''The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future'' is a 1994

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

of in-universe information from the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' television series and films. It was written by

Michael Okuda Michael Okuda is an American graphic designer best known for his work on ''Star Trek'' including designing futuristic computer user interfaces known as "okudagrams". Career Work in ''Star Trek'' In the mid-1980s, he designed the look of ani ...

and

Denise Okuda Denise Lynn Okuda is a computer, scenic and video supervisor, and a writer known for her work on several ''Star Trek'' film and television productions, as well as other science fiction television. She also co-authored the ''Star Trek Encycloped ...

, who were production staff on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...

'' and '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Debbie Mirek. It was illustrated by

Doug Drexler Doug Drexler (born in New York City) is a visual effects artist, designer, sculptor, illustrator, and a makeup artist who has collaborated with such talents as Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, James Caan, Meryl Streep, and Warren Beatty. He began hi ...

Overview

The ''Encyclopedia'' features highly detailed information about characters,

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

technologies Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

and

ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

of the ''Star Trek'' franchise as well as brief episode and film synopses. It is organised alphabetically and is replete with illustrations, many of which are in color in later editions. The ''Encyclopedia'' mostly covers material from the ''Star Trek'' television series and the ''Star Trek'' motion pictures. It is an officially licensed publication and includes some completely original information not included in any ''Star Trek'' movie or television episode. According to

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of '' Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series '' Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and '' ...

, television series and the films are the extent of the ''Star Trek'' canon. Some entries in the ''Encyclopedia'' contain behind-the-scenes information, presented in italicized text. Unlike the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'', the ''Encyclopedia'' makes no detailed speculations about ''Star Trek'' technology.

Publication history

The ''Encyclopedia'' was inspired by a previous book by the same writing team, ''The Star Trek Chronology'', which had been directly commissioned by Gene Roddenberry as a way of ensuring continuity on ''Star Trek''. Michael Okuda developed a "worksheet" on which to record episode titles, episode production numbers, stardates, and any new ships, characters or technology. Four print editions have been published to date, in both

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or o ...

and

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

: the first edition () was published in 1994; the second (ISBN ) in 1997. The third edition (ISBN ), published in 1999, includes material through the end of ''

'', the fifth season of '' Star Trek: Voyager'', and the movie '' Star Trek: Insurrection''—but as a non-collated addendum. The fourth edition () was published in 2016. The print version was complemented by a similar electronic version, the ''Star Trek Omnipedia'' released in 1995. The

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...

medium allowed the

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

publishers to include video clips. It was released for both

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...

and

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

(ISBN ), which was published by Simon & Schuster Interactive. This was the only version of the encyclopedia not to be published by

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

is the owner of the copyright.

Fourth edition

In the years since its 1999 publication, the ''Encyclopedia'' gradually became extremely out of date, containing no information from subsequent ''Star Trek'' films ('' Star Trek: Nemesis'', ''

'', ''

Star Trek Into Darkness ''Star Trek Into Darkness'' is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and the sequel to t ...

''), the last two seasons of ''Star Trek: Voyager'' or ''

Star Trek: Enterprise ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...

''. There had long been no plans to release an updated version of the ''Encyclopedia'', as it had been superseded by online resources such as the

wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pub ...

-based encyclopedia

Memory Alpha Memory Alpha is a wiki encyclopedia for topics related to the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. Conceived by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson in September 2003 and officially launched on December 5 of that year, it uses the wiki model and is hosted ...

. During the August 2015 annual ''Star Trek'' convention in Las Vegas, an updated version of the ''Encyclopedia'' was announced for publication in 2016, the 50th Anniversary of ''Star Trek''. The total pages for this updated version is 1,056 pages. It was announced that the updated version would have "300 new pages" and cover ''Star Trek: Voyager'' Seasons 4–7, ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' Seasons 1–4, ''Star Trek: Nemesis'' and would contain information regarding J.J. Abrams' ''Star Trek'' movie reboot. The version came out as a "two-volume hardcover edition". The 2016 revised edition was published by Harper Design on October 18, 2016 for $150. Denise Okuda stated that there is "two, maybe three times as much text in the 2016 edition as in the original, and way more than three times as many photos and illustrations."

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Star Trek Encyclopedia Encyclopedias of fictional worlds

Encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

1994 books Pocket Books books

Overview

Publication history

Fourth edition

See also

References