# Books like Emperor of All Maladies; Making of the Atomic Bomb...?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 22, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341 "2015-02-22T14:28:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/1 "2015-02-22T14:28:57Z")
I just finished the Emperor of All Maladies. Great, comprehensive, big-picture view of the history of the understanding about, and treatment of, cancer.
As I was reading it, I thought to myself: this reads like the cancer version of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Both step back, and bring in science, history, politics, anthopology/sociology, etc. as needed, briefly explaining enough to understand that thread’s core concept, then weaving it back into the main tapestry of the book.
Sure enough, at the end of Emperor, one of the first Acknowledgements by the author is to Making of the Atomic Bomb. Cool!
So: any _other_ books that accomplish that same feat? Documentaries like Ken Burns’ Baseball and Jazz are similar. I also read a book called Justinian’s Flea, which covered the fall of the Roman Empire and explored the many facets of history, architecture, the biology of the Plague, etc, to present a big-picture view of the forces at work at the time…
---
### Author:  [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/2 "2015-02-22T14:57:32Z")
It’s a genre I am fond of also. David Halberstam was an especially skilled practitioner who could write well about a remarkably broad range of topics. I recently finished the Powers that Be which looks at major media institutions like CBS, Time and the Washington Post and the role they played in US politics. His book on the 50’s was great too. I have the Reckoning on my Kindle about the history of the automobile industry and it looks interesting too.
The current book I am reading and really enjoying is William Manchester’s The Glory and the Dream which is a broad history of the US from 1932 to 1972.
The Innovators by Walter Isaacson on the history of the computer industry looks interesting and I will probably get to it some day.
---
### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/3 "2015-02-22T15:26:08Z")
And The Band Played On reminded me of The Making of the Atomic Bomb.
---
### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/4 "2015-02-22T19:30:11Z")
“The Soul of a New Machine”
---
### Author:  [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/5 "2015-02-22T20:56:30Z")
Mark Kurlansky has written several books that explore history, science & sociology with a single object as the framing device: _[Salt: A World History](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2715.Salt)_ and _[The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3347.The_Basque_History_of_the_World)_ are two I can recommend.
Erik Larson focuses more on events, but also provides a “big picture” look that pulls in seemingly disparate elements. I can recommend: _[The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21996.The_Devil_in_the_White_City)_ and _[Thunderstruck](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40067.Thunderstruck)_ which covers Guglielmo Marconi and his discovery/experimentations with radio, and Hawley Crippen “a very unlikely murderer”.
---
### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/6 "2015-02-22T21:26:38Z")
The most obvious suggestion is **Dark Sun** by Richard Rhodes (the same guy who wrote “Making of…”) about the making of the Hydrogen bomb. It’s a little less sprawling than MofAB, but has a similar style, tying in the physics with the wider political movements of Cold War Espionage, the trial of Oppenheimer, the Korean War, etc. It’s very good.
The same author also wrote **Arsenals of Folly** , which I’d hoped would be a similar treatment of the development of ICBMs, but sadly it was a much shorter book about late 80’s arms control. It’s alright, but not really in the same league as the other two books.
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/7 "2015-02-22T22:26:42Z")
Charles Mann wrote [1491](http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424643500&sr=1-1&keywords=charles+mann+1491), about the Americas and impact of the Spanish invasion, that covers large territories. He did a sequel, _1493_, which I haven’t read.
Somebody is sure to mention Jared Diamond’s _Guns, Germs and Steel_, which is very good, though I’m not the absolute worshiper that some people are. It’s underlying premise is that geography is destiny, which is a concept all too people get and I think is critical to any understanding of history. So the book I’m reading now is setting off intellectual bombs with every sentence, Peter Zeihan’s [The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder](http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Superpower-Generation-American-Preeminence/dp/1455583669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424642786&sr=8-1&keywords=the+accidental+superpower+by+peter+zeihan). I’m holding my breath to see if it can possibly stay at this level for another 300 pages, but if it does I’ll be back screaming about it.
A favorite of mine is [Henry Petroski](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Ahenry+petroski&keywords=henry+petroski&ie=UTF8&qid=1424643051). He’s one of the rare writers who look at the world asking why, and then goes back to look for answers. A seminal book of his, [The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are](http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Useful-Things-Artifacts--Zippers-Came/dp/0679740392/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424643105&sr=1-4&keywords=henry+petroski), is the ancestor of the swarm of “the world in 100 objects” style books that are faddish and don’t do it as well. Somewhat similar to him is the architect [Witold Rybczynski](http://www.amazon.com/Witold-Rybczynski/e/B000AQ1U8A/ref=la_B000AQ1U8A_pg_2?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_82%3AB000AQ1U8A&page=2&ie=UTF8&qid=1424643016).
