Silk

A History in Three Metamorphoses

By: Aarathi Prasad

Narrated by: Lucinda Roberts, Aarathi Prasad

There is not just one story of silk. In silk is science, history and mythology. In silk is the future.

Aarathi Prasad’s Silk is a gorgeous new history weaving together the story of a unique material that has fascinated the world for millennia.

Through the scientists who have studied silk, and the biology of the animals from which it has been drawn, Prasad explores the global history, natural history, and future of a unique material that has fascinated the world for millennia.

For silk, prized for its lightness, luminosity, and beauty is also one of the strongest biological materials ever known. More than a century ago, it was used to make the first bulletproof vest, and yet science has barely even begun to tap its potential. As the technologies it has inspired – from sutures to pharmaceuticals, replacement body parts to holograms – continue to be developed in laboratories around the world, they are now also beginning to offer a desperately needed, sustainable alternative to the plastics choking our planet.

Prasad's Silk is a cultural and biological history from the origins and ancient routes of silk to the biologists who learned the secrets of silk-producing animals, manipulating the habitats and physiologies of moths, spiders and molluscs. Because there is more than one silk, there is more than one story of silk. More than one road, more than one people who discovered it, and wove its threads.

From the moths of China, Indonesia and India to the spiders of South America and Madagascar, to the silk-producing molluscs of the Mediterranean, Silk is a book rich in the passionate connections made by women and men of science to the diversity of the animal world. It is an intoxicating mix of biography, intellectual history and science writing that brings to life the human obsession with silk.

©2023 Aarathi Prasad (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘Who would have thought that a book about silkworms and spiders could be so fascinating? Aarathi Prasad cross-crosses centuries and cultures to tell of the intrepid explorers, botanists, scientists and entrepreneurs who were determined to unravel the secrets of silk production. Her book captures their persistence and her own in the search for the little-told but revelatory stories of human curiosity and ingenuity’
Clare Hunter, author of Threads of Life

'Both scientific and poetic, this remarkable book shows how the great tides of history are shaped through human encounters with the intricate variety of the non-human world'
David Wengrow, co-author of the international bestseller The Dawn of Everything

‘An incredible read. Deeply researched, dazzling. Prasad weaves a magical thread through history, culture, science and nature, unfolding the long and deep relationship we have with the natural history of silk and the creatures that make it’
Seirian Sumner, author of Endless Forms

‘Prasad weaves her strands of science, history and culture to create a rich narrative tapestry that's as sumptuous as the material itself. Full of fascinating detail’
Gaia Vince, author of Nomad Century

PRAISE FOR LIKE A VIRGIN

‘A hugely successful braid of reproductive biology, history of science, and politics, this is science writing that will keep you up past your bedtime’ New Scientist

‘Prasad’s first book is a fascinating, topical and hugely readable investigation’ Metro

‘Fiery and provocative’ Sunday Times

Dull

Unfortunately it’s dull and feels very repetitive. I was excited and so looking forward to this book but after 5 hours of listening I still don’t know what the book is really about.