From cornflakes to communism

James Burke’s Knowledge Web is like six degrees of separation for the literati — okay, sometimes more like 10 degrees, and altogether fascinating:

• Cornflakes, invented in 1894 by…
• J. H. Kellogg, whose first job was as a typesetter for…
• Mrs Ellen White, “who opened a water-cure establishment” that was inspired by…
• Vincent Priessnitz, an advocate of “sleeping in wet sheets,” a prescription that was also administered by…
• James Gully at a Priessnitz-like spa in Western Egland, which was visited by…
• King Carlyle, whose official royal portrait was commissioned by…
• Whistler, the artist with an incredibly Rolodex of artsy friends, including…
• William Morris who was, among many other things, a socialist community organizer and whose meetings were attended by…
• Eleanor Marx, daughter of…
• Karl Marx, the intellectual forefather of…
• Communism.

Another fun tracing of people, places, and ideas is Frederick the Great to the Bottle Cap.

A video overview of k-web.org is found here.

Below, video 1 of 7 from “Re-Connections” — “the 25h anniversary celebration of James Burke’s ground-breaking ‘Connections‘ and ‘The Day The Universe Changed‘ series.

About these ads