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Silk: A World History
In a gorgeous history that spans continents and millennia, Aarathi Prasad weaves together the complex story of the queen of fabrics. Through the scientists who have studied silk, and the biology of the animals from which it has been drawn, Prasad explores the global, natural, and cultural history (and future) of a unique material that has fascinated the world for thousands of years. Silk—prized for its lightness, luminosity, and beauty—is also one of the strongest biological materials ever known. More than a century ago, it was used to make the first bulletproof vest, and yet science has barely even begun to tap its potential. As the technologies it has inspired—from sutures to pharmaceuticals, replacement body parts to holograms—continue to be developed in laboratories around the world, they are now also beginning to offer a desperately needed, sustainable alternative to the plastics choking our planet. Aarathi Prasad’s Silk is a cultural and biological history from the origins and ancient routes of silk to the biologists who learned the secrets of silk-producing animals, manipulating the habitats and physiologies of moths, spiders, and mollusks. Because there is more than one silk, there is more than one story of silk. More than one road, more than one people who discovered it, and wove its threads. From the moths of China, Indonesia, and India to the spiders of South America and Madagascar and the silk-producing mollusks of the Mediterranean, Silk is a book rich in the passionate connections made by people of science to the diversity of the animal world. It is an intoxicating read, a mix of biography and science, that not only brings to life the vast, winding history of silk, but also looks to its future as a resource with incredible, untapped potential.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published April 30, 2024
About the author
Aarathi Prasad
5 books27 followersAarathi Prasad was born in London to an Indian mother and a Trinidadian father and was educated in the West Indies and the UK. After a PhD in genetics she worked in research, science policy, and communication. She has presented documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. She is the author of Like A Virgin: How Science is Redesigning the Rules of Sex; and In the Bonesetter’s Waiting Room: travels through Indian Medicine. She works at University College London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
February 14, 2024
I received an uncorrected e-proof ARC of “Silk: A World History” by Aarathi Prasad from NetGalley and William Morrow/HarpersCollins Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Prasad’s microhistory of silk—from its earliest time to the present—is a fascinating tale and one that many readers will be excited to hear about, particularly people who are interested in textiles, science, and scientific history.
It appears that Prasad modeled this book on Kurlansky’s 2002 “Salt: A World History.” In fact, all one needs to do is to compare both title pages. Like Kurlansky, Prasad arranged this book in three sections (Part One: Moths; Part Two: Silken Shells, Golden Orbs; and Part Three: Reinvention) and used a total of twenty-six chapters. And like Kurlansky, Prasad also avoided the use of in-text citations, footnotes, and endnotes within the text in order to appeal to a general readership. However, there was one main difference between both published microhistories: language.
Prasad’s text is more “scientific” than Kurlansky’s. And when I say that, I’m not being negative. Prasad is an academic and we are trained to write in a certain style and to use particular formats. However, while our training ensures that we can write scholarly articles, get published in prestigious journals, and understand what other scientists are saying (and writing), it often interferes with our abilities to grab the public’s attention.
Fans of Kurlansky’s previous works will notice the difference. Kurlansky gives information in a way that is both easily and quickly absorbed, interspersing data from multiple cultures and eras. Prasad, on the other hand, focuses more on a single subject at a single time—providing more detailed information with a writing style that is more geared towards an educated public. Once again, this isn’t bad, it’s just different. What readers will appreciate about Prasad’s book over Kurlansky’s, though, is that Prasad has credentials; she’s an academic scholar. And it is this scholarship that I admire and trust.
Before reading this book, I had no idea that silk was manufactured from species other than the Bombyx mori silkworm—like other silkworms, mollusks, crustaceans, and even spiders. I was always under the impression that silk was only produced in ancient times in China, but Prasad revealed how silk was actually woven by South American indigenous tribes and Indians, among others.
Prasad wove each of the chapters together seamlessly and she was able to take me, as a reader, on an exciting voyage around the world. While Kurlansky did the same, he focused most of his writing on Western societies, and in particular, Europe and the United States. I believe that Prasad paid far more attention to non-Western societies and non-Western people, which really is a breath of fresh air. And while Kurlansky’s “Salt: A World History” dedicated a single chapter on IIndia—focusing on salt and Gandhi—Prasad was able to take us further back in time to show how wild silk was produced by an ancient civilization.
I definitely recommend this book and do believe that it would, and will, appeal to the legion of Kurlansky fans. However, while Prasad does replicate the format of the book, the writing style is entirely different, so readers should not expect a carbon copy of Kurlansky. Instead, readers will find an extremely informative, reliable, well-written, and fascinating history of silk and silk production around the world that is written by what appears to be a formidable scientist.
It appears that Prasad modeled this book on Kurlansky’s 2002 “Salt: A World History.” In fact, all one needs to do is to compare both title pages. Like Kurlansky, Prasad arranged this book in three sections (Part One: Moths; Part Two: Silken Shells, Golden Orbs; and Part Three: Reinvention) and used a total of twenty-six chapters. And like Kurlansky, Prasad also avoided the use of in-text citations, footnotes, and endnotes within the text in order to appeal to a general readership. However, there was one main difference between both published microhistories: language.
Prasad’s text is more “scientific” than Kurlansky’s. And when I say that, I’m not being negative. Prasad is an academic and we are trained to write in a certain style and to use particular formats. However, while our training ensures that we can write scholarly articles, get published in prestigious journals, and understand what other scientists are saying (and writing), it often interferes with our abilities to grab the public’s attention.
Fans of Kurlansky’s previous works will notice the difference. Kurlansky gives information in a way that is both easily and quickly absorbed, interspersing data from multiple cultures and eras. Prasad, on the other hand, focuses more on a single subject at a single time—providing more detailed information with a writing style that is more geared towards an educated public. Once again, this isn’t bad, it’s just different. What readers will appreciate about Prasad’s book over Kurlansky’s, though, is that Prasad has credentials; she’s an academic scholar. And it is this scholarship that I admire and trust.
Before reading this book, I had no idea that silk was manufactured from species other than the Bombyx mori silkworm—like other silkworms, mollusks, crustaceans, and even spiders. I was always under the impression that silk was only produced in ancient times in China, but Prasad revealed how silk was actually woven by South American indigenous tribes and Indians, among others.
Prasad wove each of the chapters together seamlessly and she was able to take me, as a reader, on an exciting voyage around the world. While Kurlansky did the same, he focused most of his writing on Western societies, and in particular, Europe and the United States. I believe that Prasad paid far more attention to non-Western societies and non-Western people, which really is a breath of fresh air. And while Kurlansky’s “Salt: A World History” dedicated a single chapter on IIndia—focusing on salt and Gandhi—Prasad was able to take us further back in time to show how wild silk was produced by an ancient civilization.
I definitely recommend this book and do believe that it would, and will, appeal to the legion of Kurlansky fans. However, while Prasad does replicate the format of the book, the writing style is entirely different, so readers should not expect a carbon copy of Kurlansky. Instead, readers will find an extremely informative, reliable, well-written, and fascinating history of silk and silk production around the world that is written by what appears to be a formidable scientist.
April 30, 2024
What is Silk?
I have mixed feelings about Aarathi Prasad's Silk: A World History. It belongs to a nonfiction genre I call "history of substances". Notable books in that genre are Amy Butler Greenfield's A Perfect Red, which is about cochineal, the red dye that comes from the cochineal bug, and Sophie D. Coe's The True History of Chocolate.
I loved both of those books -- they were as fascinating as novels. I am sorry to say, though, that Silk was less gripping. By the time I reached the end, I was eager to get there. There was one specific problem and some more general ones.
