National Geographic Concise History of Science and Invention: An Illustrated Time Line
This superbly illustrated source is a time line of important discoveries and inventions in human history. Photos, illustrations, and sidebars enliven the display of important dates. The material is up to date. For example, the last sidebar discusses the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland.   The chapters survey humanity's history from the origins of science to the modern world. The time line forms the bulk of the book, and content is organized by era; by region (Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, Africa and the Middle East); and by the categories “Astronomy and Math,” “Biology and Medicine,” “Physical Sciences,” “Engineering and Inventions,” and “World Events.” This arrangement makes it easy to compare, for example, discoveries in biology and medicine around the globe, 1735–1749. Special essays on important people (such as Benjamin Franklin) or discoveries (such as the automobile) add value. Photo credits and additional readings are located before the index.  This title could be used to replace The Timetables of Science: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in the History of Science (1988) or to update the Chronology of Science: From Stonehenge to the Human Genome Project (2002). The topical essays and wonderful photos and illustrations make this source useful as a circulating book as well as a reference book. --Gilbert Taylor