Terry Jones - yes, the Monty Python Terry Jones - co-wrote a fascinating book called [Terry Jones’ Barbarians: An Alternative Roman History](http://www.amazon.com/Terry-Jones-Barbarians-Alternative-History/dp/056353916X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424643657&sr=1-1&keywords=terry+jones+barbarians), which presents the dark ages with the Romans as villains. It’s been attacked as glib but it’s a fun read.
Since this is getting long, let me just throw out the names of [Daniel Okrent](http://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Okrent/e/B000APV4SC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1424643376&sr=1-1) and [David McCullough](http://www.amazon.com/David-McCullough/e/B000AP9I5I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1424643444&sr=1-1) who are both excellent on big books.
---
### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/8 "2015-02-23T11:41:32Z")
Thank you very much for these. I’ve read many of them and enjoyed them; good to see I am aware of what’s out there. **'Xap** , I have only read a bit of Petroski, but certainly heard good things. Probably time to check him out. And keep us posted about your current book!
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/9 "2015-02-23T13:25:33Z")
Hans Zinsser’s **Rats, Lice, and History** is subtitled _Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals With the Life History of Typhus Fever_
> [@](#):
>
> To Zinsser, scientific research was high adventure and the investigation of infectious disease, a field of battle. Yet at the same time he maintained a love of literature and philosophy. His goal in Rats, Lice and History was to bring science, philosophy, and literature together to establish the importance of disease, and especially epidemic infectious disease, as a major force in human affairs. Zinsser cast his work as the “biography” of a disease. In his view, infectious disease simply represented an attempt of a living organism to survive. From a human perspective, an invading pathogen was abnormal; from the perspective of the pathogen it was perfectly normal.
>
> This book is devoted to a discussion of the biology of typhus and history of typhus fever in human affairs. Zinsser begins by pointing out that the louse was the constant companion of human beings. Under certain conditions–to wash or to change clothing–lice proliferated. The typhus pathogen was transmitted by rat fleas to human beings, who then transmitted it to other humans and in some strains from human to human.
>
> Rats, Lice and History is a tour de force. It combines Zinsser’s expertise in biology with his broad knowledge of the humanities
> [@](#):
>
> From the Publisher
> “Zinsser’s account of lice and men remains a delight. Written in 1935 as a latter-day variation on Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Zinsser’s book gives a picaresque account of how the history of the world has been shaped by epidemics of louseborne typhus…Zinnser’s romp through the ancient and modern worlds describes how epidemics devastated the Byzantines under Justinian, put Charles V atop the Holy Roman Empire, stopped the Turks at the Carpathians, and turned Napolean’s Grand Armée back from Moscow.”
---
### Author:  [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/10 "2015-02-23T15:55:21Z")
My wife is halfway through “Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus”, by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy; she is enjoying it immensely.
> **[Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus: Wasik, Bill,...](https://www.amazon.com/Rabid-Cultural-History-Worlds-Diabolical/dp/0143123572)**
>
> Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus \[Wasik, Bill, Murphy, Monica\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/11 "2015-02-23T17:54:13Z")
Petroski taught me not to just tell what happened but look into context and explain why it happened. He’s a big influence. And so is Bill James, the sabermetrics guy. He used numbers to explain why things happened on the field and what context you need to place events in to have them make full sense. His 80s work was brilliant. He independently reinvented cliometrics, the hot then new discipline in history, which used numbers to give a deep look into the structural processes rather than stories about Great Men. I’ve been a structuralist ever since, although Great Men (and now even the occasional Great Woman) have always sold a lot better so I try to balance the two.
Have you read [Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé](http://www.amazon.com/Yeah-Story-Music-Haley-Beyonc%C3%A9/dp/0393242692/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424713065&sr=8-1&keywords=Yeah+Yeah+Yeah%3A+The+Story+of+Modern+Pop+by+Bob+Stanley) by Bob Stanley? It’s the big all-encompassing history that the field has needed. Stanley was a rock journalist and a founder of Saint Etienne so he knows intimately every twist of the British music scene from punk on. That’s both good and bad for Americans. His early chapters, pure history, are brilliant. He does a page on Dylan that might be the best page ever. But once he gets into the era he lived through the book breaks into two streams. He doesn’t care much about big mainstream groups; he’d rather talk about small scenes that created genres in a particular time and place. That’s often fascinating and not found outside specialty works, but if you didn’t live through it a dozen chapters on the backyard hissy fits that was British music in the 80s and 90s are tedious, if colorful. Since his comparable level of knowledge for America is nil, he goes deep in a few places, like the beginning of hip hop, but throws out a rote summary of more mainstream rock. He scants California and Australia and Europe almost entirely.
