Books, Banks, Buttons ― And Other Inventions From The Middle Ages
商品資訊
商品簡介
Once regarded by historians as a period of intellectual stagnation, the Middle Ages were actually a time of extraordinary cultural and technological innovation. This entertaining romp through the inventions of the period tells the story of the first appearance of dozens of items and ideas of lasting significance.
From this misunderstood age we get our buttons, our underwear, and our trousers; we entertain ourselves with medieval playing cards, tarot cards, and chess. It was during the Middle Ages that domesticated cats first found their way into our houses, along with glazed windows, dining tables and chairs, and fireplaces. Numerous labor-saving devices originated then as well, including the wheelbarrow, the windmill and watermill, and the effective use of the horse. War became more deadly with the introduction of gunpowder, while travel over water became less so thanks to the compass and the rudder. Time itself emerged into recognizably modern form, with the advent of clocks--based on the escapement mechanism--that measured hours of equal length independent of the changing seasons. More cosmic notions of time developed as well, as the new realm of purgatory broke the traditional dichotomy of heaven and hell. Even Santa Claus first captured the imagination of children during the Middle Ages.
Ranging from the invention of eyeglasses (by a now-forgotten layperson who sought to keep his methods secret, the better to profit from them) to the creation of the fork (at first regarded as an instrument of diabolical perversion but embraced when it helped people handle another invention of the age, pasta), this beautifully illustrated volume is a fitting tribute to an era from which we still benefit today.
作者簡介
主題書展
更多書展本週66折
您曾經瀏覽過的商品
購物須知
外文書商品之書封,為出版社提供之樣本。實際出貨商品,以出版社所提供之現有版本為主。部份書籍,因出版社供應狀況特殊,匯率將依實際狀況做調整。
無庫存之商品,在您完成訂單程序之後,將以空運的方式為你下單調貨。為了縮短等待的時間,建議您將外文書與其他商品分開下單,以獲得最快的取貨速度,平均調貨時間為1~2個月。
為了保護您的權益,「三民網路書店」提供會員七日商品鑑賞期(收到商品為起始日)。
若要辦理退貨,請在商品鑑賞期內寄回,且商品必須是全新狀態與完整包裝(商品、附件、發票、隨貨贈品等)否則恕不接受退貨。