Synopses & Reviews
Who invented the toilet? How did the telephone get its shape? Why are the letters on a computer keyboard arranged the way they are? Who decides?
In this fascinating history of everyday objects, Susan Goldman Rubin explains how manufacturers realized that well-designed products made more money; why the shape of an object depends on the materials and technology available; and that some designs just can't be improved upon.
Filled with entertaining anecdotes, remarkable facts, and definitely user-friendly, Toilets, Toasters, & Telephones, with 30 photographs and 13 elegant drawings by Elsa Warnick, is a delightful narrative of the history of some of the familiar objects we see all around us and the inspired geniuses who are responsible for what they look like.
Synopsis
Who invented the toilet? How did the telephone get its shape? Can a refrigerator or a toaster be art? And what does a chocolate bar melting in the lab coat of a scientist have to do with the invention of the microwave? In this fascinating history of everyday objects, Susan Goldman Rubin helps us appreciate anew the things we see all around us. She also introduces the inspired geniuses who are responsible for the way these universal objects look. Filled with entertaining anecdotes and remarkable facts in a user-friendly format, this informative book includes thirteen black-and-white paintings, thirty vintage photographs, and an extensive bibliography and index. Readers will never again look at a bathtub in quite the same way.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-126) and index.