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The Origins of Everyday Things [Mass Market Paperback]

Editors of Reader's Digest (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)


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Book Description

October 1, 1999 0762101415 978-0762101412
Settle arguments and help with homework projects and reveal the secrets behind the origins of ordinary things. An informative, entertaining look at thousands of years of human ingenuity and inventiveness, packed with intriguing stories and color illustrations.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On any given day, you are enmeshed in a web of secret histories. Even if you're not an investigator of the paranormal for the FBI, you can still find conspiracies behind your paper-clip stash and an outer-space connection with your stainless-steel cookware, in The Origins of Everyday Things. From the Academy Awards to zoological gardens, you'll find more than you expected underlying the seemingly mundane bits and pieces of our ordinary lives. Organized in sections such as "House and Home," Fashion and Beauty," and "Moving About," the book uses well-researched, encyclopedia-style text entries augmented by gorgeous photographs and line drawings to illustrate the beginnings of everything we never think about.

Refrigerators, bicycles, and New Year's Day all get their due, and the pleasure of learning about these and hundreds of other good things is enhanced by browsing back and forth between the interconnected essays--this is one of the few useful reference books that bear straight-through reading. The beautifully reproduced vintage pictures, such as the old snakes-and-ladders board game, are worth the price of the book. The next time your VCR frustrates you, open up The Origins of Everyday Things and revel in the knowledge of its secret past, even if you can't set its clock. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Readers Digest (October 1, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0762101415
  • ISBN-13: 978-0762101412
  • Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,469,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What a fine Book!, September 16, 2000
By A Customer
From how the universe was formed to customs, the computer revolution, government, words and phrases...this book has it all.

First of all, this book is an attention grabber. The contents are devided into sections of How it all began, house and home, manners and customs, food and drink, fashion and beauty and so on. The layout of the pages with the beautiful pictures makes this book easy to look at and then of course to read. The topics are well written and very informative. The contents are to the point and informative; similar to the knowledge gained from an encyclopedia but this book has more of a story to tell.

It is a great book that you can pick up at random, leaf through the pages and abosorb some great information. It is worth spending some time with this book rather than in front of the tube. I recommend this book very highly to anybody who has a thirst to know how, what, when and where. It has some fascinating information on numerous subjects that will keep you occupied for hours.

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