The Way To Go
By Kate Ascher
It was never enough for me to just admire the minimalist designs of transportation network maps, I had to find out what made those systems go. Knowing that Ascher has a reputation for representing complex concepts on easy to understand diagrams, I bought this book to cure my spell of curiosity.
From highways to trains to aeroplanes, this book explains what it takes to get goods and people from A to B. Not only that, it also explains a little bit about the history of each mode of transport and the procedures taken to ensure safe passage. How do submarines sink and float? What are the security procedures at airports? How do we communicate via satellite? If you thought of it, it explains it; if you haven’t thought of it, it explains it as well.
Though colourful, the technical diagrams and engineering marvels are not for the faint of heart. As pretty as a children’s book, this reference book is made for adults who have the attention span of an eager academic. But even if you’re only interested in, say, railway networks, it’s still a worthy companion for your bookshelf incase your brain itches to find out how aeroplanes fly.
