History of Things You Didn't Know You Needed to KnowUnpublished

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Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. Today we take salt for granted, a common, inexpensive substance that seasons food or clears ice from roads, a word used casually in expressions ("salt of the earth," take it with a grain of salt") without...

Award-winning food writer Bee Wilson's secret history of kitchens, showing how new technologies--from the fork to the microwave and beyond--have fundamentally shaped how and what we eat "Like having a long dinner table discussion with a fascinating friend.... A pure joy to read."--...

"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining...A scholarly and fascinating book." --Los Angeles Times With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language.  ...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The story of modern medicine and bioethics--and, indeed, race relations--is refracted beautifully, and movingly."--Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO® STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE * ONE OF THE "MOST...

2.8 million TikTok followers. 610k Instagram followers. Not only are these numbers more than any MAJOR-league team's, it is all organic and all because of one thing: the Bananas make baseball fun. They throw out a first banana rather than a ball. Their first-base coach does Thriller dance moves...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER * ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR * TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S FIVE BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST...

A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller! "The glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still." --NPR Books  Discover the gripping and inspiring true story of The Radium Girls, a groundbreaking work by acclaimed author Kate Moore....

Prized as "the best stone in Britain" by Roman invaders who carved jewelry out of it, coal has transformed societies, powered navies, fueled economies, and expanded frontiers. It made China a twelfth-century superpower, inspired the writing of the Communist Manifesto, and helped the northern...

From primitive drying and salting techniques to advancements in food preservation that have allowed us to send humans into space, Pickled, Potted, and Canned offers insight into the history, culture, and ingenuity of people struggling to feed themselves and cheat the seasons. 35 illustrations.