Potato

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

Baked potatoes, Bombay potatoes, pommes frites . . . everyone eats potatoes, but what do they mean? To the United Nations they mean global food security (potatoes are the world''s fourth most important food crop). To 18th-century philosophers they promised happiness. Nutritionists warn that to...