Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia or, encyclopaedia is a reference book or resource giving information on many subjects or on many aspects of one subject. Encyclopedia Britannica is one of the most famous paper encyclopedias, although many others have existed in numerous languages. More recently, however, the Internet has changed Encyclopedias such that there are no longer any in print—rather, they are made available online. Encyclopedia Britannica is one such publication which is still maintained and updated, but is only available online. Alternately, public encyclopedias such as Wikipedia and Conservapedia have also come into existence more recently, and using software such as MediaWiki, anyone can update and edit these.
The word 'encyclopedia' comes from the Greek phrase meaning 'all around education', the circle of arts and sciences considered by the Greeks as essential to a liberal education, but their emphasis was on the spoken word and it was left to the Romans to record their knowledge in readable form.
French philosopher Perre Bayle introduced the concept of a nonpartisan reference book in the 1690s.
A famous (or infamous) encyclopedia, the Encyclopédie was published in France between 1751 and 1772, and edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.