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Book 9 — Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik

I’m writing this from on-site today, where our team is delivering handmade kinetic figures for a parade at a new theme park that’s opening soon. Being here, I am highly aware of the difference between the worlds we create on film, or in a computer, and the material world around us that we experience IRL. 

One of the most exciting aspects of themed entertainment or location-based events is the physical reality of the challenge. Sure, movies have sets and costumes and props and lights, but they only have to work for a moment. Theme parks are built to withstand the use and abuse of millions of guests and cast members year after year.

A great starting place in thinking about the physical realities of the material world is Mark Miodownik’s Stuff Matters. Each chapter is a different material that is part of our life, and this book offers a unique point of view on the details of the world that we interact with. Things like paper and concrete and plastic and steel.

I love this book and had a nice correspondence with Mark after sharing with him an essay I wrote about materials called Skateboard Parts. He works as materials scientist with the Institute of Making at the University College of London. He credits his interest in materials and metallurgy with the time he was stabbed in the back with a razor blade on his way to school.

As a companion to Stuff Matters, I have been enjoying The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide to the Elements. At just a page or two per element, this book provides a slightly deeper dive on all the known elements. It’s also a kind of love letter to all the chemists who, like Mark, wanted to know more about all the stuff from which our world is made.

— Ryan Miziker