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Pocket Ref

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Preface and Personal Information Intro Trade Names, Trade Marks, and References Air and Gases Composition of Air Physical Properties of Air Densities of Gases Standard Atmosphere Definition General Gas Laws & Formulas Density of Moist Air Elevation vs. Air & Water Properties Dry Air Specific Heat & Sound Velocity at 1 Atmosphere for Various Temperatures Dry Air Specific Heat at 20°C Constant Temperature and Various Pressures Air Tool CFM & PSI Requirements CFM vs. PSI for Various Nozzle Sizes Air Hose Friction & Pressure Loss Air Line Recommended Sizes Air Receiver Capacities Air Pollution Safe Limits Automotive Antifreeze Table Spark Plug Spark Plug Lead-Acid Battery Specific Gravity/Charge Oil Viscosity vs. Temperature Auto Headlight Warning Automotive Air Conditioning Automotive Electric Wiring Tire Size vs. Load Rating Tire Manufacturer Codes Tire Size Coding Load Range vs. Ply Rating Automotive Formulas Carpentry and Construction Softwood Lumber Sizes Softwood Lumber Grading Hardwood Lumber Size and Grade Wood Moisture Content Plywood & Panel Grading Wood Characteristics Insulation Value of Materials Maximum Floor Joist Spans Douglas Fir - Larch Group Hemlock,-Fir Group Spruce- Ping Group Southern Pine Group Redwood Group Strength of Wood Beams Wood Gluing Characteristics Concrete Mortar Chemistry and Physics Element Tables Element Properties Periodic Table of the Elements pH of Common Acids pH of Common Bases pH Indicators Elementary Particles Radioisotope Half Lives Uranium-238 Decay Series Galvanic Series of Metals in Seawater Computers Computer ASCII Codes IBM PC Memory Map IBM PC Hardware Interrupts Serial Ports DMA Channels Megabytes and Kilobytes Constants- Physical, Chemical and Math Electrical- Wire, Motors and Frames Copper Wire Current Capacity Ampacity vs. Temperature Correction Copper Wire Current Capacity (3 wire) Standard Lamp & Extension Cord Current Capacities Aluminum Wire Amp Capacity Ampacity vs. Temp. Correction (Al) Aluminum Wire Amp Capacity (3 wire) Current Adjustment for more than 3 Wires in a Cable Copper Wire Resistance Standard Copper Wire Specs Wire Classes & Insulation Standard Wire Color Codes Wire Size vs. Voltage Drop Conduit Size vs. Wire Size Box Size vs. Number of Wires Average Electric Motor Specs NEMA Electric Motor Frames NEMA Electric Enclosure Types DC Motor Wiring Specs 3 Phase Electric Motor Specs HP vs. Torque vs. RPM for Motors Electronics Resistor Color Codes Resistor Standard Values Capacitor Color Codes Capacitor Standard Values Pilot Lamp Specs Fuses- Small Tube Type Battery Characteristics Batteries - Standard Sizes RF Coil Winding Data Wire Size vs. Number of Turns/Inch Decibels vs. Voltage & Power Ratios Formulas for Electricity General Information Holidays Season & Clock Dates Signs of the zodiac Flowers for each Month Birthstones Anniversary Names Paper Sizes English - Greek Alphabet Radio Alphabet Morse Code "Ten" Radio Codes Military Rank and Grade State Information Climate Data in U.S. Cities Time Zones in the US Time Zones in the World Telephone Area Codes by Location Telephone Area Codes by Area Code Major World Airports & Elevations Airline Two-Letter Codes Airports in the USA with Elevation, Codes City Populations and Airport Name Major World Airports & Elevations Airline Two Letter Codes Airline 1-800 Phone Numbers Lost Credit Card Phone Numbers General Science Temperature Conversions °F-°C Sound Intensities Human Body Composition Body Weight vs. Height Physical Growth % - Boys Physical Growth %$- Girls Acceleration Due to Gravity Beaufort Wind Strength Scale Wind Chill Factors Heat - Humidity Factors Firewood/Fuel Heat Comparisons Frequency Spectrum Sun and Planetary Data Geology Mineral Table Abbreviations Mineral Tables Element to Oxide Conversions Minerals Sorted by Density Minerals Sorted by Hardness Metal Content of Minerals Distinct Color Minerals Mineral Crystal System Minor Elements in Sedimentary Rocks Minor Elements in Igneous Rocks Igneous Rock Classification Igneous Rock Classes by Color Sedimentary Rock Classes Metamorphic Rock Classes Geochemical Lower Detection Limits Mohn Scale of Hardness Particle Size Descriptions Richter & Mercali Earthquake Scales Core Drill Specs Geologic Time Scale Glue, Solvents, Paints and Finishes Glue Types and Applications Common Solvents Paints and Finishes Hardware Bolt Torque Specs (Inch) Effect of Lubrication on Torque Rating Bolt Torque Specs (Metric) Bolt Torque Specs (Whitworth Std) Wood Screw Specifications Wood Screw Number vs. Screw Length Sheet Metal Screw Specs Pictures of Screw Heads Cable Clamps for wire Rope Nails Pictures of Nail Types Math Numeric Prefixes Roman Numerals Convert Inch-Foot-mm-Drill # Squares, Cubes and Roots Degrees, Radians, and Trig Functions Log, Log e, Circumference, & Circle Area Right Triangle Formulas Oblique Triangle Formulas Plane Figure Formulas Solid Figure Formulas Mine, Mill and Aggregate Stand...

