The paper clip is something of a fetish object in design circles. Its spare, machined aesthetic and its inexpensive ubiquity landed it a spot in MoMA’s 2004 show Humble Masterpieces.

When you think of paper clips, you immediately think of a specific form—the familiar round-ended, double-loop design. The wire trombone shape. But that’s ...

Both the paper clip and the machine that makes it trace their origins to pin making. Office workers in the early 19th century stuck their papers together—literally—with pins; a pin design ...

— The Perfection of the Paper Clip: Curious Tales of Invention, Accidental Genius, and Stationery Obsession by James Ward. Touchstone. See all the pieces in this month’s Slate Book Review.