ENCYCLOPEDIA There are four major elements that define an encyclopedia: its subject

matter, its scope, its method of organization, and its method of

Reference work that contains information on all branches of knowledge production: Encyclopedias can be general, containing articles on topics in
or that treats a particular branch of knowledge comprehensively. It is every field (the English-language Encyclopædia Britannica and German
self-contained and explains subjects in greater detail than a dictionary. Brockhaus are well-known examples).

An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a FOUR TYPES OF ENCYCLOPEDIA

reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either Mainly they are divided into four types, namely Dictionaries,
general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are Comprehensive Encyclopaedia or Vishwakosh, Encyclopaedic literature
divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name or Koshsadrush and Indexes.
or by thematic categories, or else are hyperlinked and searchable. ETYMOLOGY
Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most The word encyclopedia (encyclo|pedia) comes from the Koine Greek
dictionaries. Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on factual ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία, transliterated enkyklios paideia, meaning 'general
information concerning the subject named in the article's title; this is unlike education' from enkyklios (ἐγκύκλιος), meaning 'circular, recurrent, required
dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, such as regularly, general' and paideia (παιδεία), meaning 'education, rearing of a
their etymology, meaning, pronunciation, use, and grammatical forms. child'; together, the phrase literally translates as 'complete instruction' or
'complete knowledge'. However, the two separate words were reduced to a
Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years and have evolved single word due to a scribal error by copyists of a Latin manuscript edition of
considerably during that time as regards language (written in a major Quintillian in 1470. The copyists took this phrase to be a single Greek word,
international or a vernacular language), size (few or many volumes), intent enkyklopaedia, with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word
(presentation of a global or a limited range of knowledge), cultural became the New Latin word encyclopaedia, which in turn came into English.
perspective (authoritative, ideological, didactic, utilitarian), authorship Because of this compounded word, fifteenth-century readers and since have
(qualifications, style), readership (education level, background, interests, often, and incorrectly, thought that the Roman authors Quintillian and Pliny
capabilities), and the technologies available for their production and described an ancient genre.
distribution (hand-written manuscripts, small or large print runs, Internet). As
a valued source of reliable information compiled by experts, printed versions
found a prominent place in libraries, schools and other educational
institutions.

The appearance of digital and open-source versions in the 21st century, such
as Wikipedia, has vastly expanded the accessibility, authorship, readership,
and variety of encyclopedia entries.

