Physics: Reference Works
Guide for Library Research in Physics
Why Reference Works?
Reference works are an excellent first stop in your research and are incredibly useful for the following:
- Getting an overview of a topic
- Getting ideas for a paper topic or narrowing your topic
- Brainstorming keywords for searching and learning the vocabulary used by authors in that area
- Discovering the key works on a given topic
- Discovering the key authors on a given topic
Online Resources
- Access Science from McGraw-Hill : the online encyclopedia of science & technologyContains the full text of McGraw Hill's Encyclopedia of Science and Technology as well as Science News from 2000 to the present.
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and PhysicsPublication Date: 2014Useful for many data tables: physical constants of chemical compounds, vapor pressures, lattice energies, properties of metals and semiconductors, optical constants, magnetic properties, etc.
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
- A to Z of thermodynamics byCall Number: QC310.3 .P4713 1998 / 2nd Floor
- Dictionary of geophysics, astrophysics, and astronomy byCall Number: QB14 .D53 2001 / 2nd Floor
A Dictionary of Physics by Call Number: Online ResourceISBN: 9780198821472Publication Date: 2019-06-01Available in print and online
QC5 .C56 2009 / 2nd Floor- Encyclopedia of Applied Physics byCall Number: QC5 .E543 1991 v.1-23 / 2nd FloorDetailed entries (10-40 pages) discussing various subjects within applied physics. Includes topics related to electrical engineering.
The Facts on File dictionary of weather and climate by Call Number: QC854 .F33 2006 / 2nd Floor- Macmillan Encyclopedia of Physics byCall Number: QC5 .M15 1996 v.1-4 / 2nd FloorUseful for explanations of various physics concepts, theories, principles and phenomena. Also contains brief biographies of more famous physicists.
The Oxford guide to the history of physics and astronomy by Call Number: QC7 .O94 2005 / 2nd Floor
Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia by Call Number: Q121 .V3 2002 v.1-2 / 2nd Floor
Encyclopedia of World Climatology by Call Number: Reference Collection (2nd floor); QC854 .E526 2005ISBN: 9781402032646Publication Date: 2008-04-23
Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate by Call Number: QC854 .A45 2007 v.1-2 / 2nd Floor
Handbooks
- Conversion Tables of Units for Science & Engineering, byCall Number: QC88 .H67 1986 / 2nd FloorA useful resource for converting, for example, Debyes to Coulomb-Meters or ounces per square inch to tons per square kilometer.