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| Encyclopædia Britannica | |
 Eleventh Edition title page | |
| Author | 4,411 named contributors; editorial staff |
|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom
|
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | General |
| Genre(s) | Reference encyclopedia |
| Publisher | Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| Publication date | 1768–present |
| Media type | 32 volumes (hardbound) |
| ISBN | ISBN 1593392923 |
| OCLC | 71783328 |
The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles in the Britannica are aimed at educated adult readers, and written by a staff of 19 full-time editors and over 4,000 expert contributors. It is widely perceived as the most scholarly of encyclopaedias.Kister, KF (1994). Kister\'s Best Encyclopedias: A Comparative Guide to General and Specialized Encyclopedias, 2nd ed., Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. ISBN 0897747445.
The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopaedia still in print. "Encyclopedias and Dictionaries". Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition) 18. (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. 257–286. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in Edinburgh and quickly grew in popularity and size, with its third edition in 1801 reaching 20 volumes.Kogan, Herman (1958). The Great EB: The Story of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. LCCN 58-8379. Its rising stature helped in recruiting eminent contributors, and the 9th edition (1875–1889) and the 11th edition (1911) are regarded as landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Beginning with the 11th edition, the Britannica gradually shortened and simplified its articles in order to broaden its North American market. In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt a "continuous revision" policy, in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted and every article is updated on a regular schedule.
The current 15th edition has a unique three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles (generally having fewer than 750 words), a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles (having from two to 310 pages) and a single Propædia volume intended to give a hierarchical outline of human knowledge. The Micropædia is meant for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the Macropædia; readers are advised to study the Propædia outline to understand a subject\'s context and to find other, more detailed articles. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, 5–8. The size of the Britannica has remained roughly constant over the past 70 years, with about 40 million words on half a million topics. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Index preface. Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has maintained its traditional British spelling.
Over the course of its history, the Britannica has had difficulty remaining profitable—a problem faced by many encyclopaedias. Some articles in certain earlier editions of the Britannica have been criticised for inaccuracy, bias or unqualified contributors. The accuracy of parts of the present edition has likewise been questioned, although such criticisms have been challenged by the Britannica\'s management. Despite these criticisms, the Britannica retains its reputation as a reliable research tool.
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Ownership of the Britannica has changed many times, with past owners including the Scottish publisher A & C Black, Horace Everett Hooper, Sears Roebuck and William Benton. The present owner of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. is Jacqui Safra, Swiss billionaire and actor. Recent advances in information technology and the rise of electronic encyclopedias such as Microsoft Encarta and Wikipedia have reduced the demand for print encyclopedias.Day, Peter (17 December 1997). Encyclopaedia Britannica changes to survive. BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-03-27. “Sales plummeted from 100,000 a year to just 20,000.” To remain competitive, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. has stressed the good reputation of the Britannica, reduced its price and production costs, and developed electronic versions on CD-ROM, DVD and the World Wide Web. Since the early 1930s, the company has also promoted spin-off reference works.
Title page of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
The Britannica has been issued in 15 official editions, with multi-volume supplements to the 3rd and 5th editions (see the Table below). Strictly speaking, the 10th edition was only a supplement to the 9th edition, just as the 12th and 13th editions were supplements to the 11th edition. The 15th edition underwent a massive re-organisation in 1985, but the updated, current version is still known as the 15th edition.
Throughout its history, the Britannica has had two aims: to be an excellent reference book and to provide educational material for those who wish to study. In 1974, the 15th edition adopted a third goal: to systematise all of human knowledge. The history of the Britannica can be divided into five main eras, punctuated by major changes in management or re-organisation of the encyclopaedia.
