Sixteen stories taken from the pages of Astounding/Analog Magazine, the leading magazine of "Hard" science fiction, between the years of 1942 and 1983. This collection is a series of speculations on the nature and future of communication. This collection includes the following stories; Barrier by Anthony Boucher The Signals by Francis Carter The Gift of Gab by Jack Vance Top Secret by Eric Frank Russell Meihem in ce Klasrum by Dolton Edwards Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper Minds Meet by Paul Ash Two-Way Communication by Christopher Anvil Duplex by Verge Foray Sailing Through Program Management by Al Charmatz Beam Pirate by George O. Smith From Time to Time by Bruce Stanley Burdick Shapes to Come by Edward Wellen The Piper's Son by Lewis Padgett Babel II by Christopher Anvil Collaboration by Mark C. Jarvis