Micropædia
Encyclopedia
The 12-volume Micropædia is one of the three parts of the 15th edition
of Encyclopædia Britannica
, the other two being the one-volume Propædia
and the 17-volume Macropædia
. The name Micropædia is a neologism coined by Mortimer J. Adler from the ancient Greek
words for "small" and "instruction"; the best English translation is perhaps "brief lessons".
The Micropædia was introduced in 1974 with 10 volumes having 102,214 short articles, all of which were strictly fewer than 750 words. This limit was relaxed in the major re-organization of the 15th edition
; many articles were condensed together, resulting in roughly 65,000 articles in 12 volumes. In general, the 750-word limit is still respected and most articles are only 1-2 paragraphs; however, a few longer articles can be found in the 2007 Micropædia, such as the Internet
entry, which takes up a full page.
With rare exceptions (<3%), the ~65,000 articles of the Micropædia have no bibliographies and no named contributors. The Micropædia is intended primarily for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the 700 longer articles of the Macropædia, which do have identified authors and bibliographies.
History of the Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica has been published continuously since 1768, appearing in 15 official editions. Several editions have been amended with multi-volume "supplements" or undergone drastic re-organizations . In recent years, digital versions of the Britannica have been developed, both online...
of Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
, the other two being the one-volume Propædia
Propædia
The one-volume Propædia is the first of three parts of the 15th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, the other two being the 12-volume Micropædia and the 17-volume Macropædia. The Propædia is intended as a topical organization of the Britannica's contents, complementary to the alphabetical...
and the 17-volume Macropædia
Macropædia
The 17-volume Macropædia is the third part of the Encyclopædia Britannica; the other two parts are the 12-volume Micropædia and the 1-volume Propædia. The name Macropædia is a neologism coined by Mortimer J. Adler from the ancient Greek words for "large" and "instruction"; the best English...
. The name Micropædia is a neologism coined by Mortimer J. Adler from the ancient Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
words for "small" and "instruction"; the best English translation is perhaps "brief lessons".
The Micropædia was introduced in 1974 with 10 volumes having 102,214 short articles, all of which were strictly fewer than 750 words. This limit was relaxed in the major re-organization of the 15th edition
History of the Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica has been published continuously since 1768, appearing in 15 official editions. Several editions have been amended with multi-volume "supplements" or undergone drastic re-organizations . In recent years, digital versions of the Britannica have been developed, both online...
; many articles were condensed together, resulting in roughly 65,000 articles in 12 volumes. In general, the 750-word limit is still respected and most articles are only 1-2 paragraphs; however, a few longer articles can be found in the 2007 Micropædia, such as the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
entry, which takes up a full page.
With rare exceptions (<3%), the ~65,000 articles of the Micropædia have no bibliographies and no named contributors. The Micropædia is intended primarily for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the 700 longer articles of the Macropædia, which do have identified authors and bibliographies.