The Toothpick: Technology and Culture (Vintage)

The Toothpick: Technology and Culture (Vintage)
by Henry Petroski

The Toothpick: Technology and Culture (Vintage)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Henry Petroski
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-04
ISBN: 030727943X
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Vintage

Book Reviews of The Toothpick: Technology and Culture (Vintage)

Book Review: The story of the toothpick industry is the story of American industry
Summary: 5 Stars

"The Toothpick" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Petroski's book interview ran here as a cover feature on January 2, 2009.

Summary of The Toothpick: Technology and Culture (Vintage)

A celebration culture and technology, as seen through the history of the humble yet ubiquitous toothpick, from the best-selling author of The Pencil.

From ancient Rome, where emperor Nero made his entrance into a banquet hall with a silver toothpick in his mouth, to nineteenth-century Boston, where Charles Forster, the father of the American wooden toothpick industry, ensured toothpicks appeared in every restaurant, the toothpick has been an omnipresent, yet often overlooked part of our daily lives. Here, with an engineer's eye for detail and a poet's flair for language, Henry Petroski takes us on an incredible tour of this most interesting invention. Along the way, he peers inside today's surprisingly secretive toothpick-manufacturing industry, and explores a treasure trove of the toothpick's unintended uses and perils, from sandwiches to martinis and beyond.

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