A companion to one of the great works of literature written with engineers in mind is among this month's new technology-related titles. Captain Planet was a 1990s cartoon character, a kind of green Superman who fought acid rain, litter and other global ecoscourges. Though I remember the TV show (a catchy soundtrack told how the Y-fronted muscleman was "gonna take pollution down to zero"), I cannot recall whether the hero had a secret identity in the manner of Clark Kent. If he didn't, someone like James Thornton might have sufficed for that mild-mannered alter ego.
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