From the “deliriously clever” (Boston Globe) Simon Garfield, New York Times bestselling author of Just My Type, comes the wild and fascinating story of the encyclopedia, from Ancient Greece to the present day."A brilliant book about knowledge itself.” —Deirdre Mask, author of The Address Book"Magnificent. ... A perfectly styled work of literature – at times sad, at times funny, but always full of life." —Engineering & Technology MagazineThe encyclopedia once shaped our unders