Good design is often hidden in plain sight, suggest Louise Harpman and Scott Specht, proud possessors of the world's largest collection of coffee cup lids. In this compact overview of a diverse world of drink containment, learn more about the mechanics behind your morning cup of joe, exploring slosh-drainage systems, ergonomic drink apertures, and sensory enhancement features. An eye-opening design history and field guide to one of modern life's everyday conveniences, this survey contains 200 life-sized photographs of lids and samples of their surprisingly intricate patent drawings, while the text traces the history of this ever-evolving science. Caution: Contents are fascinating!

"This is a far, far deeper dive than other mortals have ever dared into the aesthetics and industrial, cultural, and design history of the all-too-human struggle to prevent hot coffee from sloshing in unwelcome ways."—New Yorker