http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1207335191

Stuff matters : the strange stories of the marvellous materials that shape our man-made world

Stuff Matters tells the stories and explains the science behind some of the most fascinating and important inventions of our species: the materials of the man-made world. Many of these inventions are so familiar that we barely notice them - fibres for clothes, metals for tools, ceramics for storage, paper for communication, chocolate for pleasure - and yet they have transformed mankind. Others, such as aerogel, the lightest solid known to man, are utterly strange and literally transparent. From the towering skyscrapers of our cities to the most ordinary objects in our homes, from the tea cup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, world-leading materials scientist Mark Miodownik reveals the miracles of engineering and ingenuity that permeate every aspect of our lives. Along the way, he introduces metals that can heal themselves and implants that become living bone - radical new materials that will shape our future - as well as showing how every material, in its own way, has a profound effect on who we are.

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