HUMBLE HISTORIES
of Everyday Things

Library: An Unquiet History
Matthew Battles – 027.009 Battles, CD BOOK 027.009 Battles

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
Mark Kurlansky - 333.95 Kurlansky, CD BOOK 333.95 Kurlansky

Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
Mark Pendergrast - 338.17373 Pendergrast

Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map
Stephen H. Yafa - 338.4 Yafa

The Submarine: A History
Thomas Parrish - 359.9383 Parrish

Bananas: An American History
Virginia Scott Jenkins – 380.14 Jenkins

The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story
Gavin Weightman - 380.1427 Weightman

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire
Roy Moxham - 382.4566 Moxham

Footwear: La calzatura
Eugenia Girotti - 391.41309 Girotti

A History of the Umbrella
T. S. Crawford - 391.44 Crawford

The History of the World in Six Glasses
Tom Standage - 394.12 Standage (An exploration of the history and influence of six beverages)

Tobacco: The Story of How Tobacco Seduced the World
Iain Gately – 394.14 Gately

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World
Nicholas Ostler – 409 Ostler

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Charles Seife - 511.211 Seife

Eclipse: The Celestial Phenomenon that Changed the Course of History
Duncan Steel - 523.78 Steel

E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation
David Bodanis - 530.11 Bodanis, CD BOOK 530.11 Bodanis

Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity
David Bodanis- 537 Bodanis, CD BOOK 537 Bodanis

The Ingredients: a Guided Tour of the Elements
Philip Ball - 546 Ball

The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos To the Kitchen Counter…
Hannan Holmes - 551.5113 Holmes

Earth: An Intimate History
Richard Fortey - 551.7 Fortey

Coal: A Human History
Barbara Freese - 553.2421 Freese, CD BOOK 553.2421 Freese, MP3 CD BOOK 553.2421 Freese

Salt: A World History
Mark Kurlansky - 553.632 Kurlansky, CD BOOK 553.632 Kurlansky

DNA: The Secret of Life James D. Watson
576.5 Watson, CD BOOK 576.5 Watson

Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
Edward J. Larson576.8 Larson, CD BOOK 576.8 Larson

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
Robin Wall Kimmerer - 588.2 Kimmerer

The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire
Richard Adams Carey - 597.42 Carey

Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug
Diarmuid Jeffreys - 615.783 Jeffreys

Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox
Jonathan B. Tucker - 616.912 Tucker, MP3 CD BOOK 616.912 Tucker

Bicycle: The History
David V. Herlihy - 629.227 Q Herlihy

Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier
Jeffrey A. Lockwood - 632.726 Lockwood

Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar
Peter MacInnis - 633.6 MacInnis

Oak: The Frame of Civilization
William Bryant Logan – 634.9 Logan

100 Vegetables and Where They Came From
William Woys Weaver - 635 Weaver

Letters from the Hive: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind
Stephen Buchmann - 638.1 Buchmann

In the Devil’s Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food
Stewart Lee Allen - 641.01309 Allen

The Book of Tea
Alain Stella et al - 641.3372 Q Book

Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light
Mort Rosenblum - 641.3374 Rosenblum

Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices
Andrew Dalby - 641.3383 Dalby

Spice: The History of a Temptation
Jack Turner - 641.3383 Turner

The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World
Larry Zuckerman - 641.3521 Zuckerman

Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World
Sue Shephard - 641.4 Shephard

Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History
Alberto Capatti - 641.5945 Capatti

Secrets of Saffron: The Vagabond Life of the world’s Most Seductive Spice
Pat Willard - 641.6383 Willard

Fried Chicken: An American Story
John T. Edge - 641.665 Edge

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Mark Kurlansky – 641.694

Apple Pie: An American Story
John T. Edge - 641.8652 Edge

Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World
Jack Kelly - 662.26 Kelly

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance
Henry Petroski - 674.88 Petroski

Damned: An Illlustrated History of the Devil
Robert Muchembled - 700.4820 Q Muchembled

 

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updated January 13, 2007