referencebooks

Encyclopedia of Water

By David E. Newton

Published by Greenwood, 2003

This is a 7" by 10" hardbound book running to 401 pages including the index, plus a preface, an introduction, and a classified guide to the articles.

See my entry for October 30, 2005, for the same author's Encyclopedia of Air, also published by Greenwood in 2003, along with another one called Encyclopedia of Fire.

Like Encyclopedia of Air, this encyclopedia looks at its subject in a vastly multi-disciplinary way, with articles covering topics in chemistry, biology, meteorology and other earth sciences, literature, mythology and religion, transportation, technology, visual arts, and history, as well as also providing many biographical entries on people whose work related to water and organizations that have to do with water. Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "H" sequence, "See Also" references included:

• Haliae See Nymphs
  
• Hard Water
  
• Heavy Water
  
• Holy Water
  
• Holy Waters See Sacred Waters
  
• Hookah
  
• Hovercraft See Boats and Ships
  
• "Hubbly-Bubbly" See Hookah
  
• Human Water Needs See Biological Functions of Water; Desalination
  
• Humidity
  
• Hydrate
  
• Hydraulic Device
  
• Hydraulic Press See Bramah, Joseph
  
• Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, and Hydrodynamics
  
• Hydroelectric Power
  

The entries are written in relatively simple prose given the scientific subject matter of many of them. Since it's such a multi-disciplinary encyclopedia it wouldn't be appropriate to assume too much significant background knowledge, and the author doesn't. However, he doesn't shy away from providing mathematical formulae where relevant. So, there is a fairly decent amount of information included given the breadth of scope.

Reference books like this that take a feature of the world like water and air and look at it from such a wide range of disciplines are interesting, fun, and rather odd from a practical standpoint. Usually when someone is studying something like water it is from the perspective of a particular discipline, and they will find deeper information in a resource that is created specifically for that discipline. This stems from the fact that the work that people do is usually of a certain kind. When I try to think of who would find a book like this most useful, I keep coming back to the notion of a literary writer or a visual or conceptual artist who needs to pull together ideas about water for thematic, exploratory reasons. It is difficult to say who else might find a good use for this book, but you never know. It does have a lot of good information relating to water in it.

Encyclopedia of Volcanoes

Haraldur Sigurdsson, Editor in Chief

Published by Academic Press, 2000

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 1417 pages including the index and appendices, plus a preferatory section. It's printed on high-quality paper and is very heavy.

Her preface describes the book as follows:

The volume addresses all aspects of volcanism, ranging from the generation of magma, its transport and migration, eruption, and formation of volcanic deposits. It also addresses volcanic hazards, their mitigation, the monitoring of volcanic activity, and economic aspects and, for the first time, analyzes several specific cultural aspects of volcanic activity, including the impact of volcanic activity on archaeology, literature, art, and film. To compose a single volume that is a complete reference for such a far-ranging phenomenon is indeed a daunting task.

The entries are arranged thematically rather than alphabetically, though there is an alphabetical listing of the articles with their page numbers. The articles are in nine parts, with sample article titles for each:

1. Origin and Transport of Magma ("Migration of Melt," "Physical Properties of Magmas," "Plumbing Systems")
   
2. Eruption ("Earth's Volcanoes and Eruptions, an Overview," "Sizes of Volcanic Eruptions")
   
3. Effusive Volcanism ("Lava Flows and Flow Fields," "Lava Domes and Coulees," "Seamounts and Island Building")
   
4. Explosive Volcanism ("Hawaiian and Strombolian Eruptions," "Pyroclast Transport and Deposition," "Lahars")
   
5. Extraterrestrial Volcanism ("Volcanism on the Moon," "Volcanism on Venus," "Cryovolcanism in the Outer Solar System")
   
6. Volcanic Interactions ("Geothermal Systems," "Deep Ocean Hydrothermal Vents," "Volcanic Lakes")
   
7. Volcanic Hazards ("Lava Flow Hazards," "Volcanic Tsunamis," "Volcanism and Biotic Extinctions")
   
8. Eruption Response and Mitigation ("Seismic Monitoring," "Ground Deformation, Gravity, and Magnetics," "Volcanic Crisis Management")
   
9. Economic Benefits and Cultural Aspects of Volcanism ("Volcanoes and Tourism," "Archaeology of Volcanism," "Volcanic Soils")
   

So, that should give a sense of what's covered.

Opening the book at random, I'm looking at the middle of the article on "Plinian and Subplinian Eruptions," which is eighteen pages long. Plinian eruptions are named after the Roman author Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption of mount Vesuvius, and his son, Pliny the Younger, who narrated the eruption in letters to Tacitus. This article is divided into four main sections: "Characteristics," "Direct Observations of Plinian Eruptions," "The Inverse Problem: From Deposits to the Eruption," "Discussion of Eruption Dynamics." Each of these parts has sub-parts. The prose is on the technical side, and assumes some knowldge of earth science and its quantitative methods. It is loaded with illustrations.

