Culture, non-biological genetics, and survival

"Why so much emphasis here on the physical quality of books?

Durability and beauty, like intelligence, are something more than luxuries. They are the tactics for survival. Books are part of culture, and culture is part of propagation.

Culture - something common to all mammals and all birds - is the part of any species' propagation conducted by nongenetic means.

Writers, typographers, printers and publishers make their books to last (if they know what a book is) for the same reason that they feed and clothe their children.

The degradation of the book goes hand in hand with the destruction of the forests, the pollution of the water, the pollution of the air. It is one more way of reaping profits now and leaving nothing to the people of the future."

Warren Chappell, "A Short History of the Printed Word" (1999)




Photo: Jaume Plensa 'Tokyo Soul' (2007)