"Nuts and Bolts" by Roma Agrawal --A Review by Susan Price
Nuts and Bolts by Roma Agrawal I could say this book is 'interesting', 'fascinating', 'absorbing'... It is all of those things. It's also an absolute delight. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and it's not only taught me a lot, but also made me think a lot-- Oh, about history, and the gob-smacking ingenuity of all people, everywhere, at all times. How, from the Stone-Age (and before), they've observed, applied, invented... I mean, how did anyone come up with the idea of melting metal out of rocks? Or of using the power contained in a bendy branch to make a bow and arrow? If I think about it for too long at a time, it makes me dizzy. The author, Roma Agrawal, studied engineering at Imperial College, London, and physics at Oxford. She worked on the Shard. So, she knows what she's talking about. And her love for her subject is evident in every word. The subtitle is 'How Tiny Inventions Make Our World Work' and her first chapter is on...