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Hidden Systems is the book I’ll use to teach my kids how the internet works

The book, lying on a quilted bedspread.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Growing up, I learned The Way Things Work from author David Macaulay’s incredible illustrated books. This week, I was surprised to see Macaulay’s endorsement in my inbox for a new illustrated explainer by a different author — but the surprise didn’t last long.

Fifteen minutes after I began skimming through an advance copy of Hidden Systems, which just came out this week, I immediately ordered the book for my kids. It looks like a fantastic way to help them conceptualize the internet, the world’s water supply, and our power grid — and get them thinking about the infrastructure of the world they’ll someday inherit.

Images by Dan Nott / Random House

How Dan Nott defines a hidden system, from his website excerpt.

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