Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape Our Man-Made Worldby Mark Miodownik
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780544236042
Publication Date: November 6, 2014
Pages: 252
Genre: Non-fiction, Science
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
I have this in hardcover, but I listened to the audiobook from the library. So I’m not sure if my feelings about the book are because I listened to it, or if I’d have felt the same reading it. I do know that Storm in a Teacup is a much better read about slightly similar subjects.
Stuff Matters is a relatively slim tome covering some of the marvelous ‘stuff’ we live with, and the selection is quite varied: concrete, stainless steel, chocolate, plastics (the most irritating of the chapters), glass, graphite. There was good information about said stuff in here, but I admit it didn’t hold my attention in nearly the same way as Storm in a Teacup.
The narrator’s voice reminded me strongly of an actor, whose character I can clearly see but can’t place. Very, very British, balding, bow tie, condescending and misanthropic in a humorous way. This might have had something to do with my impressions of the book, too, though I’d have to read the print version to be sure. And someday, I likely will.