The World of Computers and Communication (An Inside Look)

Gr 4-7-This series title has an attractive, open design featuring a short, modestly technical introduction; large, well-labeled illustrations; and separate blocks of text that develop the main idea of each double-page spread. It covers the many mechanisms humans have contrived to convey sounds, words, and pictures over long distance, moving from printing processes through the workings of cameras of all kinds, and on through sound recording and transmission, radar, and calculators before ending up at computers, computer peripherals, and networking. The objects and procedures chosen are a curious mix; there's a clear explanation of the Hubble Space Telescope and some mention of communications satellites, for example, but nothing about the global-positioning system or the satellite photography used to map the earth. The final explanation and illustration of the "high-speed information highways" linking the world's most powerful computers do not make clear that this is more a construct than a set of physical entities. Nonetheless, this is a broad, appealing overview of a popular topic.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC

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