A few inventions (cont. from page 1)
go to page 1
A small marvel of a book, Mauve*** by Simon Garfield describes the discovery of chemical dyes. It is not only about William Perkin (b. 1838) and aniline, but the effect this discovery had on fashion, so anybody who likes Jane Austen should enjoy this small book. The terrible effects of early industries on the environment are also described. Do not miss this book!
Even if you have very little interest in science, you got to look at the life of Faraday. Very little interest: Wikipedia, more interest: read The Electric Life of Michael Faraday by Alan W. Hirshfeld. It is very readable if you have attended high school and very nicely done (not boring as I promised to you). For the amateur, read this easy book by Faraday himself The Chemical History of a Candle***: it is a great easy read in a beautiful presentation.
Other great scientists like Edison, Darwin and Newton can be found on my biography page.
On the many inventions of the 19th century, I would like you to remember the refrigerator, because it changed the life of people who had to be sea (I used to be an oceanographer). Maybe you should take a break and enjoy this funny book: Einstein's Refrigerator and Other Stories from the Flip Side of History by Steve Silverman.
Readers of books on the second world war should know a little about the Morse code. You can write a sentence and listen to the sound it makes here. That sound made me all emotional when watching this fantastic movie: The Man Who Never Was***. The style of typing in Morse was recognized by listeners, so the British kept some German spies that the had made prisoners and forced them to type the code to send false information.
Also world wide known is the last Morse message of the Titanic.
3. The social horrors of the 19th century
The first thing that comes to my mind is that children worked in coal mines, and the parents needed the money, so it has been pretty hard to stop the practice of having small children work in terrible conditions. There is no book describing miners like the Germinal of Zola. It is a fascinating book. I read it too young though, I got nightmares from reading about the tough passages. The book has also the best description of a terrorist you can find anywhere, even more realistic than Verloc in Conrad's Secret Agent. If you are in the mood for a lighter book, read Murder at Buckingham Palace by T. E. B. Clarke: it takes place before the second world war, but the situation of the servants is very interesting to watch. The expected behavior of servants in the Victorian era is well described, as it still was before WWII as evidenced by Anthony Hopkins in this brilliant movie***.
4. Great literature and amusing books
On the adventures side, there is Walter Scott, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas : my preferred books of these authors are described here. And if you are attracted by stories like in the 1001 nights, you should read Tales from the Saragossa Manuscript
On the freaking side, there is of course the Frankenstein of Mary Shelley.The book is far from what the story has become, so you might be disappointed. And there is the Marquis de Sade
On the romance side, of course Jane Austen
Buy anything from Amazon here, it does not cost you more, and it helps me.