One might tell me I was calm, while another advised me that I needed to cool down, so take their readings with a grain of salt if you choose to hop on board.

WSJ: Keep Calm and Carry a Gizmo

Remember the Chinese fable of the mighty emperor who agreed to give a wily supplicant one grain of rice for the first square on a chess board, double that for the second square, double again for the third and so on, before he realised that he would be giving away his whole kingdom's supply before the board was half-finished.

ECONOMIST: Eventually, bigger means different

Even so, in contrast to only ten years ago, the firms operating in Kansas City today are largely the same as those trading soft red winter wheat at the Chicago Board of Trade and spring wheat at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

ECONOMIST: Grains of truth

Grain merchants stepped in to set standards, now that grain from multiple fields was going to be mixed, and they established the Chicago Board of Trade.

FORBES: Wisconsin Republicans Attack a Brilliant UW Historian

Birds-eye figure is (surprise) a grain pattern reminiscent of hundreds of small bird's eyes scattered across the face of a board or veneer.

NPR: Excerpt: 'A Splintered History Of Wood'