It is no accident that the most powerful man in the Christian right, James Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, is both a child psychologist and a veritable fountain of social-science statistics.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

Strolling along the narrow street, you may glimpse a chandelier maker tinkering with a frozen crystal fountain, a cobbler fetching moulds from a shelf, or a bookbinder buried in rows of bookshelves, his head bowed as he works at his desk.

BBC: Florence��s fading artisan culture