Transportation

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-- Another series from Britain that is comprised of two-page spreads cluttered with drawings, diagrams, photographs, and multiple type-faces jammed with information in spurts suitable for short attention spans. Here full-color spreads alternate with black and white with blue wash, some less frantic than others. Still, a vast amount of information is available to browsers, while researchers have both glossary and index. The books focus on the aims of current research and what the likely results will be in 2001 and beyond. Oceanography includes underwater exploration, the food and other resources available from the sea, and the problems of sharing and protecting these resources and the oceans themselves. Communications covers what's happening in telecommunications, with discussions of lasers, holograms, and computer graphics. The third book covers means of transportation on land, in or under the sea, and in the air, including new developments in design, power sources, and computer controls. Energy discusses the possible alternative sources, old and new, as older sources run out or cause pollution problems such as acid rain, oil spills, and disposal of nuclear waste. Sturdy, attractive covers may outlast this current information, beyond which the frontiers of science will rapidly advance. --Sylvia S. Marantz, Wellington School, Columbus, OH