Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication Page; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations; Preface; Part 1: The Basics of Communication; 1. Background; Introduction; The Basic Questions; What is Communication?; What is Information?; What is a Medium?; How is Information Represented?; Was McLuhan Right-Is the Medium the Message?; Part 2: Telecommunication before Steam and Electricity; 2. Spoken Language and Sound Transmission; Introduction; Spoken Language; Sound-Based Technology; 3. Writing and Printing; Introduction; Pictures and Pictorial Writing; Alphabet; Other Languages.

Recording MediaThe Tools of Writing; Photography; The Effect of Writing on Civilization; 4. Visual Signaling; Introduction; Fire and Smoke; Flags, Semaphores, and Body Movements; 5. Transportation as Communication-1; Introduction; Animals and Roads; Muscle-Powered and Sailing Ships; Part 3: Steam, Internal Combustion, and Electricity; 6. Transportation as Communication-2; Introduction; Steam Power; Wingless Aircraft; Internal Combustion; 7. Telegraph; Introduction; Beginnings; Telegraphs Practical and Impractical; How it Works; Telegraphy Becomes a Business; Crossing the Oceans.

The Industry Goes Downhill8. Telephone; Introduction; In the Beginning was the Word; Sound and Electricity; How the Telephone Works; Telephone as a Business; New Developments; Part 4: Electronics; 9. Radio; Introduction; Beginnings; More Physics; Wireless Telegraphy; Radar; Radio Broadcasting; Social Effects of Radio Broadcasting; Newer Technologies; 10. Television; Introduction; Beginnings; Technicalities; The Developers; Broadcasting; New Developments in Television; Impact; 11. Communication Satellites; Introduction; The Nature of the Bird; History; Technicalities; Impact.

12. The Internet and the Information HighwayIntroduction; Technicalities; Cost; History; Impact; Part 5: Looking Backward and Forward; 13. Summation and Projection; Introduction; Technologies that Accompanied Major Change; The Coming Changes; A Review of Principles that do not Change; 14. One Hundred Dates to Remember; Bibliography; Index; About the Author.