Cochineal is a very specific thing -- it comes from the cochineal bug and no other source. That made Greenfield's job in A Perfect Red circumscribed. Coe likewise had a well-defined job in describing the history of chocolate -- it's a product of the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao.
Silk is NOT just one thing. Most of the silk you have ever seen is the product of the silkworm moth Bombyx mori. However, other moths and butterflies make silk for their cocoons. For instance, there are wild moths in India whose silk has been collected and woven into fabric by Indian women, including members of Prasad's own family. Thus we hear a lot about these wild silks. Spiders also spin fibers that are called silk, several different kinds, for egg cases and webs. Prasad even claims that the fan mussel Pinna nobilis makes silk. Other animals make fibers, too -- everyone knows about hair, which we call wool when it's woven into fabric. But no one on Earth thinks that wool is a form of silk.
Nowhere in Silk will you find a definition of the word "silk". At about 50% of Silk I looked at the Wikipedia page for silk, hoping to find a definition. I found nothing very useful down that rabbit hole. Silk fibers are made of a protein called fibroin (spidroins in the case of spider silks), but as far as I can figure "fibroin" is basically just defined as the protein of which silk fibers are made. Prasad makes it clear that there is no single chemical description of silk, nor a single evolutionary origin. I'm not saying I doubt that the fibers of the fan mussel are silk, but I do wish that Prasad had clarified her reasons for including it.
Besides this Prasad writes in a flowery style that sacrifices brevity and sometimes clarity. And she often digresses to tell stories about the personal lives of men and women who investigated silk, and about their political environments. Some readers will undoubtedly find all this as fascinating as Prasad herself does.
I know a great deal more about silk now than I did before I read Silk, and that is a good thing. I do not, however, know what exactly silk is, or what Prasad uses the word to mean.
I thank Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an advance reader copy of Silk: A World History. This review expresses my honest opinion.
Blog review.
I have mixed feelings about Aarathi Prasad's Silk: A World History. It belongs to a nonfiction genre I call "history of substances". Notable books in that genre are Amy Butler Greenfield's A Perfect Red, which is about cochineal, the red dye that comes from the cochineal bug, and Sophie D. Coe's The True History of Chocolate.
I loved both of those books -- they were as fascinating as novels. I am sorry to say, though, that Silk was less gripping. By the time I reached the end, I was eager to get there. There was one specific problem and some more general ones.
Cochineal is a very specific thing -- it comes from the cochineal bug and no other source. That made Greenfield's job in A Perfect Red circumscribed. Coe likewise had a well-defined job in describing the history of chocolate -- it's a product of the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao.
Silk is NOT just one thing. Most of the silk you have ever seen is the product of the silkworm moth Bombyx mori. However, other moths and butterflies make silk for their cocoons. For instance, there are wild moths in India whose silk has been collected and woven into fabric by Indian women, including members of Prasad's own family. Thus we hear a lot about these wild silks. Spiders also spin fibers that are called silk, several different kinds, for egg cases and webs. Prasad even claims that the fan mussel Pinna nobilis makes silk. Other animals make fibers, too -- everyone knows about hair, which we call wool when it's woven into fabric. But no one on Earth thinks that wool is a form of silk.
Nowhere in Silk will you find a definition of the word "silk". At about 50% of Silk I looked at the Wikipedia page for silk, hoping to find a definition. I found nothing very useful down that rabbit hole. Silk fibers are made of a protein called fibroin (spidroins in the case of spider silks), but as far as I can figure "fibroin" is basically just defined as the protein of which silk fibers are made. Prasad makes it clear that there is no single chemical description of silk, nor a single evolutionary origin. I'm not saying I doubt that the fibers of the fan mussel are silk, but I do wish that Prasad had clarified her reasons for including it.
Besides this Prasad writes in a flowery style that sacrifices brevity and sometimes clarity. And she often digresses to tell stories about the personal lives of men and women who investigated silk, and about their political environments. Some readers will undoubtedly find all this as fascinating as Prasad herself does.
I know a great deal more about silk now than I did before I read Silk, and that is a good thing. I do not, however, know what exactly silk is, or what Prasad uses the word to mean.
I thank Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an advance reader copy of Silk: A World History. This review expresses my honest opinion.
Blog review.
April 11, 2024
I have mixed feelings about this book. The first part, about the Bombyx mori and other silk moths, I read in one or two sittings, utterly fascinated by the biographies, biologies, and histories that came together into a narrative about how humans have shaped silk production for their own ends. The second section, about different animals that make silk, was also incredibly informative, though lacked the strong, unifying thread that made the first part compulsively readable. The third section, about modern experiments with silk, was disjointed and yet also repetitive. This part also serves as our conclusion, with only one paragraph at the very end joining the entire book together. The book would have perhaps been more successful if the third section was condensed into a single chapter summarizing these technological advances, giving space for some of the unifying themes to have their own, concluding chapter. Throughout the book, we see how humans have consistently struggled to make silk industries economically viable, since, despite everything, nature will do what it wants to do. We see how, even in attempts to make more environmentally sustainable materials, humans have unavoidably harmed these communities of silk-producing animals. I know that maybe what I got out of the book will not be the same as others, but we are truly left with almost no overarching thoughts from the author, so at least something would have been appreciated.
At its best, this book is awe-inspiring, passionate, and emotional. I was actually, physically sad reading about the naturalist who was forcibly removed from his spider collection in Paraguay. The book brings attention to some amazing naturalists throughout history, and, for that reason alone, I would still be glad I read it.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for giving me an early review copy in exchange for my review!
At its best, this book is awe-inspiring, passionate, and emotional. I was actually, physically sad reading about the naturalist who was forcibly removed from his spider collection in Paraguay. The book brings attention to some amazing naturalists throughout history, and, for that reason alone, I would still be glad I read it.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for giving me an early review copy in exchange for my review!
May 11, 2024
More a history of silkworms and silkworm study & cultivation vs the history of silk as a fabric with a cultural impact...and I was hoping for more of the latter, as I'm not a STEM sort of person. That said, it's very well laid out for the layman biologist.
February 1, 2024
Thanks to Goodreads and William Morrows for the ARC! To preface, I came into this as an arachnologist and silk researcher, so I certainly didn’t approach it as I might when reading a book unrelated to my field.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of non-silk worm content; given the degree to which silk worms have dominated silk historically, I wouldn’t have expected an entire section on other silk-producers.
It’s obviously extremely well researched; I think the author being a biologist (albeit a different field) definitely comes across. I also like the inclusion of numerous historical anecdotes and images. These components really help to avoid it reading as a dense history text.
The reinvention section is the truly speculative area - many of the projects mentioned are definitely further away from success than the average person might think, given the information here.
My only true negative takeaway is that the language seemed a bit stiff. Regardless, I can get past that and still find it to be an enjoyable book that highlights a biomaterial that really is more than the textile people think of it as.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of non-silk worm content; given the degree to which silk worms have dominated silk historically, I wouldn’t have expected an entire section on other silk-producers.
It’s obviously extremely well researched; I think the author being a biologist (albeit a different field) definitely comes across. I also like the inclusion of numerous historical anecdotes and images. These components really help to avoid it reading as a dense history text.
The reinvention section is the truly speculative area - many of the projects mentioned are definitely further away from success than the average person might think, given the information here.
My only true negative takeaway is that the language seemed a bit stiff. Regardless, I can get past that and still find it to be an enjoyable book that highlights a biomaterial that really is more than the textile people think of it as.
May 26, 2024
Good premise and structure, but needed much tighter editing out of extraneous details and names to keep the focus on the topic at hand. Ultimately I ended up skimming a lot looking for parts that were focused on silk and not the huge array of characters.