In the first era (1st–6th editions, 1768–1826), the Britannica was managed by its original founders, Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell, and by their friends and relations, such as Thomas Bonar, George Gleig and Archibald Constable. The Britannica was first published between 1768 and 1771 in Edinburgh as the Encyclopædia Britannica, or, A dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan. It was conceived as a conservative reaction to the provocative French Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot (published 1751–1766), which in turn had been inspired by the earlier Chambers Cyclopaedia. The Britannica was primarily a Scottish enterprise, as symbolised by its thistle logo, the floral emblem of Scotland. The founding of the encyclopaedia is one of the most famous and enduring legacies of the Scottish Enlightenment.Herman, Arthur (2002). How the Scots Invented the Modern World. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0609809990. In this era, the Britannica moved from being a three-volume set (1st edition) compiled by one young editor—William Smellie—Krapp, Philip; Balou, Patricia K. (1992). "Collier\'s Encyclopedia". 9. New York: Macmillan Educational Company. p. 135. LCCN 91-61165. The Britannica\'s 1st edition is described as "deplorably inaccurate and unscientific" in places.to a 20-volume set written by numerous authorities. Although several other encyclopaedias competed with the Britannica, such as Rees\'s Cyclopaedia and Coleridge\'s Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, these competitors either went bankrupt or were left unfinished due to disagreements among their editors. By the close of this era, the Britannica had developed a network of illustrious contributors, primarily through personal friendships with the editors, most notably Constable and Gleig.
The middle 19th century editions of Encyclopædia Britannica included seminal research such as Thomas Young\'s article on Egypt, which included the translation of the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone (pictured).
During the second era (7th–9th editions, 1827–1901), the Britannica was managed by the Edinburgh publishing firm, A & C Black. Although some contributors were again recruited through personal friendships of the chief editors, most notably Macvey Napier, others were attracted by the Britannica\'s ever-improving reputation. The contributors often came from other countries and included some of the world\'s most respected authorities in their fields. A general index of all articles was included for the first time in the 7th edition, a practice that was maintained until 1974. The first English-born editor-in-chief was Thomas Spencer Baynes, who oversaw the production of the famous 9th edition; dubbed the "Scholar\'s Edition", the 9th is often considered to be the most scholarly Britannica ever produced. However, by the close of the 19th century, the 9th edition was outdated and the Britannica faced significant financial difficulties.
In the third era (10th–14th editions, 1901–1973), the Britannica was managed by American businessmen, who introduced aggressive marketing practices, such as direct marketing and door-to-door sales, to increase profits. The American owners also gradually simplified the Britannica\'s articles, making them less scholarly but more intelligible to a mass market. The 10th edition was a rapidly produced supplement to the 9th edition, but the 11th edition is still praised for its excellence; its owner, Horace Hooper, lavished enormous effort on its perfection. When Hooper fell into financial difficulties, the Britannica was managed by Sears Roebuck for roughly 18 years (1920–1923, 1928–1943). In 1932, the vice-president of Sears, Elkan Harrison Powell, assumed the presidency of the Britannica; in 1936, he began the policy of continuous revision (still practiced today), in which every article is checked and possibly revised at least twice a decade. This was a major departure from earlier practice, in which the articles were not changed until a new edition was produced, at roughly 25-year intervals, with some articles being carried over unchanged from earlier editions. Powell aggressively developed new educational products that built upon the Britannica\'s reputation. In 1943, ownership passed from Sears Roebuck to William Benton, who managed the Britannica until his death in 1973. Benton also set up the Benton Foundation, which managed the Britannica until 1996. In 1968, near the end of this era, the Britannica celebrated its bicentennial.
U.S. advertisement for the 11th edition from the May 1913 issue of National Geographic Magazine
In the fourth era (15th edition, 1974–1994), the Britannica introduced its 15th edition, which was re-organised into three parts: the Micropædia, the Macropædia and the Propædia. Under the influence of Mortimer J. Adler (member of the Board of Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica since its inception in 1949, and its chair from 1974; director of editorial planning for the fifteenth edition of Britannica from 1965),Mortimer J. Adler, A Guidebook to Learning: for the lifelong pursuit of wisdom. MacMillan Publishing Company, New York, 1986. p.88 the Britannica sought not only to be a good reference work and educational tool, but also to systematise all of human knowledge. The absence of a separate index and the grouping of articles into two parallel encyclopaedias (the Micro- and Macropædia) provoked a "firestorm of criticism" of the initial 15th edition.Baker, John F.. "A New Britannica Is Born", Publishers Weekly, 14 January 1974, pp. 64–65.
* Wolff, Geoffrey. "Britannica 3, History of", The Atlantic, June 1974, pp. 37–47.
* Cole, Dorothy Ethlyn. "Britannica 3 as a Reference Tool: A Review", Wilson Library Bulletin, June 1974, pp. 821–825. "Britannica 3 is difficult to use … the division of content between Micropædia and Macropædia makes it necessary to consult another volume in the majority of cases; indeed, it was our experience that even simple searches might involve eight or nine volumes."
