Making Connections : Communication through the Ages.

ISBN:

9781461706915

Title:

Author:

Meadow, Charles T.

Personal Author:

Meadow, Charles T.

Publication Information:

Lanham : Scarecrow Press, 2002.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (382 pages)

Contents:

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.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Communication -- History.

Mass media -- History.

Telecommunications.

Communication -- Histoire.

PSYCHOLOGY -- Social Psychology.

Communication. (OCoLC)fst00869952

Communicatie.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=601953

Publication Date:

2002

Publication Information:

Lanham : Scarecrow Press, 2002.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
302.209	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Meadow takes us on a Cook's tour of communication technologies across time--the alphabet and moveable type printing, cave drawings and carrier pigeons, telephones, television and, of course, the Internet. In each case, Meadow shows how these (and other devices) are connected to each other, even as they serve to make connections between people.

Part One discusses the basics of communications, while Part Two delves into telecommunications before the days of steam and electricity. Part Three offers insight into steam, electricity, and internal combustion energy and how they revolutionized society.

Communication is the key to a productive world. For those dazzled by the pace of change in the technology or McLuhan's unorthodox but brilliant insights, Meadow's casual style and pace provide the perfect antidote.

Author Notes

Charles T. Meadow is Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto. He is the author of Ink into Bits: A Web of Converging Media (2002) and Messages, Meaning and Symbols: The Communication of Information (2006), both published by Scarecrow.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Meadow (emer., Univ. of Toronto) takes a broad view of the rise of varied modes of communication and how they are connected over time and across various applications. He divides his study into five main parts. The first part treats the basics of communication, offering an introduction to terms and concepts. Telecommunication before steam and electricity, the second part, takes a term out of normal use, since "telecommunication" is usually thought to begin with the telegraph. Chapters in this section treat spoken language and sound transmission, writing and printing, visual signaling and transport as communication. The third part--on steam, internal combustion, and electricity--continues the discussion of transport as communication and adds chapters on the telegraph and telephone. The section on electronics covers radio, television, communication satellites, and the Internet and Web. The final part looks backward and forward, offering both a summation and projection, and lists 100 dates to remember from cave drawings to the 21st century. Meadow presents all of this in very basic language without jargon, and thus the book is accessible to, and recommended for, undergraduates, students at technical colleges, and general readers. C. Sterling George Washington University