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J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 109, 1, 1999, p.44
Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-211596-0. Pp. xiii + 536, £7.99 (pbk.)
reviewed by Jacqueline Mitton
This is an excellent dictionary. It has all the qualities one should reasonably expect from such a reference book: accuracy, clarity, consistency and good coverage of its subject. Indeed, there are 4000 entries, surely enough to satisfy most of the inquisitors who turn to its pages for enlightenment. The book is neatly laid out in a way that is easy to use, with a reasonable but not excessive number of cross-references.
Generally speaking, reviewers are expected to read the books on which they are asked to pass judgement. But dictionaries demand a different kind of scrutiny. The first question to address is whether the choice of entries, or 'headwords' is appropriate, adequate and up-to-date. In drawing up their headword lists, dictionary compilers have to resolve a variety of dilemmas. How many star and asteroid names do you include? Where do you draw the line on the countless acronyms for spacecraft and their instruments? Do you include biographies or not? What about terms that belong to the whole of physics but are often encountered in astronomy? There are countless questions like these to be resolved, before a single entry is written.
No two editors will produce identical headword sets, but Ian Ridpath has clearly implemented a sensible and consistent strategy. My only reservation concerns the inclusion of biographical entries, when the space might have been devoted to additional entries for astronomical bodies and their features. I am uncomfortable with the notion of apparently 'defining' people between things and concepts. And setting criteria for who is in and who is left out is abominably difficult, even more so when living persons are included, as in this case.
After the serious matter of the headwords comes the substance of the entries. With a team of nineteen contributors, Ian Ridpath has done a remarkable job to achieve such consistency in the style, technical level and length of entries. And try as I might, I have failed to find any bloomers!
This is a classic that the publisher, editor and contributors can be proud of - worthy of the Oxford name, world-famous for its dictionaries and reference books.
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