Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day

by Dan Nott

We use water, electricity, and the internet every day--but how do they actually work? And what’s the plan to keep them running for years to come? This nonfiction science graphic novel takes readers on a journey from how the most essential systems were developed to how they are implemented in our world today and how they will be used in the future.

What was the first message sent over the internet? How much water does a single person use every day? How was the electric light invented?

For every utility we use each day, there’s a hidden history--a story of intrigue, drama, humor, and inequity. This graphic novel provides a guided tour through the science of the past--and reveals how the decisions people made while inventing and constructing early technology still affect the way people use it today.

Full of art, maps, and diagrams, Hidden Systems is a thoughtful, humorous exploration of the history of science and what needs to be done now to change the future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Science, Comics, History, Technology, Engineering

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2023

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book reviewed in the Sunday edition of our local newspaper, and thought that it might make a suitable offering by the Long Suffering Wife to a somewhat apathetic teenager with whom she is attempting to curry favor. To confirm this opinion, I detoured from my steady diet of traditional old-fashioned largely-text-driven books to see if this book lived up to its promise.

It does. It is cleanly illustrated and clearly written. I could even imagine an apathetic teenager picking it up and enjoying it, only minimally aware that they are in serious danger of learning something.

I especially liked the beginning, wherein the author/illustrator demonstrated the perils of imagining the Internet using the metaphors in most common circulation today.

While far from an expert, I have paid more attention to the matters addressed in this book than the average person. I don't think that this book told me anything I didn't know. However, I am getting to the age where I need to be reminded of things I once knew before they fall out of my brain completely, and this book did this admirably.

This book is worth considering for the apathetic teenager in your life.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great. It does what it says it does, with fantastic art. Should be assigned reading for all high school kids. And also politicians.

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel revealing the workings behind three systems we use every day without even thinking about them or how they work: internet, electricity, and waterworks.

The content gets a bit technical and dry at times. The scope of the topic is huge, so some parts feel rushed. In the electricity and waterworks sections, the focus seemed to be more historical than contemporary.

The graphics are fairly simple, but this helps in keeping the focus on the text.

Basically, informative on the whole, but doesn’t always succeed in making the proceedings fluid and/or interesting. Aimed at teenagers, though adults wanting to know more about these systems might also give this a go.

3 stars.


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[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Nott does a superb job of exposing the hidden systems that keep us alive, well lit, and drowning in internet swamps. It's no secret that we use water, electricity, and (almost certainly) the internet every day. But we probably don't think about how we're actually getting all those things. Possibly magic!

And to some degree, after reading Hidden Systems, I might prefer to think of them as magic. If nothing else, Hidden Systems reveals how fallible all these systems are thanks to corruption, misuse, and neglect. Particularly in the case of water, we are not doing a great job of handling our resources (although that's kind of been the case since as least the Industrial Revolution). Both water and electricity are also deeply unequally provided, which is disheartening. By comparison, the internet portions of the book are light and refreshing, though of course there are downsides to how critically our many other hidden systems now rely on the internet.

In any case, the history portions of Hidden Systems are great, as are the intelligently designed diagrams that offer solid explanation of large, abstract concepts. I just wish these hidden systems weren't also such obvious weak points to our very existence.

[Kevin Leahy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a great idea and pretty well-executed but it’s a shame the author felt compelled to crowbar in his political views.

He’ll get on a roll, then bring things back to colonialism and inequality and use precious real estate to explain obvious realities like “rich countries have better infrastructure than developing countries.”

Illuminating the world’s physical systems is a daunting enough challenge. Layering a political worldview on top of that makes it impossible… and made me feel a bit like the premise/packaging of the book was the “bait” for a political lecture.. the last thing I was looking for.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool!

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read, although it became more focused on the historical context of the systems and less on how they function as the book progressed. If you're most interested in how things function, the internet section was the best.

There were times I would have liked to know more about how the systems functioned, but I did appreciate the way Nott highlighted the effects of the systems we've set up and the ways they prioritize some people over others.

There are brief mentions of examples of infrastructure failures - Nott calls out PG&E, and I believe the Texas power grid comes up (I may be misremembering that - goodness knows I thought about the February 2021 big freeze and the Texas power grid failure a lot during the power grid section) - but it would have been nice to see more of that. I suppose that could have made the book too dated too quickly, though.

There were excellent notes at the end, with bibliographical info. Unfortunately, the notes didn't include page numbers - they only pointed to the chapter and first words of the text they were referring to. Page numbers would have been really useful.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent graphic novel, long listed for the National Book Award and you can see why. What do we know about where our electricity comes from, the water that we use everyday and the Internet that we are all now addicted to? We know just about nothing. Important, educational and enlightening!

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is interesting and well-designed as well as well-kept in terms of the information it provides. Unfortunately, however, it is aimed at 12- to 16-year-olds, whereas I had hoped it would provide a somewhat more high-level type of knowledge. My fault.

