CRC handbook

   Any  of  the  editions  of  the  Chemical  Rubber Company Handbook of
   Chemistry and Physics; there are other CRC handbooks, such as the CRC
   Standard  Mathematical Tables and Formulae, but "the" CRC handbook is
   the  chemistry  and  physics  reference.  It  is massive tome full of
   mathematical  tables,  physical  constants of thousands of alloys and
   chemical    compounds,    dielectric   strengths,   vapor   pressure,
   resistivity,  and the like. Hackers have remarkably little actual use
   for  these  sorts  of arcana, but are such information junkies that a
   large percentage of them acquire copies anyway and would feel vaguely
   bereft  if  they  couldn't  look  up  the  magnetic susceptibility of
   potassium permanganate at a moment's notice. On hackers' bookshelves,
   the  CRC handbook is rather likely to keep company with an unabridged
   Oxford English Dictionary and a good atlas.

[glossary]