The Pencil : A History of Design and Circumstance

Rating:
Summary: a vv heavy read...
Review: The Pencil is jam packed with technical and historical development of the humble pencil.... which is good and reflects extremely good research... however it is not a light read.... that's why i'm giving it 3 stars.... i was practically dragging myself to read the book.... it became a daunting task... i'll give it another go sometime... overall... its an ok book.... i'd recommend borrowing it or purchasing it at a bargain price....

Rating:
Summary: The complex relationships of a simple object
Review: This book takes somthing I always considered simple and took for granted, and shows how it interrelates. Who knew, for example, that WWII lend-lease included pencils? The complete desolation of the red cedar population should be a lesson in the preservation of renewable resources, but probably won't be.

I would most highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: What an interesting book!
Review: What a suprise! Who could think that such a simple object could have such an interesting history? Henry Petroski, as in his other books, weaves a tale that entertains and amazes in this history of the pencil, looking at both its historical progress and technical progress. Worth the read, no matter whether you are interested in engineering or not!