* Davis, Robert Gorham. "Subject: The Universe", The New York Times Book Review, 1 December 1974, pp. 98–100.
* Hazo, Robert G.. "The Guest Word", The New York Times Book Review, 9 March 1975, p. 31.
* McCracken, Samuel. "The Scandal of \'Britannica 3\'", Commentary, February 1976, pp. 63–68. "This arrangement has nothing to recommend it except commercial novelty."
* Waite, Dennis V.. "Encyclopaedia Britannica: EB 3, Two Years Later", Publishers Weekly, 21 June 1976, pp. 44–45.
* Wolff, Geoffrey. "Britannica 3, Failures of", The Atlantic, November 1976, pp. 107–110. "It is called the Micropædia, for \'little knowledge\', and little knowledge is what it provides. It has proved to be grotesquely inadequate as an index, radically constricting the utility of the Macropædia." In response, the 15th edition was completely re-organised and indexed for a re-release in 1985. This second version of the 15th edition continues to be published and revised; the latest version is the 2007 print version. The official title of the 15th edition is the New Encyclopædia Britannica, although it has also been promoted as Britannica 3.
In the fifth era (1994–present), digital versions of the Britannica have been developed and released on optical media and online. In 1996, the Britannica was bought from the Benton Foundation by Jacqui Safra at well below its estimated value, owing to the company\'s financial difficulties. The Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. company split in 1999. One part retained the company name and developed the print version, and the other part, Britannica.com Inc., developed the digital versions. Since 2001, these two companies shared a single CEO, originally Ilan Yeshua, who has continued Powell\'s strategy of growing Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. by introducing new products branded with the Britannica name.
The Britannica was dedicated to the reigning British monarch from 1788 to 1901 and then, upon its sale to an American partnership, to both the British monarch and the President of the United States. Thus, the 11th edition is "dedicated by Permission to His Majesty George the Fifth, King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and to William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America." (1910) Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition, p.3. The order of the two dedications has changed with the relative power of the United States and Britain, and with the relative sales of the Britannica in these countries; the 1954 version of the 14th edition is "Dedicated by Permission to the Heads of the Two English-Speaking Peoples, Dwight David Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second." (1954) Encyclopædia Britannica, 14th edition, p.3. Consistent with this tradition, the 2007 version of the current 15th edition is "dedicated by permission to the current President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II." The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, p.3.
A copperplate by Andrew Bell from the 1st edition.
Since the 3rd edition, the Britannica has enjoyed a popular and critical reputation for general excellence.Sader, Marian; Lewis, Amy (1995). Encyclopedias, Atlases, and Dictionaries. New Providence, NJ: R. R. Bowker (A Reed Reference Publishing Company). ISBN 0-8352-3669-2. (1996) Purchasing an Encyclopedia: 12 Points to Consider, 5th edition, Booklist Publications, American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-7823-1. Various editions from the 3rd to the 9th were pirated for sale in the United States, beginning with Dobson\'s Encyclopædia.Arner, Robert D. (1991). Dobson\'s Encyclopaedia: The Publisher, Text, and Publication of America\'s First Britannica, 1789–1803. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. On the release of the 14th edition, Time magazine dubbed the Britannica the "Patriarch of the Library"."Patriarch Revised", TIME, 23 September 1929, pp. 66–69. In a related advertisement, naturalist William Beebe was quoted as saying that the Britannica was "beyond comparison because there is no competitor.""A Completely New Encyclopaedia (sic) Britannica", TIME, 16 September 1929, pp. 2–3. References to the Britannica can be found throughout English literature, most notably in one of Arthur Conan Doyle\'s favourite Sherlock Holmes stories, "The Red-Headed League". The tale was highlighted by the Lord Mayor of London, Gilbert Inglefield, at the bicentennial of the Britannica.
