Product Description

When it was first published in 1992, The Macmillan Visual Dictionary redefined illustrated reference. Since then it has sold more than 180,000 copies! Now it is available with its own extraordinary CD-ROM -- the format that is redefining books. It addition to the book's 3,500 illustrations (reproduced electronically with the same exceptional clarity and amazing level of detail) and its 25,000 terms, it will contain:
-- Selected animation of illustrated images (e.g., swimming strokes)
-- All terms in three languages: English, Spanish and French
-- Audio pronunciations for every term in all three languages
-- An exhaustive index of every word, not just overall terms
-- More than the usual "links" -- the Visual Dictionary with CD-ROM contains an astonishing array of cross-references and user-friendly research aids

Now in one outstanding package, here are two genuinely extraordinary reference works. Each is detailed and comprehensive enough for the professional researcher yet easy to use in the home library.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1592973 in Books
• Published on: 1996-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover

Amazon.com Review
With thousands of intricate and colorful illustrations presented in a browser-friendly paperback format, the new compact edition of The Macmillan Visual Dictionary is an easily portable follow-up to the popular hardback version. The dictionary connects each phrasing, key word, or key words to a grouping of finely detailed and descriptive pictures, all formatted into a series of sections assembled in an easy-to-follow index at the beginning of the book. With a depth that includes 12 kinds of mushrooms and 4 types of billiards, the Visual Dictionary also manages to keep a wide enough focus so that most anyone interested in contemporary life will find a section or two to capture their eye and attention--whether they're painstakingly searching the book for help with a research paper, tracking down a contested fact, or peering through the many vivid drawings for pure pleasure.

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-- Clear, explicit drawings and diagrams provide either exterior views or labeled cutaways of a variety of objects. The entries are arranged in broad subject categories with a color-coded bar on the page to facilitate browsing, but some of the colors are very similar. Many subject areas are covered: geography, architecture, anatomy, plants, animals, satellites, etc. The last section, symbols, provides easy access for some of those hard to find reference questions. The table of contents lists the 28 categories and the types of items illustrated. The index provides access when one knows the term and wants to identify its use. Browsing is addictive: students will eagerly seek out sections on weapons, transportation, and sports. An important source that helps to fill a gap in most collections--there are many word dictionaries, but very few pictorial ones.
- Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
First published by Facts on File in 1986, and in a French-English version the next year, this visual dictionary enjoys a new life with color illustrations and a boosted price. The introduction by Jean-Claude Corbeil, who edited the previous versions, curiously fails to mention the Dictionary 's earlier incarnations and whether and how it has been expanded. Over 3500 precise, computer-produced illustrations of objects, places, devices, and machinery in the natural and human-made world make up the entries, which are divided into subject categories like Animal Kingdom or Creative Leisure Activities or Weapons. "Kettledrum," for example, listed under the heading Percussion Instruments, which in turn falls under the general subject Music, is pictured with its various components identified and is listed in the index. The use of colored tabs allows the subject categories to be identified along the right margin of the book. Some inconsistencies in the naming of objects are immediately evident. "Condominium," pictured as an apartment building under the subject Architecture, is a kind of ownership rather than a style of architecture; and "pierced earrings," under Personal Adornment, would better have been named "Post Earrings for Pierced Ears" since the page also features "hoop earrings" and "drop earrings" for pierced ears. The Symbols section in the back is particularly helpful. Another dictionary to consider (though not as comprehensive) is What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World (Hammond, 1981). If libraries already own the previous Facts on File visual dictionaries, this version hardly seems necessary; if not, this would make a fine reference addition.
- Amy Boaz Nugent & Jean Peters, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful.
quite a valuable resource!
By kim103@psu.edu
This past summer, I worked as a private tutor of English as a Second Language for students from Burma. While their English was rapidly improving, there still remained items which were virtually indescribable--it was difficult to match exactly their Burmese language with its English equivalents. We worked extensively on all aspects of the English language--from grammar, to comprehension, to writing and reading--yet a gap between our understandings of each other was still unfilled. I searched, desperately, for some educational tool or text which could facilitate our mutual learning; and to my relief, I discovered The MacMillan Visual Dictionary. I purchased it for my students as a gift, yet I found myself--a speaker of English for all my life--entirely fascinated and curious to discover the vast array of terms and items of which I had previously been ignorant! From all of the minute parts of an oceanliner, to styles of clothing, to biological terms of plants and animals, this book contained huge quantities of information which I had once known but had forgotten--or of which I was previously unaware. My students were thrilled with their present--to see their smiles when they discovered how easily this reference tool facilitated their acquisition of English vocabulary was extremely rewarding. I must emphasize, though, that this text is not simply--in the least--for those to whom English is a second language; there is something here for everyone. All those little nuances and intricacies of life, which we would always like to describe or identify but are unable--here they are named; here they are defined. This book is an invaluable tool for everyone to use; whether it be to learn more about the complex parts of the automobile, to identify weather systems, to describe a style of scarf or name the coating of a crayfish's body--for anyone who is a lover of language, words, and naming, this book provides endless amounts of knowledge.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Whatchamacallitt on the thingamajig.
By Robin Benson
I used to design publications and what I love about this book is the amazing quality of the color illustrations. There are thousands of them and they have all been computer generated so the style and quality is uniform. Looking at the spreads, for example, on Airport, Downtown or Wind Instruments and the time and creativity involved must have been tremendous. The design and printing of the book is excellent.

The authors want this book to be as practical as possible, Indoor Games includes a page on hands of cards, a House Furniture page shows six different spoons.

Another reviewer has noted that this lovely book would seem ideal for those learning American English and also for anyone who is just interested in finding out the name of everyday items.

A similar treatment to words can be seen in the Dorling Kindersley 'Visual Encyclopedia' (at a very much cheaper price) here the images are mostly photos and as the name implies there is a lot more information about each subject.

Both books are a joy to look at and unfortunately this only points up the bland design and production of most other highly visual books.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent Tool For Fiction Writers
By Stacey Cochran
This book has over 800 pages of visual items and then arrows that point to them and tell you what they're called. For example, on one two page spread an entire passenger liner ship is drawn with all the names of all the rooms and terraces and parts and compenents. just looking at the drawing inspires a mystery set aboard a cruise ship! Chapter Headings include "Astronomy" "Geography" "Farming" "Architecture" "House" "House Furniture" "Gardening" "Clothing" "Communications" "Road Transport" "Rail Transport" "Air Transport" "Weapons", and many, many more.

This an excellent tool and I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to know their way around places you might not already know your way around!