Circles: Fifty Round Trips Through History Technology Science Culture

In this delightful collection of 10-minute essays that first appeared in his popular Scientific American column, ""Connections,"" Burke (author of the bestselling The Knowledge Web, etc.) charts the far fewer than 360 degrees of separation between the famous, the not-so-famous, and their technical and artistic creations across far-flung epochs, locales and professions. Burke believes, and demonstrates, that everything comes full circle: for example, in ""Cheers,"" a gin and tonic at a hotel bar gets Burke thinking about Jacob Schweppes, who first devised bottle-cap effervescence, which leads to Joseph Priestley, inventor of soda water and a product of the Dissenter academies inspired by Amos Komensky, who also influenced the great Leibnitz, whose role as librarian to the Elector of Hanover brings Burke to diarist, bibliophile and Admiralty secretary Samuel Pepys... and he follows the thread on until it leads him to Felix Booth, who had made his fortune from Booth's Gin. Whew! Readers will be fascinated by Burke's route through the labyrinthine corridors of history. This book is ideal for dipping into, a few essays at a time. Agent, Carlton Sedgeley, Royce Carlton Inc. (Dec. 12) Forecast: Though British, Burke has a dedicated following on these shores. In addition to writing his Scientific American column, he hosts the Learning Channel's Connections 3, and his Knowledge Web was on Business Week's bestseller list. This book is an alternate selection of several of Doubleday Selects' science clubs (Natural Science, Library of Science) and the Readers Subscription club, and it is also a QPB alternate. There will be a radio satellite tour and online publicity for the book, as well as a national print publicity campaign. Nonscientists and young readers will enjoy following Burke through his web of knowledge.