What is your favorite reference book?

Or sets of books?

My favorite is the truly magnificent Annals of America series, which is 22 volumes of nothing but primary source material from American history arranged chronologically. It’s got letters, speeches, debates, editorials, testimony, laws, court decisions, diaries and all sorts of other cool stuff. It’s orders of magnitude more interesting than any dull history textbook. I liked poring over them in the library so much I got my own set. (The heavily worn matching volumes make me look real smart too. :cool: )

My favorite reference website: http://www.answers.com/

Favorite reference book? That’s hard to say. When I go to the library I typically spend a couple hours in the reference section leafing through many of the books there. I can’t remember the book series, because I haven’t been to the college library in awhile, but there was one series that is issued annually covering the major scientific discoveries and advances made in that year.

Off my own bookshelf, I’ll say my Compact OED and my Brewer’s dictionary of phrase and fable. Both are handy for looking up odd historical usages and whatnot, and of course are just intrinsically really cool.

Annals of America sounds neat. Are there any used sets floating around for cheap…?

The Columbia Encyclopedia. We always had a copy when I was growing up, and whenever they print a new edition (which isn’t very often), I get a new one. It’s absolutely the best book for thumbing through.

I’m an airplane nut, and my favorite book would probably not be what most people would consider a traditional reference book like a set of encyclopedias or the Oxford English Dictionary.

My choice is Phantom: Spirit in the Skies.

The book covers the history of the McDonnell F-4 Phantom series from inception up through the present day. All users are listed, most with photos of the unit markings, all variants, whether built or not, are covered, plus all weapons carried by the Phantom are covered as well.

At work: Not that I use it nearly as often as I’d like to (to justify the cost) but my Mark’s Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers is a lovely book. It does, however, lack much of the specific information I need in my job, so I use it more as a prop and/or a distraction (occasionally, I bring it to meetings when I want some light reading to avoid falling asleep). More often, I use my Shigley and Mischke Mechanical Engineering Design and Blodgett’s Design of Weldments, plus the ubiquitous Machinery’s Handbook and various and other sundry manufacturing and materials handbooks.

At home: I find myself digging into Feynman’s Lectures not infequently. Right now I’m working my way through Jacobson, et al The Manual of Photography (borrowed from the library but I’ll most likely buy my own copy.)

I don’t know if they count as reference, but I often crack open The Collected Works of Shakespeare, The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe, The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, and The More Than Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy to look up quotes, plotlines, and information for The Game.

Stranger

I open the American Heritage Dictionary every day. I love the etymologies and the illustrations.
But I couldn’t go a week without my almanac, especially with central asian governments toppling every day. Where are these former SSR’s again?

Sets in varying conditions turn up on eBay all the time. The new set is expensive. It’s standard fare for public libraries, though. Nearly every one has a set.

Shepherd’s Historical Atlas, followed closely by The West Point Atlas of American Wars.

Schott’s Original Miscellany, by Ben Schott
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1582343497/

Where else can you learn that Henry IV was the first Plantagenet of the Lancastrian line (1399-1413), all the names of Santa’s Reindeer, and that a micrometer is 0.000001 of a meter, all on one page?

More or less every encyclopedia in publication, the Almanac of American Politics, Politics In America, the Inside sport volumes and their spin-offs, the film encyclopedias of Katz and Halliwell- and that’s just starters!

The Straight Dope. (Duh!)

I’ve read it. It’s bunk. 'Cept for the bit on the direction water spirals when draining from a tub.

I hear the author is a real drunkard, too. Probably a Yalie. :smiley:

Stranger

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Treatment. A hypochondriac’s best friend. I read it cover-to-cover.

I have so many that I like, I’ll pick my most recent addition to my library: Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. Great stuff!

Brewer’s is my go-to book. (See post #3) After that, the net.

I loveThe Timetables of History, although I have the 1979 version rather than the newest edition.

Also, What are the Seven Wonders of the World? is a fun reference.

There’s another book that I use that has random lists of names of things, but I can’t remember the title. It’s excellent for crossword puzzle solving.

My favorite is really the Junior Woodchuck’s Guide, but I haven’t been able to get hold of a copy.

Of ones that I use, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics has seen the most use. In mythology, it’s Timothy Ganz’ book Early Greek Myth.

Mosby’s Drug Handbook
The Anatomy Coloring Book

Cyn, OB/GYN RN

The new edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health.