Under The Microscope

THE WAY THINGS WORK, Dorling Kindersley CD-ROM; $159

Reviewed by Vicki Hyde

I'm plagued every morning these days by a 2.5-year-old demanding to see the elephants, and it's all the fault of this highly entertaining CD-ROM. He caught me one day browsing through the screens of the package, and was immediately hooked by the mammoth which acts as guide, continuity feature and general entertainer.

Join the Great Woolly Mammoth and you can explore the inner workings of 150 objects, from something as simple as a screw to the more complex intricacies of a camcorder. Not only do you have the illustrations familiar from David Macaulay's best-selling book, but you also have sound and animation helping to explain how things work, as well as the basic principles underlying such operations. The animation is particularly successful, as it maintains a consistency not possible with video clips and is far more satisfying (especially on a slow CD-ROM drive).

There's generally a good level of explanation, with definitions, glossaries and cross-references helping to expand your knowledge and letting you wander from subject to subject. The principles of science section is very welcome, as all too often this important aspect is ignored. It also helps to organise the various machines into related areas.

Some of the material seems to have been thrown in more for whimsy value. I laughed at the "Mammoth Movie" where a herd of mammoths make the mistake of using zinc and copper rods to harvest lemons, with predictably dire consequences, but I do wonder how many viewers (especially younger ones) would get the joke without further explanation. Don't let that stop you getting to know your mammoth better, though, -- this is a fun way to explore knowledge.

CD-ROM kindly supplied by Future Learning, Box 104, Geraldine (Tel: 0800-47-47-47).

Vicki Hyde is the editor of New Zealand Science Monthly.