The book of origins : discover the amazing origins of the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the people we know, the languages we speak, and the things we use / Trevor Homer.
Material type:
TextPublication details: New York : Plume, 2007.Description: xii, 307 p. ; 21 cmISBN: - 0452288320 (alk. paper)
- 9780452288324 (alk. paper)
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 031.02 H766 | Available | 33111005131384 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Everything--from the mundane (the pencil) to the catastrophic (the atom bomb)--has an origin, but often it's not what we expect. A few things you may not have known:
* Gandhi was married at age thirteen!
* Chinese fortune cookies are an American invention and were not eaten in China until the 1990s when they were advertised as "Genuine American Fortune Cookies."
* Bayer lost the trademark for aspirin (which they had held since 1897) as part of the reparations Germany was forced to pay after World War I.
* The original idea for the electric chair came from an American dentist.
For aspiring mindblowers and wanna-be know-it-alls, The Book of Origins is a treasure trove of trivia and fascinating facts guaranteed to entertain and enlighten.
Originally published: London : Portrait, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references and index.