Authoritative writing in a style accessible to the general reader, comprehensive coverage, a taxonomic arrangement to facilitate comparison between species, consistent organization, ample color illustrations and photographs, incorporation of current research, and the inclusion of conservation status and the significance of the animal to humans make Grzimek's an excellent choice for academic, large public, and special libraries.
Volumes 12-16, Mammals, are a rich source of information on this popular group, from platypuses to moles to bats to wildebeests to whales to humans. The illustrations are of mixed appeal; some look like strained imitations of reality, while others seem as if the animals could walk off the page. A less current revision is McGraw-Hill's 1990 Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, distinguished by exceptional large-format action photographs.

This book is clearly the best zoological compilation that is available at the moment. Grzimek is one of the most renowned zoologists in the world, and his works were edited and supplied with material by today's highest-ranking zoologists. All this text is generously supplied with coloured illustrations.

"Enjoyable reading" is not usually a phrase used in descriptions of encyclopedias, yet these four volumes of the second edition of Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia provide just that. Part of a 17-volume rewrite of the original 13-volume edition published beginning in 1967, these volumes exhibit excellence in writing, organization, illustration, and editing.

Volume 7, Reptiles, is the strongest of these excellent volumes. The contributors' expert knowledge and love of reptiles is evident. The "Order: Crocodilians" section is particularly well written.

 

"Enjoyable reading" is not usually a phrase used in descriptions of encyclopedias, yet these four volumes of the second edition of Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia provide just that. Part of a 17-volume rewrite of the original 13-volume edition published beginning in 1967, these volumes exhibit excellence in writing, organization, illustration, and editing.

Volume 4 and volume 5--Fishes 1 and Fishes 2-- open with an elegant explanation of the diversity of the superclass Pisces and the difficulty of giving a general definition for all fish. Treatment is thorough despite the complexity of the topic caused by the sheer numbers of families, species, and habitats.

The Encyclopedia includes 253 alphabetically arranged entries written by 170 authors. The text is supplemented with more than 600 photographs, illustrations, sidebars, and maps. Entries contain a set of cross-references to related entries within the set, as well as a bibliography of related books and journal articles to guide readers who want to learn more about a given topic. The front matter in Volume 1 includes a list of entry topics, and the back matter in Volume 3 contains both an extensive timeline of important dates in energy history and a comprehensive subject index.