The String Book

The String Book opens with a note about an 8,000-year-old piece of string that was found at a Stone Age settlement in England, about which the editor of British Archaeology said, "I don't think the average person realizes what an important piece of technology string has been over the ages."

The String Book is here to set that right. What the author calls a "cornucopia of cunning and knowledge" fills this informative and charming collection of history, knot instruction, facts and surprising trivia.

The chapters and sections are:

• Roping Yarns Knowing the Ropes; Stringing History; String, Rope and Religions
• String Along Day-to-Day String; String Fanatics
• Get Knotted 40 stoppers, reefs, bends, hitches, loops, whippings and shoelacings
• The Art of String Cultured String; Sporty String
• Loopy Science Discoveries and Inventions; Stringy Theories
• Country Ties On Land; At Sea
• Loose Ends String Miscellany; Stringy Websites.

Amusing two-color illustrations highlight the text. Here are examples of the stringiness in The String Book

• The Ancient Egyptians probably used string to help align pyramids north-south and east-west. The Polynesians possibly used rope to move the Easter Island moai statues into place.
• To water plants while you're away, trail a piece of wet natural string from a bowl above the plants into the soil.
• Farmer Francis A. Johnson spared four hours a day to wind a ball of string until he needed a crane to move it.
• The great 15th century inventor Leonardo da Vinci had many ropey inventions, including a parachute, a ropemaking machine, and rope-operated pulleys.
• How to do magic tricks, how to tie a Hojojutsu ball, how to weigh a pig, and how to make a seismograph, a cat's cradle, a friendship bracelet, and a jar sling to carry your bottle of water.

This is a fun and surprisingly informative book that is a great gift for any reader.