The Cutting Edge: An Encyclopedia of Advanced Technologies - Hardcover

As our high-tech world becomes increasingly complex, readers may want to know, "How does it work?" The Cutting Edge is a resource that explains more than expected topics such as DNA fingerprinting, e-books, or nanotechnology. More than 100 A-Z entries are each generally three or four pages in length and include a description of the technology, an illustration or photograph, historical background, uses, and controversies. Related topics and bibliographies including books, journals, and Web sites are listed at the end of each entry. The discussions on "Issues and Debates" point out questions regarding the use of a technology. Some of the entries, such as Food irradiation or Genetic testing, show a pro-implementation bias.The writing is not too technical and is suitable for the general adult reader. Because these technologies are rapidly developing, the contributors are careful to indicate when the information was gathered. For instance, the entry on Internet search engines and portals reports a 1998 estimate that the Internet will have one billion pages by the year 2000. This volume's coverage differs from that of other short technology encyclopedias such as The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Science, Technol ogy, and Society [RBB Ap 15 99] or the second edition of Gale's World of Scientific Discovery (1999) because the focus is on the technology and questions surrounding its implementation. It will be a very useful addition to science and technology collections. RBB
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"This book is highly recommended for most public and academic libraries."--American Reference Books Annual

"[This] illustrated overview aimed more at general readers than researchers...emphasizes a wide [range] of technologies associated with space and ocean exploration, biotechnology, the environment, national defense, information processing, communications, transportation, entertainment, health
and medicine, and the home....102 alphabetically arranged articles describe in very basic, nontechnical language how the technology works, how it was developed, the issues and debate it generates, and its capabilities and potential uses."--Library Journal

"Entries are well written and cover topics in which high school, undergraduate, and general researchers are commonly interested...for this audience, it is a better initial source than the more detailed McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology."--Choice