This is a great book about finding inspiration in life and developing great ideas.

American Plastic: A Cultural History
By Jeffrey L. Meikle
$49.95

Meikle traces Americans' ambivalent involvement with plastics from Bakelite radios and nylon stockings to Tupperware and polyester suits.

At Home in the Universe : The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity
By Stuart Kauffman
$30.00, Hardcover
$10.17, Paperback

The best treatment I have yet encountered about how order emerges naturally -- and possibly even necessarily -- out of chaos. Profoundly important, and considerably more informed than better-known pop-science treatments of chaos theory. Very highly recommended. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title.

Bauhaus 1919-1933
By Bauhaus Archiv, Magdalena Droste
$24.99, Paperback

A Century of Automotive Style
By Michael Lamm and Dave Holls
$59.95

This chronicle documents this century's automobile styling, tracing car design from its antecedents in carriages, bicycle technology and ship-hull construction through the current era of computers.

Chaos : Making a New Science
By James Gleick
$10.17, Paperback

James Gleick explains the theories behind the fascinating new science called chaos. Alongside relativity and quantum mechanics, it is being hailed as the twentieth century's third revolution. 8 pages of photos.

The Concise Dictionary of Architectural and Design History (Concise Dictionary Series)
By Frederic H. Jones
$14.95, Paperback

The Courage to Create
By Rollo May
$8.95, Paperback

The Creators: a History of Heroes of the Imagination
By Paul Rand
$45.00, Hardcover

Paul Rand's stature as one of the world's leading graphic designers is incontestable. For half a century his pioneering work in the field of advertising design and typography has exerted a profound influence on the design profession; he almost single-handedly transformed "commercial art" from a practice that catered to the lowest common denominator of taste to one that could assert its place among the other fine arts. Among the numerous clients for whom he has been a consultant and/or designer are the American Broadcasting Company, IBM Corporation, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. In this witty and instructive book, Paul Rand speaks about the contemporary practice of graphic design, explaining the process and passion that foster good design and indicting faddism and trendiness. Illustrating his ideas with examples of his own stunning graphic work as well as with the work of artists he admires, Rand discusses such topics as: the values on which aesthetic judgments are based; the part played by intuition in good design; the proper relationship between management and designers; the place of market research; how and when to use computers in the production of a design; choosing a typeface; principles of book design; and the thought processes that lead to a final design. The centerpiece of the book consists of seven design portfolios - with diagrams and ultimate choices - that Rand used to present his logos to clients such as Next, IDEO, and IBM.

Design Form and Chaos
By Victor Papanek
$15.30, Paperback

Design for the Real World : Human Ecology and Social Change
By Victor Papanek
$15.30, Paperback

Design History (An Anthology)
Edited by Denis P.Doordan
$18.00

An anthology compiled from Design Issues journal, volumes 3-10, this book will facilitate the general discourse within the design community on a wide range of conceptual and methodological issues of contemporary design history. These essays are grouped in three broad categories: Graphic Design, Design in the American Corporate Milieu, and Design in the Context of National Experiences.

Design Since 1945 (World of Art)
By Peter Dormer
$13.45, Paperback

Dictionary of 20Th-Century Design
By John F. Pile
$18.95, Paperback

Comprises some 1,200 alphabetical entries that define, identify, and explain names, terms, and concepts important to 20th century design. Includes 200 b&w; illustrations. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The Discoverers : A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
By Daniel J. Boorstin
$40.50, Hardcover
$14.40, Paperback

If the Smithsonian were a book, it would be this one. This book is a stroll through the dense history of our world as defined by those who explored not only the geographical and physical, but the intellectual as well. From Columbus and clockmaking to psychoanalysis and demographics, this book provides many other perspectives to the standard historical timeline. Be warned: it's a hefty book, but worth every ounce. (I haven't yet read his companion book, The Creators, but expect the same treat.)

The Evolution of Useful Things
By Henry Petroski
$21.60 Hardcover

In his first book since The Pencil, Petroski looks with affection and awe at how everyday artifacts--from forks and pins to paper clips and zippers--came to be as they are. A mind-opening experience that is fun to read.

Industrial Design : Reflection of a Century
By Jocelyn De Noblet
$58.50, Hardcover

In the Age of the Smart Machine : The Future of Work and Power
By Shoshana Zuboff
$16.65, Paperback

A Harvard social scientist argues that today's computer revolution in the workplace confronts us with a momentous choice either to automate, dehumanizing work and alienating workers, or to informate, giving workers the knowledge to make critical, collaborative judgments.

Jump Start Your Brain
By Doug Hall
$20.66, Hardcover
$11.69, Paperback

Much like the classic megaseller A Whack on the Side of the Head, here is a proven method for increasing creativity up to 500% from a "master marketing inventor" filled with practical, tactical advice for not only thinking up new ideas, but developing and marketing them as well.

Out of the Crisis
By W. Edwards Deming
$29.50, Hardcover

The Pencil : A History of Design and Circumstance
By Henry Petroski
$15.30, Paperback

Now in paperback, the fascinating, quirky, highly acclaimed book about that indispensable object, the pencil. Petroski traces its origins back to ancient Greece and Rome, writes factually and charmingly about its development, and shows what the pencil can teach us about engineering and technology today.

The Poetics of Space
By Gaston Bachelard, Maria Jolas (Translator)
$13.50, Paperback

The Silent Language
By Edward Twitchell Hall
$8.95, Paperback

Leading anthropologist Edward Hall analyzes the many aspects of non-verbal communication amd considers the concepts of space and time as tools for transmission of messages in this fascinating study. The Silent Language is a work of interest to both the intelligent general reader and the sophisticated social scientist.

The Streamlined Decade
By Donald J. Bush
$16.16, Paperback

Twentieth Century Limited : Industrial Design in America
By Jeffrey, L. Meikle
$22.95, Paperback