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EVERYONE with a QL dreams of doing something useful with it but if you cannot, then you can always pretend you are doing something useful. That is a fairly accurate description of what Patrick J Hall is doing in The Real Thing? Microcomputer Simulations on the Sinclair QL.
The book is packed with practical simulation programs which take those who are willing to type them in, into the heart of the human circulatory system, into a gas turbine and on a trip to Mars.
The simulations are split into three categories which deal with processes, the evolution of natural forces and the planning of human endeavours. The programs use the full graphics and numeric capabilities of the QL. They can be used just for fun or for getting ideas for your own simulations.
The programs also have a more practical educational use. For instance, the gas turbine, steller evolution and design of a reservoir could be used in school or college classes. Who knows, the town planning simulation could even be used by councils.
The descriptions of the programs, which are split up into SuperBasic procedures for easy reference and understanding, together with explanations of techniques, makes fascinating reading.
There is probably more in Hall's book about programming the QL than in most of the other books on SuperBasic put together. Hall not only knows his subject but has the rare knack of leading you at a steady pace through complex programming techniques without talking down to you.
While educationalists should jump at the chance to get hold of a copy, the home user will also benefit from Hall's wide experience on the QL.
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John Gilbert
KELLY TEMPLE is presenter of XYZ On Air for Capital Radio, a programme dedicated to computers. He admits he is a beginner and his book, Capital Radio's Book of Computers and Simple Programming is aimed at beginners and is non-machine specific.
Twenty five pages are devoted to details of home computers. The main bulk concentrates on all the familiar features of Basic. There is nothing to recommend the book to owners of the Spectrum User Guide.
The Spectrum Data Log is a workbook intended for beginners, but tackles the subject in a different way. As captain of the Starship Questar the reader is led through a series of exercises covering the main commands in Spectrum Basic.
You are encouraged to write out the programs in the workbook in the spaces provided and design the graphics on the squared spaces provided. Spectrum Data Log is an interesting approach for young beginners.
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Theo Wood
AS THE flyleaf of Susan Curran's book Get more from the Epson Printer points out, for many microcomputer users a printer is a major purchase. Unfortunately, this work fails to live up to the promise of its title.
The author cannot be faulted on the decision to concentrate on the Epson range.
The book falls down in that it fails to offer much practical advice on just how you may exploit the full power of your printer. QL owners will find some advice on how dot matrix printers may be used in conjunction with the four Psion packages bundled with the computer. The details provided, though, are in no more depth than those to be found in many other publications dealing with the QL. There is no information concerning the Spectrum which may be used in conjunction with any of the printers from the Epson range.
Perhaps the weakness of the work is best illustrated by the section on user defined characters. While the author shows how you may go about defining an alternate character set, in a more understandable fashion than the manual accompanying a printer such as the FX80, that is as far as she goes. It could be expected that the book would offer a few character sets of its own.
A disappointing book which provides little information beyond that to be found in the documentation provided with the QL and printers from the Epson range.
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Gary Evans
CHRISTOPHER Leigh's book Starting Logo is based on the program Spectrum Graphics Logo also published by Sigma at £17.95.
Spectrum Graphics Logo is a graphic subset of the language without the list handling capabilities of Sinclair Logo. It comes with a keyboard overlay which allows commands to be ENTERed by the use of single keys.
There is one glaring fault which overrides any other consideration. There is no way you can SAVE Logo procedures onto tape or microdrive. The only way to obtain a record is by printing them out on a printer. All very well for owners who have one, though it is frustrating to work on programs and have to type them in later for revision.For that reason both packages are not worth purchasing.
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Theo Wood