science

List of encyclopedias by date

List of encyclopedias by date is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of encyclopedias by date rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of encyclopedias, arranged by time period. For other arrangements, see Lists of encyclopedias.

Key takeaways

List of encyclopedias by date belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of encyclopedias by date to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of encyclopedias by date from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of encyclopedias, arranged by time period. For other arrangements, see Lists of encyclopedias.

Encyclopedias before 1700 Nine Books of Disciplines by Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC-27 BC) Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder (AD 77-79); highly influential through the Middle Ages, the oldest encyclopedia for which there is an extant copy De verborum significatione by Sextus Pompeius Festus (2nd century AD) Onomasticon by Julius Pollux (2nd century AD) The Emperor's Mirror (Huanglan), Wei dynasty (220-265), Chinese De compendiosa doctrina, by Nonius Marcellus (probably AD 4th century)

5th century Martianus Capella, De nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae, introduced the division in seven liberal arts

6th century Bṛhatsaṃhitā of Varāhamihira (c. 505 – c. 587) Cassiodorus' Institutiones (full title: Institutiones Divinarum et Saecularium Litterarum), AD 560; first Christian encyclopedia

7th century Yiwen Leiju (622), Tang dynasty, Chinese St. Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, AD 636; Christian encyclopedia, most influential encyclopedia of the early Middle Ages Fayuan Zhulin, AD 668, a Buddhist encyclopedia of 100 volumes, compiled by Tao-shih

8th century Venerable Beda, De natura rerum

9th century Adab al-katib (The book of knowledge) by Ibn Qutayba (828–889); the earliest Arabic work that could be called an encyclopedia Bibliotheca by Patriarch Photius (9th century), the earliest Byzantine work that could be called an encyclopedia Hrabanus Maurus, 842. De rerum naturis (On the nature of things), derived from Isidore's text De Administrando Imperio, a domestic and foreign policy manual by emperor Constantine VII

10th century Suda (10th century) Four Great Books of Song (Song Sida Shu) (10th to 11th century), Song dynasty, Chinese Wamyō Ruijushō

11th century

De omnifaria doctrina, by Michael Psellos Speculum universale, by Radulfus Ardens

12th century De diversis artibus, compiled 1100-1120 by Theophilus Presbyter Manasollasa composed by king Someshvara III of the Western Chalukya Empire of India. Liber Floridus, compiled in 1120 by Lambert of St. Omer Imago mundi, treaty of cosmography and history by Honorius Augustodunensis, about 1110 De philosophia mundi, written about 1125–35 by William of Conches Didascalicon, by Hugues de Saint-Victor (1096-1141), proposal of a new classification of sciences and a new method of lecture of the Bible Hortus deliciarum, written by Herrade of Landsberg, the first woman to write an encyclopedia, between 1159 and 1175

13th century Otia Imperialia by Gervase of Tilbury, 1214 Guillaume d'Auvergne, De universo creaturarum, 1231. Gautier de Metz L’Image du monde, 1246, in Lorrain dialect, based on Honorius Augustodunensis Bartholomeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum, 1240; the most widely read and quoted encyclopedia in the late-medieval period. Thomas of Cantimpré, Liber de natura rerum, 1256. Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Majus, 1260, the most ambitious encyclopedia in the late-medieval period, with over 3 million words Brunetto Latini, Li Livres dou Trésor, in French

14th century Al-Nuwayri, The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition (1314–33) Ranulf Higden, Polychronicon (c.1344) Conrad of Megenberg, Buch der Natur (c.1349) James le Palmer, Omne Bonum Moses ben Judah (or Moses Nagari), Love in Delights (Ahavah ba-Ta'anugim, 1353–56)

15th century Ming dynasty Chinese, Yongle Encyclopedia, 1403–08 Domenico Bandini of Arezzo, Fons memorabilium universi, early 15th century Werner Rolevinck, Fasciculus temporum, 1474 Alfonso de la Torre, Visio delectable, c.1484 Jacob Meydenbach, Hortus Sanitatis, 1491

16th century Giorgio Valla, De expetendis et fugiendis rebus, 1501 Domenico Nani Mirabelli, Polyanthea nova, 1503 Gregor Reisch, Margarita philosophica, 1503 Johannes Aventinus, Encyclopedia orbisque doctrinarum, hoc est omnium artium, scientiarum, ipsius philosophiae index ac divisio, 1517 Juan Luis Vives, De disciplinis libri XX, 1531 Conrad Gessner, Historia animalium (Gessner book), 1551–58, 1587 Charles Estienne, Dictionarium historicum, geographicum et poeticum, 1553 Theodor Zwinger (1533–1588), Theatrum Humanae Vitae, 1565 Paul Skalich, philosopher born in Zagreb, first to use the term encyclopedia in the current sense. Encyclopediae seu orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam profanarum epistemon, 1559 (Basel, Switzerland), 1571 (Köln, Germany) Bernardino de Sahagún: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España, 1545-1590 Joachim Sterck van Ringelbergh, Lucubrationes vel potius absolutissima kyklopaideia (Basel), 1588 Antonio Possevino, Bibliotheca selecta, 1593 Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) (1596), Ming dynasty, Chinese

17th century

In Chinese Sancai Tuhui, compiled by Wang Qi and Wang Siyi (1609) Song Yingxing, Tiangong Kaiwu (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature), 1637

In English Sir Thomas Browne: Pseudodoxia Epidemica 1646-1672 John Dunton: The ladies dictionary..., 1694

In French

Dictionnaire théologique, historique, poétique, cosmographique et chronologique (1643) by Daniel de Juigné-Broissinière an adaptation of Charles Estienne's Dictionarium historicum, geographicum et poeticum (1553) Le portrait de la sagesse universelle, avec l'idée générale des sçiances et leur plan représenté en cent tables by Léon de Saint-Jean (1655) an extract in French of the authors Latin Enciclopaediae praemessum (1635) L'Encyclopédie des beaux esprits, contenant les moyens de parvenir à la connoissance des belles sciences by Saunier (1657) La science universelle by Jean Magnon (1663) Louis Moréri Le Grand Dictionnaire historique (The Great Historical Dictionary), 1671 Antoine Furetière, Dictionnaire universel contenant généralement tous les mots françois, tant vieux que modernes, et les termes de toutes les sciences et des arts 1690. Pierre Bayle: Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (Historical and Critical Dictionary), 1695

In Hungarian

János Apáczai Csere: Magyar encyclopaedia, c. 1655

In Latin

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of encyclopedias by date

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of encyclopedias by date claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of encyclopedias by date before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of encyclopedias by date ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of encyclopedias by date

In research: List of encyclopedias by date appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of encyclopedias by date in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of encyclopedias by date is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Encyclopedias by date, Lists by date, Lists of encyclopedias, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of encyclopedias by date outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of encyclopedias by date in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of encyclopedias by date in simple terms?

This is a list of encyclopedias, arranged by time period. For other arrangements, see Lists of encyclopedias.

Why does List of encyclopedias by date matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of encyclopedias by date?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of encyclopedias by date.