

Series: Ultimate Visual Dictionary
Hardcover: 672 pages
Publisher: DK; Rev Upd edition (December 11, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0756626064
ISBN-13: 978-0756626068
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1.8 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #2,203,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #105 in Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Synonyms & Antonyms #2109 in Books > Textbooks > Reference > Dictionaries #3311 in Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Dictionaries

This is the most detailed visual dictionary that I've seen. If you're a well educated adult in the English language, perhaps a writer, and you're trying to choose between The Firefly Visual Dictionary, The MacMillan Visual Dictionary, The Scholastic Visual Dictionary, even the old What's What dictionary (which I think got the craze started), and DK's "Ultimate Visual Dictionary" - this book is absolutely your choice. As an alternative you can choose one of DK's "Eyewitness" Visual Dictionaries--these are sections from the Ultimate Visual Dictionary sold separately. Don't make the mistake of buying both unless there's a reason you want duplication. You CAN, however, get both this book and DK's "Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science" which is a highly expanded version of the more generalized science sections of this book.
Old habits are hard to break. It's possible, though, that the "Ultimate Visual Dictionary" will cure you of yelling to anyone within hearing distance, "Do you remember what those little petals that sit on the top of a strawberry are called?" but I can tell you that when no one in the house comes running to your aid, you will be really glad to have this reference sitting right on your desk. Libraries are nice. Heavens, the NET is even nice. But nothing can surpass a good, well-worn reference that you come to know intimately, know its strengths and its weaknesses. The pictures in this book are colorful, clear and not so cute they're annoying; it is divided into sensible categories like "The Universe," "Prehistoric Earth," and "The Human Body." There is a concise index and an appendix of useful data like mathematical symbols and the ever-confounding metric conversions. Now, sometimes you will need the name for something like the hole in the face of a guitar. You are praying there is a term that alliterates with the adjective you have already chosen to describe it. You rush to the wonderful book (after getting blank stares from anyone you ask about it first, of course), find the section for "music," and are disappointed to find that it is called a "sound hole." It's not a poetic term. It doesn't have any potential for a lyrical metaphor. Still, that's not the fault of the book, is it? At least you'll know that you are on your own for coming up with a term that is kinder to the ear or that, if you settle for "sound hole," there is nothing more accurate available. Check out the page for "Books." You'll find wonderful terms about your own craft that you've forgotten or never knew--like "mull," "buckram corner piece," and "tail."Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"
This book takes everyday objects (and some historical objects as well), and makes them tremendously exciting by truly demonstrating how form follows function. The graphics are outstanding, and the attention to detail is unsurpassed by any text of its type of which I am familiar. The Ultimate Visual Dictionary 2000 is outstanding as a reference text for educators and students alike: I wish I had access to such a book when I was in school!
Reviewed By Carolyn Howard-Johnson,Author of "This is the Place" Even with the best of references old habits are hard to break. I can't promise that the "Ultimate Visual Dictionary" published by DK Publishing, Inc., New York, will cure you of yelling to anyone within hearing distance, "Do you remember what those little petals that sit on the top of a strawberry are called?" but I can tell you that when no one in the house comes running to your aid, you will be really glad to have this reference sitting on your desk. Libraries are nice. Heavens, the NET is even nice. But nothing can surpass a good, well-worn reference that you come to know intimately, know its strengths and its weaknesses. The pictures are colorful, clear and not so cute they're annoying; it is divided into sensible categories like "The Universe," "Prehistoric Earth," and "The Human Body." There is a concise index and an appendix of useful data like mathematical symbols and the ever-confounding metric conversions. Sometimes you will need the name for something like the hole in the face of a guitar. You are praying there is a term that alliterates with the adjective you have already chosen to describe it. You rush to the wonderful book (after getting blank stares from anyone you ask about it first, of course), find the section for "music," and are disappointed to find that it is called a "sound hole." It's not a poetic term. It doesn't have any potential for a lyrical metaphor. Still, that's not the fault of the book, is it? At least you'll know that you are on your own for coming up with a term that is kinder to the ear or that, if you settle for "sound hole," there is nothing more accurate available. Check out the page for "Books." You'll find wonderful terms about the craft you love that you've forgotten or never knew--like "mull," "buckram corner piece," and "tail."(Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a freelance writer. She is a columnist for the Pasadena Star News, acontributing editor for Home Décor Buyer and does occasional movie reviews for theGlendale News-Press. Her award-winning novel, "This Is The Place," is set in Utah in the 1950s and is about love, prejudice, and redemption and is available on .com (-: )
Hip Hop Rhyming Dictionary: The Extensive Hip Hop & Rap Rhyming Dictionary for Rappers, Mcs,Poets,Slam Artist and lyricists: Hip Hop & Rap Rhyming Dictionary And General Rhyming Dictionary Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries: The Visual Dictionary of the Human Body (DK Visual Dictionaries) Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas English Dictionary (Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas 2e) Bible Dictionary Collection - Deluxe Study Edition (KJV Bible, Smith's Bible Dictionary, Easton's Bible Dictionary, over 40,000 Links) The Visual Dictionary of Flight (DK Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries) Visual Dictionary of Chemistry (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries) Children's Visual Dictionary: French-English (Visual Dictionaries) Children's Visual Dictionary: Spanish-English (Children's Visual Dictionaries) Visual Dictionary of Special Military Forces (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries) Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries) Visual Workplace/Visual Thinking: Creating Enterprise Excellence through the Technologies of the Visual Workplace Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary - The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga Stitch Sampler: The Ultimate Visual Dictionary to Over 200 Classic Stitches Ultimate Visual Dictionary Russian-English / English-Russian Dictionary and Phrasebook: (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks) Dictionary of New Testament Background (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary: A Complete Dictionary of All the English Words, Phrases, and Constructions in the Works of the Poet (Volume 1 A-M Spanish-English English-Spanish Medical Dictionary: Diccionario Médico Español-Inglés Inglés-Español (Spanish to English/ English to Spanish Medical Dictionary) (Spanish Edition) Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus: Updated and Expanded 3rd Edition, in Dictionary Form (Roget's Twentieth-First Century Thesaurus in Dictionary Form) Italian Pocket Dictionary: Italian-English/Inglese-Italiano (Berlitz Pocket Dictionary)