The Britannica has a popular reputation for summarising all of human knowledge. To further their education, many have devoted themselves to reading the entire Britannica, taking anywhere from three to 22 years to do so. When Fat\'h Ali became the Shah of Persia in 1797, he was given a complete set of the Britannica\'s 3rd edition, which he read completely; after this feat, he extended his royal title to include "Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopædia Britannica." (1968) Banquet at Guildhall in the City of London, Tuesday 15 October 1968: Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Encyclopædia Britannica and the 25th Anniversary of the Honorable William Benton as its Chair and Publisher. United Kingdom: Encyclopædia Britannica International, Ltd.. Writer George Bernard Shaw claimed to have read the complete 9th edition—except for the science articles—and Richard Evelyn Byrd took the Britannica as reading material for his five-month stay at the South Pole in 1934. More recently, A.J. Jacobs, an editor at Esquire magazine, read the entire 2002 version of the 15th edition, describing his experiences in the well-received 2004 book, The Know-It-All: One Man\'s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. Only two people are known to have read two independent editions: the author C. S. Forester and Amos Urban Shirk, an American businessman, who read the 11th and 14th editions, devoting roughly three hours per night for four and a half years to read the 11th."Reader", The New Yorker, 3 March 1934, p. 17. Several editors-in-chief of the Britannica are likely to have read their editions completely, such as William Smellie (1st edition), William Robertson Smith (9th edition), and Walter Yust (14th edition).
The Britannica continues to win awards. The online Britannica won the 2005 Codie award for "Best Online Consumer Information Service";2005 CODiE Award Winners: Content Categories. Software and Information Industry Association (2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-11. the Codie awards are granted yearly by the Software and Information Industry Association to recognise the best products among categories of software. In 2006, the Britannica was again a finalist.2006 Codie Award Finalists: Content Categories. Software and Information Industry Association (2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-11. Similarly, the CD/DVD-ROM version of the Britannica received the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers,2004 Distinguished Achievement Awards Winners: Technology. Association of Educational Publishers (August 1, 2003). Retrieved on 2007-04-11. and Codie awards in 2000, 2001 and 2002.2001 Codie Awards Winners. Software and Information Industry Association (2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.2002 Codie Awards Winners. Software and Information Industry Association (2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
As a general encyclopaedia, the Britannica seeks to describe as wide a range of topics as possible. The topics are chosen in part by reference to the Propædia "Outline of Knowledge". The bulk of the Britannica is devoted to geography (26% of the Macropædia), biography (14%), biology and medicine (11%), literature (7%), physics and astronomy (6%), religion (5%), art (4%), Western philosophy (4%), and law (3%). A complementary study of the Micropædia found that geography accounted for 25% of articles, science 18%, social sciences 17%, biography 17%, and all other humanities 25%. Writing in 1992, one reviewer judged that the "range, depth, and catholicity of coverage [of the Britannica] are unsurpassed by any other general encyclopedia."Lang, JP (1992). Reference Sources for Small and Medium-Sized Libraries, 5th ed., Chicago: American Library Association, 34.
The Britannica does not cover similar topics in equivalent detail; for example, the whole of Buddhism and most other religions is covered in a single Macropædia article, whereas 14 articles are devoted to Christianity, comprising nearly half of all religion articles. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropædia. See also the list of 2007 Macropædia articles. However, the Britannica has been lauded as the least biased of general encyclopedias marketed to Western readers and praised for its biographies of important women of all eras.
| “ | It can be stated without fear of contradiction that the 15th edition of the Britannica accords non-Western cultural, social, and scientific developments more notice than any general English-language encyclopedia currently on the market. | ” |
| —Kenneth Kister, in Kister\'s Best Encyclopedias (1994) | ||
The Britannica has also received criticism, especially as its editions become outdated. It is expensive to produce a completely new edition of the Britannica,According to Kister (1994, reference 1 above), the initial 15th edition (1974) required over $32 million dollars to produce. and its editors generally delay this for as long as fiscally sensible (usually about 25 years). "Encyclopædia". Encyclopædia Britannica (14th edition). (1954). Aside from providing an excellent summary of the Britannica\'s history and early spin-off products, this article also describes the life-cycle of a typical Britannica edition. A new edition typically begins with strong sales that gradually decay as the encyclopedia becomes outdated. When work on a new edition is begun, word leaks out and sales of the old edition effectively stop, just at the time when the fiscal needs are greatest: a new editorial staff must be assembled, articles commissioned, etc. Elkan Harrison Powell identified this cyclic fluctuation of income as a key danger to the fiscal health of any encyclopaedia, one that he hoped to overcome with his innovative policy of continuous revision. For example, despite the policy of continuous revision, the 14th edition had become significantly outdated after 35 years (1929–1964). When American physicist Harvey Einbinder detailed its failings in his 1964 book, The Myth of the Britannica,Einbinder, Harvey (1964). The Myth of the Britannica. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0384140509. the encyclopedia was provoked to produce the 15th edition, which required 10 years of work. It is still difficult to keep the Britannica current; one recent critic writes, "it is not difficult to find articles that are out-of-date or in need of revision," noting that the longer Macropædia articles are more likely to be outdated than the shorter Micropædia articles. Information in the Micropædia is sometimes inconsistent with the corresponding Macropædia article(s), mainly because of the failure to update one or the other. The bibliographies of the Macropædia articles have been criticised for being more out-of-date than the articles themselves.