864 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

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Thomas J. Glover

10 books10 followers

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5 stars
670 (64%)
4 stars
240 (23%)
3 stars
109 (10%)
2 stars
15 (1%)
1 star
7 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for Velma.
766 reviews70 followers
March 1, 2012
Handy little reference to keep around for those times when Google isn't available. Small enough to fit in your junk drawer with the screwdriver, rubber bands, and hardware miscellanea, you might just be able to use it to MacGyver your way out of a jam. Personally, I use the conversion tables most frequently; it's surprising how often I need to convert scruples into drams.

My well-thumbed copy came to me when a good friend died; his wake was held in his home, and those of us in attendance took possession of those of his possessions that had meaning to us. I like seeing his contact info inside the front cover, written in his hand, knowing that he dog-eared the pages and left a bit of himself there.
23 reviews
January 6, 2008
I got this book for Christmas and have referenced it several times for some of the most uniquely essential information. Only once, when I had to jump the car because the battery was dead, was I let down that it didn't have the instructions for hooking up the jumper cables. If you want a tiny reference about almost everything you might want to convert, measure, calculate, or guess at, or if you want to know military rank, what types of clouds there are or the area codes for New York, get this book. It is small and portable, but the print is a bit on the small side, so if you are hard of seeing, pocket it with a magnifying lens.
Profile Image for Matt.
1,066 reviews
April 29, 2020
Can’t say I read the whole thing... it’s over 800 pages of tiny, tiny print. But I skimmed enough of it to know it has a plethora of useful (and useless) info in it. The title says pocket, and technically it can fit into a pocket, but it will reside on my bookshelf at the ready for when I need to consult it to find out the airport code for Winston-Salem, NC (INT by the way) or the formula for volume of a sphere. Volume = 4 * pi * r3/ 3.
Profile Image for Sullivan S..
3 reviews
June 27, 2020
Makes a great reference for technical work.
When I'm setting up new experiments or helping out a friend, this book does a great job of preventing lectures about "young people always needing computers" because most of the information I'd normally need from the internet is already here. It doesn’t have *everything* I need for my work, but it does have enough to help me survive in both laboratories and construction sites.
Profile Image for LINDA.
168 reviews7 followers
July 9, 2008
I fall in love with little books packed with lots of information. Consider me smitten!

p. 70 Insulation Value of Materials (useful in the Architectural field)

p. 258 has a Consanguinity Table which can come to your aid when trying to figure out the correct term for your relation to distant relatives.