March 13, 2024
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
I struggled to maintain interest in this book. The exhaustive detail with which Prasad recounts everything known to man about silkworms, silk-producing mollusks, and spider silk outpaced whatever initial curiosity I had for the subject. I did finish the book, but more out of a sense of obligation than any desire to know more. It's clear that Prasad has assembled a huge amount of research, but I wish large chunks of it had been cut.
The book is also oddly eurocentric given the topic. For a material that is most associated with Asian countries like China, Japan, and India, the history is shown exclusively through the lens of European and American scientists and industrialists. It's just a strange choice.
Several reviews have mentioned the inclusion of the showdown at the OK Corral and Genghis Kahn in the book as highlights of how interesting the history of silk can be. You should know that these are minor entries that do not get mentioned until the final 20% of the book.
I struggled to maintain interest in this book. The exhaustive detail with which Prasad recounts everything known to man about silkworms, silk-producing mollusks, and spider silk outpaced whatever initial curiosity I had for the subject. I did finish the book, but more out of a sense of obligation than any desire to know more. It's clear that Prasad has assembled a huge amount of research, but I wish large chunks of it had been cut.
The book is also oddly eurocentric given the topic. For a material that is most associated with Asian countries like China, Japan, and India, the history is shown exclusively through the lens of European and American scientists and industrialists. It's just a strange choice.
Several reviews have mentioned the inclusion of the showdown at the OK Corral and Genghis Kahn in the book as highlights of how interesting the history of silk can be. You should know that these are minor entries that do not get mentioned until the final 20% of the book.
March 15, 2024
It's always nice to be surprised, and Silk definitely surprised me in a good way. This is absolutely fascinating reading, and some of it is the subject (who knew you could get silk from spiders or make bulletproof vests out of silk?), but a lot of it is the writing. There are a lot of good stories be told, and Prasad is an expert at giving us what matters while never letting the narrative drag.
(I received this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway.)
(I received this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway.)
May 21, 2024
For a non fiction book, this was pretty interesting. I did zone out at times, but overall it was informative, I learned new things and and it read a little like a text book but WAY more fascinating! Lol
Especially loved the part about bullet proof cloth, and learning about the Sea silk and how a whole group of people used silk in an area later believed no one had used silk. There was the whole historic mystery of why they stopped using it 🙊
Then there were the spiders! And how people have worked to learn to dye these threads.
All very good stuff. I even had arguments with my sister about what is and isn't considered "real silk" lol
So yeah, while I did lose focus on some parts, what I did retain really interested me and so I think it deserves 4 stars if not 5.
Definitely worth a look if you're into history, fashion, or textiles 👍
Especially loved the part about bullet proof cloth, and learning about the Sea silk and how a whole group of people used silk in an area later believed no one had used silk. There was the whole historic mystery of why they stopped using it 🙊
Then there were the spiders! And how people have worked to learn to dye these threads.
All very good stuff. I even had arguments with my sister about what is and isn't considered "real silk" lol
So yeah, while I did lose focus on some parts, what I did retain really interested me and so I think it deserves 4 stars if not 5.
Definitely worth a look if you're into history, fashion, or textiles 👍
June 4, 2024
The rating is entirely my fault, not the author's. I was hoping for something a little bit more historical, and this book was much more geared towards naturalists. I gave up on it 2/3rds of the way through because it wasn't bringing me any value; way too much minutiae on the biology of the topic. I was expecting more history on the global trade or social impact of silk. Again, totally my fault for expecting something this book isn't intended for.
April 26, 2024
Personally, this was just not my cup of tea. I believe in the giveaway postings it was listed as art, but should have been science. Anyone such as an entomologist would love this book. I made it thru a little less than halfway before I gave up. I was expecting beautiful pictures of various silks and items made from silk, but what it basically covers are the different types of moths and the type of silk they make. It covers moths from all over the world, their life cycles and the types of silk threads used for cocoons. Again not my cup of tea, but good for entomology study.
February 13, 2024
Listen, any author that can write about silk and somehow insert a section on the Gunfight at the OK Corral deserves a lot of credit. Aarathi Prasad's Silk contains many of these anecdotes and, unfortunately, it becomes a problem.
Prasad is writing about silk from a global perspective. This is billed as a cultural and biological history of the material. Prasad has done tremendous research. There is so much in this book to learn about and no stone is left unturned. However, I found myself very detached from the book. I was very confused by this feeling because there is excellent work done in this book, but I realized it never really became a fluid and complete story.
The main issue is that although silk is the subject of the book, Prasad regularly jumps between time periods and characters. There is a lot of dates in this book and it becomes very distracting. Characters will emerge in stories and then might disappear before reappearing chapters later. As a reader, I found myself checking out and searching for the next cool fact even though it felt unconnected from everything else. Ultimately, I learned a lot about the material we call silk, but I can't quite explain what Prasad wanted me to take from this as a theme.
I would not warn anyone away from this book, but I would warn people that you need to be very interested in the topic before diving in.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and William Morrow.)
Prasad is writing about silk from a global perspective. This is billed as a cultural and biological history of the material. Prasad has done tremendous research. There is so much in this book to learn about and no stone is left unturned. However, I found myself very detached from the book. I was very confused by this feeling because there is excellent work done in this book, but I realized it never really became a fluid and complete story.
The main issue is that although silk is the subject of the book, Prasad regularly jumps between time periods and characters. There is a lot of dates in this book and it becomes very distracting. Characters will emerge in stories and then might disappear before reappearing chapters later. As a reader, I found myself checking out and searching for the next cool fact even though it felt unconnected from everything else. Ultimately, I learned a lot about the material we call silk, but I can't quite explain what Prasad wanted me to take from this as a theme.
I would not warn anyone away from this book, but I would warn people that you need to be very interested in the topic before diving in.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and William Morrow.)
February 29, 2024
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher William Morrow for an advance copy of the this new book on a history of a fiber that has captivated, and held many in its web, and one that still has the ability to both stun in fashion, and fascinate for the innovations that are still being discovered.
As a person who enjoys both science fiction and history I have always been annoyed by shows that talk about great strides humans made in the past, and how they must of had hope help from aliens in someway. How could primitive humans build this, how could primitive humans create that? What made people think a small creature could make a material that could be made into clothing? Granted a look at our political landscape, and a few minutes on social media will make most people think we are the dumbest generation. This intellectual curiosity sprung in many ways from need. Today we flick a swith to turn on a light, or to give us heat. Clothing comes from a touchscreen, ordered will sitting on the couch. Human survival once depended on skills and crafts. That and the fact that even our ancestors liked nice things. Silk: A World History, is a story about the making of nice things, how silk was cultivated, the uses ideas and many of the odd people and circumstances that draw people to silks carefully threaded together in this book by Aarathi Prasad.
Silk is a fascinating construct, one of the strongest biological materials constructed. Prasad begins the book with her own tales of working with silk, seeing the dresses made by her mother and aunts. Prasad was also able to get some silkworms of her own, fed them with mulberry leaves and watch as they turned into moths. Prasad looks at some of the people involved in early studies of the silkworm, of a woman who had wealth and the ability to paint nature and her own explorations into silkworms, and the Vatican scholar who spent most of his life determining how silkworms work. Prasad looks at the early cultivators in the East, and how other people in far different countries were able to cultivate different animals for their own silk manufacturing. Silk appears in quite a few different historical situations from assassinations to famous gunfights, and even now humans are still finding new uses for silk in the medical field.
