BOOK REVIEW: The Age of Electronic Messages by John G. Truxal (MIT Press 1990)

This book, based on a course offered since 1979 at SUNY Stony Brook, offers an introduction for college undergraduates to the technology of communications. As part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's New Liberal Arts Program it stems from a belief that "a liberal education...should involve undergraduate with meaningful experience with technology and with quantitative approaches to problem solving...Students should understand not only the fundamental concepts of technology...but also the scientific and cultural settings within which engineers work, and the impacts (positive and negative) of technology on individuals and society." (From the series forward.)