Brent and Anderson’s book would be a good choice as a textbook; it is intended for both undergraduates and graduate students. The authors provide a comprehensive, well-organized overview of computer science, available software tools relevant to social science computing, and applications in the social sciences.

Part 1 begins with an excellent historical discussion of computing in the social sciences. A fairly successful introduction to computer science jargon follows. The authors concisely define many keywords and give a good example of bibliographic search using BRS After Dark. They state that the book emphasizes the use of existing programs. Consequently, Part 2 deals with a variety of available software tools.

Chapter 8, “Social Data,” has all the elements of a short course in AI. A very thorough chapter on bibliographic retrieval follows. Part 2 also contains a diverse discussion of simulation applications and a very good overview of DBMSs.

Part 3, which deals specifically with computer applications in the social sciences, has some minimal but necessary redundancy. Some highlights include the section on computer-assisted writing and accurate discussions of the influence of computers on students and of computer-based education. The authors raise some interesting ethical questions regarding expert systems.

The references are exceptionally comprehensive and, more important, the chapters read well. I encountered no typographical errors and found the index to be more than adequate. I found few weaknesses in the book overall, and the ones mentioned below do not detract significantly from the book’s quality. I question the analysis in chapter 19, which is based on the premise that changes in culture have resulted from computerization. I realize that this is a widespread opinion but wonder whether computerization is not better thought of as simply a part of culture, which by definition changes over time. Putting semantics aside, neither the section on public domain software and shareware nor the index mentions computer viruses. Considering the intended audience and theme of the book, I would expect material on the subject to be included in the next edition. Finally, chapter 2 discusses binary, octal, and hexadecimal representation systems, but does not explain exactly why these are used.

I found few limitations in this well-organized, comprehensive textbook. If I were to teach a course on the subject, I would feel confident that this book would be more than adequate as a primary resource for students.