THE LIBRARY
The latest book releases for curious minds
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 INVENTIONS
A BOOK WITH A BIT EXTRA
AUTHOR MATT RALPHS
ILLUSTRATOR ROBBIE CATHRO
PUBLISHER TEMPLAR PUBLISHING
PRICE £16.99 / $21.65
RELEASE OUT NOW
What do we mean by a bit extra? This is another title in the popular series that follows Around the World in 80 Instruments and Around the World in 80 Trees – both of which we’ve already reviewed in previous issues of How It Works. So if you’ve read either of those, you’ll understand the premise of AroundtheWorldin 80Inventions, which is the science, tech and history behind 80 inventions from around the world – nominally, at least. Among the half and single-page entries such as the internal combustion engine, chocolate and kevlar body armour, author Matt Ralphs has grouped entire families of inventions onto double-page spreads under a single number. How’s that for value for money? Cargo ships get this special treatment, charting the major developments in these sea-going vessels, with individual inventions from the 5,000-yearold Phoenician sailing ship to the standardised container ships of the modern era. Likewise, nuclear power gets an entire spread to itself, with a fantastic annotated 1930s comic-art cutaway illustration of a nuclear power station.