People often joke about For Dummies books. You know, how they're, well, for dummies. If that's the case then there must be an awful lot of dummies out there, because For Dummies books are one of the most popular book series around. Many of the style elements found in For Dummies books have been used in all kinds of knock-off book series.

In reality, the For Dummies series isn't for dummies at all. These books speak to anyone who wants to hear an expert's voice without all the expert snobbery and jargon. The series is wildly popular throughout the world thanks to its ability to convey technical topics in a non-technical way.

For those of you who are technology professionals, a For Dummies book is an excellent "just-the-facts" reference book. You can use a For Dummies book to get up and running quickly on a new technology (say, Ajax) or get enough of an introduction to be able to speak intelligibly on a subject (like Bioinformatics or Nanotechnology).

Take a second look at the For Dummies catalog. You might be pleasantly surprised.