When he’s good he’s wonderful; when he’s bad he’s perfectly adequate. That’s pretty amazing for a 60-year survey of pop music. I got it from the library but I’m seriously thinking of buying a copy just so I can YouTube the thousands of individual songs he discusses over time. I guess that’s what Kindle is for.
---
### Author:  [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/12 "2015-02-24T02:57:06Z")
Well, as some of you know, one of my hobbies is researching historical weapons of mass destruction. Both out of interest in the subject, and for later building simulated versions in my flight-sim of choice.
I’m not sure I’ve seen any books that compare with Rhodes’ works, but I’ve still found some good ones. To wit;
[War of Nerves](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400032334/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687602&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0674011198&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1NR1NC2S4142N26VG2VE), a history of chemical warfare. The really fascinating stuff is the discovery, development, and production of nerve agents, but earlier chemical warfare agents are covered, too.
[The Biology of Doom](http://www.amazon.com/BIOLOGY-DOOM-Americas-Warfare-Project/dp/080505765X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424743886&sr=1-1&keywords=biology+of+doom). The history of the US biowarfare program, with a good deal on the development of Anthrax weaponry, especially.
[Biohazard by Ken Alibek](http://www.amazon.com/Biohazard-Chilling-Largest-Biological-World-Told/dp/0385334966/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=09EPA4E79BYBZTSP9PC5), nee Kanatzhan Alibekov, former deputy director of the Soviet biowarfare agency, before he emigrated to the US. The Russian program was actually much more extensive and ambitious than it’s US counterpart, which was shut down in 1969, and there was (as indicated in both this and the book above) a real (and fascinating!) difference in biowarfare doctrine and strategy between the two superpowers.
[The Soviet Biological Weapons Program: A History](http://www.amazon.com/The-Soviet-Biological-Weapons-Program/dp/0674047702). Ah! Now, this one I actually _might_ compare to Rhodes’ A-Bomb books. Very thick, and well-researched—especially compared to the more “general consumption” books like Alibek’s—a rather intriguing section I recall includes a technical criticism and questioning about Alibek’s claim that the Soviets had ICBMs prepared to carry bio-agents.
As I recall the gist I got was that, while the Soviets certainly were _producing_ the agents (Smallpox, for one), and Alibek might have _believed_ or been _told_ that they were intended for missile warheads, the capabilities of the actual missiles in service and ones that had a known testing record at the time didn’t seem to support a redesigned (and refrigerated) bio-weapon RV having been put into service in numbers. For all I know, though, that might just mean such weapons were _planned_ but not very far along in the design process; or Department “A” was far along, but Department “B” was having trouble, or maybe there were funding problems…who knows. My point being that mistakes, bureaucratic muddling, and a lot of secrecy could account for as much as deliberate deception or disinformation could. But in any case, that section alone made for fascinating reading, if you find it for yourself.
[Chemical Warfare in Australia: Australia’s Involvement in Chemical Warfare 1914 - Today](http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Warfare-Australia-Australias-Involvement/dp/0987427903), a rather hefty tome, complete with illustrations, and actually rather meticulously done, about (naturally) the history of the stockpiling, testing, transporting, etc. of chemical weapons in Australia, mostly by the British and US militaries during the Second World War, for potential use/retaliation against Japan.
Lots of fascinating accounts of the development of how agents were stored—from, literally, just being left in storage canisters leaned up against trees in a secluded orchard (!), to being stored in former railway tunnels transformed into makeshift bunkers, with aboveground support buildings disguised as a harmless small town, complete with business signs, fake horses, etc—accounts of the hazards of working with and manhandling the agents on a mass scale—guys living with essentially chronic chemical burns from the small amounts of Mustard Gas leaking from containers, and especially soaking into ropes used to secure them—exposure experiments performed in Australia—against unprotected volunteers, and even against aircraft with (protected) crews to see what effect Mustard agents would have on the avionics and the ability to use the vehicle, etc.
Anyway…on a less-horrifying note, there’s always [Gunpowder](http://www.amazon.com/Gunpowder-Alchemy-Bombards-Pyrotechnics-Explosive/dp/0465037224/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424745486&sr=1-1&keywords=gunpowder), a history of the development, production, and use of black powder.
On a more horrifying one, there’s [The Factories of Death,](http://www.amazon.com/Factories-Death-Japanese-Biological-American/dp/0415932149/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424745552&sr=1-1&keywords=the+factories+of+death) on the Japanese Unit-731, and the human medical experimentation/bio warfare program in Manchuria. Especially hideous stuff, as you might imagine, even if you aren’t even passingly familiar with what they did. But, really, that makes the subject _more_ worth studying and remembering, I think, even aside from the technical and historical aspects.
