There can be few areas, if any, of computer development whose application is so widespread as computer graphics. Yet, perhaps, it is because of the advancement in this area that we overlook or are unaware of many of the applications. As everyone knows, the Walt Disney studios used computer graphics extensively in the film Tron. Computer graphics are used more and more in film production, as they are in television, cartoons, painting, sculpture and other art forms; but their application spreads far beyond these. Readers of Understanding Computer Graphics by Judy Tatchell and Les Howarth are quickly put in the picture about a variety of applications.

As with the rest of the books in the series the publishers have gone to some length to support the text with many bright illustrations. Indeed, the format resembles a comic book with illustrations and text being freely mixed and the maxim of one picture being worth a thousand words is well proven. As a result, many complicated notions are expressed in a fashion that is equally suitable for younger and older readers. The discussion throughout the book is non technical, being less concerned with an analysis of computer graphics than with highlighting the varied application. By the time the reader has gone through the 48 pages, he will be aware of a number of everyday uses and the principles behind them.

The book is a worthwhile read on a number of levels; it should help to answer in part the ever-recurring question "What do computers really do?"; it will give computer users an appreciation of other computing areas and it may serve to whet the appetite for further knowledge sated only slightly by the few program examples at the back.

What the book did for me was to quickly draw me a picture of a lot of computer applications I may have missed altogether because I would never have been sufficiently curious to spend sufficient time to look. And for that alone it was a valuable read.

Understanding Computer Graphics is written by J. Tatchell and L. Howarth.