{"product_id":"silk-a-world-history","title":"Silk: A World History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eSmithsonian Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e Best History Book of 2024\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/em\u003e Selection for Best Nonfiction of 2024\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Next Big Idea Book Club Must-Read for April\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Aarathi Prasad's \u003cem\u003eSilk: A World History\u003c\/em\u003e is a love song to this protean material. . . . Beautiful [and] fascinating.\" --\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Aarathi Prasad spins a masterpiece of a story, as luminous, supple, and surprising as the wondrous threads themselves.\" --Sy Montgomery, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Soul of an Octopus\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eOf Time and Turtles\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThroughout history, across cultures and countries, silk has reigned as the undeniable queen of fabrics, yet its origins and evolution remain a mystery. In a gorgeous and sweeping narrative, \u003cem\u003eSilk\u003c\/em\u003e weaves together its intricate story and the indelible mark it has left on humanity.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome four thousand years ago, the cultivation of silkworms began, the practice spreading to the far reaches of civilization. With it came a growing obsession with unlocking silk's secrets to understand how the strongest biological material ever known could be harnessed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExplorers and scientists, including groundbreaking women who pushed the boundaries of societal expectations, dedicated--even sacrificed--their lives to investigate the anatomy of silk-producing animals. They endured unbelievable hardships to discover and collect new specimens, leading them to the moths of China, Indonesia, and India; the spiders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Madagascar; and the mollusks of the Mediterranean.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRich with the complex connections between human and nonhuman worlds, \u003cem\u003eSilk \u003c\/em\u003enot only peers into the past but also reveals the fiber's impact today, inspiring new technologies across the fashion, military, and medical fields, and shows its untapped potential to pioneer a more sustainable future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe culmination of author and biologist Aarathi Prasad's own lifelong passion and grounded in years of research and writing, \u003cem\u003eSilk\u003c\/em\u003e is an intoxicating read that provides an essential illumination of nature's most glamourous thread.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51984310141159,"sku":"9780063160255","price":32.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_db9d7aa0-0def-4bf0-be18-aed442d86387.jpg?v=1776316343","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/silk-a-world-history","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}