More than just the recorders of humankind`s achievements, we are active participants in that achievement.

The Rubber Handbook
In 1900, Arthur Friedman a student at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, and his brothers Leo and Emmanuel, started a part-time enterprise to produce rubber aprons and sell them to chemistry laboratories. They published the first edition of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics in 1913 as a marketing incentive, giving a copy away with each sale of a dozen or more aprons. Designed to fit in the pockets of those aprons, the little book provided chemists with all the essential chemical data they needed.

Filling such an important need, this original single-source reference began to take on a life all of its own. Before long, the Handbook became the standard reference for chemists and physicists worldwide. Updated nearly 90 times, it has grown from its original apron-pocket size to a 2,500-page volume that continues to be a mainstay of science and technology. The Rubber Book, as it was known to previous generations of scientists, is now available in an interactive electronic format, available both on CD and the web.

An Immutable Constant
Through the years, CRC Press has gone through a number of acquisitions and mergers, but its name and its mission remain intact. Currently CRC Press functions as the principal science and technology book division of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Company. In getting to this notable position, more changes have occurred than we can list.

The acquisition of Lewis Publishers in 1990 made CRC the leading publisher of environmental science books and the subsequent additions of St. Lucie Press and Auerbach Publishing extended our reach into business management and information technology. The acquisition of Chapman & Hall`s mathematics and statistics titles in 1998 took us to the head of the class in these two fields.

In 2003 CRC Press became a member of the Taylor & Francis publishing group. No scientific publisher has a more illustrious history than Taylor & Francis. Established in 1783, Taylor & Francis launched the world leading physics and material science journal, the Philosophical Magazine, which was the first of the more than 1000 journals it now publishes covering nearly every facet of human endeavor.

As if marrying into that lineage wasn`t impressive enough, CRC Press also benefitted from the independent 2004 merger of Taylor & Francis with Informa. While the corporate name Informa came into being only as of 1998, the organization can trace its roots back to 1734 when the first issue of the maritime publication Lloyd`s List was pinned to the wall of Edward Lloyd`s City of London coffee shop. With over 150 offices across the world, Informa plc is the leading international provider of specialist information and services for the academic and scientific, professional, and commercial business communities. Operating in over 40 countries, it produces 10,000 events annually.

Over the years, thoughtful acquisitions placed a number of renowned publishers under the CRC banner, including Marcel Dekker Publishing, the book division of the Institute of Physics, Productivity Press, and A K Peters LTD. Already an international leader in publishing chemistry, life sciences, engineering, mathematics, statistics, information technology, and computer science books, CRC Press expanded its reach into Lean manufacturing, computer game development, and computer graphics.

Late 2012 signaled an era of change, as CRC Press reintroduced medicine into its renowned technical library. Informa Healthcare books and the acquired Hodder Arnold medical line joined established CRC Press titles in nursing and allied health, toxicology, clinical anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. The 2013 acquisition of Manson Publishing positioned CRC Press as one of the top three veterinary publishers in the world, while the acquisition of the book publishing assets of Quality Medical Publishing (QMP) rounded out the CRC Press medical portfolio, adding vibrantly illustrated aesthetic and plastic surgery books and DVDs to an already rich collection of cutting-edge resources for medical professionals. Now, in addition to global science, technology, and business books in more than 25 areas of specialization, CRC Press publishes a full range of medical and surgical titles in cardiology and cardiovascular medicine, dermatology and cosmetic science, neurology, orthopedics and trauma, pediatrics, family practice, and related areas.

Moving Beyond the Printed Page
In addition to traditional print publications, CRC Press provides access to over 8,000 titles through its award-winning platform CRCnetBASE. This sophisticated platform couples advanced functionality with easy access to well-organized collections of high quality scholarly information.

Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Company
As one of the world`s largest publishers, Taylor & Francis maintains offices throughout the world including London, Brighton, and Abingdon in the U.K.; New York, Philadelphia, Florence, Kentucky, and Boca Raton, Florida in the U.S.A.; and Singapore, Australia, China, and India. Publishing more than 1,500 journals and approximately 3,300 new books each year, the Taylor and Francis Group has a backlist in excess of 60,000 specialist titles.

Biomass Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment