Tag Archives: transportation

The Road Taken

Posted on November 16, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Road Taken: The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure336 pages© 2016 Henry Petroski What, exactly, is The Road Taken?   Its title declares it a history, which is mostly true. It does have a bounty of historic sketches on the … Continue reading →

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Divided Highways

Posted on November 7, 2016 by smellincoffee

Divided Highways: Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life©  Tom Lewis 2007, 2013416 pages No engineering project in the United States is more impressive than the interstate system; dense with the connections of a street grid, it serves not blocks … Continue reading →

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Turbulent Skies

Posted on September 18, 2016 by smellincoffee

Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation© 1995 T. H. Heppenheimer408 pages What a century was the 20th, which turned everyday life into the stuff of yesteryear’s science fiction. Who would believe at its dawning that one day people would … Continue reading →

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The Cargo Ship Diaries

Posted on August 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Cargo Ship Diaries: 44 months, 37 countries, 0 flights © 2014 Niall Doherty133 pages A few years ago while looking for information on minimalism, I encountered the YouTube presence of one Niall Doherty, an Irishman traveling the world, living and … Continue reading →

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On the Grid

Posted on May 14, 2016 by smellincoffee

On the Grid: A Plot of Land, an Average Neighborhood, and the Systems That Make Our World Work© 2010 Scott Huler256 pages If modern humans have retained a penchant for magical thinking, little wonder. Our homes accomplish marvels seemingly by the … Continue reading →

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Driving with the Devil

Posted on May 4, 2016 by smellincoffee

Driving with the Devil:  Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR© 2006 Neil Thompson411 pages Oh Rapid Roy that stock car boy He’s the best driver in the lan’ He say that he learned to race a stock … Continue reading →

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Taxi!

Posted on January 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver©  2007 Graham Russell Gao Hodges225 pages No film set in New York City is complete without scenes of Manhattan traffic, dense with yellow cars — the patrolling ranks of the … Continue reading →

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Adieu to you, and you and you and you —

Posted on January 5, 2016 by smellincoffee

As 2015 was ending I finished up a couple of works which merit mentioning. Firstly is Jane Austen’s Emma.  I have read Austen before (Pride and Prejudice), intrigued by mention of Darcy as a model gentleman,  Emma was thus my … Continue reading →

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Horses at Work

Posted on December 23, 2015 by smellincoffee

Horses at Work: Harnessing Power in Industrial America© 2008 Ann Norton Greene322 pages The quintessential image of horses in American history is the cowboy, of rough men moving cattle in the wilderness on horseback. But follow the cattle, and their … Continue reading →

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Hack

Posted on December 14, 2015 by smellincoffee

Hack: How I Stopped Worrying About What to do with my Life and Started Driving a Yellow Cab© 2008 Melissa Plaut256 pages At the age of twenty-nine, Melissa Plaut was let go from her job at an ad agency. She … Continue reading →

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