The pinball effect, as noted science author James Burke defines it, is the historical phenomenon of seemingly unrelated scientific or engineering processes being combined by a gifted, hardworking or merely lucky individual to create something entirely new. The result is what he calls the web of change, tying together unlikely people and events throughout history. Books are a result of a German printer getting the date wrong. Light bulbs were developed from discoveries in an Italian mine. Ancient eye makeup eventually made both galvanized rubber and Germany's V2 rockets possible. By showing us how these things came to be, Burke demonstrates something about the process of invention and a great deal about the process of human thought. Possibly the best thing about the book is the way it's been constructed: It can be read in a non-linear fashion by using notes in the margins to jump through "literary subspace," demonstrating tangibly the interrelatedness of thought and human invention. If you are interested at all in the nuts and bolts of thought, you will devour this utterly fascinating book.