When I was given Thomas Glover's book Pocket Ref, I thanked my friends warmly but doubted it would be any use. After all, I'm an information freak, with shelves full of reference books including the Encyclopaedia Britannica from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, both the old and new Harvard Dictionary of Music, and natural-language dictionaries in 12 tongues. The reference desk at the local library calls me when they get a tough one. You get the idea.
But the 542-page Pocket Ref has proven to be the most frequently reached-for little black book on my shelf. Pocket Ref has a world of good information of an amazingly catholic variety. Witness this sm�rgasbord from the table of contents: trade names and trademarks, air and gases, carpentry and construction, chemistry and physics.
Yup, carpentry and chemistry together. Lengths of nails and the mass of an electron in the same book. It also has computers: ASCII codes, a PC memory map, and hardware interrupts. How big is a NEMA 254U motor frame? Glover can tell you.
So raise a pint (568.261 cubic centimeters) of bitter to Pocket Ref. I've never seen better.
Pocket Ref, by Thomas Glover: US$9.95. Sequoia Publishing Inc.: +1 (303) 972 4167, fax +1 (303) 972 0158.
STREET CRED
Adventure by EarPaging Goes Two Ways
Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Hotel?
Just the Facts, Ma'am
