The Italian Boy by Sarah Wise

The Italian Boy by Sarah Wise

From the bestselling author of The Knowledge Web come fifty mesmerizing journeys into the history of technology, each following a chain of consequential events that ends precisely where it began. Whether exploring electromagnetic fields, the origin of hot chocolate, or DNA fingerprinting, these essays all illustrate the surprisingly circular nature of change.
In Room with (Half) a View, for instance, Burke muses about the partly obscured railway bridge outside his home on the Thames, a musing which sets off a chain of thought that leads from the bridge's engineer to Samuel Morse, to firearms inventor Sam Colt, and finally to a trombonist named Gustav Holst, who once lived in the very house that blocks Burke's view.
So it goes with Burke's entertaining and informative essays as each one highlights the interconnectedness of seemingly unrelated events and innovations. Romantic poetry leads to brandy distillation; tonic water connects through Leibniz to the first explorers to reach the North Pole. This unique collection is sure to stimulate and delight history buffs, technophiles, and anyone else with a healthy intellectual curiosity.

SARAH WISE has a BA in English Literature and a Masters degree in Victorian Studies, from Birkbeck College, University of London. Her book The Blackest Streetswas published by Bodley Head in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize in 2009; it was a Book of the Year in the Sunday Telegraph and The Economist and for BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review programme. Her debut, The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830s London, was shortlisted for the 2005 Samuel Johnson Prize and won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. Sarah was a major contributor to Iain Sinclair's compendium London, City of Disappearances. She has spoken on Radio 4's Thinking Allowed, Woman's Hour and the Today programme, and on BBC Radio London and LBC Radio, and she regularly lectures to societies and at history events. She lives in central London.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780805078497
ISBN 10	0805078495
Titel	The Italian Boy
Autor	Sarah Wise
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Holt McDougal
Erscheinungsjahr	2005-05-01
Seitenanzahl	400
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar