Vol. 4 : S - Z. - P. 1602-2178

Perfect for parents and allied health students, the Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health provides in-depth coverage of pediatric diseases and disorders, along with issues related to physical and cognitive/behavioral development. Written without hard-to-understand medical jargon, the four-volume set uses language parents can understand, while still providing enough depth to benefit today's health science students. The set, which covers every major body system, is arranged into five main entry types: Diseases & Disorders; Development; Immunizations; Drugs; Procedures. With a distinct emphasis on the health issues affecting children under the age of four, the Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health provides a much-needed service to new parents and promises to be a frequently used resource in any library.

Vol. 4 : Saint Kitts and Nevis to Zimbabwe. Index. - 679 p.

Like the ten-volume Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Macmillan, 1996), the four-volume Countries and Their Cultures is based on the collection of ethnographic information known as the Human Relations Area Files based at Yale University. Unlike World Cultures, which is organized by culture, the new work is organized by country. This work's strength is that readers who know very little about a country can quickly obtain a good orientation to the major issues, history, and social structure of a nation. The 225 entries are between ten and 20 pages long and read like a cross between a well-written encyclopedia article, a travel guide, and a social science essay. They provide a good general overview of a country without greatly oversimplifying or distorting. All entries have the same structure, with sections on geography, history, demography, languages, food, economy, etiquette, politics, family, religion, and arts and humanities. A country's degree of cultural unity as well as its cultural variations are described in the sections on national identity, ethnic relations, and social stratification. Each entry has a map with a regional insert, black-and-white photographs, and a bibliography of recent scholarly books. Recommended especially for libraries that do not own Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Marc Meola, Coll. of New Jersey Lib., Ewing

Vol. 4 : S-Z. - 496 p.

A scholarly resource accessible to a general audience, the Encyclopedia of Russian History provides more than 1,500 entries encompassing more than 1,000 years of Russian history, from the formation of Kievan Rus in the mid-ninth century to the present-day Russian Federation. A seven-member editorial board of Russian scholars headed by editor-in-chief Millar (Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University) oversaw topic selection. All entries are signed by one of more than 500 contributors. Entries are arranged alphabetically. To access them, users can scan the article title list in volume 1 or use the cumulative subject index in volume 4. Bold type in the index designates main entries. Volume 1 also provides a list of article titles arranged by one of 21 general topics, such as "Agriculture," "Government," "Religion," and "Science and Technology".

Vol. 4 : Modern World. Part I : 1900-1945. - 276 p.

Vol. 4 : S-Z. - 668 p.

Can magnets relieve arthritis pain? Does the scent of lavender calm the nerves? Is St. John's Wort a mood enhancer? Authoritative, objective and in tune with the subjects that matter to students and researchers, Gale presents four volumes of current, unbiased information on alternative and complementary medical practices. Covering all aspects of the subject --Therapies, Conditions/Diseases, Herbs/Plants and People -- the Encyclopedia identifies 150 types of alternative medicine being practiced today, including reflexology, acupressure, acupuncture, chelation therapy, kinesiology, yoga, chiropractic, Feldenkrais, polarity therapy, detoxification, naturopathy, Chinese medicine, biofeedback, Ayurveda and osteopathy. For the practitioner or interested patient, there are current training requirements, listings of organizations, as well as descriptions of treatments. Information on recommended therapies for specific disorders and diseases, medicinal uses for plants and herbs are balanced by conclusions of studies on efficacy and analysis of current levels of acceptance by traditional scientists and doctors. Biographies of pioneers in the field -- including Deepak Chopra, Edward Bach and David Palmer --appear as sidebars through the text. Included are 39 sidebars. Each volume contains a color photo insert containing images of herbs. There are more than 275 disease/condition entries, 300 herb/remedy entries, and 150 therapies.

Vol. 4 : Electronic Universe. - 368 p.

