Today, we live in a world where communication is everything, communication is instant, communication is multi channel and to be realistic, there is communication overload, thanks to the Internet and affordable reception devices. We can hand pick the communications that we want to be a part of, this ability to pick and choose from a huge broadcast is the beauty of modern day communication, but was this always the situation?
Communication and effective communication are two different things, because the latter involves two way interaction and exchange of information in one form or the other in most of the cases. Understanding in communication is as important as the broadcast of communication and how have we been able to do that?
I recently read Communication & Civilization, a book by two authors Jayraj Jayant Salgaokar and Amit Chatterjee. The foreword of the book is written by Prakash Javadekar (HRD Minister of India), Ravi Shankar Prasad (IT & Communication Minister of India) and Saurabh Verma (CEO, Leo Burnett India) which focuses on the content of the book and the importance and effectiveness of communication that it offers to the reader. The opening lines of the introduction section of the book, "Communication & Civilization is a tribute to mankind's eternal existential quest", written by Dr. Sanjay V. Deshmukh (Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai) beautifully sum up the 228 page long book.
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| Book Review : Communication & Civilization - Jayraj Jayant Salgaokar and Amit Chatterjee |
The book, Communication & Civilization, as it is evident from the title is about the in tandem growth of both communication and its method and the human civilization right from the visible forms of communication through pet calls of the past to the instant messaging of the present and to the possibilities of the future. The book also covers the pioneers, inventors and the monumental changes that shaped up the human civilization through communication.
The contents of the book are interesting and covers evolution in the sequential form from sign language to cave paintings, to the pictographs and ideograms to palm leaf writings and how all of these forms of forms of communication have emerged over a period to become a knowledge house. The development of universities and libraries across the globe, moving ahead with the invention of paper and writing to printing press technologies. It also talks about the two pioneers, namely Marco Polo and Gutenberg and spreads light on how they overcame the test of times.
The book, Communication & Civilization is not only restricted to evolution and development of communication, but also about the impact it has on the history of change, history of development and the history of progress that we know today. It also focuses on the social impact of the printing the redefinition of religion and various movements across the globe. There are interesting pieces of information on how English evolved and became an empire in itself, one can also read about the usage of communication during various wars and propaganda. As you move ahead, it is all about the modern day developments that have happened around communication, the world of advertising, the many modes, the internet and the future.
The book is interesting because of various reasons, writing being the foremost. It also has pictures of various topics, sections dedicated to modern day innovators and communicators. The concluding section, "From Gutenberg to Google & Beyond" is food for thoughts and is about the impact that communication has had over the mankind i.e. civilization.
The book, Communication & Civilization, is a result of the intensive research done over a period of five years and when you read, it is quite evident. One of the recent development about the book is that it has been endorsed by institutions like Mumbai University and Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library, which distributes books across various universities in the country. I would recommend this book to anyone from the field of advertising and communication, not only to understand the evolution of communication but also to understand it from a broader perspective.
Other Details:
Published by: Kautilya Books
Copyright: Jayraj Jayant Salgaokar & Amit Chatterjee
ISBN: 978-81-929987-4-9
Genre: Research | Communication
You can order a copy of the book from Amazon.
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