Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity

Easy access to sugar was once limited to the upper class. However, with new world sugar plantations and alternative sugar sources (such as sugar beets), it has become well used by all classes of people. This has lead to multiple public health issues. The author begins with the story of his World War II upbringing. Despite rationing, sugar was a regular part of everyday life. Many people would have their teeth removed at a young age. It was cheaper to have fake teeth then to maintain them in face of abundant sugar consumption.
The author then goes on to show how slavery was rooted in the need for sugar. He does have some good points. He seems to push it a little too for, however has some basis in reality. Would slavery been so important for cotton if it were not already in place for sugar? What would land be like without sugar terraforming?
Now I have second thoughts about pure cane sugar.

Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy

What are fifty inventions that helped shape the modern economy? This book doesn't attempt to find the 50 most important inventions, but 50 that have had impact. Some of the things are classical physical inventions like the plough and plastic. Others like management consulting and Seller Feedback are modern, abstract innovations that are important to our economy. There are also cautionary tales. Attempts were made to ban leaded gasoline in the 1920s. However, lobbying get it going for another half decade before it was eliminated. What other things in our current society are still being forced upon us by the regulatory framework and inertia. (Cars seem to come to mind.)
The book does a good job provided self-contained stories of individual innovations together with the glue that holds it together. Paper money is in interesting innovation, but the story of how it came about makes it come alive. The Smart Phone has quickly become an integral part of our lives. However, it is an amalgam of technologies produced primarily via government sponsored research. Compilers allow code to be more easily programmed, bringing programming to the masses and allowing higher and higher level programming. The barcode had been "invented" multiple times. The technology was the easy part. Getting producers and retailers to agree on to use it in a standard way was the challenge.
While a number of different innovations could have been included here. The author does a good job justifying the ones included and providing an informative and entertaining work.