È interessante e ben disegnato oltre che curato dal punto di vista delle informazioni che fornisce. Purtroppo peró é indirizzato tendenzialmente ai ragazzi tra i 12 ed i 16 anni, mentre speravo che fornisse un tipo di conoscenza un po' piú ad alto livello. Colpa mia.

[Ms. B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Internet, electricity and water, three things that many (if not most) Americans take for granted. Find out how complex and fragile each of these utilities really are.
If you are looking for informational text for tweens and teens who only want to read graphic novels, this is it.

[Kaia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting, and the graphic / comic format made it very easy to follow and understand.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most visually stunning and well researched graphic novels i’ve ever read!!!

[Zac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good intro to how the systems work in a broad sense, but I would have liked more detail on the topics. This reads more like a story in many ways than I think was useful.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinatingly written and at a level that anyone can understand.

[Kelsey Atherton · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a section in the middle of this book, as part of the longer explanation of electricity systems, where Nott steps back and follows energy from the sun into plants then sheep then people, then sets up a brief one page history of energy generation before the 17th century. It reminded me more than anything of a section in Larry Gonick's "Cartoon History of the Universe", where a shepard suddenly realizes a deeper truth about a previously invisible process and then proceeds to his this knowledge to make the world worse. Nott is a couple generations removed from Gonick's comix-informed skepticism, but I think the works are profoundly complementary. It is hard to tell a history well by only leaving in the crucial connective tissue, and harder still when that history one global in scope.

In "Hidden Systems", Nott pulls off this magic trick three times, from the internet to electricity to water. In each telling, he is thoughtful and careful in putting the function of the systems against its harms, of naming how and where those harms fall, while still leaving readers with a deeper knowledge of the mechanics of everything from undersea cables to microgrids to aqueducts. I read this in one sitting, and imagine I'll revisit it for years if not decades to come, as reference and refresher for thinking plainly about the way invisible things work.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! As usual, the nonfiction graphic novel strikes again as an amazing way to learn a ton of information quickly and in an engaging way. Dan Nott is a genius for putting this book together and I appreciate all of the research that went into breaking down these three systems. The scale and scope of the information reached throughout history to fully share the context of how some of these systems got their start. I particularly loved the portion about the internet, but I learned so much from this book overall, it's hard to choose a favorite!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This one has knocked my socks off. I will clearly be buying several of this book for Christmas gifts this year and adding a note for friends and family to regift it to their favorite science teacher or student! In the visual style of Randall Munro and David Macaulay, Dan Nott makes Hidden Systems (Internet, electricity, and water) visible to us through a graphic novel approach that keeps the message simple and easy to understand. These systems are GIGANTIC but so hidden from us in our daily lives that we either forget they are there or at least take them for granted.

If I was still teaching, I'd have this in my middle school classroom alongside Munro and Macaulay. This book makes these hidden systems accessible and understandable. Nott gives us a history of the development of each system, brings us to the present day, and presents us with the pros and cons of each of these systems that are so imbedded in our worldwide society. As a teacher, I love that I could point my students to different career paths related to the health, maintenance, and redesigning of these systems in the future.

On a personal note related to the Internet, I grew up in a Bell Labs family (Mother, father, husband and me) and almost had a front row seat to the development of the communication network. So I really loved that section!

On a second personal note - as a 6th grade Science teacher, I created one of my favorite electricity lessons, "There is Still a Fire" that involved having my students diagram and label (similar to Nott) that a fire was still involved somewhere when they flipped a light switch. Of course, from there we also explored, diagrammed, and labeled wind, solar, nuclear, and tidal power sources as well. It is all about the spin!

I hope I conveyed how excited I am about this book! Get yourself a copy and learn about the infrastructure that allows you to live the life you expect to live at the flip of a switch, push of a button, or the turning of a faucet.

[chantale · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book really fed my inner curiosity. although i knew most of the ‘behind the scenes’ details of these systems (the internet, electricity, and water) from college classes and work, i still appreciated the storytelling and details the author conveyed through a graphic novel. i really enjoy thinking about how things work under the cover, perhaps why i decided to study computers.

this novel reminded me that we often take for granted the things we utilise everyday and often ignore, either intentionally or not, the obvious inequalities and harm they cause to others - people, animals, our planet. for instance, i didn’t know the way fiber optic cables were laid echo routes carved by colonialism. moreover, it’s easy to forget, when caught up in work or personal matters, that there are many people who don’t have access to clean water or electricity or the internet.

this novel is also a reminder that we don’t necessarily have to do things the way they’ve always been done, but we have an opportunity to re-imagine the systems we use everyday. although i wished the author explored more about what we can do in the future, i think this book will inspire young readers (and old ones) to take up this challenge.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting illustrated book that look that three things we take for granted: the Internet, electricity and water. It shows the history of how we created the Internet and how we now harness it and electricity and water to power our modern society. But the book doesn't shy away from showing the damaging effects all three have had on parts of society (like the underprivileged and marginalized).

