The joy of prose

I just read an absolutely delectable yet fulfilling article on nothing less than elevators. Nick Paumgarten writes in the New Yorker about the history and influence of elevators. The piece is wondrously well-researched, thoughtfully written, and pleasantly playful. It really was a joy to read, so get to it (it's kind of long at 8 pages, but oh-so-worth every word).

And my excuse for blogging it here?

Two things make tall buildings possible: the steel frame and the safety elevator. The elevator, underrated and overlooked, is to the city what paper is to reading and gunpowder is to war. Without the elevator, there would be no verticality, no density, and, without these, none of the urban advantages of energy efficiency, economic productivity, and cultural ferment.

That's correlation and causation, by golly.