Over the years, The Book of Knowledge has become an institution in itself. The Pocket
edition of The Book of Knowledge has all its advantages, and none of its disadvantages. In the information
age, in the age of technology, one may question the relevance of a book that covers twenty volumes and thousands of pages. However, the Pocket edition is both compact and handy to use. The material contained in it is complete and unabridged. The format that the publishers have adopted – that of
questions and
answers – is interesting and user friendly.
The Pocket edition of the Book of Knowledge is divided into eight sections – The Earth and the Sky, Science, Plant
Life, Animal Life, Our own Life,
Familiar Things, This and That, Long Long Ago. The original Book of Knowledge is divided into eighteen sections, the sections that have been left out (due to lack of space) are those section that deal with literature, art and geography.
The questions included in this book are not the trivia so beloved of quiz fans. These are the questions that have been asked through the ages; questions about life, questions about the world that we live in. These are the questions about the familiar things about us, and the not so familiar processes that sustain them. They are the type of questions that children just love to ask – and that parents are often at a loss to answer.
This is a book to be browsed at leisure. In an age when browsing means sitting in front of a computer terminal, this is a book that reminds one what the lost art of reading is all about. This is an informative book, this ia a book to stimulate the imagination. This is a book that needs to be read from cover to cover. Illustrations are sparingly used, as they should be, only when they are relevant and contribute something to enhance the quality of the text.
The Pocket edition of The Book of Knowledge is an
encyclopedia, and yet not quite an encyclopedia. It is an encyclopedia because of the range of its questions, and the authority of its answers. Answers that can be referred to, answers that can be relied upon at all times. But it is also not quite an encyclopedia, because the very nature of its format (a Pocket edition) has forced a selection of topics upon the publishers. In other words, one may not find all the answers that one is looking for.
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