Little Atoms with Tom Standage – Friday 5th March 19.00 on Resonance 104.4FM
On this week’s Little Atoms, Neil Denny talks to Tom Standage.
Tom Standage is the business editor of The Economist. He started his career as the Science and Technology Editor at the Guardian, and has written several books which merge popular science and history including The Victorian Internet, The Neptune File, The Mechanical Turk. and A History of the World in 6 Glasses in which he explores a notion that six drinks in history – beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola – could be seen as technological catalysts in advancing culture. He says of his books “I think the right attitude to new technologies is to regard them with historically-informed scepticism. My approach is intended as a sort of antidote to the scourge of mindless product stories: when something new comes along, I like to point out that it isn’t new at all. This isn’t quite as gratuitous as it sounds; it is quite often possible to learn useful lessons from history, particularly the history of technology”
Tom’s latest book is An Edible History of Humanity, published in paperback by Atlantic in early March 2010. This is Tom’s second visit to Little Atoms.
Join us on Friday evening, 5th March at 19.00 to 19.30 on Resonance 104.4FM in London or via the live feed worldwide.
Little Atoms | 
Neil | Friday, 5 March, 2010