For students looking for thumbnail sketches, this set lists 132,877 persons in science. To be found here, they must conduct high-quality research, publish in reputable scientific journals and have positions of responsibility in scientific training and experience. Some 4,000 are new to this edition. Each volume begins with maps of regions of the U.S. and Canada showing the distribution of entrants, and pie and bar charts showing the percentage of entrants in each region. A diagram of a sample entry guides the user: name, field of specialty, birthplace and birth date, spouse and children, education, honorary degrees, honors and awards, professional experience, memberships, research statement and publications, mailing address, fax and e-mail addresses. Three pages of abbreviations complete the front matter. In order to provide the numbers of people within the seven volumes, the print is very small and the information is very short. The index volume includes an index of disciplines and sub-specialties. Scientists are then listed under their states. You may wish to negotiate with the public library to help with your purchase decision.