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The Visual Encyclopedia

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This landmark piece of reference publishing offers a reliable, visually stunning, and family-friendly alternative to online information sources.

Packed with carefully curated content, the pages of this illustrated encyclopedia are designed to be accessible and illuminating to a wide range of readers, and parents and teachers can be confident that children won't see any unwanted content. Featuring accessible and authoritative information, this book is a comprehensive guide to a wide range of human knowledge, and its text is integrated with clear artworks and informative, illuminating photography to bring general knowledge vividly to life.

The scope of content in The Visual Encyclopedia makes it stand alone as a self-contained family reference guide, and it covers the fields of science, nature, space, history, the arts, technology, leisure, and more. The information is organized thematically to make navigation easy, and clear signposting highlights connections between subjects.

Whether you want to find the answer to a question, read about a particular area of interest, or simply browse a range of subjects at leisure, this accessible, family-friendly reference guide offers a trustworthy source of knowledge and enjoyment.

528 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

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About the author

D.K. Publishing

9,145 books2,042 followers
Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Bill.
521 reviews5 followers
June 6, 2021
I believe this is an updated version of a book I have seen before. I had read a review touting it as an excellent holiday gift. I wanted to see if it would work as a fun resource for me to use with my grandsons. Well, it might be eventually but they are too young for it now. It is a “visual” encyclopedia but it is dense with text also. Every page is crammed with information conveyed by both pictures and words. The photos and illustrations and graphs and drawings are plentiful and vibrant and justify the book’s title.

I initially found it too overwhelming and busy, but when I zeroed in on topics of interest to me (the earth’s composition, volcanoes, the upper atmosphere, the evolution of man, the history of numbers and writing and literature, along with a few others), I found it interesting and informative. It would be a good resource (“an alternative to the Internet” as it proclaims itself to be) to either look up occasional topics or page through at random. There is a glossary and index. There is some superficiality to the info and some things might remain a bit confusing but that is the tricky thing with a book like this: how much is enough and how much is too much.
Profile Image for Dameon Launert.
167 reviews1 follower
January 7, 2024
The sections Universe and Space, Earth, Living World, Human Body, and Science and Technology were excellent refreshers of primary and secondary school education.

Beliefs and Customs had errors. Arts and Media was informative, even if outdated. Sports was of marginal utility.

The sections Transportation, Communications, and Industry and International World had some useful information, but was also outdated. It was a depressing celebration of the destruction and murder of the planet. The maps were were difficult to read.

The section on History could have been better, and it had the usual biases I have come to expect.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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