An Uncommon History of Common Things

Bethanne Patrick; John M. Thompson

ISBN 10: 1435137140 / ISBN 13: 9781435137141

Published by National Geographic, 2009

Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1435137140I2N00

Synopsis:

Sometime about 30,000 years ago, somebody stuck a sharp rock into a split stick—and presto! The axe was born. Our inquisitive species just loves tinkering, testing, and pushing the limits, and this delightfully different book is a freewheeling reference to hundreds of customs, notions, and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history. From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, An Uncommon History of Common Things features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields—when they weren’t busy flying kites to frighten their foes? Every page of this quirky compendium catalogs something fascinating, surprising, or serendipitous. A lively, incompar

Bibliographic Details

Title: An Uncommon History of Common Things
Publisher: National Geographic
Publication Date: 2009
Binding: Paperback
Condition: As New
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket