stuff matters exploring the marvelous materials

Some of these interactions are simple, involving the changing of the shape and form, others are much more complex and involve heat and chemical interaction. Read moreĪlmost everything we touch has had some form of human interaction to change it from one form to another. This might have had something to do with my impressions of the book, too, though I’d have to read the print version to be sure.

Very, very British, balding, bow tie, condescending and misanthropic in a humorous way.

There was good information about said stuff in here, but I admit it didn’t hold my attention in nearly the same way as Storm in a Teacup.The narrator’s voice reminded me strongly of an actor, whose character I can clearly see but can’t place. I do know that Storm in a Teacup is a much better read about slightly similar subjects.Stuff Matters is a relatively slim tome covering some of the marvelous ‘stuff’ we live with, and the selection is quite varied: concrete, stainless steel, chocolate, plastics (the most irritating of the chapters), glass, graphite. So I’m not sure if my feelings about the book are because I listened to it, or if I’d have felt the same reading it. I have this in hardcover, but I listened to the audiobook from the library. 'Stuff Matters is about hidden wonders, the astonishing properties of materials we think boring, banal, and unworthy of attention.It's possible this science and these stories have been told elsewhere, but like the best chocolatiers, Miodownik gets the blend right.'-The New York Times Book Review Read more Full of enthralling tales of the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives, his stories of analysis will make you see stuff in a whole new way. In Stuff Matters, Miodownik explores the materials he encounters in a typical morning, from the steel in his razor to the foam in his sneakers. Studying objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, he uncovers the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world. Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does any material look and behave the way it does? These are the sorts of questions that renowned materials scientist New York Times bestselling author Mark Miodownik constantly asks himself. Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books In this New York Times Notable Book, 'Mark Miodownik, a materials scientist, explains the history and science behind things such as paper, glass, chocolate, and concrete with an infectious enthusiasm.'- Scientific American

Stuff matters exploring the marvelous materials