Sunday, May 11, 2008

2008 Book Lover's Page-a-Day Calendar (Workman Publishing) 1/4/8: A History of the World in 6 Glasses

A History of the World in 6 Glasses, by Tom Standage (Walker, 2005)
This sounds like a fascinating book. "Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and soda. Tom Standage, technology editor for The Economist, sees the world through cola-colored glasses, arguing convincingly and colorfully that each of these drinks played a significant, even central, role in history. Standage begins with beer, which apears in the oldest written work in existence, the Gilgamesh epic of ancient Babylon, and works his way to cola, the flower of American mass marketing. Along the lines of Mark Kurlansky's 1998 Cod and 2002 Salt, but not as determined to explain everything under only one rubric, Standage brings agriculture, politics, religion, and industry—to name only a few topics—into the grand sweep of his enthusiasm and erudition." Rating 10/10 glasses--a must read, definitely need to check out this one.
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"