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Surprising Histories:
How Small Things Have Changed the World
If you are curious about the stories behind life's everyday objects — why cotton is such an important plant, how the zipper affected fashion and everyday life, how the invention of gunpowder paved the way for countless other inventions — then this list is for you!
Below are more than thirty engaging books that detail the histories of foods, energy sources, articles of clothing, scientific instruments, waste products, furniture, tools and many other kinds of objects. Enjoy your reading!
Natural (and almost natural) objects
- Freese, Barbara
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(2003)553.24 F857c 2003Over the centuries, coal has been a building block for empires, a stepping stone in the success stories of business tycoons, a critical commodity in wartime, an environmental nightmare and a major health concern for miners. Barbara Freese's intelligent social history details the complex story of this important rock.
- Gately, Iain
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(2001)394.14 G258t 2001, 394.14 G258tp 2001Tobacco is a powerful drug, an important commodity and a fascinating player in many cultural and religious rituals. Iain Gately explains how tobacco has touched nearly every corner of human life.
- Horn, Tammy
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(2005)638.1 H813b 2005Honeybees came to the Americas in the baggage of some of the earliest European settlers. Tammy Horn examines how they have influenced art, science, culture and agriculture in the United States.
- Pollan, Michael
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(2001)306.45 P771b 2001A detailed study of the intricate relationships between human culture and four key domesticated plants — the apple, the tulip, marijuana and the potato.
- Roach, Mary
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(2003)611 R628s 2003Mary Roach explores the good deeds and odd circumstances of cadavers during the last two thousand years, as they aided scientific advancement, raised religious questions and furthered military research.
- Royte, Elizabeth
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(2005)363.7285 R892g 2005Each of us have, at least once, thrown something yucky in the trash without a second thought as to where it will go next. If you're curious about the life cycle of garbage, the details of disposal, sewage and recycling, and how our choices about the throwing things away will affect our future, this is the book for you!
- Yafa, Stephen H.
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(2005)338.47677 Y12bCotton is used to create clothing, cosmetics, paper and many industrial products, and is one of the most widely used plants on the planet. Stephen Yafa takes us from the first domestication of cotton in Persia and India 5,500 years ago through millennia of technological innovations and cultural fallout to the present day.
- Zimmer, Carl
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(2004)612.82 Z721s 2004This history of the origins of modern neurology details the experiments that established the brain as the chemical engine of reason, as well as the effect our new conception of this complex organ had on people's ideas about soul, the process of thought and the order of the universe.
Food & clothing
- Almond, Steve
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(2004)338.7664 A452c 2004Steve Almond takes readers along on his mission to find out the truth about the smaller end of America's candy industry. Follow him as he tours factories from Idaho to Pennsylvania, and find out the inner secrets of the Idaho Spud, the Valomilk and many more sweet delights.
- Farrell-Beck, Jane
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(2002)391.42 F245u 2002The brassiere is a fairly recent invention, though it seems almost a necessary item of clothing for more than half the adult members of our society. This fascinating history explains where bras came from and how they have they affected women's dress, the cultural understanding of propriety, and sexuality and womanhood in general.
- Fussell, Betty Harper
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(1992)633.15 F994sCorn has been so manipulated by human hands that we are not even certain what its biological ancestors were like. Thousands of generations of agriculture and seed selection have created a plant that is entirely reliant on our intervention in order to keep from going extinct — corn does not germinate on its own. Betty Fussell explores the history of this fascinating plant and the products created from it, with attention to corn's roles as food and fetish, crop and commodity to peoples across the Americas and the world.
- Kladstrup, Don and Petie Kladstrup
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(c2005)641.2224 K63c 2005This is the story of the evolution of champagne from a plain red wine to a sparkling white, and the tale of the politics, culture and industry of the region in which champagne is made. From the early modern period through the early 20th century, the Kladstrups describe where this wine comes from, how is it made and why it is so special.
- Kurlansky, Mark
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(2006)974.71 K968b 2006
- Macfarlane, Alan
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(2004)641.3372 M143e 2004The humble camellia plant has been transformed into the source of one of the world's greatest addictive substances, tea. Alan Macfarlane details the history of tea as a beverage, an international commodity, a political tool, a cultural object and an inspiration for industrial innovation.
- Pendergrast, Mark
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(1999, 2005)338.1737 P397uMark Pendergrast tells the story of how the coffee berry tree has traveled from its home in Africa to the rest of the world; considers its effects on politics, economics and our health; and discusses coffee's overall contributions to human civilization.
- Rain, Patricia
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(2004)633.82 R154v 2004Vanilla is a favorite ingredient in candy, confections, perfume and cosmetics, and it casts a long shadow in the worlds of international politics and business. Patricia Rain illuminates the story of this sweet spice.
- Redclift, M. R.
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(2004)641.338 R312c 2004Did you know that the invention of chewing gum can be traced to a meeting between former Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna and Thomas Adams, an inventor from Long Island? Chewing Gum explores how the development of this tasty treat and its transformation into a mass culture product changed the political and social landscape in the Yucatan peninsula and left a permanent stamp on U.S. and world culture.
- Robinson, Fred Miller
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(1993)391.43 R659mThe bowler hat seems like a completely innocent and anonymous piece of attire, but Fred Miller Robinson uses the bowler's appearance in art, vaudeville, the Broadway musical and business-dress fashion to shape a fascinating cultural history of modern life.
