The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge
Open-knowledge reference entry
The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind is a single-volume reference book by The New York Times. It exceeds one thousand pages in length.
Published in 2011, the book covers many topics, including:
Architecture
Art
Astronomy
Biology
Chemistry
Dance
Economics, Business, and Finance
Film
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Literature
Drama
Mathematics
Media
Medicine
Music
Mythology
Philosophy
Photography
Physics
Religion
Science
Technology
Sports
There is also a reference library which contains a Writer's Guide, Guide to Nutrition, Nations of the World, U.S. States and cities, languages, biographies and a crossword dictionary.
References
Wright, John W.; et al. (2004). The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0-312-31367-5.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge” as open-knowledge reference entry. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as open-knowledge reference entry. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7753831. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2011 and 2004.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge primary sources, The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge archive and York research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.