I checked out From Spinning Wheels to Steam and Steel: Understanding the Age of Industrialization by Professor Jennifer J. Popiel because it sounded interesting. It was. Professor Popiel's enthusiasm for her subject shows in her voice, which makes for pleasant listening.

The titles for the eight lessons in this course are:

1. The Turnip: A Revolution in Agriculture

2. The Spinning Jenny: Textiles, Homes, and Industrialization

3. The Steam Engine: Mechanization, Government, and the Factory System.

4. The Savings Bank: Investment, Education, and the Worker

5. The City Street: Living and Moving in the New Urban World

6. Pasteurized Milk: Eating and Drinking in the Modern City

7. Baseball: Leisure and Sport in the Modern Life

8. The Bicycle: Gender, Mobility, and Modern Technology

Some of the things in here I'd learned in school decades ago, but it was nice to have my memory refreshed. It was also nice to see some ways that changes in one area led to changes elsewhere. I'd never thought about what pre-professional baseball meant to New York City or how the bicycle helped emancipate women.

I definitely recommend listening to these lessons whether one needs the course for college or just wants to learn. ( )