---
### Author:  [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/13 "2015-02-24T03:25:36Z")
Sounds like [Fast-Food Nation](http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Food-Nation-Dark-All-American/dp/0547750331) might fit the bill for you.
---
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/14 "2015-02-24T05:03:31Z")
I love Mary Roach’s books, of which the best known is probably “Stiff”. They are very easy to read and usually quite amusing too.
---
### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/15 "2015-02-24T05:25:51Z")
_Rats, Lice, and History_ electrified me as an adolescent. It is one of my enduring favorite books (even though a new study says camels, not rats, brought the plague to Europe).
I’ve got _Rabid_ on audio; I’ll bump it up the list.
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/16 "2015-02-24T14:51:42Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> And The Band Played On reminded me of The Making of the Atomic Bomb.
I came in to mention that one - it’s obviously dated in some ways, but it’s still a fantastic read (and the time period in which it was written gives it a certain urgency that a modern book would lack.)
---
### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/17 "2015-02-24T18:47:30Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> I came in to mention that one - it’s obviously dated in some ways, but it’s still a fantastic read (and the time period in which it was written gives it a certain urgency that a modern book would lack.)
“My Own Country”, which came out in 1994, is the same way. Definitely a medical history classic from day one.
---
### Author:  [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/18 "2015-02-24T19:18:10Z")
I think [Ghost Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Wars) might fit the bill. Not as broad a topic as MotAB, but very similar in that it incorporates a lot of different pieces to tell a very effective but true story.
---
### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/19 "2015-02-24T21:31:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Petroski taught me not to just tell what happened but look into context and explain why it happened. He’s a big influence. And so is Bill James, the sabermetrics guy. He used numbers to explain why things happened on the field and what context you need to place events in to have them make full sense. His 80s work was brilliant. He independently reinvented cliometrics, the hot then new discipline in history, which used numbers to give a deep look into the structural processes rather than stories about Great Men. I’ve been a structuralist ever since, although Great Men (and now even the occasional Great Woman) have always sold a lot better so I try to balance the two.
>
> Have you read [Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé](http://www.amazon.com/Yeah-Story-Music-Haley-Beyonc%C3%A9/dp/0393242692/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424713065&sr=8-1&keywords=Yeah+Yeah+Yeah%3A+The+Story+of+Modern+Pop+by+Bob+Stanley) by Bob Stanley? It’s the big all-encompassing history that the field has needed. Stanley was a rock journalist and a founder of Saint Etienne so he knows intimately every twist of the British music scene from punk on. That’s both good and bad for Americans. His early chapters, pure history, are brilliant. He does a page on Dylan that might be the best page ever. But once he gets into the era he lived through the book breaks into two streams. He doesn’t care much about big mainstream groups; he’d rather talk about small scenes that created genres in a particular time and place. That’s often fascinating and not found outside specialty works, but if you didn’t live through it a dozen chapters on the backyard hissy fits that was British music in the 80s and 90s are tedious, if colorful. Since his comparable level of knowledge for America is nil, he goes deep in a few places, like the beginning of hip hop, but throws out a rote summary of more mainstream rock. He scants California and Australia and Europe almost entirely.
>
> When he’s good he’s wonderful; when he’s bad he’s perfectly adequate. That’s pretty amazing for a 60-year survey of pop music. I got it from the library but I’m seriously thinking of buying a copy just so I can YouTube the thousands of individual songs he discusses over time. I guess that’s what Kindle is for.
There’s a few here I am adding to my List - thanks everyone.
**'Xap** - is there a good starter for Petroski? Evolution of Useful Things? Pencil?
I haven’t read the Stanley book on Pop, but it sounds right up my alley.
Rats, Lice and History sounds fascinating - a bit of what is covered in Justinian’s Flea speaks to the importance of disease in history. Being written in 1935, it seems like it would be dated or not written in a style that would hold attention-span-threatened readers like me, but I am hearing it is not…?
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-like-emperor-of-all-maladies-making-of-the-atomic-bomb/713341/20 "2015-02-24T23:14:20Z")
Yeah, I’d definitely say _The Evolution of Useful Things_ because it starts with his seminal thesis: Form Follows Failure. In short, every invention and every new variation on older inventions come about because the old system has failed in some way. It’s too expensive or too inefficient or doesn’t contain a feature or has the wrong style or way to grip it or some deficiency that a new approach would improve. It’s one of those rare breakthrough notions that sound as if they’ve been around forever. Everything later builds off of it, not just in this book but in all his others.