Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World

By Mark Miodownik

Book Overview

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

Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books

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 and New York Times bestselling author Mark Miodownik constantly asks himself. Studying objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, he uncovers the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world.

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. 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.

"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."--New York Times Book Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0544483944
• ISBN13: 9780544483941
• Release Date: March 2015
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A more personable view of the marvelous materials around us.

Mark puts what matters into the context of use and history. There are no dry facts here. He makes you want to keep reading like a mystery thriller, eager to see where he is going with each subject. The book contains some pictures and diagrams to help. No one book can include everything, so there is a section on “Further Reading.” His personal story of why he wrote the book and his antidotes is what make the book unique. However, it relies on your existing knowledge of people, places, and things to fill in the gaps. I already knew 90 percent of the content, so I would not know what it would be like to learn from scratch. However, I can appreciate seeing the same information through the eyes of Mark Miodownik. If you like this book as much as I do, you may also want to purchase a Humanities course that is a disguised material science course.” “The Ascent of Man” - by Jacob Bronowski. I have his books and DVDs. You will find he covers the same subjects with different slants. “The Ascent of Man” (5-volume set) Dr. Jacob Bronowski (Actor), Adrian Malone (Director) EAN‑13: 5014503160821