{"product_id":"brilliant-the-evolution-of-artificial-light-paperback","title":"Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJane Brox\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrilliant\u003c\/i\u003e, reminiscent of Lewis Hyde's \u003ci\u003eThe Gift\u003c\/i\u003e in its reach and of Timothy Egan's \u003ci\u003eThe Worst Hard Time\u003c\/i\u003e in its haunting evocation of human lives, offers a sweeping view of a surprisingly revealing aspect of human history--from the stone lamps of the Pleistocene to the LEDs embedded in fabrics of the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrox plumbs the class implications of light--who had it, who didn't--through the many centuries when crude lamps and tallow candles constricted waking hours. She convincingly portrays the hell-bent pursuit of whale oil as the first time the human desire for light thrust us toward an environmental tipping point. Only decades later, gas street lights opened up the evening hours to leisure, which changed the ways we live and sleep and the world's ecosystems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdison's \"tiny strip of paper that a breath would blow away\" produced a light that seemed to its users all but divorced from human effort or cost. And yet, as Brox's informative and hair-raising portrait of our current grid system shows, the cost is ever with us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrilliant\u003c\/i\u003e is infused with human voices, startling insights, and--only a few years before it becomes illegal to sell most incandescent light bulbs in the United States--timely questions about how our future lives will be shaped by light.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Fascinating Story of Our Emergence from Dark and How We Came to Inhabit Our World Built of Light\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e It takes a special turn of mind to even think of writing a history of artificial light. But Jane Brox takes this curious, thin slice of history and makes of it a dazzling epic. Lev Grossman, \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e, Top 10 Everything of 2010 \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Ruminative and curious, Brox excels at discussing the cultural and psychological changes wrought by more and better light . . . An intriguing investigation of a state of being well lighted that we take utterly for granted. \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFive hundred years ago almost everyone lived at the mercy of the night. Today, life as we know it long evening hours and our feeling of safety depends upon cheap, abundant light. In \u003ci\u003eBrilliant\u003c\/i\u003e, award-winning author Jane Brox offers a sweeping history of our relationship with light, from the stone lamps of the Pleistocene to the LEDs of the future. In this compelling story imbued with human voices and startling insights Brox also raises timely questions about how the light to come will shape our lives, and ultimately reveals that as we have changed light, light has also changed us. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Brox succeeds brilliantly thanks to writing that rivals her subject in sparkle, glow, and wattage. Sylvia Nasar, author of \u003ci\u003eA Beautiful Mind \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJANE BROX is the author of \u003ci\u003eClearing Land\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFive Thousand Days Like This One\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and \u003ci\u003eHere and Nowhere Else\u003c\/i\u003e, which received the L. L. Winship\/PEN New England Award. She lives in Maine. Visit www. janebrox.com. \u003cbr\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 372\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.91 x 8.01 x 5.35 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 07, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51761825874208,"sku":"9780547520346","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/a5812d9d051636ebe8b04bcc69425893.webp?v=1780213680","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/brilliant-the-evolution-of-artificial-light-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}