The author takes readers on a fascinating tour of the pencil. Here is the indispensable object, from its origins in ancient Greece and Rome to it relation in engineering and technology. 46 photographs.
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The author takes readers on a fascinating tour of the pencil. Here is the indispensable object, from its origins in ancient Greece and Rome to it relation in engineering and technology. 46 photographs.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $3.11, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $3.11, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $3.11, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $3.11, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $3.85, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $5.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $6.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $22.88, very good condition, Sold by Arbor-Scout rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ann Arbor, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of The Pencil: a History of Design and Circumstance to cart. $34.63, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Alfred a Knopf Inc.
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.
