*blinks bemusedly* It would not even occur to me that that one would ask Susan R. Matthews to do such a thing when one could ask her how she got that much straight-up noncon into a novel and then got me to read it anyhow.
That said, one of the best panels I have been to in recent years was one on the history of plywood and how to estimate the manufacturing dates of different kinds of plywoods when one observes them in buildings. But I understand that my interests are not necessarily shared by attendees at speculative fiction conventions.
(No, I'm serious, it was fascinating stuff. The gluing technology alone, you have to have really effective waterproof glues before you ever get to a point where you can laminate wood veneers together and have them hold up outdoors. And that's actually chemically very complex! Part of the "peace dividend" from the second World War, actually, was glues that permitted the economical lamination of veneers into plywoods, which is why plywood home furnishings and siding really took off in the 1950s.)
no subject
That said, one of the best panels I have been to in recent years was one on the history of plywood and how to estimate the manufacturing dates of different kinds of plywoods when one observes them in buildings. But I understand that my interests are not necessarily shared by attendees at speculative fiction conventions.
(No, I'm serious, it was fascinating stuff. The gluing technology alone, you have to have really effective waterproof glues before you ever get to a point where you can laminate wood veneers together and have them hold up outdoors. And that's actually chemically very complex! Part of the "peace dividend" from the second World War, actually, was glues that permitted the economical lamination of veneers into plywoods, which is why plywood home furnishings and siding really took off in the 1950s.)
It's a good illustration.