Guy's Books and Thoughts

I wonder if the study of history can be made more
interesting by studying certain topics in history?
Instead of say a history of country A, why not a study
of a certain type of history, for example a history of
metals? My idea of focusing in a topic is not original.
One author has written on the role of the cod fish in history;
another has written on salt and another has believe it or not
written about the history of rum.

I talked to a friend who trained as a metallurgist. He mentioned that England (and maybe Spain) was the only available source of tin in the ancient world. Tin was a significant ingredient to creating bronze. A bronze sword would give one a decided advantage over one's opponent. Bronze was used to make many important objects besides swords. Tin was not a widely available metal. Whoever had access to tin wielded a great deal of power. Caesar's conquest was not merely to grab land but also control the source of tin. My metallurgist friend also pointed out
that PURE tin was used for drinking vessels among the Roman elite. Some
makers of those drinking vessels found a way to adulterate the tin
with lead to increase their profits. These adulterated drinking vessels leached out lead. This meant that the Roman elite suffered from lead poisoning from using those vessels. Consequences of lead poisoning included sterility and dementia. So I guess being rich or upper class was not always an advantage. I am also reminded that George
Washington received the best medical treatment of his time, which included bleeding. That bleeding probably contributed to his death.

I think a topical approach to history can be used to teach or learn other subjects. For example, I do not have a strong interest in the area of math. But perhaps I can use my interest in history to learn math. I floated that idea by a friend. He saw merit in that idea and pointed out that one could learn calculus by following the history of Sir Isaac Newton, co-inventor of the calculus. In other words one could follow in his footsteps as he discovered the calculus. Of coures one could also follow the footsteps of Leibnitz, who is also credited with inventing the calculus. So instead of a dull dry boring math lesson, one could perhaps utilize history to make the study of calculus more interesting. Mathematicians have lived interesting lives. Why focus only on their works? Why not also study their lives and research and how they came to their conclusions?

Guy