Big Picture Science - 2024: Extraordinary Ordinary Objects
REPEAT
“To live is to count and
to count is to calculate.” But before we plugged in the computer to
express this ethos, we pulled out the pocket calculator. It became a monarch of
mathematics that sparked a computing revolution. But it’s not the only
deceptively modest innovation that changed how we work and live. Find out how
sewing a scrap of fabric into clothing helped define private life and how
adding lines to paper helped build an Empire. Plus, does every invention entail
irrevocable cultural loss?
Guests:
- Keith Houston – author of “Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator.”
- Hannah Carlson – teaches dress history and material culture at the Rhode Island School of Design, author of “Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close.”
- Dominic Riley – bookbinder in the U.K.
This repeat podcast originally aired on October 30, 2023
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/extraordinary-ordinary-objects
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