Henry Petroski looks at the pencil and cites it as a prime example of elegant design and engineering with much to say about the world of modern technology. He includes facts such as that a single pencil could draw a line 70 miles long, and that Hemingway and Steinbeck wrote novels in pencil.
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Henry Petroski looks at the pencil and cites it as a prime example of elegant design and engineering with much to say about the world of modern technology. He includes facts such as that a single pencil could draw a line 70 miles long, and that Hemingway and Steinbeck wrote novels in pencil.
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Add this copy of The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $19.19, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 1992 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $22.95, new condition, Sold by BargainBookStores rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Grand Rapids, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $29.00, new condition, Sold by Russell Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Victoria, BC, CANADA, published 1992 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $66.64, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Gro.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $97.79, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $103.09, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf.
If you have a smidgen of curiosity -- if you ask, 'Why would anyone write about such a boring subject?', or 'Why pick that title?' -- pick up this book. As long as you have any interest in history, technology, people, blind spots, or just excellent -- no, make that superb -- writing, you will enjoy this book. You may even, as I did, put Henry Petroski on your list of favorite authors (between Donald Norman and Geoffrey Parker, perhaps). Lenin, Thoreau, and others appear in the pages, almost the way Hamlet does in _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_; yet the motivating force behind the story remains exactly what the title promises, in understated, wry humor that the author shares with the reader. Even if you end up only tolerating the topic, the writing cannot be bettered; crates of editorial blue pencils could not improve upon Petroski's substance, style, and wit.
