Trefil, James : George Mason University

James Trefil is a regular contributor to Smithsonian magazine and a science commentator on National Public Radio. He is the Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University and lives in Annandale, Virginia.

Hirsch, E.D. : University of Virginia, Charlottesville

E.D. Hirsch, Jr. is the Linden Kent Memorial Professor of English at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and the author of Cultural Literacy, The First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, and The Core Knowledge Series. Dr. Hirsch is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been a senior fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is president of the Core Knowledge Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to educational reform.

Kett, Joseph F. : University of Virginia

Joseph F. Kett, Commonwealth Professor of History at the University of Virginia, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He is the author of The Formation of the American Medical Profession: The Role of Institutions, 1780-1860 (1968) and Rites of Passage: Adolescence in America, 1790-Present (1977). He is the co-author of The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (1988). A former History Department chair at Virginia, he has also participated on the Panel on Youth of the President's Science Advisory Committee, served on the Board of Editors for the History of Education Quarterly, and is a past member of the Council of the American Studies Association.

Every American wants to be in the know, but in this information age, who has the time to sift through what's really important and what's just a passing fashion? Now, more than ever, we need a book that gathers together all of the critical information - the people, places, events, and terms - that make up our cultural conversation. Enter The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, completely revised and updated for the first time in ten years. This invaluable resource concisely boils down all the facts you need to be culturally literate today.
Accelerating universe. Blue-screen technology. Global positioning system. Napster. Wireless technology. These terms and five hundred other new entries have been included in The New Dictionary of Cultural
Literacy, bringing our essential knowledge bank up to date. Special emphasis is given to recent developments in science and technology, world history and politics, and American literature and politics. Nearly one thousand entries have been revised to reflect recent shifts in American culture.
The book that set the stage for the many popular "quick knowledge" series of recent years, the first Dictionary of Cultural Literacy laid out the facts that every American should possess - sparking lively debate in the process. Two editions later, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy serves up a delicious concoction of information, becoming the most definitive and comprehensive family sourcebook for anyone who wants to stay ahead of the cultural curve.