How did the table fork acquire a 4th tine? What advantage does the Phillips-head screw have over its single-grooved predecessor?
The Evolution of USEFUL THINGS, Henry Petroski, ISBN 0-679-74039-2
Tag Archives: books
Divergent Influencers
The comings and goings of the business and culture of the Rock & Roll Eras
Rolling Stone Rock Almanac – Chronicles of Rock and Roll ISBN 0-02-081320-1
The amazing journeys of a painter and a dancer on their trips to Egypt in 1910 and 1911
After Egypt – Isadora Duncan and Mary Cassatt – a Dual Biography –
Millicent Dillon 0-525-24846-3
Go to your Happy Place
You don’t even have to leave home. Close your eyes and envision it. This is your mind’s eye.
You could roughly translate koselig (pronounced “koosh-lee”), as “coziness,” but that leaves out crucial components of it, like enjoying the company of others and a connection with nature. There’s no direct English translation, but there are regional equivalents such as the Swedish “mys,” the Dutch “gezelligheid” and the most well-known of these, the Danish “hygge.” (pronounced “hoo-gah”)
Here’s one book on it
Learning from the Past
The Spanish Civil War – Antony Beevor
Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant, 0-671-54800-X
The NEW Golden Bough, Theodor H Gaster
Inside Asia, John Gunter,
Diplomacy, Henry Kissinger, 0-671-51099-1
Mix n Match
The Tuscan Table – A celebration of friends, family, food, and wine, Cucina Viansa, Vicki Sebastiani
A Siberian Encounter, Gala Servadio,
Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson, 9-781451-648539
Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks, 9-780676-9797794
Catalogues, Walking Treks, Wine History
Fall 1900 Sears Consumer’s Guide 0-695-80204-6
The Places in Between, Rory Stewart, 978-0-14-305330-9
(walking trek through Afghanistan)
Phylloxera: How wine was saved for the world, Christy Campbell, 0-00-7111536-9
(thanks Frank)
Sources for many musings
Hannibal, Ernle Bradford, ISBN 0-88029-667-4
A Life on the Road, Charles Kuralt, ISBN 0-399-13488-3
A Place for Us, Eleni’s Children in America, Nicholas Cage, 0-395-45517-0
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres, 0-7493-9754-3
Birds without Wings, Louis de Bernieres, 0-676-97694-8
Mongols, Huns and Vikings, Hugh Kennedy, 1-552-78281-6
Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain, Justin Kaplin
Witness to A Century, Encounters with the Noted, the Notorious and 3 SOBs, George Seldes 345-33181-8
Dinner with Persphone, Patricia Storace, 0-679-74478-9
Pieces of my mind, Andrew A Rooney, 0-689-11492
Peter Gzowski, The Private Voice, 0-7710-3749-X
Gaining a better Understanding
World History of the Dance; Curt Sachs, ISBN 0-393-00209-8 (including abdominal dance)
A history of the world in 6 glasses; Tom Standaage, ISBN 0-385-66087-1
Isadora A Sensational Life; Peter Kurth ISBN 0-316-50726-1
The Elements of Style; Struck Jr and White, ISBN 0-02-418200-1 [should probably pay extension to this again – it’s been a few years]
The Day the Universe Changed; James Burke, ISBN 0-316-11706-4 [companion to the BBC Series]
Connections; James Burke, ISBN 0-316-11681-5 [companion to the BBC Series]
Paris 1919; Margaret MacMillan, ISBN 0-375-50826-0
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam
30,000 Years of Art The Story of Human Creativity across time and Space; Phaidon,ISBN 978-0-7148-4789-4
The Cretan Runner; George Psychoundakis, ISBN 960-226-013-0