The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind

by The New York Times

A Complete Revision and Thorough Updating of the Ultimate Reference from the Newspaper of Record

 

Whether you are researching the history of Western art, investigating an obscure medical test, following current environmental trends, studying Shakespeare, brushing up on your crossword and Sudoku skills, or simply looking for a deeper understanding of the world, this book is for you. An indispensable resource for every home, office, dorm room, and library, this new edition of The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge offers in-depth explorations of art, astronomy, biology, business, economics, the environment, film, geography, history, the Internet, literature, mathematics, music, mythology, philosophy, photography, sports, theater, film, and many other subjects.

 

This one volume is designed to offer more information than any other book on the most important subjects, as well as provide easy-to-access data critical to everyday life. It is the only universal reference book to include authoritative and engaging essays from New York Times experts in almost every field of endeavor.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, History, Trivia, Politics, Education, Writing

1328 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2004

About the author

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. Founded in 1851, the newspaper has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Its website receives 30 million unique visitors per month.

Reviews

[Spike Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I'm attempting to get on Jeopardy, I decided that a wide review of knowledge was necessary, and so I picked the second edition of this book at a used bookstore. Well, I certainly don't recommend trying to read this cover to cover as I did. It's really not made for that sort of thing, though I can tell you this: some of the section writers are far better at others in providing an overview of their field of expertise, and more than a couple don't know how to take an ideologically neutral stance for the life of themselves (but being that this is sponsored by the New York Times, I was expecting such a bias to pop up).

That said, I did learn quite a bit of new factoids, as well as refresh what I already know.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read the entire thing because it's longer than the Bible, but a great reference for curious people to learn new facts daily. I just open the book to random pages, learn some interesting info for half an hour and close it till the next time. Did you know Japanese is spoken on the small island country of Palau? Now I do thanks to this book!

[Sherif Fahmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, together with "An Incomplete Education", this is my go to reference when I want to learn about a certain topic. I haven't read it from cover to cover, I just zoom in on the topic I want to learn about. Has served me very well so far.

[Pepijn van Duijn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een PDF van 3800 paginas lezen voor je plezier, oke dan knul

[Ellen Behrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource on a variety of topics

Love having this resource -- one I can dip into and out of as I hear or read something and want more background on it. Everything from the government to literary arts to science -- can't even remember all the topics!

Wonderful resource and so glad I have it on my Kindle for quick reference.

Just wish it were more up-to-date!

[Kathy Burden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, this book is large. I read a few pages each day and learned a little bit about...everything! I started it during COVID lock down and finally finished, and picked up some very interesting facts, music selections, classic book ideas, etc. along the way. If you are curious and love to learn, you'll find this very comprehensive.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised having put this on reserve at my library to come and find that it was a master collection of knowledge, 10+ times the usual length of books I normally tag as "to-reference". I'll definitely be finding an e-book/pdf version of this to reference instead.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Open to a random page and learn about anything. An encyclopedia but more readable

[Ayaan Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a reference book. That being said, I prefer Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary—it’s far more comprehensive.

[Justin Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent knowledge. Not light bathroom reading. Expansive but slightly outdated currently

[Eric Viste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cover to cover? Nay nay. Reference books are fun and this one is one of the funnest. Some errant info/sourcing, so worth double checking things for full context.

[Pannacotta Fugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewing old stuff: Cool book, want to reread some day

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book (along with Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus) was all I really wanted for my birthday. I know, I know... I'm a book nerd.

The Guide to Essential Knowledge is the most awesome and non-boring reference book I have ever perused. (No, I did not read all eight billion pages)

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful book!

[Cari · Rating 3 out of 5]

great to flip through... would probably take a year and a half to actually read the whole dang thing. Great for the bathroom! :)

[Sumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers a broad range of subjects and yet I still felt it was missing something.

In terms of readability I prefer 'An Incomplete Education'

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

i didn't read the whole thing because its like a DICTIONARY. this thing is huge. its not a book were you read the whole thing but you could try if you really wanted to.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

yea, has a lot of good info in there

[Stephenie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Words can not express how awesome it is.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty weak narrative

[Sam Motes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a truly a massive collection of trivial knowledge on a vast area of topics. Not deep enough in all areas obviously but a good high level over view of a wide swatch of areas of knowledge.

[Kevin Gallan]

76/1320

[Denise]

This book is incredible, I'm earning my BA of knowledge