Historically, the Britannica\'s authors have included eminent authorities, such as Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Leon Trotsky. However, some of its contributors have been criticised for their lack of expertise:Burr, George L. (1911). "The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information". American Historical Review 17: 103–109.
| “ | With a temerity almost appalling, [the Britannica contributor, Mr. Philips] ranges over nearly the whole field of European history, political, social, ecclesiastical… The grievance is that [this work] lacks authority. This, too—this reliance on editorial energy instead of on ripe special learning—may, alas, be also counted an "Americanizing": for certainly nothing has so cheapened the scholarship of our American encyclopaedias. | ” |
| —Prof. George L. Burr, in the American Historical Review (1911) | ||
Various authorities ranging from Virginia Woolf to academic professors criticised the 11th edition Britannica for having bourgeois and old-fashioned opinions on art, literature and social sciences.Thomas, Gillian (1992). A Position to Command Respect: Women and the Eleventh Britannica. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2567-8. For example, it was faulted for neglecting the work of Sigmund Freud. A contemporary Cornell professor, Edward B. Titchener, wrote in 1912, "the new Britannica does not reproduce the psychological atmosphere of its day and generation… Despite the halo of authority, and despite the scrutiny of the staff, the great bulk of the secondary articles in general psychology … are not adapted to the requirements of the intelligent reader."Titchener, EB (1912). "The Psychology of the new \'Britannica\'". American Journal of Psychology 23: 37–58.
The Britannica is occasionally criticised for its editorial choices. Given its roughly constant size, the encyclopaedia has needed to reduce or eliminate some topics to accommodate others, resulting in some controversial decisions. The initial 15th edition (1974–1985) was faulted for having drastically reduced or eliminated its coverage of children\'s literature, military decorations, and the French poet Joachim du Bellay; editorial mistakes were also alleged, such as an inconsistent sorting of Japanese biographies. Its elimination of the index was condemned, as was the apparently arbitrary division of articles into the Micropædia and Macropædia. Summing up, one critic called the initial 15th edition a "qualified failure…[that] cares more for juggling its format than for preserving information."Prescott, Peter S. (8 July 1974). "The Fifteenth Britannica". Newsweek: 71–72. More recently, reviewers from the American Library Association were surprised to find that most educational articles had been eliminated from the 1992 Macropædia, along with the article on psychology.
Britannica-appointed contributors are occasionally mistaken or unscientific. A notorious instance from the Britannica\'s early years is the rejection of Newtonian gravity by George Gleig, the chief editor of the 3rd edition (1788–1797), who wrote that gravity was caused by the classical element of fire. In the 11th edition (1911), an article on poltergeists, a then-popular topic of superstition, suggests: "there remains the chance that some agency of an unexplored nature is, at least in certain cases, actually at work."Lang, Andrew (1911). "Poltergeist". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. However, the Britannica has also staunchly defended a scientific approach to emotional topics, as it did with William Robertson Smith\'s articles on religion in the 9th edition, particularly his article stating that the Bible was not historically accurate (1875).
By modern standards, past editions of the Britannica have contained articles marred by racism and sexism. The 11th edition characterises the Ku Klux Klan as protecting the white race and restoring order to the American South after the American Civil War, citing the need to "control the negro", to "prevent any intermingling of the races" and "the frequent occurrence of the crime of rape by negro men upon white women."Fleming, Walter Lynwood (1911). "Lynch Law". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Fleming, Walter Lynwood (1911). "Ku Klux Klan". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The 11th edition has no biography of Marie Curie, despite her winning of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911, although she is mentioned briefly under the biography of her husband Pierre Curie. "Pierre Curie". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition). (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
In 1912 mathematician L. C. Karpinski criticised the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition for its many inaccuracies in the articles on the history of mathematics, none of which had been written by specialists in the field.Karpinski, L. C. (1912). "History of Mathematics in the Recent Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica". Science 35 (888): 29-31. In 1917, art critic Willard Huntington Wright published a book, Misinforming a Nation,Wright, WH (pen-name S. S. Van Dine) (1917). Misinforming a Nation. New York: B. W. Huebsch. ASIN B000861CHG. that highlighted inaccuracies and English biases of the Eleventh Edition, particularly in the humanities articles. Many of Wright\'s criticisms were addressed in later editions of the Britannica. However, his book was denounced as a polemic by some contemporary reviewers; for example, the New York Times wrote that a "spiteful and shallow temper…pervades the book," while The New Republic opined, "it is unfortunate for Mr. Wright\'s remorseless purpose that he has proceeded in an unscientific spirit and given so little objective justification of his criticism." Another critic, English writer and former priest Joseph McCabe, claimed that the Britannica was susceptible to editorial pressure from the Roman Catholic Church in his book, Lies And Fallacies Of The Encyclopedia Britannica (1947).McCabe, J (1947). Lies And Fallacies Of The Encyclopedia Britannica. Haldeman-Julius. ASIN B0007FFJF4.
The Britannica has always conceded that errors are inevitable in an encyclopaedia. Speaking of the 3rd edition (1788–1797), its chief editor George Gleig wrote that "perfection seems to be incompatible with the nature of works constructed on such a plan, and embracing such a variety of subjects." More recently (March 2006), the Britannica wrote that "we in no way mean to imply that Britannica is error-free; we have never made such a claim." The sentiment is expressed by its original editor, William Smellie.
| “ | With regard to errors in general, whether falling under the denomination of mental, typographical or accidental, we are conscious of being able to point out a greater number than any critic whatever. Men who are acquainted with the innumerable difficulties of attending the execution of a work of such an extensive nature will make proper allowances. To these we appeal, and shall rest satisfied with the judgment they pronounce. | ” |
| —William Smellie, in the Preface to the 1st edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica | ||
15th edition of the Britannica. The initial volume with the green spine is the Propædia; the red-spined and black-spined volumes are the Micropædia and the Macropædia, respectively. The last three volumes are the 2002 Book of the Year (black spine) and the two-volume index (cyan spine).
Since 1985, the Britannica has had four parts: the Micropædia, the Macropædia, the Propædia, and a two-volume index. The Britannica\'s articles are found in the Micro- and Macropædia, which encompass 12 and 17 volumes, respectively, each volume having roughly one thousand pages. The 2007 Macropædia has 699 in-depth articles, ranging in length from 2 to 310 pages and having references and named contributors. In contrast, the 2007 Micropædia has roughly 65,000 articles, the vast majority (about 97%) of which contain fewer than 750 words, no references, and no named contributors. The Micropædia articles are intended for quick fact-checking and to help in finding more thorough information in the Macropædia. The Macropædia articles are meant both as authoritative, well-written articles on their subjects and as storehouses of information not covered elsewhere. The longest article (310 pages) is on the United States, and resulted from the merger of the articles on the individual states.
Information can be found in the Britannica by following the cross-references in the Micropædia and Macropædia; however, these are sparse, averaging one cross-reference per page. Hence, readers are recommended to consult instead the alphabetical index or the Propædia, which organises the Britannica\'s contents by topic.
The core of the Propædia is its "Outline of Knowledge," which aims to provide a logical framework for all human knowledge. Accordingly, the Outline is consulted by the Britannica\'s editors to decide which articles should be included in the Micro- and Macropædia. The Outline is also intended to be a study guide, to put subjects in their proper perspective, and to suggest a series of Britannica articles for the student wishing to learn a topic in depth. However, libraries have found that it is scarcely used, and reviewers have recommended that it be dropped from the encyclopedia. (1992) Purchasing an Encyclopedia: 12 Points to Consider, 4th edition, Booklist Publications, American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-5754-4. The Propædia also has color transparencies of human anatomy and several appendices listing the staff members, advisors, and contributors to all three parts of the Britannica.
