Oxford"s American Desk Encyclopedia is the most up to date, affordable, and convenient encyclopedia on the market, offering over 15,000 alphabetically arranged entries that put a world of information within arm"s reach. Virtually any topic you would want information on you will find here. There are numerous biographical entries well over 3,000 in all that cover artists, writers, and composers; military, political, and world leaders; religious and business figures; scientists and inventors, and much more. Readers will find concise entries on geographical places from mountains, rivers, and seas to cities, regions, and nations. Science is perhaps the biggest category covered, encompassing physics, astronomy, chemistry, the environment, mathematics, the life sciences including many entries on animals, plants, and minerals plus hundreds of entries on technology (inventions, machine parts, and so on). There are literary terms, artistic movements, architectural styles, musical periods. Religion and mythology, medicine and health, sports and entertainment, politics and the law--all are covered here. The Encyclopedia also offers an attractive page layout, with hundreds of black-and-white illustrations, plus a sixteen-page color map section. Its compact trim size makes it fit neatly in any convenient space on a desk or on the kitchen counter--ready whenever you need fast information. And finally, the Encyclopedia is a great bargain, a cloth-bound reference work at a paperback price. Wide ranging, authoritative, portable, affordable, and engagingly illustrated, The American Desk Encyclopedia will be the mainstay of your home or office library.