93]. The series was designed by technical specialists for the general adult reader. This volume strives to provide "ready answers to questions about the physical universe beyond the Earth."This work was written by 18 academic contributors including volume editor Roy. The individual articles are arranged alphabetically and are not signed. The encyclopedia's contents emphasize biography, history, observatories, and general astronomy. The color photographs of celestial objects (e.g., Horsehead Nebulae) and diagrams of space satellites (e.g., Hubble Space Telescope) are excellent. Many articles are written in a scholarly style and rely upon technical vocabulary. Cross-references lead readers from more common terms such as Little Dipper to entries under the technical term, in this case, Ursa Minor, and from the specific, Milky Way, to the more general, Galaxy. In addition, Roy stars terms in the text that have their own individual entries. Articles contain no references or bibliographies. The volume does not have an index but is indexed in the separate index volume.The Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe will be most valuable to libraries that have purchased other volumes in the set and intend to purchase the index volume, entitled Index and Ready Reference (1993, $25, 0-19-869174-2). The encyclopedia is a secondary choice for science or astronomy collections with the more scholarly Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Academic Press, 1989) or the Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia (Van Nostrand, 1991) and for public libraries that already own the Encyclopedia of Astronomy (Orion Books, 1987), which is larger, more authoritative, easier to comprehend, and nearly as current.