100 Diagrams That Changed the World: From the Earliest Cave Paintings to the Innovation of the iPod

I majored in history in college. I bought this book mostly for leisurely purposes. I was surprised to see the huge margins and wasted space. This book could have explained the diagrams with far more detail. I ended up researching many of the diagrams on the internet for further clarification. As it stands, this book is written more on a high school level than a college level. It's fun and simplistic. Just learn to savor it. It really is a quick read. Only about 100 pages of printed text. With bullseye margins. Accompanied by 100 diagrams. Seems to have a western bias in later centuries. Oh well. No such thing as a perfectly, comprehensible account of philosophy and innovation. Not all the diagrams are about technological innovation. Many fuse technological innovation with existential meaning. Interesting. The secular doesn't separate itself from the existential till far into the 20th century. Even then, the two comingle.

As a teacher, I use this magnificent book regularly. Whether I have students guess what the diagram might be or I read information that is accessible and intriguing, this book is one of the best resources I've ever purchased. Each diagram is beautifully and clearly displayed, with a corresponding page devoted to background information as well as a complete overview of the mechanics of the diagram/graphic/art and how it changed the course of mankind. Text is clearly written with historical information knowledgeably relayed, unbiased, and thorough. The 100 diagrams chosen cover the full gamut of time, location and usage, with ideas included that range from universally known to more obscure, but equally compelling ideas. Although a wonderfully scholarly resources, this book can also be picked up and leafed through as a "light" read. Ideas and concepts are so compelling it can serve as both a coffee table book (although this feels a bit sacrilegious) or as a consistently used resource guide and companion.

I would give 5 stars if the book were bigger or had bigger type. The font size is small. Luckily, my 76-year-old uncle, who is an artist and draftsman, has 20-20 vision. He was thrilled with it. It's essentially an easy read--a one-page explanation per diagram with one page for each diagram. I found it extremely interesting and educational and so did he. Great gift for a history buff or someone like my uncle who has drawing talent and/or a drafting or construction background.

This is a fascinating book and a great idea, but the production value is terrible. It's a picture book, so why not a larger format? grayed out title lines are impossible to read! and some of the articles are poorly written.

I bought this book after i read the reviews about it and figured I'd give it to someone as a Holiday gift, I'm reading it now and it's interesting and keeping for myself. I'll pass it on to others when I'm done. Each chapter it 2 pages, so it's quick easy reading and interesting.

Fascinating look at 100 Diagrams that changed the world from Egyptian Book of the Dead and Rosetta Stone to Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and Bell's first sketch for the telephone. Each page is a double spread showing the diagram (in color) and a page of description including what year each is from and why they are so important. Informative, light, interesting, clever and a great gift book. I love paging through this book.

I bought this for my daughter for Christmas and she really enjoyed it as did the whole family. The concept was undoubtedly borrowed from other "100 of this or that" books but particularly interesting here in that we don't typically think of the importance of diagrams or line drawings. Each item is a little window into history, an information nugget loosely tied to the book as a whole.

This book is engaging and wonderfully interesting to my curious mind.The book could have been better by including places and designs from such kingdoms as Axum.

This is a book for curious readers, as it is limited to superficial explanations (generally less than one page long) about historical facts and inventions, which happen to be illustrated in the form of diagrams. The book has a good choice of diagrams, but a few are questionable, specially those about technological inventions. It tells a brief history of what each diagram refers to but not so much about the diagrammatic visualization of the ideas and the impact the diagrams themselves made in "the world." The book fails in putting the diagrams in a historical context about representational methods, it has little information about the diagrams themselves, and it does not include a bibliographic reference list to back it up.

This book is as advertised, but was disappointing to me. It's essentially an annotated list - a picture & a page of text for each item, mostly providing historical detail. I was hoping for an introductory discussion that went deeper into what makes for a world-changing diagram, with the exposition of each diagram then relating the specific case to the overall theme, and giving the reasons why it deserved to be in the top 100.. And, to be honest, I was hoping to pick up some pointers along the way on how I might improve diagrams of my own. The book does not set out to do this. It's for dipping into on the coffee table..

Great range of diagrams organised chronologically with enough information about each one to be interesting.

The faksimiles are of medium quality, the format is too small to really enjoy the historical diagrams.Its a bit outdated already and you do not really understand the selection of istorical papers. Its a bit disappointing, sorry to say that

An easy entry into so many different topics. Easy to digest, endlessly fascinating, sure to spark conversation, this is a book that is a joy every time you open it.