- Shephard, Sue
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(2001)641.4 S548p 2001Imagine never being able to keep leftovers for more than a day or two, or picture trying to provision a week-long camping trip without using dried, canned or instant food. Sue Shephard delves into the long and rich history of food preservation and its effect on science, the course of wars, long-distance travel and nutrition, from prehistory on through the present day.
- Willard, Pat
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(2001)641.6383 W694s 2001For thousands of years, saffron has been treasured by the exclusive few who were wealthy enough to afford it. Even today, saffron (the dried stigma of the autumn flowering purple crocus) must be gathered by hand, and it remains a rare and special flavor that only the very rich can afford to indulge in with any regularity. Pat Willard traces the history of this enigmatic spice from ancient Persia and Greece down through the ages and into the modern era.
Tools, technology & intellectual objects
- Aczel, Amir D.
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(2001)912.028 A189r 2001The Riddle of the Compass traces early navigational devices and the development of the modern compass, and in the process shows how the compass completely changed navigation and international trade.
- Blom, Philipp
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(2005)034 B653e 2005The Encyclopédie, 27 volumes of articles about everything — including pieces on atheism, politics and the human body that scandalized 18th century French society — was one of the most influential texts in French history. Philipp Blom explains how the Encyclopédie's editors managed to avoid being executed, and explores how this paragon of free thought affected French society.
- Buderi, Robert
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(1996)621.3848 B927iThe largely untold story of the scientists who created effective microwave radar — which led to a whole range of other technological innovations and helped the Allies win the Second World War.
- Cookson, Gillian
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(2003)621.3828 C773c 2003The Cable is the story of how the first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid, and how its installation changed international communications forever.
- Friedel, Robert D.
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(1994)609 F899z"Why the zipper?" asks author Robert D. Friedel as he introduces his history of the revolutionary modern fastener. Early zippers were costly, clumsy and really no better than the humble button or hook-and-eye. But as developments were made in zipper technology, this little gadget became one of the most ubiquitous of ordinary objects.
- Garfield, Simon
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(2001)338.476672 G231m 2001English chemist William Perkin was working on artificial quinine (which he hoped would spearhead a new treatment for malaria) when he accidentally discovered a "dark oily sludge" that dyed silk a beautiful light purple color. Perkin's invention revolutionized the science of dyeing and industrial chemistry in general.
- Gordon, Alastair
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(2004)387.736 G662n 2004Airports are mundane structures — they are by definition modern, often they're thought of as ugly, and most people view them as boring though utterly necessary elements of society. But how many of us have paused to think seriously about the effect airports have on culture and on individuals?
- Herz, J. C.
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(c1997)794.8 H582jVideo games and their impact on human culture from the 1970s (Pong, Space Invaders) to the 1990s (Nintendo, Sega, Playstation).
- Kelly, Jack
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(2004)662.26 K29g 2004How did gunpowder, invented to frighten evil spirits, make the modern world possible?
- Levinson, Marc
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(2006)387.544 L665b 2006Marc Levinson illuminates the development of containerized shipping and the changes it has wrought. Low-priced goods are now routinely available in places far from their point of origin, but the process of standardizing and automating the shipping industry bankrupted small transport companies, threw dockworkers around the world out of work, and ultimately changed the face of international trade.
- Macfarlane, Alan and Gerry Martin
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(2002)666.1 M143g 2002Alan Macfarlane and Gerry Martin examine the divergent uses of glass in Asia and in Europe over the past ten thousand years, and consider how it has affected cultures on the two continents quite differently.
- Man, John
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(c2000)411 M266a 2000The Roman alphabet is such a feature of everyday life in our literate society that many have never paused to think about where it came from and how it has affected our culture. John Man explores the roots of the alphabet, discusses how alphabets have been developed for languages that had none, and philosophizes about what it means to record speech with writing.
- Petroski, Henry
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(1999)022.4 P497b 1999Once upon a time, books were stored flat. Before the development of the modern book format, book scrolls were kept in jars and baskets. Henry Petroski traces the development of book storage systems in European and Middle Eastern cultures from antiquity to the present in this fascinating book.
- Petroski, Henry
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(1989, 2003)674.88 P497p 2003Eminent historian of technology Henry Petroski examines the pencil, with a discussion of pencil engineering breakthroughs, the development of graphite mines, political intrigue surrounding international trade in graphite and finished pencils, pencil manufacture, marketing and, of course, the uses of the pencil.
- Rybczynski, Witold
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(2000)621.972 R989o 2000Where do the screwdriver and the screw come from, what tools and fasteners have they replaced, and why are they such special features in the history of hand tools?
- Sobel, Dava
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(2005)527 S677L 2005For centuries, people tried to solve the problems associated with long-distance navigation with celestial observation, but John Harrison imagined a mechanical solution — a clock that could keep perfect time while at sea. Longitude is the story of Harrison's forty-year quest to perfect this amazing clock.
- Winchester, Simon
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(2001)550.92 S663w 2001In the early 1800s, canal digger William Smith realized his dream of publishing the world's first geological map. The map covered the entire island of Britain in full color, and it laid the foundation for the world's coal and oil industry, its gold mining, highway systems and railroad routes, and was perhaps the first significant artifact of the science of modern geology. Simon Winchester provides a biography of both the man and his life's work, the map.