The Thread of History: How the Spinning Wheel, Spindle, and Loom Helped Build Civilization
14.99 €
11.99 €
In stock
The Thread of History: How the Spinning Wheel, Spindle, and Loom Helped Build Civilization
14.99 €
11.99 €
"The Thread of History" is a story full of startling detail about the most influential commodity in human history.
The story of humanity is the story of textiles, a peer of civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, our unquenchable need for textiles has driven technology, economics, politics, and culture forward. Virginia Postrel unfolds this startling story before us, bringing together evidence from the latest research in archaeology, economic history, and the natural sciences. From the Minoans exporting wool dyed with precious purple to Egypt to the Romans wearing expensive Chinese silk, the textile trade paved the transcontinental highways of the ancient world. Without the income from textiles, neither the Renaissance nor the Mughal Empire would have been possible; it is only because of it that we have banks and accounting, Michelangelo's "David" and the Taj Michelangelo and the Taj Mahal. Along with textiles, the alphabet and arithmetic spread around the world, and later the textile industry stimulated the most important chemical discoveries and taught people how to use the binary code.
The story of humanity is the story of textiles, a peer of civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, our unquenchable need for textiles has driven technology, economics, politics, and culture forward. Virginia Postrel unfolds this startling story before us, bringing together evidence from the latest research in archaeology, economic history, and the natural sciences. From the Minoans exporting wool dyed with precious purple to Egypt to the Romans wearing expensive Chinese silk, the textile trade paved the transcontinental highways of the ancient world. Without the income from textiles, neither the Renaissance nor the Mughal Empire would have been possible; it is only because of it that we have banks and accounting, Michelangelo's "David" and the Taj Michelangelo and the Taj Mahal. Along with textiles, the alphabet and arithmetic spread around the world, and later the textile industry stimulated the most important chemical discoveries and taught people how to use the binary code.
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