copyright 1952, eighth printing; pictures by Jeanne Bendick; smaller hardbound; former school library book (with library stamps - see pics); very good condition with unmarked pages; no dust jacket.
 
Description -
Continuing to do themselves proud as science writers for young people, the Schneiders make simple and fascinating the story of the telephone- the relatively uncomplicated principle on which it operates, its many uses and functions, its far reaching implications in the lives of all of us. After introductory material on humanity's need to talk and some solidly predigested facts about sound waves and vibration, the telephone itself is introduced and its operational circuit- electrical current from the carbon grains in the transmitter box to the central battery to the spools and disc of the receiver- explained in very understandable terminology.
 
In the material on the two different systems- dial and operator, one reads with amazement of the ease and efficiency of the exchanges, sees at a glance the operations all along the line- from the insertion of a coin in a public booth or picking up the receiver at home, to the switchboard girl or the completed calls adding machine. A final chapter on telephones that travel, clears up mysteries about walkie talkies, police cars, phones in airplanes. Jeanne Bendick's drawings have a breezy informality that makes callers and operators look lively, are admirably spotted so as to give full clarity to the text.