A book that one would expect to quite simple, but one that really travels time, space human ingenuity, and the wonder of nature. There is a lot about science, biology, even the history of science, but there is also a lot of tales of thinkers, odd fellows and odd ladies, and new views of history. The science might seem alot, but Prasad is a very good writer and is able to parse it all in such a way that everything makes sense. The biology, the anatomy might seem odd, but one understands at the again. Prasad also has an interesting style, a literate style especially in dealing with these silk devotees. Slightly removed, but with a style that really keeps the reader interested. The book does not have a chronological structure, approaching different themes, historical events, and then spinning off in different directions the next chapter.
A very interesting science book, and one that I learned quite a lot from about different subjects. One I think quite a lot of people will also want to wrap themselves in.
As a person who enjoys both science fiction and history I have always been annoyed by shows that talk about great strides humans made in the past, and how they must of had hope help from aliens in someway. How could primitive humans build this, how could primitive humans create that? What made people think a small creature could make a material that could be made into clothing? Granted a look at our political landscape, and a few minutes on social media will make most people think we are the dumbest generation. This intellectual curiosity sprung in many ways from need. Today we flick a swith to turn on a light, or to give us heat. Clothing comes from a touchscreen, ordered will sitting on the couch. Human survival once depended on skills and crafts. That and the fact that even our ancestors liked nice things. Silk: A World History, is a story about the making of nice things, how silk was cultivated, the uses ideas and many of the odd people and circumstances that draw people to silks carefully threaded together in this book by Aarathi Prasad.
Silk is a fascinating construct, one of the strongest biological materials constructed. Prasad begins the book with her own tales of working with silk, seeing the dresses made by her mother and aunts. Prasad was also able to get some silkworms of her own, fed them with mulberry leaves and watch as they turned into moths. Prasad looks at some of the people involved in early studies of the silkworm, of a woman who had wealth and the ability to paint nature and her own explorations into silkworms, and the Vatican scholar who spent most of his life determining how silkworms work. Prasad looks at the early cultivators in the East, and how other people in far different countries were able to cultivate different animals for their own silk manufacturing. Silk appears in quite a few different historical situations from assassinations to famous gunfights, and even now humans are still finding new uses for silk in the medical field.
A book that one would expect to quite simple, but one that really travels time, space human ingenuity, and the wonder of nature. There is a lot about science, biology, even the history of science, but there is also a lot of tales of thinkers, odd fellows and odd ladies, and new views of history. The science might seem alot, but Prasad is a very good writer and is able to parse it all in such a way that everything makes sense. The biology, the anatomy might seem odd, but one understands at the again. Prasad also has an interesting style, a literate style especially in dealing with these silk devotees. Slightly removed, but with a style that really keeps the reader interested. The book does not have a chronological structure, approaching different themes, historical events, and then spinning off in different directions the next chapter.
A very interesting science book, and one that I learned quite a lot from about different subjects. One I think quite a lot of people will also want to wrap themselves in.
April 30, 2024
Known as one of the strongest organic materials produced, silk has long been used by humans for a variety of purposes. In Silk: A World History Aarathi Prasad delves into this long history, through archeological discoveries, the work of scientists and naturalists and highlights of success and failures in commodifying silks.
Silk is divided in to three sections. The first, and longest, focuses on silk from moths globally. An important revelation is that the oldest discovered human silk artifacts are from Indian. From their this section focuses primarily on the cultural and scientific aspects, there is some detailing of the historically importance of the Silk Road, but much more of a focus on how different peoples bred silkworms and harvested them for a variety of purposes obvious such as clothing and fertilizer to less well known uses such as food flavoring, dyes or traditional medicine. Prasad details the lives and works of naturalists from the 1600s to 1800s who traveled the world looking for caterpillars and moths as they captured samples or depicted them through art. It was a risky undertaking, in some cases leading to death, blindness or illness. It was also an implicit part of colonialism, the search for these insects sometimes an expansion from general explorations or key discoveries or understandings gained from natives left unacknowledged or credited.
Section two details two other natural types of silk: sea silk from mollusks and spider silk. Sea silk looks mostly at the Mediterranean world, with it being so difficult to acquire or create cloth that it was a rare commodity typically only enjoyed by emperors or royalty. Sea silk now faces near extinction due to climate change. The spider silk section is the most engaging, full of both humor and possibility. Many of the personalities detailed note their difficulties of gathering sufficient spiders without them eating each other, producing adequate amounts of spider silk or the various tests they put the silk through to prove its strength. None of them found a way to make things commercially viable, but some did create clothing or household goods. The spiders also show the importance of record keeping and access to information as some of those working with spiders discovered the work of their antecedents later in there work, finding that they had not discovered a new path, but a time delayed parallel invention.
The final section looks at silk through its promise as a material to be used in healthcare, a sustainable replacement for plastics or its historic use as a material of personal protection. The latter looks at bullet proof vests or even the use of silk shirts by the Mongols. For healthcare, the possibilities offer flashes of the potential near future, with silk as a delivery system for medicines, framework for rebuilding or modifying body parts, or even just emplacing everyday technologies in our bodies.
Silk is a deep but accessible microhistory, succeeding the genre's goals of taking a single object of focus and delineating its development and usage, cultural past, present research and future possibilities.
Recommended for readers interested: in wonders of natures, microhistories, human creativity or cultural histories.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Silk is divided in to three sections. The first, and longest, focuses on silk from moths globally. An important revelation is that the oldest discovered human silk artifacts are from Indian. From their this section focuses primarily on the cultural and scientific aspects, there is some detailing of the historically importance of the Silk Road, but much more of a focus on how different peoples bred silkworms and harvested them for a variety of purposes obvious such as clothing and fertilizer to less well known uses such as food flavoring, dyes or traditional medicine. Prasad details the lives and works of naturalists from the 1600s to 1800s who traveled the world looking for caterpillars and moths as they captured samples or depicted them through art. It was a risky undertaking, in some cases leading to death, blindness or illness. It was also an implicit part of colonialism, the search for these insects sometimes an expansion from general explorations or key discoveries or understandings gained from natives left unacknowledged or credited.
Section two details two other natural types of silk: sea silk from mollusks and spider silk. Sea silk looks mostly at the Mediterranean world, with it being so difficult to acquire or create cloth that it was a rare commodity typically only enjoyed by emperors or royalty. Sea silk now faces near extinction due to climate change. The spider silk section is the most engaging, full of both humor and possibility. Many of the personalities detailed note their difficulties of gathering sufficient spiders without them eating each other, producing adequate amounts of spider silk or the various tests they put the silk through to prove its strength. None of them found a way to make things commercially viable, but some did create clothing or household goods. The spiders also show the importance of record keeping and access to information as some of those working with spiders discovered the work of their antecedents later in there work, finding that they had not discovered a new path, but a time delayed parallel invention.
The final section looks at silk through its promise as a material to be used in healthcare, a sustainable replacement for plastics or its historic use as a material of personal protection. The latter looks at bullet proof vests or even the use of silk shirts by the Mongols. For healthcare, the possibilities offer flashes of the potential near future, with silk as a delivery system for medicines, framework for rebuilding or modifying body parts, or even just emplacing everyday technologies in our bodies.
Silk is a deep but accessible microhistory, succeeding the genre's goals of taking a single object of focus and delineating its development and usage, cultural past, present research and future possibilities.
Recommended for readers interested: in wonders of natures, microhistories, human creativity or cultural histories.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
May 1, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 4/30/2024. A very much so non-fiction book about exactly what the title says but more, this book covers not just the history of the glorious fabric, silk, but also the history of the creatures who make it and the people who have studied it and worked with it and obsessed over it. It is thorough in a way that astounds and goes to lengths I had not expected. Honestly, picking up the book, I expected something simply along the lines of the silk trade/Silk Roads and uses of the fabric. Not so much. Prasad goes much further - not only covering the social history but also the biology and the economy and the variety of silks that have existed and continue to exist in this world.
From ancient cities and fossils to modern medical uses and "spider goats," Prasad takes her time and gives equal weight to each section of the umbrella concept of silk. The bulk of the book breaks down into the three main silk-producing creatures - the varieties of silkworms/caterpillars from all over the world, the various mollusks that create fibrous anchors that become "seasilk" (in particular the very endangered pen shell), and the wide range of spiders. Environments, the ways the products differ and compare, the history of use and cultivation - nothing escapes her searching eye. This can make it a bit heavy in places and it is certainly not a quick read but it is more than worth it if you have any interest in the way humans and nature and art and manufacturing intersect. Unlike things like linen and cotton, silk has always had its own mystique and allure. Discovering more about the history and construction of it only makes it more wonderous. Seriously. How many of us, as children, would make faces and go ewww when thinking about stuff coming out of worm and spider butts? But then go on to grow up and pay through the nose for a scarf made by that very stuff? It defies belief.
Plus some of the personalities who enter the stories of these creatures and the production of silk are just as wild and strange as any giant spider or little worm. You have the dabblers, the generalists... Then you have people like Italo Diana who was so darn into the traditional art of making sea-silk that he opened an actual school in his home to spread the knowledge? Or Termeyer who was downright obsessed with his little spider buddies that he would regularly surround himself with thousands of them while working out how to turn their silk into usable threads? Then there are the current scientists who now can play with genes and electron microscopes and chemical compositions.
As I said, this is not a light, fluffy read but it is also not impenetrable. There is a lot that is human as well as failure and success in the story of silk. It is something worth learning about - if only to make you appreciate things that were and could be. After all, silk and the current research around it might just help solve some of our plastic mess and wouldn't that be the most elegant thing ever?
From ancient cities and fossils to modern medical uses and "spider goats," Prasad takes her time and gives equal weight to each section of the umbrella concept of silk. The bulk of the book breaks down into the three main silk-producing creatures - the varieties of silkworms/caterpillars from all over the world, the various mollusks that create fibrous anchors that become "seasilk" (in particular the very endangered pen shell), and the wide range of spiders. Environments, the ways the products differ and compare, the history of use and cultivation - nothing escapes her searching eye. This can make it a bit heavy in places and it is certainly not a quick read but it is more than worth it if you have any interest in the way humans and nature and art and manufacturing intersect. Unlike things like linen and cotton, silk has always had its own mystique and allure. Discovering more about the history and construction of it only makes it more wonderous. Seriously. How many of us, as children, would make faces and go ewww when thinking about stuff coming out of worm and spider butts? But then go on to grow up and pay through the nose for a scarf made by that very stuff? It defies belief.
Plus some of the personalities who enter the stories of these creatures and the production of silk are just as wild and strange as any giant spider or little worm. You have the dabblers, the generalists... Then you have people like Italo Diana who was so darn into the traditional art of making sea-silk that he opened an actual school in his home to spread the knowledge? Or Termeyer who was downright obsessed with his little spider buddies that he would regularly surround himself with thousands of them while working out how to turn their silk into usable threads? Then there are the current scientists who now can play with genes and electron microscopes and chemical compositions.
As I said, this is not a light, fluffy read but it is also not impenetrable. There is a lot that is human as well as failure and success in the story of silk. It is something worth learning about - if only to make you appreciate things that were and could be. After all, silk and the current research around it might just help solve some of our plastic mess and wouldn't that be the most elegant thing ever?
May 15, 2024
What an absolutely fascinating book. Biologist Aarathi Prasad traces the origins of silk from ancient China to today - and it is a much more complex and interesting story than I ever could have imagined. Like many, the most I knew about silk is that it is produced by silk moths and was so prized that the Eurasian trade network from the 2nd century BCE until the 1500s was called the Silk Road. What I didn’t know is that there are many kinds of silkworms, all of which originated in different places, are harvested in different ways, and have different properties. I also didn’t know about silk harvested from spiders, and I most certainly didn’t know that there are scientists around the world experimenting with ways to use spider silk (or materials with similar properties) for medical, sports, military, household and other applications.
Throughout the book, I was fascinated by, and a little concerned about, harvesting methods, which ranged from passively collecting and drying used cocoons to restraining spiders and tickling their tummies to get them to release their web silk (this method seems fairly labor intensive to me, and not a little disgusting). The number of silk worms and spiders needed to produce the amount of silk needed for even one garment is astounding, and it’s no secret why the woven cloth has been so precious. But the good news is that scientists are not only seeking ways to produce silk in greater quantities, but to do it in a sustainable way that allows the insects to proceed with their life cycle after harvesting. They are also working on re-creating some of the properties of spider silk in particular, using mushrooms and other plant life which will be kinder to the planet..
In the near future, according to the author, we may be able to replace many of the items which currently require plastic with silk products. This includes cornea replacements, micro thin needles which do not puncture the skin, fabric which is thin and light but can withstand even military uses, and much more. I was amazed by the description of a scientist who discovered a way to “impregnate” spider silk into the top of a violin, allowing the acoustic of the instrument to be personalized for each user.
Although the research required to put together this information was immense, Prasad writes in an accessible style that does not talk down to the reader but allows us to understand and enjoy throughout. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Throughout the book, I was fascinated by, and a little concerned about, harvesting methods, which ranged from passively collecting and drying used cocoons to restraining spiders and tickling their tummies to get them to release their web silk (this method seems fairly labor intensive to me, and not a little disgusting). The number of silk worms and spiders needed to produce the amount of silk needed for even one garment is astounding, and it’s no secret why the woven cloth has been so precious. But the good news is that scientists are not only seeking ways to produce silk in greater quantities, but to do it in a sustainable way that allows the insects to proceed with their life cycle after harvesting. They are also working on re-creating some of the properties of spider silk in particular, using mushrooms and other plant life which will be kinder to the planet..
In the near future, according to the author, we may be able to replace many of the items which currently require plastic with silk products. This includes cornea replacements, micro thin needles which do not puncture the skin, fabric which is thin and light but can withstand even military uses, and much more. I was amazed by the description of a scientist who discovered a way to “impregnate” spider silk into the top of a violin, allowing the acoustic of the instrument to be personalized for each user.
Although the research required to put together this information was immense, Prasad writes in an accessible style that does not talk down to the reader but allows us to understand and enjoy throughout. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
March 6, 2024
Being a fiber artist, I jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of this when it came my way. Silk!
This is not a book about fabric, it's a book about the animals that produce various kinds of silk fibers, and in most cases the scientists who tried to figure out how they could be more easily harvested and used. So you have to come to it with proper expectations. Prasad is a scientist and comes to this subject with a detailed understanding of the biology of the animals in question, and there is a lot of zoological information here.
At first, I was very put off by this - I'm not a scientist and kept waiting for information about how the different kinds of silk work in cloth. It's not there. Once I realized what kind of book this was, I was able to somewhat adjust my attitude and get more out of it. I never knew exactly what sea silk is, for example, and although it was very popular in blends with wool a decade or two ago, evidently the mollusks that produce it are now endangered and so there isn't sea silk anymore. The history of the bombyx sericulture in China was not unfamiliar, but the range of wild-gathered silks in India (muga, eri...) is something I've only barely heard about. The people who tried to find ways to harvest spider silk were, as Prasad says, obsessed to the point of doing slightly weird things to harvest the silk right out of the spider. While I believe what she says about the properties of spider silk, I'm not inclined to want to seek any of that out.
Her ultimate conclusions about the future of silk in a world that is going to have to stop making fabrics out of toxic substances (petrochemical fibers like acrylic) or natural fibers that cause environmental devastation by what's needed to grow and process them (cotton) were thought-provoking, and I hope we can return to fibers like wool and silk (despite PETA's deranged publicity campaigns, shearing sheep does NOT harm them...don't get me started on that! sheep MUST be sheared at least annually to remain healthy).
Since the book is not about cloth, there are no gorgeous pictures other than the one on the cover. If you have a biological bent at all and are interested in the history and technology of various kinds of silk, I recommend this. If you want to know about how the different kinds of silk work in fabric applications, maybe the Worm Spit website is still running?
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read an advance copy of this book.
This is not a book about fabric, it's a book about the animals that produce various kinds of silk fibers, and in most cases the scientists who tried to figure out how they could be more easily harvested and used. So you have to come to it with proper expectations. Prasad is a scientist and comes to this subject with a detailed understanding of the biology of the animals in question, and there is a lot of zoological information here.
At first, I was very put off by this - I'm not a scientist and kept waiting for information about how the different kinds of silk work in cloth. It's not there. Once I realized what kind of book this was, I was able to somewhat adjust my attitude and get more out of it. I never knew exactly what sea silk is, for example, and although it was very popular in blends with wool a decade or two ago, evidently the mollusks that produce it are now endangered and so there isn't sea silk anymore. The history of the bombyx sericulture in China was not unfamiliar, but the range of wild-gathered silks in India (muga, eri...) is something I've only barely heard about. The people who tried to find ways to harvest spider silk were, as Prasad says, obsessed to the point of doing slightly weird things to harvest the silk right out of the spider. While I believe what she says about the properties of spider silk, I'm not inclined to want to seek any of that out.
Her ultimate conclusions about the future of silk in a world that is going to have to stop making fabrics out of toxic substances (petrochemical fibers like acrylic) or natural fibers that cause environmental devastation by what's needed to grow and process them (cotton) were thought-provoking, and I hope we can return to fibers like wool and silk (despite PETA's deranged publicity campaigns, shearing sheep does NOT harm them...don't get me started on that! sheep MUST be sheared at least annually to remain healthy).
Since the book is not about cloth, there are no gorgeous pictures other than the one on the cover. If you have a biological bent at all and are interested in the history and technology of various kinds of silk, I recommend this. If you want to know about how the different kinds of silk work in fabric applications, maybe the Worm Spit website is still running?
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read an advance copy of this book.
April 14, 2024
A sweeping, fascinating look at silk around the world. Prior to reading this, I thought of silk as the product of the Bombyx Mori silkworms munching on mulberry leaves in China; their cocoons boiled and strands separated to be woven into silk fabrics traded along the Silk Road. I even toured an attic room on a trip to China where we stood under the wooden rafters and learned how silkworms were traditionally cultivated. But this non-fiction book exposed me to so much more. Silk made in India from various types of moths also have a long history and there are many silk roads.
More surprising to me was “sea silk,” obtained from large and now virtually extinct mollusks in the Mediterranean. Sea silk refers to the silken fibers that kept the mollusks tethered to the sea floor yet allowed them to move with the tides. The prepared sea silk was used sparingly to adorn uniforms and knit hosiery for royalty. Nevertheless, overuse led to overharvesting of the shells, much like a different shell species that was highly prized for its blue pigment that was produced by grinding up the shells. (See “The Secret Lives of Color” by Kassia St. Clair ). [Sadly, humans just can’t have nice things without destroying them.]
Then there’s a lengthy section on the silk of spiders. The author’s research uncovered at least three distinct and independent inventions of spider milking machines! These would immobilize a spider and stimulate it into releasing webbing silk that would be gathered on a spool or reel. A few attempts at mass production are described as well. While the spiders were not killed (unless eaten by proximate spiders), it is an uncomfortable section to read. I couldn’t help but think of the large and sentient spiders in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s excellent sci-fi trilogy, “Children of Time.”
In the final section, the author discusses uses of and emerging research on silks, including creating items (replacement veins, etc.) that might someday be used internally in humans with less risk of rejection.
While the book tries to read like a novel, the writing is a bit too stiff to pull it off. Populated with artists, naturalists, and inventors, there are a lot of names but not much drama. As another reviewer also mentioned, when compared with Mark Kurlansky’s excellent non-fiction exploration of “Salt,” this is more of a straightforward recounting. Yet the research is impressive and the information gathered is fascinating.
My thanks to the author and to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.
More surprising to me was “sea silk,” obtained from large and now virtually extinct mollusks in the Mediterranean. Sea silk refers to the silken fibers that kept the mollusks tethered to the sea floor yet allowed them to move with the tides. The prepared sea silk was used sparingly to adorn uniforms and knit hosiery for royalty. Nevertheless, overuse led to overharvesting of the shells, much like a different shell species that was highly prized for its blue pigment that was produced by grinding up the shells. (See “The Secret Lives of Color” by Kassia St. Clair ). [Sadly, humans just can’t have nice things without destroying them.]
Then there’s a lengthy section on the silk of spiders. The author’s research uncovered at least three distinct and independent inventions of spider milking machines! These would immobilize a spider and stimulate it into releasing webbing silk that would be gathered on a spool or reel. A few attempts at mass production are described as well. While the spiders were not killed (unless eaten by proximate spiders), it is an uncomfortable section to read. I couldn’t help but think of the large and sentient spiders in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s excellent sci-fi trilogy, “Children of Time.”
In the final section, the author discusses uses of and emerging research on silks, including creating items (replacement veins, etc.) that might someday be used internally in humans with less risk of rejection.
While the book tries to read like a novel, the writing is a bit too stiff to pull it off. Populated with artists, naturalists, and inventors, there are a lot of names but not much drama. As another reviewer also mentioned, when compared with Mark Kurlansky’s excellent non-fiction exploration of “Salt,” this is more of a straightforward recounting. Yet the research is impressive and the information gathered is fascinating.
My thanks to the author and to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.
May 15, 2024
This is about one of the most luxurious natural fibers in the world. It examines culture, biology, natural history, biography, history, manufacturing, experimentations and future possible uses to provide a rich and complex look at this material. It is not one story because it turns out there are a number of sources of silk, not just the most well-known: the silkworm of China. There are other moths in other regions of the world, spiders and even mollusks that produce silk (which is not strictly defined it turns out, I guess it is one of those things that you know when you see it) that are also examined in depth.
While much is about the history of natural historians from Europe in the 1600s or so onwards who studied the the lifecycle of producers of silk as well as how to manufacture it in the most effective ways--because that is who created the most records--Prasad does include information about the history of silk in China and India where it has been produced for about 5,000 years. as well as other locations. She includes not just the passion of these investigators but the context of colonialism and exploitation that were associated with these people exploring the world.
The last section of the book that looks at uses of silk that aren't confined to clothes is interesting though a bit repetitive in places. She particularly examines present research into more uses of silk including some that might help with the overwhelming problem of plastics.
This is a very interesting book that is accessible to most people even with the examination of the biology of the producers of silk.. I wish there were more footnotes or endnotes but that does make it more accessible to the general public.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
While much is about the history of natural historians from Europe in the 1600s or so onwards who studied the the lifecycle of producers of silk as well as how to manufacture it in the most effective ways--because that is who created the most records--Prasad does include information about the history of silk in China and India where it has been produced for about 5,000 years. as well as other locations. She includes not just the passion of these investigators but the context of colonialism and exploitation that were associated with these people exploring the world.
The last section of the book that looks at uses of silk that aren't confined to clothes is interesting though a bit repetitive in places. She particularly examines present research into more uses of silk including some that might help with the overwhelming problem of plastics.
This is a very interesting book that is accessible to most people even with the examination of the biology of the producers of silk.. I wish there were more footnotes or endnotes but that does make it more accessible to the general public.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
May 6, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an Advanced Reader Copy.
"Silk" is a thoroughly researched and information-packed book that covers more than the reader can anticipate. Like many others, I was expecting the cultural history of silk and how it made its way into the western world. However, as a science nerd, I was pleasantly surprised that this book went much deeper into the evolution and research of different silk-producing creatures. When I say deeper, I mean deeper. This book holds no punches, and you are often given loads of information packed into one paragraph. I will say that at times the information could get overwhelming; some facts felt unnecessary, going off course for a while. If I were to read it again, I would need to slow down, take notes, and make my own timeline, as the book tends to jump around time periods rather quickly. You can really tell that there was so much time, care, and research put into this book. I appreciate the efforts it takes to research back thousands of years trying to piece together a puzzle that many have forgotten.
When it comes to recommending this book, the person that comes to mind is someone who loved the History Channel back before "Ancient Aliens." Reading this book, I could envision the documentary series in my mind. The information is told rather dryly; however, the stories themselves (especially for fans of history and biology) do keep you invested. It's thousands of years of history that weave together, not unlike the swathes of fabric themselves. This book will take some time to get through and definitely needs annotations to help remember information.
"Silk" is a thoroughly researched and information-packed book that covers more than the reader can anticipate. Like many others, I was expecting the cultural history of silk and how it made its way into the western world. However, as a science nerd, I was pleasantly surprised that this book went much deeper into the evolution and research of different silk-producing creatures. When I say deeper, I mean deeper. This book holds no punches, and you are often given loads of information packed into one paragraph. I will say that at times the information could get overwhelming; some facts felt unnecessary, going off course for a while. If I were to read it again, I would need to slow down, take notes, and make my own timeline, as the book tends to jump around time periods rather quickly. You can really tell that there was so much time, care, and research put into this book. I appreciate the efforts it takes to research back thousands of years trying to piece together a puzzle that many have forgotten.
When it comes to recommending this book, the person that comes to mind is someone who loved the History Channel back before "Ancient Aliens." Reading this book, I could envision the documentary series in my mind. The information is told rather dryly; however, the stories themselves (especially for fans of history and biology) do keep you invested. It's thousands of years of history that weave together, not unlike the swathes of fabric themselves. This book will take some time to get through and definitely needs annotations to help remember information.
March 13, 2024
Silk by Aarathi Prasad is a discussion about silk which spans time. The book reads like a novel, not a non-fiction book. Prasad describes the process of using silk worms that eat Mulberry leaves and make cocoons made of silk threads which people then use to make clothing. There are wild and domesticated species of silk worms which people have used for making garments for centuries.
Interestingly, there are many types of silk which people have used to create garments. Some people have experimented with using spider silk which apparently makes very strong and satiny material. The only problem is keeping the spiders separated so they don’t eat each other. Some people have used the threads from bivalves to create garments and gloves used by royalty. There are moths across the globe that make cocoons whose silks are used by people. Some people have discovered ways of using the silk worm silk without harming the worms.
Prasad has compiled information that is delivered in an informative and fascinating way. The story of silk is not just of the past, but also of uses for the future to replace oil based materials which are biodegradable and do not cause harm to the earth. There are uses in medicine for silk. This book is full of useful information and well worth reading.
Thank you to Netgalley for the prepublication copy to read and review.
Interestingly, there are many types of silk which people have used to create garments. Some people have experimented with using spider silk which apparently makes very strong and satiny material. The only problem is keeping the spiders separated so they don’t eat each other. Some people have used the threads from bivalves to create garments and gloves used by royalty. There are moths across the globe that make cocoons whose silks are used by people. Some people have discovered ways of using the silk worm silk without harming the worms.
Prasad has compiled information that is delivered in an informative and fascinating way. The story of silk is not just of the past, but also of uses for the future to replace oil based materials which are biodegradable and do not cause harm to the earth. There are uses in medicine for silk. This book is full of useful information and well worth reading.
Thank you to Netgalley for the prepublication copy to read and review.
March 1, 2024
I received a digital ARC from the publisher (William Morrow) through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a comprehensive, informative overview of the different types of naturally produced silk and the insects, arachnids, and mollusks who are capable of doing so. When hearing about historical silk production, the silkworm is the first to come to mind. I enjoyed learning more about how silk is produced and how these differences are represented in the clothing and fibers of different cultures. In-depth descriptions of the naturalists and scientists who studied natural silk production are given, but I would have liked more discussion of the cultural aspect of silk and silk garments. This is addressed to some degree in the later chapters of the book, and I wish there has been more of a balance between the science of silk and its historical and societal impact. Prior to this book, I did not realize that silk has many applications outside of textiles, and I am definitely more curious about the properties of silk. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in naturalism or anyone who wants to learn more about just how impactful and important silk is/has been to our lives.
This was a comprehensive, informative overview of the different types of naturally produced silk and the insects, arachnids, and mollusks who are capable of doing so. When hearing about historical silk production, the silkworm is the first to come to mind. I enjoyed learning more about how silk is produced and how these differences are represented in the clothing and fibers of different cultures. In-depth descriptions of the naturalists and scientists who studied natural silk production are given, but I would have liked more discussion of the cultural aspect of silk and silk garments. This is addressed to some degree in the later chapters of the book, and I wish there has been more of a balance between the science of silk and its historical and societal impact. Prior to this book, I did not realize that silk has many applications outside of textiles, and I am definitely more curious about the properties of silk. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in naturalism or anyone who wants to learn more about just how impactful and important silk is/has been to our lives.
February 15, 2024
As ambitious in scope as it is detailed in execution, Silk: A World History is a delightful tour of the history of this unique and world shaping fabric.
Beginning with the evolution of silkworms as a species, this book covers everything conceivably related to the topic, from initial human domestication of the insects, to the many and ever increasing uses of silk, as well as the other animals, like mussels and spiders that produce silks of their own. From earliest history to the cutting edge of advanced technologies, no stone if left unturned. Though this book covers a lot of ground it does so in a way that feels organic and evenly paced, one never feels bogged down with minutiae or bored with details. The author adds a personal touch to their writing so you really get a sense of the key players, historical figures as well as the silkworms themselves. Overall this was a very satisfying book about a topic I knew next to nothing about.
After reading I have a far greater appreciation for and understanding of what makes silk unique among fabrics and the key role it has played throughout human history.
Beginning with the evolution of silkworms as a species, this book covers everything conceivably related to the topic, from initial human domestication of the insects, to the many and ever increasing uses of silk, as well as the other animals, like mussels and spiders that produce silks of their own. From earliest history to the cutting edge of advanced technologies, no stone if left unturned. Though this book covers a lot of ground it does so in a way that feels organic and evenly paced, one never feels bogged down with minutiae or bored with details. The author adds a personal touch to their writing so you really get a sense of the key players, historical figures as well as the silkworms themselves. Overall this was a very satisfying book about a topic I knew next to nothing about.
After reading I have a far greater appreciation for and understanding of what makes silk unique among fabrics and the key role it has played throughout human history.
April 10, 2024
An extremely Euro-centric history of silk. Even though the author states multiple times throughout the book that silk production has been in existence for thousands of years in countries like China and India she focuses only on white peoples documents and experiments of silk, especially in the first parts of this book. She states very little information about the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Africa's experiments with spider silk. I'm guessing she was only interested in written sources that are kept in academic places, which is fine, but makes the first two-thirds of this book extremely boring and annoying to read since anything mentioned about POC is steeped in the racism of the times.
The last third of the book was the most interesting part to me as it focuses on more current experimentation with silk (I had no idea silk was used in early bulletproof vests!) and it talked about the lost sea silk, which I had never, ever heard of. (And am now sad that these silk-producing mollusks no longer exist!) The last section of this book really bumped it from a one star book to a three star book, so maybe just read the last part and ignore the rest.
The last third of the book was the most interesting part to me as it focuses on more current experimentation with silk (I had no idea silk was used in early bulletproof vests!) and it talked about the lost sea silk, which I had never, ever heard of. (And am now sad that these silk-producing mollusks no longer exist!) The last section of this book really bumped it from a one star book to a three star book, so maybe just read the last part and ignore the rest.
June 24, 2024
Another for the misleading title pile! Silk: a World History is neither a world history, or even about silk the fabric. It is a short examination of the various creatures that create silk. They are very interesting creatures, and once I realized what the book was really about it became a much better read.
But it is a very short book. Under 300 pages cannot encompass the whole world. Prasad does her best, but the desire to include every fact results in both short chapters and quick transitions from one topic to the next. A good introduction to the subject, but it's only the beginning of the story.
Part One is about non-Chinese moths. Part Two about non-moth silk creatures (mussels and spiders). Part Three is a mish-mash of different uses for silk, each product quickly discussed before bouncing to the next one. Parts 1 and 2 are interesting but Part 3 is too short to really say anything besides mentioning non-cloth uses of silk.
Without the knowledge from other books I've read about the history of Chinese silkworms and the fabric, I would have been helplessly confused. This book should be considered a suppliment to learning about silk, not an introduction to the topic.
But it is a very short book. Under 300 pages cannot encompass the whole world. Prasad does her best, but the desire to include every fact results in both short chapters and quick transitions from one topic to the next. A good introduction to the subject, but it's only the beginning of the story.
Part One is about non-Chinese moths. Part Two about non-moth silk creatures (mussels and spiders). Part Three is a mish-mash of different uses for silk, each product quickly discussed before bouncing to the next one. Parts 1 and 2 are interesting but Part 3 is too short to really say anything besides mentioning non-cloth uses of silk.
Without the knowledge from other books I've read about the history of Chinese silkworms and the fabric, I would have been helplessly confused. This book should be considered a suppliment to learning about silk, not an introduction to the topic.
April 15, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I picked up this book with admittedly unfair expectations, thinking it would read similar to FABRIC by Victoria Finlay, one of my favorite non-fiction books. I've also long been fascinated by the history of the Silk Road, so I thought this would be right in my wheelhouse. Unfortunately, neither of these expectations quite panned out, although SILK is an interesting book and well worth reading. It just won't go down as a five-star read to me, which I assumed it would be. There are two main reasons for why it fell short, I think. First is that it's more esoteric and skewed towards technical, scientific minutiae instead of being a social history of silk. And second, the author's writing style didn't quite flow for me. I had a hard time settling into a rhythm and had to keep going back to re-read sentences, which took away from my enjoyment.
I still learned a lot and now have a new appreciation for the unique properties of this material, so 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4)
I picked up this book with admittedly unfair expectations, thinking it would read similar to FABRIC by Victoria Finlay, one of my favorite non-fiction books. I've also long been fascinated by the history of the Silk Road, so I thought this would be right in my wheelhouse. Unfortunately, neither of these expectations quite panned out, although SILK is an interesting book and well worth reading. It just won't go down as a five-star read to me, which I assumed it would be. There are two main reasons for why it fell short, I think. First is that it's more esoteric and skewed towards technical, scientific minutiae instead of being a social history of silk. And second, the author's writing style didn't quite flow for me. I had a hard time settling into a rhythm and had to keep going back to re-read sentences, which took away from my enjoyment.
I still learned a lot and now have a new appreciation for the unique properties of this material, so 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4)
June 26, 2024
Silk is both fascinating and bewildering. When Prasad says he’s writing a world history of it, he means it. He tells tales from Amsterdam to India, from Suriname to China. And he’s clearly done his research. There is a wealth of information about the people who’ve studied the silkworm and the miraculous thread it produces.
But this is book is also a challenge to read. Prasad has put in so much information that it’s hard for me to tell you what he wanted me to understand the most about silk. The book is structured around three major means of obtaining silk: the silkworm, sea silk, and spider silk. But within that general structure, the book jumps all over the place in locations and time periods. Prasad decided to build this book around the people who have studied the means of silk creation and production, but I couldn’t figure out why we went from one person to the next. That was ultimately jarring and confusing.
There’s a kernel of a really interesting book here. But despite the copious details presented, or perhaps because of it, I didn’t find it when reading Silk.
But this is book is also a challenge to read. Prasad has put in so much information that it’s hard for me to tell you what he wanted me to understand the most about silk. The book is structured around three major means of obtaining silk: the silkworm, sea silk, and spider silk. But within that general structure, the book jumps all over the place in locations and time periods. Prasad decided to build this book around the people who have studied the means of silk creation and production, but I couldn’t figure out why we went from one person to the next. That was ultimately jarring and confusing.
There’s a kernel of a really interesting book here. But despite the copious details presented, or perhaps because of it, I didn’t find it when reading Silk.
April 29, 2024
This is a highly detailed history of key players in the quest to unravel the ways of silk. From studying the process of metamorphosis in moths to learning to harvest spider silk these often obsessive people are fascinating. Their explorations of the possiblities of silk threads have enlightened scientists and frustrated those looking for the means of large scale production. That search continues because of the hope that silks might replace plastics, among many other uses.
My own experience has been with silk fabrics. The parents of a high school friend owned a fabric store and there I learned of muga and tusseh. A woman I baby sat for handed down a two piece tusseh dress (I felt like a movie star). And I have used silks of various kinds in wall hangings. Although this book is primarily about the thread, not the fabric, I am delighted to have learned so much.
I received a digital advanced copy compliments of William Morrow and NetGalley.
My own experience has been with silk fabrics. The parents of a high school friend owned a fabric store and there I learned of muga and tusseh. A woman I baby sat for handed down a two piece tusseh dress (I felt like a movie star). And I have used silks of various kinds in wall hangings. Although this book is primarily about the thread, not the fabric, I am delighted to have learned so much.
I received a digital advanced copy compliments of William Morrow and NetGalley.
February 20, 2024
(4.5 ✶) Silk: A World History is a high-quality entry into the micro-history genre. Befitting its subtitle, it is a truly global history of silk, from silkworms, from spiders, and even from the Pinna Nobilis fan mussel. An aspect that I appreciated was the way that the author wove in various familiar stories, and explained how silk tied into them; the gunfight at the OK Corral, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, telling the story of the material through telling the story of people. I appreciated the forward-looking section of potential future uses of silk, although many of them I would assume are farther off than may be clear in the text.
My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
My thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
March 17, 2024
A historical/scientific perspective on the natural production and a global perspective of silk throughout many civilizations over the course of time. It is a fantastic textbook filled with related facts (think Chinese Dynasties to parachute silk) interspersed with fun tidbits to keep the student on track. Think history meets science meets lepidoptery meets fashion. It is very detailed and hardly the sort of thing to read in one sitting. This book packs an amazing amount of material between its covers and should be reread at measurable intervals. There are reproductions of historical lithographs.
I requested and received a temporary EARC from William Morrow via NetGalley. Thank you!
Think about getting a copy for your local public library, too!
I requested and received a temporary EARC from William Morrow via NetGalley. Thank you!
Think about getting a copy for your local public library, too!
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