How to look at an Index

An index is a list of names or topics that are to be found in a book. It is a list arranged in alphabetical order at the end of a book.

The following paragraph shows that the doctor is consulting the index of a medical book to find out which injection is appropriate for Bruno.

 “Out came his medical books, and a feverish reference to index began:

 What poison did you say, sir?” “Barium carbonate”. “Ah yes—B—Ba—Barium Salts—Ah! Barium carbonate! Symptoms—paralysis—treatment—injections of ... Just a minute, sir. I’ll bring my syringe and

 the medicine.”

1. You have read about the French Revolution and you want to know more about the Third Estate in the context of the French Revolution. You can refer to the index of the book Living World History by T. Walter Wallbank and  Arnold Schrier:

On which pages in this book will you find information about the French Revolution and the Third Estate?

2. To know what ‘Food Security’ and ‘Minimum Support Price’ mean in the context of the economic growth of a country you can go to the subject index given below from Poverty and Famines — An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation by Amartya Sen. Under which heading in the index are you likely to find these topics?

3. Given below is a portion of an index page from the book, French’s Index of Differential Diagnosis, edited by F. Dudley Hart M.D., F.R.C.P.

Study the entries and find out whether the following topics are discussed in the book.

(i) bronchitis due to cigarette smoking

(ii) heart failure due to bronchitis

(iii) bronchitis in children