Taken together, the Micropædia and Macropædia comprise roughly 40 million words and 24,000 images. The two-volume index has 2,350 pages, listing the 228,274 topics covered in the Britannica, together with 474,675 subentries under those topics. The Britannica generally prefers British spelling over American; for example, it uses colour (not color), centre (not center), and encyclopaedia (not encyclopedia). However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as defense rather than defence. "Defense mechanism". Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition) 3. (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. p. 957. Common alternative spellings are provided with cross-references such as "Color: see Colour."
Since 1936, the articles of the Britannica have been revised on a regular schedule, with at least 10% of them considered for revision each year. According to one Britannica web-site, 46% of its articles were revised over the past three years;Encyclopædia Britannica: School & Library Site, promotional materials for the 2007 Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. however, according to another Britannica web-site, only 35% of the articles were revised.Australian Encyclopædia Britannica, promotional materials for the 2007 Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
The alphabetisation of articles in the Micropædia and Macropædia follows strict rules. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropædia preface. Diacritical marks and non-English letters are ignored, while numerical entries such as "1812, War of" are alphabetised as if the number had been written out ("Eighteen-twelve, War of"). Articles with identical names are ordered first by persons, then by places, then by things. Rulers with identical names are organised first alphabetically by country and then by chronology; thus, Charles III of France precedes Charles I of England, listed in Britannica as the ruler of Great Britain and Ireland. (That is, they are alphabetised as if their titles were "Charles, France, 3" and "Charles, Great Britain and Ireland, 1".) Similarly, places that share names are organised alphabetically by country, then by ever-smaller political divisions.
There have been and are several abbreviated Britannica encyclopedias. The single-volume Britannica Concise Encyclopædia has 28,000 short articles condensing the larger 32-volume Britannica.2003 Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd.. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. Compton\'s by Britannica, which incorporates the former Compton\'s Encyclopedia, is aimed at adolescents ages 10–17 and consists of 26 volumes and 11,000 pages.2007 Compton\'s by Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd.. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. A Children\'s Britannica was published by the company\'s London office in 1960; this was edited by John Armitage and dedicated to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales; contributors were almost all British, and editorial consultants were "The Headmaster, Staff and Children of the William Austin Primary School, Luton, Bedfordshire".Children\'s Britannica. ed. John Armitage. 1960. Encyclopædia Britannica Ltd. London. Other products include My First Britannica, aimed at children ages six to twelve, and the Britannica Discovery Library, written for children ages three to six.Britannica Discovery Library (issued 1974–1991). Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd.. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. Since 1938, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. has published annually a Book of the Year covering the past year\'s events, which is available online back to the 1994 edition (covering the events of 1993). The company also publishes several specialized reference works, such as Shakespeare: The Essential Guide to the Life and Works of the Bard (Wiley, 2006).
The Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2006 DVD contains over 55 million words and just over 100,000 articles.2007 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD. Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Ltd.. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. This includes 73,645 regular Britannica articles, with the remainder drawn from the Britannica Student Encyclopædia, the Britannica Elementary Encyclopædia and the Britannica Book of the Year (1993–2004), plus a few "classic" articles from early editions of the encyclopaedia. The package includes a range of supplementary content including maps, videos, sound clips, animations and web links. It also offers study tools and dictionary and thesaurus entries from Merriam-Webster.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online is a Web site with more than 120,000 articles and is updated regularly.Britannica Online. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-23. It has daily features, updates and links to news reports from The New York Times and the BBC. Subscriptions are available on a yearly, monthly or weekly basis.Britannica Online Store—BT Click&Buy. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-27. Special subscription plans are offered to schools, colleges and libraries; such institutional subscribers constitute an important part of Britannica\'s business. Articles may be accessed online for free, but only a few opening lines of text are displayed. Beginning in early 2007, the Britannica made articles freely available if they are linked to from an external site;Instructions for linking to the Britannica articles. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. such external links often improve an article\'s rankings in search engine results.
On 20 February 2007, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. announced that it was working with mobile phone search company AskMeNow to launch a mobile encyclopedia.AskMeNow, Inc. (21 February 2007). "Encyclopaedia Britannica Selects AskMeNow to Launch Mobile Encyclopedia". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. Users will be able to send a question via text message, and AskMeNow will search Britannica\'s 28,000-article concise encyclopedia to return an answer to the query. Daily topical features sent directly to users\' mobile phones are also planned.
