Fortran is a computer language that has been around for a quarter of a century, and is still much used despite predictions throughout its life that it would be replaced by more elegant languages. But Fortran is still the only language in which it is possible to write truly portable programs. Using his own special formula, Donald Alcock now does for Fortran what he did for BASIC in his earlier book, Illustrating BASIC. The Fortran described and illustrated is that defined by the American National Standards Institute in 1966 but with allusions to the same Institute's standard published in 1978. For both the person who is new to computers and programming, and the person who has met only BASIC before, this book will give an excellent introduction to standard Fortran; it also provides a reference manual for the language.