Bleeps and Blips to Rocket Ships: Great Inventions in Communications

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

This intriguing activity book is well designed and well illustrated with
color sketches (some full-page and some smaller) set into the text. Ten
chapters cover inventions made in communications over the last several
hundred years, precious discoveries and creations that altered human
existence in ways barely conceivable to our ancestors. These include
Charles Fenerty’s experiments in the 1830s with groundup wood to make
paper; Alexander Graham Bell’s creation of the telephone; Georges
Desbarats and William Lego’s invention in the late-19th century of the
halftone reproduction in photography; Thomas and John Connon’s
development of the panoramic camera; and Canadian Frederick Newton
Gisborne production of the transatlantic telegraph cable.

In their first successful book, Shooting Hoops and Skating Loop (1999),
Hegedus and Rainey focused on the “great inventions in sports.”
Bleeps and Blips to Rocket Ships melds history and science into a form
that will capture and hold the attention of readers. How to make paper,
build a camera, wire a telegraph, and use Morse Code, are just some of
the activities included. Ontario artist Bill Slavin has illustrated
numerous books; his imaginative sketches in this one add detail, drama,
and humor. Highly recommended.