# World Book Encyclopedia by World Book

5 Hacker News commenters recommended World Book Encyclopedia by World Book and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for broad coverage and browsing, which sparks curiosity and learning. The most common caveat is that much of its information is now outdated.

## Why people recommend it

- Broad coverage of many topics (1 comments): "the World Book Encyclopedia covered any topic a college girl could ask for at the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49951115))
- Browsing leads to interesting entries (1 comments): "Looking things up in it usually meant encountering a number of other interesting entries in it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48620531))
- Inspires a love of learning (1 comments): "the love and awe of learning they inspired" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45937275))

## What people warn about

- Much of the information is outdated (1 comments): "Most of the information in it is practically worthless today unfortunately" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49842610))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://hackerapproved.com/p/encyclopedia-britannica.md): 29 recommend
- [507 Mechanical Movements by Henry T. Brown](https://hackerapproved.com/p/507-mechanical-movements.md): 12 recommend
- [The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ashley-book-of-knots.md): 8 recommend
- [The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-of-middle-earth.md): 5 recommend
- [Trucker's atlas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/trucker-s-atlas.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0716642069?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780716642060) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "World Book Encyclopedia by World Book", https://hackerapproved.com/p/world-book-encyclopedia/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).