{"product_id":"transparency-the-material-history-of-an-idea-9780300237245","title":"Transparency: The Material History of an Idea","description":"\u003cb\u003eA wide-ranging illustrated history of transparency as told through the evolution of the glass window\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"With impressive detail and wide-ranging erudition, Jütte charts the history of a single material, glass, as a product of human ingenuity developed across centuries.\"--James Gleick, \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Transparency is a mantra of our day. It is key to the Western understanding of a liberal society. We expect transparency from, for instance, political institutions, corporations, and the media. But how did it become such a powerful--and global--idea? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From ancient glass to Apple's corporate headquarters, this book is the first to probe how Western people have experienced, conceptualized, and evaluated transparency. Daniel Jütte argues that the experience of transparency has been inextricably linked to one element of Western architecture: the glass window. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Windows are meant to be unnoticed. Yet a historical perspective reveals the role that glass has played in shaping how we see and interpret the world. A seemingly \"pure\" material, glass has been endowed, throughout history, with political, social, and cultural meaning, in manifold and sometimes conflicting ways. At the same time, Jütte raises questions about the future of vitreous transparency--its costs in terms of visual privacy but also its ecological price tag in an age of accelerating climate change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDaniel Jütte\u003c\/b\u003e is associate professor in the Department of History at New York University. He is the author of the award-winning \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400-1800\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Strait Gate: Thresholds and Power in Western History\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in New York City.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Yale University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50390081929490,"sku":"9780300237245","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ab77d3a8-d88a-43ae-a1ed-fc99bb517b34.jpg?v=1728938711","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/transparency-the-material-history-of-an-idea-9780300237245","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}