On the internet, the book shows that our desires to use it to gather information and to broadcast our thoughts (yes, I'm aware that this review is part of that desire) lead to huge resource requirements to store and transmit the information.

The discovery and harnessing of electricity, from the initial small groups to the huge modern conglomerates that generate and distribute electricity, have damaged the environment and people whose lands are now gone (flooded by electricity generating dams, for example).

Water has been misused since the beginning as a sewer and even today, much of the fresh water in the world is wasted.

But to close on a brighter note, the book's intent is to reveal just how much of how these things are used in the world are hidden from sight and, as a result, we are not aware of the damage they are doing. But now that we have a better idea of how they are used in the world, it is up to us to make better use of these systems, and the many others 'hidden systems' in the world.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. It introduces and explains hidden systems that shape our everyday lives (the internet, electricity, and waterworks) in an easily digestible way, while also detailing some of the history of these systems. It considers the benefits of these systems, and the technological progress they represent, while also acknowledging the impact they have had (and continue to have) on the planet and the communities who depend on them. It points out the inequity in resource distribution through these systems around the world—many of the resources we take for granted in wealthy cities and communities are not readily available to so many people.

Also, while the content is very much informational, the illustrations and asides throughout the comics keep it from feeling too dense. If you don’t know much of anything about these systems, I would absolutely recommend this. Especially given the current political climate in the US (and elsewhere around the world), it feels important to understand how systems affect and shape us—and how they are and can be controlled by the powerful.

[Tate Lamoreaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

I loved the content in this book. The topics were interesting; the examples / case-studies were engaging; the perspective taken in the narrative is critical yet hopeful. It’s a fantastic book.

I’m glad the water section was saved for the end. For me, it was the best part of the book, and had it came first, I would have been slightly disappointed in the other two. But the other two—which were less known to me—were also great.

My only “criticism”—which is minor—comes from the paneling / organization of the page / use of image + word. (I don’t know the technical term here…) While I enjoyed the images, sometimes a page felt like “(image} + (word)”—two separate things, together—rather than some sort of synthesis where the images heighten the words and vice versa, “dancing” together.

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating distillation of some of the world's most important ideas, structures, and histories. im obsessed with the art style and im appreciative of the anthropological and indigenous perspectives described. sometimes i felt lost and overwhelmed but with this sort of breadth by nature it's hard to not be. and i'd have liked more discussion of solutions though i get that it's not the author's main goal or expertise.

also i love that learning about these systems makes me feel like a real adult and person <3

(4.5 rounded down)

[Ellison Rhea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is delightful! It uses the panel story format of a graphic novel to convey important information about real topics. The three systems explained in this book are the Internet, electricity, and water. It's a bit dense in places, and if you're not used to learning visually, it can be a little dizzying. But over all, it was great.

Note: this was found in the YA section, but I can't picture a kid younger than (a very sharp) 15 being able to process this content and delivery style. It's totally adult-level explanation, not a kid's book-- grown folks welcome!

[Sami Ahmad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun read. The formatting of the sentences was a little tough to follow sometimes, and often felt like a run on through multiple pages. Clear but artistic illustrations. Definitely worth a reread! Especially if you read like I do and just burn through graphic novels. I hope that Dan Nott does this for other subjects like the production of food, transportation, and education. And libraries, that would be cool.

[Nick Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an achievement. This should be taught in schools and required reading for most adults. Incredible art, incredible questions, incredible how much Nott is able to pack in a digestible way within a few hundred pages. To take such complexity and communicate it, with beautiful artwork as the medium, just stunning. Amazing book

[Maria George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sooo good! It's a thoroughly researched, very well illustrated guide to the infrastructure around us. It goes over the history of internet, electricity and waterworks, including the science and colonial legacies that shape the unequal world we live in today. It emphasizes the importance of upkeeping the systems we have, as well as reimangining them as we rebuild them into a more sustainable and equitable future. It lays out in clear, easily digestible graphics how all of these systems are global and exist physically in the world around us.

I've always wondered what substations are for, and how information is sent over the internet. I'm a water resource engineer so I knew a bit about the waterworks section, but there was still loads of info in there that was mind blowing and really important for understanding our current relationship with water.

I highly recommend this to everyone who exists in a society.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takes three pervasive infrastructures and in a simple graphic treatment breaks them down in systematic detail, in historical and social context, and prompts questioning inequities and future reconsiderations of these built systems and their relationships to our global ecological society.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 5 out of 5]

2023 National Book Award longlist! "This bold undertaking sets out to explain systems in our daily lives. From internet to electricity to water, our most complex systems and how they affect our environment come under scrutiny." [School Library Journal]

[Rebecca McPhedran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A NorthStar YA nominee for 24|25.

This was such an informative graphic novel that beautifully examines the hidden systems within our world. Dan Nott does an amazing job of making these abstract concepts very digestible and in a format that is so easily accessible. A fantastic addition to any school library!

[Matthew Noe]

Booklist review pending