In a gorgeous history that spans continents and millennia Aarathi Prasad weaves together the
complex story of the queen of fabrics. Through the scientists who have studied silk and the
biology of the animals from which it has been drawn Prasad explores the global natural and
cultural history (and future) of a unique material that has fascinated the world for thousands
of years. Silk?prized for its lightness luminosity and beauty?is also one of the strongest
biological materials ever known. More than a century ago it was used to make the first
bulletproof vest and yet science has barely even begun to tap its potential. As the
technologies it has inspired?from sutures to pharmaceuticals replacement body parts to
holograms?continue to be developed in laboratories around the world they are now also
beginning to offer a desperately needed sustainable alternative to the plastics choking our
planet. Aarathi Prasad's Silk is a cultural and biological history from the origins and ancient
routes of silk to the biologists who learned the secrets of silk-producing animals
manipulating the habitats and physiologies of moths spiders and mollusks. Because there is
more than one silk there is more than one story of silk. More than one road more than one
people who discovered it and wove its threads. From the moths of China Indonesia and India
to the spiders of South America and Madagascar and the silk-producing mollusks of the
Mediterranean Silk is a book rich in the passionate connections made by people of science to
the diversity of the animal world. It is an intoxicating read a mix of biography and science
that not only brings to life the vast winding history of silk but also looks to its future as
a resource with incredible untapped potential.
