The Penguin Dictionary of Science by E. B. Uvarov, and: Glossary of Art, Architecture and Design since 1945 by John A. Walker, and: A Dictionary of Art & Artists by Peter, Linda Murray, and: Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art (review)

178 Books comments that might be embodied in future editions. This seems a very worthwhile idea. The material in the book has been grouped under four headings: (I) Resources, Facilities and Techniques for Science Teaching, (2) Physical Sciences, (3) Biological Sciences and (4)Earth and Space Sciences. This is an admirable arrangement from the standpoint of quick, easy reference. The first section includes suggestions for laboratory safety. Indeed, every section teems with interesting and unusual ideas for experimentation and stresses the use of homemade apparatus. To the sophisticated teacher with a wellequipped laboratory this feature may seem to be overdone and unessential but to the average instructor it must be a boon. The book concludes with nine appendices packed with practical information, such as a table of elements and the periodic table. The inclusion of an index adds to the value of this text, on the final page of which is found a fold-over ‘star’ map-a treasure in itself. I unhesitatingly recommend this excellent source book to artists and art teachers. The Penguin Dictionary of Science. 4th ed. E. B. Uvarov, D. R. Chapman and Alan Tsaacs. Schocken Books, New York, 1972. 443 pp., illus. $11.95. Glossary of Art, Architecture and Design since 1945. John A. Walker. Clive Bingley, London, 1973. 240 pp. f3.30. A Dictionary of Art &Artists. 3rd ed. Peter and Linda Murray, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, England, 1972. 468 pp. Paper. 50p. Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. Phaidon, London and New York, 1973. 420 pp., illus. f5.50. The Leorrardo editorial office has frequent need to consult science and art dictionaries. The dictionaries discussed here are recent additions to its collection. While Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 8th edition (Springfield, Mass. : G. & C. Merriam, 1973) and Brifaririica World Lorigr/age Dictiorrary (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1962) are often useful for providing definitions for scientific and art terms, sometimes more specialized dictionaries must be consulted to gain a fuller comprehension or to locate terms that are not listed in dictionaries of broad scope. The Pengrri/r Dictionary of Science (4th ed.) contains nearly five thousand entries, a selection from the vast number of technical terms employed in the various disciplines of science. While one might complain that the Dictionary does not include terms that it should (some examples of omissions are alga, phonon and photoelastic), the terms selected make the book a valuable one. The definitions are clearly and rather concisely stated. Eleven tables, including listings of conversion factors, fundamental constants and atomic weights, are presented. The illustrations, though few in number, are very well prepared. Those persons having some background or interest in science would undoubtedly find it very useful. Walker’s Glossary is a most helpful reference for those wishing to know the meanings of terms used in various art tendencies of recent decades. There is a brief discussion of each tendency, usually accompanied by a selection of pertinent references. Some terms with a present-day flavor, such as ‘found object’ and ‘ready-made’, are omitted because they were put into use before 1945. The Leorrnrdo editorial office takes issue with Walker’s definition of ‘kinetic art’. In Leotiardo 1, 198 (1968) it is given as a form of visual fine art that incorporates real motion and/or changes of color with time in a completed work. His definition includes stationary objects that give an illusion of motion. Such objects are classified as examples of Op Art. A Dictioirrrry of Art arid Artists is intended ‘to act as a companion to the inquiring gallery visitor’. Its scope is broad: the art of North America and of Western Europe from 1300 A.D. to the present. About 300 art terms, only a few of them of recent origin, and art movements are discussed concisely and brief biographical statements are presented for over 1,000artists. This practical, well-written handbook, now in its third edition, has been updated to include some highly arbitrarily chosen biographies of living artists. The Phidon Dictio/mry is similar in format to that of the Murrays, providing an alphabetical listing of over 1,600 bibliographies of artists and statements on over 140 art groups and tendencies, principally of this century in...