Linux Users of Victoria, Inc.

The Manga Guide to Electricity is the latest in a series of Japanese books published in English by No Starch Press. At first glance they look like comic books, which is not surprising—manga is a Japanese word that has come to mean comic book. The concept is to provide a comic-book story-line to explain some subject—in this case electricity. In between the manga presentation there are plain text summaries with diagrams and tables. A comprehensive index adds to the book's usefulness.

The Manga Guide to Electricity is the latest in a series of Japanese books published in English by No Starch Press. At first glance they look like comic books, which is not surprising—manga is a Japanese word that has come to mean comic book. The concept is to provide a comic-book story-line to explain some subject—in this case electricity. In between the manga presentation there are plain text summaries with diagrams and tables. A comprehensive index adds to the book's usefulness.

Apart from being an easy way to learn about—or refresh one's knowledge of—electricity, the book is a source of ideas for teachers. For those who want to enter the debate on carbon emission control this will help them talk the talk, and understand the various electricity generation technologies that compete with coal.

Technical terms and units are well explained and include amperes, capacitors, Coulomb's force, Fleming's left (and right) hand rule, hertz, joules, Kaplan turbine, Lenz's law, ohms, Peltier effect, Seebeck effect, valence electrons, valence shells, triboelectric series, volts, waveforms, and Zenner diodes.

A great introduction for readers of (almost) any age, and an exemplar of technical communication.