Loyal listeners and readers will know that Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy is turning into Fifty-One Things, at least in radio form. We have a short-list of six candidates to be made into a special final episode. Please vote here before noon GMT on Friday 6 October 2017.
But the loyal-of-loyal listeners might want some suggestions for further reading and/or listening.
If you’d like to know more about an early episode in the history of credit cards, try 99% Invisible’s episode The Fresno Drop.
Steven Johnson’s excellent technological history How We Got To Now (US) (UK) focuses on just six key inventions rather than fifty – and glass is one of them.
GPS, meanwhile, gets a book all of its own: Greg Milner’s PinPoint (US) (UK).
To understand the role of irrigation in China, try Philip Ball’s The Water Kingdom (US) (UK) – or if you want a quick hit on irrigation in Bali, there’s this.
For the pencil, there’s only one place to go: Leonard Read’s classic, I, Pencil.
And spreadsheet enthusiasts can enjoy Planet Money’s special episode, imaginatively titled Spreadsheets!
And if you’d like to pick up a copy of my own book, it has received some lovely reviews. It’s out now in the UK and in the US (with the title Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy). Do feel free to order copies for all your friends…