"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Petroski ranges widely in time, discussing the writing technologies of antiquity. But his story really begins in the early modern period, when, in 1565, a Swiss naturalist first described the properties of the mineral that became known as graphite. Petroski traces the evolution of the pencil through the Industrial Revolution, when machine manufacture replaced earlier handwork. Along the way, he looks at some of pencil making's great innovators--including Henry David Thoreau, the famed writer, who worked in his father's pencil factory, inventing techniques for grinding graphite and experimenting with blends of lead, clay, and other ingredients to yield pencils of varying hardness and darkness. Petroski closes with a look at how pencils are made today--a still-imperfect technology that may yet evolve with new advances in materials and design. --Gregory McNamee
-- Hilton Kramer, Newsday
"So engrossing that I read it through in one sitting... An utterly absorbing history
-- Martin Gardner, Raleigh News and Observer
"Beguiling...surprising, entertaining, informative. One could scarcely ask a book to be more!... using the story of the pencil as a paradigm, Petroski shows how the process of engineering unfolds and [how] the pencil is the end result of process that parallels those by which products of much greater sophistication -- computers, for example -- are invented designed manufactured and improved."
-- Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World
"A serious and charming history... Petroski argues his case with wry humor and an amplitude of anecdotage drawn from many centuries and continents. The Pencil is that great rarity, a book that will appeal to ordinary readers and yet seems destined as well to become a minor classic in academe."
-- Cullen Murphy, The Atlantic
"You will never feel the same about the pencil after you read this terrific book."
-- Larry King, USA Today
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0394574222
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0394574222
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0394574222
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Prompt service guaranteed. Seller Inventory # Clean0394574222
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # VIB0394574222
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0394574222
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks77375
Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.75. Seller Inventory # Q-0394574222
Book Description Condition: new. 1st. Book is in NEW condition. Satisfaction Guaranteed! Fast Customer Service!!. Seller Inventory # PSN0394574222