Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 27 Volume Set, Supplemental Volume

Rating:
Summary: Editors should also issue a CD
Review: Chemical engineers throughout the world rely on one standard reference book above all others. This one. Expanded since the third edition to almost thirty thousand pages of densely gathered data.

It has properties of the vast majority of chemicals that you are likely to encounter at an oil refinery or chemical plant. So much so that these days, an accompanying CD or DVD might make life simpler for you. A CD would give much easier searching. There is an online edition, which has the virtue that it can be updated at a central location.

But an offline CD still has its place. Especially in the context of a mobile lab or isolated plant. These might have no internet connection, or a very low bandwidth one. In such situations, it is the much less mass and volume of a CD compared to the hardcopy which is the main attraction.