Paper : paging through history
(Book)

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Published
New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016].
ISBN
9780393239614, 0393239616, 9780393353709
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Batavia Public Library District - Adult Nonfiction676 KUROn Shelf
Bensenville Community Public Library District - Nonfiction676.09 KUROn Shelf
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Published
New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016].
Format
Book
Physical Desc
xx, 389 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Language
English
ISBN
9780393239614, 0393239616, 9780393353709

Notes

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-354) and index.
Description
Through tracing paper's evolution, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay.
Description
Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. One has only to look at history's greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Quotations from Chairman Mao (which doesn't include editions in 37 foreign languages and in braille) to appreciate the range and influence of a single publication, in paper. Or take the fact that one of history's most revered artists, Leonardo da Vinci, left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. And though the colonies were at the time calling for a boycott of all British goods, the one exception they made speaks to the essentiality of the material; they penned the Declaration of Independence on British paper. Now, amid discussion of "going paperless"--and as speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society grows rampant--we've come to a world-historic juncture. Thousands of years ago, Socrates and Plato warned that written language would be the end of "true knowledge," replacing the need to exercise memory and think through complex questions. Similar arguments were made about the switch from handwritten to printed books, and today about the role of computer technology. By tracing paper's evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay.--Adapted from dust jacket.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Kurlansky, M. (2016). Paper: paging through history (First edition.). W.W. Norton & Company.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Kurlansky, Mark. 2016. Paper: Paging Through History. W.W. Norton & Company.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Kurlansky, Mark. Paper: Paging Through History W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Kurlansky, Mark. Paper: Paging Through History First edition., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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