It’s not possible to review The Illustrated Almanac of Science, Technology
and Invention, only to marvel at it. Compiled by Raymond Francis, it is a
gallimaufry of facts about what happened on every day of the year throughout the
centuries, with appropriate explanation. And that is a tedious definition of a
book that is a riot of interest from 1 Jan to 31 Dec. Start with your own
birthday (Man uses a vehicle on another planet for the first time, 1971; Joseph
Priestley isolates oxygen, 1774) and you will probably take the book to bed with
you. Published by Plenum Trade, $28.95, ISBN 0306456338.
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