A History of the World in 100 Objects (86 page)

The power of the Sun seems a good place to end this global history. Solar energy may allow humanity to share more equally in the opportunities of life, and it has the potential to enable us all to enjoy them without damaging the planet. It is a dream of the future that echoes the deepest and most universal of human myths – that of the life-giving sun. You could see our solar-powered lamp as a humble echo of this myth – the fire-stealing Prometheus reduced to the role of helper in the kitchen.

Just as we learnt to preserve or bottle summer fruits so that the warmth and nourishment of summer could see us through winter, everybody has dreamt of capturing the Sun to have its light and power available at will. In
Chapter 1
of this history, the Egyptian priest Hornedjitef took with him a scarab as the magical symbol of the regenerative light of the Sun, to lighten the darkness of the afterlife. Given the opportunity, he might now take a solar-powered lamp as back-up.

This 100th object brings me to the end of this particular history of the world. Other objects would have yielded different stories and taken us along different paths. The possibilities are infinite. But I hope that this book has demonstrated the power of things to connect us with unmatchable immediacy to people far distant in time and place and to allow all humanity to have a voice in our common story. Amartya Sen reflects:

When we look at the history of the world, it is very important to recognize that we are not looking at the history of different civilizations truncated and separated from each other. Civilizations have a huge amount of contact, and there is a kind of inter-connectedness. I have always thought of the history of the world not as a history of civilizations but as a history of world civilizations evolving in often similar, often diverse, ways, always interacting with each other.

Above all, I hope this book has shown that the ‘family of man’ is not an empty metaphor, however dysfunctional that family usually is; that all humanity has the same needs and preoccupations, fears and hopes. Objects force us to the humble recognition that since our ancestors left East Africa to populate the world we have changed very little. Whether in stone or paper, gold, feathers or silicon, it is certain we will go on making objects that shape or reflect our world and that will define us to future generations.

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26–100

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1–25

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51–100

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1–50

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76–100