3 out of 5 stars
I heard about this guy from a friend and then on NPR and had to get the book. (There's also a blog.) It's not so much
that he builds a toaster, from scratch, and takes nine months, many miles, and almost
$1,900 to do it, it's the way he tells the story. As noted by Wired
magazine, "It's art, and science, history and the future, all in one
brilliant idea." Also, it's kind of interesting to learn that the
seemingly innocuous toaster has around 400 parts yet costs as little as
six bucks. So you in turn find yourself reflecting on the costs of our
cheap, throw-away culture, the organization of our world, and other deep
thoughts. Honestly, though, I had a hunch this would be a good read when I saw that Thwaites opens the book with this quote: "Left to his own
devices he couldn’t build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich and
that was it." -- Mostly Harmless,
Douglas Adams, 1992.
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