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Lädt ... Paper: Paging Through History (Original 2016; 2017. Auflage)von Mark Kurlansky (Autor)
Werk-InformationenPaper: Paging Through History von Mark Kurlansky (2016)
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Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. By now the folks who follow me here likely know that I have a love for Mark Kurlansky’s approach to writing about history - tracing a single object’s impact on the world - as he did with “Salt” and “Milk”. In this book, the author turns his attention away from edibles and toward a seemingly more mundane subject - the history of paper! I suspected there would be some interesting historical tidbits about this fibrous stuff, but in this work Kurlansky explains that it’s not the paper itself that is the focus of the examination, but the various methods of communication that humanity has employed through the use of the stuff. From writing on hides, to parchment and velum, to handcrafted art paper, to more modern printing, and even Japanese nori (seaweed paper)… Kurlansky weaves a story. I particularly liked the argument that he repeatedly makes about technology not changing society - but that technology is developed in response to changing societies. “Paper” is another fascinating trip through time, and while it may not be quite as engaging as the aforementioned books on Salt or Milk, it still holds a lot of interesting moments. Paper is about what you expect, and overview of the history of paper throughout history, from ancient China to modern day. I'm a fan of micro-histories, especially Kurlansky's last book, Salt, and this was was no exception. Just as much a story of the history of writing, the paper industry, and the book industry as paper itself, Kurlansky tells the reader about pre-paper writing surfaces such as papyrus and tablets as well. The invention of paper allowed for an explosion of ideas and culture as a lightweight, fairly durable, and most of all cheap surface to write and draw on spread across the world. I did not realize before reading this how critical rags were to paper, and how important they were to society, as rags were what paper was made from before the ability to turn trees into paper. Kurlanksy takes the reader though ancient history through to medieval, colonial, industrial, and modern eras and everything in between. While fun, the book does have some weak points, namely the latter third to half turns into a history of random things done on paper (and he particularly loves wood carvings), plus after the first section of the book Kurlansky abandons a focus on Asian papermaking in favor of the West, only coming back for one chapter at the end with no real explanation. It's a fun read if you like microhistories, but it's by no means a must read. I'd like to give it 3.5 stars, but Goodreads restricts me to whole stars. La historia definitiva de un material que ha dado forma a nuestro mundo. El papel es una de las tecnologías más esenciales. Durante miles de años, la habilidad de producir este material de una forma cada vez más eficiente ha contribuido al desarrollo de la alfabetización, los medios de comunicación, las religiones, la educación, el comercio y el arte. El papel ha sido el cimiento sobre el que se han erigido civilizaciones, ha avivado revoluciones y ha restaurado la estabilidad en territorios sumidos en el caos. En una sociedad cada vez más digital y enfrascada en un debate sobre la cultura «sin papel», el ser humano se encuentra ahora en una encrucijada histórica. En Papel, Kurlansky sigue los pasos de esta tecnología a través de la historia y nos lleva desde sus orígenes en lugares lejanos hasta la actualidad, pasando por la Grecia clásica y la Edad Media europea, para mostrarnos hasta qué punto este material es clave para las sociedades y por qué perdurará en nuestras vidas. Esta obra es una defensa apasionada del papel y una lectura fascinante sobre uno de los inventos fundamentales de la humanidad. keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Auszeichnungen
Through tracing paper's evolution, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay.Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. One has only to look at history's greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Quotations from Chairman Mao (which doesn't include editions in 37 foreign languages and in braille) to appreciate the range and influence of a single publication, in paper. Or take the fact that one of history's most revered artists, Leonardo da Vinci, left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. And though the colonies were at the time calling for a boycott of all British goods, the one exception they made speaks to the essentiality of the material; they penned the Declaration of Independence on British paper. Now, amid discussion of "going paperless"--and as speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society grows rampant--we've come to a world-historic juncture. Thousands of years ago, Socrates and Plato warned that written language would be the end of "true knowledge," replacing the need to exercise memory and think through complex questions. Similar arguments were made about the switch from handwritten to printed books, and today about the role of computer technology. By tracing paper's evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay.--Adapted from dust jacket. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)676.09Technology Manufacturing Paper and Articles Made of PaperKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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Вселенная вопросов, охватываемая Курлански, поражает разнообразием и хитросплетениями. Речь идет не только о типах бумаги и возникновении основной продукции из нее — книг, прессы, бумажных денег и фотографий, но и обо всем, что бумага вынуждена терпеть. Это каллиграфия, почерк, нотный стан, чернила, алфавиты, шрифты, средства письма, пишущие машинки. Стоит ли волноваться за будущее материала, которому все чаще находят альтернативу — от пластика до электронных экранов? Вряд ли: никуда не денутся подгузники, бумажные пакеты и дорогие канцелярские товары. Более того, цифровая эпоха и онлайн-покупки вдохнули новую жизнь в упаковку и коробки, из-за чего картонная промышленность переживает настоящий ренессанс.