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Dictionary of Theories
The Dictionary of Theories is the first multi-disciplinary reference book to bring together theories, laws, hypotheses, principles, rules, theorems, 'ologies, and 'isms from all subject areas. With more than 5,000 entries, the Dictionary of Theories is a unique and handy reference for the inquiring reader who wants to know more about the many theories cited daily in newspapers and magazines and on television, radio, and the Internet.
Alphabetically arranged entries cover the arts, economics, history, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, hard sciences, and more.
Ancient and modern, accepted and discredited, all theories that have relevance in today's world are included. The depth of the terms varies from undergraduate level to the more populist, with theories such as Parkinson's law and the Peter Principle included.
Each theory gives the name and date of the theory; subject area; the name, nationality, and dates of the discoverer; a concise description of the theory and a comment about its validity; and, where appropriate, a one-item bibliography giving details of a title in which a fuller explanation can be found. Equations and technical diagrams have also been included.
We've got your theory! Extensive cross-references allow you to browse within areas and across discipline. And the two indexes enable you to see which entries are covered by each subject area and the names and dates of the people associated with each theory. from Good Reads
Alphabetically arranged entries cover the arts, economics, history, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, hard sciences, and more.
Ancient and modern, accepted and discredited, all theories that have relevance in today's world are included. The depth of the terms varies from undergraduate level to the more populist, with theories such as Parkinson's law and the Peter Principle included.
Each theory gives the name and date of the theory; subject area; the name, nationality, and dates of the discoverer; a concise description of the theory and a comment about its validity; and, where appropriate, a one-item bibliography giving details of a title in which a fuller explanation can be found. Equations and technical diagrams have also been included.
We've got your theory! Extensive cross-references allow you to browse within areas and across discipline. And the two indexes enable you to see which entries are covered by each subject area and the names and dates of the people associated with each theory. from Good Reads
637 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 28, 2007
This book has settled a ton of arguments and bets amongst my more intellectual friends and me - and when I find myself again unable to explain the concepts of Zeno's Arrow or Schroedinger's Cat in a satisfactory manner, I just read its entry from this book out loud.
March 10, 2009
An omni-geek's wet dreambook!
February 28, 2010
One of my favorite references! I could get lost in this book for days. It is laid out like an encyclopedia/dictionary, with lots of cross-references, a good bibliography, and a nice long list of the people who are mentioned within.
July 25, 2011
This is a great reference book - not one that you'd want to read cover to cover (unless you're some hardcore theoretical physicist or the like).
October 2, 2026
This is the kind of never-quite-useful reference book made irrelevant by Wikipedia. I rediscovered this in a pile of my old books while clearing out my parents' storage unit. According to the receipt still in the covers, I purchased it (used) from the Borders at the Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill, MA, at 3:52pm on the last day of 2008. It was the intersession between my first and second semesters at college, and I likely thought the book could be useful. It never was.
The book contains over 5,000 multi-disciplinary entries of theories from the gamut of human thought. It also contains a bibliography, a "people index" and a "subject area index" at the end. Ostensibly designed as a reference book, its only useful function is to be flipped through at random. For a teenager suicidally desperate to escape into the wider world, it hinted at forms of knowledge, art, and politics which someone could spend a lifetime immersed in. It offered no path to get there, but knowing they existed was enough.
The name Jennifer Bothamley is stamped at the bottom of the book's cover and again on the interior title page. She is not listed as an editor, and is otherwise unmentioned, and I can find no record of her existing, and I suspect the name was made up simply to have an editor or author listed alongside the book. The Dictionary of Theories was published by Visible Ink Press, which does not list it on their website or in their catalogue. It belongs to an old world that no longer exists.
At some point, I will sell or donate it to free up space on my shelves. It will either be thrown out, or, hopefully, find its way to the hands of some kid who, idly flipping through it, will receive some intellectual spark from the handful of sentences on the entries for hypercycle theory (1977) or bricolage (1962) or some other one. Every printed book, concretely existing in the physical world, has a journey. Usually mundane, but sometimes quietly and unexpectedly heroic.
The book contains over 5,000 multi-disciplinary entries of theories from the gamut of human thought. It also contains a bibliography, a "people index" and a "subject area index" at the end. Ostensibly designed as a reference book, its only useful function is to be flipped through at random. For a teenager suicidally desperate to escape into the wider world, it hinted at forms of knowledge, art, and politics which someone could spend a lifetime immersed in. It offered no path to get there, but knowing they existed was enough.
The name Jennifer Bothamley is stamped at the bottom of the book's cover and again on the interior title page. She is not listed as an editor, and is otherwise unmentioned, and I can find no record of her existing, and I suspect the name was made up simply to have an editor or author listed alongside the book. The Dictionary of Theories was published by Visible Ink Press, which does not list it on their website or in their catalogue. It belongs to an old world that no longer exists.
At some point, I will sell or donate it to free up space on my shelves. It will either be thrown out, or, hopefully, find its way to the hands of some kid who, idly flipping through it, will receive some intellectual spark from the handful of sentences on the entries for hypercycle theory (1977) or bricolage (1962) or some other one. Every printed book, concretely existing in the physical world, has a journey. Usually mundane, but sometimes quietly and unexpectedly heroic.
October 21, 2019
This is a wonderful book, in order to get information about many basic theories: in the fields of Psychology, Politics, Physics, and Biology, among others!
March 17, 2024
For the curious person....open the book anywhere and start reading. Stuff you never knew, don't need to know, have forgotten, may never use, or might some day. Chock full of interesting things. Before the internet we had encyclopedias, fat books filled with information. Reminds me of this. I read a lot of fiction so this is a nice balance...
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November 21, 2009None
September 8, 2014
I <3 it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews