Keith Houston
Author
Publisher
Tantor Media, Inc
Pub. Date
2019
Edition
Unabridged
Language
English
Description
We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages-of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from...
Author
Publisher
Tantor Media, Inc
Pub. Date
2023
Edition
Unabridged
Language
English
Description
The hidden history of the pocket calculator-a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon-and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life.
Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify math. Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, took us to the bottom of the ocean, and accompanied...
Author
Publisher
Tantor Media, Inc
Pub. Date
2023
Edition
Unabridged
Language
English
Description
A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.
Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)-which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible-or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to...