The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge

by John D. Leonard, The New York Times

The new standard in reference from the nation's leading newspaper:
A thorough, authoritative, easy-to-use guide offering deeper coverage on a broad range of essential subjects.

Whether you are researching the history of the world, interested in learning more about an obscure medical procedure, exploring environmental trends, studying a great work of literature, looking for tips on how to improve your crossword puzzle skills, or just trying to gain a deeper understanding of the latest current events, this book is for you. An indispensable resource for every home, office, dorm room, and library, The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge includes insightful sidebars by Times writers, and covers major categories including art, astronomy, business, sports, history, medicine, philosophy, photography, biology, film, and much more!

Years in the making, this one volume is designed to offer more information than any other book on the most popular subjects as well as providing easy-to-access data vital for everyday living. It is the only comprehensive reference book to include authoritative, engaging in-depth essays from experts in almost every field of endeavor, with innovative cross-referencing to allow for to even greater understanding.

Featuring:
- Biographical dictionary of nearly one thousand of the most important people of every field
- Writers Guide to grammar, usage and style
- The United States Constitution
- The most complete sports section of any one-volume reference book
- A thirty-thousand-word history of the world
- Crossword dictionary

Contributors include:
- Jane Brody on health matters
- Dennis Overbye on the Big Bang
- Linda Greenhouse on the Supreme Court today
- Andrew Revkin on the state of the world's environment
- John Noble Wilford on the oldest human fossil
- Michael Kimmelman on the origins of photography
- Will Shortz on crosswords
- Natalie Angier on war
- Nicholas Wade on how life began

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, History, Trivia, Education

1104 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2004

Reviews

[Johnny Clyde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this as a refresher on generally everything.
Kind of a waste of time. Definitely, don't recommend this.
It's really not a good read, albeit it's probably not meant to be read cover to cover but I feel like even as a reference book it would be pretty annoying.
The world history section was an absolute abomination.
Everything else that had to do with history was almost entirely focused on Europe or America.
Things are mostly told in dates and names and that's about it.
The best section was the science chapters, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them either.
I skipped the sports section entirely because it was mostly stats with a paragraph or two dedicated to history, and the history was ridiculous anyway. Traced back to the laziest possible roots.
(Ice hockey comes from field hockey? O: )
Then other times, it's extremely detailed in seemingly random areas. I think mostly where they can squeeze in really quick reference information. Like it has all the census information for every state and country, but it didn't even break down the epochs and eras in the history of earths creation.
And again, as a reference book you're better off with wikipedia or google. Really not worth it.

At least now I know I can sit through extremely boring reads for 4-hour reading sessions without dying. That's the most useful fact I got out of this I think.

[Velma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect addition to the reading shelf over the commode.

[Grant84 · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best book i own. glance at it atleast once a week and learn something new

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading hard copy, well written histories. Yes, some are outdated by now, but others are just plain revelatory. This was a fun challenge to get through during COVID, as some topics weren’t exactly as interesting as others. Phew!!

[Chelsey Cosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide is fantastic. It should be a reference book, but I read it for leisure from cover to cover, an approach I don't recommend. Regardless, it is still a great book. The only thing I fear is that they won't update and release later editions as the world changes and inaccuracies pop up. For the time being, I'd definitely recommend it.

[Blanca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a huge book but filled with as stated by the title essential knowledge. I like this book because it does spark curiosity and I want my student to seek imformation on their own great way to start out is reading this book.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

i look something up in this book at least once a week. but its also pretty good just to page through. times writers write the entries, so there tends to be good, interesting writing throughout.

[Xavier Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few typos in the book!!!

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful information. Definitely would have to buy rather than rent to get through it all.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for bathroom reading.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duh, it's essential! It says so right in the title. Sheesh.

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

This massive super brick of a book is a true doorstop. Rather than reading it through it would be better to go and check out something you are interested in. So if you use it as a reference it would be perfectly fine. Since it was printed in 2004, the book is rather out of date, but there is stuff in there that hasn't changed.

So if you like almanacs and other things this book does a good job of being that.