“Encyclopedia of Professor Fortran” appeared on book shelves in the early 90s. Colorful, funny, understandable for kids, she became the most beloved for many readers. After a quarter of a century, they thank in their reviews the authors of this remarkable publication - A. Zaretsky, A. Trukhanov, M. Zaretskaya - and write that now their children are sent together with fairy-tale characters to the Computer Country.
Computer city
In 1990, in the year when there was not a PC in every home, a fascinating book appeared on the shelves of bookstores, “I was in the computer city”, in which the authors told little readers about the world of computers. The hero of the tale, nine-year-old Alyosha, falls into Simplex - Computer City, which he announces to parents and guests on Sunday evening. Adults, of course, did not believe him. But the computer was beeping, and from there the residents of the city got out - mikroshas, and introduced themselves to the guests: Professor Fortran, cat X, Sparrow and Caterpillar. Mikroshi told Alyosha that he disappeared from the city so quickly that they did not have time to give him a book: an encyclopedia that will help him figure out how the computer works.
The tale “I Was in the Computer City” superficially introduces PC readers to young readers. Traveling with Alyosha, they will get acquainted with the translator BASIC, the librarian Biblical, and his assistants Baitik and Bitik. They learn that the most important thing in the city is the Central Processor, that you can draw without paints and an easel. It soon became clear that all the floppy disks were damaged, and they showed teeth prints. Mikrosha and Alyosha are looking for criminals, conducting an investigation, and do not even guess what kind of adventures await them. The boy suddenly disappears, and wakes up at home, where new friends brought him the “Fortran Encyclopedia”.
An amusing trip
The book is written in the form of a comic, as stated, justifies the “title of the encyclopedia” - in it, from A to Z, in an accessible form, with diagrams and pictures, the terms from “algorithm” to “programming languages” are explained. To consolidate knowledge, a lot of games. From the first page, readers are invited to bookmark so that it is convenient to travel through the book. In order not to go astray, maps are attached, and adventures in the world of computer technology begin with a story page.
On the way, kids will have “Fun Halt”, where they will not be bored by the Caterpillar, Sparrow, Cat X and Professor Fortran. The book has many tasks, crosswords, layouts of cubes and figures. Readers in reviews write that the monitor and keyboard on the pages of the book became for many the first “laptop." Of course, the book contains outdated, by today's standards, information - plotters, floppy disks, some languages are out of use, but in general the book is still relevant.
Submission of information - a little text, a lot of illustrations - the most correct solution for remembering. Professor Fortran and his friends relentlessly follow the little readers, and the reading process turns into an exciting journey. The chapters are divided into small topics, at the end of each “a halt is declared”, and in a game form it is proposed to go through the material studied.
Cheerful halt
Having made a bookmark and familiarized with the map, in the first chapter the kids will learn what the algorithm is. This is not difficult, as Professor Fortran gives a detailed explanation with illustrations. Then the readers will be told what the computer memory is, bytes, and the professor will help to calculate how many bytes of information in the Sparrow poem, explain the number of bytes in kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and computer gnomes will tell how much information can be placed on a floppy disk, hard and optical drives. At the end of this fascinating chapter of kids, a hilarious halt “Glue the computer” awaits.
The next things readers will get to know are the plotter, joystick, and drive. From a detailed diagram, the principle of their work becomes clear. Having learned what the display is, little readers, together with Professor Fortran, will go to the “Museum of Computer Engineering” and find out how people thought at different times. At a halt, friends of the professor will tell you how, when and how much to work on the computer.
A new step into the world of computer technology will be familiarity with the keyboard and computer. The heroes of the book will tell you what a virus, a magnetic disk and machine language are, what is the difference between a calculator and a micro calculator. At a fun-filled halt, the kids, together with Sparrow, Cat and Caterpillar, will solve entertaining problems, and then they will begin to study the microprocessor, modem and computer memory.
Honorary Diploma
In the “Fortran Encyclopedia” computer terms - chapters are in alphabetical order. The next step in the study of the computer will be the strip code, printer, program. After acquaintance with robots, a light pen and a terminal, a little halt awaits little readers, where they, together with the postman, will search for letters lost from the telegram, and to make it more convenient, Sparrow and Caterpillar will offer to cut out the letters and figure of the postman.
The next chapter, “Central processor”, reveals to the kids the secrets of its work, and in order to consolidate the material covered, it is proposed to execute the program on a halt.
Then readers will learn what computers and programming languages are. In conclusion, the author says that in the Computer Country, all girls and boys try to understand Professor Fortran’s book, because he rewards them with a diploma for good knowledge. And in confirmation of the author’s words, the “Honorary Diploma” flaunts on the last page of the book, because all the little readers who read this fascinating encyclopedia deserve it.