This series attempts to cover a wide variety of subjects and to follow their progression and development during the 20th century. This illustrated volume provides an overview of the developments in communications throughout this century. It describes the invention of the electric telegraph in the middle of the 19th century, which made rapid communications possible, and the increasing impact of telephone and radio communications as the networks spread during the 1920s. Marconi's pioneering method of flying blind in an aeroplane by following a radio beam is noted and the developments in television during the 1920s in various countries are examined, with 18 experimental television stations established in the USA by the end of 1928. During the 1930s the modern telegraph systems, telex and TWX were introduced and uses of radio waves were being investigated. By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Britain had a chain of radar stations along the south coast. Developments after the war included electronic colour television, a transatlantic telephone cable and the invention of the transistor.
The silicon chip and new technology led to electronic telephone exchanges, hi-fi systems and video recorders and the development of satellites made world communications a reality. Finally the author considers the 1970s and 1980s, discussing how the development of smaller computer systems has helped to create a revolution in communications so that information cannot only be transmitted instantly, but processed almost instantly as well. The author has also written several books in Wayland's "Tomorrow's World" series.
- ISBN10 1852103159
- ISBN13 9781852103156
- Publish Date 1 December 1988
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 21 April 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Hachette Children's Group
- Imprint Hodder Wayland
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 48
- Language English