This is a very solid reference work on volcanoes that should satisfy serious users.

Encycopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones

By David Longshore.

Published by Facts on File, 1998. Copyright held by the author.

This is a hardbound book measuring 9" by 11" and running to 372 pages including the index.

The introduction says, "For the purpose of this encyclopedia, the study of tropical cyclones has been divided into three basic rubrics: tropical cyclones in science; tropical cyclones in history; and tropical cyclones in culture." The work contains entries on scientific aspects of cyclones, specific cyclones in history, specific places historically vulnerable to cyclones satellites, people, and other entries.

The list of entries in the "N" sequence is as follows:

• N
  
• Nagasaki Typhoon
  
• Nagoya Typhoon
  
• Nancy, Typhoon
  
• National Hurricane Center (NHC)
  
• navigable semicircle
  
• Neptune p2v-3w
  
• New England
  
• New London, Hurricane
  
• New York
  
• Nimbus
  
• Nina, Typhoon
  
• Norfolk-Long Island Hurricane
  
• Norma, Hurricane
  
• North Atlantic Ocean
  
• North Carolina
  
• North Pacific Ocean
  
• Norton, Grady
  

The entry on New York is four pages long, referring to 40 documented hurricanes that have affected the state, including 15 major ones, which it describes.

Among the facts it mentions in passing is that the "Hurricane" is the "national" drink of New Orleans.

This reference book is a rich trove of information about tropical cyclones.

The Oxford Companion to the Earth

Editors: Paul L. Hancock and Brian J. Skinner.

Published by Oxford University Press, 2000.

This is a black, clothbound book, 8" X 9.5" in size, with 1174 pages including the index, thematic list of topics, and appendices.

It is like an encyclopedia of Earth science, in that it has articles on topics in an alphabetic sequence, but doesn't have entres on every topic that you would have in a true Earth science encyclopedia. You often have to use the index and special thematic topic lists (cross references) to get at the information you need. At least, this is what the "note to the reader" tells you. It seems to me that there are articles on a great many topics in Earth science, certainly many more than I have heard of.

The preface states that the Companion is intended to appeal to a wide readership, including lay people and professional scientists. The book doesn't require too great of a prior education in earth science for that intention.

The scope of the book is wide, covering the solid earth, the oceans and atmosphere, through the disciplines of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, geodesy (mapping the earth's surface), paleontology and paleobiology, soil science, glaciology, oceanogrpahy, climatology, paleoclimatology, meterology, and environmental science. Environmental concerns get a special emphasis in the book.

As examples of the breadth of the book and the kind of coverage it has, here are headings from the middle of the M sequence (excluding "see" references):

• mammals
  
• Man (hominids)
  
• mangroves
  
• mantle convection, plumes, viscosity, and dynamics
  
• mantle and core composition
  
• marble
  
• marine geology
  
• Marsh, Othniel Charles (1831-99)
  
• massive sulphide deposits
  
• Matthews, Drummond Hoyle (1931-97)
  
• meanders and meandering rivers
  
• medical geology
  
• medieval mineralogy and figured stones
  
• Medieval Warm Period
  
• mesosphere
  

There is even an entry on "wine and geology," that is over two and a half pages in length.

There are numerous black and white illustrations, charts, maps, diagrams, graphs, tables and photographs throughout the book.

This is a great resource for anyone interested in Earth science.

Encyclopedia of Caves

Edited by David C. Culver and William B. White.

Elsevier Academic Press, 2005.

From the "Guide to the Encyclopedia": "The Encyclopedia of Caves is a complete source of information on the subject of caves and life in caves, contained within a single volume. Each article in the Encyclopedia provides an overview of the selected topic to inform a broad spectrum of readers, from biologists and geologists conducting research in related areas, to students and the interested general public."

The book is hardbound and printed on high quality paper, running 654 pages including the index in a fairly large format. The book has 107 articles in the following fifteen subject areas:

• Types of Caves
  
• Cave Features
  
• Hydrology and Hydrogeology
  
• Speleothems and Other Cave Deposits
  
• Cave AGes and Paleoclimate
  
• Exceptional Caves
  
• Biology of Particular Organisms in Caves
  
• Ecology
  
• Cave Invasion
  
• Biogeography and Diversity
  
• Evolution and Adaptation in Caves
  
• Exploration of Caves
  
• Contemporary Use of Caves
  
• Historical Use of Caves
  
• Ground Water Contamination and Land Use Hazards in Cave Regions
  

Articles are a bit technical, many of them requiring some background in geology or biology to understand, but they go into quite a bit of depth and are very informative.

A typical article is titled "Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico." It's eight pages long and has the following headings: "Physical Setting," "Geologic Setting," "Stratigraphy and Structure," "Regional/Local Hydrogeology," "Biology," "Mineralogy," "Paleontology," "Description of Lechuguilla Cave," and "History of Exploration."