p. 639 starts a section on weather. The art of predicting weather interests me, simply because the weather forcasters are tryically wrong (so I refuse to watch it), and I like to know as much as I can so that I can do my own forcasting!
Profile Image for Abby.
84 reviews
October 21, 2025
I bought this for my husband. He's a welder/fabricator. He was working for a Copper mine; he just left it in his toolbox. One weekend, the mine overseer called him at home; Where's his Pocket Ref book? Did he take it home? The Mine would pay his fuel for him to bring it back. Nope, it should be in his toolbox. If it isn't there, he hasn't a clue where it went. (Another welder who worked there took it home so his bookshop working wife could order *him* one.) Turned out, *lots* of different sections borrowed and returned it. (like, *every* section except the head of mine, and office staff)
Profile Image for Blast.
37 reviews
January 24, 2008
Construction, math, weather, electronics, first aid, knots and just about anything else a person needs to know is in this book. It's probably the one book I want to have with me if I need to rebuild civilization.
6 reviews1 follower
April 12, 2008
A tiny Wikipedia for your pocket.
Profile Image for Jeff Collins.
63 reviews
January 31, 2018
at my house we call this "the boy book"
every young man that comes our way gets a copy of it
any measurement you need is in here somewhere

a must have for every male in your family.
makes a great stocking stuffer
7 reviews2 followers
September 29, 2017
Probably a bit outdated, but a neat little book none the less. Fun to flip to random pages and glance at the entry.
Profile Image for Chris McD.
17 reviews2 followers
July 25, 2018
This book is like the internet in your pocket... but without any ads or opinions. It’s surprising how much info this book contains.
Profile Image for Steven.
65 reviews7 followers
January 5, 2019
This is a fantastic handy little reference book. Perfect for fieldwork when google isn't available.
Profile Image for Doug Wolf.
80 reviews
February 23, 2019
Everything you'll ever need to know, from temperature conversion, international shoe sizes, engineering and scientific formulae, etc,. etc., etc..
Profile Image for Alexander.
5 reviews
August 29, 2012
I would not recommend this book to anyone else, not because it is a bad book, but because if you are not interested in a science carrier, because this book is purely science. No Story. Although I would call this book one of the,"All the stuff you never needed to know, but wanted to know anyway." The reason that I rated this book so high is because of the many new things that i learned after reading this book
12 reviews
August 18, 2013
I love reference books, and I love this one because it contains information on so many diverse subjects. Ever been confused by classification of cousins or what type of adhesive to bond plastic to steel with? This is probably the only book that can help with both. I gave it four stars instead of five because I have yet to use it in a practical way, and there are too many tables on bolt strength for my taste.
Profile Image for Kevin.
Author 7 books14 followers
July 17, 2007
This pocket reference is often referred to as a little black book.

No other mini-pocket-sized encyclopedia contains as much information concerning the physical world of science. It is an invaluable resource for writers, and anyone taking any kind of science course, or for that matter, anyone who has a job which deals heavily in science.

Buy it.
172 reviews12 followers
September 7, 2012
Sometimes I love to read reference books just for the enjoyment of finding something I don't know. This is the reference book that Grant from Mythbusters is always using. My daughter wanted a copy so I got two. It has a little bit everything in it like clothing sizes, weather icons, connector standards, minerals, military rankings, knots, hydraulic ram capacities, and so forth.
2 reviews
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September 18, 2012
So far, it's a lot of great information, as i guess you would know. You would think reading it as if it were a novel, page by page is a good idea... don't. Though using it as intended is boring, too. I randomly open it and learn something new, I'm thinking of getting another copy as bathroom reading.
Profile Image for Lafcadio.
Author 4 books49 followers
December 27, 2007
About the size of two smart phones stacked, this compact tome contains tables and charts of things you might want to google, when you don't have google.
Profile Image for Chris.
5 reviews
October 2, 2010
I have two copies. One, I carry with me. The second stays on my zombie apocalypse bookshelf.
Profile Image for Jessica Nelson.
155 reviews20 followers
December 15, 2010
EVERYONE should have a copy of this book. I couldn't believe the variety of useful information packed into this tiny little package!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews