Micro-histories: In-depth Explorations of Singular Subjects

The Measure of All Things
Ken Alder
Most people don't think about how a mile became a mile or a foot a foot, but Alder here presents a fascinating account of how the meter, the standard measure of distance for over 95 percent of the world's population, became the meter. We live in an era when standard measures for objects and time have become so common that we would have difficulty imagining a world without them. Alder takes us back to revolutionary France, when it is estimated that 250,000 different units of weights and measures were in use. Written in the vein of Dava Sobel's Longitude and reading much like a historical thriller, his book follows the seven-year effort of two accomplished astronomers to measure the meridian and the curvature of the earth from Dunkirk to Barcelona. Imbued with the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment and the revolution's call for universal rights and truth, these scientists strove to create a truly universal standard. Alder's first book, Engineering the Revolution, won the 1998 Dexter Prize; his second is a fascinating and well-written work.
Library Journal Review; August 2002.

Coal
Barbara Freese
Coal was used by the ancient Chinese and Romans as a fuel and was also carved into jewelry before it became the impetus behind the forward leap of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom, and then in the United States, by providing fuel for industrial plants, transportation, power plants, and lighting. As its use dramatically increased in the 20th century, the less than beneficial side of this wonderful fuel became apparent. Freese, an assistant attorney general of Minnesota, documents in clear, eloquent writing the consequences of coal use on industrial growth and the environment. Her balancing of ecological concerns with realistic analyses of resource use is impressive. Although the ecological implications of coal use are great, Freese effectively demonstrates the dependence on coal of countries around the world for sustaining economic growth. Most important, she offers clearheaded opinions on what we need to do to make our use of coal as clean as possible and what we must eventually do to replace it.
Library Journal Review; February 2003.

Banana
Dan Koeppel
Taken for granted as a supermarket staple and praised as an especially healthy food, the banana reigns as one of the world's most popular edibles. So the current threat from an insidious blight devastating the world's banana crop becomes a matter of alarm and concern for everyone. The fact that bananas found on fruit stands are of a single variety, the Cavendish, whose unique ripening cycle and transportability have crowded virtually all other cultivars out of the trade, amplifies the menace. Current research on some varieties of Pacific bananas that may be not only blight resistant but also more nutritional offers a glimmer of hope. Koeppel traces banana history, explaining how the worldwide banana market rests on a long history of rapacious, repressive, and predatory agricultural-industrial practices. These have so dominated the countries nurturing this crop that they have spawned their own unique form of government: the banana republic. Despite a chatty and self-referential style, Koeppel conveys a fascinating and useful wealth of banana arcana.
Booklist Review; December 2007.

Salt
Mark Kurlansky
In his latest work, Kurlansky (Cod, The Basque History of the World) is in command of every facet of his topic, and he conveys his knowledge in a readable, easy style. Deftly leading readers around the world and across cultures and centuries, he takes an inexpensive, mundane item and shows how it has influenced and affected wars, cultures, governments, religions, societies, economies, cooking (there are a few recipes), and foods. In addition, he provides information on the chemistry, geology, mining, refining, and production of salt, again across cultures, continents, and time periods. The 26 chapters flow in chronological order, and the cast of characters includes fishermen, kings, Native Americans, and even Gandhi. An entertaining, informative read.
Library Journal Review; December 2001.

Tea
Roy Moxham
Readers won't find the secret to brewing the perfect cup here. Instead, Moxham explains how a nation's longing for the seemingly innocuous pleasures of a hot cup of tea drew it to commit unspeakable horrors. England took up the tea- drinking habit later than neighboring countries, but no nation took to its tea as did Britain. At first a costly luxury, tea became common in Britain when its traders successfully imported the leaf in vast quantities through commercial dominance of the sea. As trade began, Britain had little of interest to the Chinese, but soon merchants discovered a wildly profitable exchange of British silver for Indian opium for Chinese tea. Chinese efforts to discourage opium smoking led to wars that destabilized the ancient empire, setting the stage for Western dominance. Eventually, Britain likewise exploited India, Ceylon, and Africa to satisfy Britain's lust for tea. A frightening tale, well and relevantly told in a manner that may invite comparison with America's present appetite for oil.
Booklist Review; October 2003.


The Pencil
Henry Petroski
Like most other human artifacts, the common pencil, made and sold today by the millions, has a long and complex history. Henry Petroski, who combines a talent for fine writing with a deep knowledge of engineering and technological history, examines the story of the pencil, considering it not only as a thing in itself, but also as an exemplar of all things that are designed and manufactured. 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.
Amazon.com Review.

Longitude
Dava Sobel
While sailors can readily gauge latitude by the height of the sun or guiding stars above the horizon, the measurement of longitude bedeviled navigators for centuries, resulting in untold shipwrecks. Galileo, Isaac Newton and Edmund Halley entreated the moon and stars for help, but their astronomical methods failed. In 1714, England's Parliament offered k20,000 (equivalent to millions of dollars today) to anyone who could solve the problem. Self-educated English clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) found the answer by inventing a chronometer a friction-free timepiece, impervious to pitch and roll, temperature and humidity that would carry the true time from the home port to any destination. But Britain's Board of Longitude, a panel of scientists, naval officers and government officials, favored the astronomers over humble 'mechanics' like Harrison, who received only a portion of the prize after decades of struggle. Yet his approach ultimately triumphed, enabling Britannia to rule the waves. In an enthralling gem of a book, former New York Times science reporter Sobel spins an amazing tale of political intrigue, foul play, scientific discovery and personal ambition.
Publishers Weekly Review; September 1995.

Chocolate
Mort Rosenblum
No one particular food substance seems to evoke as much passion as chocolate, that ingredient discovered about the same time as America. Yet, as Rosenblum reveals, every country or continent has a claim to 'theobroma cacao'. He unveils chocolate's history and its various incarnations, including in his fresh and insightful discussions the origins of mole; the differences between, say, Hershey's kisses and Valrhona's products; the invention of Nutella; and the small boutique chocolate artisans found nearly everywhere. Such intriguing characters as the CEO of Godiva, the entrepreneurs behind Scharffenberger, and Chloe, the one-and-only chocolate taster at Fortnum & Mason, are introduced. Some less-happy tales are also brought to light, including the reputed forced child slavery in Ivory Coast cacao plantations. Sprinkled throughout are amazing statistics: chocolate is a $60 billion industry; 12 percent of Nestle's annual sales are attributed to chocolate; a dozen beneficial biogenic amines are found in it. In the end, Rosenblum admits (though he voices distinct preferences) that it is up to each individual to answer the two chocolate questions: What do you like? What else have you tried? A compelling and tasty read.
Booklist Review; February 2005.