A Dictionary of Entomology

Paperback version of the 2001 hardback (ISBN 0 85199 291 9; £75/$140)

This comprehensive dictionary, 25 years in the making, is an astonishing work of more than 28,000 terms and an estimated 43,000 definitions. No wonder it took a quarter of a century! It weighs over 1.5kg and is 5cm thick, so it is a considerable presence on the reference shelf but is it any good?

One very pleasing feature of the book is the clarity of typeface. Each page is in two columns and the terms are in bold capitals. There are, however, no explanatory diagrams or illustrations –...