Telephones

Children's Literature

This is more then a book about telephones. It is the history of communication and the people that saw the need to reach out and touch someone. The book begins with an explanation of how the telephone transmits the current that carries the voice. It diagrams switching stations and the relays that route the call from one phone to another. People have always wanted to communicate, and the faster the better¾from the Greek carrier pigeon to the megaphone to semaphore signals and the Morse code. The experiments, discoveries and the inventions of Alexander Graham Bell, Elisha Gray and Philipp Reis are all detailed in words and diagrams to help the reader appreciate the dedication of these men to improving communication. When Bell Laboratories and NASA launched Telstar 1 in 1962, the first communications satellite, telephoning changed forever. Telephones have become art forms, taking on the shapes of footballs, baseballs or Kermit the Frog. The words that appear in bold print throughout the book are in the glossary. A project at the end of the book gives instructions about how to build your own telephone, much like the one Robert Hooke invented in 1664. This book is part of the "Household History" series. 2001, Carolrhoda Books, $22.60. Ages 10 to 15. Reviewer: Karen Werner