{"product_id":"silk-a-world-history","title":"Silk: A World History","description":"\u003cp\u003eA  Smithsonian Magazine  Best History Book of 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA  Library Journal  Selection for Best Nonfiction of 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA Next Big Idea Book Club Must-Read for April\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“Aarathi Prasad’s  Silk: A World History  is a love song to this protean material. . . . Beautiful [and] fascinating.” — Wall Street Journal\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Aarathi Prasad spins a masterpiece of a story, as luminous, supple, and surprising as the wondrous threads themselves.\" —Sy Montgomery, bestselling author of  The Soul of an Octopus  and  Of Time and Turtles\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout history, across cultures and countries, silk has reigned as the undeniable queen of fabrics, yet its origins and evolution remain a mystery. In a gorgeous and sweeping narrative,  Silk  weaves together its intricate story and the indelible mark it has left on humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome four thousand years ago, the cultivation of silkworms began, the practice spreading to the far reaches of civilization. With it came a growing obsession with unlocking silk’s secrets to understand how the strongest biological material ever known could be harnessed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExplorers and scientists, including groundbreaking women in science who pushed the boundaries of societal expectations, dedicated—even sacrificed—their lives to investigate the anatomy of silk-producing animals. They endured unbelievable hardships to discover and collect new specimens, leading them to the moths of China, Indonesia, and India; the spiders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Madagascar; and the mollusks of the Mediterranean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRich with the complex connections between human and nonhuman worlds,  Silk  not only peers into the past but also reveals the fiber’s impact today, inspiring new developments in science and technology across the fashion, military, and medical fields, and shows its untapped potential to pioneer a more sustainable future.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe culmination of author and biologist Aarathi Prasad’s own lifelong passion and grounded in years of research and writing,  Silk  is an intoxicating read that provides an essential illumination of nature’s most glamourous thread.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis essential work of world history reveals:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHistory of Science:  Follow the explorers and groundbreaking women who dedicated their lives to unlocking the secrets of the world’s strongest biological material. Natural History:  Journey from the moths of China and India to the spiders of Madagascar and the mysterious mollusks of the Mediterranean. Science and Technology:  Discover how this ancient fiber is inspiring modern innovations in medicine, the military, and high fashion. A Sustainable Future:  Explore silk’s untapped potential to pioneer a more eco-friendly and sustainable world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANT","offers":[{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":52891196588319,"sku":"A1308","price":18.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0957\/0546\/5119\/files\/ebook_709_03ea72f89f.jpg?v=1789631796","url":"https:\/\/lumobook.store\/products\/silk-a-world-history","provider":"LumoBook","version":"1.0","type":"link"}