Short Definitions

These resources provide one- to two-sentence definitions of the most common scientific concepts.

“Ref” = Hunter Library Reference Section

Thompson Gale Science Glossary 

A Dictionary of Physics

Dictionary of Physics
Ref QC5.D538 2004

A Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units

Macmillan Dictionary of Measurement
Ref QC82.D37 1994

Dictionary of Effects and Phenomena in Physics
Ref QC5.S38 1987

Thorough Overviews

These resources provide anywhere from several paragraphs to several pages of information. 

Ref = Hunter Library Reference Section

Gale Encyclopedia of Science

Science Resource Center:  choose “topic overview” from the Document Type drop-down box

Encyclopedia of Physics
Ref QC5.E545 2005

Facts on File Encyclopedia of Physics
QC5.R596 2004

McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Ref Q121.M3 2002 

Van Nostrand’s Scientific Encyclopedia
Ref Q121.V3 2002