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Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things by [Charles Panati]

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Charles Panati

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things Kindle Edition

by Charles Panati (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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For lovers of facts, students of popular culture, history buffs, and science enthusiasts, the fascinating stories behind 500 everyday items, expressions, and customs--from Kleenex to steak sauce, Barbie Dolls to honeymoons.

Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date

February 26, 2013
File size

7038 KB
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Charles Panati
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Emily Prokop
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Panati is an industrial physicist, former college professor, and for many years was the science editor of Newsweek. He's published 13 non-fiction books exploring the 'origins' of things, and two novels. His Browser's Book of Beginnings was the basis for the TV show The Start of Something Big, hosted by comedian Steve Allen, and written by Panati.

--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BEFTR6I
Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (February 26, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 26, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 7038 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #449,896 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #101 in Humor Encyclopedias
- #166 in Pop Culture in Graphic Design
- #227 in Engineering Patents & Inventions

Customer Reviews:
274 ratings

About the author

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Charles Panati

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Charles Panati is a physicist, and for many years was the science editor of Newsweek. He's published 13 non-fiction books, and two novels. Most of his books are now available as ebooks in the Kindle Store. His 'Browser's Book of Beginnings' was the basis for the TV show THE START OF SOMETHING BIG, hosted by comedian Steve Allen, and written by Panati. In his early twenties, Panati was an escort for several Miss America contestants, and in September of 1965 the girl he escorted, Debbie Irene Bryant, became Miss America of 1966. Panati's most recent non-fiction is a Kindle book: ANIMALS PRAY - In Their Own Way. As a passionate animal lover, Panati has imagined what prayers animals would say to a Heavenly Being, their joys and laments. As well as what kind of Bill of Rights they'd have drawn up, and Declaration of Independence, their Golden Rule, Ten Commandments, Eight Beatitudes, and the like. He calls himself an 'editor' of the book, a confidant and complier, lending his ear as the animals themselves speak their minds.

Customer reviews

5 star		74%
4 star		17%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jay

Best bathroom reading in the world

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Very good buy. You can open to any page and learn something interesting. I received a new hardcover copy. However, it looked as if the gentleman who packed it just did an oil change on his Toyota. Front cover had some black oil stains on it which easily wiped off. The stains on the first two pages did not.

2 people found this helpful

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NinaTop Contributor: Makeup

For Curious Readers

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

I've given this book several times as a gift. An absolutely fascinating book if you've ever wondered why men wear neckties, or how we got pockets or how holidays started. Great book to pick up and put down. I haven't liked his other books but I love this one.

7 people found this helpful

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Vicster50

Fun Facts

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

Love this book! Full of fun facts of how holidays or all kinds of things got started. Easy to read and excerpts are short. Fun to give as gifts. I have given them to several friends and they love it!

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Tinker

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2007

Verified Purchase

This book has alot more pages then I expected it also is well organized. The author gave enough information on each subject to satisfy one's curiosity about a subject but not to the point of distraction, just enough to give the reader clarity on the subject matter. I'm not a youngster anymore and I knew some of the answers to the origins of everyday things but there was more in this book that I've never heard before. It doesn't cover just products but superstitions from whatever country they started. I've enjoyed it very much and would recommend it for those curious where some of our ideas and products originated long ago.

6 people found this helpful

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Ron Orbit

The best of its kind. Fun and curious.

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Great for reading in the subway or bathroom due to having succinct brief passages.

Helpful

Zoomscan

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2012

Verified Purchase

Most people do things without even thinking about: How it got started or Why do we do that? This book explains where some of these things got started. Which in turn helps us to see why we as humans do something automatically by habits that we have learned over years of being around people, that also do things without thinking about WHY. For me it is good to know the reason why and then break the mindless cycle. Therefore, I really like this book and I have given it as a gift to others, so that they too can THINK about the WHY before doing anything.

2 people found this helpful

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Jay Friedman

For The Curious-Minded, This Is What You've Been Looking For

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2005

Verified Purchase

This review needn't be long, for the title tells it all. Whether you want to know the origin of blue jeans, dental floss or a comb, you'll find it here. Because for some reason or another, I am on an unfulfillable quest to always know more and more, this is the type of book I love, and one I'd recommend more than any of the others I've read.

The book is broken up very nicely into setions so the thoughts are coherent and the content flows. This is actually a book you can read before bed or on the train - rather than others written in similar style, but that are better for reference.

Enjoy.

29 people found this helpful

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KC Jones

Fantastic book of "trivia" but far higher level of depth and scholarship than most "bathroom readers"

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2013

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Mr. Panati breaks out and give lie to the notion that all collections of "fun facts" and "trivia" are at the same level. In Extraordinary Origins, he presents bit-sized doses of interesting info, yes. BUT he does so with a level of discussion and scholarship far above the usual "1,000 facts that will _____" tomes. Highly recommended for those seeking a "mezzanine" between 'fact books' and 'scholarly discourses'

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

H. Nieuwenhuizen

Interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very interesting but only for dipping into and reading bits when you feel like it. A lot of it can be found on the internet nowadays but it's well researched and is an easy reference book. Unlike one of the scathing reviews which mentioned the Levi Strauss story as incorrect and condemned the book on that basis the book story matches the Levi Strauss website story, so it gave me more confidence in the other stories too.
It's a book to dip into and use from time to time and being a paperback it doesn't take much room lying around and won't drop to pieces. Well worth the money.

steven harding

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Charles Panati

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