Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.83 (640 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0062334700 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-11-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
As entertaining as it is incisive, Stoned is a raucous journey through the history of human desire for what is rare, and therefore precious.What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire.What moves the world is what moves each of us: desire. Jewelry—which has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamor and success—has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. Masterfully weaving together pop science and history, Stoned breaks history into three categories—Want, Take, and Have—and explains what the diamond on your finger has to do with the GI Bill, why green-tinted jewelry has been exalted by so many cultures, why the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch were initially considered a fair trade, and how the French Revolution started over a coveted necklace.Studded with lively personalities and fascinating details, Stoned tells the remarkable story of our abiding desire for the rare and extraordinary.
Gems that changed the world. I picked up Aja Raden's Stoned expecting a history of jewelry and was pleasantly surprised to find an in-depth social history of how human perceptions of value, desire and innovation have shaped the modern world. She starts with the beads that bought Manhattan (and in doing so makes a compelling case that it might not have been quite the con we think of it today) and ends with the wristwatch and its role in making modern warfare, aviation, navigation and personal private time possible.Rad. History, Jewels, and Economics in One Entertaining Read It was well researched with extensive footnotes. But even better, it was an insightful, entertaining observation of how historic, world-class jewels influence economics, national economies, and how we value and view them over time in our lives. My husband and I found it intriguing.. Jewelry Changes History In the past, I've had occasion to take a chance on a book, not knowing if I would really like it, and ended up loving it. This is one of those books. (If you're interested, another is "Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3" by Robert Matzen). As a jewelry hound and a history buff, I was in hog heaven with this one. As I was reading, I was thinking how interesting it was, how fascinating the stories were. If you want to learn about Jewelry, History and Psychology, all writte
An Best Book of December 2015: Most of us have probably heard the expression “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” — but have we ever asked ourselves why? Yes, they are sparkly and beautiful, but so is cubic zirconia at a fraction of the price. --Seira Wilson. So what is it really that makes a diamond, an emerald, a Fabergé egg, or even glass beads so desirable? In Stoned, Aja Raden sifts through the psychology, neuroscience, and mythos behind the human desire for beautiful things and why we treat some objects as more precious (and therefore valuable) than others. Lest you imagine this as some boring academic tome, fear not—Raden’s cheeky attitude and fascinating anecdotes about everything from Holland’s Tulipomania to various jewel-encrusted royal scandals and dazzling legends make Stoned a treasure trove of fun nar