Hidden Systems is the book I’ll use to teach my kids how the internet works

Growing up, I discovered The Way Things Work from creator David Macaulay’s unimaginable illustrated books. This week, I used to be stunned to see Macaulay’s endorsement in my inbox for a brand new illustrated explainer by a distinct creator — however the shock didn’t final lengthy.

Fifteen minutes after I started skimming by an advance copy of Hidden Systems, which simply got here out this week, I instantly ordered the book for my kids. It seems like a incredible manner to assist them conceptualize the internet, the world’s water provide, and our energy grid — and get them enthusiastic about the infrastructure of the world they’ll sometime inherit.

In 262 pages, creator and cartoonist Dan Nott tackles every of those methods in comedian panel type, piecing collectively the constructing blocks of how they work and the fundamentals of how they have been conceived, all with out ignoring the societal challenges going through each. “I began drawing about hidden systems because comics seem to have this superpower-like ability to compare how we think about something with how it works concretely,” writes Nott in the book.

Much of it is stuff that took years for me to study, distilled into an extremely readable type. Even adults will in all probability discover issues they don’t know, like the shapes and areas of secret buildings the place telecom corporations conceal their networking gear.

I would like to present you a few of it, so I requested writer Random House if I might share the first chapter about the metaphors we use to describe the internet — metaphors which are typically helpful however are inherently mistaken.

They fortunately obliged, so right here you go!

If you need extra, you’ll be able to choose up a duplicate from Amazon, Bookshop, my native bookstore Hicklebees, Target, or wherever else books are bought.