Gr 5-8-This cookie-cutter series may be issued as a set (and assigned the same call number), but is more suitable for dispersal through the circulating collection. Each volume looks at the past, internal structure, and possible future of a common machine or artifact, from clocks, stoves, and skyscrapers to computers, Web sites, and CDs. Each book has a one-topic-per-spread design, profusely illustrated with captioned, sometimes labeled photos and graphics. The pictures have sharply reproduced lines and clear colors. These books, with similar page and word counts, cover topics of varying scope and differ drastically in level of detail. In its 32 pages, Satellite zooms past nearly the entire space program, Sputnik to the International Space Station, and Car barely hints at the types of hybrid vehicles likely to become prevalent in the near future. However, Compact Disk includes discussions of DVDs, CD players, MP3s, and even the science of sound engineering, while Web Site introduces readers to HTML, FTP, and some types of search engines. Each book also includes one or two simple activities, references to helpful resources, and an index-in which a few perfunctory unpaged references to other titles in the series constitute the only links among the volumes. Though some of the information, especially in unusual or more narrowly focused topic areas, may update or enhance articles in standard science encyclopedias, only minimal effort has been made to create a reference resource here.