Here is an attractive, readable set designed to present the history of computers and reflect on their purpose, use, and impact today. Nearly 300 entries are organized into four volumes, usually with black-and-white illustrations, photos, or charts. Signed entries are two to four pages long and often include sidebars, definitions for terms or concepts, see also references, and bibliographies with a handful of current sources, many of them online. University professors are among the contributors. Repeated at the beginning of each volume are the preface, tables of measurements, time lines, and table of contents. Each volume concludes with the same glossary and topic outline and a volume index, with a cumulative index at the end of volume 4. Volume 1 (Foundations: Ideas and People) covers history; volume 2 (Software and Hardware), the nuts and bolts of the technology; volume 3 (Social Applications), how computers affect our everyday lives; and volume 4 (Electronic Universe), the networked society. Organization within each volume is alphabetical. Some representative subjects covered in volume 1 include Babbage, Charles; IBM Corporation; and Transistors. In volume 2 we learn about Client/server technology, Game controllers, and Touch screens; in volume 3, about Airline reserva tions, Educational software, and Spreadsheets; and in volume 4, Cookies, Global positioning systems, and Political applications. Several articles are current enough to include the 9/11 attacks and October 2001 anthrax letters. There are so many interrelated topics that dividing them by volume is confusing to a user. Chemistry and Electronic campus are in volume 4, but Distance learning and Physics are in volume 3. Assistive computer technology for persons with disabilities is in volume 4, although it could be considered a social application. Art and Music composition are placed in different volumes. The topic outline lists entry headings under broad topics and might be helpful in providing an overview, but it gives no indication of the volumes in which the entries can be found. For academic libraries, the standard Encyclopedia of Computer Science (4th ed., Grove, 2000) will probably be adequate, even though this field changes so rapidly. High-school and public libraries where there is emphasis on technology may want to add this set for its detailed coverage of people, concepts, and applications.

Vol. 4 : Ra - Ye. - 270 p.

A multi-faceted reference work, the Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences addresses the core knowledge, theories, and techniques employed by plant scientists, while also concentrating on applications of these in research and in industry. Plants influence all our lives as sources of sustenance, fuel and building materials. The Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences is a comprehensive yet succinct publication that covers the application of current advances in the biological sciences, through which scientists can now better produce sustainable, safe food, feed and food ingredients, and renewable raw materials for industry and society. This three-volume set also covers the concerns over continuing advances in the application of knowledge in the areas of ecology and plant pathology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry and biotechnology, as well as the ethical issues involved in the use of the powerful techniques available to modern plant science.

Vol. 5 : U-Z. - 416 p.

This alphabetically arranged, 2,700-entry encyclopedia treats aspects of U.S. popular culture, defined as "all the experiences in life shared by people in common, generally though not necessarily disseminated by the mass media." In the process of winnowing the 4,000 or so potential topics that were suggested by an advisory group to a manageable number of entries, the editors sought balance, though not necessarily equal coverage. Content breaks down into articles that address social life (23 percent of the articles), music (16 percent), print culture (16 percent), film (15 percent), television and radio (14 percent), sports (10 percent), and art and performance (6 percent). A few entries, such as Currier and Ives and Dime novels, relate to the culture of the nineteenth century, but treatment is purposely slanted toward the twentieth century, and the latter half of the twentieth at that. Articles range from 75-to 150-word introductions to 3,000-word analyses. Each of the 450 contributors, mostly college or university professors and freelance writers, was asked to describe his or her topic and analyze its relevance to American popular culture, a charge successfully carried out in uniformly zesty and interesting prose, accompanied by numerous clear black-and-white illustrations. There are entries covering broad topics (Advertising, Jazz, Radio) and specific activities, comic strips, companies and consumer products, films, foods, individuals, musical groups, publications, social issues, sports teams, television and radio programs, and various other trends and phenomena, such as Advice columns, AARP, Aerobics, Air travel, and Astrology. Reflecting pop culture's inherent inclusiveness, there seems to be almost nothing missing, and an examination of the impact of Sigmund Freud keeps company with entries on Frederick's of Hollywood, Frosty the Snowman, and frozen food. This is one of those rare encyclopedias that is good not only for research but for casual browsing, and readers will find much that is fascinating. Each entry, laid out in an easy-to-read typeface in double-column format, concludes with a list of further readings that includes references to both standard print and online sources. The introduction, list of contributors, and alphabetical list of entries are repeated in each volume. The indexing in volume five is superlative and broad, consisting of three different indexes--one general, one organized by subject, and one organized by decade, creating linkages and widening access to the information available on any given topic. Cross-referencing is limited to see references that refer readers to appropriate headings. The indexing helps make up for the lack of see also references, although these would more easily guide readers between entries for Orson Welles and War of the Worlds, to take one example. Other reference works, such as the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television [RBB Ag 97] and The Sixties in America [RBB S 1 99], cover specific aspects of popular culture or specific periods in greater detail, but none can match this set's broad sweep. A superb source for high-school, public, and academic libraries.

Vol. 4 : Real-Life Earth Science. - 481 p.

Welcome to Science of Everyday Things. Our aim is to explain how scientific phenomena can be understood by observing common, real-world events. From luminescence to echolocation to buoyancy, the series will illustrate the chief principles that underlay these phenomena and explore their application in everyday life. To encourage cross-disciplinary study, the entries will draw on applications from a wide variety of fields and endeavors. Science of Everyday Things initially comprises four volumes: