Boring subjects that weren't

[Astro Pen]

I am a sucker for charity shop book shelves. Rarely is there any sci-fi but I often pick up a book on a random subject to broaden my world view. Sometimes they are boring, but a couple recently turned out to be cover to cover interesting.
Firstly a town planning book called Townscape by Gordon Cullen which has changed forever the way I look at towns as I walk through them.
Secondly a 1996 book on clothing manufacture Clothing Technology covering everything from natural and man made fibres to types of stitching, weaving technology, and dyes, to methods of optimising pattern layout for minimum wastage and the design process.

As a bonus I find, while searching images for this post, that copies are selling at £22 which makes the 25p I paid for it something of a bargain

Clothing Technology By von Eberle | Used | 9783808562215 | World of Books

Buy Clothing Technology By von Eberle. Available in used condition with free delivery in the UK. ISBN: 9783808562215. ISBN-10: 3808562218

www.worldofbooks.com

And The Concise Townscape romping to a win at £33 for my 25p

The Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen (1971-07-03): Amazon.co.uk: Books

Buy The Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen (1971-07-03) by (ISBN: ) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

Shame they are 'keepers'.
Any you have bought that have the youtube effect of "I didn't realise I was interested in that." ?

 

[hitmouse]

I am a sucker for charity bookshops. Pity they have all been shut for the last 3 months.

 

[BigBadBob141]

I once came across and bought a non-fiction book called "Monsters Of The Purple Twilight" !
Give you three guesses what it was about!




Give up!
OK it was about the First World War Zeppelin raids on England!

 

[ginny]

That last one sounds interesting

Monsters of the Purple Twilight. the True Story of the Life and Death of the Zeppelins First Menace From the Skies: Dudley, Ernest: Amazon.com: Books

Monsters of the Purple Twilight. the True Story of the Life and Death of the Zeppelins First Menace From the Skies [Dudley, Ernest] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Monsters of the Purple Twilight. the True Story of the Life and Death of the Zeppelins First Menace From the Skies

www.amazon.com

 

[BigBadBob141]

There is another book I have called "The First Blitz", about not just the Zeppelin raids but also the first use of heavy bombers on civilian targets, it's incredible how fast aircraft developed during WW1.

 

[Ambrose]

It's also remakable how quickly they invented the Law of the Air with the Paris Convention of 1919. There's nothing like a war for spurring technological developments. Aircraft inventions both as to machinery and use in War I scared everyone, and needed to be controlled by agreed rules. Now we have the iNternatnal Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, based in Montreal.

 

[Temperance]

Somehow I once found myself in a seminar of cargo haulage, the terminology and regulations regarding how paperwork was labelled, where the insurance risk passed between parties, and even down to the technicalities of how a container was loaded might having bearing on paperwork/port handling.

It was weirdly compelling, absolutely no bearing on my work or life.

 

[Don]

Somehow I once found myself in a seminar of cargo haulage, the terminology and regulations regarding how paperwork was labelled, where the insurance risk passed between parties, and even down to the technicalities of how a container was loaded might having bearing on paperwork/port handling.

Shades of The Shipping Man! Of all things, the free-wheeling world of shipping brings to mind my brief stint as a taxi cab driver during my college years.

The Shipping Man | Marine Money

www.marinemoney.com