Silk

March 25, 2024
Over time, many individuals and cultures have independently discovered how to make silk, according to this illuminating history from bioarcheologist Prasad (In the Bonesetter’s Waiting Room). The fabric, prized for its beauty, is also one of the strongest biologically produced materials; it was even used to make the first bulletproof vest (for Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who fatefully neglected to wear it on the day of his assassination in 1914). Most famously harvested from a species of silkworm (a moth in its larval stage, attempting to spin a cocoon) that was domesticated in ancient China, silk can also be derived from spiders and mollusks. In a narrative keenly focused on scientific fieldwork and invention, Prasad tells the story of silk’s development mostly through profiles of naturalists and detailed descriptions of archaeological finds. Subjects include Dutch scientist-illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian, who in 1699 traveled to Suriname and collected specimens of silk-producing moth species that later helped Holland compete with China’s carefully guarded silk industry, and the 20th-century archaeological discovery of ancient Rome’s reliance on mollusk-silk. Prasad concludes by spotlighting current innovations in medicine and tech involving silk, and points to the fabric’s radical potential in a world that wants to ween itself off plastics. Thanks to her elegant prose, the book’s deeply informed scientific explanations are charming and accessible. Readers will revel in this exquisite deep dive.

September 13, 2024

Prasad (Like a Virgin: How Science Is Redesigning the Rules of Sex) unfurls the history of a coveted textile, particularly emphasizing how scientists like her have long studied Bombyx mori, or the domestic silk moth, as well as wild silk-producing species globally. Though she focuses more intently on early naturalists' and modern geneticists' research into silk production and scientific applications than on the cultural and trade significance of silk clothing, listeners who appreciated Sofi Thanhauser's Worn and Victoria Finlay's Fabric may deepen that appreciation with this close examination of one rare and versatile fiber. Audiobook narrator Hannah Curtis lends crisp, enunciated accessibility to a text with three distinct parts (i.e., moths, other silk-producing animals, the future of silk) and quick narrative shifts within those parts. Where readers of the printed text gain an index and photo section, listeners hear warmth as Curtis narrates the author's youthful experiment to raise her own Bombyx mori eggs and, equally as affecting, her curiosity and optimism while conducting current experiments with implications for human and planetary health. VERDICT Filled with stories of silk-producing creatures and the phenomenal properties of the stuff itself, this blend of history and science is highly recommended.--Lauren Kage

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