This dictionary contains about 4500 entries ranging in length from one line to one and a half pages. While Professor Cowan has concentrated on the scientific aspects of architecture, he has also included the most frequently encountered terms from neighboring fields, such as fine art, the history of architecture, the craft traditions of the building industry, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering, materials science, physics and chemistry. The book will probably be most helpful to architecture students, it will also be of considerable value to students of engineering, practicing architects, practicing engineers and other professional persons engaged in the building industry, and as a general reference book.
The coverage is probably much wider than that of any other dictionary published, and the comparison of different meanings for the same word in neighboring fields should be particularly helpful. There is an extensive system of cross-references, so that the reader who cannot remember the exact term he is looking for, but knows a related word, should have no difficulty in finding the information he is seeking. Since it is the work of one author the treatment is consistent throughout.
The appendices give the current addresses of important international organizations in architectural science, a review of the literature on the subject, and technical data, which are not readily obtainable from trade publications.
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