I read that the internet was preceded by scientists linking computers together remotely to quickly share and compare data. I also heard a college job placement officer say that these days, one should not graduate from college without knowing how to use a spreadsheet. It is amazing to take a long list of names and have Excel, or OpenOffice or Google Sheets alphabetize the whole thing in seconds, with, of course, NO errors.
I considered writing today's post on books I have read that have influenced me strongly but I have done similar things quite often. I will do that another day. Thinking of fast spreadsheet and computer operations did bring to mind the surprising book by Judith Flanders called "A Place for Everything" subtitled "The curious history of alphabetical order" When I first read that, I was surprised. I felt I could grasp what a book was about if it focused on the history of our alphabet. The letters and how to shape them took a while to develop, I imagine. But a history of alphabetical ORDER?????
Then, I learned that old libraries, such as the famous one in Alexandria, Egypt, had no plan for storing books in an orderly, convenient way to find them. I read that if you wanted a particular title you thought might be in the library, the best thing to do was ASK THE LIBRARIAN where to find that book. Then, somebody said storing books on shelves was a fine chance to please God so put them on the shelf in the order of their importance to Him. Sometime later, somebody got the idea of arranging them, not by size of the book nor the color of the cover but by the first letter of the author. I guess it took years before some genius offered the idea of using all the letters in the author's name, not just the first one.
