How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler

by Ryan North

power of selective breeding alone:10 Fruit or vegetable First domesticated Modern variety you used to enjoy like it wasn’t even a big deal Incredibly disappointing ancient ancestor Corn 7000 BCE 190mm long peels easily sweet and juicy 800 soft kernels 19mm (10 times smaller, 1,000 times less volume) peels by being smashed into pieces tastes like a dry, raw potato 5–10 very hard kernels Peach 5500 BCE 100mm long 9:1 flesh-to-stone ratio soft and edible skin sweet and juicy 25mm long (4 times smaller, 64 times less volume) 3:2 flesh-to-stone ratio waxy skin tastes earthy, sour, and slightly salty Watermelon 3000 BCE 500mm long available in seedless varieties easily opened, you can just punch your way in almost fat- and starch-free delicious taste, sweet smell 5mm long (100 times smaller, almost 1,000,000 times less volume) 18 bitter, nutty seeds requires hammer or smashing to open high in starches and fats bitter taste, unpleasant smell Table 7: Food used to suck. And these were all bred before we knew