This nicely balanced coffee-table volume (featuring 250 color and 50 black & white photographs) from the editors of one of the sport's premier magazines covers more information in its six chapters than any six recent books on the subject. Straightforward and well-researched essays cover every aspect of what has become a major sports and recreation industry-and a range of clever sidebars illuminate all sorts of bike-related odds and ends, such as how riding a bike helped Albert Einstein develop his theory of relativity. "What Every Kid Wants" is a short reverie on the significance of bicycles in childhood, with such sweet insights as the appropriateness of bikes as a parental gift: "It's a metaphor of what they must do to raise us: Provide us with the tool we need to leave them." "Bicycling Culture" looks at the diverse worldwide impact of cycling; "History" and "The Art of the Cycle" are cogent looks at those subjects, from early Leonardo da Vinci drawings through the disputed "invention" of the bicycle in 19th-century Paris to today's multibillion-dollar bicycle industry. However, it's the wonderful illustrations that will make this an essential holiday or birthday gift book for any bicycling fan.
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In The Noblest Invention, the editors of Bicycling magazine have put together a unique history of the bicycle that illustrates, through essays and breathtaking color photographs, why this simple machine has captured the imagination of people of all ages. Although today we often associate the bicycle with ever-more sophisticated technical gear for sport and recreation, here is a chronicle of its invention from its first appearance as a primitive wooden Laufsmachine to its evolution into a lightweight, elegant racing machine. The bicycle is the simplest major machine that we regularly use, yet it's still undergoing constant technical refinement. The Noblest Invention celebrates the unique interaction between man and machine that the bicycle represents. The handsome book chronicles the full range of the bicycle's history, from its practical applications to the lure of the Tour de France and the joy of just getting out on the open road. The Noblest Invention is the definitive book by the most respected name in bicycling publishing. THE