Unfortunately, Standage's storytelling ability falls short of Malcolm Gladwell's, and his intellectual rigor is far less than that of Freakonomics. 6 Glasses is readable but not especially compelling, and some of its assertions are problematic. To take one example, on the subject of tea:
"Exactly how and when it spread into China is unclear, but it seems to have been helped along by Buddhist monks ... Both Buddhist and Taoist monks found that drinking tea was an invaluable aid to meditation, since it enhanced concentration and banished fatigue-qualities that are now known to be due to the presence of caffeine. Lau-tzu, the founder of Taoism who lived in the sixth century BCE, believed that tea was an essential ingredient in the elixir of life." (p. 178)
"Exactly how and when it spread into China is unclear, but it seems to have been helped along by Buddhist monks ... Both Buddhist and Taoist monks found that drinking tea was an invaluable aid to meditation, since it enhanced concentration and banished fatigue-qualities that are now known to be due to the presence of caffeine. Lau-tzu, the founder of Taoism who lived in the sixth century BCE, believed that tea was an essential ingredient in the elixir of life." (p. 178)
Lau-tzu's very existence as a historical personage is a hotly contested issue among scholars, and the Tao Te Ching, his masterwork, appears to be a product of the Warring States Period in China's history, which ran from around 475 BCE to 221 BCE. The "elixir of life" appears to derive from later Taoist thought, though some of those works are dubiously credited to Lau-tzu. On top of this, the next sentence states that "The earliest unambiguous Chinese reference to tea is from the first century BCE." Certainly, the legendary biography of Lau-tzu is interesting, and the history of tea mingles with that of Taoism, but how and when are suspect. (Some sources claim that Buddhism did not arrive in China until at least 25 CE, after this unambiguous Chinese reference to tea.)
Despite the occasional fishy passage, most of Standage's history is straightforward, if not especially obscure. Overall, A History of the World in 6 Glasses is easily read and modestly diverting. For the reader of general-interest nonfiction, it falls short of the genre's best entries, but is competently written and full of clever factoids that can be readily applied in conversation.
Despite the occasional fishy passage, most of Standage's history is straightforward, if not especially obscure. Overall, A History of the World in 6 Glasses is easily read and modestly diverting. For the reader of general-interest nonfiction, it falls short of the genre's best entries, but is competently written and full of clever factoids that can be readily applied in conversation.
