Stuff Matters

Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World

De: Mark Miodownik

Narrado por: Matthew Waterson

A New York Times Bestseller

An eye-opening adventure deep inside the everyday materials that surround us, packed with surprising stories and fascinating science

Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does a paper clip bend? Why does any material look and behave the way it does? These are the sorts of questions that Mark Miodownik is constantly asking himself. A globally renowned materials scientist, Miodownik has spent his life exploring objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world.

In Stuff Matters, Miodownik entertainingly examines the materials he encounters in a typical morning, from the steel in his razor and the graphite in his pencil to the foam in his sneakers and the concrete in a nearby skyscraper. He offers a compendium of the most astounding histories and marvelous scientific breakthroughs in the material world, including:

• The imprisoned alchemist who saved himself from execution by creating the first European porcelain.
• The hidden gem of the Milky Way, a planet five times the size of Earth, made entirely of diamond.
• Graphene, the thinnest, strongest, stiffest material in existence—only a single atom thick—that could be used to make entire buildings sensitive to touch.

From the teacup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants, our lives are overflowing with materials. Full of enthralling tales of the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives, Stuff Matters will make you see stuff in a whole new way.

©2016 Mark Miodownik (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Very interesting

I really enjoyed this book! Even though it covers a complex topic in short chapters, the author does an amazing job of making it accessible and keeping the reader engaged. There are so many intriguing facts and curiosities throughout. I’m not giving it five stars because I think some parts could have been a bit more detailed, especially regarding certain materials and substances. Overall, a great read!

educational with great narration

The narrator is engaging and fun to listen to. The content is interesting and educational. But sometimes it gets a little bogged down. Or maybe I'm just not as interested in materials as the author. Which would be my fault. I enjoyed it. Glad I bought it. Probably won't revisit it.

Might be a good pick for a young teen

Some interesting stuff, but the author was obnoxiously British - long winded, vapidly philosophical, and in love with his own digressions (do we not think about how great glass is BeCaUsE wE cAn SeE tHrOuGh IIIIIIITTT???). I don't regret finishing it, but I'm glad it was only 6 hours long. Might be a good book for a 9 - 15 year old.