'Microhistories'

There was an interesting story on NPR yesterday morning. Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust (and the model for the librarian action figure :-), presented a list of what she called microhistories, illuminating nonfiction books about closely focused subjects. We have all but one of the titles discussed:

• Cod : a biography of the fish that changed the world, by Mark Kurlansky
• Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, by Henry Petroski
• Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, by Charles Seife
• E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation, by David Bodanis
• One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw, by Witold Rybczynski
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach
• Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky