A Vocabulary Feast for Your Eyes

Let me catch my breath here--I am literally amazed by the breadth and scope and minutiae of details available in this incredible book. What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World by Reginald Bragonier Jr. and David Fisher is a true diamond in the rough of the library's reference collection, a hidden gem of easily-digested and wide-ranging knowledge. Every page you turn, you see a large image of something you might use every day without paying much attention to it--and lo and behold, every miniscule part of that object is broken down into its components, giving the proper names of everything! I learned words I had never heard in my life, like the "vamp" of a shoe, the "modesty panel" of a desk, the "lyre" of a piano--and I grew up playing piano!! The book is full of valuable vocabulary for identifying objects in a wide range of subject areas, including planetary science, human anatomy and biology, structures, transportation, communication, personal items, the home, recreation, etc. I love the index, the way it continues the book's ambition to maintain the proper technical vocabulary to the smallest detail. I love everything about this book, and will recommend it to anyone wishing to improve their vocabulary.

The only problem with this book is that, like Henry Dreyfuss's Symbols Sourcebook, I have never once used it with a patron and don't anticipate using it anytime soon. Well, perhaps now that I know how AMAZING it is, I will try to work it in, but it isn't very likely. I can only think of a few people who would benefit from consulting a book like this: novelists and game show contestants. For everyone else, it is unlikely that most people possess the curiosity to wonder what the spiney things covering the top of cathedrals are called ("crockets") or what you call the raised edges along the sides of the upholstery on your comfy recliner ("welting"). For these people, they are quite content to go through life not knowing these terms. Some people might find the index useful to look up the images for words they read or heard somewhere, but they are not likely to use the book for its original intended purpose.

Finally, the book is dated. One has only to glance at page 162, the "Personal Computer," for evidence of this. To borrow my colleague's comment again, a revised edition today would have pages and pages on just computers. There are many other pages that are outdated, ignorant or politically incorrect, such as page 490 showing the costume of an American Indian (focusing on the stereotypical image of the Plains Indian, to the exclusion of hundreds of other tribes). The category this page is found in is "Native Attire" although it probably should have been called "Costumes."

Another thing to note is that the book's editors have a playful sense of humor! Check out the picture of a House Exterior on page 62:

It's the Addams Family getting ready to dump a large vat of hot oil on the heads of Christmas carolers!

End analysis: very interesting and will teach you a lot, but alas, unlikely to be used by many patrons.

Dewey Decimal Number: 031.02

Rating: 4Q, 1P