About the Book
Fun for the whole family--find half a million fast, accurate facts in this 512-page fascinating, easy-to-access book and never be stumped for an answer again! Great for schoolwork, special reports, speeches, crosswords, and much more. This fact-packed book has vital information in nine intriguing chapters, including The Universe and Our Planet, The History of Mankind, Culture and Entertainment, and Science and Invention. Along with the most useful facts about our world, this guide also includes over 800 full-color photographs and illustrations, maps, charts, cause and effect diagrams, easy to follow timelines, color-coded chapters, and complete cross-referencing. Whether you're looking for the winner of the 1973 World Series, the capital of Qatar, the world's largest painting, or other trivia to simply satisfy your curiosity, this reference makes fact-finding entertaining as well as informative.
Table of Contents:
The universe and our planet: Planet earth; the universe; galaxies; stars; the Sun; the planets; the Moon; comets and meteorites; structure of the earth; geology of the earth; earthquakes; volcanoes; oceans and seas; rivers; lakes; islands in the sea; glaciers; mountains; earth's atmosphere; weather. Life on earth: The ages of life on earth; evolution explained; origins of life; the plant kingdom; how plants live; origins of animal life; the age of the fishes; the move to land; the rise of the dinosaurs; last days of the dinosaurs; the rise of the mammals; the animal kingdom; mollusks and arthropods; arachnids and insects; fishes; amphibians; reptiles; birds; animal records; mammals; endangered species; the ancestors of man; the emergence of modern man. The human body: The skeleton and muscles; the brain and nerves; circulation and breathing; glands and hormones; the immune system; the digestive system; the urinary system; skin and hair; sight; hearing and balance; smell, taste and touch; pregnancy and birth; cells and DNA; the seven ages. The history of mankind: History of the world; the prehistoric world; dawn of history; Ancient Egypt; Ancient Greece; Ancient Rome; the making of Europe; Christianity; the rise of Islam; the middle ages; India; China and Japan; Africa; Ancient America; the age of exploration; the Renaissance; Chash of faiths; age of kings; Europe in turmoil; creation of the United States; the industrial revolution; new nations and empires; World war I; Russian revolution; between the wars; World war II; end of empire; the cold war; new world order. Peoples and nations: Canada; the United States; the United States, Mexico; Northern Caribbean; Southern Caribbean; Central America; Panama, Venezuela and Colombia; Chile, Bolivia; Ecuador and Peru; Guyana, Surinam and Brazil; Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina; Britain, Ireland and Iceland; Norway, Denmark and Sweden; Germany and the Netherlands; France, Belgium and Luxembourg; Southwest Europe; Italy, Vatican City, San Marino and Monaco; The Baltic countries; Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia; Austria, Hungary, Switzerland and Liechtenstein; The Balkans; Southeast Europe; Central Europe; Russia; Central Europe and the Caucasus; Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan; Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Yemen; Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan; Central Asia; India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives; Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar; China; Japan, North Korea and South Korea; Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore; Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Taiwan; the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and East Timor; Australia and New Zealand; Pacific Islands; Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia; Egypt, Sudan Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and the Seychelles; West Africa(North); West Africa(South); Togo, Benin, Niger, Chad and Nigeria; Central Africa; Central and Southern Africa; Southern Africa; South Africa and Southern Africa; International organizations. Culture and entertainment: Language; writing; Greek and Roman mythology; religions; Western thought 450 b.c.- a.d. 1800; Western thought 1800 - present; psychology; scientific thinkers; Western art 500 b.c. - a.d. 1500; Western art 1500 - 1700; Western art 1700-1850; Western art 1850-1930; Western art 1930 - present; architecture 600 b.c. - a.d. 1600; architecture 1600 - present; Classical music 800 -1800; classical music 1800 - present; popular music 1900 - 59; popular music 1960 - present; Western literature; 800 b.c. - a.d. 1700; Western literature 1700 - 1830; Western literature 1830 - present; Drama 550 b.c. -a.d. 1700s; drama 1700s - present; cinema 1890 - 1940; cinema 1940 -70; Cinema 1970 - present; television; newspapers, magazines and comics; food; football; baseball; basketball; soccer; golf; tennis; squash and badminton; the olimpic games; skiing; ice skating. The global economy: Money and markets; the principles of economics; feeding the world; fruits of the earth; breeding and rearing; road transportation; the modern car; trains; steamships to hydrofoils; aviation; first steps in space; cooperation in space; the information economy; fossil fuels; nuclear power; renewable energy. Science and invention: Numbers and sequences; fundamentals of geometry; practical geometry; mechanics; energy; electricity and magnetism; the electromagnetic spectrum; radioactivity; relativity; atoms and molecules; the periodic table; chemistry of compounds; the structure of living things; inherited characteristics; archaeology; everyday inventions 1850 - 1920; everyday inventions 1920 - present; telecommunications; the birth of computing; the modern computer; digital communications; recorded sound; the internet; the origins of modern medicine; medicine in the modern age; building; civil engineering. Ready reference: movies; nobel prizes; alphabets; the night sky; signs and wonders; early mediterranean rulers; European and world leaders; scales and measurements.