FOUR MAJOR ELEMENTS ALMANAC

An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is an annual publication predict lunar and planetary phenomena. Similar treatises called Zij were later
listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes composed in medieval Islamic astronomy.
information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and
other tabular data often arranged according to the calendar. Celestial figures The modern almanac differs from Babylonian, Ptolemaic and Zij tables in the
and various statistics are found in almanacs, such as the rising and setting sense that "the entries found in the almanacs give directly the positions of the
times of the Sun and Moon, dates of eclipses, hours of high and low tides, celestial bodies and need no further computation", in contrast to the more
and religious festivals. The set of events noted in an almanac may be tailored common "auxiliary astronomical tables" based on Ptolemy's Almagest. The
for a specific group of readers, such as farmers, sailors, or astronomers. earliest known almanac in this modern sense is the Almanac of Azarqueil
written in 1088 by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Latinized as Arzachel) in
-Benjamin Banneker, born on this day in 1731, is remembered for Toledo, al-Andalus. The work provided the true daily positions of the sun,
producing one of America's earliest almanacs and what may have been the moon and planets for four years from 1088 to 1092, as well as many other
country's first natively produced clock. related tables. A Latin translation and adaptation of the work appeared as the
Tables of Toledo in the 12th century and the Alfonsine tables in the 13th
HISTORY ABOUT ALMANAC century.
Hemerologies and parapegmata
-The earlier texts considered to be almanacs have been found in the Near Medieval examples
East, dating back to the middle of the second millennium BC. They have -After almanacs were devised, people still saw little difference between
been called generally hemerologies, from the Greek hēmerā, meaning "day". predicting the movements of the stars and tides, and predicting the future in
Among them is the so-called Babylonian Almanac, which lists favorable and the divination sense. Early almanacs therefore contained general horoscopes,
unfavorable days with advice on what to do on each of them. as well as natural information. In 1150 Solomon Jarchus created such an
almanac considered to be among the first modern examples. Copies of 12th
-The Greek almanac, known as parapegma, has existed in the form of an century almanacs are found in the British Museum, and in the Universities of
inscribed stone on which the days of the month were indicated by movable Oxford and Cambridge. In 1300, Petrus de Dacia created an almanac
pegs inserted into bored holes, hence the name. There were also written texts (Savilian Library, Oxford) the same year Roger Bacon, OFM, produced his
and according to Diogenes Laërtius, Parapegma was the title of a book by own. In 1327 Walter de Elvendene created an almanac and later on John
Democritus. Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer (2nd century) wrote a Somers of Oxford, in 1380. In 1386 Nicholas de Lynne, Oxford produced an
treatise, Phaseis—"phases of fixed stars and collection of weather- almanac. In 1457 the first printed almanac was published at Mainz, by
changes" is the translation of its full title—the core of which is a parapegma, Gutenberg (eight years before the famous Bible). Regio-Montanus produced
a list of dates of seasonally regular weather changes, first appearances and an almanac in 1472 (Nuremberg, 1472), which continued in print for several
last appearances of stars or constellations at sunrise or sunset, and solar centuries. In 1497 the Sheapheard’s Kalendar, translated from French
events such as solstices, all organized according to the solar year. With the (Richard Pynson) became the first almanac to be printed in English.
astronomical computations were expected weather phenomena, composed as
a digest of observations made by various authorities of the past. Parapegmata
had been composed for centuries.
Ephemerides, zijs and tables Early Modern Era
-The origins of the almanac can be connected to ancient Babylonian England
astronomy, when tables of planetary periods were produced in order to
-By the second half of the 16th century, yearly almanacs were being Almanack, for 1783. Andrew Ellicott of Ellicott's Upper Mills, Maryland,
produced in England by authors such as Anthony Askham, Thomas authored a series of almanacs, The United States Almanack, the earliest
Buckminster, John Dade and Gabriel Frende. In the 17th century, English known copy of which bears the date of 1782. Benjamin Banneker, a free
almanacs were bestsellers, second only to the Bible; by the middle of the African American living near Ellicott's Mills, composed a series of almanacs
century, 400,000 almanacs were being produced annually (a complete listing for the years of 1792 to 1797.
can be found in the English Short Title Catalogue). Until its deregulation in
1775, the Stationers' Company maintained a lucrative monopoly over Contemporary use
almanac publication in England. Richard Allestree (not to be confused with -Currently published almanacs such as Whitaker's Almanack have expanded
Richard Allestree (1621/22–1681), provost of Eton College) wrote one of the their scope and contents beyond that of their historical counterparts. Modern
more popular English almanacs, producing yearly volumes from 1617 to almanacs include a comprehensive presentation of statistical and descriptive
1643, but his is by no means the earliest or the longest-running almanac. data covering the entire world. Contents also include discussions of topical
developments and a summary of recent historical events. Other currently
Works that satirized this type of publication appeared in the late 1500s. published almanacs (ca. 2006) include TIME Almanac with Information
During the next century, a writer using the pseudonym of "Poor Richard, Please, World Almanac and Book of Facts, The Farmer's Almanac and The
Knight of the Burnt Island" began to publish a series of such parodies that Old Farmer's Almanac and The Almanac for Farmers & City Folk. The
were entitled Poor Robin's Almanack. The 1664 issue of the series stated: Inverness Almanac, an almanac/literary journal, was published in West
"This month we may expect to hear of the Death of some Man, Woman, or Marin, California, from 2015 to 2016. In 2007, Harrowsmith Country Life
Child, either in Kent or Christendom." Magazine launched a Canadian Almanac, written in Canada, with all-
Canadian content. The nonprofit agrarian organization the Greenhorns
British America and United States currently publishes The New Farmer's Almanac as a resource for young
-The first almanac printed in the Thirteen Colonies of British America was farmers.
William Pierce's 1639 An Almanac Calculated for New England. The
almanac was the first in a series of such publications that Stephen Daye, or Major topics covered by almanacs (reflected by their tables of contents) include:
Day, printed each year until 1649 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The geography, government, demographics, agriculture, economics and business, health
Cambridge/Boston area in Massachusetts soon became the first center in the and medicine, religion, mass media, transportation, science and technology, sport,
colonies for the annual publication of almanacs, to be followed by and awards/prizes.
Philadelphia during the first half of the eighteenth century.
Other examples include The Almanac of American Politics published by Columbia
Books & Information Services, The Almanac of American Literature, The Almanac
Nathaniel Ames of Dedham, Massachusetts, issued his popular Astronomical of British Politics and the Wapsipinicon Almanac.
Diary and Almanack in 1725 and annually after c.1732. James Franklin
published The Rhode Island Almanack by "Poor Robin" for each year from The GPS almanac, as part of the data transmitted by each GPS satellite, contains
1728 to 1735. James' brother, Benjamin Franklin, published his annual Poor coarse orbit and status information for all satellites in the constellation, an
Richard's Almanack in Philadelphia from 1732 to 1758. ionospheric model, and information to relate GPS derived time to Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC). Hence the GPS almanac provides a similar goal as the
Samuel Stearns of Paxton, Massachusetts, issued the North-American ancient Babylonian almanac, to find celestial bodies.
Almanack, published annually from 1771 to 1784, as well as the first
American nautical almanac, The Navigator's Kalendar, or Nautical