Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World

What does the diamond on your finger have to do with the GI Bill? Why is green-tinted jewelry exalted by so many cultures? Why were the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch initially considered a fair trade? And how did a coveted necklace start the French Revolution? In this delightful ac [...]
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What does the diamond on your finger have to do with the GI Bill? Why is green-tinted jewelry exalted by so many cultures? Why were the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch initially considered a fair trade? And how did a coveted necklace start the French Revolution? In this delightful account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about why we covet beautiful things and how that desire has transformed the world as we know it.What moves the world is what moves each of us: desire. Jewelry has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamour and success: It has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. With a sharp wit and a light touch, Raden weaves together history, science, and economics to explore our enduring love affair with beautiful things and shows us that, just like their glittering surfaces, jewels have a singular power to reflect our desires back at us and show us who we really are.