IF YOU HAVE not learnt about the joys of Logo then Spectrum Plus Logo, by Tim Hartnell, provides everything you need to get started.

It is not just a book of pretty patterns produced by short listings. Hartnell has produced a version of Logo, close to the LCSI standard which is included in the book. He starts with a brief introduction to turtle graphics and shows how the language can be applied to the real world using a floor turtle to draw mathematical patterns.

The rest of the book deals with how to use Hartnell's Logo-K language, the listing for which is reproduced at the back. Hartnell uses a simple style, in text and listings, but does not miss an opportunity to show that Logo is a fun, as well as being an educational, language.

The example listings may be short - some of them are only three lines in length - but they all produce spectacular results. Starting with a simple recursive flag design Hartnell shows that there is art in the mathematics of angles. By the time you reach the end of the book you will be reproducing patterns to equal spirograph creations and have lost your fear of mathematics.

At £2.99 the book represents excellent value. Although Logo-K is written in Basic and produces turtle graphics slowly it will respond to a large number of commands.

The book is ideal for schools and colleges where it could be used as a general text on Logo and a source for an implementation of the language which students could type into their home machines. Tim Hartnell has come up with an educational winner.

FOLLOWING his success with 30 Hour Basic Clive Prigmore has appeared again to torment us with his 30 Hour Useful Home Computing book.

Prigmore starts by introducing the components of a computer system, including disc drive, printer, monitor and - unlikely as we are to forget it - micro. The perennial subject of ROM and RAM is brought up but the author has kept excitement down with the use of only one simile in that section - and no, he does not use the pigeon hole analogy.

The most informative sections of the book are those on word processing, spreadsheets and databases. Using a non-committal approach Prigmore does his best to show you how to choose software which will suit your needs and provides shallow explanation of how typical packages work. His advice is basic but it is the sort of information which a businessman who does not want to know about computers will need to know.

Interspersed between the general information chapters are sections for those of you who want to know what goes on behind the keyboard. Prigmore distinguishes between the types of data involved in data processing, the types of operating system you can purchase and what type of hardware is available for business computing.

The checklists at the end of each chapter will help you remember what was covered in the proceeding text but if you expect the book to be as useful as Prigmore's 30 Hour Basic you will be disappointed.

THE POPULAR image of the robot, as seen on television and portrayed in books, has changed only slightly in the past 20 years.

Much fiction has been written about robots which talk, perform complicated actions and even rule the world, but few non-fiction books have found their way onto the market. The Robot Book, by Richard Pawson, puts that oversight right.

Pawson has divided the book into four parts covering the history of robots, robots in action, how they work, and a section on how to build robotic devices. Each section is lavishly illustrated.

The section explaining how robots work is the most interesting. It starts with a brief look at the main parts of an automaton, such as its synthetic senses, movable parts and motors. Pawson then goes on to show the types of robot available. Those include industrial and laboratory devices, domestic 'helpers' and toys.

Some of the uses to which robots are put seem dangerous. The book contains a picture of a sheep being sheared by a demonic looking machine. One slip and ...

But, according to the author, accidents rarely happen. He also demonstrates that robots have a very fine touch and can pick up an egg without dropping or cracking it.

The practical section of The Robot Book has yellow tinted pages so that anyone following a project can turn to it quickly. Projects include a toy android, a Lego robot arm and even a card-dealing robot. It is all good fun and the projects are easy to build.

If you like the technical side of computers and robots then The Robot Book will prove entertaining reading. I cannot even complain about the price which is surprisingly low for a publication of such quality.