eeping it simple is the name of the game at How Stuff Works, a Web page that sets out to explain human inventions—from nuclear weapons to CD burners—to ordinary Web surfers.
Simply put, this site is an archive of well-written and deeply informative articles on science, technology, medicine, economics and virtually everything else. It is a researcher's paradise. Whether one is researching lockpicking, the nature of a disease like SARS, how crash testing of automobiles works or the newest advances in space science, the engineers and other experts behind How Stuff Works can spell it out—in a highly detailed and always straightforward manner.
How Stuff Works is also exquisitely cross-linked: The article explaining Mars Rovers leads a reader effortlessly to topics like terraforming, and from there to rocket engines and other types of propulsion systems. The banquet of facts, photos and diagrams is endless and inspiring, a feast for the imagination. In addition to referencing internal articles, links also lead to outside resources for further information, and often to relevant e-commerce sites, too.
For first-time visitors, one of the best ways to explore this site is to simply bring up its master list of articles and start scanning for items of interest. No matter what visitors' personal interests may include, they are certain to find dozens of How Stuff Works articles to satisfy their curiosity.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—January 12, 2004
premium resource for fantasy writers and storytellers, Encyclopedia Mythica is a gold mine of facts and stories about heroes, myths, folklore and all things legendary. With over 6,000 entries and images, the site identifies gods and goddesses, defines a host of supernatural beings and describes mythological lands and events from every corner of the world.
This site provides endless pleasant browsing for anyone interested in mythology and, naturally, can easily be searched for any particular desired fact. Beyond its simple reference functions, though, Encyclopedia Mythica offers a superb links page, as well as interesting extras like a Genealogy section where site visitors can examine the family trees of various pantheons of gods. This section's coverage of Ancient Greek is its most comprehensive, with separate tables for such topics as the descendants of Prometheus and the best-known children borne by Zeus' various mortal and immortal lovers.
Encyclopedia Mythica is the work of a small group of dedicated researchers, and its staff freely acknowledges that the site, while it has gathered an extensive body of lore over the course of its eight-year history, is far from comprehensive. Anyone with expertise on myths that the encyclopedia has covered only slightly is invited to check out the guidelines for submitting information that will make it more complete.
The gaps, however, seem few and far between. Material ranges from Choctaw creation myths to extensive notes on the Arthurian legends, from descriptions of Old Testament leviathans to a pronunciation guide for classical deity names. As such, Encyclopedia Mythica is truly a researcher's paradise.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—January 5, 2004
ith 15 member states and a wide range of research and exploration projects on the go, the European Space Agency is at the forefront of the quest to extend humankind's reach into space. It is little wonder, then, that the ESA's official site is a vast repository of knowledge about our
home planet, the solar system and the wider universe.
ESA's eye is focused simultaneously inward and outward. Its Earth Observation section provides details on such projects as an effort to prevent floods through the use of satellite observation and forest mapping being done for use in monitoring the Kyoto Accord. For visitors who prefer to cast their gaze on the heavens, the site's huge library of more than 500 multimedia offerings shows the progress of astronaut training and events on the international space station. The ESA also landed an exploration craft on Mars on Christmas Day—they will be webcasting mission highlights for anyone who cares to look.
On top of the straightforward information about ESA's exploration of space and astronomical research, the agency runs a separate project: the rather cumbersomely named Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications. This is just what it sounds like: ITSF mines science fiction for ideas, attempting to develop workable versions of technologies that appear in stories, novels and even shows like Star Trek. The project takes inspiration from classic authors like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke—as well it should!—also looking to newer voices like Kim Stanley Robinson and Allen Steele.
Working to improve day-to-day life on Earth while simultaneously laying the foundation for human existence elsewhere in the universe, the ESA site offers a form of concrete expression for the widely held dreams of SF fans and explorers everywhere.
— A.M. Dellamonica
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