Current Survey of General Science Reference Sources

This discussion of recent general science reference sources is divided into two parts. In the first part general science is broadly defined. Included are sources of information published in 1978 and 1979 covering three types of reference sources: those that encompass several major areas of science and technology; those treating large interdisciplinary areas, such as energy technology and environmental science; and those that deal with speculative topics such as exobiology and science fiction. By using this broad definition it is possible to include titles which would otherwise fall between the cracks, that is, those that tend not to fit neatly into specific fields such as botany or chemistry. The second part, on the other hand, includes titles of a more general nature: those that within a single title attempt to address most of the major areas of science and technology. There were fewer titles of this kind published during 1978 and 1979, but those included in the discussion are all notable contributions to the pool of general science reference sources.