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Stuff matters : exploring the marvelous materials that shape our man-made world / Mark Miodownik.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014Edition: First U.S. editionDescription: xviii, 252 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0544236041 (hardback)
  • 9780544236042 (hardback)
Subject(s):
Contents:
Indomitable -- Trusted -- Fundamental -- Delicious -- Marvelous -- Imaginative -- Invisible -- Unbreakable -- Refined -- Immortal -- Synthesis.
Summary: "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? With clarity and humor, world-leading materials scientist Mark Miodownik answers all the questions you've ever had about your pens, spoons, and razor blades, while also introducing a whole world full of materials you've never even heard of: the diamond five times the size of Earth; concrete cloth that can be molded into any shape; and graphene, the thinnest, strongest, stiffest material in existence--only a single atom thick. Stuff Matters tells enthralling stories that explain the science and history of materials. 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, Miodownik reveals the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives. As engaging as it is incisive, Stuff Matters will make you see the materials that surround you with new eyes"-- Provided by publisher.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 620.11 M669 Available 33111007603869
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

"First published in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books Ltd 2013"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (page 233) and index.

Indomitable -- Trusted -- Fundamental -- Delicious -- Marvelous -- Imaginative -- Invisible -- Unbreakable -- Refined -- Immortal -- Synthesis.

"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? With clarity and humor, world-leading materials scientist Mark Miodownik answers all the questions you've ever had about your pens, spoons, and razor blades, while also introducing a whole world full of materials you've never even heard of: the diamond five times the size of Earth; concrete cloth that can be molded into any shape; and graphene, the thinnest, strongest, stiffest material in existence--only a single atom thick. Stuff Matters tells enthralling stories that explain the science and history of materials. 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, Miodownik reveals the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives. As engaging as it is incisive, Stuff Matters will make you see the materials that surround you with new eyes"-- Provided by publisher.

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