Visual Encyclopedia

by D.K. Publishing

A highly illustrated visual reference provides detailed charts, lists, diagrams, maps, photographs, and illustrations that highlight significant facts about everything from natural science to history.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, History, Art, The World, Science, Language

456 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are like me and like to pretend you know something about everything, this is the book for you! Recommended.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is an updated version of a book I have seen before. I had read a review touting it as an excellent holiday gift. I wanted to see if it would work as a fun resource for me to use with my grandsons. Well, it might be eventually but they are too young for it now. It is a “visual” encyclopedia but it is dense with text also. Every page is crammed with information conveyed by both pictures and words. The photos and illustrations and graphs and drawings are plentiful and vibrant and justify the book’s title.

I initially found it too overwhelming and busy, but when I zeroed in on topics of interest to me (the earth’s composition, volcanoes, the upper atmosphere, the evolution of man, the history of numbers and writing and literature, along with a few others), I found it interesting and informative. It would be a good resource (“an alternative to the Internet” as it proclaims itself to be) to either look up occasional topics or page through at random. There is a glossary and index. There is some superficiality to the info and some things might remain a bit confusing but that is the tricky thing with a book like this: how much is enough and how much is too much.

[Dameon Launert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sections Universe and Space, Earth, Living World, Human Body, and Science and Technology were excellent refreshers of primary and secondary school education.

Beliefs and Customs had errors. Arts and Media was informative, even if outdated. Sports was of marginal utility.

The sections Transportation, Communications, and Industry and International World had some useful information, but was also outdated. It was a depressing celebration of the destruction and murder of the planet. The maps were were difficult to read.

The section on History could have been better, and it had the usual biases I have come to expect.

[David W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me weeks, but it was worth it.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book