Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

Research and Discovery: Landmarks and Pioneers in American Science, edited by Russell Lawson. 3 vols. 1,012p. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2008. 978-0-7656-8073-0; 2006-14012. $299.

Research and Discovery: Landmarks and Pioneers in American Science This new encyclopedia explores the history of science and technology in the United States. Nearly 750 articles and documents are arranged into chapters devoted to 14 broad disciplines, including natural history, geography, botany, biology, medicine, the geosciences, social science, behavioral science, astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, applied science, and the history of science. Each chapter opens with extended essays regarding the development of that particular field. Some 30-60, A-Z entries highlight major figures, significant achievements, important institutions, and fields of study. The chief approach is biographical with coverage ranging from sixteenth and seventeenth century explorers and naturalists to modern astronauts, physicists and computer scientists. The wide scope of topical entries include colonial experimental gardens, pest houses, balloons, geodetic surveys, telegraphs, national parks, superconductivity, lasers, autism, particle physics and space stations. Each entry includes suggested sources for further research. Concluding each chapter, a selection of primary documents provides contemporary views of expeditions, discoveries and inventions. To aid the user, a topically arranged list of entries and the index are repeated in each volume. Other features include numerous illustrations and a list of Nobel Prize-winning American scientists. This excellent introduction to the history of American science will serve high school, public and undergraduate collections.
—John R.M. Lawrence