The Arabs understandably did everything they could to protect their monopoly. Coffee beans were treated before being shipped to ensure they were ster…

- Tom Standage

By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell the great sto…

- Tom Standage

The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer. -Egyptian proverb, c. 2200 BCE

- Tom Standage

Greek customs such as wine drinking were regarded as worthy of imitation by other cultures. So the ships that carried Greek wine were carrying Greek …

- Tom Standage

It is a sign of a medium's immaturity when one of the main topics of discussion is the medium itself.

- Tom Standage

Indeed, the construction of a global telegraph network was widely expected, by Briggs and Maverick among others, to result in world peace: 'It is imp…

- Tom Standage