Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World Hardcover – May 27, 2014

Stop. Look around you right now. It doesn't matter if you are standing or sitting. You may be in your office, room, local coffee shops, or on a bus or subway. Now, you may bethink yourself of nothing of importance around you. Don't quit just yet. Try again, and have a long look at your surroundings. No sooner do you submit to my admonition than do you realize you are enmeshed by things – simply things: computers, phones, windows, books, clothes, food, metal objects, plastic objects, buildings, mirrors, utensils such as a spoon or fork, and etc. Hardly do we pay any much attention to those things as we live our lives. Of course, they are nothing out of ordinary; we see them every day. They have existed around us and surely will in the foreseeable future.Nonetheless, can you imagine a life without them? – sleeping on hay or a lump of leaves; cooking with sharp rocks; eating with our own hands; living in a cave; and writing memo by engraving on a stone tablet in the absence of paper. This kind of life style is akin to that of our ancestors back in the Stone Age, approximately 1-2 million years ago. And that is precisely correct. Our lives without what we take for granted will be exactly like it. Many things around us, which we are absentmindedly taking for granted on a daily basis as I showed you, are the tangible results of the apotheosis of technology and science in the span of the entire human history. Our history, since the emergence of Homo sapiens, is inseparable to the history of materials. Indeed, the biggest milestones and that which separates distinct epochs in history, undoubtedly, are from the names of materials to have been utilized at each as shows in the three age system - Stone, Bronze, and Iron. They behaved differently, also, depending on what materials they were using at each time, as though their history was dictated by the very own material that they discovered and invented. The essence of which ought to have given you an aha moment.The author has pointed this out in the first chapter which made me awe-struck. Whether or not you are a science geek, (Although, I don't consider myself a geek. But I have been on a science book reading streak of late. Maybe I am?) you will enjoy this book. This book is not very rarefied at all, written for common people, so much so that the author came up with a brilliant way to easily explain on the evolution of plastic, that is, by writing a screenplay, the main story of which evolves around the protagonist who invents plastic material. Not only is it fun to read, but also it is your responsibility as a modern person to know how the materials that shroud us came about. Only after you learn the struggle and inconvenience through which those who passed before us went without what we have now, are we called up to a true veneration for the things that sustain our modern life style.That is, before stainless steel was invented, people tasted metal in their food from cutlery. Before the invention of amalgam which is the mixture of various metals, the dentists waited out a tooth to go completely rot only to pull out the tooth. Without plastic film, no way could it be possible that cameras were widely distributed and enjoyed by many in the early 20th century. There exist countless examples of such in the book. Don’t miss out the chapters on metal and chocolate which were my favorite.

Stuff Matters gives the reader a glimpse into the engineering and properties of many of the critical materials that we encounter in day to day life. Mark Miodownik is professors of material and society at UCL and introduces the reader gently to his expertise leaving them with a newfound appreciation for physics, engineering and chemistry. The book is highly readable and engaging and gives an excellent introduction to a subject we should all know about.Stuff Matters picks several materials that are all contained in the surroundings of the author while he drinks coffee on his roof. He starts by discussing steel and the properties of metal. He discusses how we moved from the bronze age to the iron age and what was required to jump to the steel age. The author discusses the atomic structure of metals and how simple metallurgy can fundamentally change the strength of metals due to the crystal structures. The author moves on to paper and where it comes from (plants) and how it is both made and its properties. He discusses different forms of paper including glossy, newspaper, receipt paper and money as well. The author then moves on to concrete and how it enables modern construction. Concrete has been with us from Roman times but was forgotten for millennia and was rediscovered only recently. The physics of the material are described and the properties of reinforced steel are detailed. The author moves on to a totally different kind of item, chocolate. He discusses the history and the properties and the reader is left with a newfound appreciation for chocolate making. The next subject tackled is foam. This topic takes the reader on a slightly less immediately observable material but is a fascinating tale. The reader is introduced to a material called aerogel which sounds remarkable. The author then moves in to plastic and discusses it through the story of the inventor of plastic, it is really interesting and plastic was first being focused on commercially to fill the supply demand imbalance for billiard balls. The author then discusses glass. We are shown how it is made and where it comes from. We are introduced to both modern and ancient glassmaking and the material properties of glass. The author also talks about carbon and discusses how graphite and diamond are the same material. He discusses the crystal and molecular structure of carbon atoms and how they can form together in different structures. The author discusses pottery and introduces the reader to both clay and basic pottery but extends the discussion to modern porcelain and ceramics. The author ends the topics with a story of how he broke his leg and some aspects of materials in modern medicine. He discusses plaster and how it is a simple yet incredibly important material that has changed the nature of life and death injuries for math. He also discusses teeth and organs in reference to the 6 million dollar man to discuss what we can rebuild using todays technology.Stuff Matters introduces the reader to the basic properties of many of our most important materials used in day to day life. It does so engagingly and by the end the reader will feel like they understand a little bit more about the materials we use. Definitely recommend the book and the audience is very wide.

This book is definitely worth the read. The author writes everything with great interest and answers questions that I have personally never asked. He opened my eyes, and made me more interested in asking about the history of materials.Great knowledge of chemistry is not required.This motivated me to revise for chemistry more, if you are a student, you will understand why after reading this book!

A fascinating, readable book.

This book encouraged me to reflect upon and appreciate the materials that shape our lives today.

Exactly as pictured - very slight mark but pretty much unnoticeable.

Pop science book by a material science professor, where each chapter talks about some material, their properties, history, etc. The first chapter "indomitable" is about metals: they're as hard as rock but much more malleable so they don't break easily. Humans first figured out how to make copper by heating a rock, then discovered that adding a bit of tin made it a lot harder. The next chapters talk about paper, concrete, chocolate, aerogel, plastic, glass, ceramics, etc. The properties of materials are determined by many levels, from atomic (quantum effects) to microscopic (crystal arrangements), and also dictate things what we can manufacture.I don't like this book because it doesn't go into depth on any topic, but jumps between topics really quickly. For example, it's never explained how quantum effects affect steel alloys, or how is liquid turned to gas in an aerogel without evaporation. The author clearly knows the science, but only talks about it briefly before moving on to historical or social commentary. The book intends to draw attention to materials that we typically find mundane, but in the end, I feel like I only learned various bits of trivia about different materials, and didn't gain much understanding of material science.