The 2007 print version of the Britannica boasts 4,411 contributors, many eminent in their fields, such as Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman, astronomer Carl Sagan, and surgeon Michael DeBakey. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, 531–674. Roughly a quarter of the contributors are deceased, some as long ago as 1947 (Alfred North Whitehead), while another quarter are retired or emeritus. Most (approximately 98%) contribute to only a single article; however, 64 contributed to three articles, 23 contributed to four articles, 10 contributed to five articles, and 8 contributed to more than five articles. An exceptionally prolific contributor is Dr. Christine Sutton of the University of Oxford, who contributed 24 articles on particle physics.
For more details on this topic, see Staff of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Portrait of Thomas Spencer Baynes, editor of the 9th edition. Painted in 1888, it now hangs in the Senate Room of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Dale Hoiberg, a sinologist, is the Britannica\'s Senior Vice President and editor-in-chief. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, p.745. Among his predecessors as editors-in-chief were Hugh Chisholm (1902–1924), James Louis Garvin (1926–1932), Franklin Henry Hooper (1902–1938), Walter Yust (1938–1960), Harry Ashmore (1960–1963), Warren E. Preece (1964–1968, 1969–1975), Sir William Haley (1968–1969), Philip W. Goetz (1979–1991), and Robert McHenry (1992–1997).History of Encyclopædia Britannica and Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved on 2006-10-17. Anita Wolff and Theodore Pappas serve as the current Deputy Editor and Executive Editor, respectively. Prior Executive Editors include John V. Dodge (1950–1964) and Philip W. Goetz.
The Britannica maintains an editorial staff of five Senior Editors and nine Associate Editors, supervised by Dale Hoiberg and four others. The editorial staff help in authoring the articles of the Micropædia and some sections of the Macropædia. "Biochemical Components of Organisms". Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th ed. 14. (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1007–1030.
The Britannica has an Editorial Board of Advisors, which includes 12 distinguished scholars: (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, p.5. Encyclopædia Britannica Board of Editors. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-24
The Propædia and its Outline of Knowledge were produced by dozens of editorial advisors under the direction of Mortimer J. Adler. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, 524–530. Roughly half of these advisors have since died, including some of the Outline\'s chief architects: Rene Dubos (d. 1982), Loren Eiseley (d. 1977), Harold D. Lasswell (d. 1978), Mark Van Doren (d. 1972), Peter Ritchie Calder (d. 1982) and Mortimer J. Adler (d. 2001). The Propædia also lists just under 4,000 advisors who were consulted for the unsigned Micropædia articles. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, 675–744.
In January 1996, the Britannica was purchased from the Benton Foundation by billionaire Swiss financier Jacqui Safra,"Britannica sold by Benton Foundation", University of Chicago Chronicle, 4 January 1996. who serves as its current Chair of the Board. In 1997, Don Yannias, a long-time associate and investment advisor of Safra, became CEO of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (4 March 1997). "Encyclopædia Britannica Announces Appointment Of Don Yannias As Chief Executive Officer". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. A new company, Britannica.com Inc. was spun off in 1999 to develop the digital versions of the Britannica; Yannias assumed the role of CEO in the new company, while that of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. remained vacant for two years. Yannias\' tenure at Britannica.com Inc. was marked by missteps, large lay-offs and financial losses.Abramson, Ronna (9 April 2001). "Look Under "M" for Mess—Company Business and Marketing". The Industry Standard. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. In 2001, Yannias was replaced by Ilan Yeshua, who reunited the leadership of the two companies.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (16 May 2001). "Ilan Yeshua Named Britannica CEO. Veteran Executive to Consolidate Operations of Encyclopaedia Britannica and Britannica.com". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. Yannias later returned to investment management, but remains on the Britannica\'s Board of Directors.
In 2003, former management consultant Jorge Aguilar-Cauz was appointed President of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Cauz is the senior executive and reports directly to the Britannica\'s Board of Directors. Cauz has been pursuing alliances with other companies and extending the Britannica brand to new educational and reference products, continuing the strategy pioneered by former CEO Elkan Harrison Powell in the mid-1930s. (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, p.2.&nb
